Chapter 162 The Daimyo is a Girl

"Don't mess around." Neji said with a frown.

"I won't, of course not!" Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I'm just fulfilling my duty as a team member by making some suggestions about the feasibility of the mission."

"Feasibility?" Neji couldn't help but asked, "Ghosts don't exist."

Ding!

A familiar mechanical sound echoed, and a selection panel appeared. Naruto blinked, maintaining his composed expression.

[Option 1: Take control of the Land of Birds. Reward: Kato Dan's obsession, Spirit Transformation Technique]

[Option 2: Resolve the chaos in the Land of Birds. Reward: Shinigami's Gaze, Impure World Reincarnation (No Sacrifice Version)]

Naruto said faintly as he glanced at Neji, "Now they can exist."

"What?" Neji instinctively narrowed his eyes and looked at Naruto warily, "You're not thinking of pretending to be a ghost to scare off the people causing trouble in the Land of Birds, are you?"

"Of course not." Naruto chuckled awkwardly and gave Neji a light punch on the shoulder, "Am I such a dark-hearted and dirty person in your eyes?"

Neji opened his mouth, wanting to deny it, but after considering Naruto's track record of not always doing things by the book, he simply nodded.

Naruto feigned a look of deep pain, clutching his chest as if he had been deeply hurt.

"I always thought I was a good person."

Seeing this, Neji didn't have time to deal with Naruto's antics and turned away, striding off.

On the other side, Chishima had calmed down and got up, ready to continue their journey.

Before reaching the Land of Birds, the weaker version of Shinpachi explained the situation in the Land of Birds in detail.

The situation wasn't overly complicated.

The former Daimyo of the Land of Birds was a leader with average governing ability but a good reputation.

The people in the country, both upper and lower, were quite satisfied with the former Daimyo. Even though the Land of Birds could not be compared with the Five Great Nations, they could still be said to be living in peace and contentment.

The chief advisor, Moso, was a revered elder who had earned the former Daimyo's respect through his mastery of certain mystical arts. His reputation was also excellent, and he was regarded as a virtuous and wise elder.

The strategist, Komei, was the head of all officials, a calm and wise figure. Komei was in his prime, with a bright future ahead of him.

The Daimyo, the chief advisor, and the strategist maintained a delicate balance, but it didn't last long, as the Daimyo was assassinated.

Since the position of Daimyo couldn't remain vacant, a new Daimyo had to be chosen quickly to stabilize the Land of Birds.

At that time, there were only two candidates for the position of Daimyo. One was Sagi, the legitimate son of the former daimyo and fully supported by Moso, and the other was the strategist Komei.

Amidst intense court debates over legitimacy versus merit, Sagi eventually emerged victorious and became the new Daimyo of the Land of Birds.

Later, Sagi's sister was also assassinated, with the cause attributed to the Cursed Warrior.

"It was a ghost that suddenly appeared from the sky, and all attacks against it were ineffective." Chishima said, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"Shinpachi, calm down. There's no such thing as ghosts in this world." Naruto called back while continuing to walk, "The dead can't come back to life. Where would a ghost come from?"

'Although there were indeed no ghosts, but the dead could be revived.'

As he thought so, Naruto quietly chose the second option in his mind.

[Option 2: Reward: Resolve the chaos in the Land of Birds. Reward: Shinigami's Gaze, Impure World Reincarnation (No Sacrifice Version)]

Putting aside the rewards, the task of controlling a small country like the Land of Birds is difficult to complete. In comparison, the second option, which is resolving the turmoil in the Land of Birds, seemed much easier.

All that was needed was to uncover the truth behind the Cursed Warrior and restore peace.

According to Neji and Tenten's thinking, this matter is not overly complicated. There are only two possible culprits with vested interests, the chief advisor, Moso, and the strategist Komei.

One of them must be behind the trouble.

With just a bit of investigation, they might discover something more.

However, Naruto knew that Chishima, the Shinpachi lookalike, didn't grasp the full truth. To be honest, this TV original plot was not very good, and even a little boring.

However, the famous scene where the Daimyo was revealed to be a girl left a strong impression on Naruto, so much so that he remembered the entire plot.

The chief advisor, Moso, wasn't a high priest at all, but rather the leader of a group of Missing-nin. He ordered his men to kill the previous Daimyo, and then murdered his successor, Sagi.

Sagi's sister, Princess Toki, was devastated by the deaths of her father and brother. Unable to accept reality, she wanted to reunite with her family in death.

However, just as she was about to plunge a knife into her chest, her brother's spirit stopped her.

After enduring her grief, Princess Toki decided to seek revenge at all costs. She tied up her long hair, disguised herself as her brother, and spread the word that the one who had died was not Sagi but his sister, Toki.

In essence, this was a story of a Mulan-like character in the Shinobi World, seeking to avenge her father and brother by cross-dressing as a man and using the Cursed Warrior's name to investigate the truth.

Unfortunately, Princess Toki was too inexperienced and her investigation didn't yield much.

To put it bluntly, it's just a bunch of incompetent Missing-nin trying to seize the control of the Land of Birds. Luckily for them, the Land of Birds was so weak that there wasn't anyone capable of stopping them.

Which means, since even a group of weak Missing-nin could try to seize the control of the Land of Birds, there was no reason why Naruto couldn't do it.

However, Naruto and his team were just hired Shinobi, and is subjected to various limitations.

Not to mention seizing the control of the Land of Birds, even getting in touch with the Daimyo is not an easy task.

Although Naruto wanted both rewards, the Spirit Transformation Technique and the sacrifice-free Impure World Reincarnation, he had to choose.

Both techniques were highly attractive to him. The Spirit Transformation Technique, especially, was tempting due to its ability to forcibly extract someone's soul and play them shamefully y, making it one of the most unsettling and unique techniques in the Shinobi World.

However, the risk associated with the Spirit Transformation Technique was high. Kato Dan, the original user, had died after being fatally injured during a rainy night, ultimately succumbing to blood loss.

The two pieces in front of Naruto now are the Spirit Transformation Technique and the Impure World Reincarnation Technique.

After hesitating for a moment, he chose the latter.

It's because Spirit Transformation Technique also had a significant drawback. While the soul was outside the body, the physical form remained immobile and vulnerable. If the body wasn't properly protected, or if there was a traitor within the group, it could lead to disaster.

At this stage, Naruto didn't really need the Spirit Transformation Technique. And given the nature of the system, it was possible for the Spirit Transformation Technique to appear as an option again in the future.

Although choosing between the two options felt like a loss either way, after comprehensive consideration, option 2 seems to be more cost-effective.

At the same time, Naruto came up with a bold idea.

The current daimyo of the Land of Birds was Princess Toki, who is disguised as a man. If she was willing to risk her life to avenge her brother and father, Naruto wondered if there might be a different way to approach this situation, one that might allow him to exploit a potential bug in the system.

But if he's not careful, he might get stuck at the requirements of the first option.