It was precisely the many extraordinary things Bai Sui had done along the way that had truly earned him such attention from the Daimyo Mansion.
Otherwise, if he had been merely a doctor, no matter how skilled, the nobles of the entire capital would not have come out to welcome him.
After all, Bai Sui had decided to stop hiding his existence. So although he did not go out of his way to show off, he still let various wonders slip through.
Bai Sui traveled according to his own whims, so he often arrived in villages and towns at night. Among those he encountered were people seeking medical treatment.
Bai Sui could see in the dark without difficulty, so he often showed his extraordinary abilities.
Since people used torches and candles for lighting, the light was usually dim. Bai Sui did not care whether it was bright or dark, but the villagers often struggled to see.
So sometimes Bai Sui simply revealed the radiance of his Primordial Spirit, causing the dark room to shine with light. When they saw Bai Sui glowing from head to toe, many villagers thought a god or Buddha had descended, and quite a few worshipped him on the spot.
Besides, ever since Bai Sui began refining his golden elixir, his body had been sublimating passively. A strange fragrance often emanated from him, and anyone who smelled it felt refreshed and at ease. Even minor ailments healed right away.
Bai Sui thought it was filthy, but otherwise, he could have followed the example of Ancestor Chen Nan or Monk Daoji and used soil as a medium, kneading the fragrant essence into pills to make medicine. Perhaps one day there would even be a legend about Bai Sui kneading mud pills.
As mentioned earlier, the culture and thought of this world bore many traces of Shinto, so there were countless gods of all sizes. What was more, Bai Sui had seen many deities appear in the original Naruto story in his previous life.
The most famous were the Death God, the Evil God, and Yama.
But how could a complete pantheon have only those few deities?
Bai Sui had not seen any others on his journey, so he had not given the matter much thought. It was only when someone worshipped him as a deity that he remembered it.
Bai Sui had originally planned to search for them, but after learning that there was a shrine in the Daimyo Mansion, he decided he could investigate it later.
Before long, Bai Sui and his party arrived. They slid open the door, revealing the room's layout. The entire floor was covered in tatami, with a thin carpet laid over it.
There were more than thirty low tables in the hall, each with a noble kneeling behind it. The Feudal Lord sat at the head, while the others sat on either side.
One table had clearly been set aside for Bai Sui. He did not make a fuss and simply sat behind it.
Bai Sui did not care how the others sat. He just sat cross-legged in his place.
Then he felt that the table was a little too high, so he rose into the air by half a foot, putting himself at just the right height.
Bai Sui's attire was not exactly a Daoist robe, but it had wide sleeves and a flowing shape that covered him completely. No one could see what he wore beneath it.
Bai Sui declined the food offered by the Feudal Lord and, to show his gratitude, examined everyone present.
Those there witnessed Bai Sui's skill. He could treat everything except injuries such as severed limbs, and this only made them trust him more.
What they did not know was that Bai Sui could treat severed limbs too; he simply did not want to. In his view, that fell outside the bounds of medicine.
Using Daoist arts to help people would deplete his own virtue, and Bai Sui did not think these people were worth the cost.
Before long, the banquet ended. An attendant led Bai Sui to a townhouse outside the Daimyo Mansion, where he would stay during his time in the capital.
Bai Sui had already made it clear that he would continue traveling through the Ninja World, though he would stay in the capital for a while.
When they learned Bai Sui would be staying there for some time, the Feudal Lord and the others did not rush to persuade him to stay. They thought there would be plenty of time to win him over, and there was no need to hurry. They might even spoil things by pushing too hard.
Bai Sui did not refuse, either. He was not staying for free, after all; he had examined everyone present, which was payment enough for his lodging during this time.
By the time they reached the townhouse, his carriage had already been parked there. He treated the attendant who had led him there as thanks, then beckoned with his right hand. His treasured sword flew out of the carriage and settled across his back.
Out of respect, Bai Sui had not brought a weapon to the banquet. He had left it in the carriage, and the mark he had placed on the sword also served as a sort of tracker.
So Bai Sui had known the carriage had arrived long before this. He had simply not let on during the journey.
Now that he was in the capital, Bai Sui did not rush into action. Some things could not be hurried.
So he spent the day meditating and cultivating inside the house, reflecting on his journey.
The next day, Bai Sui went straight to the shrine in the capital. There were no statues inside. It was said to be a place where deities were worshipped, but in fact, people went there to pray for blessings. No particular deity was named.
Bai Sui saw no spiritual light in the shrine. Either the deities they worshipped did not exist, or their worship was not sincere enough for any deity to send down spiritual light.
With nothing to show for it, Bai Sui headed for his other destination.
Even without using his spiritual sense to search, Bai Sui could tell that someone was following him. He did not need to guess; the Feudal Lord's people had arranged it.
He had nothing to hide, so Bai Sui did not care. He was a guest in someone else's home, after all, and it was only natural for them to keep an eye on him.
Bai Sui was headed for a Buddhist temple. From far away, he could see the words "Hongan-ji Temple" above its gate.
Bai Sui went inside and spoke with the temple's head priest. He learned that the temple followed the Jodo Shinshu tradition, which believed in a principle called the Other-Power Vow.
According to this principle, one's own cultivation was the "vow," while "other power" referred to the Buddha's grace. Only when both conditions were fulfilled could one become a Buddha. They also had almost no precepts.
Bai Sui had known something about Buddhist thought in his previous life, but he was more familiar with Zen than Jodo Shinshu. Besides, whenever the head priest spoke of "other power," Bai Sui felt vaguely uncomfortable.
After all, Zen had already left a deep mark on the spiritual and intellectual life of the Chinese people in his previous life.
Zen held that the mind was pure by nature and that everyone already possessed Buddha-nature; enlightenment could not be sought outside oneself. It taught people to cast aside textual interpretation and penetrate directly to the source of the mind, believing that "within one's own nature, all things are revealed; the freedom inherent in all things is called the pure Dharma-body."
All prajna wisdom arose from one's own nature, not from outside. If one recognized one's own nature, "one would awaken at the very words upon hearing them and suddenly behold one's true nature." Zen even proposed the idea of sudden enlightenment, "becoming a Buddha in this very body."
Now that he was examining the ideas of Jodo Shinshu, Bai Sui saw how they differed.
— Lecai