The aroma of grilled fish seemed to have attracted an unexpected visitor.
The faint sound of someone stepping on dead leaves drifted through the dense forest on the breeze and reached Rikusei's ears. He glanced disdainfully at the silly horse beside him, which was happily stuffing its face and hadn't noticed a thing.
A ninja.
The moment they laid eyes on each other, both sides recognized who the other was.
Still chewing on his grilled fish, Rikusei curiously sized up the man before him, who was dressed in a black robe. Wasn't he worried about getting heatstroke, bundled up so tightly in weather this hot?
The robed man rolled his shoulders and spread his hands to show that he meant no harm. He walked toward them at an unhurried pace and said softly, "I'm a ninja from Takigakure. I'm on my way to Konoha to pay my respects to Lord Hokage."
"A Takigakure ninja?" Uchiha Madara stared into his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Is that a newly established village in the Land of Waterfalls?"
The man nodded to confirm it. His thin, slanted eyebrows twitched slightly over his gaunt face. Sitting down casually, he said, "The story of Lord Hokage sealing the Nine-Tails has spread throughout the Shinobi World. Our leader sent me to pay his respects to Lord Hokage."
"Have you met Lord Hokage?" Madara asked, fixing his gaze on the man as he tossed the fish bones into the lake.
The man's heart clenched. Just one look from this fellow had made the chakra in his body stall. He couldn't help feeling grateful for his loose black robe. They probably hadn't seen how pathetic he'd looked a moment ago.
"No. This is my first time in the Land of Fire."
He'd never imagined his own