The guards knelt on one knee and spoke respectfully.
"After Her Highness the Priestess fell pregnant, His Highness the Daimyō passed away due to illness, a root cause left behind by the Mōryō calamity of the past. The child Her Highness currently carries is the last of the Daimyō's noble bloodline. We must ensure absolute safety so that this child may lead the Land of Demons in the future."
"You may leave," Miroku said, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea.
This was normal for a pregnant woman. She suppressed the sensation and quickly waved her hand. When she was vexed, she preferred to be alone.
"Are you a daughter, or a son? That guy said you would be a daughter; he's even thought of your name already: Shion."
Miroku stroked her large belly. The instinct of motherly love caused a gentle, affectionate smile to ripple across her lips. Although Shion was that guy's child, she was her child too, no matter what. Shion was innocent.
Suddenly, the space around her began to fluctuate.
Before Miroku could even react, she saw Shimizu appear in the shrine, carrying a female ninja over his shoulder. The kunai in her hand slipped, but Shimizu caught it before it hit the floor.
"!"
Miroku's eyes widened, wondering if she was hallucinating.
Ignoring Miroku's shock, Shimizu set Pakura down and gauged the remaining chakra in his body. It had been completely drained, even though he had held several Soldier Pills in his mouth. Transporting people across multiple countries—such consumption was indeed terrifying.
Even the Reanimated Minato Namikaze, after flying from the center of the battlefield back to the Hokage Rock in Konohagakure, had emptied all his chakra on the spot and had to wait for his Edo Tensei body to recover.
Shimizu swallowed two more Soldier Pills, recovering a bit of chakra, and spoke.
"This is my special kunai. I've engraved a formula on it that allows me to teleport here from a great distance. Remember to find a string and hang it in an open area."
Shimizu handed the kunai to Miroku.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Miroku patted her chest gently several times, feeling the cold touch of the kunai as she suppressed her emotions. "That day, the yellow-haired ninja who brought you here... he seemed to use a technique like this."
"Something like that." Shimizu nodded, then continued, "Arrange a room for me to settle this woman."
Miroku finally cast her gaze toward the guest. She discovered a woman with fine skin and a beautiful face. She bit her lip slightly.
Although she had no emotional foundation with Shimizu, they had, after all, shared a bond of intimacy. After becoming pregnant, she had shifted her focus to the child. This had diluted the pain of the Daimyō being assassinated on Shimizu's orders. Sometimes, she comforted herself by trying to accept reality and look for Shimizu's good points.
The result? Shimizu suddenly returns home holding a stunningly beautiful woman. And he has the audacity to ask her, heavily pregnant, to arrange a room for her...
He truly was a bastard; didn't he know the ninja world operated on monogamy?!
"Hmph, I haven't settled the score with you regarding the Daimyō yet," Miroku said, turning her head away.
Shimizu grabbed her chin and turned her face back toward him.
"The Daimyō was a man who deserved to die. Even without my intervention, he didn't have many years left. You know this, don't you? His body aged rapidly because his life force was drained. When he neared death, his organs would have decayed faster than a normal person's. Living would have been torture."
Miroku lowered her head. Of course, she knew the Daimyō had brought it upon himself by unsealing Mōryō. If he hadn't been blinded by that power, his ending wouldn't have been so miserable.
"Someone come!" Miroku's dignified voice rang out.
"Here," a guard responded, stepping forward.
"Take this woman to the room beneath the shrine."
"Yes."
The guards were confused about how two people had suddenly appeared, but Her Highness's affairs were not for them to question. The Priestess was now the uncrowned king of the Land of Demons. She held the highest status and the most power; a single word from her could determine life or death.
Shimizu handed Pakura over to the guard. He had already treated Pakura; her wounds had healed, but she had lost too much blood, and certain parts of her nervous and meridian systems needed rest to recover.
The guard carried Pakura away on her back.
It is worth mentioning that the guards protecting the Priestess were now exclusively female. The men had been transferred elsewhere by Shimizu. He had not forgotten that in the prophecy of Naruto Shippuden the Movie, a guard had developed inappropriate feelings for Shion. Naturally, such things had to be eliminated at the source.
"What, have you taken a fancy to my guards?" Miroku sneered.
She wasn't a mean woman. It was just that Shimizu acted so inhumanely that her standard etiquette for normal people was useless in front of him.
"Of course not. I have you; how could I look at your guards?"
Shimizu sat down beside Miroku. Miroku tried to dodge, but Shimizu held her in place. He reached out and touched her belly, feeling the new life within. Seeing his gentle movements, Miroku's expression couldn't help but soften.
The child ultimately needed a father. The Daimyō was dead. Therefore, Shion's true father would have to take on the role.
Miroku sighed softly. The past was like the wind; she could only try to accept it. Although Shimizu seemed overbearing and often forced her hand, at least he would fulfill the duties of a father. As long as Shimizu could shoulder that responsibility and give Shion love, she would hold her nose and accept it.
Sunagakure.
"Teacher Pakura died at the hands of Iwagakure!?"
Maki wore a look of disbelief. The purple markings on her face trembled with her expression. Bean-sized tears rolled down from her eyes.
"Woo..."
Maki began to sob, weeping like a pear blossom bathed in rain. From constantly wiping her tears, her creamy white face was now streaked with dirt.
The one delivering the news was Baki. He knew a little bit of the inside story. But that information was too shocking; it absolutely could not be leaked.
The true reason for Pakura's death could very well cause a sensation throughout the entire village, leading to a scattering of hearts and plummeting morale. Ambitious individuals might even seize the opportunity to incite emotions, launch a coup, and seize the position of Kazekage.
Sunagakure could not withstand turmoil.
If Pakura's death could bring a ceasefire between Sunagakure and Kirigakure, then her death had meaning. She was a true hero.
"The village will give Pakura a tombstone in the best location."
"People are dead! What is the use of a tombstone!"
Maki ran away crying.
The memories of her time with Pakura were vivid in her mind. She still remembered the last thing Pakura said to her before leaving.
"Thinking of your family, the village, and your comrades, and having the determination to protect the village absolutely—this will creates the strength that makes a ninja powerful."
This was the secret to becoming strong that Pakura had told her.
"Teacher Pakura, I will definitely avenge you."
The flames of hatred ignited in Maki's emerald eyes. All along, she had become strong for revenge—to take revenge on Kirigakure for killing her father. Now, there was another target: Iwagakure, who had killed Pakura!
Nighttime.
Miroku turned over, quietly leaning back toward a spot behind her. Only when she reached the corner of the wall did she realize that there was no one behind her.
Looking at her messy clothes and the traces on the bed, everything indicated that there had been another person here just a moment ago.
"Shimizu... Uchiha."
Miroku bit her lower lip. She shouldn't have thought about accepting Shimizu!
Miroku rolled up the quilt, wrapping herself tightly. It seemed that only in this way could she alleviate some of her loneliness.
"Shion, without that scumbag, we mother and daughter will live just fine," Miroku murmured to herself, staring at the pitch-black ceiling. Her hands, however, uncontrollably gripped the quilt tighter.
Shimizu, having left Miroku's room, teleported to Pakura. The formula he had left on Pakura allowed him to monitor her. The moment Pakura woke up, Shimizu sensed it, immediately rose from Miroku's bed, and used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to the door of her room.
"Cough, cough..."
Pakura coughed dryly a few times. Her vision was pitch black, stars dancing before her eyes. It took a while before she could gradually see the scenery of the room clearly.
A solitary moon hung high, embellished with a few stars. The pale blue sky draped down like a curtain, granting sleep to the earth. Moonlight poured in from the window, spilling onto Pakura's face, making her skin look even paler.
By the moonlight, Pakura saw a silhouette.
It was Shimizu, standing by the bed, though she didn't know when he had arrived.
A trace of confusion flashed in her eyes, followed quickly by dimness and grief. If she remembered correctly, the figure she saw before falling unconscious was Shimizu. He was the one who saved her.
Pakura remembered everything. At this moment, she still harbored a sliver of hope and asked, "The people who attacked me... were they Kirigakure?"
"That's right. However, listening to what they said, it seems you were sold out by your village. It looks like you, the Hero of the Sand, don't have many people in Sunagakure who value you."
"Hero? Haha, I'm nothing but a discarded pawn," Pakura mocked herself, her voice hoarse.
Her last shred of hope was thoroughly annihilated. She had poured her heart and blood into the village, giving everything to protect it regardless of the cost. In the end, she was treated as an abandoned piece.
If she had been sent on a difficult mission to die on the battlefield for the village, Pakura felt she could have accepted it. To die on the battlefield is a ninja's glory. But the truth was that she was merely a sacrifice to appease Kirigakure's anger.
Hero of the Sand.
The more Pakura thought about it now, the more ironic it felt.
"So, what are your plans for the future?"
"Hmph, revenge, of course. They held me up as the Hero of the Sand, praised me to the skies, and in the end, betrayed me for the village's benefit. I must demand an answer for this matter."
Pakura gritted her teeth. Her beautiful face twisted with a trace of distortion and resentment. Only revenge could soothe her indignation and rage!
"Mn, not bad. I support you. But you know that I saved you, right?" Shimizu said indifferently, crossing his arms.
His black hair fell loosely to his waist. He was shirtless, revealing a physique that was muscular, distinct, and flawless.
"I have always repaid kindness with kindness and hatred with hatred. You saved my life; if you need help with anything, I will help."
Pakura turned her head. Her eyes had adapted to the darkness; she could not only see the outlines of the room's objects but also what Shimizu was wearing.
Mn?
Her gaze suddenly froze.
Where are his clothes?
Pakura suddenly realized that Shimizu had come out wearing only a pair of shorts. It was her first time seeing a man's body—and such a perfect body at that. Just as men like to admire women's bodies, women also look at men's bodies with an appreciative eye.
Pakura hadn't expected that beneath Shimizu's handsome, almost feminine exterior, there would be such a lean and powerful physique. A trace of crimson climbed up the side of Pakura's face.
"Why aren't you wearing clothes!"
Pakura wanted to raise her hand to cover her eyes, but she couldn't summon a shred of strength. She was incredibly weak. Being able to speak was already a sign of good recovery. After all, she had been saved from the brink of death by Shimizu only half a day ago.
"Clothes? Am I not wearing them?" Shimizu flicked the waistband of his loose shorts and smiled.
Then, he moved closer to Pakura.
Pakura's expression turned strange. She began to feel inexplicably nervous. She could even hear the sound of Shimizu's breathing. She was currently unable to move a muscle; if Shimizu had any bad intentions, she was finished.
"Hm?"
Just as Pakura was considering how to speak appropriately, she suddenly realized the space before her eyes had brightened.
In the dim room, there was not only the silver moonlight but now a blazing red light, like a strange yōkai.
Pakura's pupils abruptly constricted to the size of pinpricks. She had never been so astonished in her life. The leap in how things were developing far exceeded her ability to think!
Shimizu... what is he doing?
As Shimizu approached, Pakura finally understood what the thing before her was.
Shimizu had used a summoning technique to bring forth a monster. Perhaps it should be called a Flame Demon—a roaring, one-horned beast of flame. Fire Style chakra was attached to it.
"Repaying a life debt to a savior... I think this is quite reasonable, right?"
As Shimizu spoke, he commanded the Flame Unicorn to move closer.
"Hey, hey... you saved me just to punish me?"
Shimizu stopped his advance.
Pakura let out a sigh of relief. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of her throat. Even when she faced the Kirigakure army alone, she hadn't been this nervous.
She looked at the monster less than a centimeter from the tip of her nose, faintly feeling the high temperature radiating from it. She felt that even her Scorch Style wouldn't be able to defend against such roasting heat.
Pakura tried with all her might to turn her head away, but her stiff body only became stiffer in the tense atmosphere. Even turning her head became extremely difficult.
"There are many ways to repay a debt. If you encounter trouble, you can call me, or let me help you kill someone. We Uchiha are a prestigious clan; I can do some 'inappropriate' things for you."
Listening to Pakura's story, Shimizu was a little tempted. Who wouldn't like a useful 'black glove' operative? However, the two things were not mutually exclusive.
"That makes sense. However, I imagine the famous Scorch Style Pakura wouldn't turn against me over such a small matter. If I remember correctly, you still have a disciple. I wonder if she will follow in your footsteps back in Sunagakure?"
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