The wind of the Land of Lightning howled past the steep cliffs, carrying the scent of rust and sea salt.
Uchiha Shinichi stood at the edge of the canyon, his black cloak patterned with red clouds snapping wildly in the gale.
He narrowed his scarlet Sharingan and looked down at the winding mountain path below, where several ragged farmers hunched over as they dragged bamboo baskets full of ore toward a distant smelter.
"Ordinary people without even a trace of chakra..." Shinichi snorted softly, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the engraved character for "East" on his Akatsuki ring.
Three days ago, when he had crossed the border into the Land of Lightning, the contradictions of this nation had shocked him. The estates of its upper nobles towered into the clouds, resplendent in gold and jade, while the slums beyond the city walls were packed with sallow, starving children. There was no light in those children's eyes, only instinctive fear of the Lightning Release punishment training that could descend at any moment.
An explosion suddenly sounded from deep within the canyon, startling a flock of iron-feathered crows into flight. Shinichi sensed chakra and saw, in a cave roughly two kilometers away, a pale figure absorbing lightning into his body. Blue-white electricity coursed over the man's skin, casting the rock walls into flickering light and shadow.
"Found you, Hiruko." A dangerous curve rose at Shinichi's lips. He leaped off the cliff, chakra clinging to the soles of his feet as he raced down the nearly vertical rock face. Loose stones rattled down behind him, soon swallowed by the howling wind.
The cave entrance was covered in scorched marks, and the air reeked of ozone mixed with blood. Shinichi concealed his presence and slowly entered the dark passage. Water dripped from cracks in the