Naruto stopped a pretty young woman on the street and asked shyly,
"Excuse me, do you know where the Daimyō's mansion of the Land of Birds is?"
The young lady gave him a curious look, then pointed in a clear direction.
"This is just an ordinary town in the Land of Birds. If you're looking for the Daimyō, you'll need to head to the capital. See that main road? Follow it over a few mountains and you'll get there."
Hearing her directions, Naruto thanked her repeatedly.
Just as he turned around, intending to tell his teammates what he'd found out, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd—Shinju!
(´◊ω◊｀)
Naruto immediately lunged forward and hugged him tight.
"Haha! Shinju! What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be in the Land of Earth?!"
Shinju pushed him away with mild annoyance and explained,
"I came to the Land of Birds on some business."
Then, raising an eyebrow, he asked, "But what about you? Shouldn't you be in the village? Why are you here?"
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well, there wasn't much going on back home, and it just so happened there was a mission here in the Land of Birds, so I volunteered to take it! (o´Д`o)ノ"
"Mission?" Shinju asked. "Then there must be other people with you, right?"
Naruto immediately pointed in a direction.
"Yeah, my teammates are Tenten and Neji. Those two are out getting supplies right now. I came out to ask for directions."
Shinju nodded. "I see."
Since they'd run into each other, it only made sense to share a meal together.
Before long, the four of them—Shinju, Naruto, Neji, and Tenten—were sitting around a table in a yakiniku restaurant.
Tenten spoke first, her tone full of concern.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Shinju. Lady Tsunade said you overexerted yourself when you gifted that crystal mountain to the Land of Earth and severely drained your chakra. Are you okay now?"
Hearing that, Shinju sighed inwardly.
Tsunade-sensei really covered that lie well. She even managed to fool the whole village.
So, he played along naturally.
"My injuries have mostly recovered, but my chakra reserves… it'll probably take fifty or sixty years to get back to what they were. →_→"
Tenten's eyes widened, her face full of sympathy.
"Ah, fifty or sixty years? That's… that's fine! Even if your strength's taken a hit, you're still the pride of the village, Shinju!"
"You'll always be the one I lo—"
She suddenly froze, realizing she'd said too much. Her face turned crimson and she quickly lowered her head, flustered. (´つヮ⊂︎)
Shinju pretended not to notice, turning his attention to Neji instead.
"So, what kind of mission brought you guys to the Land of Birds?"
Neji took a sip of tea, then said slowly,
"Someone claimed to have seen a ghost inside the Daimyō's mansion. The village accepted a request to investigate it, so we were sent here."
Shinju frowned slightly. "A ghost? You're saying something like that really exists in the ninja world? (￢‸￢)?"
Naruto leaned in dramatically. "You just don't get it, do you? (o´Д`o)ノ"
"Not long ago, the former Daimyō of the Land of Birds, Ōwashi, died under mysterious circumstances. And not long after that, his daughter Toki also passed away."
"So I'm thinking… maybe that ghost is actually the spirit of the former Daimyō, come back for revenge!"
Shinju: "…"
"Could you be any more ridiculous? Ծ‸Ծ"
Tenten giggled, then said,
"Since we've met here anyway, why don't you come along with us to the capital, Shinju? The mission's reward is actually pretty generous. (◔◡◔)"
Shinju thought for a moment.
He'd just captured the Four-Tails. Sasuke was keeping an eye on the Land of Lightning. The Five-Tails was being heavily guarded in Iwagakure...
Maybe a little sightseeing in the Land of Birds wouldn't hurt. A small vacation sounded nice. ( •̀∀•́ )
"Alright," Shinju finally said with a smile. "I'll go with you guys! (๑ت๑)"
...
On the road to the capital of the Land of Birds, the four shinobi raced swiftly along the highway.
After several kilometers, Shinju suddenly stopped. "Running's too slow."
Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah! Shinju, hurry and bring out your big flying machine! (ꈍᴗꈍ)"
Shinju: "…"
It's just an aircraft—why are you blushing?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Neji added seriously, "Flying would indeed be faster."
Tenten agreed. "I'm so jealous that Shinju can just fly wherever he goes.｡◕‿◕｡"
Shinju shook his head. "Not this time."
"Let me show you the new tailed beast I caught. ୧⍢⃝୨"
He lifted his right hand, and the seal on his palm began to glow.
"Boom——"
A massive crimson-furred ape appeared on the road!
Tenten and Neji both froze. Σ(っ °Д °;)っ ⊙▽⊙
Tenten gaped. "One, two, three, four... four tails! If I'm not mistaken, that's Iwagakure's Four-Tails, right?!"
Shinju nodded. "Yeah. Just borrowed it from Iwa's Jinchūriki.վ--0027ᴗ--0027 ի"
Neji: (꒪⌓꒪)
This guy never comes back empty-handed, huh?
He goes to Iwagakure once and comes back with a tailed beast!
"Let's go."
Shinju jumped onto the top of the Four-Tails' head, looking down at the beast.
"No problem, right?"
The Four-Tails stammered, "N-no problem! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
He, Son Gokū—the proud Four-Tails—was not created to be someone's mount!
When Shinju had first suggested riding on his back, he refused outright.
But Shinju's fists... were simply too persuasive.
He couldn't win. Not even close.
So here he was—utterly defeated and forced to comply.
The group climbed onto the Four-Tails' shoulders, gripping its thick fur tightly.
With a thunderous "THUMP THUMP THUMP——," the massive ape started sprinting toward the capital of the Land of Birds.
Inside Naruto's inner seal space, Kurama burst into laughter.
"Finally! For once, I'm not the one being used as a ride! վ--0027ᴗ--0027 ի"
...
Riding on the Four-Tails, the group soon reached the outskirts of the Land of Birds' capital.
The capital stood beside a vast lake, surrounded by lush greenery—a truly beautiful sight.
Seeing the towering city walls ahead, Shinju sealed away the Four-Tails to avoid scaring the townsfolk.
Then, the four of them entered the city on foot.
It was immediately clear that the ghost incident had caused a huge stir.
They hadn't even gone far when they overheard the townspeople whispering among themselves:
"Lock your doors tonight! That ghost might come steal your money!"
"They say it appeared because the former Daimyō died with deep resentment… who knows if that's true."
"Poor current Daimyō—his father just died, and now his sister too..."
"I heard the ghost attacked Kōmei-sama. Maybe he's the one behind the deaths of the former Daimyō and his daughter?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Don't we have the great monk Mōsō here?"
"Shh—keep your voice down! That's not something commoners like us should talk about!"
"Bah, I don't believe Kōmei-sama could really rule this land unchecked!"
"Why does everyone think Kōmei-sama's the culprit? Doesn't something about this whole thing feel… off?"
...
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