Witch Town

"Lord Hokage, the online meeting of the Five Kage is about to begin." Shikamaru turned around and reminded him, "Kumogakure is already urging us, Lord Hokage, please prepare."

"What can we possibly achieve through these Tenten meetings? It'll probably just be more accountability issues," Kakashi sighed, unable to contain his complaint. "Other people's disciples are all mature and composed, while my disciples have ruined my reputation. It's truly a long story."

"The Kumogakure said," Shikamaru glanced at the still-warm document and continued, "that Sasuke attacked Killer B, and earlier they suspected that Sasuke had attacked the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, using the same method."

"Sasuke is already a rogue ninja, what else can we do?" Kakashi, with only one dead fish eye visible through his mask, reluctantly got up and said.

"Anyway, we can't do anything about Sasuke. I know Sasuke is utterly wicked, but there's nothing we can do. We can't catch him, and he's escaped to another country's territory. Konohagakure has to go through the procedures to apply for assistance."

"Arresting people is completely counterproductive. In the end, isn't it all about compensation? But compensation requires negotiations and talks. We were still negotiating with those people for the past two or three months."

"As a result, after dragging on for half a month, nothing was agreed upon."

Listening to Kakashi's complaints, Shikamaru felt somewhat helpless. He knew that Kakashi was intentionally grooming him, and he understood the reasons behind it. "That's true, but it's the Five Kage Summit after all, so I still have to participate."

The Five Kage Summit is all about participation.

Kakashi walked into the conference room prepared by the Intelligence Department with the mindset of going to a funeral, holding a copy of Make-Out Paradise in one hand, and watched the people from the Intelligence Department idly adjusting the equipment.

"Lord Hokage, it'll be ready soon." The person in charge explained, sweating profusely, "There's a slight problem with the equipment, please wait a moment."

"It's alright, it's alright." Kakashi waved his hand, his eyes never leaving the pages of the book. "No need to rush. The Five Kage Summit is a complete waste of time."

"Yes." The head of the Intelligence Department was drenched in sweat.

Sigh, life is tough, and a promotion isn't always a good thing.

Ino, the former head of the Intelligence Department, went home to give birth and has not returned since. There has been no news of her since she became pregnant and took care of her pregnancy. Even after the child was born, there has been no rumor about her returning to work.

As for the former head of the Yamanaka clan, Inoichi Yamanaka, he had previously said that he would continue to work as usual, and perhaps occasionally need to take leave to go home and take care of his granddaughter. However, after the birth of the new eldest princess of the Yamanaka Clan, Inoichi Yamanaka simply disappeared.

Forget about going to work or not, forget about being the head of the Intelligence Department; Inoichi Yamanaka is now just an ordinary Villager A.

The Yamanaka Clan, which dominated the Intelligence Department, had initially caused some resentment among the staff. But now, the whole family has stopped coming, their attention entirely focused on the children.

The Intelligence Department is still functioning, but its status in Konohagakure has declined by more than 180 steps. Not only have the previous hidden benefits disappeared, but the workload has also increased.

After a period of chaos, the equipment finally began to operate autonomously.

As the ten-second countdown ended, Kakashi reluctantly put down "Make-Out Paradise." He rested his chin on his hand, staring at the screen with a bored expression, thinking to himself that another round of bickering was about to begin.

He just didn't know what his unworthy disciples were doing at this time, nor did he know who had done those things. Kakashi had a vague feeling that something was strange about this, and it seemed like something Naruto would do.

However, Naruto has recently taken on a special mission that is somewhat related to the Hyuga Clan. But Kakashi doesn't care about that; his disciple has grown up and can not only embarrass him but also betray him.

He could simply pretend he didn't know; after all, as Hokage, his job was only to protect Konohagakure's interests. With Ino and Hinata around, he wasn't worried about Naruto becoming a rogue ninja.

He felt a pang of regret; he hadn't considered how to keep Sasuke, otherwise things wouldn't have turned out this way. He shook his head; the meeting had already begun.

~~

The Land of Shamans.

A caravan stopped in a long-abandoned market town. The sun was setting, and the last rays of sunlight had long been swallowed by the night.

Two ninjas jumped off the vehicle. One of them, a girl with her hair in a bun, looked around for a moment before gasping in shock. She wasn't afraid of anything, but she was terrified of eerie places like this.

On the contrary, Rock Lee, who also jumped down, peeked around and seemed uninterested in the abandoned town, asking curiously.

"Naruto, where is this?"

"We've arrived at the sealed land of the Land of Shamans." Naruto yawned and jumped down from the carriage as well. "This is the destination of our mission. We were asked to come here to exorcise the spirits."

"Exorcism?" Tenten immediately got goosebumps. "You should ask a priestess to exorcise a spirit! Why ask Konohagakure to do something like this? We're just ninjas!"

"Well... I know all too well. In short, the mission is quite urgent, and even I can't refuse." Naruto waved his hand. "The client seems to be someone important, with some connection to Konohagakure."

"The client?"

Naruto smiled and shrugged.

"Yes, it seems they have a good relationship with the Hyuga Clan. I happened to run into the client, who was asking Lord Hiashi for help, so I couldn't refuse and had to agree."

"Then why did you drag us into this?!" Tenten covered her face with her hands, looking nervous. "I'm terrified of things like this, it's so scary."

"Because Neji is injured. I was originally planning to team up with Rock Lee and Neji," Naruto said calmly. "Unfortunately, although it's frustrating, I'll have to make do for now."

"What?" Tenten immediately became angry. "What do you mean by 'make do'? I didn't want to come either! Why are there such terrifying things here? I can't see them or touch them. Waaah!"

As the three were talking, a middle-aged merchant-looking man stepped down from the carriage at the front. He casually took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and hurried over from a distance.

"I'm sorry, sirs, but the Witch Street is just ahead. It's been abandoned for a long time and is uninhabitable, so we can only stay on the edge of the town for now."

"Please forgive us for the simple conditions and poor hospitality."

"It's alright, we don't mind." Tenten's demeanor changed completely when facing the client, becoming as gentle as a spring breeze. "I wonder what exactly this exorcism in the Land of Shamans is?"

"This..." The middle-aged businessman's expression changed immediately. "The things sealed underground have come out, and there's nothing we can do about it. We don't know much about things from even further back in time."

"In short, if the spirits in Witch Street are not exorcised, those things underground will eventually emerge and devour the Land of Shamans."

The wealthy merchant's words were ambiguous, causing Tenten and Naruto to frown simultaneously. They exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Night falls.

As darkness fell, a feeling of drowsiness lingered in Tenten's mind, but she ignored it, slowly closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up groggily in the middle of the night, Tenten mouth dry and parched, and instinctively reached for my ninja flashlight. This was a new ninja gadget developed by Konohagakure, designed to help ninjas see underwater and provide illumination at night.

He reached out and accidentally touched something unexpectedly cold, and instinctively squeezed it twice.

"Ah!"

A girl's alluring voice entered Tenten's ears, and she instantly snapped awake.

She remembered that she was sleeping in the room, and apart from herself, she couldn't find any living creature, let alone a woman.

It felt like all the strength had been drained from my body. I struggled Tenten to sit up, but I couldn't get up at all.

Finally, she found the flashlight in her hand, but the more anxious she became, the less she could turn it on. Through her blurry vision, she saw a candlestick by the bed.

The scene inside the room gradually became clearer, and Tenten struggled to look at it.

What came into view was a young girl with White Kimono half-draped over her head, her face flushed with embarrassment, possessing a beautiful bone structure. She sat on the edge of the bed in a white wedding dress, exuding an indescribable eeriness.

Even the slow-witted Tenten noticed something was wrong. There was a delicate and pretty girl sitting in front of the bed, White Kimono.

Everything was so unusual.

"You're awake?" The voice of the girl in the White Kimono wedding dress was somewhat ethereal.

Tenten that bizarre scene, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat. He was clearly still sleeping in his room, how did he wake up in this ghostly place?

Was this a dream? Her eyes were blank for a moment, and just as she was about to answer, a voice suddenly rang in her mind— Naruto's lazy voice.

"Don't make a sound, and don't look at that thing."

A shiver ran from Tenten's toes all the way to the top of his head.

Not human? Seriously? Then what exactly is this woman in the White Kimono in front of me? She seems to be staring at me.

In an instant, the fear factor in Tenten's genes surged violently. She desperately wanted to ask the voice of Naruto in her mind what she should do now.

Unfortunately, Naruto's voice rang out once and then fell silent as if the connection had been cut off. Before figuring out what was happening, Tenten dared not make any rash moves.

When the woman in White Kimono saw that her calls went unanswered, her expression changed instantly, and a tear of blood streamed down her face, startling Tenten, who was sitting opposite her.

Her teeth chattered uncontrollably; she couldn't muster any will to resist, frozen in place like a puppet. A sense of despair welled up inside her—what to do, what to do!

At the critical moment, a large hand suddenly emerged from the darkness and ripped apart the White Kimono shadow at the head of the bed with a loud bang.

One second the woman in the White Kimono was still alive and well, but the next second she was instantly grasped and turned into nothingness!

As the large hand tore through the White Kimono, the surrounding scenery instantly changed. The room was still the same room, but there was no bed; she was sleeping in a sleeping bag made of wooden planks.

Before Tenten could react, Naruto leisurely emerged from the darkness. He leaned against the table, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Tenten, are you alright?"

"No, it's nothing." Tenten was stunned for a moment, then realized what it was. "What was that thing? It was terrifying!"

"Why the long face? It must be Genjutsu, but I wonder who created it," Naruto said with a smile. "You're unlucky; I just happened to arrive. Why were you standing there like that?"

"I'm terrified of these things; I'm lucky I even managed to avoid them! They almost scared me to death." Tenten's face was deathly pale. "You knew all along, why didn't you warn me!"

"I didn't know, I only found out just now," Naruto explained. "That thing came after me just now, but it didn't scare me."

"What on earth is buried here? It's so fierce!" Tenten wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and, seeing Naruto, a terrifying thought popped into her mind.

Where is Neji?

She blinked, already finding it hard to believe the person who had inexplicably emerged from the darkness. Who knew if the person before her was Naruto, or something in disguise?

It's just a case of changing clothes but not the same thing.

"Neji? Are you out of your mind? There's no Neji." He looked at Tenten in surprise. "Neji didn't come at all, but Rock Lee next door seems to have seen the person who cast the Genjutsu and has already chased after them."

Upon hearing this, Tenten basically believed him.

"Isn't it dangerous for Rock Lee to go out like this?"

"What danger could a guy who relies on Genjutsu to play tricks be?" Naruto waved his hand. "If I had known you were so afraid of these things, I wouldn't have brought you along."

"Rock Lee and I are enough. This market town is indeed a bit strange. And that merchant isn't a good person either, but it doesn't matter. We'll make him pay back sooner or later."

"Genjutsu?" Tenten looked completely bewildered. "Why can't I break it? Although I'm not good at Genjutsu, I'm very good at breaking Genjutsu. How could this be?"

"Let's wait for Rock Lee's news. We'll know tomorrow." Naruto walked to the drafty window, looked at the dark night outside, and remained silent.

It was almost dawn, but Rock Lee still hadn't returned.

Tenten paced back and forth for half an hour, looking somewhat uneasy, before finally unable to resist approaching Naruto and anxiously asking him what was wrong.

"Rock Lee hasn't come back yet, could something have happened to him?"

"No, Rock Lee is much better than you think." Naruto remained calm and collected. "It'll be dawn soon, just wait patiently."

Sure enough, after daybreak, Rock Lee slowly returned.

"Rock Lee!" Tenten waved excitedly, "Over here!"

Just after she finished shouting, she suddenly turned her head and whispered to Naruto.

"Why did Rock Lee fall for Weird?"

"I don't know, maybe he's under Genjutsu, or maybe he's just too tired," Naruto said. "But the former is less likely, as Rock Lee has his own way of identifying Genjutsu."

"What?" Tenten asked instinctively.

"If you punch it and it dissipates, it's fake," he said confidently.

Finally, Rock Lee staggered closer to the two, his face ashen. He then collapsed to the ground with a thud, his eyes vacant and him gasping for breath.

Give me water.

"I'm really exhausted." Naruto shrugged, then took out a bottle of water from his Sealing Space, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Rock Lee, who was lying on the ground.

"Have you caught that person? Have you found anything?" he asked.

"We caught him. I chased him all night," Rock Lee said hurriedly while drinking water. "He's a man in his thirties who claims to be the priest here."

"After beating him for a long time, he finally told the truth: there is indeed something sealed underground in Witch Town. But it has been so long that many of the secrets passed down orally have been lost. All we know is that it is related to the Uchiha Clan."