Finding Tsunade

After Sora Uchiha entered the back mountain, less than half an hour later, those two corpses were discovered. Two genin let out a startled cry, quickly attracting other ninja. They looked at the bodies on the ground, their hearts chilling, and instinctively took a few steps back. Everyone's expression was extremely grim. This was their territory, yet they hadn't noticed at all that their own people had been killed.

Soon, a middle-aged man rushed over from a distance. Upon seeing him, the other Takinin breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts settling considerably. They cupped their fists in a respectful bow, "Jonin Fūen."

Fūen nodded slightly and glanced at the corpses. "What's the situation?"

His attitude was casual, as if he didn't care at all that his own people had died. However, no one was dissatisfied. The reason was simple: Fūen was very strong. Rumor had it he had drunk Hero Water, causing his Chakra to surge more than ten times, and his strength had already approached Kage-level. It could be said that his strength was among the very best in all of Takigakure.

The genin who first discovered the corpses said, "Jonin Fūen, we noticed there was no activity over here, so we came to check. Then we found these two corpses in that pile of weeds." As he spoke, he pointed to the blood-stained grass nearby.

Fūen nodded gently, took gloves from someone nearby, and then crouched down to examine the bodies. He first lifted their glazed-over eyeballs, then opened their clothes, and finally checked the fatal wounds. The examining ninja explained, "The Chunin's pants weren't tied. We can preliminarily determine that both were killed in one blow while relieving themselves. The assailant was very swift. Based on the condition of the bodies, they probably died about half an hour ago."

Fūen listened silently, then lifted the clothes of the genin next to him. A clean hole was pierced through the armor underneath.

"The Chunin was stabbed in the throat with a kunai, while the genin was pierced through the heart with a sword. This is why neither of them made a sound even in death. The culprit should currently be in the back mountain," the examining ninja explained.

Fūen nodded, covered the two deceased with a white cloth, stood up, and took off his gloves. He said casually, "Find a place to bury these two." He then asked again, "How is the investigation of the previous explosion going?"

From the crowd, a Chunin said in a deep voice, "We didn't catch them. The opponent was very skilled and didn't give us a chance for a direct confrontation. The explosion happened not long before these two died. They are very likely accomplices."

"Jonin Fūen, is it possible the culprit is here to rescue that woman?"

"Who knows." Fūen rolled up a piece of tobacco, lowered his head to light it, and exhaled a plume of white smoke. "The plan remains unchanged. We will continue to slowly compress the search area until we find that woman."

The examining ninja hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but speak, "Jonin Fūen, this is already the fifth victim. If the culprits are working together, and this continues, our losses might..."

Fūen waved his hand. "The mission continues."

"But..."

Fūen interrupted him, his eyes turning cold. "I said, the mission continues."

The examining ninja met his cold gaze and shivered, closing his mouth.

"What are you standing around for? Carry out the mission." Fūen swept a cold glance over the ninja present. The ninja shivered and retreated one after another, leaving Fūen alone.

After a long while, Fūen threw away the cigarette butt, ground it out with his toe, and gazed wistfully at the dense bushes. Five people had died today, but he knew clearly that the culprits were not the same person, because their methods were different. These two were killed with a single blow from a sharp weapon, but the other three were killed by a Secret Technique, their methods extremely brutal. As one of the few Jonin in the village, he recognized that Secret Technique, because that Secret Technique originally belonged to Takigakure.

"If these two were killed by someone from Konoha, then why did you come back... Kakuzu."

At this moment, Sora Uchiha naturally didn't know that besides their Anbu, Kakuzu had also returned to Takigakure. He was now following the guidance of a slug and had arrived in front of a large mountain. Upon arrival, he realized this mountain was a hidden world. At a glance, it was almost entirely riddled with caves, making it an excellent place to hide.

He took out the little slug. "Little slug, which way now?"

The slug wriggled twice, then its tentacle pointed in a certain direction. Sora Uchiha walked towards that cave. Fortunately, he had the slug, otherwise, wouldn't he be like a headless fly, bumping around everywhere?

As he entered the cave, a figure flashed past on a distant tree.

Inside the cave, it was dark and deep, the air filled with a heavy, cold dampness. Moss grew almost everywhere underfoot, and water droplets occasionally dripped from above, their echoing sounds reverberating endlessly within the cave.

"Hiss-- This place is even more exaggerated than the Anbu base," Sora Uchiha said as he walked through the cave, holding a Chakra light.

At a glance, in the crevices of the rugged stone walls and the dark, damp corners, all sorts of unknown, damp cave creatures crawled densely: woodlice, centipedes, blind spiders, all visible everywhere.

"What a terrible environment," he muttered, then remembered hearing about Tsunade being poisoned earlier. "If she's poisoned, she probably won't last long in this environment. Speaking of which, Tsunade shouldn't be afraid of these little bugs, right?"

As he walked, he encountered a fork in the road. Fortunately, he had the slug, otherwise, he was afraid he would get lost in these intricate caves.

After passing through one fork after another, he estimated he had reached the middle of the mountain. At this point, the air was very thin, and breathing was difficult.

The slug had clearly disappeared from his palm. He didn't mind; this meant he was very close to Tsunade.

Looking at the Chakra light in his hand, he felt fortunate that his Chakra reserves were sufficient, otherwise, searching for someone in pitch darkness would be too troublesome.

Suddenly, a figure flashed by!

Sora Uchiha's pupils contracted. Just as he reacted, he was completely overwhelmed by a terrifying brute force! It felt as if all his bones were about to shatter!

Feeling the coldness of the ground beneath him, he immediately knew who this person was.

"Friendly!" he quickly shouted, then felt the strange force on him stop, but it didn't release.

After a moment of silence, Tsunade's hoarse voice spoke, "Proof."

"My inner clothing has a forehead protector, the Will of Fire, and Eternal Vitality!" he said quickly, grinning.

This strength is truly terrifying, he thought, feeling like she could crush him directly.

Then, he felt a hand moving over him. Soon, the forehead protector was taken away, and then a ball of Chakra lit up in the darkness.

After a while, Tsunade released Sora Uchiha and leaned against the wall, sitting down.

"Why are you alone?"

"We split up. I found your clue first. The others will be here soon." As he spoke, he took out his phone. As expected, there was still no signal.

Tsunade hummed, and it was clear from her voice that she was very weak. The Chakra ball she was using for light had dissipated. Sora Uchiha thoughtfully lit his Chakra light.

Only then did he realize how terrible Tsunade's condition was.

Her face was pale, with bloodstains. Her clothes were tattered, revealing a lot of skin. Most importantly, there was a shocking wound on her abdomen, dyeing her clothes blood red.

"Uh, I feel like you're about to die," Sora Uchiha said weakly after looking for a while.

Tsunade heard this, glanced at him, and suddenly said, "Take off your mask."

"Uh, I'm Anbu..."

"I'm gonna beat you up, alright?"

Sora Uchiha silently took off his mask, revealing a slightly immature face.

"You really are a kid," Tsunade muttered.

"What if I wasn't a kid?"

"Heh, you were staring at me for quite a while just now, weren't you? If you weren't a kid, I'd settle the score with you when we get back."

Sora Uchiha: ...