"This is where the priestess usually bathes. There's a road leading out of the village—you'll take me away from here."
Shion spoke softly.
"Aren't we going to wait for Taruho-san and the others?" Chōjūrō asked.
Shion replied, "There's no need. We'll go on our own. If they come, they'll only drag us down."
Kiyosuke said, "That's true. In the end, Taruho-san is just a strong ordinary man. If he follows us, he'll only create more trouble. Right now, speed is everything—the Ghost Army won't stop to rest."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Sakura carried Shion on her back, and the group leapt across the waterfall, entering the forest. Along the way, Shion constantly complained that they were moving too fast, making her uncomfortable. They had expected her to be an understanding priestess, but she turned out to be a pampered young lady instead.
At that moment, Ao suddenly spun around and flicked two shuriken, knocking away incoming arrows.
They stopped in their tracks as Taruho came chasing after them.
"Shion-sama, where are you going?" Taruho asked.
"Where I go is none of your concern! You're the one who shouldn't be here. Following us will only cause trouble." Shion said angrily.
"Protecting you is my duty. I must go with you," Taruho said firmly, clearly determined to accompany them to the Land of Swamps.
"Yo, bringing you along will only cause trouble, yo! We don't have the time, yo! You're loyal, sure, yo—but this isn't the time for that talk!" Killer Bee said.
"Killer Bee is right. We'll be moving at full speed to the Land of Swamps. You're just an ordinary man—you'd never keep up with us. Worse, we'd have to slow down for you, which would only put Shion-sama in more danger." Kiyosuke shook his head, then added, "Taruho-san, we accepted this mission. Naturally, we won't let Shion-sama come to harm. Right, Naruto?"
"Of course! I swear on my life, I won't let Shion-sama get hurt." Naruto thumped his chest with conviction.
But Taruho remained resolute.
"I must go with you, no matter what."
"Then we've got no choice. Sasuke."
"Got it. Sharingan!" Sasuke's eyes glinted as he cast a genjutsu on Taruho, forcing him to turn back the way he came.
The group set off once more, running until nightfall before stopping.
They found a spot to make camp. Several Chūnin gathered firewood and game. Kiyosuke snapped his fingers, igniting the wood into a blazing bonfire.
Kitsuchi frowned. "Starting a fire so openly? Isn't that basically telling the enemy where we are?" As a veteran shinobi, his sense of caution was razor-sharp. With enemies tracking them, lighting a bonfire was the same as announcing their position.
Kiyosuke laughed heartily.
"Kitsuchi-san, don't be so stiff. With this many of us together, if we still get sniped and wiped out, then it's just our fate. That'd mean the enemy is so strong that even all of us combined couldn't stand against them. If that's the case, then forget the Ghost Army—there'd be no point in fighting at all."
If an enemy could crush the strongest of Konoha, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Iwagakure's second-in-command, the Fifth Kazekage, and Kirigakure's second-in-command all at once, then there was nothing left to do. The Five Great Villages would have no choice but to surrender.
"Father, don't overthink it. If even you can't hold out, then we definitely won't either." Kurotsuchi patted Kitsuchi's shoulder, passing him a bowl of hot soup. He sighed, then drank.
"I'm not eating this. What is this stuff? It tastes awful!"
Shion was as willful as ever, tossing away the food Sakura and the others had prepared because it didn't suit her taste.
"I actually think it tastes pretty good. What kind of life did this princess live before?" Naruto muttered.
Kankurō chuckled. "How could she compare to us? We've lived through storms and battles, always on the edge of death. She's the priestess of a whole village—of course she lived in luxury. Didn't you notice how many attendants she had protecting her?"
There was no malice in his words—only the truth. Shion had grown up like true nobility: meals prepared, servants at her side, never needing to lift a finger. Her sole duty was sealing the monster Mōryō.
Willful as ever, Shion refused to eat, simply lying down to sleep.
Pakura said, "Let's get to the night watch."
Everyone nodded, quickly finishing their meals.
Sakura, Pakura, Kurotsuchi, and Omoi's two female teammates slept close around Shion to guard her. Beyond them lay Naruto and the others, and further out still, Kiyosuke and the older shinobi.
They sat cross-legged and slept lightly.
But not everyone slept.
Around midnight, Kiyosuke heard approaching footsteps. At the same time, Ao, Kitsuchi, and Pakura—who had been lying with her eyes closed—opened them, all gazing in the same direction.
Taruho appeared, still dressed in his shrine robes, bow in hand, panting heavily as he stumbled into camp.
The man had broken free from Sasuke's genjutsu and run with all his strength to catch up.
"This is troublesome…" Kiyosuke scratched his head, stood, and walked over to him.
"Taruho-san, how did you manage to follow us here?"
"As Shion-sama's priest, I have my own methods. Please, let me come with you."
Taruho's determination was unshakable. But using genjutsu again would be dangerous—this wasn't near the palace anymore. Sending him back alone would risk him running into pursuers. If discovered, he'd almost certainly be killed.
"You really put us in a tough spot…" Kiyosuke sighed. Then, with a swift motion, he knocked Taruho unconscious.
"Hide him somewhere safe, Kitsuchi."
Kitsuchi used Earth Release to create a well-concealed underground chamber. They left Taruho food and water, then sealed him inside.
Bringing him along was simply too risky. Numbers weren't the issue—the problem was protecting a powerless man while being pursued. If the pursuers were the Ghost Army, it would be disastrous. Those creatures couldn't be killed. In a sense, they were like Impure World Reincarnation, though weaker than those resurrected shinobi.
But what they lacked in strength, they made up for in sheer numbers. To launch an assault on all Five Great Nations at once, their forces had to be massive—perhaps even greater than the White Zetsu army and the Edo Tensei army of the Fourth Great Ninja War combined.
At least White Zetsu could be killed. The Ghost Army could not.
Their top priority now was for Shion to reinforce the seal and prepare for Mōryō's soul to arrive. Only then could they seal it completely and lift the crisis looming over the Five Great Nations.
There was no time to waste here.
As for Taruho—his loyalty was admirable. But whether that loyalty hid other intentions… no one could say.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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