Takigakure, Origin of the Hero Water

Takigakure is located behind a massive waterfall at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

The waterfall stands several hundred meters high, with water cascading down from the cliff's edge. Under the sunlight, it transforms into a rainbow spanning half the mountain, the roar of the water sounding like thunder, as if the very earth trembles under the impact of the flow.

At this moment, Uchiha Jun, Uchiha Hikari, and Kakuzu stand on a rock platform in front of the waterfall, looking up at the massive curtain of water that completely obscures the mountain wall.

"Takigakure is hidden behind this waterfall." Kakuzu stands beside Uchiha Jun, pointing toward the center where the current is most turbulent. "Passing through the waterfall leads to a passage into the heart of the mountain. The village's main structures are all carved into the caverns within the mountain."

"Easy to defend, hard to attack."

Kakuzu pauses, then adds, "But that only applies to a direct frontal assault. If you were to lay siege to it for a while, the people inside would starve to death."

[Ding! A-rank mission [Escort Land of Fire official Nakamura Masao to the Land of Rivers] has been completed!]

[Mission Rating: A (Number of attacks encountered: 6; all attackers annihilated; employer arrived safely; no additional losses)]

[Mission Rewards: 3,000,000 copper coins, A-rank mission completion count +1 (Current: 2/7)]

Uchiha Jun freezes for a moment, then cannot help but raise an eyebrow.

He had left a few Shadow Clones with that escort caravan, originally just as a backup measure—after all, although Nakamura Masao's official rank wasn't low, taking the route through the Land of Rivers during wartime meant encountering remnants of enemy forces was practically a certainty.

The memories transmitted back after the Shadow Clones were dispelled flood into Uchiha Jun's mind like a compressed video file—

Three days after the caravan left the border of the Land of Fire, they encountered the first wave of attacks on the plains in the northern part of the Land of Rivers.

Five Sunagakure Chunin, led by a puppet master at the Special Jonin level.

They had laid an ambush on both sides of a dried-up riverbed on the plains, launching a surprise attack the moment the caravan entered the kill zone.

Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone reacted instantly.

—Water Style: Water Wave.

Violent currents exploded from beneath the Shadow Clone's feet, sending the three Chunin charging from the front flying.

Immediately following this, a second Water Style technique was deployed, collapsing the ground where the remaining two Chunin stood and flipping them into the dirt along with the sand.

The Special Jonin-level puppet master reacted quickly—after the first wave of the ambush failed, he immediately retracted his puppets, attempting to use long-range poison needles to pin down Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone while ordering the guards to protect the employer and retreat from the ambush zone.

But Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone gave him no such opportunity.

The Shadow Clone channeled chakra once more.

—Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!

A massive wave rose from the flat ground, directly submerging the puppet master's defensive line. Those steel-crafted puppets were smashed to pieces by the current, their controlling chakra threads snapping along with them.

The entire process took less than three minutes.

The dozen guards of the caravan had only managed to stand on the other side of the convoy, stunned, throughout the entire ordeal.

Nakamura Masao sat in his carriage, watching the scene outside through the window. His hand shook, spilling half his tea onto his trousers.

He said nothing, silently pulling out a handkerchief to wipe it off, then pretended nothing had happened as he picked up the teacup again, though his fingers still trembled slightly.

So, Konoha wasn't pulling his leg; he really is a super genius. It's just that the extent of this "super genius" is like a flood destroying the Dragon King's temple—unexpectedly overwhelming.

Inside the carriage, Nakamura Masao silently re-evaluated the "value" of this escort mission.

Over the next few days, the caravan encountered five more waves of attacks.

Two waves were remnants from Iwagakure, one was a bandit group composed of rogue ninja, one was a reconnaissance squad from Kusagakure—and one more consisted of several unidentified bounty hunters who tried to take advantage of the chaos, only to have their heads collected by Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone.

Six waves of attacks, all six annihilated.

Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone barely used any ninjutsu above B-rank; most of the time, it finished the job using only taijutsu combined with two or three Water Style techniques.

It hadn't even opened the Secret Scroll or the Sharingan.

The Shadow Clone's memories stopped there and naturally dissipated.

Uchiha Jun digested these memories, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"The efficiency of the Shadow Clones is quite good. I can consider picking a few hostile Jonin from Konoha later and pulling a 'bait and switch,' using their names to accept A-rank missions."

"That way, [Uchiha Izuna] can be obtained very soon!"

"Though, the candidates are hard to pick. They need to have Jonin-level strength, yet their interpersonal relationships need to be as 'narrow' as possible..."

Uchiha Jun looked down at the mission counter on his panel—the A-rank mission count had reached 2/7, five A-rank missions away from unlocking the full card for Uchiha Izuna.

At this pace, running a few more A-rank missions should be enough to bring that mad dog out. When that time comes, besides swordsmanship, he could also show off a bit of the "Glory of the Uchiha!"

Uchiha Jun retracted the panel, thought for a moment, and formed hand seals—

Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Poof!

Clouds of smoke exploded in the open space in front of the three of them. When the smoke cleared, several Shadow Clones of Uchiha Jun stood in place.

The Shadow Clones flexed their fingers and nodded at Uchiha Jun's original body: "Let's go."

Then, they formed hand seals, and a flicker of light and shadow passed over them; they had changed from Uchiha Jun's daily attire back into the standard uniform of a Konoha ninja—the dark green flak jacket, with the Konoha forehead protector tied around their heads.

Kakuzu watched Uchiha Jun complete this entire operation in just a few seconds, looking somewhat dumbfounded.

"I never imagined Uchiha Jun was a Konoha ninja. I originally thought he was just some stray branch member of the Uchiha clan."

"In that environment at Konoha, could they really produce such a super-genius who possesses a Mangekyo Sharingan in his teens?"

Watching his shadow clone depart to return to Konoha Village to accept new A-rank missions, Uchiha Jun looked toward Kakuzu and Uchiha Hikari and spoke.

"Let's go. We're entering through the front gate. This Takigakure is just a small village; mere elite jonin aren't worth us holding back!"

The internal and external layout of Takigakure was indeed rugged and complex—there were three checkpoints in total, each with hidden sentries standing guard day and night.

But to Uchiha Jun, these defensive measures were as good as non-existent and utterly meaningless.

"Susanoo!"

The iron gate at the first checkpoint was sent flying by a single punch from the Susanoo.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique."

The second and third checkpoints were also instantly washed away by the torrent of water.

The current high-ranking officials of Takigakure—three advisor ninjas along with the village chief—were already sitting upright in the council hall at the village entrance, their expressions as pained as if they had bitten into a bitter melon filled with glass shards.

They watched as Uchiha Jun and his two companions swaggered in, their eyelids twitching, yet not a single person dared to stand up and reprimand them.

There was no helping it; they couldn't afford to provoke a single one of the people standing opposite them.

Kakuzu, the S-rank missing-nin of Takigakure.

When he defected years ago, he had killed the former village chief and three elders, and it was said he had also taken the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear with him. Their village had been helpless against this rogue ninja, remaining in a state of issuing a bounty that no one dared to collect.

That young girl—though she looked no more than twelve or thirteen—could stand alongside these two ruthless men, and one could even faintly perceive Kakuzu's wariness toward her, leaving none of the jonin present with the courage to test them.

And the one leading them...

That black-haired youth, who looked to be only around ten years old, stood quietly in the center of the council hall with a pair of strange, scarlet Sharingan half-open, yet he made the air in the entire Takigakure feel several degrees heavier.

He had just used Susanoo to punch through the half-meter-thick refined steel gate at the village entrance, and had even demolished two warehouses next door in the process.

This blatant "display of power" was more effective than any verbal threat.

"Hero Water."

Uchiha Jun got straight to the point, his tone indifferent. "I want your intelligence on the Hero Water and all of your past inventory."

The Takigakure village chief was a white-haired old man. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and his lips trembled several times before he finally stood up in silence.

He walked slowly to the wall at the back of the council hall and pressed his hand against a specific stone brick. The moment he pressed it, the sound of gears turning echoed from within the wall.

A faint puff of dust sprayed from the cracks in the bricks, and then the wall slowly slid open, revealing a spiral staircase leading downward.

"The origin... of the Hero Water lies at the end of these stairs."