A few minutes ago, Shikaku sensed a large amount of chakra outside the village. Knowing Orochimaru's current situation, he decided to go check what was happening, thinking things might have gotten out of control.
He was not the only one who thought so, because along the way he encountered the rest of the Ino Shika Cho trio and other nearby jonin, including Minato and Shisui.
Without saying a word, everyone nodded and cooperated tacitly, advancing at the same speed.
It did not take long for them to reach the origin of the situation, and what they saw there deeply shocked them.
What should have previously been kilometers of forest was now only a little more than one kilometer before reaching an enormous pit.
The pit, with smooth edges at the same angle, was clearly artificial. Not in the sense that it was caused by someone, since that was obvious, but in the sense that the attack itself caused it directly. It was not an explosion that produced this nor the side effect of a battle, rather a specific attack had exactly this objective.
Seeing the shape before them, Shikaku immediately thought of Onoki's technique, and that alone was enough for him to be almost certain of the culprit.
Because of that, when Kushina suddenly appeared in front of them seconds later and told them it had been her while fighting Orochimaru, he did not actually believe her, but he still supported her and chose not to question her.
Even so, the current situation was too disadvantageous, so he had to express his concerns.
"Lady Kushina, the current situation is quite bad.
With most of the Forest of Death gone, all the laboratories that were here were probably completely erased. The chances that Orochimaru risked using people for experiments inside the village are extremely low, almost impossible, so even if we find them it will not serve..."
"Get to the point" Kushina interrupted.
"Yes. Currently we have no proof that Orochimaru actually did the things he is accused of. As one of the three Sannin, many people will not believe the accusations without evidence" Shikaku explained.
"Fine, for now just keep looking for evidence. If there really is nothing, I will simply speak in person and convince Konoha."
"Lady Kushina, although that may work, it is a self destructive tactic. It will work the first few times, but it will also damage the village's trust in you more and more, especially in this situation where only a few months have passed since your appointment as Hokage and you accused one of Konoha's heroes of a morally unforgivable crime."
"Alright, I understand all that. You do not need to worry" Kushina said without giving it much importance.
"In that case, I will take my leave" Shikaku said, knowing he could not change Kushina's mindset.
As soon as he left, almost everyone followed him, deciding not to interfere too much in the delicate situation.
The only one who remained behind was Minato.
"Do you need something, Minato?"
"Yes, Kushi... I mean, Fourth Hokage. My students took a mission that should have taken only two weeks, but it has already been a month. I am worried about them and I would like to go check their situation" Minato explained while trying to use a more formal tone, since Kushina now not only had the final authority in the village, but he himself was in a sort of disciplinary punishment state that prevented him from leaving the village, making the favor he was asking technically going against the Hokage's orders.
Kushina thought for a moment, remembering the appearance of the three children she had seen before, especially the girl with lines on her face who treated her as a role model. For a moment she wanted to accept, but she eventually discarded the idea when thinking further ahead.
"Your students became jonin recently, right? They are strong ninjas. Being jonin at such a young age, you should trust them more."
Despite the praise toward his students, Minato understood the refusal. He could only sigh with disappointment in his heart before respectfully saying goodbye and disappearing from the place.
Meanwhile, Kushina simply remained standing there. Her previously firm expression quickly changed, as if the reliable Kushina no longer existed.
She looked at the enormous hole in front of her and immediately spoke into the air.
"Hey, Kaito, this is going to terribly damage Konoha's trust in me.
With the upcoming Uchiha situation it will drop even more. How am I supposed to declare war on the world like this?
Kaito, are you sure this girl is not against me and did this on purpose?"
"Kaito. Answer me!"
Despite Kushina's insistence, Kaito's reply never came, making her feel increasingly nervous.
A week had already passed since Kaito said he would be busy, and Kushina began to feel as if she truly could not handle the position she did not obtain on her own.
"Alright, Kaito trusts her. Kaito would never trust someone who wants to harm me. Yes, I must trust Hinata."
Kushina slapped her own cheeks as if trying to wake up from her twisted thoughts, and her gaze returned to the previous one, the one all of Konoha admires, respects, and fears in equal measure.
However, few people knew that it was only the mask of a girl who was far too dependent.
---
Three days ago, in the world of Detective Conan.
Outside a medium sized family restaurant, a pair of friends happily walked out of the place with satisfied smiles.
"Incredible, I have never tasted a more delicious meal in my life. The rumor about a hidden restaurant with five star flavor turned out to be true."
"Exactly, I cannot believe it. And there were only two workers. What kind of kitchen efficiency is that? Maybe they have superpowers."
"Well... speaking of superpowers, do you not think that guy looks quite a lot like... you know who?" The friend leaned closer and whispered the last part in her ear.
"D do not say nonsense. I mean, he looked a little like him, or quite a lot. But Lucifer does not exist. Everyone knows the whole Britannia Empire situation was just rebels associating with the royal family. All those images were fake" the friend said in panic, as if she did not want anyone to hear her talk about it.
"But still, every rumor or image disappeared everywhere very quickly. Is that not suspicious?"
"Of course not. Then what? A demon from another world came, destroyed a country, and then opened a restaurant? Why? Was he bored? Do not say nonsense."
"Well, I guess..."
"You guess nothing. Stop saying nonsense and let us go," the girl said, not wanting her friend to say anything else.
At the same time, inside the restaurant they had just left, the otherworldly demon they were talking about flipped the open sign, now showing large red letters outside with the word "Closed".
All the metal shutters of the place came down, covering the entire front wall of the restaurant, which had previously been transparent glass, in silver.
Shiho appeared next to Kaito, wearing a simple black and white waitress uniform with an apron.
"Good work" Shiho said beside him.
Kaito nodded and smiled. "Good work."
"You are happy. Is it because it is Sunday?"
"You know why it is. Let us go on a trip."
Three days have passed and you still had not gone. I seriously thought you no longer cared about returning to your world and planned to stay here forever," Shiho joked.
"How could I? I have a promise to keep. I was simply waiting for Sunday, we have to close the establishment, right?" Kaito said.
Shiho rolled her eyes at his statement.
"When I told you to use a hobby to clear your mind I did not expect you to take it this seriously. Anyway, I will go change, wait for me."
"A hobby just to distract myself, huh?" Kaito thought while waiting.
Maybe at the beginning it was only a way to clear his mind and think about nothing else, but over time it became much more fun.
Somehow, having a normal job where the only thing to worry about was cooking for customers felt much more enjoyable than traveling through different worlds killing people.
Is this what they say? Wisdom comes with experience? Kaito thought, remembering the hundreds of stories where powerful people eventually grow bored of power and only want a normal life.
But he quickly dismissed the idea as if it were madness.
"Impossible, I have only been Lucifer for about eight years in total. Even a child would take longer to get bored of something. It just turns out I like cooking and had not realized it before" Kaito muttered.
"What are you mumbling about so much? Let us go."
While Kaito was murmuring to himself, Shiho suddenly appeared coming down the stairs, almost as excited as Kaito himself.
She was wearing a blue hoodie with a zipper and hood and tight dark blue jeans, giving her an informal and relaxed look.
"Is that all?"
"What did you expect? That I would dress elegantly to go watch you kill people? And besides..." a confident smile appeared on her face before finishing the sentence, "...I look great in anything."
"Your mouth is still the same as always, huh? Shut up and let us go."
Without waiting for a reply, Kaito picked her up in his arms and began running.
By the time Shiho finished blinking from the wind caused by Kaito's movement, they were already more than a kilometer away from where they started, and in just three minutes they had reached a small isolated rural town.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)