Kuroto caught the crying Shion, he was shocked by the sudden development.
But before he could do something there were some things he needed to confirm. So Kuroto looked towards the Anbu member with an inquiring gaze.
The Anbu who escorted Shion said, "We found her and the guard entering the Land of Fire, upon checking their identity we found two scrolls, one was addressed to Hokage-sama, and the other was addressed to you, sir. The girl was ardent that she needed your help so Hokage-sama ordered to bring her here."
Kuroto nodded and asked, "Where is the scroll that was addressed to me?"
Anbu replied, "It is with the girl."
Kuroto nodded while rubbing the back of Shion's head to calm her down and ease the sudden burst of her emotions.
At this time, the Anbu ninja spoke, "If there's nothing more than I will take my leave, sir."
After the Anbu disappeared with a Body Flicker, Kuroto carried Shion and looked at the second kid who was quietly standing at the side.
The second kid was a little older than Shion, probably around the same age as Itachi, and he also had a reliable aura similar to Itachi.
He was carrying a longbow, a quiver on his back which probably held a dozen arrows, and a sword strapped on the left side of his waist.
His clothing was also very dirty and torn, his glasses cracked affecting his vision but there was unspeakable perseverance in his eyes, which did not go unnoticed by Kuroto.
"Follow me." – Kuroto said while carrying Shion, and walking into his house.
After leading the two into his house, Kuroto handed both of them two cups of hot tea to warm them up and then asked, "Shion-chan, what exactly happened? Don't be worried, speak slowly."
The status of Miko is already explained, and since Sandaime-sama directly ordered the Anbu member to escort Shion to his house, coupled with the fact that the first reaction Shion had as soon as she saw Kuroto greatly worried him, as such, Kuroto must understand some things before taking any action.
Kuroto doesn't think that there is anything that could threaten Miko-sama enough that she felt such a crisis and had to resort to sending away her daughter to Konoha.
After all, even if she feels that the enemy is difficult to fight against, all she has to do is keep the barrier of the Miko's palace activated and then wait for the reinforcements from the other great shinobi villages.
Even someone as strong as Moryo can't breach that barrier, so it is hard to believe that...
Before Shion could speak, her attendant and bodyguard whose name is 'Taruho' said, "It was Yomi and his cultists, they have again appeared and launched a Coup in the Land of Demons."
Kuroto was taken aback, and said, "This is impossible, their leader Yomi is dead, I killed him myself!"
Taruho shook his head, "At first we also thought the same, even Miruko-sama thought the same, so our vigilance was down. There were no prior signs of any of their movements. But suddenly out of the blue they appeared and hit the entire Land of Demons, much critically than ever."
Kuroto said, "That shouldn't be possible, Yomi is dead, and I can be sure of that, is it possible that a new leader has emerged from somewhere?"
Yomi was personally killed by Kuroto so it was impossible that he suddenly appeared out of nowhere unless Yomi had the ability to come back from death, which Yomi doesn't.
And Kuroto can only think that it shouldn't be Yomi, so the only likely possibility is that it is someone else.
Taruho said, "While we were on the run, we once saw him from the distance, Yomi is… he is really alive!"
At this time Shion nodded and said, "Yes, I saw too, that bad guy didn't die."
"How could it be possible?" – Kuroto clearly remembered severing Yomi's head, even all his chakra signs had disappeared so how could Yomi be alive?
'Maybe it is some kind of transformation technique that someone else is using to take on Yomi's appearance… otherwise, him being alive doesn't make any sense.'
Thinking so, Kuroto asked Taruho, "What exactly happened, start from the beginning!"
Although Taruho is very young, his thoughts are still extremely clear, and he immediately explained the ins and out of the entire situation as per his own knowledge and understanding.
It turns out that about a month ago, Miko-sama had a future telling. She did not disclose the content of the prediction to anyone, but she immediately ordered 20 guards including Taruho to escort Shion to Konohagakure as soon as possible.
It was only a few days after the team set off from the temple of Miko towards the Land of Fire, a large-scale Coup broke out in the Land of Demon.
Even the escort team was attacked by the cultists, and many of the guards escorting Shion to the Land of Fire had to act as diversions and sacrifice themselves in order to ensure the safety of Shion.
Of the initial 20 guards, only Taruho managed to survive and safely brought Shion to the Land of Fire where they were escorted to Konohagakure under the protection of an Anbu team they happened to encounter midway.
Kuroto had a thoughtful expression, and he did remember his last meeting with Miko-sama.
Thinking so, Kuroto asked, "So it was few days prior to the rebellion that Miko-sama ordered you to escort Shion to Konoha?"
Taruho nodded, "Yes."
Shion spoke, "Kuroto-oniichan, Oka-san can predict things that haven't happened yet."
Taruho also nodded, "Yes, Miroku-sama can indeed predict things so this arrangement is probably based on her prediction."
Kuroto nodded, he obviously knew of this ability of Miko-sama, but Kuroto does not care about Miko-sama's predictions, what he cares about is the arrangements that she has made.
Why send Shion to Konoha? More precisely why send her to him?
Even the scroll sent by Miko-sama does not state anything other than a line of text which says, 'Do not come to the Land of Demons, and please protect my daughter Shion.'
After much deliberation, Kuroto felt that he needs to look into this matter a little deeper, despite Miko-sama's warning.
If Miko-sama saw her own death, and there was no way to save herself then it was obvious that she would be unable to protect Shion, and since Kuroto and Miko-sama share a relationship akin to sensei-student, so it does seem reasonable of her to entrust Shion to him with such an important task of protecting her daughter.
Therefore, it is understandable that Miko-sama sent Shion to Konoha.
But one thing is still very doubtful, 'Even if Yomi is not dead, he shouldn't have been able to amass such a level of power that would cause chaos in the entire Land of demons in such a short period of time, after all, last time I clearly eliminated his entire cult… unless…' – Kuroto suddenly stopped and his eyes widened in realization, 'Unless, he is backed up by some organization… such as… such as the AKATSUKI!'
This makes more sense, and Hiruko is most definitely involved here!
'But if Akatsuki has intervened, then I am afraid… Oh no!'
Miko-sama's Fuinjutsu is extremely strong, true. She can even be regarded as the most proficient Fuinjutsu master currently alive, but that's the thing, Miko-sama is only good at Fuinjutsu, she is not a combatant like other shinobi.
As such, if Akatsuki somehow managed to make their way past the enchantment barrier then it would be impossible for just her and the ordinary soldiers to stop Akatsuki members.
Thinking of this, Kuroto looked at Shion with a guilty expression.
Now even if he understands that there is no more possibility to save Miko-sama, and even if Miko-sama has instructed him to not come to the Land of Demons, Kuroto must go to the Land of Demons and confirm the situation.
Thinking so, Kuroto asked Yui to take care of Shion and Taruho and went to his study room.
Coming to his room, Kuroto sent a small scroll to Shinichi with the help of Kasai.
The scroll regarded few questions that Kuroto needed the answer to.
If Akatsuki is really involved with the riots of Land of Demons, then Shinichi should have received some news.
.
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Read up to Chapter - 538 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations