Because he had witnessed the deaths of too many young sorcerers, he sincerely hoped that every time he went on a mission, those Jujutsu Sorcerers would return safely.
"No problem, leave everything to me." Uzumaki Naruto smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, then turned and entered the village together with Uchiha Sasuke.
An endless forest—that was the first impression the two of them had.
So many trees! This place actually feels a bit like Konohagakure. Now that I've seen so many skyscrapers, I actually miss the village quite a bit." Uzumaki Naruto looked at these trees with sparkling eyes, his eyes filled with excitement. "I wonder how Hatake Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sai.. how they are doing.
Uchiha Sasuke remained silent. To Uzumaki Naruto, the hidden villages were worth reminiscing about, but to him, that village had brought him mostly nothing but pain.
In the past, Naruto was the one he worried about back in the village, but now that Naruto is by his side, he wishes he never had to go back.
"Why is there a kid here?" Uzumaki Naruto shouted, interrupting Uchiha Sasuke's thoughts.
Sasuke looked up. Naruto had run to the base of a tree, sitting atop this ten-meter-tall tree was a girl of about five or six years old.
"Whose child are you? Why are you sitting up there?" Uzumaki Naruto walked over and asked, looking up.
The girl seemed to shrink back in fear, but she missed her footing and fell from the tree.
"Hey!" Naruto was quick, stepping forward a few paces to catch her.
That was way too dangerous!" Naruto said, weighing the child in his arms, "Are you okay?
He met a pair of large black eyes.
“Why aren't you saying anything? Are you scared?”
The big eyes shook their head.
The temperature in this forest is quite low; I'm feeling so cold," Naruto muttered to himself, before immediately adding, as if he had discovered a new continent, "Sasuke, come quickly and look!
"What?" Uchiha Sasuke, who had been watching from the side, walked over.
"This kid looks a lot like you!" Naruto said, holding the child up in his hands.
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke took a careful look at the girl's appearance.
Her features were delicate and her skin was fair; although she was still young, it was clear that she would grow up to be an exceptionally beautiful woman.
As for looking like him in that regard, I don't know how Naruto could have seen that; aside from having slightly larger eyes and slightly fairer skin, there didn't seem to be anything else similar.
The little girl had been silent, letting Naruto play with her, but when she met Sasuke's eyes, she suddenly broke free from Uzumaki Naruto.
“Don't trust anyone in the village!”
She spoke her first words since being discovered and then ran off without looking back.
How strange," Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head. "I thought she would have acted.
He suddenly blurted out those words without any warning.
Beside him, Uchiha Sasuke glanced over. "Seeing how heartlessly you're laughing, I thought you hadn't noticed."
How could I not notice that the child I'm holding has no heartbeat!" Uzumaki Naruto retorted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "It's not like I'm an idiot!
But unlike those strangely shaped Cursed Spirits I've encountered before, this little girl is quite normal—wait!
After saying this, Naruto seemed to realize something.
Cursed Spirits are born from Cursed Energy generated by human negative emotions.
Uchiha Sasuke spoke these words without any emotion, "Moreover, according to past records, the more human-like a Cursed Spirit's form is, the stronger its power becomes."
Uzumaki Naruto turned his head and met Sasuke's gaze.
“If it weren't for the lack of body temperature and heartbeat, there would be almost no difference between him and a normal person.”
At some point, the smile that had always been plastered on Uzumaki Naruto's face had vanished, replaced by a look of utmost seriousness.
So, what kind of negative emotion is this little girl?
He said softly.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Let's just say it's the mission where they followed the original plot, which resulted in Haibara's death.
Hmph, not a single one of the five from Jujutsu High can be missing!
And
End this dungeon in the next chapter
Go home to see my ancestors
Thank you to all the little angels who cast Overlord Tickets or provided nutrient solution between 2022-08-23:50:04 and 2022-12-06 01:02:11~
Special thanks to the little angels who donated nutrient solution: Di Chou Chang Nan Chao Shi (90 bottles); Yang Chen Qing Wu Liu Li Sha (5 bottles); Ting Liao Yue (5 bottles);
Thank you all so much for your support, I will keep working hard!
Chapter 61
Facing Naruto's question, Sasuke simply turned his head to look into the distance, as if his attention had been drawn by something else.
So you don't know either, Sasuke!
Uzumaki Naruto suddenly understood, as Uchiha Sasuke's body language was a perfect ten.
Uchiha Sasuke immediately turned his head back,
“She has no fluctuations of Cursed Energy.”
“The Special Grade you encountered last time also had almost no detectable presence of Cursed Energy.”
“So either she is quite special, or she is also a Special Grade.”
Uchiha Sasuke unleashed a rapid-fire series of analyses.
Uzumaki Naruto..⊙⊙
As expected of Sasuke, he thought admiringly, that he didn't even know what kind of emotion had formed the Cursed Spirit, yet he could still express it like that.
As the two spoke, they approached the village entrance, where several men who appeared to be in their thirties came to meet them.
Uchiha Sasuke glanced up slightly; why did these people look so antiquated?
Not that it was their clothes, to be precise; it was more that their spirit and demeanor were completely out of place in modern society.
They lacked the sense of openness found in modern society; instead, they were similar to some of the ninja villages he had seen before in the Shinobi World, with a style that leaned towards being conservative and old-fashioned.
The man in the middle was clearly the leader, but for some reason, his head appeared to be injured and was wrapped in bandages.
“May I ask, you are..” The bandaged man paused, mumbling the words "Jujutsu Sorcerer" somewhat indistinctly.
"That's right, we're here to help you!" Uzumaki Naruto gave a big smile and patted his chest.
That's great." The man's smile was almost forced. "I am the village head here. You two.. please follow me this way.
Sasuke frowned. It was even more subtle; this man's behavior was far too much like a civilian encountering a ninja in his original world.
His gaze tightened slightly. So even in a world that seemed open, people with special powers would still be marginalized by ordinary people.
"Although we have a general idea of the situation, there are some details we still need your help to fill in," Naruto continued to ask.
This was something he had learned during his first mission; even when the general circumstances of a mission are known, one must personally gather information from the local residents. Perhaps then, one might obtain some unexpected news that could solve the problem.
"It's only right, it's only right." The village head nodded, then, as if he had been prepared, poured out a long stream of words.
The village is originally quite far from the city, there are many mountains around us with not much good farmland. Fortunately, the shrine in our area is quite effective, so many people come from the city, everyone's lives have always been fairly decent.
A shrine?" Uzumaki Naruto asked, "What kind of god? And what do they take care of?
The village chief paused for a moment before answering, "Our shrine is quite effective for praying for marriage."
Oh, okay!" Uzumaki Naruto nodded. "That sounds great. Sasuke, let's go pray there later too.
Uchiha Sasuke??
Why go and worship this?
“Kakashi-sensei!" Uzumaki Naruto said, looking disappointed, "He's still single!"
Kakashi-sensei's peers are already old enough to be out running errands!
"You forgot that Uchiha Obito is also single," Uchiha Sasuke said coldly.
“Obito-san's case is a special one,” Uzumaki Naruto said dismissively. “He's been busy these past few years with.. uh.. busy with his career.”
Not just Hatake Kakashi-sensei, others need them too. Let me count the singles I know.
"Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, um, never mind Shikamaru." Uzumaki Naruto began counting on his fingers.
I should probably pay my respects to Granny Tsunade as well.
..
And you also reminded me, your ancestors, your brother, even Big Brother Shisui will need help being prayed for as well.
"Calculating it this way, there really are quite a few people to help with the offerings." Uzumaki Naruto was somewhat surprised to find that even ten fingers wouldn't be enough.
He actually knows so many single people!
Uchiha Sasuke: ".. If you want to get married, go do it yourself! I'm not going!"
Don't be like that, you're already here." Uzumaki Naruto pulled him forcefully. "Just bow once!
"No!" Uchiha Sasuke angrily tried to take back his sleeve.
"The problem is actually with the shrine," the Village Head interjected bravely.
"Eh?" Uzumaki Naruto let go of Uchiha Sasuke's sleeve and asked in doubt.
Although most of our income comes from shrine tourism, there are still some religious festivals that outsiders are not allowed to participate in," the village chief said with a helpless expression. "As a result, about half a month ago, while we were holding a festival, some young people broke in.
Even though those young people were quickly driven out, strange things gradually began to happen afterward.
Those young people who broke in—they all vanished overnight.
“At first, we thought they had run away on their own, but then the villagers started disappearing too, only then did we realize something was wrong.”
“They angered the deity, this is all the deity's punishment.” A man standing beside the village chief had a somber expression.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance. Killing someone just because the ritual was interrupted? This god sounded like he had quite a temper.