Changes Over the Past Ten Days
A light drizzle was falling in the early morning.
Only the pebbles and tree branches on the muddy ground silently testified to the force of yesterday's downpour, and the steps in front of the house were also covered with specks of mud.
The boys and girls stood in the rain, the heavy atmosphere pressing down on their chests like a boulder.
"I've finished speaking, and I'm leaving now!" Katsuki reached out and smoothed her hair, wringing out the excess water from the ends, then gently touched them with her wet fingers.
"Crack!!!"
A thunderclap suddenly erupted from the ground, the enormous sound almost transforming into a tangible shockwave. Yahiko instinctively covered his ears, and his mouth gaped open in shock, making him look rather comical.
"Holy crap, what is this thing?"
"So... dazzling!"
Konan squinted, somewhat unaccustomed to the overly dazzling light.
The silver-white chariot hovered three or four meters above the ground, emitting a rumbling thunderous sound. The active lightning and thunder emitted a dazzling silver light, which was dazzling and eye-catching.
"Yahiko, Konan, this is really goodbye." Katsuki stood on the Thunderclap Chariot, nodded slightly to the two, then glanced at the silent Nagato, and smiled. He didn't expect to dispel Nagato's obsession with just a few words. As long as a seed of doubt remained, that was enough. Time would naturally nurture it to grow strong.
"Whoosh..."
The chariot, accompanied by a thunderous roar, soared into the sky, its receding silver gleam deeply imprinted in the eyes of the three.
How many people died today?
Eighty-nine.
"... Are we about to break into three digits?"
Inside the cave, Kakkō flickered, and around the campfire, five or six sleepless ninjas chatted quietly.
The Konoha Ninja used the sturdy terrain of Black Tail Mountain to carve out many caves of varying sizes. The larger ones could accommodate one or two hundred people, while the smaller ones could hold twenty or thirty. This was one of the larger caves, which housed one hundred and seventy-one ninjas, or fifty-seven squads.
"That's right, that's right. We've lost over two hundred people in the last three days. Thanks to those bastards from the Stone Ninja clan, I've been so busy with work lately."
"Huh? Is it that busy? This mortality rate isn't even that high? Didn't even more people die during a real war?"
Upon hearing his companion's question, the middle-aged ninja immediately slapped his thigh, giving him a look that said, "You don't know."
"The number of deaths isn't the problem; it's just a matter of counting names. It can be done with a little more time. What's most troublesome is when a squad loses one or two people and then has to form a new squad. That's the most troublesome job. Your comrades who you've been with day and night are dead, and you have to squeeze in new recruits or assign them to other squads. Ugh... just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt." The middle-aged ninja pressed his stomach, his contorted face reflecting the enormous burden the pressure was placing on his body.
That's a terrible job!
Instead of dealing with this kind of thing, it feels much easier to fight on the front lines against the enemy.
Sitting quietly in a dark corner, Nawaki thought to himself.
After Katsuki lured away Kumasaburo and his group, they encountered several more battles, but never met an enemy as formidable as Kumasaburo. That being said, they paid a certain price before successfully reaching the place where the Sand Village stored their provisions, as indicated in the intelligence. However, in the end, they found only an empty nest.
Perhaps we should be thankful that it was just an empty nest, otherwise they might not have been able to return. Just by looking at the heavily fortified Black Tail Mountain, one can guess that the Sand Ninja's grain depot must be a den of wolves and tigers.
However, the final result proved that all the so-called intelligence was a smokescreen by the Sand Village. All the locations were fabricated decoys to attract their attention. The Sand Village, in alliance with the Stone Ninja, launched a surprise attack on Black Tail Mountain and deployed the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
The Sand and Stone Ninja were just a hair's breadth away from succeeding.
That battle definitively confirmed that the Sannin were not just people with empty reputations, and that Hanzō, who was hailed as a demigod, was not someone who spoke carelessly.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, the students of the Third Hokage of Konoha, turned the tide of the Black Tail Mountain's defeat, repelled the One-Tail Jinchuriki's attack, and severely injured him. The fact that the Jinchuriki hadn't participated in the attack for several days speaks volumes about his healing abilities.
Unfortunately, although the surprise attack failed, the allied forces of the Sand and Stone Ninja did not retreat and were still trying to capture Black Tail Mountain. The Stone Ninja even gave up their entanglement with the Rain Ninja for this reason, and the Sand ninjas also held on to Sakumo at the front-line camp, preferring to pay a huge price rather than let Sakumo free up his hands to support Black Tail Mountain.
The battle has reached a stalemate, and it remains to be seen which side will break this fragile balance first.
"Otome, you said..." Nawaki longed to talk to someone. Since Katsuki left the group, he had no one to talk to. Kamiya Hoshio, and the others each had their own groups. Although they acted together, it didn't mean they were close. The name Senju was both an honor and a burden.
As a result, his only conversation partner was Otome, who was in the same squad. However, Otome was naturally taciturn, and she became even more silent after Katsuki left. This made the talkative Nawaki suffer even more these past few days. As a Teacher Dan was Jonin busy and couldn't spare much time to talk to them, even after learning that Katsuki was missing and most likely had died in battle.
"... Well, never mind, sorry to bother you."
After much hesitation, Nawaki looked at Otome, who was quietly refining Chakra in the corner, and finally backed down.
"Katsuki is still alive. If that's the question you want to ask." Otome opened her eyes, her dark pupils capable of freezing one's soul. Her cold voice was like a gust of wind, causing the flickering campfire to dim for a few seconds.
"Huh?"
Nawaki froze, staring at Otome with a bewildered expression.
"Kushina told me this, and I also had a feeling that guy was tough; death wouldn't fall on his head so easily." After Otome finished speaking, she closed her eyes again, leaving Nawaki completely bewildered, his lips twitching, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Are they alive?
Is Katsuki really still alive? She escaped from those terrifying Sand Ninja, but why has there been no news of her for so long?
His mind was a jumble of chaotic thoughts, causing a headache. He desperately wanted to know what this so-called premonition meant, but he dared not disturb the Otome any longer. He could only huddle alone in the darkness, struggling with his thoughts. The noisy rain outside the cave suddenly became clearer, making his heart even more restless.
However, a tiny glimmer of hope, which had been buried deep within, suddenly stirred, and a ray of sunshine, long absent from the gloomy inner world, pierced through the clouds.