On the other side, not long after Ryosuke had set out, Naruto, who was sleeping in the guest room, opened his eyes.
A complicated emotion flashed through his gaze, as if countless thoughts were flashing one by one through his mind. After hesitating for a moment, Naruto reached out and pushed Rock Lee.
Rock Lee was snoring and didn't react.
He pushed again, even leaned over to Rock Lee's ear to shout a few times, but still got no response.
Just as Naruto was about to pry open Rock Lee's eyelids, he heard Neji's annoyed voice from behind, suppressing his anger, "What are you trying to do?"
Naruto turned around, legs pressed together a little.
"I want to pee."
Neji rolled his eyes, a true Byakugan-style eye roll, "Then just go!"
Naruto regretted drinking so much tea earlier. He had planned to hold it all night until morning, but he didn't expect to wake up in the middle of the night from needing to pee.
The Land of Demons followed the standard Japanese architectural style. The design layout of rooms with different functions followed certain feng shui theories, and restrooms were usually arranged separately in their own area.
'Want to pee?'
'Sorry, you need to go out and walk a bit.'
Naruto peeked out through the crack of the door. The hallway was pitch-black, with only a lantern every ten steps or so, each one swaying slightly.
That bit of light wasn't so much for illumination as it was for letting people walking in the hallway see from which direction a ghost might jump out at them.
In short, Naruto didn't dare go alone.
Neji narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you scared?"
"W–who's scared!"
Naruto's mouth was the only thing tough about him. "I just think it's too dangerous to travel alone, so I want a two-man formation."
Neji considered his words for a moment, then nodded, accepting Naruto's explanation, and got down from the bed.
"Let's go. I'll go with you."
The two of them walked through the hallway. Neji truly lived up to his mature-for-his-age reputation, among the Konoha Twelve, he was the earliest to be promoted to jonin. He kept his Byakugan active the whole way, guarding against possible enemies.
Naruto, meanwhile, was pale-faced, feeling the hallway grow colder and darker the further they went. The shadows in every corner felt like something was staring at him.
Once they reached the restroom, a wave of odor hit the moment they entered. Naruto rushed to the urinal in big strides, undid his belt, and let it all out with a loud stream.
Neji waited for a while, holding his nose.
"Are you done yet?"
"Almost, almost."
Naruto was so anxious his forehead was sweating. He hated himself for drinking so much water.
Neji couldn't stand the smell anymore. He used his Byakugan to check, confirmed no one else was in the restroom, then turned and pushed open the door.
"Wait!"
Naruto yelled in panic, "Where are you going!"
"Relax, there's no one here. I checked for you."
"It's not about whether there are people! It's because there are no people that… that…"
"That what?"
Neji stared at Naruto. "You're afraid of ghosts."
"I—Naruto—never fear ghosts!"
Neji silently observed Naruto. Then he remembered how Hinata seemed to care about him. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly turned around, feeling Naruto's despair-filled gaze stabbing into his back,
Neji's lips curled into a smile.
He strode out and closed the door.
Bang!
The restroom door shut, bringing in a gust of wind that made the candle inside flicker wildly. Naruto's shadow swayed behind him. His teeth chattered, "Neji! You're still outside, right? Hey!"
No response.
"If you're there, can you sing the theme song of Chibi Maruko-chan for me? As our brotherhood song."
Still no response.
Naruto swallowed hard.
"Aaah!!!"
A scream from Neji echoed from the end of the hallway.
Naruto finally finished peeing. He rushed out of the restroom and looked around. The hallway was dim. Neji was nowhere in sight.
"Dili-dala dili-dala!"
"Dili-dala dili-dala!"
Naruto's face grew even paler. He started loudly singing the Chibi Maruko-chan theme song as he sprinted in the direction he came from.
The old wooden floor creaked softly under his feet, sounding like someone was chasing after him from behind.
"Wai… wait…"
A woman's voice came from behind.
Not "sounded like", it really came from behind.
Naruto turned back and saw a long-haired woman at the corner of the hallway, only her head sticking out, waving at him.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Naruto ran as fast as he could.
But the long hallway felt like a maze with no end. Left turn, right turn, he just couldn't find his way back.
"I'm trapped in a ghost maze!"
Naruto remembered a conversation he'd had with Jiraiya while they were training, soaking in a hot spring, ("Naruto, if you meet a ghost, especially a female ghost, don't worry. They're most afraid of your v*rgin boy pee.")
Back then, Naruto's response was,
('But Ero-Sennin, at your age no woman likes you either. Aren't you also a v*rgin?')
Jiraiya got so mad he grabbed Naruto by the back of the neck and threw him into the women's bath. After hearing the women scream, he realized this wasn't punishment at all, it was a reward.
Naruto snapped out of the memory. Seeing the female ghost chase closer, he hurried to pull down his pants to pee at her, but halfway through untying his belt he realized,
His precious v*rgin boy pee was already gone.
"You crafty ghost! You attacked only after I finished peeing!"
Naruto yelled and started running again.
He was shouting so loudly, yet no one came out to check. This alone was abnormal.
He looked back and didn't see the ghost following anymore. He quickly slipped into a pitch-dark room and panted heavily.
Once he caught his breath, Naruto fumbled around and took out the flashlight he carried with him.
Click!
The flashlight lit up, revealing a pale woman's face.
"Ma... yeh!!"
Shion quickly lunged forward and covered Naruto's mouth.
"Don't move, it's me!"
Naruto remembered her. "You're… that dumb and silly shrine maiden."
With the situation urgent, Shion didn't bother correcting his wording. She sped up her explanation, "Right now, my guardian Taruho used a secret technique to disguise himself as me to stall Yomi and the demon, but I don't know how long he can keep fooling them."
Shion was young, but she wasn't stupid.
If the demon successfully devoured Ryosuke, then not just the Land of Demons, the entire world would become food for evil spirits.
Unlike Hiruko, who wanted to fuse with Ryosuke to grow stronger.
The demon wanted not only power, but also Ryosuke's status and authority.
As long as it could invade Ryosuke unnoticed, the demon could become the new king.
That was why Shion took the risk to sneak out and find a way to contact Ryosuke's group.
She explained everything clearly, "They don't want to wait anymore. They plan to act tonight!"
Under the Land of Demons was the ancient summoning array used back when the demon was first called. Now the demon had gone to activate it. Once it was fully activated, its invasion ability would increase drastically.
Not only that, while controlling Shion, Yomi had already removed the seal on the demon's true body ahead of time and hidden it underground.
A double trump card.
"I know Lord Ryosuke is strong, but ghost-god power is different. In the Land of Demons, the demon will be massively amplified. You must leave immediately. Lord Ryosuke absolutely cannot let himself be taken over."
The fear in Naruto's eyes disappeared, replaced by determination.
"I understand."
Naruto squatted down and waved at Shion.
"Get on. We'll go find Kakashi-sensei."
Shion nodded hard and climbed onto Naruto's back.
The two pushed the door open and stepped out.
Bang!
A rod formed by Earth Style swung wide and smashed Naruto in the face. He was about to fight back when several ninjutsu attacks flew toward him. Thinking of Shion on his back, Naruto instinctively turned and used his own body to shield her.
Wind, fire, lightning, earth, several jutsu slammed into Naruto.
He passed out instantly.
Escorted by four subordinates, Yomi strode inside. He lifted Shion up and, seeing she was only unconscious, let out a breath of relief. "You can't die. If you die, who will I threaten?"
"Lord Yomi, what about this brat?" a subordinate asked.
Yomi didn't even glance at Naruto.
"Throw him into the dungeon. Lock him with the thousand women and children we captured. We'll slaughter them all together later."
One subordinate carried Naruto away.
Yomi checked his watch.
"It's about time. Lord Demon…"
"…should be making his move."
The moment he finished speaking...
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted from the direction of the shrine.
Seeing the towering flames, Yomi's face lit up with joy. But soon he saw clearly...
In the blazing inferno, Ryosuke stood unmoving.
With just a single look from him, a storm roared forth, and instantly snuffed out the flames that had just risen.