"There's a Village ahead; let's go ask for the location of Kaedes Village."
After walking along the forest path for a while, the silhouette of a Village appeared ahead. Retsu formed a seal with one hand, and with a "bang," white smoke dispersed, revealing he had transformed into his appearance from when he was alive.
He wore a deep blue high-collared long robe with the Uchiha Clan's fan crest embroidered on the back. A samurai sword was slung across his waist, his long black hair fell over his shoulders, and his dark eyes were deep and sharp; the traces of Edo Tensei were concealed by the Transformation Jutsu.
He walked slowly into the Village from the entrance, his gaze casually sweeping over his surroundings.
This was an ordinary small mountain Village with no shops, only scattered wooden houses. Barefoot children ran across the Village paths, and the passing villagers looked at him, a stranger, with a hint of wariness in their eyes.
The Village was not large, surrounded by vast stretches of farmland. Retsu took a walk around but found nothing special.
The only thing in the entire Village that could be considered "special" was likely the shrine on the mountain behind it. A long flight of stairs paved with bluestone slabs wound up from the foot of the mountain, leading directly to the shrine's gate.
To be honest, he was quite curious about the shrines commonly seen in the 2D world.
But on second thought, he was still in an Edo Tensei body, and the priests and priestesses of this world truly possessed extraordinary powers like Spiritual Power that could purify evil spirits.
To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and an aimless fight, he bypassed it from a distance and did not approach.
"Hello, may I ask how to get to Kaedes Village?" he asked politely, stopping a villager passing by with a hoe.
"Kaedes Village? Never heard of it." The villager shook his head blankly, his eyes filled with confusion.
Retsu asked several more villagers in succession, but received the same answer from all of them.
He wasn't surprised; in this world where demons roamed the wilderness, ordinary villagers likely never left their own Village in their entire lives, so it was normal not to know the location of Kaedes Village.
Failing to find any clues, he didn't dwell on it. He turned toward the path leading out of the Village, prepared to continue toward the direction where the shikon jewel had shattered.
"Come out. Is there something you want, following me all this time?"
Not far from the Village, Retsu suddenly stopped, turned around, and spoke to the space behind him.
"You actually discovered me?"
A crisp female voice rang out. The next second, a figure dressed in a red and white priestess outfit stepped out from behind a tree, holding a Kagura bell adorned with silver bells. With every movement, the bells made a delicate and pleasant sound.
She had long black hair that fell loosely to her waist, with a few stray strands hanging by her cheeks, making her skin appear even fairer. A string of ancient prayer beads hung around her neck, and her bright eyes held a faint, imperceptible trace of weariness. The sacred priestess attire made her radiate a clean and pure aura.
"Who are you?" Retsu looked at the suddenly appearing priestess, showing no surprise on his face. He had already sensed her presence before he even prepared to leave the Village.
The other party must have used Spiritual Power to hide her presence, but unfortunately, such stealth was useless before the Sharingan.
He could clearly see a layer of soft, sacred, and purifying energy surrounding the priestess, which was likely the key to her hidden presence.
"I am the priestess of this Village, Hitomiko," the priestess spoke softly, her voice like a clear mountain spring.
"Hitomiko?" Retsu muttered the name to himself, and a segment of the plot suddenly flashed through his mind. He remembered that this priestess was indeed a character who had appeared in the original story.
She was born with powerful Spiritual Power but was targeted by Naraku at a young age. Fifteen years later, Naraku used spider silk to ambush and kill her, then resurrected and manipulated her to seize the Sacred Longbow of Mt. Azusa from Kagome and order her to kill Kagome.
"Miss Hitomiko, is there something you need from me?"
Surprised to encounter the priestess Hitomiko from the story here, Retsu looked at her and inquired calmly.
"You... are not among the living, are you?"
Hitomiko's gaze instantly tightened, her fingers gripping the Kagura bell slightly harder, her tone full of wariness.
The aura of the man before her was too bizarre; he lacked any of the vitality a living person should have, and instead was surrounded by a faint, lingering deathly aura of the deceased.
"Was I found out?" Retsu raised an eyebrow, surprised yet finding it logical. "As expected of a powerful priestess whose Spiritual Power is said to rival Kikyo's."
His current Edo Tensei body naturally lacked the vitality of a living person, so it was only natural that he couldn't hide from a priestess sensitive to Spiritual Power.
As soon as he finished speaking, with a "bang," white smoke exploded as he released the Transformation Jutsu, returning to his original Edo Tensei appearance.
His pale skin was covered in eerie, web-like cracks, his pupils had a faint grayish-white hue, and his entire aura radiated a heavy scent of death.
"A deceased soul lingering in the world..."
Hitomiko grew even more wary at the sight of him, pressing the Kagura bell tightly to her chest, the hem of her red and white priestess robe trembling slightly.
"Since you are already dead, why do you still linger in the world of the living?"
"Nothing special." Retsu shrugged helplessly at her defensive posture, his tone carrying a hint of a joke. "I guess... I haven't lived enough yet."
"You were sent by Naraku, weren't you? Evil spirits, begone!"
For fifteen years, Naraku had been trying to kill her; those eyes hidden in the darkness had long since become an inescapable shadow over her.
Seeing Retsu's unknown origin and eerie aura, Hitomiko's first reaction was that this was another assassination attempt by Naraku.
Without time for second thoughts, she violently shook the Kagura bell in her hand. Amidst the crisp ringing, a bolt of pure white Spiritual Power shot straight toward Retsu like an arrow.
Facing the incoming Spiritual Power, Chakra flashed beneath Retsu's feet as he activated the Body Flicker Jutsu, his figure instantly vanishing from the spot.
"He disappeared? Where is he!" Hitomiko's pupils shrank in shock as she hurriedly raised her hand to activate a defensive Barrier.
But before she could form a seal, a helpless voice came from behind her: "Miss Hitomiko, please don't attack strangers so recklessly."
"So fast!"
A cold chill crawled up her spine, and Hitomiko broke into a cold sweat. Just as she was about to turn around, her right wrist holding the Kagura bell was suddenly seized by a hand.
Immediately after, a massive force came from her captured arm, and she was forcibly spun around to face Retsu's grayish-black eyes, characteristic of an Edo Tensei summon.
At this moment, the fingertip of Retsu's other hand was lightly touching the center of her brow. The slightly cool sensation of the fingertip made her whole body stiffen, not daring to move an inch.
"First of all, I have no ill intent, and I don't know that fellow named Naraku." Retsu looked at her tense face, his tone softening slightly. After a thought, he said, "However, since our meeting is fate, let me give you a gift."
Before his voice even faded, his eyes suddenly transformed into the scarlet Sharingan. The three-tomoe spun rapidly and merged, eventually forming a complex and eerie Mangekyo pattern, radiating a cold and sinister aura.