Chapter 9: Kumo Ninja on the Trail [Please Vote]
He left the Two-Tails' sealing space with practiced ease.
He went in almost every day to spend a little time with her, trying to talk with her for a while. Whether he did it to build a bond with the Two-Tails or because he felt a little sorry for her...
The main reason Toneri did this was... to keep the Two-Tails from going on a rampage for no reason!
From his time spent with her, and from what he could sense himself, Toneri had learned that the seal on him wasn't stable.
In fact, it was extremely unstable!
If the Two-Tails hadn't been badly injured while the seal was being transferred, she would have been entirely capable of breaking out of her prison and becoming a free Tailed Beast.
And surely no Tailed Beast would turn down that chance.
So until Toneri could find help as quickly as possible, he needed to smooth things over with the Two-Tails.
He didn't expect her to treat him like a friend.
At the very least, before he made his move, he wanted her to hesitate, even if only for a tenth of a second. For Toneri, that alone would count as a success.
Besides, spending so much time together would help him understand the Two-Tails' current condition and thoughts.
It wasn't that he was especially scheming, racking his brain to keep the Two-Tails sealed.
It was just that he knew all too well what happened to a Jinchūriki who lost their Tailed Beast—and he couldn't even keep the Two-Tails under control.
He wasn't doing this because he wanted to. He had to!
After leaving the sealing space, Toneri sat quietly in the cart and waited, recovering his strength at the same time.
He couldn't recover so quickly from a full day of training, even with the Two-Tails' subtle help.
The sky was gradually darkening, and Toneri was getting ready to leave the caravan.
Life on the road with the caravan had been comfortable, with plenty to eat and a place to sleep.
The food might not have been much, but at least it filled his stomach.
But the more comfortable things were, the more uneasy he felt.
It was too easy.
Leaving the Land of Lightning had gone far too smoothly.
They were less than two days from the Land of Fire, and it all seemed too easy to Toneri.
So easy that he suspected the caravan had some other motive.
He had chosen to join them himself, but that mattered a lot less than his own safety.
So tonight, Toneri decided to leave the caravan.
After all, the Land of Fire wasn't far away, and he could make out the general direction. Once he crossed into the Land of Fire, reaching Konoha wouldn't seem so out of reach.
He sat quietly in the cart, recovering his strength.
And waited for night to fall.
When the somewhat dim moon was directly overhead, Toneri peered through a gap in the window curtain and saw the caravan guards still diligently patrolling.
But it was midnight, when people's willpower was at its weakest.
If he left now, it would be the perfect time.
He didn't know if the caravan really had some other purpose, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
He couldn't risk dying before the end.
Ahem. Better safe than sorry!
Waiting for the right moment, he slipped quietly out of the cart, rolled into the grass beside it, and made no unnecessary noise.
Being small and frail had plenty of disadvantages, but it also had its upsides.
He'd spent the past few days training in the cart. He didn't need to get his body to any particular level of fitness—he just needed to have complete control over it.
Keeping low, he sped through the woods. The clothes he'd bought especially for this came in handy, helping him blend into the night and avoid the weeds and branches.
The knowledge and skills etched deep in his memory came into play to the fullest.
Traveling at night, especially through dense woods, was hardly a wise choice.
The woods were far more dangerous at night than during the day.
But Toneri had no choice.
Only by reaching the Land of Fire quickly could he have any semblance of safety.
Never mind the possibility of the Two-Tails going on a rampage—he didn't even know whether the Kumo Ninja had really fallen for his tricks.
After all, he wasn't a ninja, and could only judge their abilities based on his own assumptions.
To be safe, Toneri would rather assume there were pursuers on his trail.
Of course, this had nothing to do with playing it safe. It was wisdom!
Luckily, he'd been eating and drinking at the caravan's expense for the past few days, and had kept his precious Military Rations Pills. They would come in handy now.
They tasted awful.
But compared to his life, their flavor didn't matter much.
The longer he traveled through the woods, the better he understood the plant life in this world of Naruto, and the faster he moved through it.
Traveling alone, he was actually faster than the slow-moving caravan.
Dawn!
Thud—
A muffled thump sounded beside one of the caravan's carts.
The caravan guards and its leader heard the noise and hurried toward its source.
They saw a man with slightly dark skin, a white mask, a short buzz cut, and simple ninja combat gear. A short blade was strapped to his back.
He had suddenly appeared in front of the cart where Toneri had been staying.
As soon as they saw who had made the noise, those who had been about to approach stopped in their tracks.
They were even more afraid to approach when they saw the Kumo Ninja Headband tied around his arm.
The man was an Anbu from Kumo, sent to track down Toneri!
A small, fluffy beast perched on his left shoulder. It wasn't very large, and though it was rather round, they could make out that it was a rat.
A plump little ball.
The Kumo Anbu stared at the cart where Toneri had been staying for a while. The rat on his shoulder kept twitching its nose.
The caravan leader and guards stood rooted in place, trembling with fear.
"Where's the child who was in this cart?" the Kumo Anbu asked after getting an answer from his Summoning Beast.
Through his white mask, they could see a pair of icy eyes devoid of emotion.
The caravan leader jolted.
Fine beads of sweat instantly covered his forehead. "Y-Your Excellency, that... that child should be... should be in the cart, shouldn't he?"
Shing—
Two flashes of white!
The Kumo Anbu's right hand gripped the short blade on his back, then slowly slid it back into its sheath.
Crack! Thud!
A diagonal cross-shaped slash appeared before everyone's eyes.
The cart door shattered with it!
As it turned out, aside from the scattered cargo being arranged a little more neatly, there wasn't a soul inside the cart.
The caravan leader kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "Y-Your Excellency, I... I don't know what happened. He was still in the cart yesterday!"
The Kumo Anbu ignored him and went into the cart. Crouching down, he searched the floorboards for something. The round rat on his shoulder hopped down beside him and sniffed the wood with its little nose.
He reached out and rubbed the floorboards lightly.
"The scent a human could detect has been completely erased. If not for the Scent Rat, he really would've gotten away.
"This brat really isn't simple. The caravan's headed for the Land of Fire. Is he from Konoha?"
The guess seemed almost certainly right to him.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time. The Land of Fire was close, and things would get troublesome if the boy crossed into it!
With that thought, he disappeared from the cart in a flash as the Scent Rat returned to his shoulder.
The caravan leader and guards, who had been trembling outside, finally let out a long breath.
For merchants like them, there was no one they could afford to offend less than a ninja...
But after the Kumo Anbu had been gone for a while, the caravan leader's fearful expression finally eased.
"Did you notify everyone who needed to know?"
An old man stepped out from behind the leader.
It was the same old man who brought Toneri his meals every day.
He nodded. "I told them all, but..."
The caravan leader shook his head. "We had no part in this, and we know nothing about it...
"What Konoha does is its own business, but we couldn't keep quiet. After all... all our business is in the Land of Fire..."
People keep saying Jin Mu's short, but Jin Mu really isn't short at all. Have you ever seen how long I am?
I'm just keeping it hidden during the new-book period, in case I scare too many people away! Once it's officially released, I'll show you just how long I am!
The book went live yesterday, and quite a few author friends took a bad hit. Jin Mu's really nervous!
I hear the editors can see how many people are following a new book, and that affects its recommendations, so I hope you won't wait too long to read it.
You can save chapters after it goes live. During the new-book period, please read and comment more. You've seen me go through and like your comments one by one, and I reply to the fun ones too!
I'll say no more. Jin Mu's holding out a bowl and begging for support!
Thanks to the generous reader 爱书者痴狂 for the three ten-thousand-yuan rewards, and to 阙拾壹 for the ten-thousand-yuan reward! Thanks to 想上天堂的小丑 for the tip, and thanks to all the other readers who have tipped!
Thanks to you, Jin Mu's little notebook is almost full! Love you all, mwah! (づ￣ 3￣)づ
Before you continue