A High-Sounding Excuse

The dim space was completely silent. In the battle, even the stalactites that had hung overhead for who knew how many years had collapsed, and the suffocating drip of water from the cavernous depths had vanished.

Not long after Tsunade took Sora Uchiha away, four figures arrived. They were the people from Takigakure who had come to investigate.

A ball of Chakra light dispelled the deep darkness, revealing the devastation inside the cave. Deep furrows had been gouged into the ground, and the entire space was filled with dust and a thick, lingering smell of burnt char...

"Wh-what happened here?!" one of the Takigakure ninja cried out, his face turning pale.

Fūen's expression shifted. Holding up the ball of Chakra, he crouched down and pinched up some powder. He sniffed it, then felt the charred wall. An answer came to him.

Several Chakra natures had intertwined. It had to be Kakuzu. But who had fought him? Konoha Reinforcements?

He fell silent and expanded the ball of Chakra light in his hand, taking in the surrounding scene.

There was blood, but no bodies. He knew a little about Kakuzu's character. Kakuzu liked to rip out people's hearts, but whenever he killed someone, he left the heartless corpse behind. Since there were no other bodies here, it was highly likely no one had died.

That was precisely why Fūen felt uneasy. He knew Kakuzu's strength; there was no one in Takigakure who could match him.

If the one who'd fought him really was a Konoha reinforcement, then they were in trouble.

"Captain, there's blood over here!"

A Chunin suddenly called out. Fūen hurried over and saw a trail of blood stretching away into the darkness.

He rubbed a little between his fingers and brought it to his nose. "It's fresh." He looked at the line of blood on the ground. "We should be able to find them if we follow it."

"Then, should we go after them?"

Fūen pondered for a while, then looked at the man. "Go back and bring a few more people. Make sure they're strong." Then he turned to the other two. "You two, come with me and take a look."

"Yes."

Fūen couldn't tell whether the blood belonged to Kakuzu or someone else, but he knew whoever it was had suffered severe injuries. Whether it was Kakuzu or a Konoha reinforcement, either way, they could be killed.

"Let's go..."

Not long after Fūen and the others left, another figure appeared. He wore a tiger mask and was an Anbu member whose codename was Tiger.

He glanced at the blood on the ground, gave it little thought, and followed it deeper into the cave.

As for the Takigakure ninja who had gone back to report, he'd assassinated him as soon as the man had left Fūen and the others' sight. In other words, for the time being, only Jonin Fūen and the two Chunin with him were in the cave. No one else from Takigakure would come this way anytime soon.

Inside the cave.

"There sure are a lot of caves in these back hills. They're dark and cold," the Takigakure Chunin complained.

"Our predecessors dug them specifically to keep war from spreading here. They used a lot of talismans to stabilize the mountainside," Fūen said calmly. That was also why the battle between Sora Uchiha and Kakuzu hadn't brought the mountain down.

The Chunin gave an "oh," looked up at Fūen, and hesitated.

Fūen glanced at him. "If you have something to say, say it."

"Yes!" The Chunin jolted and said timidly, "Captain, we're openly hunting a Konoha ninja like this. Are we really going to make an enemy of Konoha?"

Fūen looked at him calmly. His deep gaze made the Chunin shiver and lower his head, unable to meet Fūen's eyes. Then he heard his captain explain.

"Recently, Konoha and Iwagakure ninja have been clashing frequently within the Land of Waterfalls, and the clashes are growing more serious. The movements of both Iwagakure and Konoha show that a major war will break out before long. Our Land of Waterfalls is only a small country. We can't afford to be caught up in a conflict between two great nations."

"Then why are we courting Iwagakure's favor instead of Konoha's?" the Chunin asked, puzzled.

Fūen sneered. "Because the Land of Fire is vast and rich in resources. Every village has its eye on that big prize and wants a bite of it. We do too."

The Chunin seemed to understand. He fell silent and asked no more questions.

Fūen and the others continued onward.

Suddenly, Fūen heard a sharp whistle through the air.

"Enemy attack!" he shouted, hurriedly dodging!

A figure charged out of the darkness and slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater as rocks flew everywhere.

Although Fūen had warned the others in time, one of them failed to react and was crushed to death on the spot.

Fūen had no time to check on the unfortunate man. He quickly threw several Shuriken at the figure!

The figure slammed a fist into the ground again, raising an earthen wall in front of himself that blocked every Shuriken.

The next moment, someone smashed through the wall and charged at Fūen!

Fūen's pupils contracted. His hands rapidly formed Hand Seals.

"Water Release: Water Shuriken!"

In an instant, dozens of densely packed Shuriken made of Water Release shot toward the figure. The figure snorted and punched through the air. The gale from the blow swallowed up every Water Shuriken.

Taking advantage of the opening, Fūen put some distance between them. He watched the figure warily from ten meters away.

Tsunade shook out her hand and tilted her neck, producing a crack from her bones. She said in annoyance,

"That was close."

Fūen picked up a Kunai and stared at the woman before him. His gaze settled on the gruesome wound in Tsunade's abdomen. He paused, then smiled. "As expected of one of the legendary Konoha Sannin. Even severely wounded, you can unleash such terrifying power. But... I wonder how long you can keep it up, Jonin Tsunade. A minute? Or two?"

Tsunade's expression darkened. Just as Fūen had said, she hadn't even healed half of her injuries. After that flurry of moves, the wound that had stopped bleeding was seeping blood again. She'd thrown that last blow intending to kill him in one strike, but she hadn't expected this Jonin from Takigakure to be so strong.

"I'll say it again. I didn't take that damned Hero Water."

Fūen smiled faintly. "No, you took it. The Hero Water is gone, and you're the only one who's come here during that time."

Tsunade's expression turned ugly. The next moment, she rushed up to Fūen and swung a punch.

Fūen had been ready. Against a Taijutsu specialist like Tsunade, fighting at close range was the stupidest choice. So when Tsunade's punch landed, it hit nothing but a water clone.

He appeared again more than ten meters away from Tsunade.

"If I were at my peak, I'd be no match for you. But now, all I need to do is wait until your injuries flare up again."

Tsunade fell silent. After a long while, she said, "How dare you? How dare you all?"

"Why shouldn't we? You stole the Hero Water. That's reason enough," Fūen said calmly.

"Heh. You need a reason to do this? What a high-sounding excuse."

Tsunade sneered. "You could've just hunted me down, but you still slapped me with a completely fabricated accusation."