"Who are you?" Entetsu asked, his tone less than friendly.
Yahiko wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, exchanged a glance with Konan, and stepped forward, meeting Uchiha Makoto's gaze openly.
"We're ninja from the Land of Rain, carrying out... a mission. Thank you, friends from Konoha, for coming to our aid." He deliberately glossed over the nature of their "mission," but his tone was sincere.
Nako and the other two frowned, clearly unconvinced.
Ninja from the Land of Rain?
Why weren't they wearing forehead protectors?
Besides, no matter how you looked at it, they'd just been getting robbed by wandering ninja.
Uchiha Makoto simply watched in silence.
He studied Yahiko and Konan with interest.
But during this encounter, Uchiha Makoto said little. After exchanging brief introductions with the two, they went their separate ways.
Cheng knew that once they entered the Land of Rain, there would be plenty of opportunities to meet them again.
The rest of the journey passed without any major trouble.
Along the way, they encountered several more groups of foolhardy wandering ninja or bandits who tried to plunder the seemingly "juicy" convoy, but Nako and the other two dealt with them swiftly and cleanly.
After several real battles, the three young ninja grew increasingly coordinated. Their movements gradually lost their initial awkwardness, gaining some of the decisiveness and efficiency Uchiha Makoto had drilled into them.
Uchiha Makoto remained silent most of the time, offering only brief instructions at critical moments or occasionally pointing out flaws in the three's fighting.
Most of his attention went toward sensing their surroundings and guarding against the "real" attack that might strike from any corner.
Several days later, the group finally reached the destination of their escort mission: Amegakure.
The moment they entered Amegakure, an oppressive atmosphere washed