After receiving the report from the Anbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly rushed to the scene.
Once he arrived, he circled the shrine's barrier to inspect it. Noting that the area was entirely sealed off, he then created a shadow clone.
"Let's try attacking with ninjutsu first."
"Understood."
At his command, the shadow clone nodded and unleashed a Great Fireball Jutsu towards the barrier.
Boom!
The fireball hit the barrier but was extinguished instantly, as if swallowed by water. The barrier remained completely undamaged, still as solid as ever.
Observing this, Hiruzen frowned, then looked at his shadow clone again.
"You'll have to go in and investigate."
"Alright."
With another nod, the shadow clone charged toward the barrier. Surprisingly, it passed through as if going through a wall of air, facing no resistance as it entered the barrier.
However, just a second later, the clone vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Seeing this, Hiruzen frowned deeply.
As a technique developed by the Second Hokage, the Shadow Clone Jutsu creates physical duplicates that can be used for reconnaissance, among other purposes. If the clone is destroyed, all of its experiences, memories, and sensations are instantly relayed back to the original.
But at this moment, Hiruzen received no such feedback from his shadow clone.
He had a strange feeling—that the clone hadn't disappeared due to injury, but had been sealed away by something.
"Could this be some type of sealing barrier I don't recognize?"
With this thought, he immediately summoned the first Anbu who arrived and questioned him thoroughly.
Upon learning that the Anbu operative had died instantly upon contact with the barrier, his face frozen in terror, Hiruzen issued an immediate command.
"Seal off this area. No one is to approach. Send the deceased's body to the Intelligence Division; Yamanaka Inoichi should handle this. As a valuable comrade, his death must not be in vain!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Anbu operatives immediately acknowledged his command and began sealing off the area while also transporting the fallen Anbu to the Intelligence Division.
Konoha's ninjas were highly efficient. Within the afternoon, they had erected a wooden fence, four or five meters high, around the barrier to restrict access.
Meanwhile, the head of the Intelligence Division, Yamanaka Inoichi, used the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques to retrieve the deceased's last memories, reporting the findings to Hiruzen.
"A giant white ghostly face?"
After reviewing Inoichi's findings and the drawing of the ghostly face, Hiruzen frowned.
"This ghostly face looks somewhat familiar—it resembles the masks in the shrine. Could it be...if that's the case, this could be a major issue!"
As a sudden realization struck him, Hiruzen's expression darkened, and he quickly ordered the nearby Anbu.
"Inform the Barrier Corps that this is beyond their expertise. Have them pull back immediately. The Hyūga clan will temporarily guard the area until the barrier dissipates.
"From now on, that area is to be declared forbidden in Konoha. Inform the villagers: under no circumstances is anyone allowed near it. If anyone from outside attempts to break in, there's no need to stop them."
"Yes, sir!"
The Anbu acknowledged his command, turned, and left, carefully closing the door behind them.
Once the door was shut, Hiruzen took a deep draw from his pipe, exhaling a long plume of smoke.
"Lady Mito really left us quite a troublesome legacy…"
...
Because of the strange barrier, both Hiruzen and the Konoha ninja, particularly the Hyūga clan, were completely preoccupied.
In their haste, they overlooked one detail—Hattori, who had recently invested in an entire street in Konoha, had vanished.
Perhaps they'd noticed but chose not to care. To them, Hattori was merely an outsider. Even with his considerable financial investment, he was still a foreigner.
If he wasn't in the village, what was there to be curious about? He might have simply left without saying goodbye.
With this mindset, no one bothered to look into Hattori's absence, including Fugaku Uchiha, whom Hattori had just declined.
Even Hiruzen, after a brief attempt to locate him using his Telescope Jutsu, gave up when he found nothing.
After all, Hattori's payment had already been deposited, so it didn't really matter to him whether Hattori stayed or left.
Little did he realize that the bizarre barrier incident causing so much trouble was actually triggered by Hattori.
Currently, the "culprit" was crouched in the shrine at the heart of the barrier, trembling.
"Oh, my God, what did I do to deserve this?"
Back when Hattori watched Naruto, he thought both Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi looked incredibly cool when summoning the Shinigami with the Reaper Death Seal.
In his words, it was "a final, brilliant burst of life."
Now, however, he was surrounded by 27 of these "death gods," each one staring at him with blood-red eyes, like a pack of starving wolves that had just caught sight of a plump little rabbit.
And Hattori was that little rabbit.
Taking in their attributes, he didn't even have the will to resist.
[Name: Shinigami]
[Title: Death God]
[Level: ???]
[HP: ???/???]
[MP: ???/???]
[Specialty: Sealing]
[Combat Power Rating: SSS]
Hattori: "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"
Not even a visible health bar. How was he supposed to fight back?
His only reference now was the newly refreshed task prompt—
[Evaluation Task—Master of Sealing Arts: Dancing with the Gods]
[Phase Three: Appease Them (In Progress)]
[Remaining Time for Phase Three: 3,649 days, 18 hours, 46 minutes, 16 seconds]
[Task Hint: The scent of her perfume lingers on you; it's my fault for noticing her beauty. Forget everything and stay with you.]
Hattori: "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"
What kind of useless hint was this? Were they trying to get him killed faster?
As he reread the task, his mouth twitched uncontrollably, forming a smile that was more like a grimace.
"Ahem…my esteemed Death Gods, er…all 27 of you, what exactly do you like about me? I can change, whatever it is!"
"..."
The death gods remained silent. One of them removed the blade from his mouth and slowly licked along its edge.
Hattori: "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"
What the—? Were they planning to slice him up?
Seeing this, Hattori's heart raced with panic.
However, his strong survival instincts kicked in, and he stood up, bowing deeply to the death gods.
"Honorable Death Gods, I mean…all of you here in the shrine. Before you cut me down, please allow me to perform a song for you—a song that goes, 'The wife is the greatest, the husband's a fool, promise me you won't find a mistress…'"
"..."
(End of Chapter)