Shinji didn't expect to run into Shion again like this, and his heart jumped into his throat.
Shion tilted her head: "Huh, I feel like I've seen you before, but I can't remember where."
Shinji shook his head: "We've never met!"
"Is that so…"
Shion frowned, trying hard to recall.
Shinji remained calm on the surface, but internally, he was a bit anxious.
In the end, he still wasn't entirely confident in the effectiveness of his genjutsu.
As Shion continued to stare directly at Shinji, Haku, who was standing nearby, also curiously observed the two of them.
"Your Highness, where are you?"
Just then, the voices of the guards calling for her came from not far away.
"Hey kid, get out of the way!"
Seeing that the guards were about to catch up, Shion pushed Shinji aside and ran off in a flash.
Shinji twitched his lips, grumbling inwardly: "First she calls me 'big brother,' and now 'kid.' What's with this person!?"
Before long.
A few guards from the Land of Demons, laden with packages and sweating profusely, caught up.
After asking Shinji and Haku which way Shion had gone, they apologized and continued their pursuit, calling out as they ran.
Watching the guards leave, Haku chuckled: "So that was the Miko from the Land of Demons earlier. She's quite mischievous."
Shinji, on the other hand, secretly sighed in relief.
Although the unexpected encounter caught him off guard, it also confirmed that the psychological suggestion he implanted in Shion with his Mangekyō Sharingan was still effective!
So, Shion coming to Hidden Leaf was probably just for refuge.
After all, in the original timeline, when the Miko was attacked, the Land of Demons also immediately requested aid from Hidden Leaf.
This time, after the Hand Demon's invasion wiped out over a hundred of the Land of Demons' guards in one night, sending the young Miko to Hidden Leaf for safety made sense.
[Dimensional Rift Invasion Detected.]
[Countdown: 3]
Suddenly, the familiar voice echoed in Shinji's ears without warning.
He instinctively glanced at Haku beside him, realizing that Haku couldn't hear the voice at all.
Noticing Shinji looking at him, Haku asked: "Shall we continue training?"
"No, let's head back." Shinji shook his head.
Returning to his apartment and securely closing the door, Shinji's expression quickly darkened.
This time, the countdown for the invasion was only three days!
A sense of unease began to spread in his heart.
...
The next day.
With the teams from other villages gathering in Hidden Leaf for the Chūnin Exams, the village became bustling.
Even though Shinji was on break, he didn't slack off and continued training in taijutsu with Haku at the training grounds.
During a break, Haku laughed and said: "The lady from the dango shop downstairs told me that the Miko from the Land of Demons, who we saw yesterday, slipped away from her guards again this morning and has been wandering around the village by herself."
"Oh." Shinji responded nonchalantly.
But internally, he resolved to avoid Shion during this period and not bump into her again.
Haku then said: "I heard there might be a fireworks festival tonight!"
"Fireworks festival?"
"It seems it's to welcome the shinobi from other villages who are here for the Chūnin Exams." After a pause, Haku asked: "The classmates are organizing a barbecue to watch the fireworks together. Shinji-kun, do you want to join?"
Shinji casually replied: "I'll pass."
Haku said: "Then I won't go either."
...
That evening.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Leaning against the window, Shinji watched the brilliant fireworks blooming in the night sky, his face expressionless.
If you looked closer, you'd see that his eyes were unfocused.
Clearly, he wasn't really watching the fireworks but was lost in thought.
Next door.
Haku also stared at the night sky, but his expression was unusually serious, as if he wasn't enjoying the fireworks.
Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a rather unremarkable firework in the sky, and his expression turned grave.
He sighed helplessly, then walked over to his closet and changed his clothes.
In the village.
Sasuke sat alone, hugging his knees by a small lake not far from his apartment. Instead of looking up at the sky, he stared at the reflection of the fireworks on the lake's surface.
His mood was the complete opposite of the vibrant fireworks reflected on the water.
The lively atmosphere disgusted him!
At that moment, the reflection of the fireworks on the lake twisted, seemingly transforming into the face he hated the most.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Without thinking, he pulled out a kunai and splash! jumped into the lake, shattering the calm surface.
In his apartment.
"Forcing my way in would be too risky!"
Shinji shook his head, pushing the thought he'd just had out of his mind.
No matter how desperate he was to get Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan, it would be too dangerous to break into the ANBU headquarters.
It wouldn't be rational!
But dealing with this upcoming invasion was indeed a major headache.
"I can't just rely on Susanoo every time, can I? And why is the countdown so short this time?"
Shinji fretted silently.
Click.
Suddenly, there was a faint sound of a door closing next door.
If it hadn't been during a lull between fireworks, he might not have noticed it.
"Haku's going out this late?"
Shinji was puzzled but didn't think much of it—after all, the village was bustling outside, so it wasn't unusual for Haku to want to take a walk.
But soon, he frowned.
After the faint sound of the door closing, there were no normal footsteps.
Suppressing his presence, Shinji slowly moved to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen. Only then did he barely catch the faint sound of Haku descending the stairs.
"Moving so stealthily, what's he up to?"
After considering for a moment, Shinji decided to follow.
But he clearly overestimated his tracking skills. In just a few moments, he lost sight of Haku, only catching a glimpse of him disappearing into the crowd on the busy street.
"He must be meeting someone, being so cautious. The person must have a sensitive identity…"
As Shinji wandered the streets, he kept thinking about Haku.
Haku's presence in Hidden Leaf and his subtle curiosity about Shinji and the Uchiha Clan had already made Shinji suspicious.
Now, with the recent events, Shinji was almost certain that Haku was up to something.
But he still couldn't determine who Haku was working for—whether it was a powerful figure within the village or a spy from another village.
Passing by a small stall, Shinji suddenly stopped.
He noticed a variety of masks hanging from the stall and remembered how Shion had accidentally seen his face during the first invasion. So, he walked up and bought a fox mask similar to the ones worn by ANBU.
Learn from mistakes.
Next time he faced an invasion, he would disguise his identity properly.
Tying the mask to his waist, he continued to wander.
Before he knew it, he found himself at the secluded training ground in the small forest where he often sparred with Haku.
Boom.
Above him, fireworks continued to explode in the night sky.
"Sigh, the village is so noisy tonight!"
Since he was already there, Shinji decided to find some peace and practice Water Breathing at the training ground.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Suddenly, two figures flashed through the air in quick succession nearby.
Startled, Shinji quickly hid in the bushes.
Immediately after, two figures—one fleeing and one chasing—landed in the training ground.
Despite the mask, Shinji recognized that the one fleeing was Haku, who had been acting suspiciously earlier, and the one chasing him was an ANBU shinobi from the village.
The ANBU shinobi glared at the masked Haku: "Hmph! I was just keeping an eye on that brat next door, and I ended up catching a big fish like you. Give up, you can't escape!"