Traveling through the night, the Fire Squad reached the border of the Land of Fire in just a few days. Once they crossed the great river ahead, they would enter Takigakure's territory.
Takigakure was one of the many small nations in the shinobi world. Nestled in the buffer zone between great nations and hidden behind an enormous waterfall, it could be considered a secluded paradise.
But a shinobi village that possessed Chōmei, the Seven-Tails, was destined to be more than an ordinary small ninja village.
It had produced Kakuzu, who had attempted to assassinate the First, and possessed a treasure known as the Hero Water.
From what he remembered, the Hero Water seemed capable of increasing the drinker's chakra more than tenfold. With the help of this treasure, Takigakure had escaped involvement in every Shinobi World War.
Activating his Byakugan, Zou Hyuga looked through the distant river and forest, seeing Takigakure behind the great waterfall. A faint smile appeared on his face.
At that moment, Oto approached and asked, "Have you found any sign of the enemy?"
At their squad's current pace, they would reach Takigakure in half a day at most, but Oto still came over to ask Zou Hyuga, an Akatsuki member himself.
"No sign of any Akatsuki members..."
Zou Hyuga shook his head. He had neither seen any Akatsuki members nor received any notice, but he had discovered something interesting at Takigakure's location.
With the Byakugan reconnaissance complete, the squad members stopped hesitating and swiftly crossed the river.
Although their current lineup would have little difficulty launching a decapitation strike against the other major shinobi villages, their opponent was Akatsuki.
Every member of Akatsuki had the strength to destroy a nation single-handedly. The Fire Squad had been formed because of Akatsuki, and Akatsuki's goal was to seize