When Kairen left, he even used Wood Release to remodel the daimyō's residence, making flowers bloom everywhere, the scenery lush and pleasant.
Koyuki was holding a bundle of bamboo leaves, feeding two panda cubs.
"Come on, Wolon, Fenchu, hurry up and eat. Eat more. From now on, you'll be following me, Koyuki!"
"Mmnh~ (っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)"
Wolon and Fenchu swallowed the bamboo leaves with tears in their eyes. Damn that master—he actually forgot the two of them when he left.
...
Konoha Village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to the Sarutobi household with a gloomy expression.
By coincidence, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was on the battlefield, brought Asuma back to the village, preparing to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
Seeing the dark look on his father's face, Shinnosuke reflected a little and roughly guessed the reason.
Having just returned to the village, as the eldest son of the Sarutobi family, he naturally understood the strange atmosphere within the village.
It felt as if something was being suppressed.
After learning the truth, Shinnosuke was even more astonished. Only a month apart, and Kairen had already become strong enough to threaten the entire village.
At the same time, he felt even more regretful. If back on the battlefield they had paid any price to kill Kairen, there wouldn't be such trouble today.
What a pity! What a pity!
Shinnosuke looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked, "What did the new daimyō say?!"
Last night, Kairen slaughtered the Fire Country daimyō. During the day today, one of the daimyō's sons ascended the throne, skipping over the complicated power struggles in between.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "The new daimyō wants us to hand over Moku Kairen. Otherwise, he will abandon our village and stop supplying us with war materials."
Asuma said bluntly, "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and hand over Moku Kairen!"
Shinnosuke answered the question,
"Even Orochimaru and Jiraiya are no match for him. If we label him a rogue ninja today, who knows—tomorrow he might kill his way back and change the regime."
"Most importantly, there are still his shadow clones left in the village. He's built a massive military fortress—he's practically a warlord."
"Th—how did Moku Kairen become this strong?" Asuma asked.
Before, even though the gap was huge, at least you could see his back. Now, you don't even have the qualification to look up at him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Asuma without saying a word, then gave him a look, signaling him to leave.
Asuma snorted and slowly walked out.
Deep doubts filled Shinnosuke's heart. "Father, why can Moku Kairen be so strong?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen analyzed, "He is a descendant of the Senju, and he awakened the First Hokage's Wood Release. More importantly… he possesses the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan."
Shinnosuke was shocked. "Sharingan—and a Mangekyō at that?!"
The two great ninja powers of the Warring States era gathered in a single person—calling such a man the Sage of Six Paths would not be an exaggeration.
Shinnosuke interrogated, "Could he be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not answer. Presumably, he harbored the same doubt.
Shinnosuke immediately began thinking about how to kill Kairen. He said to Sarutobi Hiruzen with murderous intent,
"Father, call back the ninja army from the battlefield, pull out a dozen or so sealing ninjas. I refuse to believe we can't kill him!"
"But the war?!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke shook his head.
"Don't worry about any ninja war. If we lose, at most we cede some land—that's the daimyō's concern, not ours as ninjas."
"Right now, Moku Kairen is truly about to shake the very foundations of our Sarutobi family. You've seen what Tsunade is doing now."
"She's assigning many missions to civilians. If this continues, what living space will the ninja clans have left?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shinnosuke somewhat strangely and asked, "Who taught you to say something like that?"
He understood his son extremely well. Treating great-nation wars as bargaining chips was not something a proper ninja would say.
A gloomy voice came from outside the room. "Of course it was me, Hiruzen."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up, the shock on his face impossible to suppress. "Danzō!"
"Long time no see… gua!"
...
Night fell. After Kairen and Miroku finished their meal, Kairen held Miroku and leapt onto the roof of the shrine palace, quietly admiring the moon.
The two lay atop the tiles, gazing at the silver moon in the sky.
Miroku's hand mischievously rubbed Kairen's hair, slowly turning his head into a messy bird's nest.
She didn't forget to ask, "Those two of your summoned beasts—aren't you going to bring them over?!"
Kairen brushed her hand away. How could a boy's hair be messed with so casually?
He replied, "No need. I've signed summoning contracts with them. I can summon them anytime."
"Let them keep Koyuki company for a couple of days. After I return to the village, I'll summon them back."
"What, are you feeling like you want to rua those two now?"
Miroku didn't speak. Instead, she recalled something from her childhood.
"When my mother passed away, she left me a cat. I liked it very much—it was my only friend."
"But one day, I foretold that it would be bitten to death by wolves. No matter how I tried to save it, in the end, it still died."
Miroku's pale violet eyes looked into Kairen's pitch-black ones as she continued slowly,
"Kairen, tell me…"
"Is a person's fate decided from the very beginning? Are we unable to resist, only able to silently endure, and then die in silence?"
Kairen pulled Miroku's head over, resting it against his chest, gently stroking her hair.
Then his dark eyes looked at her. "Do you believe it? Actually, your fate changed the moment you met me."
Miroku looked into Kairen's eyes, as if she could see a sea of stars within them.
She nodded. "Perhaps!"
Kairen smiled, then asked her, "What kind of cat was yours?!"
"An orange cat!"
Kairen asked, "Did it die from being too fat?!"
Miroku was astonished. "How did you know? When I learned that my cat had signs of impending death, I protected it very carefully, keeping it hidden in the palace."
"I protected it cautiously every day. After some time, it couldn't even walk. In the end, it directly died from being too fat."
Kairen was speechless. Out of ten big orange cats, nine are heavy. Feeding it delicacies every day was basically accelerating its death.
Kairen slowly transformed into a puff of white smoke, turning into a little orange cat that jumped onto Miroku's chest.
It was as if tiny stars were sparkling in Miroku's eyes as she lifted Kairen up.
"This is the cat—exactly the same as the one from my childhood!"
Kairen stuck out his cat tongue and gently licked Miroku's wrist. This was a sign of closeness cats showed to humans.
Miroku stroked Kairen's fur with her hand. Kairen's cat eyes narrowed as he continuously shouted in comfort.
Miroku's hand brushed past two cat eggs. Kairen's fur instantly bristled as he said to Miroku,
"Just now, there… do that a few more times!"
Miroku chuckled softly, tugging on Kairen's two cat ears.
"You really are a lecherous cat!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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