Chapter 62

I booked an inn and decided to retire for the day. The next day, I changed my transformation into a blind old man and headed to the southern part of the forest. Like the one before, I set up a few traps and explosive tags. I found another temple in the forest and walked towards it. As a blind old man with a cane, I hoped they would at least not care about it; They should be priests after all, right?

As I got closer to the temple, I felt a few stares but no killing intent; strange. I dismissed them as a blind person should and kept walking. If push came to shove, I would just slaughter my way out; I was only taking precautions for my mission, in case something went sideways after all.

I finally arrived at the temple, and so far, just stares, no killing intent. I sat at the stairs of the temple and waited. 'This place must be different from the other place.' After a little while a heard someone walk behind me, although his steps were quiet and brisk, well trained, even without my chakra carpet, I could still hear him.

I turned my head slightly to the side, which seemed to get his attention, "Quite the hearing you have there, old timer." He said with piqued interest.

"Haha. If you have been blind as long as I, your other senses become your eyes." He smiled as if he was agreeing to me. "I have to admit, this place really feels comforting. I almost wish I could see it." The calming effects of the place was off the charts. I almost felt like undoing my transformation and just meditating myself.

"People come from all over for their spiritual journeys. Are you here for your spiritual journey as well, old timer?" He turned to me and asked. I shook my head and replied, "I lost my spirituality a while ago."

"The fact that you connected to this place says otherwise, old timer." Maybe this place is not like the other place. Still, I needed to be careful.

I nodded to him and asked, "I am glad this place is not like the temple at the eastern side. I came to the temples at the forests to get away from the noise in town, but the eastern side just felt, different." I was ready for any change. If he made a move, I would just kill everything in there.

"Mm? What do you mean, old timer?" He looked genuinely confused.

"How do I say this? Unlike the feel of this place, it felt slightly like death. It was quite unsettling. I almost began thinking the temples in the forests were meant to seal demons or something. Hahaha"

"Old timer, your old age is catching up to your mind. Hahaha." He laughed along with me.

'Well, as long as it does not interfere with my work' We stayed silent, enjoying the nature around us. When evening came, I picked up my stick and walked away. The priest sent me on my way with a smile until he could no longer see my silhouette.

"The eastern temple?" He frowned and looked towards that direction before walking back into the temple.

After casing out most of the scattered temples in the forests, I found out there were three out of the four temples that wanted to kill me. It seemed aside the southern temple, there seemed to be something shady going on in the others.

"Damn it all! If any of them get in my way and delay my mission, I really will go on a fucking rampage! Fucking Sterling Archer rampage!" Sitting in my room at the inn, I was pissed. I had made preparations at all the temples; If it were just me, I could easily escape, but the problem would be the escort. I couldn't let my guard down at all. Autopilot would easily evade any attack from behind and kill the person, but what I was worried about would be a tactic like Hatake Sakumo's being used against me. In case I failed the mission and the escort died, I could be dubbed with treason.

'This thing has really become troublesome. Especially, since I am to treat the person like the Daimyo himself. Dubbed with treason will be bad. If that happens, it would impede some of my plans; I can't leave the village yet.' There was only one day till the meeting with the package. Over thinking things now would do nothing. I closed my eyes to rest for the next day.

I woke up early and wore my Anbu uniform along with the mask hanging at the side of my head. I was going to meet the package at a temple north of town. The person I met at the temple in the middle of town gave me directions to meet at the northern temple; Whoever I was meeting was just as cautious as I. Whoever I was meeting would strike a small bell that would resonate with the chakra of an item I was given for the mission; a small piece of wood; That would be proof of the package.

I appeared at the designated place, two hours before time. With my yin cloak and my speed, I cased out the whole place before entering; surprisingly there were not many people around. The temple looked simple enough, with the large hall brightened up with candles that had been lit for prayers.

I crouched on a beam high up in the temple hall. There had only been three people present in the temple for two hours; The old priest included. Even after one and half hours no one else had entered the temple. The other two had been wearing cloaks, making it difficult for me to get a good look at their faces.

Finally, when the final thirty minutes were almost over, one of the cloaked figures walked and sat in the middle of the temple. They took out a small bell from underneath the cloak and rang once. The wood in my hand shook slightly and glowed green. That was the signal, yet, I did not move. After waiting another thirty minutes, the person rang the bell again. That was the confirmation I needed; Whoever rang the bell the first time was supposed to ring after that every thirty minutes until their escort arrived.

I tossed the wood down at the person's feet, startling everyone a bit. The other cloaked figure sped up and stood in front of the one that rang the bell; The old priest though did not move. They looked up to see me crouching on the beam above them. "The sparrow flies south for winter" Their bodies visibly relaxed when they heard me. That was the response I was supposed to give in return.

They both took of their cloaks off, that allowed me to see who they were. The one that sat in the middle and rang the bell was a beautiful young lady. She looked about twenty-eight to thirty years old. The other person in the cloak looked slightly older. He had a sword strapped to his back.

The old priest walked up to the young lady and hugged her tight. "Young lady, I leave her in your capable hands." He turned to speak to me. Although I frowned behind my mask, I nodded to indicate I understood. As for how he knew I was a lady, I had no idea; But it got me to raise my guard.

"Don't worry, elder. I will protect Her Lady with my life." The other person spoke, but the elder the elder only smiled lightly.

"My mission is to escort and protect only one person." I stated to them with my shaky hollow voice, which seemed to unnerve them slightly. As if I was going bother protecting two people when my mission was to escort one.