The rain kept falling.
It had been exactly four hours since they left Konoha, and the sky was still a depressing leaden gray. The forest paths were a muddy mess, with slick moss and tangled roots forming a natural obstacle course.
"Too slow."
At the head of the team, Uchiha Fugaku stopped on a thick branch. He didn't turn around, but his disdainful voice carried clearly through the rain.
"If we were a regular unit, at this pace we'd already be corpses in a Stone Ninja ambush."
About twenty meters behind him, two figures followed close on his heels.
Namikaze Minato wasn't even breathing hard. His golden hair was soaked by the rain, but his bright blue eyes still shone with energy. The Chakra clinging to his feet was steady, and each leap looked as if its trajectory had been precisely calculated.
Behind Namikaze Minato, Nishikawa Tetsu's breathing was a little labored, but still controlled.
Unless you looked closely, it was hard to notice that Nishikawa Tetsu moved differently from the others. Rather than relying on bursts of Chakra to hurry along like traditional ninja, he used gravitational potential energy to swing between tree trunks, conserving his strength as much as possible.
"Sorry, Senior Fugaku. We'll pick up the pace," Namikaze Minato said with a smile, smoothing things over. He slowed down a little, waiting for his teammate behind him.
Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Nishikawa Tetsu as he caught up, his brow furrowing even more.
"Hmph. Wasting the whole team's stamina to accommodate a dead last is the stupidest thing you could do, Namikaze Minato."
He turned around, his Sharingan flashing red for an instant. His cold gaze swept over Che. "Hey, you. If you can't keep up, say so now. I'll leave you at the nearest outpost. It'd be a pain to collect your body if you died in the Land of Rain."
Nishikawa Tetsu wiped the rain from his face and adjusted his breathing.
By his calculations, they were currently moving at about forty kilometers per hour.
For Jonin Uchiha Fugaku, it was easy. For the genius Namikaze Minato, it was strenuous, but manageable. For him, with his below-average Chakra reserves, it was already a heavy strain.
"No need to trouble yourself, Senior." Nishikawa Tetsu's voice was calm and steady.
Uchiha Fugaku snorted and turned around, accelerating again. "I'll give you another hour. If we don't reach the planned destination, you'll be sleeping in the mud tonight."
By dusk, the rain had eased.
The three finally reached a dry hollow beneath a rock face before nightfall.
It was sheltered from the wind, with a clear view of the surroundings—a perfect temporary camp.
"Rest here for ten minutes, then we move on. We'll cross the Land of Fire's border under cover of darkness."
After giving the order, Uchiha Fugaku leapt onto a boulder above them and sat cross-legged, keeping watch with his back to the two.
Despite his harsh words, he had clearly left the safest resting spot to the two Genin.
Namikaze Minato took some rations from his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed them to Nishikawa Tetsu. "Here. Get your strength back. Senior Fugaku's sharp-tongued, but he's actually a good person."
"A classic power-oriented personality, with mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies and a tsundere streak." Nishikawa Tetsu bit into a hard Ration Pill and offered a precise psychological profile. "He's difficult to get along with, but he really is a reliable teammate."
Namikaze Minato paused, then gave a wry smile. "You always describe people with such unusual words."
Just then, instead of sitting down to rest, Nishikawa Tetsu got to his feet and walked over to the bushes at the edge of the rock face.
He crouched down and began rummaging through a clump of weeds.
Uchiha Fugaku's ears twitched. He turned around from his perch and saw Nishikawa Tetsu carefully digging up a plant with purple veins in its leaves using a Kunai. He wrapped it carefully in a piece of cloth and tucked it into a pocket at his waist.
"What are you doing?"
Uchiha Fugaku sounded incredulous. "That's a weed, isn't it? Instead of recovering your Chakra, you're playing in the dirt?"
"This isn't a weed, Senior Fugaku."
Nishikawa Tetsu brushed the dirt from his hands, his expression calm. "It's a variant of Aconitum Grass. Its roots contain a high concentration of alkaloids. Once refined, just three milligrams can paralyze an adult man's nervous system for about fifteen seconds."
Uchiha Fugaku froze, then gave a dismissive, mocking laugh. "A pointless little trick. Against overwhelming strength and the Sharingan, a second-rate poison like that won't even get the chance to be used."
"There are no useless tools in this world, only people who don't know how to use them." Nishikawa Tetsu stood up. "Besides, refining it costs nothing. An Explosive Tag costs nearly three hundred ryo, but poison is a gift from nature."
"Cheapskate."
Uchiha Fugaku gave his two-word verdict and turned away, no longer paying attention.
But only a few seconds later, Nishikawa Tetsu's actions caught his attention again.
Nishikawa Tetsu pulled a strange metallic powder from his backpack and began sprinkling it along a shallow, inconspicuous groove that ran around the camp.
"What is that now? ...Forget it, I don't feel like asking." Uchiha Fugaku's brow twitched as he watched the grayish-white powder.
The Uchiha Clan's battle aesthetic was all about dazzling Fire Release, precise Shuriken, and the invincible Sharingan. Watching someone scurry around on the ground like a mouse, fiddling with little tricks, instinctively disgusted him.
"This is a mixture of Aluminum Powder and Iron Oxide Powder." Nishikawa Tetsu sprinkled it as he muttered to himself, as though performing some kind of ritual. "With even a little heat to ignite it, the reaction can produce temperatures over 2,500 degrees. It's a bit damp in this rain, but if I combine it with that..."
His gaze swept over a piece of Phosphorus Ore nearby, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly.
Namikaze Minato leaned closer, curious. "Is this science too?"
"This is art." Nishikawa Tetsu dusted off his hands. "Art is an Explosion."
"Tch." From his perch, Uchiha Fugaku had heard him and couldn't resist a jab. "Playing with fire? Talking about the art of fire in front of an Uchiha is laughable."
He stood up, brushed the dust from his pants, and leapt down.
"Rest time's over. The road ahead is a real danger zone. Especially for you, Nishikawa Tetsu."
Uchiha Fugaku walked up to Nishikawa Tetsu and stared hard at him with his dark eyes.
His tone was still gruff, but the contempt in it had faded, replaced by a stern warning. "I don't care if your little tricks can kill the enemy. But if you fall behind because you're messing around with this stuff..."
He held out a finger and tapped Nishikawa Tetsu's Forehead Protector.
"I wouldn't turn back to save you, even on Lord Jiraiya's orders. Understood?"
Nishikawa Tetsu raised his head and looked straight at the future Uchiha Clan Head.
"Understood. If I fall behind, please don't turn back."
Because by then, the traps I leave behind might blow up anyone who turns back too, Nishikawa Tetsu silently added.
"Move!"
With a sharp command from Uchiha Fugaku, the three disappeared into the rainy forest once more.
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