Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 348 In the midst of multi-party efforts

[Izuna-kun, how far have you progressed in infiltrating the Land of Demons?]

"Huh? You're not working overtime again, are you?"

No, I just took a friend to the Land of Demons.

[Did you end up back at work after having fun?]

"...This matter is quite complicated, and it was my mistake. I forgot to report that the Oni Kingdom's priestess, Shion, has lost her power in the Wraith Incident, but the Oni Kingdom is a small country that relies on faith..."

"Oh, you really did something underhanded."

"Isn't this a choice between demons and power? I asked Shion for her opinion, and she agreed before I acted!"

"Ah, I suppose the situation was urgent, and they had no choice but to agree."

"I admit it's my fault, so what should I do now? Izuna-kun, you know so much, give me some advice."

〖Oh.〗

Izuna gave a brief, cold snort and then fell silent, presumably going to consult with someone. To resolve Shion's predicament and save her, they absolutely needed to gain control of the Land of Demons. None of the countries they had conquered could be completely subjugated without war. This matter involved far too many factors; it couldn't be decided by just two people. Discussion was essential.

But in the past, they would always communicate directly through telepathy, right? Why are they silent this time?

Before the festival, the shrine maiden needs to quiet her mind and fast, so she naturally can't go to crowded places. Shion can't go shopping with everyone. She originally wanted to send Ashiho out to continue entertaining them, but everyone refused. Compared to them, Shion clearly needs Ashiho more.

The meticulously arranged scenery seemed to have lost its appeal. After all, the Land of Demons was far from the center of the continent and its resources were not abundant. Once the initial excitement wore off, everyone became more worried about Shion. And the culprit behind all this was, of course, someone who was surrounded by enemies.

"So, do you have any clues? The brilliant Naruto Uzumaki?" Sakura's smile was incredibly bright, but her fingers were cracking loudly as she clenched them, making her quite intimidating.

"This...isn't this...being thinking about it?" Based on past experience, faith is difficult to break in a short time. When faced with an overly evil faith, they would find a "righteous god" recognized by the public to appear and fight, replacing the previous faith, and then gradually reduce the financial and energy investment by weakening the sacrificial procedures, guiding everyone back to normal life.

But... Shion is a living, breathing person, so this method is obviously not suitable.

Sure enough, the price of relying too much on experience is that when faced with new problems, one's mind becomes blank.

"Should we... ask Miss Shion what she wants to do in the future?" Hinata, who hadn't said much until now, spoke up. Although being stared at by everyone made her a little stressed and she stammered a bit, she still managed to express her thoughts smoothly, "If she can't be a shrine maiden, she must have something she wants to do... right?"

Neji nodded in agreement and said, "Miss Shion also made sacrifices for the world. She deserves to have the life she wants. We don't really know what the job of a shrine maiden is. It would be better to have a clear direction than to be clueless like us."

“...Hmm, leave this to me, I’ll go ask.” Sakura, who was closest to Shion, volunteered to take on this task.

"Then there's how to gradually get the Land of Demons to accept the transformation of the priestess's identity... This will probably take quite a while." Neji frowned, deep in thought. In the past six months, he was no longer just an ordinary ninja. Lady Tsunade personally intervened, bringing Neji from the Hyuga clan and placing him in the Hokage's secretariat.

The people here are both the Hokage's secretaries and advisors, and they can handle official documents that are about to be submitted to the Hokage according to the level of confidentiality. Although the final decision rests with the Hokage, they also have a certain right to make suggestions. Otherwise, if the Hokage did everything by himself, even the strongest ninja would be exhausted.

The best candidate for this position would have been the quick-witted Shikamaru, but he needed to take over Naruto's duties, which was also an important position. So, they had to find another equally quick-witted person from the younger generation. Although Neji could only do document sorting for now and hadn't yet been given the right to make suggestions, his six months of training had been quite effective.

"Naruto, we've come up with some ideas." Izuna's voice suddenly rang out.

"You didn't mention something this important before? Luckily, we've had people keeping an eye on the Land of Demons." Hashirama's tone was quite disapproving. Although the world had been stable for a long time, it was still essentially a dog-eat-dog world. A priestess who had lost her power was like a lotus flower about to wither. At first, it still looked elegant and fragrant, which was why it was admired and loved. But once the petals withered and showed signs of decay, people would swarm around it and devour the lotus seeds in its heart.

"The Land of Demons isn't so easy to infiltrate. After all, the incident with the demons was recent, and people's faith in the priestesses remains strong. But strangely, even in the heart of the continent, the role of the priestesses is emphasized, yet the Land of Demons places the lion's share of the glory on you." Tobirama's perspective was always unique. "The ruler of the Land of Demons has probably been unhappy with the priestesses' dominance for a long time. Before, with the demons suppressing him, and Shion being young, he didn't make it too obvious."

Wait, can any of you tell me about the shrine maiden festival?

Izuna asked in confusion, "You were right there, how come you didn't know anything?"

"...I'm taking care of the child, so I don't have time to go out and investigate."

"You didn't use your clones to clear the way?" Even Fugaku expressed his doubts, sensing something unusual.

"Don't we have an intelligence department? I just came here for a vacation, who knew there would be so much trouble." Naruto decisively chose to throw a tantrum, trying to get away with it. "Please, everyone! I'm still on vacation."

"Heh." Izuna chuckled coldly, increasingly convinced that his guess was probably true. He wasn't even willing to use Shadow Clones; there must be a problem with his body or chakra. The Senju brothers were clearly in the know; their medical skills were already at Hui's highest level, yet even they couldn't solve it? Or perhaps he just needed time to rest and recuperate.

Since he wouldn't say, he wouldn't ask. However, as the price for keeping it from him, Tobirama would have to go live in the lab.

The spiritual realm is being explored, the real world is being explored, and even Shion's side is being explored.

Suddenly, Shion was startled when Ashiho, who was waiting outside, brought up the topic of shrine maidens. But the stubborn and clumsy boy finally said, "Lady Shion is the most important person to me. No matter what you become or whether you still want to be a shrine maiden, that will never change."

Inside the door, Ziyuan finally showed her most genuine smile in a long time, silently wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you, Azuho. This is very important to me."