Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 264 Opportunism

"No matter what, what you said at the meeting went too far and will damage morale."

During the general assembly, the top leadership was of course in complete unison, but once the doors were closed and a private meeting was held, Tobirama began to criticize them mercilessly.

"Instead of blindly developing, we should stop and properly reorganize the internal structure. I don't believe you haven't sensed the problem." Naruto, who had recently had a big argument with the seniors over the exam venue's defenses, was now in high spirits, clearly angered.

Hashirama skillfully fed the children tea and snacks, and said soothingly, "We were planning to stop once we had secured that grain-producing area, but the children are just too enthusiastic. They all want to make a name for themselves first, and we can't stop them."

"You think you can't stop them and you're still arguing!" Naruto was even angrier, "This must be the case that you're trying to manipulate them the wrong way. Get the people from the Land of Demons out of here right now, this can't be delayed."

"May I ask for the reason?" Izuna asked. "Wasn't the reason given at the meeting not the whole story?"

Naruto hesitated for only a moment before turning directly to Fugaku and asking, "Uncle Fugaku, do you still remember the name 'Land of Demons'?"

Faced with the immense pressure of everyone's attention, Fugaku had nowhere to escape and could only rack his brains, saying, "A major incident happened in that place more than ten years ago, which even accelerated the end of the Third Shinobi World War. However, I have been ordered to guard the vicinity of the village and have not learned much about it."

"Such a thing is true?"

The older generation, who died too young, became interested, only to hear the absurd story of ninjas using otherworldly monsters to create an undead army in an attempt to rule the world.

"This doesn't seem very plausible. What are otherworldly magical beasts? I've never heard of them before." For the first time, Tobirama felt incredibly ignorant.

"That's the official statement; I don't know the specifics either." Fugaku spread his hands, indicating that he had no more information, which caused everyone's attention to turn back to Naruto, trying to dig out more information.

"Why are you looking at me? I saw it in the files too. They're encrypted to the level of a Hokage. How could they be fake?" Naruto said confidently.

"The encrypted files at the Hokage level are indeed true, but... how did you see those files? The archives wouldn't have let you scan them with your senses, would they?" Tobirama's expression was somewhat dangerous as he looked over.

I don’t know when it started, but Tobirama became particularly concerned about Naruto using that “super senses” and began to remind him to rest more often.

Naruto lowered his head and flipped through the documents, saying, "That's ancient history. Let's hurry up and discuss bringing them back. If any escaped back then, and the Land of Demons is in chaos again, that would be a huge problem."

Naruto's words proved prophetic.

The infiltrators were extremely adept at seizing opportunities. As soon as the Demon Kingdom showed signs of chaos, they eagerly stormed into the shrine sealing the souls of the demons. Less than three days after the meeting ended, intelligence agents stationed on the Demon Kingdom's border reported the discovery of the stone golem. Those who had just secretly criticized their leader for being too conservative quickly submitted their required self-criticisms and began trying various methods to stop the so-called "ghost army."

"Firearms are ineffective, ninjutsu is ineffective, and even if you use brute force to shatter the stones, they will return to their original state after a period of time..." The news brought by the deputy commander of the military was extremely bad. They finally understood the enemy's helplessness in the face of an army of reanimated corpses.

"What about sealing techniques?"

The deputy minister sighed deeply, "Even the most complex seal can only last for half a day at most. The special chakra on those stone golems has a strong corrosive effect and can melt the seal from the inside."

"...So, we really can only pin our hopes on a fourteen-year-old child?"

After a long silence, Jinlun said, "Unfortunately, it seems that this is the only way at the moment. The energy of that demon is very dispersed, and even I would have to spend a long time to find it. What worries me more is that killing the host will not solve the problem. It seems that we can only borrow some power from that witch."

"Gentlemen, do your best to drive the legions away from villages and towns where people have gathered. This is trouble we caused, and we have to take responsibility. Where has the message reached now?"

"It has only just reached the hands of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, and is already being sent to Konoha at top speed."

"...Let's do it as soon as possible. If it's really not possible, we should give them extra support. The mainstream information transmission channels really do need to be upgraded."

On the fifth day after the demon was freed, Konoha finally sounded the call to arms. As expected, the team was packed up and handed over to Naruto. Their mission was indeed to protect the priestess of the Land of Demons and safely deliver her to the Land of Swamp to seal the demon once again.

He hadn't thought there was anything wrong with the mission before, but now he truly understood the limitations of a ninja's understanding. Even his own people were repeatedly emphasizing the importance of the priestess, so why didn't the enemy think of that? Since they already knew the "Ghost Legion" was difficult to resist, they might as well send ninjas skilled in earth-style techniques to the front lines to constantly modify the legion's route, and secretly send elite troops to escort the priestess. That way, they might be able to kill the most troublesome guy ahead of time.

In his past life, he was so focused on completing missions that he never bothered to read the reports carefully, so he couldn't even remember who the leader of the opposing side was. He only remembered that four troublesome guys had tried to stop them several times. But this time, stopping them would be much more difficult.

"Oh~ I'm sorry to trouble you again, Naruto-kun!" Lee was as energetic as ever.

"We've run into each other again, what a coincidence." Tian Tian is still the same as always, as the god of space scrolls who is an essential travel companion, it's perfectly reasonable for her to bring her along.

Neji, as always, nodded with a stern face. He was the one who played the role of Kakashi's teacher in his past life, but this time he could only accept being a teammate.

"The mission requires us to get there as quickly as possible, but how quickly?" Sakura was studying the map, which was an old relic from over a decade ago and was drawn rather hastily.

“It’s alright, I’ve marked the border of the Land of Wind.” Naruto frowned as he looked at the scroll and said, “How about we use another method to escort the priestess? You go find the priestess, and I’ll go find the sealed land in the Land of Swamp. Once I find it, I’ll take you there directly.”

Neji decisively refused, saying, "This team's combat strength is calculated based on your abilities. If the enemy's ambush force is too strong, the entire team could be wiped out if you're not there."

"Then I'll just send a clone."

"That's something to consider... but can a clone really manage to reach the heart of the Land of Swamps?"

Naruto answered him with a confident smile.