(Third Person POV)
As the boat touched the shore, Shikaku boarded off quickly to escape the swaying menace.
The journey was short, but the strong currents and whirlpools in the surrounding waters had made it quite risky. Shikaku was stretched for time, and the other troublesome option of traversing through the uneven forested region of Mountains' Graveyard was a big no-go.
He thanked the helmsman and asked him to wait for some time. At the end of the shore, Shikaku spotted a Kusagakure official standing near the steps that climbed up the cliff steeply.
His gaze followed the steps and finally rested on the massive criminal containment facility resting on the cliff face, the infamous Hozuki Castle. With dark clouds overcast, thunder rumbling in the sky, winds howling, and large waves crashing, the atmosphere surrounding the area gave a dreary and hopeless feel to everyone.
Overcoming his jitters, Shikaku went towards the Kusagakure official to complete his task. The sooner he was done, the quicker he would be able to get back to Konoha, where more serious matters awaited him.
After exchanging pleasantries with the official and climbing up the stairs, Shikaku found himself facing the master of the place, Lord Mui.
"I hope your journey was pleasant, Shikaku-dono," Mui said. "It is rare for shinobi villages to demand the release of prisoners they have sent here at Hozuki Castle."
"Konoha is sorry for the inconvenience caused by this decision, Mui-sama," Shikaku replied. "It took us some time to find the artifacts that our shinobi had stolen from the Daimyo palace."
Shikaku took out the official documents and gave them to Mui. "As you can see, the Daimyo has requested the release of the prisoner and wishes to deliver justice himself."
Mui read the documents and nodded. He asked Shikaku to follow him to the main office, where the remaining procedures needed to be completed.
Both men knew all of this was an act. There were only two types of people in this place: genuine criminals that shinobi villages did not want to kill, and spies. It was not the first time for Mui that a shinobi village asked for the release of such spy 'criminals,' and neither will it be the last.
Apart from housing criminals, Hozuki Castle also had a deep secret, something that Mui and Kusagakure shinobi protect with all possible means. The other shinobi villages had their doubts, but they could not take action against a neutral country without any solid incriminating evidence.
Mui sent the Guard Captain to bring the criminal from the solitary confinement cell.
"Apologies, Shikaku-dono, the criminal had violated the prison rules many times and had to be confined in the solitary cell as punishment." Mui remained stoic as he explained. "We need to adhere to our strict standards to prevent any undisciplined behavior inside the place."
Again, Shikaku did not believe the excuse. Mui's track record of locating spies and locking them up in solitary confinement within a week of their arrival heightened the suspicion of other villages towards him.
But he was not in the mood to argue and nodded in understanding. By the time he had completed all the formalities of the release, the Guard Captain returned with a 16-17-year-old teenager.
Looking at the person from top to bottom, Shikaku could barely recognize his fellow Konoha junior and clan member. Long, unkempt hair, a slight beard along the chin, and wearing torn, dirty clothes, only his dead-fish grey eyes gave a sense of familiarity to Shikaku.
The office became silent as neither of the Konoha shinobi said anything. The staring competition went on for a while until Shikaku chuckled, sighed, and shook his head. He turned towards Mui, "Konoha appreciates Kusagakure's understanding of the matter, Mui-sama. You can release the seal, and we will be on our way."
Mui also nodded and placed a hand on the teenager's abdomen. "Fire Release: Heavenly Prison"
A red light shone through the teenager's torn clothes, accompanied by a sizzling sound of skin burning. The teenager frowned and grunted for a while, and showed a relieved expression after the juinjutsu was removed completely.
"You are now free to leave the Hozuki Castle, Shigeo Nara."
Mui then nodded towards Shikaku and asked the Guard Captain to escort both Konoha shinobi towards the shore.
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(MC POV)
The boat bobbed up and down as Hozuki Castle gently faded into the horizon. Shigeo had changed into regular Konoha Chunin gear brought by Shikaku in a storage scroll. After checking all his supplies and weapons, he stood on the deck of the boat.
Shigeo reminisced about the time he spent at that damned place, most of it in solitary confinement. He had not even done anything suspicious during his year-long stay, but the hateful Mui had still dumped him in a dark cell underground. After all, he did not need to spy on any information as he knew everything that went on in that place.
Perks of being a transmigrator, I guess.
But it was not all that bad for Shigeo. He needed some isolation to rewire his brain and refocus on his priorities. His transmigration had come with a significant cost after all.
Possession of future knowledge had been his crutch in this life, and he had paid the price for depending too much on it.
He felt Shikaku coming towards him after a chat with the helmsman. The clan leader put a hand on his shoulder and sighed. "Should I still be worried about you?" Shikaku questioned.
"No," Shigeo replied. He then turned towards Shikaku and bowed. "Thanks for taking care of me, Shikaku-sama. You stepped in and got me out of the mess I created."
As Shigeo straightened, Shikaku signaled him that this was not the time nor the place to speak about the matter. "It was not that troublesome to look out for my junior. You can lean more on the clan, after all, we are family."
Shikaku smiled and scolded jokingly. "Rather than me, you should reflect on your actions. While everyone thinks you went away on an S-ranked mission, most Jonins and shinobi related to the top management have probably guessed the truth of the incident. Were it not for the Sandaime Hokage-"
Shikaku stopped, his face etched with a sad expression. He then sighed and told Shigeo of the major events that had happened since he left the village."
"It was as you had predicted, the Sandaime's past actions had caught up with him."
Shigeo's eyes widened hearing that.
Due to his past life's knowledge, he had been biased against the Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, from the start. Shikaku had even caught him rambling one time and admonished his behaviour at the clan compound. At that moment, Shigeo had argued back in a fit of emotional rage.
Despite all that, Hiruzen was the only bonafide Kage figure that had talked with him. The small number of times that they had talked, the Sandaime always treated him with respect and even advised him on one occasion. Shigeo suspected that he might be the one who had assigned him an S-rank mission, despite being a Chunin, to get him out of the mess.
Shigeo held a complicated gaze. He knew of Hiruzen's demise at the hands of Orochimaru, but the loss of the Kage still saddened him. After living for 16 years, he had fully accepted Konoha as his own home and was ready to protect it with the best of his abilities.
Shikaku let Shigeo contemplate the news for some time. Soon, the boat let out a loud whistle, signaling the sight of the harbor on the shore of Takigakure.
"The village and Daimyo have decided on Lady Tsunade being the next Hokage," Shikaku continued. "Jiraiya-sama has departed to bring her back, but it might take him a while."
"Will she even return?" Shigeo asked back. Tsunade's reluctance to enter Konoha politics was well known to everyone.
"She will return. Despite her grievances, she is a true Konoha shinobi at heart. You might not have met her, but everyone still treats her with respect," Shikaku replied.
"Is it because of the Sannin title and strength?" Shigeo asked. He only had a basic understanding of most people in the world from anime and manga. Only after meeting some of them did he realise everyone had more layers to them. After all, they were real people and not the imagination of some artist.
"No," Shikaku denied. "Lady Tsunade's strength and battle merits are only one part of her achievements. It's her character and attitude that forces even enemy shinobi to treat her with respect."
As the boat slowed down to dock in the harbor, Shikaku looked Shigeo directly and said, "You will not join the active shinobi roster on return. I have another task for you, and until then, you will stay in the clan compound."
Shigeo raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew that with the Hokage dead, the Jonin Commander held the most say in this department. The village had just been attacked, and many shinobi and civilians had been killed.
The active-duty shinobi had to overcome their grief while also participating in the village rebuilding efforts.
In such a time, Shikaku not only came in person to have Shigeo released from Hozuki Castle, but he was also actively abusing his authority to keep him within sight and out of trouble.
In this lifetime, only a few people had genuinely helped Shigeo, and the clan leader was already doing it for the second time.
Shigeo nodded at him, making Shikaku smile. "We will rush through Takigakure and rest only after crossing into the Land of Fire. It will take one and a half days to reach Konoha if we maintain this accelerated pace."
Shigeo followed after Shikaku, and the two rushed towards Konoha as soon as they departed from the harbor.