After finishing his instructions, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki let his gaze linger on Fujiwara and Mizuki for a moment.
"Go."
Isshiki said, "Remember what I told you. Don't do anything unnecessary."
Fujiwara and Mizuki both bowed their heads deeply.
Neither spoke, expressing their obedience through their actions alone.
They knew very well that before Lord Isshiki, unnecessary words were just as unneeded as unnecessary actions.
Ōtsutsuki Pushi had already lazily straightened up.
He yawned, his flippant demeanor completely at odds with the solemn atmosphere in the room.
"All right, all right. Let's go."
He raised one hand and casually swept a finger through the air.
Yomotsu Hirasaka!
The scene changed in an instant.
One second, there had been white buildings beneath a gray-blue sky; the next, wind carrying the scent of vegetation filled their nostrils.
Fujiwara and Mizuki's feet landed on solid ground, on soil overgrown with weeds.
The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and a continuous range of mountains rose and fell in the distance.
They were already within the Land of Fire.
Pushi stood a few paces behind them and raised a hand in a casual wave.
He did not say even one unnecessary word.
Fujiwara and Mizuki bowed to Pushi.
By the time they straightened up, there was no one before them.
Pushi had vanished without a sound, as though he had never been there.
Fujiwara took a deep breath and turned to Mizuki.
"Let's go."
Mizuki nodded.
The two checked their bearings.
From what they remembered, this place was not too far from Konoha. At their pace, they could reach it in half a day.
As time passed, the scenery along their route gradually changed from desolate borderlands to the heartland of the Land of Fire, dotted with farms and villages.
Toward evening, the outline of