In front of Tazuna's house, the air was thick with the smell of blood and the residual fluctuations of Chakra from the battle.
Adult Sasuke stood up, his brow slightly furrowed. According to his understanding of the Akatsuki, its members usually operated in pairs. But now, only Aoi was visible, so where was the other one?
"Boruto, stay here." Adult Sasuke turned his head and said to Boruto.
"Eh?" Boruto was taken aback for a moment, then pointed at the miserable Aoi on the ground. "Then... what about them?"
He was still a teenager after all, and his experience in dealing with such 'cleanup' situations was clearly lacking.
"Someone will handle it." Adult Sasuke was concise, his gaze seemingly flickering towards a shadowy corner of a nearby house.
With the Konoha's Anbu present, there was no need for the two of them, 'people of unknown origin', to worry about cleaning the scene and guarding the prisoner.
As soon as he finished speaking, Adult Sasuke vanished from his spot, heading towards the bridge.
According to his memory, the Land of Waves mission should have involved the Kirigakure's Missing-Nin, Momochi Zabuza and his subordinate, Haku.
And he did remember that someone had attacked Tazuna's family.
Now that Aoi, wearing the Akatsuki's robe, had appeared at Tazuna's house, if his partner, or rather, the other executor of this attack, was still Zabuza, then his target would naturally be Tazuna, who was leading the villagers in building the bridge!
Boruto watched his master disappear in an instant, opened his mouth, then looked at the unconscious Aoi on the ground. In the end, he swallowed his questions.
He had an almost blind trust in his master's judgment.
Sure enough, not long after Adult Sasuke left, three dark figures landed beside Aoi.
They were the Anbu squad of Young Sasuke, Sai, and Yugao.
Yugao efficiently checked Aoi's condition, confirmed he was severely injured but not dead, then took out special ropes and medicine from her ninja tool pouch, beginning to bind him and perform simple hemostasis to prevent him from bleeding to death outright.
After all, a living prisoner is always more valuable than a corpse.
Young Sasuke and Sai tacitly began dealing with the bodies of the two wandering samurai, using storage scrolls and other ninja tools to quickly and quietly clean the scene, erasing most of the battle traces.
Boruto only watched for a moment before turning and going back inside.
Inside, the somewhat calmer Tsunami was still tightly holding her son Inari, sobbing quietly… partly from lingering fear, partly from relief that her son had returned safely.
Although Inari's small face was still a bit pale, besides fear, his eyes held more stubbornness and hatred. He clenched his small fists tightly, his body still trembling slightly.
Menma, supported by Hinata, sat nearby, comforting the mother and son in a gentle tone: "It's okay, Tsunami-san, Inari. Hinata took care of the bad guys. Don't be afraid, we're here."
His voice helped Tsunami's emotion calm down a bit.
Boruto walked to the table, poured himself a glass of water, and was about to say something to lighten the mood when another burst of noisy footsteps and clamor came from the doorway.
Bang!
The door of Tazuna's house was pushed open again!
A dozen or so villagers from the Land of Waves, men and women, young and old, crowded at the entrance, their faces carrying suspicion, fear, anger, and a hint of curiosity.
And in front of the crowd, a young man, seemingly about seventeen or eighteen, with sun-darkened skin, sharp eyes, and wearing coarse clothes, was forcefully shoving a middle-aged villager who was collapsed on the ground, trembling.
It was the guy who had led Aoi and the two samurai earlier and then fled!
The young man, quite strong, threw the middle-aged villager to the ground, forcing him to kneel before Tsunami and Inari.
The young man himself also dropped to his knees with a thud, pressing his forehead to the ground. His voice choked with sobs and immense guilt, he loudly said: "Tsunami-nee! Inari! I'm sorry! It's all my fault... I'm the one who got Kaiza-nii killed!"
He suddenly pointed at the trembling, guiding villager beside him, his eyes blazing with fury: "It was him! He led those dogs of Matsuo here! He was also among those who sold us out back then! I've brought him back for you to do with as you please!"
Tsunami looked at this suddenly appearing young man, stunned at first, then covered her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief: "You... you're... Yuto?! You're alive?!"
The young man called Yuto looked up, his face mixed with tears: "It's me, Tsunami-nee! I'm back! I'm not dead!"
The villagers at the door immediately buzzed with discussion, their voices humming.
"Is it really Yuto? That kid who always used to follow Kaiza around?"
"Didn't he get wanted with Kaiza a year ago and then run away? I heard Kaiza sacrificed himself to cover for him..."
"I heard that too. Seems like he and Kaiza joined some organization called... the [Red Star Alliance]? The one that talks about overthrowing the Daimyo and nobles?"
"Yeah, yeah, that one. They say the ideology came from the western continent, about us poor folks uniting and becoming our own masters..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! You can't just talk about that..."
Listening to the villagers' whispers, Boruto was stunned.
'Red Star Alliance?'
'Overthrow the Daimyo?'
These terms were somewhat unfamiliar to him, but they seemed related to the suffering and resistance of the lower class people of the Land of Waves.
Tsunami looked at Yuto kneeling before her, feeling both heartache and anxiety. Tears welled up again: "Yuto... w-why did you come back! It's too dangerous here! Matsuo's people won't let you go!"
Yuto forcefully wiped his face, the guilt in his eyes replaced by a blazing flame: "Tsunami-nee, I came back this time to avenge Kaiza-nii! To finish the work we left undone!"
He straightened his back, his voice sonorous and powerful: "This past year, I went far away. I went to the Land of Stars! There, I saw a different world, and learned many things and knowledge we've never heard of here!"
"I understand now what Kaiza-nii used to say to me: 'People shouldn't live like beasts'! And I've made many like-minded friends, people who, like me and Kaiza-nii, refuse to be bullied any longer and want to change this world!"
Yuto grew more excited as he spoke, his voice echoing in the small room: "This time, I didn't come back alone! I have companions! We have a plan! We're going to relight the spark of revolution in the Land of Waves! And..."
He paused, a look of reverence and hope intertwining on his face: "This time, several Ninja-sama from the Land of Stars are willing to help us! They're outside!"
As if to confirm his words, the onlooking villagers at the door suddenly stirred, stepping aside to both sides, clearing a path.
Under the curious, fearful, or expectant gazes of the crowd, several Ninja in unified attire and bearing stepped slowly inside.
The leader was extremely tall and burly, nearly two heads taller than an average person. He wore a well-tailored, stand-collar uniform mainly in dark blue and silver-gray, with a star-shaped forehead protector on his brow.
It was the forehead protector of the Land of Stars!
He had somewhat messy silver-blonde short hair, healthy bronze skin, a determined face, and eyes sharp as an eagle's.
Most striking was the broad-bladed greatsword strapped to his back, almost as tall as he was. The blade was thick, the edge glinting coldly, with white bandages wrapped around the hilt.
Just standing there, he gave off a mountain-like steadiness and an intangible sense of oppression.
His gaze swept over the somewhat chaotic scene inside the room, lingering briefly on Menma, Hinata, and Boruto. Particularly when he saw Menma, his black pupils contracted slightly for a moment, but quickly returned to calm.
He looked at Tsunami, his voice deep and magnetic: "Sorry, it seems we've interrupted."
"I am Iida Yusuke, a Jonin of the Land of Stars. May I ask, is this Kaiza's home?"
Behind Iida Yusuke followed a group of two women and one man. Among them, a red-haired girl wearing glasses was curiously observing the people inside. When she saw Menma, her eyes lit up brightly.
…
At the same time, on a secluded coast not far from the bridge.
Waves continuously crashed against the rocks, kicking up white foam.
Naruto stood barefoot on the undulating sea surface, struggling to maintain his balance.
He not only had to divert attention to control the Chakra under his feet to keep from sinking but also had to focus most of his attention between his hands.
A water-filled balloon rested on his palms. He was exerting full effort to evenly infuse Chakra into his hands, trying to make the water inside the balloon spin at high speed and disorderly, thus bursting it from within.
"Focus... focus... damn it!" Naruto grimaced, veins bulging on his forehead. Sweat mixed with splashing seawater constantly dripped down his cheeks.
As a wave rose and fell beneath his feet, his body swayed, and the Chakra output from his hands instantly lost control.
With a soft 'pop', the water balloon didn't burst. Instead, it twisted and deformed from the Chakra turbulence, then 'splash', all the water inside spilled out, drenching Naruto's head and face.
At the same time, the Chakra under his feet collapsed, and he plunged 'plop' into the cold seawater.
"Gurgle... Haah!" Naruto surfaced, swam back to shore awkwardly, climbed onto a rock, and panted heavily, his blonde hair plastered wetly to his face.
He looked over at the gnarled tree nearby, where Jiraiya was leaning back against the trunk, engrossed in a magazine with a highly suspicious cover, occasionally letting out a perverted laugh. Naruto couldn't help complaining: "Pervy Sage! This is completely impossible! I have to use Chakra to walk on water without being washed away by the waves, and at the same time use Chakra with my hands to pop this stupid water balloon! It's too hard to focus on two things at once!"
Jiraiya seemed to just snap out of an exciting part of the story. He hurriedly stuffed the magazine into his robes, coughed, and pretended to be serious as he looked at the drenched Naruto, stroking his chin: "Idiot, it's hard precisely because it's called training! You think legendary Ninjutsu is that easy to learn?"
He stood up, walked to Naruto, and pointed at the turbulent sea: "Look at these waves. They're far more dangerous than the little stream you practiced on in the village, right? Constantly changing, hard to predict. Maintaining balance on them is itself the ultimate tempering of Chakra Control."
He then pointed at the deflated water balloon: "And popping the water balloon with Chakra is just the first stage of Rasengan training, called the basic mastery of 'condensation' and 'rotation'. Once you can practice stably with the water balloon, we can move to the next stage."
Naruto wrung out his soaked orange tracksuit and asked curiously, "Next stage?"
"Exactly." Jiraiya fumbled in his ninja tool pouch and pulled out an ordinary-looking rubber ball, weighing it in his hand.
"Once you've mastered the water balloon practice, you'll try infusing Chakra into this special rubber ball. Note that you don't want to pop it... you want to 'burst' it from the inside using continuous, stable, and high-speed rotating Chakra."
Jiraiya's expression became serious as he spoke slowly: "Don't underestimate this ball. It's made of special material, with toughness and strength hundreds of times greater than an ordinary ball. This is the mastery of 'power' and 'stability' in the second stage of Rasengan training."
"Hundreds of times?!" Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the small ball, hard to imagine it was that sturdy.
"Then... then how long will it take until I can actually use the Rasengan?"
Jiraiya looked at Naruto's instantly deflated expression and laughed heartily, vigorously rubbing his wet blonde hair: "You think this is hard? Let me tell you, the genius who developed this technique took three whole years to perfect it. There are no shortcuts to learning it, only persistent practice and comprehension! No rushing, kid!"
Naruto looked at the small ball in Jiraiya's hand, then at the turbulent sea. A flash of unyielding stubbornness appeared in his eyes.
He gritted his teeth and was about to jump back into the sea to continue practicing!
Boom—!!!
A huge roar, mingled with faint cries of surprise from people, came from the direction of the sea-crossing bridge!
Naruto started, and Jiraiya also whipped his head around. Both looked over.
From the direction of the bridge, already shrouded in light sea mist, the fog suddenly became thick, almost engulfing the entire bridge deck.
Even more alarming, a surging wave of water, like a waterfall, was appearing out of nowhere from within the thick fog, roaring down along the bridge deck, its momentum terrifying!
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique?!" Jiraiya's eyes instantly became sharp, his playful expression gone.
He immediately judged that this was at least an A-rank or higher, high-level Water Release Ninjutsu requiring immense Chakra support!
And given the scope and momentum, the caster was certainly no ordinary enemy!
'Something had happened at the bridge!'
'Kakashi and Tazuna!'
"Let's go! I'll take you back to..." Jiraiya made a snap decision, turning to first evacuate Naruto from this exposed coast and take him back to Tazuna's house.
But before he could finish, a 'whoosh' sounded beside him, and an orange figure shot out like an arrow!
It was Naruto!
He didn't even bother to put on his soaked jacket properly. Holding it in one hand, he barefoot exploded with astonishing speed, sprinting desperately across the shallows and rocks towards the fog-shrouded, roaring bridge!
As he ran, he shouted anxiously: "Kakashi-sensei! Tazuna-san! They're in danger!"
"This guy…!" Jiraiya slapped his own forehead.
But watching Naruto's back as he recklessly charged towards danger, a complex look of relief and reminiscence passed through Jiraiya's eyes. He murmured quietly: "Charging ahead without regard for your own safety when your comrades are in danger... this drive, you really are just like him, Minato..."
Complaints aside, Jiraiya's movements were not slow in the slightest.
He exploded Chakra beneath his feet, disappearing from his spot as if by teleportation. The next instant, he appeared before the desperately running Naruto, kicking up a small splash on the sea surface.
Before Naruto could react, he grabbed the back of Naruto's collar and lifted him up like a kitten.
"Wahhh! Pervy Sage, what are you doing!" Naruto flailed in the air.
"Shut up! This is faster!" Jiraiya growled low, holding Naruto. He tapped the sea surface several times with his feet, each time leaping a great distance, his form like a large bird skimming rapidly towards the bridge, his speed many times faster than Naruto running on his own!
In a few bounds, they were close to the bridge.
Thick fog completely shrouded the middle section of the bridge. Only faint sounds of metal clashing and ninjutsu explosions could be heard from within.
At the near end of the bridge, close to the land, Tazuna was leading a group of terrified workers scrambling backwards, their faces full of fear.
And within the thick fog, two figures moving at high speed and constantly colliding could be vaguely discerned.
Jiraiya, carrying Naruto, landed lightly on a section of the bridge not yet completely covered by fog and put Naruto down.
The moment Naruto's feet touched the ground, he wanted to rush into the thick fog, but Jiraiya pressed his shoulder firmly.
"Don't move!" Jiraiya said quietly, his gaze fixed on the fog.
His sensory ability far surpassed Naruto's, and he had roughly 'seen' the situation within the fog.
Deep in the thick fog, Kakashi's figure flashed continuously, his kunai tracing arcs.
His opponent was a tall man with bulging muscles, bandages wrapped around his face, revealing only a pair of fierce eyes.
The man wore a striking black cloak with red clouds, wielding a seemingly rather heavy steel Ninja Sword. In his hands, the sword was incredibly fierce, each strike carrying the determination to cut through flowing water.
Even more alarming was that this thick, almost unbreakable fog was clearly also the work of this man.
'Hiding in the Mist Technique!'
'A Kirigakure's Missing-Nin... Momochi Zabuza?' The name flashed through Jiraiya's mind instantly. Combined with the other party's eye-catching Akatsuki uniform, his gaze turned completely cold.
'Had Akatsuki even recruited Missing-Nin of Zabuza's level?'
'Nagato...'
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto watched as Kakashi in the fog seemed to be forced into a passive position by the opponent's swordsmanship and the elusive Hiding in the Mist Technique. He was frantic and wanted to rush over again.
"Calm down, Naruto!" Jiraiya's hand held him like an iron clamp.
"This thick fog is the opponent's Ninjutsu. Blindly rushing in will only make you a burden to Kakashi! Trust your teacher. He's the Copy Ninja, Kakashi!"
Naruto gritted his teeth, his fists clenched until they cracked, his blue eyes fixed on the intersecting figures in the fog, but his feet ultimately didn't move again.
Just then, a faint sound of cutting air was heard. Adult Sasuke, wearing a dark coat, landed silently on the bridge railing beside Jiraiya and Naruto.
His right eye stared into the churning thick fog, lingering for a moment on Zabuza's black and red cloud robe, then scanning the ordinary Ninja Sword in his hand, which didn't match the rumors. His brow furrowed.
'Zabuza also joined Akatsuki? Then what about Haku?'
'And where did his Executioner's Blade go?'
Adult Sasuke felt increasingly puzzled.
Jiraiya glanced at the suddenly appearing young Sasuke, didn't ask much, just said in a low voice: "You're here? Looks like the home front also 'entertained' guests."
Adult Sasuke nodded slightly, his gaze still locked on the fog, his voice flat: "Mm. A green-haired former Konoha Missing-Nin. Already dealt with."
As soon as he finished speaking, from within the thick fog, Zabuza's hoarse, murderous voice came back with an echo:
"Copy Ninja Kakashi... you live up to your reputation. To last this long against me in my Hiding in the Mist Technique... But the game is over."
"Your head is mine!"
The thick fog seemed to grow even colder and more viscous.