They had all graduated at the same time and trained under the same teacher, so why was the gap between them so huge?
Hyuga Reiko rubbed her eyes. Why did her Byakugan feel inferior to his Sharingan?
She had never heard that the Sharingan could enhance physical stamina.
She made up her mind that once she returned, she would train taijutsu diligently! She would become a qualified taijutsu ninja.
Nawaki was still a mess beside them. Of course, he knew that what Uchiha Yuu had just used was the Monster Strength Fist. He had studied the Monster Strength Fist since childhood, but his chakra control had always been lacking.
Yet how long had the other guy been learning the Monster Strength Fist? And he could already use it.
"Why do you feel more like a member of the Senju Clan than I do? Do you have Senju Clan blood in you?"
The crushing blow left Nawaki dejected. For the first time, he felt that he was inferior to Uchiha Yuu.
"If you two put the time you usually spend playing into training, you could achieve the same results you want."
Uchiha Yuu offered a few words of comfort. Right now, he needed to figure out how many enemies were still hiding nearby.
When the three reached the ground floor, they found that the innkeeper downstairs had been dead for quite some time.
It seemed that the person they had encountered upon arriving had been an Amegakure ninja in disguise.
Too bad Hyuga Reiko had not activated her Byakugan. Otherwise, she might have noticed something was wrong with him.
"I wonder where Teacher Orochimaru went."
As soon as Nawaki said that, Orochimaru appeared outside, blood staining his body.
Just as Uchiha Yuu had expected, Orochimaru had noticed something in advance and gone to kill Amegakure's Jonin first.
The moment he walked in, Orochimaru caught the thick scent of blood. There was no surprise on his face. With his strength, he must have known about the rats hiding inside. It looked more like a battle between ninja.
"You ended the fight that quickly? Even faster than I expected."
As he looked at the three somewhat bedraggled figures, Orochimaru noticed that none of them had been injured.
He had sensed killing intent earlier and followed it.
He found the dead innkeeper in the stairwell, as well as three more presences lurking and spying. But Orochimaru had been stopped by an even stronger Jonin.
Dealing with him had taken quite a bit of time.
"Clean yourselves up. The people from Sunagakure will be here soon."
There was a trace of mockery in Orochimaru's voice. Amegakure's appearance had definitely not been accidental.
Konoha could not have leaked news of this mission, yet Amegakure had come to intercept and kill them. It was obvious that someone on the other side was behind it.
Whether they wanted to sabotage the alliance or take the opportunity to shift the blame, Konoha would have to swallow it.
Without saying much more, Uchiha Yuu followed Orochimaru. After they finished cleaning up, he saw Orochimaru place the corpses into a sealing scroll.
Sometimes, the dead were more useful than the living. A great deal of information could be obtained from them.
Half an hour later, a group of people wearing bamboo hats appeared outside Hidden Hot Water Village. That was the traditional attire of the Land of Wind.
At their head was a man in his fifties, carrying an authority that could not be looked at directly.
"Is that Ebizo?"
In the original story, he had been an old relic living in retirement.
But now, he was still one of Sunagakure's higher-ups, responsible for this round of negotiations with Konoha.
"People of Konoha. Are you Orochimaru, disciple of the Third Hokage?"
The two sides sized each other up. The person sent to receive Ebizo had to be someone with status in Konoha. On the surface, both sides had shown sincerity, but what lay beneath would require further investigation.
Orochimaru did not mention what had just happened, and he even forbade his disciples from discussing it. Since their meeting place was the entrance to Hidden Hot Water Village rather than the hot springs from before, no one brought up the unpleasant incident.
A young man from Sunagakure stepped forward. Looking at the few brats, he wanted to seize the advantage in the coming talks and bluntly said:
"Orochimaru, you brought a bunch of brats with you? Everyone we brought is either a Chunin or a Jonin."
"Hmm?"
Orochimaru's foul mood was immediately stirred up. His neck suddenly twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, stretching right in front of the other man as he threatened:
"If you want to die, just say so. I can grant your wish!"
Like a venomous snake, he made the man's pupils contract.
"Damn it..."
"Enough. We are not here to be enemies with Konoha this time. For the sake of the negotiations ahead, we can let minor matters slide."
Ebizo's command was decisive.
There was no further arguing. It concerned the interests of their villages, and everyone understood the stakes.
Otherwise, Konoha would not have sent Orochimaru to handle this mission. If either of the other Legendary Sannin had come, a major conflict might have broken out.
"Let me make this clear first. We will not slow down for brats. You'd better keep up. If you fall behind and we are attacked, then you fail to protect us properly, Konoha will bear the blame."
Nawaki muttered quietly from the back:
"Tch, they really look down on us."
"Yeah. It's not like you people seem all that strong."
Because of Ebizo's order, no one present bothered to argue with Nawaki and the others. However, the journey that followed became extremely urgent.
The people of Sunagakure traveled at full speed. Even the Chunin in their group found it strenuous, let alone three brats.
The two brats were clearly running out of stamina. If Orochimaru had not been blocking the wind ahead of them, they would probably have been left behind long ago.
Yet what surprised Ebizo was that Uchiha Yuu could keep pace with them.
"Konoha truly has no shortage of talent. I wonder when our village will ever possess Konoha's prosperity."
In comparison, Sunagakure was still far too barren. Even with its elite-focused policy, it still lagged far behind the strongest of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Among those his age in the village, only two could compare to him.
"I hope Pakura and Rasa can withstand the pressure from Konoha's new generation."
Without comparison, there was no harm.
He had wanted to continue testing the other boy's limits, but the Chunin in the team had already spent too much stamina. In the end, it would probably be his own side that lost face.
The group left quickly and encountered no danger along the way.
Even Uchiha Yuu was surprised that the Sand ninja had not tried anything.
Meanwhile, the village was preparing a large meeting regarding Sunagakure's arrival.
The Third Hokage sat in the center, still smoking his pipe as he said to Mitokado Homura beside him:
"By my calculations, the people from Sunagakure should arrive at the village tonight. Tell the ANBU ninja to pay close attention to recent developments."
As one of Konoha's higher-ups, Mitokado Homura was the safest choice to take temporary control. He also held the latest intelligence report in his hands:
"These are extraordinary times. According to the information gathered by the ANBU, there have been changes in the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. It seems the Raikage and Tsuchikage are both making preparations. We can infer that they intend to form an alliance."
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