Because among the three Kirigakure jonin who had been attacked, Aoba Minazuki had been ambushed near the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps, Shisui Uchiha made a slight detour to the Land of Demons while on his way to the Land of Wind.
Compared to the ruins and devastation left behind after Mōryō's rampage two years ago, the Land of Demons had gradually recovered a trace of vitality.
Although the massive population slaughtered by the Ghost Army could not be restored in such a short time, causing many small villages with decent farmland to remain empty, at least in the towns and larger villages, people could already clearly be seen engaging in production again.
What surprised Shisui Uchiha even more was that the capital of the Land of Demons, once destroyed, had not only been restored to its original state, but had even gained several restaurant signs he had once seen and tasted in Kirigakure.
Using the vision of his Sharingan to look carefully from the outside, he could see quite a few traveling merchants dressed in the clothing of different countries eating heartily inside those newly opened restaurants.
"So this is what Lord Fourth called… cultural export, huh?"
Watching a merchant dressed in the clothing of the Land of Earth finally learn, under the kind and patient guidance of a restaurant server, how to use tools to open a crab almost as large as his face, then reveal an astonished expression after tasting the crab meat, Shisui could not help shaking his head.
He remembered how, at first, he had also been completely helpless when faced with a table full of seafood.
And now, he could already explain the differences between their respective eating methods as if listing family treasures.
"I'll go ask Priestess-sama whether she has any relevant intelligence. After that, I'll turn toward the Land of Wind and look for the reinforcements Lord Fourth told me about before I left…"
With that thought, Shisui slipped into an unnoticed alley.
After several Body Flickers, he arrived before the newly rebuilt palace of the Land of Demons' priestess, then silently infiltrated it.
As the religious and national leader of the Land of Demons, the priestess's daily duties could be considered quite busy.
Especially since the country had only recently suffered Mōryō's chaos, leaving everything in need of reconstruction, and had also reached a new trade agreement with the Land of Water, beginning to import things the Land of Demons had never had before.
Under such circumstances, Miroku's workload had reached a level not much different from Rei Kaguya's when he had first taken office.
As a result, when Shisui quietly appeared before Miroku and took the initiative to greet her, Miroku stared blankly for at least three whole seconds before finally realizing that someone was calling her name.
"It seems Priestess-sama's work is quite exhausting too…"
After stopping Miroku's belated, severely delayed call for help, Shisui spoke to her somewhat helplessly.
"A little hardship is only natural. After all, part of the responsibility for the Land of Demons being ravaged so badly by Mōryō lies with me too. If I can help the Land of Demons prosper again, then sacrificing a little of myself does not matter."
Miroku shook her head.
Then she looked at Shisui curiously and asked, "But why has Shisui-kun suddenly come to our Land of Demons? If I remember correctly, you should be a junior whom the Fourth Mizukage values especially highly, yes?"
"It is precisely because he values me too much that he keeps sending me out on troublesome missions like this."
After briefly grumbling about Rei's exploitation of him, Shisui changed the subject and moved to the main issue.
After hearing Shisui's purpose for coming, Miroku revealed a thoughtful expression.
She remained silent for quite a while before finally speaking with some hesitation.
"I'm sorry. I did not have much contact with that Jonin Aoba Minazuki. Regarding his and his squad's disappearance, the Land of Demons really does not have much information to provide…
However, one of my guards did once report a very strange piece of news. I do not know whether it will be useful to you."
"What news?"
Shisui sat up straight and asked very sincerely.
"That guard's hometown is located on the border between the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons. That day, when he returned home to visit his family, he saw a very abnormal dark cloud appear in the direction close to the Land of Swamps."
Miroku's words made Shisui frown slightly.
"A dark cloud? Abnormal? Could you describe in more detail what exactly was abnormal about it, Priestess-sama?"
Miroku tried hard to recall for a while, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Because of the distance, that guard could not see very clearly either. When he reported it, he said he saw that strange dark cloud change into many different forms in a short period of time, then suddenly disappear while it was still changing…
I am not entirely sure whether what he saw was a real phenomenon. But since Shisui-kun mentioned that Jonin Aoba Minazuki disappeared on the border between the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps, this is the only clue we can provide."
Miroku bowed apologetically to Shisui.
It startled Shisui, who had been thinking, so much that he immediately stood and returned the bow.
Only after repeatedly emphasizing several times that Kirigakure had no intention of blaming the Land of Demons did Shisui finally begin analyzing the information she had provided under Miroku's gaze.
Assuming that what the guard saw was not false, then a dark cloud that could change shape multiple times in a short period and vanish the moment it wished was clearly an abnormal phenomenon created by a shinobi's ninjutsu.
There were not many ninjutsu capable of achieving such a thing.
And considering that puppet poison needles and wreckage had been left behind at the place where Jonin Aoba disappeared, the answer had almost narrowed down to one possibility.
Sunagakure's Kekkei Genkai.
Magnet Release, capable of controlling Iron Sand.
But in the current Sunagakure, the only person who seemed capable of using the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
And Rasa himself was not a puppeteer.
If the attackers who abducted Aoba Minazuki's group really were Sunagakure shinobi, then a lineup headed by the Fourth Kazekage would be far too exaggerated.
"If Aoba Minazuki had disappeared within the Land of Wind, then it would still make some sense for Sunagakure to dispatch such a lineup to capture him, an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai shinobi. But the place where he disappeared was on the border between the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps. That is far too distant from both the Land of Wind and Sunagakure…"
Because Rei had reminded him in advance, Shisui knew that Sunagakure most likely was not the mastermind behind Aoba Minazuki's abduction.
But judging from the traces the true culprit had intentionally or unintentionally left behind, that person was absolutely connected to Sunagakure.
"Is the culprit an outside-village shinobi with a deep hatred for Sunagakure, trying to divert disaster toward them…
Or a missing-nin who once belonged to Sunagakure, but left the village for some reason?"
Judging from all the signs, Shisui leaned more toward the latter answer.
But having a guess did not mean he had truly gotten close to the truth.
He still needed more intelligence and clues to support it.
Only then would he have a chance to find this culprit, who might be a Sunagakure missing-nin, and drag him and the organization behind him out of the darkness.
Join my Patreon to read public release chapters and get 1 chapter ahead for free. Paid members can read more advanced chapters.
Continue reading here
patreon.com/Inkveil_