[Land of Demons]
[Shrine of the Priestess]
Wearing a priestess's crown and a priestess's robe, Miroku still received Kakashi and the others.
After all, Kakashi and his group were people from Konoha Village. For small nations like theirs, that was a behemoth.
But Miroku needed to suppress the seal of Moryo, so at any time, she would never leave the Land of Demons.
Adding to that, Moryo, who had been sealed, was constantly showing signs of movement recently. It was a critical moment, making it even more impossible for Miroku to leave.
"I am occupied with affairs and have no time to go to Konoha. The Third Hokage's goodwill, I shall accept it."
Kakashi and the others exchanged glances, all showing helplessness in their eyes. After all, this was the situation they had previously anticipated, the most likely scenario to occur.
"Miroku-sama, we from Konoha sincerely invite you. Please, no matter what, come with us to Konoha."
Hayama still tried once more.
A trace of helplessness flashed in Miroku's brows, 'Why are they sticking like a plaster?'
Just at that moment, Miroku's eyes suddenly lit up, and a strange fluctuation swept out.
A series of images rapidly surged into Miroku's mind. Her expression changed, from confusion, to shock.
Finally, her tone turned cold, "Very sorry. We priestesses never leave the Land of Demons. I still have important matters. Forgive me for not entertaining."
Then Miroku directly turned and left the shrine.
Kakashi's trio looked at each other, not understanding why Miroku, who had been so cordial before, suddenly changed her expression dramatically.
But Miroku didn't want to speak to them, and they had no other way, leaving the shrine somewhat crestfallen.
The three of them quickly returned to their inn.
Kakashi checked the surroundings, gave an OK gesture.
Then gathered with Hayama and Yamato.
Hayama spoke, "Looks like we've run into the worst-case scenario."
Kakashi responded, "The mission given by the Hokage-sama, even if we have to, we'll tie Miroku and bring her to Konoha."
Hayama: "If we really do that, we must make sure their people don't find out. Otherwise it will cause diplomatic problems."
Though the Land of Demons is a small country, if Konoha ninja kidnap their priestess, that would be a huge issue.
Kakashi of course understood how serious this matter was, and his face turned grave, "The mission must be completed. When I entered the shrine, I observed, most people inside were just robust commoners."
Yamato looked hesitant, "We don't know what kind of strength the priestess has. It's not the fear of a hundred, but of that one exception."
Hayama, however, remained calm, "If she could be easily brought to Konoha, then the mission wouldn't have been S-rank."
"The Third Hokage knew long ago that Miroku wouldn't come with us."
Kakashi nodded in strong agreement,."Infiltrating Miroku's shrine is easy. The real issue is how to get her out."
Yamato said, "How about I use a Wood Style clone to make a fake one?"
Hayama thought for a moment, "Try it first, let's see how it looks."
Yamato formed hand seals, and a Wood Style clone separated from his body.
Its appearance shifted several times, and eventually turned into Miroku's likeness.
Hayama observed for a moment, "A little shorter in height, adjust the cheeks a bit…"
Kakashi took out a scroll from his body and began drawing the map of the shrine.
After Hayama's adjustments, Yamato's Wood Clone now looked very much like Miroku.
"All right, here's the map. The Land of Demons has no ninja. We can sneak in from here, or here."
"Once we're inside, we set a fire here, place the Wood Clone here, and draw their people away."
"Then we escape from this corner."
Kakashi took out the map and explained the plan to Hayama and Yamato.
"The number of guards isn't large. Here, here, and here are all unmanned."
"But it's best if we go in from here."
Hayama looked at the map and nodded, feeling there were no major issues.
After a short discussion, Kakashi asked, "Hayama-senpai, how about infiltrating tonight?"
Hayama nodded, "Tonight's fine. There's not much intel we can gather. Today or tomorrow, it's the same."
Once the three set the time, they began preparing their equipment.
———
At this time, Rengoku's clone was circling the priestess's shrine several times.
With a vast knowledge of sealing techniques, Rengoku was far beyond what Kakashi and the others could compare to.
Rengoku also discovered that the entire shrine was covered by a massive formation.
Trying to invade it silently was completely impossible.
Even Rengoku couldn't, because this formation was a different system from what he had studied.
Since Kakashi's group was nearby anyway, he simply started studying the formation.
Around midnight, near the shrine, Rengoku suddenly emerged from the shadows.
'Huh?'
'Why are Kakashi and the others here at midnight?'
'Directly stepping into the shrine grounds like this, they will definitely be discovered.'
The shrine's area was large, and the courtyard walls were high.
After all, priestesses pass their lineage to only one successor per generation, and the wealth accumulated over many generations had allowed the shrine to expand greatly.
In every dark corner, there were soldiers standing guard.
All the soldiers wore serious expressions, guarding the priestess was a symbol of honor.
These guards rotated their shifts regularly.
But the gap between ordinary people and ninja was insurmountable.
Even though these were among the best of the commoners, Kakashi and the other two still leapt over their heads, then used chakra to stick themselves to the walls, slipping in above the heads of the guards.
The shrine had several concentric circles of buildings, and the priestess's chambers were in the innermost one.
The three moved stealthily the whole way. With chakra wall-walking, and their past experience in the ANBU, their assassination skills were excellent.
They snuck into Miroku's chamber without incident.
The palace doors here were old-style doors with locking bars inside.
Hayama observed from the crack in the door, drew his long blade, and slid it through the gap.
Kakashi had already activated his Sharingan.
Yamato also made preparations.
With a soft click, Hayama had broken the door bar.
He made two hand signs, then gently pushed open the door.
The three slipped in and quickly closed the door behind them, then crept toward an inner room.
Suddenly, the torches on the surrounding walls lit up all at once.
The three were startled, and at the same time, a translucent membrane suddenly separated them from the rest of the room.
They swung their weapons, but it was like striking soft armor, completely impenetrable.
Kakashi pulled out a scroll, from which countless tags emerged, but they passed through the membrane without effect, as if it were intangible.
In the light, Miroku sat neatly dressed on a stool, looking toward the three.
"You've arrived."
The moment the lights had lit, the three already knew something had gone wrong.
Now, hearing the priestess Miroku's words, they were all surprised.
Kakashi asked, "Priestess-sama, you knew we would come?"
Miroku drew a circle with her hand, and special runes covered the surface of the membrane around the trio.
These were types Kakashi and the others had never seen before.
Miroku smiled kindly, "Of course, because I saw your future."
With a flick of her hand, the countless runes contracted, directly binding Kakashi and the others.
They felt their bodies go limp, eyelids heavy, and instantly fainted.
Miroku pulled the rope beside her bed.
Very quickly, a team of nurses rushed in.
Seeing Kakashi and the other two collapsed on the floor, they were surprised and quickly bowed to Miroku:
"We're very sorry, Miroku-sama, it was our failure that let them sneak in."
Miroku didn't blame them, "It has nothing to do with you. Their strength was too great."
The guards looked at each other, and finally cautiously asked, "Miroku-sama, what should we do with these three?"
Miroku glanced at the three with a complicated expression, "When they wake up, place them under soft confinement in the inner rooms first."
"Yes, Miroku-sama."
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