Surging Undercurrents

At the border of the Land of Fire stood a long-abandoned bounty exchange.

Jiraiya crouched on the ground, pinched up some ash from between the wooden floorboards, and held it beneath his nose. The ash smelled of tar and sulfur. It was unlike the residue left by ordinary firewood, more like scorch marks left behind by some ninjutsu.

Yunju stood by the doorway with his back to the night outside, his gaze sweeping over the furnishings in the room—a toppled table, half a map burned away on the wall, and several shattered clay jars piled in the corner. The station was small and could house at most five or six people by its layout, but it was more secluded than an ordinary stop for travelers.

"They stayed here." Jiraiya rose to his feet and brushed the ash from his hands. "Not for long, probably two or three days."

"Akatsuki?"

"Akatsuki. Preliminary assessment says they came to loot money." Jiraiya walked to the wall, took down the map fragment, and spread it flat on the table. The border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind was still recognizable, along with the approximate location of the Sand Hidden Village. "Their departure route is clear—they went west. It matches our assessment."

Yunju walked over to the table and studied the mottled lines on the map. "Their next target will most likely still be the tailed beasts," he said. "The One-Tail has already been taken. The longer they delay, the worse it is for Akatsuki. The other ninja villages will likely strengthen their defenses too. They have to act before the major villages fully deploy their forces."

Jiraiya folded up the map and tucked it into his robes, then pushed open the station's back door. Beyond it lay a narrow path leading into the mountains.

Yunju followed him as the two headed deeper into the mountains along the trail. The border of the Land of Fire stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and Akatsuki's hideouts were scattered far and wide. Jiraiya relied on an intelligence network built up over years—tavern owners scattered across the land, middlemen at bounty exchanges, and wandering ninja who moved between the underworld and the legitimate world had all become part of his eyes and ears. Yunju followed Jiraiya for three days. During that time, they met four or five "informants." Every piece of information was incomplete, but together they gradually formed a hazy picture: Akatsuki had been unusually active along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind lately, seemingly preparing for some large-scale relocation.

Further northwest, there had also been activity around the Grass Village, though it might have been Orochimaru's doing. After all, the disturbance had even reached the more distant Land of Rice Fields.

On the evening of the fourth day, the two settled down at a hot spring inn. Jiraiya soaked in the pool with everything above his shoulders resting against the edge, a cup of sake in hand. He looked as content as though he were on vacation. In his words, after gathering material, he needed to enjoy himself properly. Yunju sat on a wooden stool across from the pool without getting in, flipping through a handwritten notebook Jiraiya had handed him—a compilation of intelligence on Akatsuki that Jiraiya had organized over the years.

"You read faster than you beat people up." Jiraiya took a sip of sake, his gaze faint through the mist. "How's your chakra control training going?"

"I'm still practicing what Lady Tsunade taught me." Yunju closed the notebook. "The Yin Seal is already more than halfway stored."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. With Senju blood and Tsunade's instruction, that progress was not surprising. He set down his cup and lightly clenched his hand in the mist. Chakra gathered and spun at his fingertips, forming a transparent sphere the size of a fist.

"This is the Rasengan." Jiraiya raised the sphere before his eyes. "It requires no hand seals and doesn't rely on a bloodline limit. Its power can be adjusted as needed. It demands high chakra control, but the foundation you built under Tsunade should be enough. Once this mission is over, I can teach you if you want to learn."

Yunju's gaze rested on the spinning sphere for two seconds.

"Alright."

Jiraiya dispelled the technique, leaned back against the pool wall, and looked up at the wooden beams overhead.

"That is, if you live long enough to learn it." Jiraiya's voice drifted through the mist. "Orochimaru isn't easy to deal with, and neither are the people around him. You stayed in the Land of Rice Fields before. You should know better than I do which people in his hideouts can fight."

Yunju did not answer. He set the notebook aside, rose to his feet, and walked to the window. The night outside was thick, with most of the moonlight obscured by clouds. The outlines of the distant ridges were almost impossible to see.

"Someone is relocating northwest," Yunju said softly. "If Akatsuki intends to keep capturing tailed beasts, there has to be an operational point near the Grass Village. There should be clues at Tenchi Bridge. The only question is whether it's Orochimaru or Akatsuki."

Jiraiya held his cup without speaking.

The next day, the two set out again. Their objective was clear now: first, they would visit the place the informants had described as restless. Perhaps they would find something.

"Akatsuki's target is the tailed beasts. That won't change." Jiraiya leaned against a tree trunk, rolling a blade of grass between his fingers. "The One-Tail has already been taken. They have a clear operational route, and they'll strike their next target in the shortest possible time."

"People are active in both Grass Hidden Village and the Land of Rice Fields," Yunju said. "But the informants' information isn't specific enough—we can't tell whether it's Akatsuki moving or Orochimaru's people."

Jiraiya put the blade of grass to his mouth, chewed it once, then spat it out.

"Orochimaru got Sasuke Uchiha. What he wants is a new body and new techniques, not tailed beasts. Akatsuki wants all nine tailed beasts." Jiraiya brushed the scraps from his hands. "Their goals differ, but their areas of operation may overlap. If both groups are active in the same area, that's the worst-case scenario."

He stood and pulled his cloak tight again, looking toward the distant ridgeline. Continuing west in that direction, through a dense forest and across two rivers, would bring them to the territory of the Grass Village. The Land of Rice Fields lay even farther in, beyond a mountain.

"Without a decisive conclusion, we can't deduce anything more from secondhand intelligence alone." Jiraiya turned to Yunju. "Seeing it ourselves is more reliable than sitting here and guessing."

Yunju stood and brushed the dust from his pants. "Let's go."

The two said no more. In tacit agreement, they turned and headed west along the mountain path. The road beneath their feet grew narrower and narrower, while the broadleaf trees on either side gradually gave way to drought-resistant shrubs. The air became increasingly dry as well. Wind blew in from ahead, carrying the scent of grass and dust, as though the land itself were telling them—the Grass Village was just ahead.

At the same time, night was falling on another road.

The Tenchi Bridge team camped in the woods. Four people sat around a bonfire, the firelight illuminating their faces. Yamato leaned against a tree trunk with his eyes closed, resting. Sakura treated a faint scrape on her wrist with medical chakra. Naruto sat farthest from the fire with his knees drawn up, staring into the flames, lost in thought.

Sai sat on the other side of the fire, quietly spreading open his sketchbook. His brush made a soft rustling sound as it moved across the paper. A bird without eyes was taking shape on the page. Its posture was tranquil, with no sign of aggression.

"All you do every day is draw this useless crap! It's completely worthless! I seriously don't want someone like you as my teammate!" Naruto's voice suddenly came from across the fire, thick with resistance and hostility. "What the hell was Granny Tsunade thinking when she picked you?!"

Sai looked up at Naruto, then lowered his gaze to his drawing. Hearing Naruto's blunt disgust and complaints, Sai's smile did not change. It remained that gentle, hollow, lifeless fake smile.

"My drawings are not meant to please my teammates. They are meant for combat. Whether they are useful depends only on the mission result. We only need to obey the arrangements of the Third Hokage and Lady Tsunade. Your resistance is a bias in your subjective judgment. It has nothing to do with the orders."

Sai's smile did not change in the slightest. "Are you angry?"

"I'm not angry." Naruto looked away and buried his face in his knees again.

"I've noticed that when you're being stubborn, your left eyebrow rises slightly higher than your right," Sai said. "It is right now."

Naruto shot to his feet. Sakura pressed a hand onto his shoulder. "Naruto, sit down." She did not use much force, but Naruto felt the weight of her palm.

Naruto sat back down. Sakura withdrew her hand, glanced at Sai, then at Naruto.

"We'll reach Tenchi Bridge in one more day. Focus on the mission first."

Yamato never opened his eyes, but everyone knew he was awake.

A string of sparks leaped from the bonfire, flashed in the night sky, and went out.

The following afternoon, Tenchi Bridge.

On the outskirts of the Grass Village, a lone stone bridge spanned a deep ravine. The bridge was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Beneath it was a chasm dozens of meters deep, where rushing water crashed against the rocks, its sound echoing between the cliffs.

Yamato crouched in the bushes near the bridgehead, his eyes moving from the bridge to the dense forest on the opposite bank, then back to the bridge. The field of view was open, with no obvious signs of an ambush. He glanced over his shoulder—Naruto, Sakura, and Sai were each hidden behind different cover, their positions spread out and their angles overlapping. It was the formation he had arranged in advance.

"Proceed as planned," Yamato said in a low voice. "I'll go onto the bridge. You stay hidden thirty meters from the bridgehead. Don't approach. Don't make a sound. Wait for the other party to appear. Once I confirm their identity, you come out."

Naruto clenched his fists but held himself back. "Got it."

"If Orochimaru himself comes," Yamato paused, "follow the second plan."

With that, Yamato took something from the pack behind him—Hiruko. It was a component recovered beside Sasori's corpse, reassembled by Konoha's sealing team. Its appearance was nearly identical to Sasori's original. Yamato climbed inside Hiruko and moved his limbs. Most of the shell's mechanisms had been removed, leaving only basic mobility and the disguise shell.

Hiruko stepped onto Tenchi Bridge with heavy footsteps.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the trees on the other side of the bridge. Its hood concealed its face.

Only when Yamato drew closer did the hooded person undo his clothing, revealing a familiar face.

Silver hair, round glasses, and a white lab coat fluttering lightly in the wind. Kabuto Yakushi stood in the middle of the bridge with his hands in his pockets, wearing a gentle expression, like an ordinary person arriving for a date.

"Lord Sasori." Kabuto adjusted his glasses and dipped his head slightly. "It has been a long time."

Inside Hiruko, Yamato rested his hand on the mechanism without responding. Kabuto slowly approached and stopped several steps away from Hiruko.

"It has." Yamato spoke in Sasori's voice—an imitation technique modified by ANBU, convincing enough to pass for the real thing.

Kabuto smiled. "Lord Orochimaru's hideout has already been relocated. The original main base in the Land of Rice Fields was not secure enough, so he changed to a more secluded location." He named a valley less than half a day's journey from Tenchi Bridge.

Yamato's heartbeat quickened slightly, but his voice remained steady. "The curse mark I carved into you has been removed?"

"Mostly." Kabuto's tone was casual. "But since Lord Sasori is still using this puppet shell, it seems you haven't been idle either."

Yamato was about to keep probing when Kabuto's hand suddenly moved.

The blade of the Chakra Scalpel flashed beneath the afternoon sun, slicing precisely into the seam of Hiruko's shell. Hiruko's outer casing split open from within, fragments bursting away in both directions.

Yamato's true body leaped backward from the shattered Hiruko and landed on the bridge, his hands already forming defensive seals. Kabuto's Chakra Scalpel hovered in midair without pursuing him.

"So it really isn't Sasori." Kabuto's smile became more pronounced. "Uncle Snake guessed right. Sasori is already dead, and you Konoha people used this empty shell as bait."

Three figures burst out from the woods on both sides of the bridge at once. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai landed on the bridge, surrounding Kabuto.

Yamato stood opposite Kabuto. "How did you know Sasori was dead?"

"Because the curse mark on my body—the one Sasori used to control me," Kabuto said as he adjusted his glasses, "Uncle Snake removed it for me long ago. From beginning to end, this was a trap set by Uncle Snake."

Before his words had faded, the air at the center of the bridge warped slightly. A snake poked its head out of thin air, followed by a second, then a third. The snakes wove together into the outline of a human figure before parting to either side. Orochimaru stepped out from among them, dressed in a loose black robe, his arms hanging at his sides without forming any seals. He was thinner than Yunju had described, but his golden snake eyes were still as cold as nails, pinning everyone present in place.

"It has been a long time, Naruto."

"Give Sasuke back, Orochimaru." Naruto bristled instantly, speaking through clenched teeth.

"Sasuke, you say? Let me think."

Naruto's body jerked before he stared straight at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's gaze did not linger on anyone else. It remained fixed on Naruto alone. "Sasuke is doing very well. He has learned quite a lot from me. You seem very eager to see him."

"Give him back to me." Naruto gritted his teeth, every word forced through the gaps between them.

"Give him back to you?" Orochimaru smiled. "Naruto, Sasuke came with me of his own free will. He wanted power, and I gave him power. He wanted revenge, and I taught him revenge. What makes you think he needs to be 'brought back' by you?"

Naruto's hands began to tremble. Every word Orochimaru spoke struck his deepest wounds. He remembered the battle on the rooftop, remembered the look in Sasuke's eyes when he said, "The dead last caught up," remembered that night when he chased after him beyond the village, only to find Sakura lying alone on a bench, the tear tracks on her face not yet dry.

The Nine-Tails' chakra began to surge. First, a faint layer of red rose over his skin. Then it churned like boiling water as the tailed beast cloak spread from the back of Naruto's neck, covering his shoulders, then his arms. Yamato stepped forward, one hand already on the sealing talisman, but he did not use it immediately—he was judging the situation, judging whether Naruto could still hold himself back.

Naruto's eyes flickered violently between blue and red, like a lamp about to go out only to be forcibly lit again.

"Orochimaru—!!"

Orochimaru still smiled, standing where he was. Kabuto retreated to his side, the Chakra Scalpel still unsheathed in his hand.

On Tenchi Bridge, wind blew up from the ravine, stirring the hems of everyone's clothes.

Naruto's nails dug into his palms, blood seeping between his fingers.

The outline of the tailed beast cloak grew clearer and clearer.