Miko

A week later, at night, in Konoha's residential district, there was an inconspicuous house.

An ordinary-looking middle-aged ninja pushed open the front door and stepped out. His name was Akasa. Thirty-five years old, he was an utterly unremarkable chunin of Konoha and currently worked as a teacher at the Ninja Academy.

As an older bachelor who had always lived alone, Akasa's nightlife was terribly dull. To ease his loneliness, he went to a nearby tavern for a few drinks, just as he usually did.

Akasa entered the tavern and ordered a few bottles of cheap rice wine and some snacks from the familiar hostess, then sat alone in a corner, drinking by himself.

Before long, he was already a little drunk, his face flushed and his gaze unfocused as he began muttering drunken nonsense no one else could understand.

Not long after that, he slumped over the table and passed out.

When Akasa passed out, the other patrons around him paid him no mind. There were far too many people like him here, drowning their sorrows in drink. He was hardly noticeable.

The patrons might not care, but the owner had to. He quickly instructed a waiter to carry Akasa into an empty room behind the tavern to rest, freeing up the seat for new customers.

Not long after Akasa was taken away, a new customer entered: a shabby-looking middle-aged samurai.

The hostess did not recognize the middle-aged samurai, so he was clearly not a regular. Yet she did not become any less welcoming just because he looked poor. She warmly invited him in and seated him in the very spot Akasa had just occupied.

The samurai ordered several bottles of cheap rice wine. After finishing them, he drunkenly paid the bill and left.

An inconspicuous chunin came to the tavern to drink away his sorrows. After passing out, he was dragged away. Soon afterward, a down-and-out samurai came in to take the ordinary chunin's place, likewise drinking away his sorrows before eventually leaving in a drunken stupor.

Everything appeared utterly ordinary, drawing no one's attention in the tavern.

The samurai eventually staggered back to his lodging, an old, dilapidated house. The moment he entered the cheaply rented room, he collapsed onto the floor and fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

The landlady covered the samurai with a blanket, her face full of disgust, then left the room.

Once the sound of her footsteps gradually faded away, the samurai suddenly opened his eyes. Still snoring, he flicked something from one hand toward the open window.

The next instant, a long tongue suddenly appeared, curled around the object, and vanished into the air.

After tossing the object, the samurai closed his eyes again and continued sleeping soundly, his snores never stopping.

At that moment, a small snake hidden in the corner silently slithered away.

Not long afterward, in an underground space somewhere within the forest outside Konoha, a candle stuck to a wooden table was lit, immediately driving away the surrounding darkness.

Before the candle, a man with very long eyebrows studied a slip of paper, his face filled with grave concern.

The note contained little. It merely stated that a transfer student named Kushina Uzumaki had appeared at the Ninja Academy today, and that she had red hair.

"A clanswoman of Mito Uzumaki's? Then Konoha's Jinchuriki has reached the time to be replaced—or perhaps has already been replaced."

Ebizo held the note over the flame and watched it turn to ash as he murmured thoughtfully.

This intelligence was undoubtedly extremely valuable.

As one of the Sand ninja's higher-ups, Ebizo understood very well what a Jinchuriki represented, and what it meant when the Jinchuriki changed.

"Konoha certainly has its methods. They completed the Jinchuriki's replacement without anyone noticing. If that is truly the case, then the defenses around the Senju Clan Compound are no longer as formidable as the previous intelligence indicated. Perhaps it is worth making some plans."

Ebizo slowly tapped the tabletop with his index finger. After a long while, an unusual gleam flashed through his eyes.

A gust of wind blew out the candle in the room, and everything returned to darkness.

Late at night, in Nawaki's home within the Senju Clan Compound, inside a basement filled with scrolls.

Kirito sat cross-legged on a tatami mat, eyes closed, assuming a meditative posture.

Around him, four black incense sticks had been planted in four directions. Each was as thick as a thumb, and after being lit, they released bluish-green smoke.

The bluish-green smoke from the four incense sticks was behaving in an extremely strange manner. Rather than spreading outward, it transformed into four thin streams that flowed in straight lines into Kirito's body at the center.

Smoke was an inanimate thing and could not move on its own.

Clearly, the reason it was moving now was that Kirito, positioned in the center of the four black incense sticks, was using some unknown method to draw the smoke into his body.

Soul Incense was the name of these four black incense sticks. They were precious items recorded in the Spirit Transformation Technique that could assist in its cultivation. They came from the distant Land of Demons and were said to be something Miko made to feed ghosts and monsters.

Kirito did not know how valuable Soul Incense was, but the black incense he was currently using had been personally made by the Miko Miroku. It was the highest-quality Special Grade Soul Incense.

Who was the Miko Miroku? She was the current guardian Miko of the Land of Demons, a powerful Miko capable of suppressing the demon Mōryō. Her status was equivalent to the Daimyo of every nation.

Kirito had only obtained Soul Incense of such high quality thanks to the Senju Clan's help. With the aid of this Special Grade Soul Incense, his cultivation of the Spirit Transformation Technique had gone exceptionally smoothly—rapid progress would not be an exaggeration.

He had been cultivating the Spirit Transformation Technique for three weeks. During that time, his soul had steadily grown stronger. The duration of his Soul Evasion had increased from only a few minutes at the start to an hour before he felt fatigued, while the range of his Soul Perception had expanded to one kilometer.

Within one kilometer, no living creature could escape his Soul Perception.

About two hours later, all the Soul Incense had burned away, bringing Kirito's Spirit Transformation Technique training for the day to an end.

Suddenly, a translucent white Kirito emerged from Kirito's body and stretched lazily.

Soul Evasion.

Kirito had once again left his body in the form of a Spirit Body.

The next moment, Kirito's Spirit Body rapidly became more transparent, until ordinary people could no longer see it with the naked eye.

Invisibility, one of a Spirit Body's innate abilities.

However, Kirito's Spirit Body still contained Chakra. Therefore, Kekkei Genkai eyes such as the Byakugan and Sharingan could still see him. They would only see a mass of Chakra, though, and could not see Kirito's true appearance at all.

Naturally, Kirito had a way to deal with this flaw of the Spirit Body. He decisively mobilized the Chakra within him and laid numerous Sealing Formulas over the surface of his Spirit Body, temporarily dressing it in a Barrier Seal that concealed its Chakra and prevented the outside world from seeing it.

The method Kirito was using was a Barrier Seal designed to block outside perception.

Since Konoha possessed the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, people had naturally worried about secrets being exposed and developed Barrier Seal techniques specifically to counter Byakugan ocular abilities.

Several such Barrier Seal techniques capable of sealing the Byakugan's abilities were among the sealing techniques Mito had taught him.

The Barrier Seal technique he was using now was called the Nightfall Seal. It was also the Barrier Seal technique currently used at Root Headquarters.

After patching up the Spirit Body's weakness, Kirito began controlling it to fly upward through the air. Ignoring all physical obstacles, he arrived above Nawaki's house in an instant.

"Let's have another pleasant night stroll today."

Feeling the nighttime wind and looking at the bright moon in the sky, Kirito said with a smile.

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