"So… you agree?"
Tsunade looked at Shiki expectantly.
After all, if he said that much, it basically meant he was willing to leave the village.
"Why are you so happy?"
Shiki glanced at her strangely.
I'm the one leaving Konoha. Why do you look like you just won something?
"What do you think?"
Sensing what he meant, Tsunade rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed.
Then she pulled out a mission scroll and handed it to him.
"There's an S-rank mission. Right now, you're the only one in the village who can handle it."
"…"
Shiki looked at her, then at the scroll in his hand, completely speechless.
"If there's a mission, just say there's a mission. Why go in circles?"
If she had said it from the start, what was he going to do—refuse?
"Heh."
Tsunade only smiled, not bothering to argue.
Seeing that expression, Shiki didn't say anything else. He opened the scroll and glanced through it.
"…The Land of Demons?"
The name felt familiar.
Isn't that the place where that monster is sealed?
Shiki recalled that the Land of Demons had a line of shrine maidens with the ability to foresee the future—powers passed down through their bloodline.
"That's right."
Tsunade nodded and explained,
"The seal on that monster is starting to weaken. The Land of Demons is one of Konoha's allied nations, so they've already requested assistance."
Konoha had plenty of smaller allied countries like this.
And that monster—Mōryō—was said to be on the level of a Tailed Beast.
It couldn't be ignored.
At the current stage, the only one capable of handling something like this…
…was Shiki.
That was why Tsunade came to him the moment the mission arrived.
"So my job is to escort that shrine maiden to the sealing site."
Shiki skimmed the details.
The shrine maiden, Shion, was still just a child.
But that didn't matter.
The abilities of the shrine maiden lineage were inherited through blood. Even at her age, sealing Mōryō wouldn't be a problem.
The real issue…
…was that Mōryō would try everything to stop her from reaching the sealing site.
So his task was simple.
Escort her safely.
As for whether the monster would be sealed successfully—
That depended on how things played out.
Hearing Shiki's casual tone, Tsunade smiled.
"If you want, you can just destroy it outright."
She would never say that to anyone else.
After all, Mōryō was no ordinary threat—it was comparable to a Tailed Beast.
But Shiki had already dealt with more than one Tailed Beast before.
To him, something like this wasn't a big deal.
"Let's see when we get there."
Shiki tilted his head, silent for a moment before waving it off.
"If sealing it works, that's better."
Honestly, he just didn't want the hassle.
If it could be sealed, that was the easiest solution.
Destroying it would just be unnecessary trouble.
"Heh."
Tsunade understood exactly what kind of person he was, so she didn't press further.
To Konoha, the Land of Demons was just a minor allied nation.
Sure, they kept claiming that if Mōryō broke free, it would bring destruction to the entire shinobi world…
…but outside of that country, almost no one actually believed it.
If the world could really be destroyed that easily—
Wouldn't the Tailed Beasts have done it already?
"Then I'll leave this to you."
With that, Tsunade turned and left.
There was still plenty of work waiting for her in the Hokage's office.
Putting the scroll away, Shiki glanced ahead—
—and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Several pairs of eyes were staring right at him.
Kushina.
Kakashi.
Kurenai Yūhi.
Rin Nohara.
All of them had the same look—
We're going with you.
Shiki rubbed his forehead before shifting his gaze to the side.
"Don't tell me the Uchiha clan head's wife wants to come too?"
His eyes landed on Mikoto, who was standing beside Kushina.
"Huh? No, no!"
Caught off guard, Mikoto froze for a second before quickly waving her hands.
"I just came with Kushina!"
She usually had plenty of responsibilities already.
This kind of mission wasn't something she planned to join.
"…But…"
After hesitating for a moment, she still spoke.
"If possible… could I trouble you to visit the Uchiha clan after this mission, Lord Shiki?"
"…"
Shiki didn't answer immediately.
He simply looked at her.
With that hopeful expression…
Anyone else might think she was just inviting him as a guest.
But—
"Fugaku told you to say that, didn't he?"
"Uh… hehe…"
Mikoto laughed awkwardly.
Clearly, he hit the mark.
It was Uchiha Fugaku's idea.
She had just been the one sent to deliver the message.
She was about to explain—
—but Shiki raised a hand and cut her off.
"Fine. I'll go."
What the Uchiha clan was thinking wasn't hard to figure out.
Back then, Nara Shikaku had approached them, asking Fugaku to support Tsunade's rise to Hokage.
Fugaku had agreed—
…but with a condition.
Konoha had to treat the Uchiha clan fairly.
Now, neither Shiki nor Tsunade had any intention of targeting the Uchiha.
There was no need.
But even so…
…the Uchiha clan's reputation within Konoha hadn't improved at all.
That was exactly why Fugaku wanted to establish a better relationship.
"Thank you for your consideration, Lord Shiki."
Mikoto nodded, clearly relieved.
She had expected this to be difficult.
Someone like Shiki—
She thought he would be distant, maybe even arrogant.
But now…
It seemed she had been overthinking things.
"I'm sorry, Lord Shiki. I misjudged you before."
Her tone was sincere.
Shiki, however, just stared at her for a moment.
"…"
Then raised an eyebrow.
"…Are you apologizing… or insulting me indirectly?"
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