Two Doors, a Teleportation Artifact a Thousand Miles Apart

The sky was dark and without light.

"Tenten?" Naruto ran down to the bottom of the valley and finally found the injured Tenten in a dense forest. He was taken aback when he saw her weak appearance.

How are you?

"Cold," she managed to say, shivering.

"Don't say anything yet, I'll take you upstairs." Naruto quickly checked Tenten's body to make sure she wasn't broken, and then nimbly picked Tenten up.

After a frantic run, he reached the mountaintop and looked around. He gently placed Tenten on the soft soil, then reached behind him and pulled out the tent blanket.

After settling Tenten in the tent, Naruto helped Tenten, who was not quite conscious, and fed her some water and some nutritional fluids.

With a snap, he pulled out the split-type stove and lit it, instantly warming the tent. Fortunately, the tent was spacious enough, so he stood up and opened a corner to let in some air and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

He waited until the tent warmed up before going outside.

It was pitch black outside. Naruto didn't go too far. He just gathered some dry firewood around him, built a makeshift tent with stones, and lit it with a lighter with a bang.

He burned out a rough shape, then took out neatly arranged firewood from the Sealing Space and continued burning.

While Tenten was still fast asleep, he took advantage of the lull to sit by the fire and begin to review the events of the past day or two. However, he found himself completely bewildered, as if shrouded in mist, with no clue whatsoever.

First, Jiraiya disappeared, and the Scroll Toad returned to report. Then, he led a group to search for him, entering a deep valley and then Underground Dark River. The river had many branches, and there seemed to be corpses and... doors beneath the surface?

What exactly is a door? Was Jiraiya sucked into a door? If so, how many doors are there at the bottom of that underground river?

Of all the doors that opened, only that one opened, and as soon as I leaned in, I was sucked inside. I don't know when I lost consciousness, and I have no memory of it at all.

Although the situation remains unclear, one thing is certain: Jiraiya is most likely not in good condition, otherwise he could communicate with me through the Toad of Mount Myōboku.

Flames danced in his pupils until late into the night, when movement came from inside the tent. Tenten seemed to have woken up. Naruto turned his head to look at her, then got up and went over.

"Ugh, Naruto, is that you? Ouch!" She gasped, touching her back. "What happened to me? It hurts so much."

"She probably fell from a height and got hurt, but she didn't break any bones." Naruto helped her up and gave Tenten some water to drink.

"Thanks."

"Do you remember what happened?" Naruto asked.

"I don't remember clearly what happened, ugh~" Tenten frowned. "My memory only goes back to the ship, and then I think I passed out."

They've all fainted? This inexplicably reminded Naruto of Mabui's Heavenly Transfer Technique. This skill, which can only deliver packages, claims it can't teleport ordinary humans, otherwise they'll explode and die.

The speed during teleportation is so high that the human body cannot withstand the pressure and will explode and die. Only those with superhuman endurance can use this Ninjutsu, which is practically a cheat code.

Looking at the entire Shinobi World, apart from the Fourth Raikage who is simple-minded and thick-skinned, only Tsunade, the healer, can withstand it.

But now this wild door, which appeared out of nowhere, seems to have the same teleportation function as the Heavenly Transfer Technique, only the teleportation point is unknown.

An underwater door, Bronze Door? Oh no, I'm going to get sued by the Tomb Robber's Journal.

He quickly shook his head, clearing his wandering thoughts. He focused his main attention on Tenten; Stamp Collecting Companion Mission progress +1.

That's good, it wasn't a waste of time.

"How are you now?" Naruto asked. "Tenten, can you still walk?"

"Able."

Tenten struggled to her feet, but Naruto pressed her back down. Before she could even ask a question, Naruto spoke first.

"Wait until dawn, otherwise it's hard to say whether we'll miss anything while searching like this."

Upon hearing this, Tenten pondered for a moment, and though she was anxious, she could only suppress her impatience and sit down. She watched as Naruto moved the gas canister stove aside, and the tent warmed up again.

"Naruto, have you seen anyone else?" Tenten huddled by the fireplace, her eyes lowered.

"No, Neji and Rock Lee are nowhere to be found." Naruto sat down by the stove, looking at the orange-yellow light emanating from the Cassette Stove and shaking his head slightly.

The tent was unusually quiet, with Tenten staring blankly at the Cassette Stove. Then Naruto took out a small pot, placed it on the stove, and poured in some drinking water.

Both of them knew how crucial time was at this moment, but all they could do now was wait. Whether it was Jiraiya, Neji, or Rock Lee, they were all excellent ninjas.

No matter what happens, they at least have the ability to protect themselves. More importantly, Naruto doesn't have the Byakugan, and he can't possibly leave Tenten alone here.

"Don't worry too much. Before I found you, I had already thoroughly searched most of the Land of Whirlpools Island," Naruto comforted him. "There's not much we can do in the dark anyway, so let's wait until it's Tenten."

"If we're lucky, we can probably search the entire island before sunset tomorrow. If they're not on the island, we'll have to think of another way."

"Is this an island?" Tenten stared blankly for a while, then looked at Naruto and asked, "Land of Whirlpools Island?"

"Um."

"We're clearly in the Land of Land of Rice, right? How did we end up on an island thousands of miles away?" Tenten was a little agitated, and the water in the small pot was bubbling away.

For a mentally sound ninja, even believing they're under Genjutsu is better than facing reality. Who could believe they'd be swept underwater and then instantly transported thousands of miles away?

"We are indeed on Land of Whirlpools Island now. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of the waves," he said, staring calmly at the light of the Cassette Stove.

"If you don't believe me, you can climb to the top and see for yourself after daybreak."

"Naruto, could we be under Genjutsu?" Her voice trembled slightly. "Actually, we're still under that underground river, but we just can't tell."

"Are you hungry?" he suddenly asked.

"What?" Tenten was clearly confused, not knowing why Naruto suddenly asked her if she was hungry. She looked down and touched her stomach. "I'm okay, a little hungry."

"Then it's not Genjutsu. Being under Genjutsu doesn't feel that complicated," Naruto said slowly, taking the small pot off his hands and pulling out two clean glasses.

Splash! A small pot of boiling water filled both glasses perfectly. Then, Naruto took out a larger pot, poured in water, and put two pieces of dough inside.

"Genjutsu... can it work too?" Tenten was a little unsure of herself, especially when she saw the two bland pancakes in the pot. Suddenly, her stomach growled.

"Ah!" She blushed slightly and quickly turned her head away.

"It's probably impossible. Do you remember there was a door underwater?" he asked, taking out a pair of chopsticks and stirring the pot.

The water splashed, its sound clear and crisp.

The tent was spacious enough to sleep five or six people, and there was plenty of room for two people to cook noodles inside. Naruto had barely eaten all day and had been keeping watch for most of the night.

Because I was preoccupied with things, I forgot about my hunger when I got busy. Now that I'm finally waking up Tenten, the first thing I want to do is fill my stomach.

"A door?" Tenten paused for a moment before remembering the underwater door Neji had discovered. "We were brought in through that door."

"Yes, it's probably some kind of Spatial Transfer effect," Naruto said, watching the water in the small pot slowly bubble and then suddenly rise to the surface.

"If you still don't believe me, you can do something that goes against your normal behavior and logic. If you're under Genjutsu, your mind will become dull."

"Something that goes against normal logic?" Tenten frowned, glanced at Naruto, but said nothing more.

"Have some?" Naruto deftly pulled out two bowls, scooped out the noodles, added the seasonings, and started stirring. "So you won't be too tired to walk tomorrow."

"Thank you." Tenten took the bowl and chopsticks, took her first bite, and suddenly said, "I wonder Neji and Rock Lee are still hungry."

"They should be able to find their own food, it's just that they won't have it as convenient as we do." Naruto mouthfuls, looking completely unconcerned.

"As long as they're alive, they'll definitely have enough to eat. At most, they'll eat raw meat and drink blood, but just being alive is already a good thing. Once we find them, we'll bring them all back with us."

"Of course, this only applies to this island. If it's somewhere else, there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to go back to Konohagakure and make further plans, or go look somewhere else."

Listening to Naruto's sincere yet cunning words, Tenten was somewhat speechless. She immediately realized that he must have a plan, after all, Naruto had a tense face the whole time he came.

"Naruto, have you thought of something?" She took another bite of noodles and found that the taste was quite good, which strengthened her resolve to pursue that idea.

The taste of food can vary depending on a person's mood. Even with the same ingredients, if the chef is in a bad mood, the food may taste unpalatable.

Tenten speaking, even if she used all her skills, she couldn't make it taste as good with just a few simple seasonings. But this simple noodle dish made by Naruto is delicious.

This precisely shows that Naruto is very relaxed at this moment, most likely because he has a new idea.

"It's not certain yet, it's just a guess." Naruto quickly finished his noodles and took out new ingredients, preparing to make a stew.

Anyway, let's talk about it tomorrow.

"All right."

Tenten, I sighed, and my dissatisfaction turned into an appetite. After a few bites of the stew, I suddenly realized it was actually quite delicious, and I ended up eating a little more.

Sadness is temporary; the rice washed away most of the sorrow. Despite her reluctance, Tenten honestly fought with Naruto for food from the pot.

If he hadn't been quick-witted, the last piece of meat might have ended up in Tenten's bowl. I don't know how they can all eat so much; do they have a black hole in their stomachs?

The next day at dawn.

Naruto continued searching the island with Tenten. Tenten was injured, so Naruto usually searched in complex terrain like mountain streams.

Tenten, he would carefully examine things on flat ground or shout from a high place.

Three poles in the sun.

"I can't take it anymore! I'm too tired." Naruto plopped down in the shade of a tree, with Tenten fanning him affectionately, his gaze passing over the scorching Nikko to look at the distant mountains.

"We've searched this entire mountain forest; the only place we haven't searched is the beach on the other side," she said.

"Let's rest for a bit, then we'll search the beach," he said.

Upon hearing this, Tenten couldn't help but ask.

"Now that we're almost done searching, can you share your conjecture now?"

"Sure, it's not really a guess," Naruto said. "I think if we can teleport to the same location, Rock Lee and Neji might be together, or not far away."

"Why?" Tenten blinked, puzzled.

"Intuition," he said.

"What kind of intuition is this?" she said, somewhat speechless, but still couldn't help but lean closer and ask, "Isn't there a more reliable explanation?"

"Yes, there are Two Doors underwater. If we arrive at the island and they are not there, then there is reason to believe they have gone somewhere else."

"Where?"

"It's a place where the Pervy Sage stayed, but they probably won't run into it," Naruto said, frowning. "This hypothesis can't be verified for now; we can only eliminate possibilities one by one and wait."

"Mm." Tenten nodded.

Afternoon.

The two braved the scorching sun and searched the entire beach, finally reaching a shady spot before getting sunburned. After gulping down several mouthfuls of water, they finally recovered.

"There's nothing there," Tenten said, glancing at Naruto beside her. "Doesn't this mean your guess was right? Rock Lee and Neji are somewhere else."

"Hmm." He looked up at the clear blue sky, and a cool sea breeze blew, instantly evaporating the sweat from his body and bringing a touch of coolness.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Let's stay another day and see if we can find the door. If we can't, we'll contact Konohagakure for help."

"Okay." Tenten had no objections.

The next day.

Naruto led Tenten to another beach, remembering that the cave he and Anko had discovered last time was there. There was a crack inside the cave, and something seemed to be below the crack.

If it were a door, that would be great; even if he couldn't take it with him, he could at least take a look. He wanted to take Anywhere Door traverse any place, even if it was just a fixed point.

As the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed. Since we're already here, we might as well take a look.

As he walked, he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Tenten turned to look at him, tilting her head and asking curiously.

"We have news," Naruto said.

"What?"

He didn't reply, but quickly Hand Seals and used Summoning Technique with a bang. A long Scroll Toad appeared in the white smoke.

"Naruto! Jiraiya has been found," the Scroll Toad said. "He asked me to give you a message and also to tell him about the situation on your end."

Based on Summoning Jutsu, the Scroll Toad became a mouthpiece.

"What's going on over there?" Naruto asked, momentarily stunned. "I thought the Pervy Sage was already..."

Scroll Toad: "Jiraiya was trapped in a glacier and almost couldn't get out. Later, two people fell from the sky."

Besides