Samui was in much better shape than before. She leaned on Sakura Haruno's shoulder and looked at the crowd on the field.
Darui asked with concern, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling better now?"
Samui touched her stomach, her voice still somewhat weak. " Konoha's medical technology is excellent; my wounds have healed. I just feel some soreness in my shoulders."
Darui, toothpick in mouth, scoffed. "This isn't about your injury. It's obviously your size causing shoulder pain."
Sakura frowned as she listened, wishing she could shake off the female ninja beside her. However, her duty as medical-nin prevented her from doing so.
Shinsei looked away from Samui and took out a Kunai bearing his Flying Thunder God Mark from his ninja tool pouch.
" Taruho, right? Which direction is your shrine maiden in now?"
A smile appeared on Taruho's face as she pointed to one side:
"Your name is Shinsei, right? Although our Land of Demons is small and poor, we've heard of you. The Priestess would be very pleased to know you've come to handle this crisis."
Shinsei was also somewhat smug, never expecting that such a small country would know his name. It seemed he was quite famous in the Shinobi World.
He raised his right arm, pointing diagonally forward, and Lightning Release Chakra emerged from various parts of his arm, forming coils of lightning.
He placed the Kunai at the end of his arm, and with a whoosh, Kunai vanished instantly.
Sasuke and Naruto naturally knew that Shinsei was about to Flying Thunder God, so they each stood on either side of Shinsei and put their hands on his shoulders.
However, it's not as troublesome as before now. Xingchen Hand Seals, and several tail-like blue Chakra streaks emerged from behind him, surrounding everyone present.
As Shinsei Hand Seals, the group vanished from the scene in an instant. When they reappeared, they were already several kilometers away.
Shinsei pulled the Kunai that had grown into the tree trunk from the tree, and used the same trick again, launching the Flying Thunder God Kunai and taking everyone away by Flying Thunder God. This process was repeated until the group arrived at the edge of a city.
Taruho straightened her clothes and solemnly addressed the crowd. "Gentlemen, this is the capital of our Land of Demons. It is a pleasure to have you all here as guests."
Naruto said discontentedly, "Take us to see the priestess! I'm not here as a guest!"
Taruho wasn't embarrassed at all, and simply said to everyone, "Um... the shrine maiden's personality is a bit peculiar. If she has offended anyone in any way, I apologize in advance."
After speaking, Taruho bowed deeply to everyone.
This preemptive apology struck everyone as odd; they couldn't fathom what kind of personality would compel someone to apologize prematurely.
"Take us to see the priestess quickly!" Naruto urged.
"No problem, fellow ninjas, please follow me." Taruho led the way into the city.
As the group drew closer, more of the scene unfolded before them. Although it was called the capital of a country, the city was actually not very large, and the architecture was predominantly traditional, with very few tall, modern buildings.
People who appreciate history and historical sites would likely find living here quite pleasant.
The pedestrians on the street clearly recognized Taruho; some went up to greet her, while others chose to keep their distance. The group eventually arrived at a huge shrine.
Taruho stepped forward and said to the guard at the gate, "Quickly inform the priestess that Konoha's reinforcements have arrived."
Although the guard was puzzled that they hadn't requested any assistance from Konoha, he still dutifully went to report. Soon, a servant came to announce, "Gentlemen, the priestess requests your presence."
Taruho gestured an invitation and continued leading the group forward. The shrine looked quite ancient, with a sense of age and historical vicissitudes, but it was also very clean.
The group arrived at a spacious and brightly lit hall.
A pretty young girl, who looked quite young, sat on the high steps, but her expression showed no sign of welcome.
Naruto, unable to wait any longer, ran straight to the hall and asked the priestess seated high above, "Are you the priestess? Your subordinates say you have clues about the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Can you tell us?"
Kakashi quickly pulled Naruto aside, awkwardly apologizing to the priestess seated there. "I'm sorry, my teammate was extremely rude. He was just too worried about the safety of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki."
The priestess showed no anger; instead, she remained calm. She glanced at Naruto and said indifferently, "I don't care. You're all going to die soon anyway."
Naruto, who had just been pulled down by Kakashi, couldn't resist jumping back out. He pointed at the priestess on the seat and shouted, "Hey? What's wrong with you? Why are you cursing us to die right from the start?"
Taruho bowed again to everyone in apology, explaining, "Fellow ninjas, the priestess did not intend to curse you, but rather it was because of her prophecy."
The priestess possesses a peculiar ability to foresee the deaths of those around her, and so far she has never been wrong.
After explaining, Taruho felt a little embarrassed. Didn't this imply that the ninja from before was doomed?
Naruto scoffed, not believing a single piece of that ridiculous prophecy. He continued shouting, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, will never die here! You haven't told me the information about the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki yet!"
Shinsei vaguely remembered that the shrine maiden before him could accurately predict people's deaths, but would Naruto, the future savior, really die here?
Furthermore, killing Naruto after he has mastered the Nine-Tails Mode won't be easy, unless either I or Madara Uchiha intervene.
As Naruto's friend, he certainly wouldn't attack him, and Madara Uchiha had already signed an agreement with Konoha that he wouldn't attack the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for the time being. Madara Uchiha wouldn't bother breaking his promise over such a trivial matter.
The priestess continued to scan the crowd, then looked at Kakashi and said to him, "You will be killed too!"
Kakashi touched his hair, squinted, and didn't say anything.
The priestess then looked at Sasuke and said to him, "You will die too."
Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms.
Then the shrine maiden looked at Sakura: "You will die too."
Sakura clenched her fists. If Taruho hadn't apologized to everyone beforehand, she really would have wanted to go up and punch this so-called shrine maiden.
Then the shrine maiden's gaze fell on Shinsei.
"You..." The priestess's words froze on her lips. The person before her was the strangest person she had ever seen in her life, not in terms of appearance, but in the fact that there was absolutely no prophecy about him.
"You..." The priestess swallowed back what she wanted to say, finally managing to utter a few words: "What's your name?"
Everyone was stunned, feeling puzzled. Why didn't this cold-faced witch say that others were going to die, but instead asked for their names?
Taruho quickly explained to the shrine maiden, "This is Shinma, a genius of Konoha, the Hokage's apprentice, recently hailed as the Shinsei."
The shrine maiden nodded:
"So you're Shinsei."