Shared Secrets

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In Naoki's impression, the timing of the demon Moryo bringing chaos to the world matched the current period. It was only that the coincidence made cautious Naoki feel uneasy.

Seeing that Naoki still seemed distracted, Shisui asked, "Senior, what do you think of this mission?"

Naoki, still thinking, answered casually, "The Land of Demons is caught between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. This matter also involves an otherworldly demon, so the priestess will definitely seek help from the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Stone as well. This mission will inevitably involve multiple shinobi villages. In short, it will be troublesome."

Shisui was curious. "I wonder what kind of monster that otherworldly demon is."

Naoki thought for a moment and decided to reveal some of what he knew to his teammate. "Based on my guess, the demon is at least Tailed Beast-level. Otherwise, Lord Hokage would not have classified the mission as S-rank."

"Tailed Beast-level..." Shisui pondered briefly, then suddenly lowered his voice. "Senior, I have a technique that can briefly oppose a Tailed Beast. But after using it, I basically lose combat ability."

Naoki had not expected Shisui to reveal such a secret to him. He froze for a moment, then said, "During yesterday's match, I already sensed that your Sharingan is different from an ordinary Sharingan."

Shisui hesitated several times, seeming to want to say something but holding back out of caution.

Naoki smiled. "You do not need to explain. Everyone has secrets. As long as you do not endanger the village, I will not reveal your secret to anyone."

Shisui let out a breath of relief and said sincerely, "Thank you."

Naoki waved a hand, acting as if it did not matter. "Actually, I have secrets too. I also have a technique that can briefly oppose a Tailed Beast."

Naoki was not lying. The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage, had possessed the ability to suppress Shukaku, the One-Tail. Now that the Third Kazekage human puppet was in Naoki's hands, he naturally possessed the strength to briefly oppose a Tailed Beast as well.

Shisui smiled. "So that is how it is. I also felt yesterday that you did not use your full strength, senior."

Sharing secrets was undoubtedly one of the best ways to draw people closer. After only a few brief words, Naoki and Shisui's relationship had clearly grown much closer.

Of course, this also had to do with the fact that they were both heirs of great clans and both dojutsu kekkei genkai users.

At the front of the team, Kakashi turned back around and said to Guy beside him, "Naoki seems to have become much stronger lately."

Guy smiled. "You mean Naoki? Hehe. He is a genius who is not inferior to you."

"Yes, yes." After dealing with Guy, Kakashi lowered his head again and stopped saying anything.

After suffering the blows of his father's suicide and the deaths of his close friend and teacher one after another, Kakashi had become withdrawn and cold. Only when he was occasionally with classmates from his year would he say a few more words.

The four members of ANBU Team Eleven were all standouts among Konoha's new generation, so their travel speed was naturally extremely fast. In only a week, they crossed the border and entered the rainy Land of Rain.

Inside a cave, the four warmed themselves by a fire while studying the next route.

Between the Land of Demons and the Land of Fire lay several small countries, including the Land of Rain, the Land of Birds, and the Land of Bears. At present, many wandering shinobi were entrenched in those small countries. One careless move could lead to a hard fight, so choosing a route had to be done carefully.

After a round of discussion, Kakashi confirmed the route and put away the map.

At that moment, Guy quietly complained, "The weather in the Land of Rain is awful. It rains all day, every day. It makes everything sticky."

As captain, Kakashi dutifully warned them, "The Land of Rain may be small, but it is still a country with a shinobi village. The man known as the demigod is the leader of Amegakure here. We need to be especially careful."

Guy and Shisui both nodded.

Hanzo's name was famous throughout the shinobi world. The title of Konoha's Sannin had come from his mouth.

Naoki leaned against a dry cave wall and thought inwardly, 'Counting the time, Hanzo should already have been killed by Nagato, right?'

Sasori and Orochimaru joining the Akatsuki one after another meant the Akatsuki had already transitioned from Yahiko's leadership to Nagato's.

In Naoki's impression, after Nagato became leader, the first thing he did seemed to be avenging Yahiko by killing Hanzo and secretly taking control of the entire Land of Rain.

With Yahiko dead, the line between good and evil had vanished from Nagato's heart. Compared with Moryo, who was rampaging through the Land of Demons, the Akatsuki at this time was the true monster capable of destroying the shinobi world.

Then Naoki thought of Hanzo, the powerful shinobi hailed as a demigod, dying so silently. He sighed inwardly. 'The shinobi world really is dangerous.'

After passing through the Land of Rain without incident, Team Eleven smoothly crossed the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears.

Naoki had thought everything would go smoothly and that they would soon meet the priestess of the Land of Demons. Unexpectedly, the moment they entered the Land of Demons, they ran into trouble.

Boom.

Dust rose into the sky with a loud crash.

Guy suddenly retreated, panting as he shouted, "Damn it! These monsters really will not die!"

Standing before the four members of Team Eleven was a group of large stone terracotta warriors.

The terracotta statues, which should have had no life, moved like living things. They formed ranks and attacked the moment they met, as if they held some deep hatred.

Kakashi destroyed several with Chidori, and Guy shattered several with taijutsu. But in the next moment, those broken terracotta warriors stood back up again.

Watching another shattered warrior recover completely, Kakashi's brow twisted into a knot. "They really seem immortal."

Naoki did not know much about these terracotta warriors, but anyone with eyes could see they were only soulless puppets. So he proposed, "There is no need to waste time on these puppets. We should meet the priestess first."

Team Eleven knew nothing about the Land of Demons' current situation, so everyone agreed with Naoki's proposal. They circled around the slow-moving terracotta warriors and rushed deeper into the Land of Demons.

Along the way, everything they saw and heard was destruction caused by terracotta warrior puppets.

Not only small villages, but even markets and towns had suffered. The civilian casualties were so severe that even the four members of Team Eleven, who had just lived through war, felt faintly shaken.

Although they could not bear it, the four understood.

Rather than wasting time entangled with the terracotta warrior puppets along the way, it was better to join the priestess as soon as possible and defeat the demon behind everything. Otherwise, the number of dead would only grow.

Fortunately, the Land of Demons was not large. After several days of travel, Team Eleven finally approached the priestess's palace.

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