Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess

The four of them soon arrived in the Land of Demons.

By this time, the country was already in turmoil. As they approached the capital, they were halted by the kingdom’s military forces. However, once Riku presented the scroll bearing Tsunade’s seal, the soldiers immediately let them through.

Upon entering the capital, the four saw that the city’s residents were hurriedly inscribing sealing formulas everywhere. Though these barriers were far from strong enough to repel the advancing demon army, they could at least delay them for a while.

The people clung to one hope: if the priestess could seal the demon once again, peace would be restored to the Land of Demons.

As they made their way through the streets, the group finally arrived at the Priestess’s palace.

Under the guidance of Suho, they were led into the presence of the current Priestess.

The moment she laid eyes on Riku, the Priestess froze. "Riku...?" she said, her voice laced with disbelief.

Her name was Shion, and it was clear that she knew him.

Riku was equally confused. He couldn’t recall ever meeting her before.

Shion rose from her seat, walking straight toward him with shining eyes. "It really is you, Riku..."

Riku nodded cautiously. "Yes... but I don’t believe we’ve met before, Lady Priestess."

Both Yugao and Neji exchanged curious glances. They were clearly wondering why Shion would be familiar with Riku.

But Suho seemed to understand. A thought clicked into place—perhaps this was why Shion hadn’t panicked when the demon first appeared. Had she seen this in a vision? Had she foreseen that Riku would be the one to help her seal the demon this time?

After all, when the demon first manifested, Shion had been overwhelmed with despair.

To seal it again would mean risking her life. The previous generation’s Priestess had died performing the ritual. The creature—known as the Demon Spirit—was no ordinary beast. If it had been something that could be sealed easily, it wouldn’t have nearly brought ruin to the world in the past.

Shion looked at Riku, a warm smile on her face. "You appeared in my dreams..."

Riku finally understood and turned to Suho, asking, "What’s going on?"

Of course, Riku had no intention of openly acknowledging he knew about the Priestess’s prophetic abilities.

Suho explained, "Lord Riku, Her Highness possesses the ability to see the future through her dreams. And her visions... they’ve never been wrong."

Riku gave a small nod. "That’s quite the terrifying power."

Still, he didn’t ask Shion what exactly she had seen in her vision. From her expression, it was clear the outcome was favorable.

Though he knew of the Demon Spirit only vaguely—mainly that Naruto and Shion had sealed it together in the past—the threat it posed hadn’t been fully depicted in those records. Riku suspected its true power far exceeded what had been shown.

Even so, he believed he could help Shion seal it.

Shion was clearly relieved. According to her vision, Riku would help her reseal the Demon Spirit... and she would survive. That meant he was her sole hope.

After discussing the situation, it was decided that Riku would stay at Shion’s side to protect her.

Riku, Neji, and Rock Lee remained in the outer quarters of the palace.

There were several guest rooms in the outer complex, and it was there that Riku encountered a familiar face.

When he saw her, he was momentarily stunned. "Samui? What are you doing here?"

Samui, who had been discussing defense strategies with two members of her team, turned at the sound of the voice. Her expression remained cool as ever, but there was a slight flicker of recognition in her eyes.

"It’s you," she said flatly. "I figured Konoha would send you."

Despite her usual cold tone, Riku could sense that she was actually pleased to see him. Samui’s personality had always been like this—stoic and reserved.

Neji and Lee looked on, surprised that Riku knew a kunoichi from Kumogakure.

Riku approached casually, sitting beside her without hesitation. "I didn’t expect Kumogakure to send you here."

The team from the Cloud Village included Samui, Yugito Nii—the Two-Tails’ Jinchūriki—Omoi, and Karui.

Clearly, Kumogakure was taking this mission very seriously. Both Samui and Yugito were elite jōnin, and Yugito was even considered a Kage-level combatant.

It seemed Tsunade had responded in kind by dispatching Riku and Neji, two newly promoted jōnin of Konoha’s younger generation.

Yugito looked at Riku with a sharp gaze. Her face was serious and unreadable, not unlike Samui’s. She didn’t speak, but her eyes betrayed a curiosity about him.

When Omoi and Karui saw Riku, they were completely dumbfounded. "Riku?!" Karui gasped.

Though he was a year younger than both of them, the gap in strength was undeniable—and enormous.

Riku smiled. "Looks like your village understands just how dangerous the Demon Spirit is, sending all of you here."

"The priority now is protecting Lady Shion and escorting her safely to the sealing site."

He didn’t even consider the fact that he wasn’t from Kumogakure—his tone made it sound like they were all on the same team.

To their credit, Samui, Omoi, and Karui listened intently. They were well aware of Riku’s strength.

But Yugito frowned slightly. "Riku... you’re a Konoha shinobi. Is it really appropriate for you to be giving orders to a Kumogakure team?"

Though Kumogakure had dispatched a team to escort Shion, the villages weren’t exactly cooperating on friendly terms. Not like the alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure.

Riku turned to her and chuckled. "So you’re the famous Yugito Nii, Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails—one of the few shinobi who can completely control a tailed beast."

Samui quickly reached over and tugged on Riku’s sleeve. "She has a short temper. Don’t provoke her."

Riku gave her a reassuring smile. He raised a hand and addressed Yugito and Samui calmly.

"Honestly, right now it doesn’t matter which village we come from. What matters is ensuring Lady Shion reaches the Marsh Country safely so she can complete the sealing ritual. Don’t you think we should cooperate?"

He hadn’t come here to intimidate anyone with his power. He knew better than to expect someone like Yugito to bow just because he was strong.

Some people simply couldn’t be swayed by power alone.

And Riku wasn’t the kind of person who liked throwing his weight around anyway.

He preferred a balance of strength and diplomacy.

This wasn’t like his earlier mission in the Land of Water, where he’d used a burst of chakra to pressure Samui and the others into backing down.

This time, things were different.

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