Chapter 291: Testimony of Protection
If the Land of Demons after Moryo’s chaos had been a lifeless scene of reconstruction, where a hundred things waited to be rebuilt, then the Land of Demons now displayed an atmosphere of vigorous vitality, as if all things were competing to flourish.
Looking down from the sky, Naruto Uzumaki saw broad roads covered in lush greenery spreading across the Land of Demons like branching blood vessels. As the main nodes between those vessels, the towns of the Land of Demons that had once been half destroyed during Moryo’s chaos had now been rebuilt into vast cities with towering walls and wide territories. They were like powerful beating hearts, busily pumping great quantities of “blood” called merchants and travelers into the vessels connected to them.
Even in the era Naruto Uzumaki lived in, such a scene was relatively common only within the borders of a few well-developed great nations. In those small countries without development or important resources, even the capital of an entire nation might not be more prosperous than any random city of the Land of Demons he saw along the way.
“Amazing. The Land of Demons is clearly only a middling country in the shinobi world. It doesn’t have abundant natural resources, nor does it have an economic source like a shinobi village that can earn large amounts of money. And yet it managed to develop into something this prosperous in such a short time…”
When the two of them landed in the capital of the Land of Demons, whose level of prosperity was already close to Konoha itself, Naruto Uzumaki looked up at the bustling city and could not help sighing in admiration.
At that, Rei Kaguya rolled his eyes somewhat speechlessly. While using his summoning snake to notify the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons that guests had arrived, he said casually,
“If you limit your gaze to a single country, then the Land of Demons really is not a country with abundant resources or a large population. Aside from Moryo, that man-made large-scale chakra aggregate, it basically had no capital capable of bringing major changes to the nation…
“But if the Land of Demons’ excellent geographical position is used properly, if Moryo’s power, which previously had to be sealed away, is used for national transportation and urban construction, and if that is supplemented by the reliable and favorable reputation the shrine maidens of the Land of Demons hold among surrounding nations, then the possibility of forming a commercial hub that can drive resource and economic exchange between nearby countries naturally exists.”
“Do not assume that under the order I have established, the various countries of the shinobi world will still become sealed-off islands like before, maintaining only scarce and heavily obstructed exchanges with their neighboring countries, Naruto Uzumaki.”
“…For the record, I was also a Hokage who properly maintained cooperation with the other villages among the Five Great Shinobi Villages during my term and made Konoha and the Land of Fire prosper. Don’t talk like I have no idea how amazing the effects of cooperation can be.”
Naruto Uzumaki complained helplessly.
“But your expression tells me that your understanding and grasp of things like win-win cooperation and regional economic integration can only be described as tragic.”
As Rei casually retorted, he turned his gaze toward a petite figure with white hair who was running toward them like the wind.
“Is that Brother Shisui? It’s been so long since I saw you!”
The voice of Shion, the next shrine maiden of the Land of Demons, was overflowing with surprise. Although after discovering that the one who had come was not Shisui Uchiha, whom she was very fond of, but Shisui Uchiha’s direct superior, Rei Kaguya, she inevitably showed a slight trace of disappointment, she quickly adjusted her mood and very gracefully and solemnly bowed to Rei Kaguya and Naruto Uzumaki.
“It has been a long time, Lord Mizukage.”
“Mm, it really has been a long time. Shion, you have already grown into a beautiful girl who can throw such a straight ball at that brat Shisui.”
Rei first teased her casually. Then, looking at the sweat on Shion’s forehead that she had not yet had time to wipe away, his tone grew slightly more serious as he asked,
“Were you undergoing shrine maiden training just now, Shion?”
“Yes!”
Shion wiped the sweat from the corner of her forehead and proudly puffed out her budding chest.
“Although I still cannot precisely dispatch and command the terracotta soldiers from over a hundred kilometers away like Mother can, if the control range is shortened to within ten kilometers, then my ability to control the terracotta soldiers is already no worse than Mother’s!”
“Then congratulations in advance to the Land of Demons. You will be able to complete the development and use of Moryo’s power faster and better, and also sell the labor power of the terracotta soldiers to neighboring countries earlier, thereby stimulating your national economy to grow even more prosperous.”
“Thank you for your praise, Lord Mizukage.”
As an elder, Rei approvingly patted Shion on the shoulder. Then he glanced back at Naruto Uzumaki, who stood nearby with a slight frown, and said casually,
“If you have a question, then ask, Naruto… Speaking directly is your nindo, isn’t it?”
“Then I’ll ask directly.”
Naruto Uzumaki considered his words for a moment, then looked very seriously at Shion, who was curiously sizing him up, and asked,
“The Land of Demons… intends to use the shrine maiden as an existence similar to Moryo’s Jinchuriki to wield those special abilities of its?”
“A Jinchuriki…?”
Shion slightly furrowed her cute, delicate brows, then answered with some uncertainty,
“It probably does not count, right? After all, Moryo is essentially an aggregate of the negative chakra separated from successive generations of shrine maidens of the Land of Demons. It shares the same source as the shrine maidens, and our lives are connected. Compared to Tailed Beasts… there should still be a very large difference.”
“But in terms of the method and risks of using that power, it is not that different from becoming a Jinchuriki.”
As if recalling the long process of coexistence and reconciliation between himself and the Nine-Tails, Naruto Uzumaki could not help sighing. He looked at Shion with somewhat worried eyes and asked,
“Don’t you feel that it is very hard? Or regret it, Shion?”
“If it is hard, then I suppose it is… But I do not regret it at all!”
Because of her trust in Rei Kaguya, and because of Naruto Uzumaki’s innate halo of affinity, Shion gave her answer without thinking too much. After hearing that answer, Naruto Uzumaki sighed with complicated emotions and murmured to himself,
“Subduing Moryo and completely turning that vast and evil chakra into your own use is a very long, very difficult, and very dangerous path…”
“But it is also the only opportunity that allows the Land of Demons to ride the great wind of this era and let the people of the Land of Demons live better lives.”
Shion met Naruto Uzumaki’s eyes and said very seriously,
“I heard Brother Shisui talk about Jinchuriki. I also know that for shrine maidens, Moryo, which is essentially the other side of the same coin as us, is an existence even more dangerous and troublesome than most Tailed Beasts that are hostile toward humans…
“But even the Nine-Tails, the Tailed Beast most hostile toward humans, can still become a force that helps people protect what they wish to protect.”
As she spoke, Shion’s hands formed a special seal. Along with a cold chakra fluctuation spreading from her body, terracotta soldiers with stern faces and swords in hand slowly crawled out from the earth around Shion’s feet. Then, under Shion’s control, the terracotta soldiers marched with neat and heavy steps, joining the guards patrolling the shrine maiden’s residence without the slightest sense of incongruity.
“In order to prevent their own ambition and darkness from swelling excessively, the shrine maidens of previous generations chose to divide them away through secret arts, ultimately leading to Moryo’s birth. But viewed from the opposite side, Moryo is also proof that the shrine maidens of generations past wished to protect the Land of Demons and wished for the people living here to enjoy more peaceful and stable lives.”
“If the spirits of those predecessors in heaven know that this power they had no choice but to abandon can be used to help the Land of Demons move toward prosperity, then even across the boundaries of time and space, they surely would not be stingy with their protection and blessings toward Mother and me.”
Naruto Uzumaki took a deep breath.
In his eyes, after Shion finished saying those words with hope and certainty, the cold and evil aura wrapped around her somehow faded slightly. It was as though the shrine maidens of past generations whom she had mentioned had truly responded to her prayer from somewhere unseen.
Unbelievable… But perhaps chakra itself was precisely that kind of mysterious and unpredictable power.
Thinking of this, Naruto Uzumaki’s mind once again recalled his encounter with another Shion from another spacetime when he was young. His eyes narrowed with nostalgia, and he casually asked Shion,
“Then, that ability of yours to foresee the future—after you made up your mind, has it activated again, Shion?”
“No. Not even once.”
Shion tilted her head and answered with a light laugh.