Kumogakure There is a medium-sized lake in the back mountain, hidden in a depression between two rock peaks, surrounded by iron-gray cliffs. Only the sun shines directly in at noon.
The lake water is formed by the melted mountain snow. It is bone-chillingly cold, but it breeds a kind of silver-scaled fish with extremely tight flesh, few spines and thick fat. You can taste the sweetness when chewing it in your mouth.
Third Raikage is sitting by the lake.
He was wearing a gray yukata, with his bare feet on the rocks, a straw futon under his buttocks, and a bamboo fishing rod in his hand, with the fishing line hanging motionless under the deep blue water.
There was a small iron pot propped beside him. The charcoal fire at the bottom of the pot was burning red, the soup was milky white, and there were a few pieces of tofu and green vegetable leaves rolling in it.
He has just turned fifty this year.
For a man who has been working in Shinobi World for most of his life, the age of fifty should be the beginning of aging, but Third Raikage's body is still as strong as a rock wall.
The sleeves of the yukata are rolled up to the shoulders, revealing rough and distinct muscle lines in the arms, which are the marks of decades of Lightning Release Chakra Mode polishing.
Even if he retires, that body can still tear steel at any time.
The fish floated.
Third Raikage With a flick of his wrist, a palm-long silver-scaled fish broke out of the water and threw a string of water drops in the air.
He stretched out his hand to catch it, clasped the gills of the fish with his thumb, rinsed it in the lake water without even scratching its scales, and threw it directly into the pot.
The silver-scaled fish flopped in the boiling soup for a few times and then stopped moving. The scales became transparent under the high temperature, revealing the white and tender fish meat underneath.
"Come out as soon as you come, you're hiding, Raikage are you tired of being a thief and want to be a thief?"
Third Raikage didn't even look back, but the sound rolled across the lake like muffled thunder.
A man walked out of the shadow of the cliff.
Wearing a white robe, her black hair was slightly blown up by the lake breeze, she was wearing wooden clogs, and her pace was slow and leisurely.
Uchiha Shaoyu walked to the lake and sat down on a stone next to Third Raikage.
He glanced at the silver-scaled fish and tofu tumbling in the pot, and then at the empty tea cup at Third Raikage's hand.
"I brought wine."
Shaoyu took out a pottery bottle from his sleeve, pulled out the stopper, and the refreshing fragrance of wine immediately spread out.
Third Raikage The wings of his nose twitched and he grinned.
"If I had told you there would be wine, I would have caught two more fish."
He took the pottery bottle, raised his head and took a sip, letting out a contented sigh, and then handed the bottle to Shaoyu.
Shaoyu took it and took a sip, and the two of them just sat by the lake.
The surface of the lake was bathed in a thin layer of golden light by the midday sun. The silver-scaled fish probably felt too hot and hid in the cold water layer in the depths. The fish floated and did not move again for a long time.
Third Raikage was not in a hurry, put the fishing rod across his knees, took out a piece of cooked tofu from the pot, blew on it twice, stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, and inhaled until it was so hot.
"You kid eats fish, what do you mean if you just drink alcohol?"
He said vaguely, pointing with his chopsticks at the tumbling silver-scaled fish in the pot.
Shaoyu was not polite and picked up one from the pot.
The fish meat has been cooked until it is almost peeled off, and it slides off the bones when the chopsticks touch it. The scales become transparent in the boiling soup, and there is a thin layer of gelatin when you bite into it.
The meat inside is so tender that it melts in your mouth.
The tofu has soaked up the fish soup, giving it a sweet taste, and the green vegetable leaves have also been blanched green, and they are crispy when chewed.
Shaoyu swallowed a mouthful of fish, picked up the pottery bottle and took another sip of wine.
The wine is brewed locally by Kumogakure, steamed from wild fruits and grains in the mountains. It is spicy in the mouth but has a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.
He handed the pottery bottle back, Third Raikage took it and took a sip, wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeves, and let out a contented sigh.
"I have been sitting in Raikage's Office for twenty years and have never lived a day like this."
Third Raikage put the wine bottle on the stone, picked up the fishing rod again, and looked at the water with narrowed eyes.
"Tenten Approving documents, meeting envoys, and mediating various families' trivial matters. Have you felt it these days?"
Shaoyu nodded.
"Only after I retire will I realize how tiring it is to be Raikage."
Third Raikage laughed out loud, and the laughter rolled into a muffled thunder in his chest.
A mountain eagle hovered over the cliff, and its shadow swept across the lake, causing several silver-scaled fish in the water to swipe their tails and flee.
The fish float sank suddenly, Third Raikage flicked his wrist, and another palm-long silver-scaled fish broke out of the water, throwing water droplets on Shaoyu's face in the air.
Shaoyu wiped his face expressionlessly.
Third Raikage laughed loudly and took the fish off. This time he looked at it carefully, holding the gills and turning it over. The belly of this fish was bulging, and there was a light golden color under the scales.
"With seeds." Third Raikage clicked his tongue and threw the fish back into the lake.
The silver-scaled fish swung its tail after entering the water, and slipped into the depths.
"You are becoming more particular." Shaoyu said.
"The Rules of Fishing."
Third Raikage Put the bait back on, swing the rod, and move slowly and leisurely.
"If you eat fish with seeds in spring, there will be no fish next year. Do you think I want to let go? This thing is the most delicious when grilled, and the seeds in the belly will squeak when you bite them."
He swallowed as he spoke, obviously really greedy.
"But..."
Third Raikage said vaguely while chewing the fish meat.
"What are your plans for coming this time? You have agreed in advance that I will not care about the village's affairs, and you can make your own decisions."
Shaoyu did not answer, but took out a seal scroll from his sleeve and placed it on the stone between the two of them.
The paper of the scroll is very white, obviously it was copied freshly, and four words were written in ink on the seal.
Eight Gates.
Third Raikage glanced at it and didn't pay much attention.
He thought it was Kumogakure's daily ninjutsu files, and Shaoyu just brought them over for him to review.
He has been a Raikage for so many years, and he has seen eight hundred or less ninjutsu scrolls, if not a thousand, and they no longer feel fresh.
"What needs to be made a special trip for?"
He put down his chopsticks, picked up the scroll, and unfolded it.
When the first line of words came into view, his chewing movements paused.
Then he continued to look down.
His brows furrowed.
The chewing movement stopped completely.
He put down his chopsticks, held the scroll in both hands, and started reading from the first column, word by word.
The expression on the face that had been burned by Lightning Release chakra countless times and had long been calm began to change.
From doubt, to concentration, to shock, and finally to an indescribable solemnity.
The scroll is not thick, but Third Raikage read it for a long time.
He has practiced Lightning Release Chakra Mode all his life and knows the limits of his body very well. He can understand the principle of this technique at a glance.
The description of each door made his expression more solemn.
When his eyes fell on the page "Gate of Death", this man who had never flinched on the Shinobi World battlefield, his fingers trembled slightly.