After finishing his talk with the Daimyo of the Land of Birds, Shinju didn't want to stay in the mansion another second.
The moment he stepped out of the inner hall, he grabbed Neji and the others, then instantly teleported them all back to Monk Mōsō's residence using Flying Thunder God.
As they landed, Shinju sighed in relief at his own foresight.
"Good thing I've gotten into the habit of leaving a Flying Thunder God mark everywhere I go. Otherwise, escaping might've been a real problem…"
Halfway through his words, Shinju looked up—only to lock eyes with Mōsō, who was carrying a pile of bags and bundles on his back.
Mōsō:ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
Shinju: (⊙o⊙)
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
As always, the curious little Naruko was the first to speak up.
"Huh? Mōsō-sama, are you planning to run away with all those bags?"
Mōsō: (≖╻≖;)
"I-I... I just heard that you all went to see the Daimyo. I thought you'd be staying there for the night, so I packed up some gold and silver trinkets to send as a small token of gratitude. ^_^"
Naruto gave Mōsō a long, skeptical look, then muttered under his breath,
"Right, like anyone's gonna believe that. ＜(￣3￣)＞"
Before Mōsō could say anything else, Shinju casually walked up to him, grinning.
"Well, since it's a gift for us, I guess we'll just graciously accept it! ❛‿˂̵✧"
Mōsō froze in disbelief. ∑(✘Д✘๑)
He was just trying to make up an excuse to get out of there—he never thought Shinju would actually take him seriously!
That bag contained all the wealth he'd been hoarding in the Land of Birds for years!
For a moment, Mōsō stood stiff as a statue, unsure whether to hand it over or not.
In the end, Shinju made the decision for him.
He simply grabbed the rope tied around the bag and gave it a firm tug!
Having once trained under Tsunade and learned the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred, Shinju's physical strength had far surpassed even hers!
Even ten Mōsō combined wouldn't be able to wrestle back that bag from his grip!
So, naturally, Mōsō's entire fortune fell neatly into Shinju's hands. ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )
After hefting the bundle a few times, Shinju looked quite "satisfied" and thanked him cheerfully.
"Thanks a lot, Mōsō-sama.｡◕‿◕｡"
Mōsō was on the verge of tears but still forced himself to maintain his calm, monk-like demeanor.
"J-just a few small gifts, nothing much.（༎ຶ-༎ຶ）"
...
Because Shinju and the others had returned in time, Mōsō ended up not fleeing after all.
At Mōsō's mansion, Shinju and his group were given their quarters.
Since they were all familiar with each other, Shinju stayed in the same room as Naruto and Neji.
Once inside, Shinju opened the bundle—and his eyes went wide. (´◊ω◊｀)
Even the normally calm and composed Neji couldn't help stammering.
"Th-this must be worth… how much?"
Shinju analyzed it immediately.
"If we exchange all these gems, gold, and silver, I'd say… maybe… one or two hundred million ryo? (◔◡◔)"
Neji was stunned.
"The Land of Birds is that rich? Just giving away something worth this much?! (꒪⌓꒪)"
Naruto chimed in proudly,
"You don't get it, Neji. The Buddhist faith treats money as a worldly attachment. That high monk Mōsō probably thinks it's fate that brought us together, so he's being generous! (´つヮ⊂︎)"
"Yeah, right." Shinju muttered from the side, expression blank. "You two idiots didn't notice that running into Mōsō after we came back was a total coincidence? The guy was clearly packing to run away!"
Neji frowned. "Run away? But he's respected and revered in the Land of Birds—why would he flee? ∑(°Д°)"
Shinju shook his head.
"No idea. But one thing's for sure—whatever's going on with that ghost samurai, that old bald fraud is definitely involved! (′д｀σ)σ"
Naruto asked, "So that means… when Mōsō said the ghost samurai might appear at Kōmei's mansion, should we still go check it out tonight?"
"And what if Mōsō runs off while we're gone?"
Shinju gave Naruto an approving look.
"Not bad, Naruto, you've actually started using your brain these days. ❛‿˂̵✧"
"If you're worried he'll run, then you and Neji can stay here to keep an eye on him…"
"But I wanna see the ghost samurai too!" Naruto protested. "You know how it is—men are curious by nature! ( ˘ω˘ )"
Shinju smirked. "Fine. I'll catch him for you and let you take a good, long look!"
...
Meanwhile, at Mōsō's residence.
The old monk was sprawled on the floor, sobbing miserably.
"My money… my money! I've been saving that for four or five years—and now it's all gone! All gone! ꒦ິ^꒦ິ"
From the shadows of the dimly lit room, another voice spoke up.
"Boss, seriously… of all the excuses you could've picked, why say it was a gift for them?"
Mōsō's expression darkened.
"You blaming me?! ╰_╯"
"N-no, of course not!" the voice stammered back.
"Anyway, boss… now that the money's gone, are we still leaving?"
Mōsō sighed. "No. If I lose my money and my status, then everything I've built up these years will have been for nothing."
He clenched his fists.
"We've been wandering rogue shinobi for years, learning from anyone we could. I finally managed to carve out a place for myself here in the Land of Birds, posing as a monk and making a decent profit…"
"I didn't expect that guy to show up…"
The hidden voice spoke again. "But boss, you said it yourself—he's powerful. We're no match for him. What if he finds out who we really are?"
"I already told you—we just need to stall him. Once this blows over, I'll still be the respected monk of the Land of Birds."
Some time later.
Another ninja appeared in Mōsō's room, bowing low.
"Leader, I just saw those Konoha ninja heading toward Kōmei's mansion."
Mōsō's eyes glinted.
"Maybe the Konoha ninja's arrival will actually work in our favor…"
"You all, go…"
...
Kōmei's residence.
It was said that the ghost samurai always appeared nearby, so Shinju and the others had come in the dead of night to lie in wait.
They waited for a long time—but the ghost samurai never showed.
Tenten eventually grew bored.
"Maybe the ghost samurai found out we're here and got scared off."
Shinju replied, "That just proves the ghost samurai's a person in disguise."
But before Shinju could finish speaking, Tenten's expression twisted in fear. She pointed toward the dark night sky.
"Look! Up there!ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!"
Shinju followed her gaze—and sure enough, there was a samurai floating in midair!
He wielded a long halberd and wore a demon mask, looking eerily ghostlike.
But Shinju, sensitive to chakra as he was, immediately noticed something.
The chakra coming from that "ghost samurai"—he'd sensed it before!
"How strange… why disguise yourself as a ghost samurai?"
Moments later, the ghost samurai descended upon Kōmei's mansion, causing chaos everywhere.
Thanks to Shinju and the others stepping in quickly, Kōmei was unharmed.
Tenten stared anxiously at the ghost samurai flying off into the sky.
"Shinju, you—"
Shinju waved a hand, signaling her to relax.
"It's fine. Let him go. If he dies, then we'll really have a problem."
Tenten blinked in confusion but chose to trust him.
"Shinju… do you have another plan in mind?"
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo