This was not the plan.
He tried to keep his breathing steady and calm as he surveyed the land before him. It had been a stupid, desperate idea to try and use the summoning technique, but what other choice did he have? Kaoru stood up on shaky knees, his throat dry as a warm breeze drifted across the beach. The scene before him was idyllic. Swaying palm trees surrounding the area behind him as warm sands soaked up the heat from the burning sun above. Lathing waves of emerald green water lapped at the shore, the sea peaceful and calm.
How did he get here? How was he going to get back!? Was this what happened when one tried to use the summoning technique without properly forming a contract? Forget saving Momoi, he was the one who was going to need saving! He took a deep breath and tried to focus himself, panicking would not solve anything.
Off to his left, Kugo Kaoru could see what remained of an odd-looking boathouse. Its design was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was wider at the tip and trailed off down to a point and was emplaced right into the sandy shore. With few other options, the young boy walked down the beach towards it. As he grew closer to the structure he gradually began to realize that what he was looking at was no home or castaway's hut. He stopped right before it in awe, marvelling at the craggy, slate-grey surface.
"H-Hello!? Is anyone home!?" he called out, swallowing his hesitation. "I-I think I got lost!"
For a moment, there was nothing. Then came a great rumbling from below, as if the earth beneath him was splitting apart. Sand rumbled and writhed from the tremors as the nearby water began to froth and foam. With what sounded like a thunderous sigh the great conch shell rose. Ruby red limbs sprang out from the inner confines of the thing, followed closely by a pair of claws.
It was no home or building, it was nothing less than a monstrous hermit crab. The utterly gargantuan beast turned its ruby red hide towards the young boy, towering over him like a mountain. Kaoru felt his heart leap into his throat. This was the end, this beast would crush him to bits before he ever got home. After a moment, twin stalks each carrying a black orb poked out of the shell and turned down to regard him.
"Heyyyyy little man," he heard a voice drone from everywhere, loud enough to reverberate in his chest. "I, like, totally didn't even feel you come in. You must be, like, pretty far from home little dude."
Kaoru was speechless. Was this thing talking to him? The hermit crab rotated around until it was face-to-face with him. Despite its imposing stature, the bespectacled boy could feel no ire or danger coming from the thing. If anything, it felt as relaxed as this place was.
"Woah, little dude, you alright? You look like you've got some wicked sunstroke," it yawned.
"I-I got lost here. My friend- she got kidnapped by some bad guys, a-and I panicked and I tried to summon some help."
"Whaaaat? Man, did you try to summon me, little dude? Sorry, I was in this wicked heavy sleep."
"N-No! I-I don't think I did, at least. We don't… we don't have a summoning contract."
The hermit crab cocked its "head" curiously. "We don't? Totally weird, dude, I thought I, like, totally remembered your face or something. But your friend got kidnapped? That's, like, totally not cool bro."
"Yeah, some really bad people took her away and I think they mean to kill her! B-But I was too weak on my own to do anything. I got desperate and tried to use the summoning jutsu without any prior contracts."
"Ohhhhhh, yeah I see. Little dude, you can't do that," it snorted. "It's gonna, like, fizzle out. Or it sends you to the animal you're most inclined towards. Guess that's me, brosef."
"I… I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to wake you," Kaoru bowed, odd as it seemed, in apology.
The great hermit crab lowered itself and chuckled languidly. "Relax little dude. I'm, like, totally up to help you man. You seem really chill. You can call me Ōkani, the Crab King of Kinshu Island. I, like, rule over all of crab kind here, man."
"Nice to meet your sir, I am Kugo Kaoru from the Land of Demons and a student of the Hidden Demon Village."
"Whaaaaaat? The Land of Demons has a Hidden Village now? Man, I gotta, like, catch up so hard."
Kaoru shook his head. "It's a recent thing. I think it might be why my friend got kidnapped. She's another student as well."
"Yeah, the Land of Demons has some serious bad mojo flowing through it. Look, little dude, I can't just leave another bro out to dry like this. So, like, do you wanna make up a contract so we can, like, help you?"
Kaoru was taken aback. "Y-You would do that for me, sir? B-B-But we just met! I woke you up!"
"This is the Island of Temperance, dude. We're all, like, totally chill so long as you are. We're, like, connected to the land and stuff. To be honest, I kinda thought I sensed some bad juju coming off the Land of Demons. So let me help you out, and in return you come back here to chill sometime. You seem like a cool dude."
Kaoru wasn't sure what to do. To think it would be this easy to form a summoning contract. Still, he couldn't let this golden opportunity pass him by. Every moment spent here was another moment Momoi was being taken further away. By now the teachers would have surely guessed that something was wrong. Ōkani turned and let out a sound not unlike a hissing teapot if it could hold a musical note. A moment later, the emerald sea began to roil before being split by another large, if much smaller, hermit crab that came up onto the beach.
"This is my son, Kanijiro. Kanijiro, this is Kugo Kaoru. He's a ninja student whose friend got, like, totally burgled by some bad dudes."
"Whaaaaaat? That's so uncool, eh?" The crab turned to Kugo and stepped forward. "Dad usually has a pretty good, eh, grab on people? Is that the word? Eh, he knows if you're on the up and up."
"Thank you. So how does this work?"
Ōkani produced a small scroll from his shell and dropped it before the two of them. It unfurled to reveal a blank sealing formula. The Crab King instructed the young ninja-in-training on how to finalize the contract's details before he was commanded to place his blood along the seal. Doing so, Kaoru felt an odd tingle run through his body. Kanijiro sighed and nodded at the young boy.
"Ehhhhhh, so, like, I'm pretty good at defending people and things and stuff, but I'm not so good at the whole 'moving fast' thing. Comes with being a crab, eh? Don't worry though, because check it out," the newly-contracted summon exploded into white smoke. When it cleared, a detailed and immaculately engraved fishing rod was lying in the sand.
It was the color of coral reefs and imbued with shades of green, blue, and pink. It almost seemed like a sword, with an outcropping of more coral serving as a hand guard. The hook at the tip seemed reminiscent of a crab's claw and gleamed in the sunlight. The boy picked up the device and regarded it with reverence.
"Eh, so, like, you can use some jutsu through me in this form. I'm pretty good at snagging things too so just point and shoot. Pretty simple, eh? 'Fraid this is all I can do to help you right now, brosef. Anything more and your friend might up and vanish."
"It is more than enough," Kaoru nodded deeply. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"Like I said, bro, just come back to hang with us some time. I'm pretty chillax with my teaching methods but I got, like, mad wisdom to share. Now get out there little dude and get your girlfriend back."
"G-Girlfriend!?" he sputtered. "No, no, no, no! Y-You have it all wrong, sir. Momoi and I are just friends, honest apples!"
Ōkani chuckled deeply and slumped back down into the sand.
"Oh, right, how do I get-" there was a puff of smoke and he was once again in the forest. "...back…"
"C'mon little dude, we gotta find those bad apples and give 'em the what for, eh?" Kanijiro spoke to him.
Kaoru couldn't help but agree.
0-0-0-0
Tenten was baffled. As a ninja, she knew the use of subterfuge and misdirection more than anyone, but this was bizarre. Where she had expected some indication that the cultists had retreated up this way, she found nothing but menial labor. Miners, foremen, and carpenters teemed around the site of a large mine dug into the side of the mountain. None of them seemed out of the ordinary.
Her eye spied a familiar face arguing with what appeared to be some sort of advisor as workers milled about the two of them. Captain Mizuno exchanged heated words with a beleaguered and slightly fearful older gentleman who tried to hold his hands up to placate the man. Tenten leapt from her hiding place and landed a few paces away to try and get a better idea of what they were talking about.
"And I'm telling you they're on their way if they're not here already!" Mizuno nearly yelled. "If they get to the mountain then it's over for us!"
"I-I understand that, sir, but, please, have some patience. If they had come through we would have known. Trust me, my men would do their best to stop them."
Tenten stepped forward and cleared her throat. Mizuno whipped around, one hand on his blade, but froze as he saw Tenten. A moment of silence elapsed the trio before the captain cleared his throat.
"There you are!" he spoke. "I was wondering if anyone was catching up to me."
Tenten smiled. "Don't worry, we wouldn't make you take them on your own. Naruto followed the markings you left towards the West."
"Ah, right. Kaoru said he was going to head that way so I left the marks to indicate that. Anyways, those bastards haven't seemed to have arrived here. My best guess is that they double-backed."
"Towards the city?" Tenten cocked her head. "Why do you think that?"
He pointed at the mountain. "There's no way they could scale the mountain, and this is the only structure."
The weapon specialist looked over the man's shoulder and quickly agreed with him. It would take her at least two days to make it over that mountain range in optimal conditions. Of course, the obvious question had still not been asked.
"How do you know they didn't go into the mine?"
"The foreman here says they haven't seen anyone suspicious. Moreover, I doubt they would've been quiet about it if they had stopped by. Finally, that mine doesn't go anywhere. It's a dead end."
Damn, an end to the trail. But something wasn't making sense. She surely would have seen the tracks if they had double-backed. Also, she was drawing a blank about the surrounding region. She couldn't picture what the mine was called or where it led. A sudden idea occurred to her, and she nodded at Mizuno.
"Let's swing back then and grab Naruto."
"Right."
The two took off back towards Ashiya. Tenten waited until they had been hidden from view of the mine before she grabbed Mizuno and hauled him to the side. His hand went down for the sword he wore, no doubt expecting another attack, but she shushed him. The kunoichi checked one more time for any eavesdroppers before whispering to him in a hushed tone.
"I think maybe the miners have been tricked," she told him, watching as his eyes widened slightly. "We know they have ninja-level members in their ranks, and a quick transformation jutsu or genjutsu could fool them."
"But we have no evidence of that. They could be looping back to kill Lady Shion as we speak."
Tenten ran a hand through her hair. "I get that, but come on wouldn't we have noticed? Naruto and Teuchi were tricked on their end and barely made it out. They couldn't have expected this to work out the way it did!"
"So what do you think we should do?" Mizuno asked pointedly.
Tenten hummed and tried to think out a plan. If Shikamaru were here he'd have already put together some ingenious strategy, but alas she wasn't so gifted. She wasn't a slouch when it came to tactical decisions, she was a chunin after all, but this was tricky. When faced with two unknowns, it was best to go with one's gut. And her gut was telling her that something was wrong with this whole configuration. Perhaps they could sneak in as the cultists no doubt did, but that would require concealing Mizuno too. She performed a hand sign and quickly disguised herself as the foreman from before, giving her partner a confident smile.
"You ninja really are something," he remarked.
"Thanks, but you can praise me later. For now, we need to get Momoi back."
As a pair, the two snuck back into the labor camp. With her disguise unblemished, people didn't look twice at them. In fact, they hardly looked at all. The workers seemed to pause for nothing as they carried out their duties. A sudden, niggling feeling in the back of her mind caused Tenten to pay more attention to them. It was then, she realized with growing concern, that realization struck. The "workers" weren't even doing anything. Some moved boxes back and forth, others carried logs, some tools, but they were like drones on a set loop. When they reached their destination or finished carrying out an action they repeated it, over and over again.
Are they under a genjutsu? She bit her lip. "Mizuno, the workers here are transfixed or something. Look, they're just moving back and forth."
He paused and watched them all with an even stare. She heard the smallest of sighs from him as he nodded grimly. "Yes, you are correct. So what, did the cultists brainwash them?"
"My guess is that it's some kind of facade. We're on the right track! If we can find who's casting the jutsu we should be able to break it."
"Understood."
The two easily evaded the zombified workers and entered into the mineshaft. The interior was dark and humid, lit by dim lanterns upon the walls that turned the place into a macabre labyrinth of twisted shadows. Miners toiled and clanged, smashing their picks against the rock as the soldier and ninja ventured deeper. None of them even seemed to acknowledge the two's presence as they went. There was an unpleasant twang in the air, like sour garbage or blood. It stuck to the inside of her nose and made her curl her lips in distaste. This place was wrong.
"Keep your eyes peeled. I have no idea what kind of traps they may have laid in advance," she told him.
"Don't worry, this ain't my first run."
The two kept walking, the mineshaft slowly widening as the air grew hotter and more cloying. It got to the point that moisture clung to every part of her as if they were in a sauna. They passed around a corner where another congregation of workers were chipping away. Tenten narrowed her eyes and strained her ears. There was what sounded like roaring in the distance. Not bestial but rather something like… rushing water?
She was brought out of her musings as Mizuno cried out and slammed into her. She was shoved to the side and smashed right into the back of one of the workers. She looked up to see a thin line of blood on the side of Mizuno's head, a nearby stalagmite dripping with the same red liquid.
"Look out!"
The warning came just soon enough. Tenten ducked as the miner she bumped into swung a pickaxe at her head. She dodged backwards and drew a kunai from her pouch. The other miners turned towards them both in eerie unison, their faces pale and eyes sunken. They barely seemed alive, let alone conscious. As one great mass they began to shamble forward. Tenten hesitated as they came closer, each one holding a weapon of some sort. If these really were people trapped in a genjutsu then she couldn't just slaughter them all. Thinking quickly she attached a line of wire to the end of the kunai and summoned a dozen more. If she couldn't hurt them, maybe she could pin them down.
She threw the weapons down the length of the corridor, narrowly missing a few of the brainwashed laborers. They stuck into the rock on the opposite end, the wire momentarily floating freely before being pulled taught. With a few swipes of her hand she draped it over the lot of them and pulled to either side of her body.
The lines whipped out and caused the ensorceled miners to smash into the wall. None of them so much as grunted as they impacted the rocks, instead only focusing on breaking free.
"I think I got them!"
"We have bigger problems!" Mizuno shouted as nearly thirty more began their way towards them. "Looks like we kicked the whole hornet's nest!"
She stepped in front of him as he drew his sword. The confined hallways would limit their approach, but there were too many to decidedly stop. She summoned more kunai and shuriken, keeping wires attached to them all as she threw them outward. It was a technique she had learned from her mother a long time ago and perhaps her only barrier ninjutsu. The wire formed an intricate design before them, resembling that of a spider's web. However this thread was different.
She made a slew of hand signs and sucked in a breath as chakra flowed through the string with ease. "Spider Lily Barrier!"
The lines glowed blue for a moment as the first worker pressed against it. Although the barrier bent, it didn't so much as groan under the weight of the man. Even as more and more thralls tried to push, punch, or tear through it it kept its shape.
"That's pretty handy," Mizuno smirked.
Tenten sucked in a breath. "Yeah, but it drains my chakra. It's not exactly my specialty."
"How well do you think you'll fare against the cultists if we run into them?"
"Decently, I guess," she sighed. "Don't think I want to try anything crazy though."
He smirked again and motioned for her to lead the way. Tenten continued deeper into the bowels of the mountain, hoping to put some distance between them and the growing horde. Their only way out was blocked, so she had no choice but to end this here and now. The two exited the cramped space only to walk out into the exact opposite. A massive cavern had been dug out of the mountain, large enough that she couldn't even see the ceiling or the floor. Bridges of black stone criss-crossed the chasm with torches giving only the faintest light.
"Shit, where do we go from here?"
"I don't know, maybe we can cross one of the bridges and try there?" he offered.
With no other good options, she climbed up onto one of the walkways and began to traverse it. This place was a labyrinth, but the roaring noise had grown even louder now. If they found the source of it maybe they would find the cultists. A sudden inkling at the back of her mind suddenly cried out.
"Tenten, watch out!"
Searing pain pierced her side as blood sprayed, marking the black rock with shades of crimson. She felt her legs give out from under her as everything spun. Something hard connected with her back, and it took the kunoichi a moment to realize it was the ground.
This wasn't good.
0-0-0-0
He had no idea where this tunnel was taking him. Naruto crawled on his belly so that he wasn't forced to crouch walk the whole way. The air was hot and thick, but carried a twang of something foul on it, like rotten eggs. Below him he felt a great rumbling reverberate through the cave and the stone. It was like the constant beating of some great heart far beneath the surface.
He crawled for what seemed like another half an hour before he finally reached an opening. The small passage opened up into a hive-like room. Holes as big as the one he was in dotted the walls for as far as he could see. If they were all like this one, then they could be leading almost anywhere in the Land of Demons. Was this how they infiltrated the palace? If that was the case he needed to lock this place down before they could make use of it.
Naruto dropped down onto the floor and tried to regain his bearings. It was dark, but the few torches scattered around provided enough illumination to get an accurate read of things. Men milled around below, carrying minecarts full of stone, coal, obsidian, and gold. The blonde shinobi snuck his way down below, running between outcroppings and piles of tools to prevent from being seen.
Momoi had to be here somewhere, but where? He ducked into a cramped hallway outside of the large chamber and began to follow it down. Occasionally he would hear the distant sounds of mining or a few voices, but no one seemed to be coming his way. The air only grew thicker as he ventured deeper, the smell growing stronger with every step.
He snaked his way around a bend in the corridor only to freeze as he came upon the backs of two cultists. They wore the same black cloaks that the assassins had worn, but didn't seem to carry any weapons.
"Someone tripped the ghouls upstairs?" the shorter one mentioned. "Lord Chikanori should be informed. What if it's those ninja from the Leaf Village?"
His partner snorted. "Leave them to me if it comes to that. From what I heard they got split up anyhow. We just need to keep the brat for a little longer."
Roebuck, Naruto knew that smarmy tone from anywhere. He scowled and quietly drew a kunai, but stopped as he continued talking.
"'Put the girl back up in the holding cells. Should only be another hour or so before we can sacrifice her. Have someone check on her and make sure she didn't kill herself," Roebuck ordered the smaller man.
"Yessir. We're so close, aren't we? Just a little more and He will be risen. All we need is the prodigal son."
"You're right," Naruto could hear the condescending sneer in Roebuck's voice. "If you see the blonde guy, let me take him. I doubt there's much chance we can kill him, but we can't exactly complete the ritual without him."
Were they talking about him? Naruto froze as he tried to parse what the assassin was saying. What could they need him for? Realization hit a second later as his hand came to rest on the seal over his stomach. The nine-tailed fox, they wanted to use it. Momoi was never the true objective, it was him. How could they have known about his status as a jinchuuriki though? Once again he was left with more questions than answers.
Doesn't matter, he shook his head. Whether or not these guys want me for their creepy ritual, they won't harm my student. I need to focus.
The two cultists split off, going in separate directions. He would take care of Roebuck in due time, but for now he needed to make sure Momoi was okay. With as much gile as he could muster he followed the smaller man down a fork in the path. He obviously wasn't well-trained and Naruto was completely undetected as they traced the paths. This complex was massive, like some sort of ant hill. He had no idea how anyone could remember all the ways through this labyrinth. The man seemed to handle it just fine, however, as he followed winding trails ever deeper.
It wasn't long before they came upon more holes dug into the side of the halls. These weren't like the passages he entered through, however, as they were shallow and blocky. It didn't take long for Naruto to realize they were in some sort of makeshift prison block .The cultist ahead of him stopped short at one of the cells, a sadistic smile on his face.
"Wakey-wakey, hun," he sneered. "Just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."
The occupant didn't say anything, but he watched as she spit onto the man's face. Naruto felt a smile creep onto his face as the man swore and wiped the loogie off.
"You little bitch! I'll kill you!"
Momoi spat at him again.
Thatta girl, he smirked and crept forward.
"That's it you brat, come here-" Naruto's hand came down on the man's neck hard enough to put him on the ground.
"What- N-Naruto-sensei!" Momoi reached up to the bars of the cell, a hopeful smile on her face. "You're okay! H-How did you even get here?"
He chuckled slightly. "Please, this isn't even in the top five craziest situations I've been in. What kind of sensei would I be if I didn't help out my student."
"You're amazing! But how do we get out of here?"
His smile fell as he considered the question. This place was a maze, and while the cultists may have had a way to navigate it he didn't. Not to mention the fact that Mizuno and Tenten could also be here and in trouble. If they even managed to get away, would they ever get another chance to weed out these guys? The ritual to summon Chozotl was closer than they had feared, and that meant they couldn't waste anymore time.
"You should find somewhere to hide if you can, Momoi. I need to take these guys down once and for all, and I'll never get a better chance than this. But I won't involve one of my students in such a dangerous task."
She pouted and leaned forward. "Hey! I'm not some damsel in distress, I can help too!"
He gave a very pointed look at her current circumstances. She coughed and turned red but didn't give up glaring at him. It, unfortunately, reminded him of what a high strung brat he had been back in the day. His sensei hadn't blown him off back then, so he didn't feel right doing it to Momoi either. And it wasn't like there was any safe place in this complex anyhow. She'd be safest at his side.
"Alright… alright. You can come with me, but you keep your head down and don't do anything crazy. I can handle these guys on my own," he winked. "We just need to take down this Lord Chikanori guy first and foremost. I need to find where he is first, though."
"Oh!" she perked up. "Some of the guys in black coats were talking about the 'sacrificial chamber' down below or something. Maybe there?"
He smiled. "Good thinking. Step back."
With a chakra-infused kick he shattered the crystallized blood and freed his student. They needed to go down, and it looked like they were on the right path. Leaving behind the downed cultist, the teacher and student followed the hallway to their right. For as big as this place was, it certainly didn't seem to be very populated. Then again, with such a large place he supposed it was good they didn't have people crawling all over the place. The structure and architecture of this… temple(?) didn't seem recent. All of it looked to be meticulously carved out of stone and made for a purpose. Even with Earth Style Jutsu, there was no way this would have gone unnoticed by Shion and her advisors. This was a major undertaking in and of itself.
But the Land of Demons is an old, old country. It would make sense if this place was some sort of ancient temple, he mused quietly to himself.
If that was the case, then just how long had they been preparing for this? How long had this been happening under their noses? Worse, how many other cults like this could be at work at this very moment? Naruto shook his head and grimaced. Those questions weren't going to help at a time like this. He needed to focus.
"Do you hear that?" Momoi whispered.
He stopped and listened. The thumping he had felt on his way in had grown stronger, more frantic. It wasn't so much a heartbeat now as it was the angry roar of some infernal machine. The air was so thick he could almost see it now, and the scent of rotten eggs- sulphur was potent enough to taste. Combined with this black stone Naruto came to a grim realization.
This wasn't a mountain. This was a volcano.
They needed to hurry.
The two rounded a corner and stopped before ducking down low as the right wall stopped to expose perhaps the greatest room he had seen thus far. It was cut into a massive square, with ancient murals and statues carved from the very walls and ceiling. Thick flows of lava poured down from vents near the ceiling, pooling into a lake of magma down below that churned and bubbled. In the center of this ziggurat was the main attraction. A platform raised above the lava below had been built for the ritual. A long bridge of black stone led to a circular platform inscribed with a variety of symbols that brought to mind the really old sealing formulae he had seen in his history books.
These were different though. They were more… savage, tribalistic. In the center of the circle was a large stone altar carved from bone and obsidian, a looming, skeletal figure standing above it, its clawed hands reaching over as if grasping at air. This would be the sacrificial chamber then, no doubt.
A congregation of cultists had gathered just before the bridge in neat rows and columns. Each one wore some kind of full-face mask, each a grisly, macabre skull of some animal and painted with what looked like dried blood. In the harsh glow of the magma it gave them the appearance of a demonic army. They stood silently at attention, simply looking forward as if in a trance.
"What're they waiting for?" he mumbled to himself.
"Mr. Uzumaki, there's another path down here!" Momoi whispered harshly. "I think there's a room down here!"
He turned to follow her gaze and saw a branch off the main path. The older shinobi followed the way down to a nook cut deeper into the wall. It was a much smaller chamber with a makeshift bed, a shelf, and a desk covered in various scrolls and notes. They were in enemy territory in a very sticky situation, so there was precious little time to look over all of it. Instead, Naruto grabbed the most important looking things and put them away. He paused as he caught a note between this "Lord Chikanori" and an unnamed contact.
Lord Chikanori,
I understand your anticipation for the ritual, but I must urge patience. The foreign dignitary Lady Shion requested is on his way here, but we cannot be rash with this. It is very likely he is being accompanied by an escort. We cannot show our hand too early. We may never get another chance like this again if we squander it. I propose we take a slower approach and attempt to bait him bit by bit. According to the knowledge I've gathered, his role in stopping Moryo was merely a sliver of his potential. He managed to defy Lady Shion's prediction, the first person to ever do so.
I assure you, it will be worth the wait when the ritual is complete. You will have no need to sacrifice yourself for our Lord and Master. Instead, we will have a vessel bar none and with ties to two countries and a hidden village. With your leadership remaining in power, we will be unstoppable.
-M
Vessel? What the hell were they talking about? They were obviously talking about him, but the rest of this stuff didn't make sense. They were trying to summon their god, Chozotl, into the real world so why would they need a body?
Unless, he gathered. The only way they can summon Chozotl is through the body of another. Like the Mind Possession Jutsu.
They were planning to use his status as a jinchuriki to serve as the perfect mortal body for their deity. With the amount of chakra he had at his disposal and the power this Chozotl figure no doubt possessed he would be a weapon of mass destruction. This cult would possess perhaps the most dangerous creature to ever be made and with the powerbase to use it. They'd be unstoppable.
Moryo was a joke compared to this. They needed to stop this now. His musing was cut off as a clamor arose from the sacrificial chamber. At first it sounded like random shouting, but as he strained his ear he could hear that it was chanting. The ritual was beginning, but it wouldn't be long before they realized they had neither him or Momoi in their possession.
Then again, maybe he could give them what they wanted...