Leaving

Several days later, the group was making their final preparations to leave.

"Raincoats, hoods, tents, bedding, hmm, and flint."

Yahiko carefully sorted through the things they needed for the journey.

A moment later, he nodded with satisfaction.

"That should be about it. Is there anything else we need to bring?"

As he spoke, Yahiko turned to Chiba.

Without even looking up, Chiba continued fiddling with the thatch in his hands.

"Probably not. Just use your judgment, Yahiko. I trust you won't overlook anything."

"Hey, can you at least take this a little seriously?"

Chiba lifted his head slightly and said lazily, "I am taking it seriously. You've already thought of everything I could think of, Yahiko."

With that, Chiba showed Konan his latest creation.

"Konan, look. Doesn't this one I folded look like Little Dot?"

Strictly speaking, the first skill Chiba had learned in this world was probably folding grass, which he had picked up from Xia Mu.

Chiba could still clearly remember how Xia Mu had cheerfully made all sorts of little animals out of grass to amuse them.

Just as Konan liked folding paper to remember her family, Chiba had also developed the habit of folding grass whenever he had a spare moment.

He didn't just make little animals out of grass. He had expanded this hobby to include making grass paper, folding bedding, twisting rope, making sandals, and all sorts of other things.

It was no exaggeration to say that Chiba had become an undisputed master at making things out of grass. Though this sort of mastery was practically useless, much like Konan's paper-folding skills: pretty, but impractical.

Seeing Chiba and Konan absorbed in playing with grass and paper, Yahiko gave up on trying to chat with them and turned instead to Nagato, who was usually rather quiet. He kept talking to him about this and that.

Suddenly, as Yahiko was speaking, the entire cave began to tremble slightly.

"What was that?"

They hurried outside and saw flashes of all kinds of colors flickering in the distance, all coming from the same direction.

Looking closely, they could just make out what seemed to be flames and poisonous smoke.

A few beads of cold sweat slipped down Yahiko's face.

"Those are ninja fighting. I can't believe they're so close—and that their battle is this powerful!"

Chiba gazed at the violent upheaval in the distance and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had already guessed who was fighting.

If nothing unexpected had happened, it was the Sannin battling Hanzo.

Without Chiba's arrival, Yahiko and the others would have been caught up in this epic battle on their way home. They might even have been killed by the shock waves from the fighters' clashes.

They had survived in the end, but Little Dot, who was practically one of their companions, had died in that battle.

It was Little Dot's death that had inspired them to leave and seek strength.

But with Chiba's arrival, Yahiko had decided to leave ahead of time. Over the past few days, they hadn't gone out to find food; instead, they had stayed behind to recover.

That was why they had been lucky enough to avoid the battle this time. Naturally, Little Dot wouldn't die either.

They quickly climbed to the top of a nearby mountain and watched the battle from afar.

The fighting was fierce. Hanzo was taking on three opponents at once, facing three of Konoha's strongest, yet he wasn't at a disadvantage in the slightest.

Every clash sent clouds of dust billowing into the sky, while dazzling ninjutsu followed one after another.

The giant summoning beasts, dozens of meters tall, made the whole earth tremble with every collision.

There was no doubt about it. This was another battle between the strongest in the Ninja World.

"So it really is Hanzo."

Seeing that figure again, Chiba found himself trembling for reasons he couldn't explain.

It was clear that the man before him had brought back some painful memories.

Chiba had always thought that, with the passage of time, he had made peace with certain things. But when he truly remembered them, that deep-seated rage and pain surged through him once more.

Unlike Chiba, Yahiko couldn't help feeling a little excited at the sight of such power.

"So this is the power of ninjas. As I thought, this is what I need."

Nagato and Konan, however, remained silent, a little frightened.

Nagato in particular was reminded of painful memories when he saw the Forehead Protectors that marked the fighters as Konoha ninja.

The battle raged all afternoon. In the end, against all expectations, Hanzo gained the upper hand despite being outnumbered. He could only be said to have won by a narrow margin, of course; he wasn't capable of killing Jiraiya and the others.

Watching Jiraiya and the others leave, Yahiko clenched his fists. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to learn ninjutsu from them."

"Learn ninjutsu from them?"

"Yeah. The fact that they can fight Hanzo proves how strong they are. Only by taking people like them as our masters can we achieve anything. Only then might we have a chance of defeating Hanzo someday and changing this country."

"But... will they take us on as students?"

"How will we know if we don't try?"

Yahiko called out with determination.

"If they won't teach us, we'll look for someone else. The world is huge. There must be someone willing to teach us."

Before long, they had quickly gathered everything they needed for the journey.

Back in town, Yahiko led Chiba and the others around to thank the stallholders they had once stolen from.

"It's you brats again."

The stallholder eyed them warily, immediately shielding his stall.

It had to be said: after more than a year of stealing from them, the group had grown quite familiar with the stallholders.

"We're not here to steal anything this time."

As he spoke, they set down the large bundles on their backs.

"These things might not be worth much, but thank you for looking after us all this time."

Before leaving, they gave the stallholders all the odds and ends they had stored up: oil lamps, bedding, food, tools, and more.

Afterward, they returned to the cave, which had become rather bare.

"I'm a little sad to leave this place."

Looking at the familiar surroundings, Konan's eyes glistened with tears.

Chiba and the others also felt a little down.

Their life here had brought them many hardships, but it had also given them their warmest and happiest memories.

Yahiko gently hugged them all. "If we get the chance, we can always come back to visit."

Soon, they each shouldered the huge bundles they had prepared and set off into the distance.

Chiba took one last look back at the place they had once called home, his feelings a jumble.

Leaving meant they were finally about to be swept completely into the vast whirlpool that was the Ninja World.

"So it's finally beginning?"