Shigeo waved his hand and kept moving forward.
Over the past year, aside from handling documents and overseeing shinobi training, he had little to do.
The village sent him requests in writing. He decided what to act on. With few personnel, and most shinobi stationed in Minami City for guard duty, and no missions from outside, there was almost nothing left for him personally.
In his leisure, he liked to go fishing. A single sail, one man, one rod. An afternoon spent drifting, free and idle, though boring.
So villagers often saw him sleeping on his boat at sea. They knew his habit.
He parted from the two fishing boats and kept rowing. Nothing unusual nearby. He abandoned the boat, rose into the air, scanning in all directions. No trace.
Just as he prepared to return, the sea breeze carried a faint metallic tang—blood.
In an instant, he crossed ten li. The scent grew stronger. At the reefs, he found a horrific scene.
A great ship wrecked, skewered on stone. Its hull tilted, broken. The deck ran red with blood. Corpses lay shredded, scattered, crimson dripping into the sea.
Pirates? Impossible. Since their arrival, not a single pirate raid had happened. Not because pirates did not exist, but because none could enter the fog barrier.
And these reefs were inside the barrier. How had they passed through?
Questions swirled. Shigeo landed on the deck, carefully examining the surroundings.
Wind Release—blades of air. The sharp, clean cuts. Someone had slaughtered the crew.
Inside the cabin, the scene was worse. Unlike outside's ninjutsu wounds, here the bodies bore the marks of genjutsu. Their hair bristled, mouths open in terror, eyes rolled white. They had collapsed in fear, all facing one direction—as if something there had horrified them to death.
Shigeo raised his arm. "Kaiō (Sea Hawk)!"
A hawk descended, perched on him. He scribbled notes of the scene, sealed them in the bird's leg canister, and released it.
Jinshi oversaw the ninja village. Wu Mang commanded Minami City's guard. They had to investigate whether intruders had come.
This wreck lay within a hundred li of the barrier. If the killers struck here, they might already be inside Minami no Kuni.
Deeper into the ship, no more bodies. The fighting had been on deck and in the cabins. But footprints remained—two people, one male, one female. The woman wore short, thick-heeled shoes. They had searched the cabins thoroughly, circling, hunting for something.
Shigeo recalled the voice. He opened his sensing technique. At once, beneath the ship, past pipes, inside a hidden crawlspace—someone. A little girl.
He rushed to the bottom. Twisting, turning, he found the hidden chamber.
There she was, curled up, hugging her legs, trembling. She hadn't noticed him. Softly, she kept whispering: "Help me… help me… will someone save me?"
Her voice was so faint, stuck in her throat, yet somehow Shigeo had heard it a hundred li away. Impossible.
He cleared his throat. She jolted. Looking up, she saw his tall figure in the gloom. Her mouth opened in disbelief.
"You… are you here to save me?"
He nodded, smiling gently, sunlight breaking the cabin's dark.
"Come. I'll carry you out." He stooped, lifted her, and left the ship.
In the Minami no Mura office, Shigeo, Wu Mang, Jinshi, and Hongyan faced the girl. She had blonde hair, wore pale green clothes, wide eyes shining. She asked, "I seek the hidden land, Sky Country. Is this Sky Country?"
Shigeo opened his mouth to explain. "Oh… well—"
But Hongyan stepped forward, blocking him, shaking her head. "Little one, this is Minami no Kuni. As for Sky Country, we don't know where it is."
In Minami, an unspoken law stood: no one must mention Sky Country. This was a new nation, new people. They refused to bear the sins of radicals who had once attacked the Five Great Villages. They only wanted peace.
"Yes, yes. Girl, this is Minami no Kuni. But why were you at sea? Who killed your crew?" Shigeo added. However strong he was, he respected the people's will.
At once, she burst into tears. "My name is Ayuan. I'm from faraway Marsh Country. I… I seek Sky Country!"
But she said nothing of the killers.
Silence fell. Jinshi leaned toward Shigeo, whispering, "Chief, we still have no trace of those two. What now?"
"Don't rush. All answers lie with her."
The witness was here. The butchers had fled into Minami. If they stayed hidden, no normal search could find them. The shortest, surest way was through this girl. Yet she would not speak.
"Tell me. Why do you seek Sky Country? One chance. If you don't answer, I'll send you away…" Shigeo wasn't threatening, but he already had a plan to draw the killers out.
The girl pouted, then broke down, wailing.
Shigeo panicked, pacing around, then scooped her up. "Alright, alright, onii-san wasn't scolding. I was just worried. How about I take you to get something tasty?"
Maybe she was hungry. At last, she nodded.
Resigned, Shigeo carried her to buy food in the village.
With a full belly, her mood calmed. Munching on cakes, she finally spoke: "Actually… I wanted to commission a mission from Sky Country…"
(End of Chapter)
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