"Aoba, what did the Land of Demons say?"
Seeing Aoba fall into a strange silence after reading their reply, Shizune couldn't help but grow curious about what was written in the letter.
"Well…", Aoba clicked his tongue, his expression a little odd.
"They said this matter is of great importance, so they want to find a time to meet me in person and have a private, in-depth discussion about the specific arrangements going forward."
"A private discussion?"
Shizune paused, then frowned, "What kind of discussion?"
"Cough! Well…"
Aoba hesitated, as if unsure how to put it.
"Hm?"
Shizune blinked. After a brief moment of thought, something clicked, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Come to think of it, the Land of Demons doesn't have a daimyo. It's always been governed by a shrine maiden..."
"So it's that shrine maiden who wants to meet you alone and have a 'deep' discussion? Just how deep are we talking?"
Although some time had passed, she still remembered that commission from the Land of Demons quite clearly.
After all, it was from that mission onward that Ino, Karin, Tenten, and the others had all gotten involved, none of them left out.
Ino had also told them that the shrine maiden had other intentions toward Aoba.
What was this supposed to be?
Turning such an important matter into part of some kind of… play?
"Uh… I think it's probably just to discuss the Land of Demons joining the Land of Fire," Aoba gave an awkward laugh.
Though even he didn't think that possibility was very high.
If she only wanted to talk, Shion could easily contact him anytime using the Illusory Lantern Body Technique he'd taught her.
Back when he had just returned from the Land of Demons, she would "ping" him almost every night and chat until late.
Well, she did all the talking, while he mostly listened.
That young shrine maiden clearly had a strong urge to share.
Only later, when things got busier, did the frequency gradually decrease.
But this time, using something like joining the Land of Fire as an excuse to meet...
For some reason, he had a vague feeling this might turn into a rather unusual "offering a fortune for an heir" situation.
After all, while that shrine maiden could be quite shy in many situations, in certain matters she was unexpectedly very direct.
That left Aoba a bit at a loss. Either way, he wouldn't really come out at a disadvantage, but still...
"Shizune-nee, what do you think about this?"
"…"
"What do I think? I think nothing, I'll just sit and watch!"
Shizune shot him an annoyed glare and waved it off lazily, "Handle your own business. You're always messing around instead of doing proper work. We Hokage secretaries are swamped every day, who has time to deal with your nonsense?"
'So… that means she isn't opposed?'
Aoba blinked, coughed lightly, and said with a straight face, "Alright, with your opinion, I know how to handle it now."
With that, he stood up.
"…"
Shizune was speechless.
What opinion had she even given?
"You're going to see her now?"
Seeing him get up, Shizune thought he was about to head straight to the Land of Demons.
"Not quite. It's not urgent, I'll go tomorrow."
"Then where are you going now?"
Shizune asked curiously.
"Hmm! I suppose you could say I'm going to find someone."
After a brief moment of thought, Aoba gave that answer.
"A girl?"
When it came to guessing gender, Shizune got it right in a second.
"Uh…"
Aoba opened his mouth, caught between laughter and exasperation.
"Technically, yes. But this time I'm not slacking off, I'm going to do something that could affect the future stability of the ninja world."
"?"
His righteous tone left Shizune with a string of question marks over her head.
"What do you mean?"
She knew he wouldn't joke about something like this, so she was more curious about the identity of the person he was going to meet.
"It's a bit complicated to explain right now. I'll tell you when I get back home later."
The person Aoba was going to find was, of course, Otsutsuki Kaguya.
Come to think of it, because of the unification of the ninja world, he hadn't gone to see her for a month or two.
Although he had informed her in advance and left behind plenty of snacks, novels, and manga.
It had been quite a while, and time flowed differently in the sealed space. Those supplies were probably long gone by now.
To be honest, Aoba was starting to worry about her mental state.
"Alright," Shizune didn't press further.
"Then I'll head out."
———
Without lingering, Aoba vanished in a flash, reappearing on the moon.
This time, he didn't sense any contact from Otsutsuki Hamura.
Probably still choked up from last time, too wary to face him again.
Aoba didn't care. His consciousness went straight into the sealed space.
"…"
Otsutsuki Hamura was indeed thinking exactly as Aoba had guessed.
After what happened last time, he hadn't tried to contact Aoba again, lest this strand of his chakra be angered into dissipating.
So when he sensed Aoba's return after such a long time, he simply watched silently from the shadows, without interfering.
But just because he didn't act didn't mean no one else would.
Otsutsuki Hamura immediately used a secret technique to contact Otsutsuki Hagoromo, who was currently at Mount Myoboku.
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