Kairen flew all the way east. His gigantic black dragon form soared in the sky, and the overwhelming aura it carried made the people below too scared to move, crying out that they had seen a great monster.
Kairen dismissed his dragon transformation halfway, turning into an Andean condor, commonly called a giant eagle.
After flying for about an hour, the city below became more and more prosperous, already leaving the agricultural era and advancing toward the industrial age.
Kairen's eagle eyes noticed a massive city ahead. His Byakugan expanded at once, unable to see the end.
Roughly more than 1,000 square kilometers, equivalent to 0.1 of Beijing.
"So this is the capital of the Land of Fire?!" Kairen murmured softly.
Cooped up in that small village, all he saw every day were village women.
How many beauties would a city this big have? His Canon could cut down a hundred in a day—from the west to the east of the city, even a thousand wouldn't be a problem.
Kairen floated above the capital of the Land of Fire, eyes searching downward, looking for the daimyō's palace.
He also didn't have any map, and in a city this big, he'd have to go down and ask if he wanted to find the daimyō's palace.
But Kairen had the Byakugan—he only needed to focus on the place in the city with the most chakra, and that place would 100% be the daimyō's palace.
Kairen flew toward the most chakra-concentrated area, and before long he saw a majestic inner city, ten times larger than Kairen's Paradise.
On the towers outside the inner city stood armored warriors holding spears, halberds, and mostly wearing swords on their backs.
Kairen had researched the capital of the Land of Fire beforehand—outer city was where civilians and minor nobles lived; inner city was where the daimyō and ministers lived, a symbol of power and status.
Kairen descended from the sky, became a puff of white smoke, and returned to his original form as he landed.
Standing before the city gate, he finally felt the true scale of this towering city—over a hundred meters tall; even dense artillery fire would take some time to break it down.
The two warriors guarding outside the gate noticed Kairen, completely unaware of when he had approached.
They immediately drew their swords, pointing at Kairen: "Who are you?! What do you want?"
"I'm a Konoha ninja here on a commissioned mission!"
Kairen smiled faintly and pulled out his mission order, handing it to the warriors.
The warrior glanced at Kairen's mission order, said nothing, and immediately ran into the gate—clearly going to call a superior.
Before long, a warrior wearing general's armor walked out, holding Kairen's mission order.
The general spotted Kairen at a glance and asked: "You're the Konoha ninja ordered to protect the daimyō?!"
"That's right!"
Kairen nodded.
"Where's your forehead protector?"
Kairen produced a Konoha forehead protector and tied it to his forehead: "Look! Here it is!"
The general was a little speechless—normally, ninjas valued their forehead protectors greatly; even rogue ninjas wouldn't discard theirs.
Wandering ninjas wore forehead protectors to show they were ninjas.
The general examined Kairen's mission order more carefully and saw the name Senju Kairen.
He looked up, his tone easing a bit: "You're from the Senju clan?!"
Kairen nodded.
This was the advantage of having a surname—people would take another look, even show more respect.
"Senju—the descendants of the God of Shinobi, surely quite strong!"
"Come with me. I'll take you to the daimyō's palace!"
"Alright!"
The general led Kairen into the city, talking along the way: "Those rogue ninjas are far too brazen. They even dared to attack when the daimyō was traveling in the capital!"
"If not for the Twelve Guardian Ninja protecting him with their lives, the daimyō would've fallen into their trap."
Kairen listened quietly. As one of the major powers in the ninja world, the daimyō's importance was no less than the Hokage's.
If something happened to him, the entire nation would be thrown into chaos.
The daimyō was extremely valuable—his head alone could fetch over a billion ryō at underground exchange houses.
After entering the inner city, the general mounted a horse and had the groom lead one over for Kairen.
"No need, horses are too slow."
Kairen waved him off and asked, "Which direction is the daimyō's palace?"
The general pointed southwest: "There! Around 15 kilometers."
A cloud of white smoke enveloped Kairen, and he transformed into a hawk, soaring into the sky and flying in the direction given.
"Hey, hey, hey… wait! You can't just barge into the imperial palace—the daimyō is entertaining distinguished guests!" the general shouted behind him.
Kairen didn't hear a word. With a few glides he saw the daimyō's palace.
Wooden pavilions, golden glazed tiles dazzling under the sunlight.
Two stone dragons perched atop the eaves—golden scales and armor, lifelike—an oriental-style palace.
Outside stood around a hundred armored warriors patrolling.
Kairen ignored them, turning into a small bird and flying into the palace.
The grand hall inside was imposing, rows of marble pillars holding up the roof, filled with a restless atmosphere.
A group of people sat inside the hall, wine aroma drifting, laughter and merry voices, a dozen dancing girls swaying gently to music—a common noble gathering.
Kairen became a gecko, clinging to a marble pillar as he observed the decadence below.
This was the rot of feudalism, imperial power supreme, drowning in beautiful dreams and decadent pleasures. After the war, I'm living like this too… Kairen thought.
"Hmm… why is there a jōnin-level chakra among the dancers? These are dancers, right?!"
Kairen's Byakugan detected a chakra fluctuation among the dancers. He shook his head—likely an assassin hiding among them to strike the daimyō.
There were also several other chakra signatures around the hall, all at jōnin level, and he couldn't tell whether they were enemies or allies.
One of them was particularly massive—clearly not some nobody.
Kairen watched quietly and began his mission.
Of course, his mission wasn't protecting the daimyō—it was admiring the peerless beauty below.
At first glance, his eyes could no longer look away.
It was a beautiful woman with pale golden hair, wearing a red-and-white miko outfit, kneeling before a wooden table.
Kairen noticed only her serene, ethereal presence, not yet seeing her face clearly.
He turned into a butterfly and slowly flew down, landing beside her teacup, gazing at her.
"Shion!"
Kairen froze, eyes locked onto the woman with pale violet pupils—she looked identical to Shion from the movie.
No… not exactly identical.
This woman was more mature, more beautiful—like an eighteen-year-old Shion.