Miroku slowly rose from her bed and walked to the desk, lighting a candle.
The flickering candlelight dispelled the darkness in the room, illuminating her weary face.
"Was that dream just now a new prophecy?" Miroku, clad only in a thin gauze robe, sat down at the desk, resting her delicate fingers against her forehead. The faint glow of the candle outlined her graceful figure but could not ease the worry between her brows.
Her violet eyes were filled with unease about the future.
As a member of the priestess lineage, Miroku had inherited the power of the priestess since childhood, and foreseeing the future was one of its most important abilities.
Generally, prophecies made by priestess would come true. Thus, in the Land of Demons, which had no Daimyo, the priestess held an extremely high status, revered by the people and serving as the nominal ruler of the nation.
In recent years, Miroku had begun to sense that the sealed entity seemed to be growing increasingly restless. A foreboding feeling had quietly taken root in her heart.
Because of this, she had been making preparations. If there was ever a danger of the seal breaking, Miroku would not hesitate to sacrifice her own life to reseal Moryo.
This way, she could buy time for her daughter, Shion, to grow up.
At this thought, Miroku, still resting her forehead on her hand, turned her gaze gently toward the sleeping little Shion on the bed.
The prophetic abilities of priestess were usually tied to their own lives. Yet in this dream, Miroku had seen herself together with her daughter, while the darkness engulfing the Ninja World was entirely different from what she had foreseen in previous dreams… there was no trace of Moryo's aura.
At the very least, this was good news. It meant that in the prophesied future, Moryo had not broken free from its seal, and she would be able to watch her daughter grow up.
The power of the priestess was passed down through generations. After her daughter's birth, Miroku's strength would gradually transfer to her, so she had long prepared for the worst.
But now, she had seen an entirely different prophecy!
"Still... what kind of darkness could plunge the entire Ninja World into such despair?" Miroku frowned deeply, recalling that none of her previous prophetic dreams had ever shown such a terrifying vision.
"And that shadow… was he the one who saved the Ninja World?" Miroku closed her eyes in contemplation, trying to recall the details of the dream.
An endless darkness shrouded the Ninja World, but a ray of light tore through the long night, bringing hope and salvation. And within that light, a lone figure stood tall against the sky.
What did this dream truly signify?
Miroku strained to discern any distinguishing features of the figure who had brought light to the Ninja World.
Vaguely, a star streaked across the night sky, landing before her.
Miroku's eyes snapped open.
"A star?" She quickly stood and rummaged through the nearby books.
Soon, she found a map of the Ninja World and located the Land of Bears, which bordered the Land of Demons. On the map of the Land of Bears, a star symbol stood out prominently.
"A star..." Miroku traced her fingers over the star on the Land of Bears' map, lost in thought.
Though the Land of Demons had no Ninja, it maintained good relations with neighboring nations. It shared a border with the Land of Bears, and the people of both countries interacted frequently. Naturally, Miroku had heard of the legends surrounding the Land of Bears.
It was said that two hundred years ago, a meteorite had fallen within its borders. A Ninja had used this meteorite to comprehend a unique Ninjutsu, founding Hoshigakure and declaring himself the First Hoshikage.
Hoshigakure is also the Ninja Village closest to the Land of Demons.
"Is it there?" Miroku wasn't entirely sure, as prophetic dreams were often too vague.
Moreover, last year, the Land of Bears had undergone a drastic upheaval. It was said that Hoshigakure had staged a coup, slaughtering the Land of Bears' Daimyo and nobles, plunging the country into chaos.
Of course, this information had been relayed to her by the nobles of the Land of Demons.
Though the Land of Demons had no Daimyo and its nominal ruler was the priestess, it still had its own social hierarchy. The nobles supported Miroku as the priestess, even reveled in it-
But the priestess rarely involved herself in national governance, leaving all political power in the hands of these nobles.
As for the priestess, in the eyes of many nobles, she was merely a tool to suppress Moryo.
"Mom~" A soft, sleepy voice called out from the bed, interrupting Miroku's thoughts.
Shion had woken up at some point, and after noticing her mother was gone, she sat up, rubbing her drowsy eyes as she searched for her.
"Shion, be good. Go back to sleep." Miroku quickly returned to the bed, held her daughter in her arms and gently patted her back as she hummed a lullaby.
Soothed by the gentle melody, Shion soon drifted back to sleep.
…
The next morning, Miroku changed into her formal shrine priestess and sat solemnly behind a bamboo curtain in the shrine.
Beside her, Shion knelt in imitation of her mother's posture.
Miroku summoned the shrine's priest who had served the priestess's lineage for generations.
"Miroku-sama!" Priest Ashigami, a man in his thirties, belonged to a family that had inherited the role of shrine's priests in the Land of Demons for generations. They were not only responsible for guarding the priestess as close protectors but also attended to their daily needs.
"Priest Ashigami, how much do you know about the current situation in the Land of Bears and Hoshigakure?" Miroku's voice came from behind the bamboo curtain.
"The Land of Bears and Hoshigakure?" Ashigami was puzzled, 'The priestess, who had never shown interest in external affairs, was suddenly inquiring about their neighboring country?'
He had been sent to the shrine since childhood to serve the priestess's lineage and had been a shrine's priest since the time of Miroku's mother.
In over twenty years, he had rarely heard the priestess take the initiative to ask about neighboring nations.
'The last time Miroku-sama had inquired was at the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War, when the Land of Wind's Sunagakure and the Land of Earth's Iwagakure had clashed violently. Back then, Miroku-sama had been concerned that the war might spread to the Land of Demons or weaken Moryo's seal, so she had asked me for information.'
'This time?'
"Miroku-sama, the rebellion in the Land of Bears ended half a year ago. It's said that the Daimyo and nobles were all slaughtered, but recently, the Land of Bears has resumed production and even increased trade with surrounding nations. Apparently, there have been some policy changes within the country." As a shrine's priest, Ashigami had limited access to information.
But what he knew starkly contradicted what the Land of Demons' nobles, who came to worship at the shrine, had told Miroku.
According to those nobles, the Land of Bears had become a living hell. The Ninjas of Hoshigakure had not only massacred the Daimyo and nobles but also slaughtered ordinary citizens, leaving many cities drenched in blood,
The Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, two of the Five Great Nations, had allegedly been unable to intervene militarily for some reason and had instead called on neighboring countries to impose a blockade on the Land of Bears.
Faced with such conflicting accounts, Miroku decided to send someone to investigate firsthand: "Priest Ashigami, dispatch an envoy to the Land of Bears under the pretext of diplomacy. I want to know the truth of what's happening there."