Delay

"Tch! You think I wanted to come? It's just a rotation to take care of them. Wait, I'll go tell them; they're still worried."

"No need, I'll go and talk to them myself. Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that Chakra. It's not the first time."

"Then be careful." Seeing that Shiro said this, Taichi had no choice but to listen to him. After being teammates for so long, he knew Shiro's stubborn temper.

"Don't worry." With that, Shiro got out of bed and asked, "How's the mission going? Has the Moryo been sealed away?"

"Yes, after you fell asleep, Shrine Maiden priestess sealed the Moryo. Don't worry, the mission was successfully completed."

"I see. Well then, how is the Shrine Maiden?"

"Don't worry, she's fine. Why are you so concerned about her?"

"It's nothing, I was just a few things on my mind. It's good that everything's alright."

Taichi didn't press Shiro for details, but judging from the slight upturn of Shiro's lips, it seemed to be a good thing.

After walking a few steps, Shiro realized that he had forgotten to ask a rather important question, and quickly stopped what he was doing.

"Taichi, how many days have I been asleep? What about the other ninja villages? Have they left?"

"Ha, I thought you wouldn't ask. Don't worry, it's only been a day. People from other ninja villages are here too. The Shrine Maiden said she'll thank us together after you recover."

"At the grand ceremony." Taichi emphasized this last point.

"A grand ceremony? What's it for?"

"It's said to be their tradition; they hold this grand ceremony every time they seal away Moryo. Therefore, they are also preparing to formally thank us at this ceremony."

"Shiro, I have to say, we owe them a huge favor this time."

"Ah, this is a huge debt."

The reason why Shiro and his group owed a huge favor is mainly because of Shiro's performance this time.

In this mission, it was clear to everyone that if Shiro continued to grow smoothly, his future achievements would be considerable, and now was the best opportunity to assassinate Shiro.

Therefore, the Shrine Maiden specially prepared this grand ceremony to give Shiro and the others an opportunity to send a message and to give reinforcements time to arrive.

As for why it was held specifically for this purpose...

Although they held a grand ceremony after sealing the Moryo, it wasn't actually to celebrate the Moryo. After all, the Moryo was achieved by sacrificing the Shrine Maiden's life, so there was nothing to be happy about.

Their grand ceremony was actually held to celebrate the succession of the new Shrine Maiden, who was also the new leader of the country.

Now, the current Shrine Maiden is still alive, and her daughter is not qualified to be the new queen. Therefore, this event is truly held specifically for Shiro and his group.

Although they didn't know if there would be any difficulties in organizing this grand ceremony, even if there were no difficulties, their good intentions were still there, and Shiro couldn't ignore them.

Soon, Shiro and the others arrived in the hall. Almost everyone was there, but they were all resting and not training. After all, they had just finished a battle and needed to relax.

"Shiro, why don't you rest a little longer?"

"It's alright, Captain, I'm fine. It's just that I overused my Chakra. It's not the first time."

"It's good that you knew your limits. Did this secret technique have any serious side effects?"

"No, it's just that the Chakra meridians are damaged, and I'll need to rest for a while."

"It's good that everyone's alright; a few more missions won't make a difference."

"Here, Brother Shiro." Hikari handed Shiro a cup of tea and asked worriedly, "Brother Shiro, are you really alright? That kind of high-intensity attack, and you used it twice."

"Haha, don't worry, it's nothing, just a bit of overload. Do you remember what the most important ability of a ninja is that I taught you?"

"Yes, I remember, follow your heart, but what does that have to do with my question?"

"Hmm, not bad memory, but I forgot to explain the other meaning of that sentence to you last time."

"The other one, does it have any other meaning?"

"Of course."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over curiously, also wanting to know what the other meaning was.

"Ahem, remember this well, it's my secret technique! Silently grow stronger, and survive to the end!"

"Anything else?" Hikari waited a moment, but didn't hear anything more, so he asked curiously.

"That's it! That's the essence!"

"."

"Hey, hey, hey, what's with that look! Let me tell you, my current success owes a great deal to that sentence!" Shiro said angrily when he saw Hikari's disgusted expression.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing Shiro's exasperated appearance, everyone couldn't help but laugh. The serious Shiro from yesterday had left a deep impression on them.

Now, facing a different Shiro, they felt even closer to him.

Seeing this, although Shiro still appeared furious on the surface, he was actually quite happy inside, though he couldn't feel it at the moment.

Shiro wasn't pretending to be stupid to amuse them; it just happened naturally. It was a habit Shiro had from his previous life, deeply ingrained in his bones.

Sometimes even he himself doesn't realize it; of course, not entirely, sometimes he's genuinely foolish.

After a burst of laughter and playful banter, Nakamura gestured for them to quiet down.

After they had completely quieted down, Nakamura said, "Shiro, you may need to pretend to be sick for another day or two. Their ceremony was prepared in advance, and as soon as you recover, the ceremony can begin immediately."

"Therefore, you will need to remain asleep for a while longer. We have already informed the village, and they have replied that Lord Sakumo is on his way."

"Is the teacher coming?"

"Yes, so you'll need to rest for a while longer until Lord Sakumo arrives."

"Okay, I understand. Is there anything else I need to be careful about?"

"That's all. You just need to rest well and stay out of sight. But just to be on the safe side, Taiyi and the others shouldn't go out during this time Taichi, so as not to give anything away."

"We're in the Land of Demons, and it's still during a mission. Do you think they'd dare to make a move?" Hikari asked, frowning.

"Of course not openly, but other villages have similar Anbu units, and they also have quite a few rogue ninja."

Hikari and the others were just inexperienced, not truly naive. Therefore, after hearing this, they understood what the so-called "rogue ninja" meant without Nakamura's explanation.

"Okay, that's all. Everyone, get some rest."

"Yes."

Meanwhile, people from the other villages were also discussing the matter, but they were unaware that Sakumo was on his way; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so calm.

Thank you to readers Huanggu Yichen and Huagu Weifeng for the monthly tickets! Thank you for your support!