Tamamo Hotaru's utterly unreliable performance earned her Shinji's middle finger.
The next day, Princess Haruna parted ways with everyone.
Even though the Land of Vegetables had been reduced to this state — and those who had once fought for power and influence were either dead from the recent catastrophe or had fled in terror — Haruna was determined to take responsibility.
She would preserve the name of her country and protect the few remaining citizens.
For the first time, she did not step forward for the sake of power, but for the sake of her people.
With the Daimyō's residence burned to the ground, there was naturally no one left to compete with her for this mess of a nation.
Yet the large group of people taken away by the monsters was still important — they represented hope.
"I leave everything in your hands."
Haruna said her goodbyes, along with the few people she had managed to gather.
Since the Land of Vegetables was now in ruins, Tamamo Hotaru could no longer stay there.
Besides, she still owed Shinji a jade token, so she had no choice but to continue following him like a servant.
"I'll do what I can."
Shinji's reply was short and to the point; he made no grand promises. He himself wasn't sure if they could find the missing people.
Haruna nodded and said no more. To ask for more at this point would simply be taking advantage of his kindness.
"Where are we going to look for them?" Tamamo Hotaru asked earnestly as they hurried away from the country.
"If you don't want to die a miserable death, stay out of my sight."
"…Okay."
Shinji was in no mood to deal with her right now. He had wasted so much time and effort, angered the Hidden Cloud Village, and brought her all the way here — only to end up with absolutely nothing.
And he wasn't joking. In fact, he was seriously considering selling her to the Hidden Cloud Village. She should fetch a good price, right?
His gaze shifted sideways toward her, growing distinctly dangerous.
Tamamo Hotaru might not have noticed, but Kagetsu — the white fox in her arms — was far more sensitive.
The intelligent creature's black eyes darted around, and suddenly it struggled free from her embrace.
"Ah!"
In a flash, it leaped onto Shinji's shoulder, whimpered softly, and rubbed its fluffy head affectionately against his cheek.
Shinji kept a straight face. "Don't think you can make me forgive your idiot mistress's debts just by acting cute."
Kagetsu immediately put on an innocent expression, stuck out its tongue, and licked his cheek twice.
Shinji glanced at it and couldn't help but be amused by its pitiful, pleading look. He took it into his arms and began stroking its fur.
"Don't worry. The worst I'll do is sell your stupid mistress to the Hidden Cloud to pay off what she owes. You won't get dragged into it."
Kagetsu whined softly and closed its eyes, enjoying the massage.
Tamamo Hotaru instantly felt a pang of jealousy.
At first she hadn't understood why Kagetsu was doing this, but hearing Shinji's words made her suddenly realize just how dangerous her situation really was.
She had nothing left to offer, yet had been relying entirely on his protection for free…
If the Hidden Cloud ninja showed up now, who would care if she lived or died?
He could easily just hand her over to them — and they would surely pay well.
At that point, the missing jade tokens wouldn't matter anymore.
But she wasn't completely foolish. She realized his words were clearly meant as a warning, spoken only out of consideration for Kagetsu.
If he really intended to do it, there would be no need to tell her and risk causing trouble.
Logically, she should have been grateful to Kagetsu.
But along with gratitude came intense jealousy.
Kagetsu hadn't acted this cute or affectionate toward her in ages — yet here it was, fawning all over that hateful man…
Even if it was all for her sake, she couldn't help feeling envious.
Besides — she was a beautiful woman! Not only did no one here ever treat her as someone important, but now she was even being outshone by a fox!
Sometimes you really couldn't understand what silly, trivial things could spark a woman's competitive spirit — just like right now.
As they traveled, Tamamo Hotaru had no idea where Shinji was heading. She only noticed that every so often, he would stop and examine something carefully.
Could he have found some clue?
She wished!
Shinji wasn't looking for traces of the monsters' path at all. He was searching for the location of the Underground Exchange.
He had spotted their symbol on a signpost when he first entered the Land of Vegetables; all he had to do now was follow the markings to find the exact spot.
Unless you dealt regularly with the Underground Exchange, you'd never know where to find them. You either had to be led there by someone in the know, or just get lucky.
Shinji, however, was clearly an old hand at this.
And his reason for finding it was simple: instead of wasting energy searching blindly, it was far easier to just pay for information.
Since there was an Exchange nearby, there was no way they didn't know about the massive disaster that had struck the Land of Vegetables.
This was actually one of the reasons Shinji had agreed to try rescuing the villagers.
If even the Underground Exchange couldn't give him the answers he wanted, he would most likely just drop the whole thing.
After winding their way through many turns and twists, they finally found… a public toilet in a nearby canyon.
Yes!
A public toilet built in the middle of a desolate, uninhabited canyon!
It was absurd — utterly ridiculous!
Anyone with a normal brain would never build a public toilet in such a godforsaken place where not even birds would come to shit.
Which meant one thing: there was definitely something fishy going on here.
"We're here. Let's go."
Shinji offered no explanation and simply led the way inside.
Hidan and Tobi were already used to his ways. Seeing a public toilet in the middle of nowhere didn't surprise them at all — and they both knew exactly what this place really was.
Even Sasuke, who had been through many strange experiences with Shinji, remained calm and expressionless.
Only Tamamo Hotaru stood there completely confused.
"What are you standing there for? Come on," Shinji called out.
Tamamo Hotaru's face flushed with embarrassment. "I… I'm fine right now. I don't need to go. You guys go ahead."
This weird toilet didn't even have separate entrances for men and women.
Shinji shook his head in exasperation. "Learn to look past appearances. Did I travel all this way just to find a toilet so I can take a dump?"
He walked right in, ignoring whatever expression she had on her face.
Tamamo Hotaru felt awkward and annoyed. So there's something hidden inside?
Wondering, she hesitated for a moment, then followed him in.
Only to find that yes — it really was a public toilet inside…
But Shinji and the others had completely vanished!
How could a group of people disappear in the ten seconds she took to walk in?
Impossible!
Which meant there had to be a secret passage or hidden room here.
And I fell for it again…
Tamamo Hotaru couldn't help a bitter smile. She stood there wondering whether to go back out or look around further.
____________________
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