Inside the Land of Demons, all the previous guesses and prejudices regarding Kikyo vanished into thin air the moment she appeared in her holy shrine maiden form.
The activation of her pure Shinto Yin-Yang spiritual energy indicated that Kikyo and Shion shared the exact same ancestral origin.
Once it was confirmed that Kikyo was a genuine priestess, the attitude of the high-ranking officials in the Land of Demons immediately shifted.
In fact, even Kikyo was quite curious about Shion's existence. She had not expected this world to also possess an Onmyoji heritage. Although it was gradually fading away, it caused Kikyo to instinctively develop a favorable impression of this young girl.
At present, the Land of Demons was plagued by rampaging monsters, and as a priestess, Kikyo would not stand by and do nothing.
As the sole priestess of the Land of Demons, Shion became incredibly cheerful upon seeing such a powerful senior. She smilingly took Kikyo's hand and led her up into the grand temple enshrined within the country.
"As expected, my vision was not wrong."
The decorations and layout of the entire temple were identical to the residences of the Onmyoji in Kikyo's memory.
"Senior Kikyo, how did you come to the Land of Demons?"
"The Sea Train..."
Although Kikyo didn't fully understand the mechanics of the Sea Train along the way, it didn't stop her from feeling respect for the Land of Wind's massive transportation network.
Such a highly developed transport system was enough to prove the current strength and abounding national power of the Land of Wind. It also verified what Unohana Retsu had previously told her.
When she arrived in the Land of Demons and witnessed the desolate landscape, along with the occasional stray undead puppets, Kikyo realized that outside the Land of Wind, the harshness of the wider world was no different from her own native timeline.
Thinking of this, Kikyo seemed to understand Shiraishi's grand concept of unifying the ninja world a bit better.
He might be an ambitious man, but compared to a fragmented continent plagued by endless warfare, the citizens would likely prefer an ambitious ruler like Shiraishi to bring absolute stability.
"Senior Kikyo, this is the place where the successive generations of priestesses of the Land of Demons cultivate."
Shion was introduced with a bright smile. Chatting with Kikyo for just a few minutes along the way had turned her into a complete fangirl.
A massive sealing cauldron sat within the grand hall as Shion and Kikyo walked down the sides of the temple.
"The core of your demon-sealing technique is this?"
Kikyo frowned. The sealing techniques passed down to Shion were far more degraded and incomplete than she had imagined.
In reality, the history of the Land of Demons spanned about a thousand winters. The original Onmyoji possessed exceptional cultivation and capabilities. Later, due to the rise of ninjutsu, their arts gradually declined, leading to their downfall within the country. By Shion's generation, most of the core heritage had been completely lost.
Kikyo realized that the so-called monsters they encountered along the way were originally just a method used by Onmyoji to gather spiritual energy and summon Shikigami. However, they had mutated over time. Under normal circumstances, a standard sealing procedure would suffice.
The tragedy was that the sealing methods left to Shion and the Land of Demons were down to a mere handful. Due to the loss of technical data, these Onmyoji were forced to pay the absolute price of their own lives to complete the seal.
"Yes..."
"To seal the demon, we must first clear away the other obstacles. Where is Yomi's army currently stationed?"
Seeing Kikyo proactively bring up Yomi and the undead army, Shion blinked. "They should be right outside the perimeter of the royal capital. According to the information provided by the ministers, they are located to the west."
"I understand."
Kikyo closed her eyes to enter a state of rest, showing no intention of continuing the conversation. Seeing this, Shion quietly stayed by her side to keep her company.
Lady Kikyo's absolute strength could be felt clearly just from a few subtle details. For a moment, Shion, who had been panicked by the chaos in her country, felt her mind steadily calm down.
"I have already reinforced the barrier surrounding the royal capital. Do not be so tense."
The barriers of the Land of Demons required the priestess to constantly maintain them, so Shion had never dared to truly rest.
Upon arriving at the royal capital, Kikyo had already repaired and strengthened the specialized, massive composite barrier enclosing the city. Any monster attempting to cross into the capital would be instantly purified into ash.
Hearing Kikyo say this, Shion showed a happy smile. Looking at Kikyo's meditative posture, the young girl imitated her and began to close her eyes to rest her mind.
"Cultivation requires you to completely calm your heart... and then..."
As the two sat facing one another, Kikyo quietly explained the principles, passing down her knowledge to Shion.
Shion's natural talent was exceptional, but she was severely limited by her environment. Kikyo held this fellow priestess in high regard, which was why she chose to guide and instruct her step by step.
Meanwhile, back at Sunagakure, the preliminary round of the Joint Chunin Exam was a scroll scramble. Before the match initialized, the squads from the Stone, Cloud, and Mist villages gathered together respectively, fanning out across the zone to systematically sweep the teams from the minor hidden villages.
Although there were over forty squads in total, everyone maintained a clear awareness that the ultimate winners of the Chunin Exam would inevitably emerge from the teams of the Five Great Shinobi Countries.
From the very beginning, the squads from those three villages chose to move in consolidated groups to avoid premature elimination.
Unfortunately, one of the Iwagakure groups suffered from terrible luck, crossing paths with Uchiha Akira's team midway through the zone.
The outcome of that engagement was absolute: under the combined efforts of Uchiha Akira, Karin, and Haku, they effortlessly seized all the scrolls from the Iwagakure squads, eliminating the Hidden Stone forces entirely.
"The Hidden Stone squads have all been eliminated?"
"All of their scrolls were taken. Although they could theoretically hunt other teams within the designated time window, their probability of success is extremely low..."
Shiraishi smiled, expressing his satisfaction with the outcome. "In that case, will Onoki still bother to show up at the venue to watch the tournament?"
"He likely has zero interest left..."
"Mm, the Raikage is probably facing the exact same situation."
Just as Shiraishi was speaking, the squad composed of Uzumaki Tomoko and Aoki Shigeru also encountered a massive formation of Kumogakure Genin.
The moment they locked horns, Tomoko's Shikotsumyaku operated like a flawless field-clearing weapon, instantly routing all the Kumogakure Genin and securing the required scrolls.
The total elimination of the Cloud and Stone Genin right at the start of the preliminaries sent a massive shockwave through all active factions. While everyone had predicted that Sunagakure's Genin would be incredibly dominant prior to the tournament, no one had anticipated they would be this overwhelming.
The exit of Cloud and Stone accelerated the brutal friction among the remaining groups. During this window, Konoha's Team 7 successfully suppressed a Kirigakure squad during a fierce encounter. With Naruto and Sasuke unleashing their respective capabilities, they successfully secured their scrolls.
By this point, the vast majority of the participating villages had been thoroughly wiped from the bracket. The remaining Genin consisted strictly of the elite prospects from Sunagakure and Konoha.
Four Sunagakure squads, along with Konoha's Team 7, who arrived last, comprised the final five teams that successfully scaled the summit of Mount Kikyo, bringing a definitive end to the preliminary round.
For the spectators, the trajectory of this Joint Chunin Exam was a result that felt entirely unexpected, yet completely logical.
Shiraishi flipped through the candidate profiles of the final fifteen Genin. "Next, we initialize the semi-finals, utilizing a fifteen-to-eight knockout format. The final tournament will take place one month from now."
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed. Claim early access on Patreon: Patreon.com/kazama677
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.