Escape From Konoha

Seeing Xiaoxue throwing herself into his arms as soon as she got off the train, Shiraishi patted her back gently, then pushed her away helplessly and said:

"You're such an adult, don't pounce on me at every turn. Didn't Third Master teach you how to be a proper lady, Xiaoxue?"

Before Xiaoxue could speak, she heard a rush of footsteps. The third wife caught up with him out of breath. He just heard Baishi's words and said, "Your Excellency Baishi, I hope more than anyone else." Your Highness can become an excellent lady only because of the lack of discipline. Your Highness has become more and more willful recently."

Xiaoxue glared at Third Taifu's complaints.

"Really? However, I haven't seen you for a while. You look like you are getting older now, third wife."

Baishi smiled at the third husband.

Looking at the wrinkles on the third wife's face, there are many more wrinkles than a few years ago, and I can't help but sigh that time flies by.

"Yes, I also think that today's young people are a bit too lively, especially His Highness. If this continues, I feel that I will be ashamed of the late His Highness Hayuki."

Seeing the third wife wiping tears while speaking so emotionally, Xiaoxue was immediately speechless.

"You are getting more and more outrageous, Mr. Third. Even I want to relax occasionally. If I always stay in an empty palace, I will be out of touch with the times."

"That's better than being exposed outside."

The third wife smiled helplessly, but her tone was full of doting.

After all, the place they live in is indeed changing with each passing day.

I vaguely remember that more than ten years ago, the famous names of various countries were still symbols of sacredness and dignity.

Just like a high-altitude god who does not eat the smoke and fire of the world.

But as time goes by, it is completely impossible to continue to maintain that kind of unworldly persona and still want to govern the country well.

After all, if a country's famous name is positioned too high, its image will become smaller in people's minds.

Therefore, today, if the daimyo still wants to add the element of 'god' to himself, it will not work at all.

A country like the Kingdom of Ghosts, which still uses the power of witches and goddesses to maintain national rule, can only be treated as an example and is difficult to copy and imitate.

"Okay, don't just talk about Xiaoxue, you can also take some time to relax."

Bai Shi laughed.

The date for the finals of the Joint Chuunin Examination has been determined. Therefore, in the past few days, officials from all over the ninja world and well-known big businessmen have rushed to the Kingdom of Demon to watch the finals of the Joint Chunin Examination.

Such a grand event would naturally involve the appearance of the neighboring country Snow Country.

But compared to the representatives from other countries, Xiaoxue and San Taifu were the ones who arrived earlier.

"The finals of the Joint Chunin Examination? It is indeed an event worth looking forward to."

The third wife nodded.

Although Snow Country was not involved in this joint chuunin exam, it also knew the importance of this joint chunin exam.

The mutual testing between big countries always happens inadvertently.

As one of the three major countries in the western part of the continent, the Demon Country is in urgent need of expanding its influence externally. As the organizer of the third joint Chunin Examination, it is a good opportunity to expand its influence.

Although the Kingdom of Ghosts had experienced the War of the Kingdom of Wind before, most of the power displayed was still concentrated on a few top ninjas in the military. The ability of the military ninja troops to participate in battles has not yet been known to all countries in the ninja world.

After the War in the Kingdom of Rain, new weapons were sold to the Hidden Rain Village in order to contain the Kingdom of Fire. Although it also aroused great international repercussions, it was only controlled behind the scenes. The main participants in the battle were the ninjas from Yuyin Village and the ninja troops from the Daming Mansion of the Land of Fire.

In two extremely critical wars, the strength displayed by the Kingdom of Ghosts is still an unsolved mystery.

The strength of the ninja, the head of the Demon Country's military, is naturally valued by all countries. The various new weapons it has developed have also been highly recognized by the arms market.

The only thing that has not yet been determined and remains to be seen is the combat effectiveness of the ninjas other than the head ninjas of the Demon Country's military. These backbone ninjas.

Especially as a new generation of ninja, it can best reflect the potential of a ninja village.

And this potential, after several years of fermentation, will gradually form the mainstay of Ninja Village and become the cornerstone of Ninja Village's organization.

This principle also applies to the military of the country of ghosts.

Although the third husband has great confidence in the new generation of genin trained by the Demon Country's military, no matter how confident he is, he needs to witness it with his own eyes to feel completely at ease.

"Speaking of which, Asuka and the others don't seem to be here."

After walking around in a circle, Xiaoxue found that besides Shiraishi, there were only some government officials from the Kingdom of Ghosts with familiar faces, and only Shiraishi who was close to her was present.

"Asuka? He and Cai are currently undergoing five days of special training from Kazuki. After all, the two of them are going to represent the army of the ghost country to take the third exam. Before the finals, you probably won't see them both." gone."

Baishi led the way, and Xiaoxue and San Taifu also followed.

The ninjas from the Snow Country and the government officials from the Ghost Country followed closely behind and did not bother the three of them.

With Baishi present, they were not worried that some blind people would come to assassinate Xiaoxue, the great name of Snow Country, at such a time.

"Well, that's a pity. Come to think of it, you two mothers must have important things to deal with at this time."

When mentioning her two mothers, Xiaoxue's tone obviously became a little subtle.

Shiraishi said vaguely: "Yeah, the two of them are really busy, and I'm not at home very much these days, so you can stay at Ziyuan's place for the time being. It just so happens that she is quite boring alone at the shrine, you You can go and stay with her to prevent her from always sneaking out of the shrine because she is bored."

Thinking of Ziyuan, Shiraishi suddenly had a headache.

Although like Xiaoxue, Ziyuan is also her adopted daughter, but in terms of self-willedness, she is even more self-willed than Xiaoxue.

And since there is no one around Shion who can restrain her, the witches around her are also very obedient to her wishes.

As long as he doesn't cause trouble, as time goes by, Baishi will turn a blind eye.

Because if you think about it seriously, the biggest use of Shion, as a witch, is to seal and suppress sprites when they make trouble again.

Other than that... It seems that as a witch, she really has nothing to do, and there is no obligation to fulfill.

This kind of willfulness is completely different from Maitreya, the previous generation of witches.

"Well, I see, then I won't bother my lord father. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Ziyuan for a long time, so I'll attend with her then."

Xiaoxue brushed her hair and smiled slightly.

"Then I'll trouble you. I hope that child can calm down in the next few days and save me some trouble."

With Xiaoxue's promise, Baishi's mood cleared up a lot, and his walking pace also became brisk.

Thinking about it this way, I'm a little thankful that I didn't design some too troublesome characters when I created the avatar, otherwise so many 'children' would all make a fuss, and Baishi would feel dizzy just thinking about it.

◎

"You...have you sneaked out again?"

The voice came from behind the huge stone gate, it was a long and ancient, unique tone full of vicissitudes.

It seems that as long as you hear it, your heart will be unnaturally captured by the owner of this voice.

Although the stone gates are tightly connected, in the narrow gaps, there is still a purple-black light that seeps out a little from the gaps.

But on the outside of the stone gate, there are layers of spherical barriers.

Under the sunlight, the enchantment exudes a platinum-like sacred brilliance.

Therefore, even if the dark purple-black light wanted to poke its head out from the stone gate, it still couldn't move freely outside.

The sacred barrier seems to be its natural enemy, as long as it shows its head, it will make its body experience the pain of burning.

Although it is a symbol of immortality, pain is equal to humans and monsters.

Even if it is not afraid of death, the sprite has no habit of abusing itself.

The one communicating with it here is a young girl wearing a white miko uniform and long pale golden hair.

She wears a red string around her neck, and a bell is attached to the string.

She sat on the ground with her back against the stone door, and just nodded slightly to the sound coming from behind the stone door.

"The mountain is too boring. There are so many interesting things at the bottom of the mountain, but my father won't let me go every time, saying that I am playful. Even if I go, I can't stay for too long, and I have to have followers by my side. "

Having said this, Ziyuan couldn't help but puffed up her mouth and seemed unhappy.

"That's your protection. Your mother Maitreya has the power to reverse time and space, and you who inherit her blood naturally have this power. When you meet someone, their life and death will be seen through. And death , is not a very beautiful thing.”

Even a miko who is physically and mentally pure will feel confused after seeing too many deaths.

This kind of witch has been seen many times in the past.

Ugly and beautiful, she was eventually swallowed up by all kinds of desires in the world and died an unexpected death.

Therefore, most witches who truly practice will not choose to join the world. Most of the time, they perform ascetic practices at shrines.

Most of the witchcraft they practice does not harm humans, but targets monsters. The higher the state of mind of such a miko, the lower the influence of monsters on them.

As for the witches who enter the world, most witches who practice heretical techniques do not need to pay attention to spiritual purity.

Their witchcraft has a terrible killing effect not only on monsters, but also on humans.

For them, joining the WTO is equivalent to spiritual practice.

As the mainline miko of the Kingdom of Ghosts, she is responsible for sealing it, the sprites, so it is naturally impossible for her to enter the world and practice.

Once attracted by the darkness of the world, a witch's power will become impure, and her ability to restrain it will become weaker.

Thousands of years are like a day, never changing.

"Yeah?"

"It's not a good thing to be too kind. Instead, it creates unnecessary compassion because of so much sadness."

"But I don't like the feeling of being on top. It's too far away from other people."

Ziyuan raised her hand, holding the golden light, and stared blankly.

"For us, human life is too small and short. Maybe the next time you open your eyes, the world will have changed, but we will still exist forever. Even if you deliberately get close to them, most of them will only feel flattered and unable to understand you. goodwill."

Although the so-called lives are all equal in the eyes of monsters, there is no such thing as noble or humble.

No matter who it is, there will be so-called selfishness.

However, after all, he is an 'object' condensed from the darkness deep in the heart.

No matter how close he is to humans, he knows he is not human.

This is the same for Shion, who has transformed from a human into a 'witch'.

"It's really annoying! I didn't come to you to listen to the truth! And, as a monster, do you really know what I'm thinking?"

Ziyuan stood up, and stared angrily at the sprite behind the stone gate through the gap.

"This is the sorrow of your excessive longing for the world. Your emotions are becoming more and more like human beings. Maitreya never loses her temper."

Not frightened by Ziyuan's sudden change of face, Sprite still said in a calm tone.

In its view, Ziyuan has too much immaturity.

It is completely incomparable with Maitreya who sealed him.

It's like an adolescent, rebellious child who always likes to disobey adults in everything.

"snort."

With regard to the evaluation made by the monster, Ziyuan also knows that she is far inferior to her mother Maitreya, who can face life calmly.

"Besides, you dump garbage at me every time. Even if I don't want to hear it, I can't cover my ears. It is probably difficult for you to perform your duties as a witch, and you currently lack such awareness."

"Well……"

Can't say sprites.

However, just as the demon said, Shion's first reaction to the so-called witch's responsibilities was not to accept it, but to avoid and fear it.

It is precisely because I have seen countless deaths that I am afraid of death.

Because every time you seal a monster, you need to pay the life of the witch.

"You are a child who lacks 'love'. Just like ordinary human girls, when you don't want enough 'attention', you will lose your temper. But there is one thing that is strange, why you, as a witch, would How did something like this come about?"

This sentence seemed to be asking Ziyuan, but also seemed to be asking himself.

Because in his opinion, Shion really didn't look like a qualified miko.

The witches of the previous generation, the witches of the previous generation, including the previous mainline witches, have shown amazing concentration since childhood. No matter what kind of verbal temptations they face, no matter how many human deaths they have seen, they will not shake themselves. the slightest bit of belief.

Facing them is like facing a stubborn stone, unable to pry open any weakness in them.

But Ziyuan, in the eyes of the demon, is full of weaknesses.

Willful, arrogant, and will become overly emotional if provoked by words. It's almost indistinguishable from humans.

But because it is full of weaknesses, it is impossible for it to start.

The mikos of the past seemed to be running an established program. Although they were stable, they also lost the possibility of continued growth.

Ziyuan gradually developed an emotional humanity, which was undoubtedly a strange thing in the eyes of the monster.

Although the seal may no longer be stable due to these excessive emotions, the future will become unpredictable because of this.

He doubted whether this was done intentionally by that man, Chiba Shiraishi.

"What do you want to say?"

Shion's tone became wary.

Although she has not yet realized the responsibility of being a miko, she also knows that the existence behind the stone gate is too dangerous for humans.

"Since you are eager to be noticed, you no longer live in a world of one person, but like an ordinary human girl, you can freely live the life you like, and you can love the person you like, instead of living like this. Life is arranged by people and ends up in an infinite cycle... Then, let’s survive in a different way."

"another way?"

Shion felt strange about Sprite's statement.

"I bear humanity's 'evil' for you, and I want to re-understand the world."

For thousands of years, he has been suppressed by successive witches.

One or two failures can be regarded as accidental.

But five, ten or even more times, they all ended in failure.

If we attribute failure to chance, then this kind of chance would be too arrogant and stupid.

"!?"

Because the words of the demon were too sudden, Ziyuan was stunned on the spot.

Just when Shion was at a loss and didn't know how to answer, a miko walked through the corridor and walked outside the barrier.

"Master Zi Yuan."

"ah?"

Ziyuan was startled and pretended to look carefully at the stone door, as if she was carefully checking the seal on the stone door to see if there was any problem.

"What's matter?"

She turned her head cautiously and asked.

"His Royal Highness Fenghua Koyuki, the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, is here to visit you. Do you want to see him?"

asked the witch.

"What? Sister Xiaoxue is here? Great, take me to see her quickly!"

Upon hearing the news, Ziyuan immediately forgot all about the monster's words before and couldn't wait to walk outside the barrier, letting the witch lead the way.

As the footsteps faded away, the demon knew that Ziyuan had left this place.

The empty hall fell into deathly silence again.

Even with the sunlight shining in, the atmosphere here still seems extremely depressing to ordinary people.

"When will you see it again?"

The sprite's voice suddenly sounded in this space.

Not long after it finished speaking, a man walked out from behind a stone pillar not far away, with a smile on his face and looked at the sealed stone door. It was Bai Shi.

"Even if you are sealed, do you still have this level of perception, monster?"

"Hmph, your human existence is as dazzling as the sun in the sky. Wouldn't it be weird if you didn't want to be discovered?"

Regarding Bai Shi's question, the demon laughed unceremoniously.

Bai Shi couldn't deny the sneer of the monster.

"However, you are really naughty enough to eavesdrop here."

The demon continued to be sarcastic.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in you, I'm just taking precautions in advance so that my daughter won't be deceived and still help count money."

"Sure enough, you heard everything."

The demon was not too surprised by this result.

"The spiritual life of a witch is too cold, even for adults, let alone children. It's hard to bear it. At this time, you really need a 'close friend' to talk about the garbage in your heart to relieve stress."

"You're an interesting human being."

She clearly knew that the miko was in contact with monsters that were hostile to humans, but she did not stop it. Instead, she just paid attention silently. Should I say that she was arrogant or that she had the ability to control all this? Sprites commented on Shiraishi in this way.

"Things that remain unchanged at one level are too unsightly. If mikos need to change in this generation, then, as someone of the same kind, you might become a key turning point. This is how I think about it."

Shiraishi thought of Maitreya.

The ascetic witch.

No matter when you look at her, she is a respectable woman.

But because people over-idolize her, her existence is always so out of reach in the eyes of ordinary people.

Only at the end of his life did he express his true desire to become an ordinary human being.

Therefore, over the years, Shiraishi has always treated some of Ziyuan's willful behaviors with a tolerant attitude.

As long as he didn't do anything too extreme, even if things might get messy every time he went out, he would turn a blind eye and just hope that Ziyuan could live a freer life.

Otherwise, with Ziyon's poor escape skills, he would be captured and taken back to the shrine for custody by the people he arranged before he even left the shrine.

After all, she was his adopted daughter, and Shiraishi didn't want her to stay in the shrine forever and live like a prisoner.

"Are you trying to use me?"

"Don't be so explicit, just use each other. Do you want to stay in that dark world all your life? There is no light, no air, no water, no life, and no concept of time. It's just imagination, I feel like I might as well be dead.”

The monster fell silent.

Although it cannot feel death, like humans, it also has so-called emotions. If a person stays alone for a long time, it will feel lonely.

Except that the body and soul are different from humans, in terms of emotions, they are no different from ordinary people.

"Is the human world interesting?"

Sprite asked this question apprehensively.

It's a bit funny to say that although it hates humans, it doesn't know what the human world is like.

So in this case, can it still persist in its reasons for hating humans without any distracting thoughts?

It seems that I have never thought about this issue since I was born.

Regarding this question, the demon felt expectant for the first time, but also felt confused.

It is afraid that its expectations are too high, and it is also at a loss because it has to come into contact with a field that is completely unfamiliar to itself.

As if feeling the complex emotions in the demon's heart, Shiraishi also became slightly silent.

Then he turned around and slowly walked to the edge of the sealing hall. He looked up at the sky outside. After a long time, Shiraishi calmed down and said:

"Don't worry. Although the world we live in is not a beautiful paradise, it is still far from hell. It is just a small piece of human world between the two. That's all."

Whether it is too high expectations or too much disappointment, it is unnecessary.

In Shiraishi's view, all the worries in the demon's heart are obviously unnecessary.