The Land of Waterfalls lay between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire. With the two countries currently at war, the pressure on the Land of Waterfalls was mounting. They feared the flames of war might reach their borders at any moment.
Speaking of the Land of Waterfalls, one couldn't help bringing up its infamous hardheadedness. After the Warring States period ended, Hashirama distributed the Tailed Beasts according to each village's strength, and the Land of Waterfalls was fortunate enough to receive the Seven-Tails.
But for some reason, the leaders of the Land of Waterfalls had a screw loose. They thought it unfair that Hashirama had given two Tailed Beasts to other countries and only one to theirs, and believed he was looking down on them. On top of that, Konoha was stronger than ever, with Hashirama, Madara, and Tobirama all there. They had the power to unite the Shinobi World.
The Land of Waterfalls feared Konoha would settle the score once the war was over, so they decided to strike first and sent Kakuzu to assassinate Hashirama.
Of course, the attempt failed. Hashirama was a kindhearted man. Even after they tried to assassinate him, he didn't do anything to Kakuzu, and that should have been the end of it.
But then Tobirama, his hot-tempered younger brother, heard that his big brother had been targeted and rushed to the Land of Waterfalls with a group of men to demand an explanation. Kakuzu was thrown in prison, then defected from Takigakure.
As he recalled what he knew about Takigakure, Sora Uchiha came to a conclusion. Ever since that incident, Konoha and Takigakure hadn't been on good terms. There was still one thing he didn't understand, though: how had Takigakure dared to target Tsunade?
They'd spent the past two years doing their best to keep a low profile during the Third Shinobi War, and now they dared to ambush one of the Konoha Sannin? Weren't they afraid of getting caught up in the war?
"Shich, focus on the mission. Don't let your mind wander." Kazuki Utsuki called back suddenly from up ahead.
Sora jolted. He realized he'd fallen behind. If he kept thinking, he might soon lose sight of the team altogether.
He smiled apologetically, cleared his mind, and sped up to follow the others.
They traveled all day and finally reached the border of the Land of Waterfalls before sunset. Looking at the shinobi on the main road in the distance,
Shinnosuke's expression darkened. "There are shinobi here? It seems things are far more complicated than we thought."
"But that also tells us something good," Kazuki Utsuki said. "At least, Tsunade's situation is still all right. She hasn't been discovered."
"Then how do we find her?" Sora asked. He didn't have any sensory ninjutsu. Searching an entire country for someone would be a tall order.
"Well, according to the intelligence, Tsunade should be northwest of Takigakure. We'll split into pairs and search separately. Once we find her, we'll call." As he spoke, Shinnosuke handed each of them a small phone.
Sora looked down at the phone in his hand. Technology in this era wasn't especially advanced; the phone had only one button, for calling. And once they left the Land of Fire, they might lose the signal.
Still, they weren't in a position to be picky. Technology would advance rapidly, but that would have to wait until the golden period of renewal after the Third Shinobi War.
"Monkey, take Shich," Shinnosuke said. Kazuki Utsuki nodded and moved to stand beside Sora.
Every time a mission required them to split into groups, he and Sora ended up together. It had been that way for a month.
Sora thought for a moment, then asked:
"Captain, if we get into an unavoidable head-on fight with Takigakure shinobi, should we..." He made a throat-cutting gesture.
That was what most people were wondering now. Whether to kill them was a problem. Killing them might give Konoha another enemy in the middle of the war. But not killing them... That would be troublesome, and make it hard to act freely.
Shinnosuke pondered for a moment. "If possible, avoid killing them. That assumes you have overwhelming strength over your opponent. If they're evenly matched, run. If you can't get away, fight with everything you've got."
Sora nodded and stepped back. He had no further questions.
"Then let's move out."
They split up.
Since they were in Takigakure's territory, they couldn't avoid the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.
In the future, Fuu would become the third Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, but she hadn't been born yet. As for the second Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, there was no information about them.
So their mission also required them to watch out for the possibility that the second Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was around.
Sora thought about his chances of beating a Jinchuriki with his current strength... Well, they were slim. If it was a fully transformed Jinchuriki, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Thinking about it, Sora suddenly felt a little weak. If only he could improve his talent for learning ninjutsu. Then he wouldn't have to rely so heavily on summoning and secret scrolls.
Just then,
Kazuki Utsuki suddenly raised a hand to stop Sora, who was leaping through the trees.
"What—"
"Shh." Kazuki Utsuki raised an index finger to tell him to stay quiet.
Sora noticed something was wrong too. He immediately jumped onto a branch and blended seamlessly into his surroundings.
Kazuki Utsuki watched Sora's fluid movements and nodded with approval. Not bad. He noticed something was off before I even had to warn him.
Then he lay flat on the ground, blending perfectly into the soil until there was no trace of him.
Clearly, Kazuki Utsuki was also skilled at concealment techniques.
For a moment, everything around them fell silent. Soon, the sounds of small insects began to carry through the air.
A while later, two Takigakure shinobi arrived.
"Hm? I thought I heard something over here," one of them said doubtfully. Holding a Kunai, he cautiously parted the grass nearby. A rabbit startled and bolted out with a squeal.
"What? It's just a rabbit. Don't make such a fuss." The other man laughed and threw a Shuriken, striking the fleeing rabbit cleanly. He walked over and picked it up. "We can have an extra dish tonight. Want some? I can give you a leg."
"You should be more careful. If that woman gets away, we're done for."
"Tch. We've got every exit from the village under control, and that woman is badly injured. How could she possibly get away?"
"Heh. Did you forget how one of them got out?"
At that, deep wariness flashed in the man's eyes. That woman had monstrous strength—powerful enough to move mountains and overcome the world. Even though she'd been injured, she'd still punched her way through a bloody path. If he'd been any closer, he'd already be dead.
"It's fine. She's been poisoned. I don't believe she can get away." The other man fell silent too, then finally spoke in a quiet voice.
"Mm. Stay alert. She ran toward the back mountain, but that could've been a diversion. We just need to guard our side." He spat, then ground the saliva beneath his toe.
"She stole our Hero Water. How could we let her go?"
Before long, the two men left, chatting as they went...
After a long while, the leaves above parted, and Sora looked down silently at the bloodstains the rabbit had left behind.
Kazuki Utsuki emerged from the soil too. The two exchanged a glance and spoke at the same time:
"The back mountain?"
"Hero Water?"
Before you continue