Chapter 211 — "Hero"? Jinchūriki
Outside Nekkai City in the Land of Wind, four Sand squads sprinted at full speed.
Their goal—
Rescue.
Ahead of them, one of their own was being besieged by two enemy ninja.
From a distance, the scene looked brutal.
That lone Sand shinobi—
Covered in wounds.
Blood spraying with every strike.
Barely standing.
Every second screamed the same truth—
He was at his limit.
"Where did you thieves come from?! Stop at once!"
The squad leader roared, hoping to force hesitation.
On Taichi's side—
He nearly laughed in relief.
Finally…
If reinforcements came any later—
He might actually die.
The pain was real.
Even if it wasn't his body—
The sensation transferred fully.
And after so many wounds—
Blood loss alone was enough to kill.
The distance closed—
Just over a hundred meters.
The two enemy ninja were already considering retreat.
Taichi's eyes sharpened.
Time for the finishing touch.
"AVENGE ME! THEY'RE CLOUD NINJA!"
His shout tore through the air.
The approaching Sand shinobi heard it loud and clear—
A dying man's last words.
The moment he finished—
Taichi's spirit exited the body.
The original soul snapped back awake—
Only to meet a kunai piercing its throat.
The body twitched.
Hands weakly grasping at nothing.
A choking sound—
Then silence.
To the very end—
The man never understood what happened.
…Wasn't I just out for a night?
Did I really die like this?
"Don't waste time—withdraw!"
The second enemy ninja reacted instantly.
A net of lightning spread out, briefly slowing the Sand pursuers.
Then—
Both vanished into the distance.
"Gis, your squad stays! The rest—follow me!"
Orders came fast.
Three squads gave chase.
One remained behind.
"Captain… this looks like Shinji?"
One of the examining ninja spoke uncertainly.
"Shinji? That pervert?"
The captain frowned, almost thinking he misheard.
That guy?
Fighting two enemies alone?
Holding out until reinforcements arrived?
Dying only after delivering intel?
"…No way."
But after cleaning the body—
Confirmation came.
"It's him. Right eyebrow—there's a mole. I drank with him before. No mistake."
Silence fell.
Then—
Respect.
"I misjudged him," the captain said quietly. "For someone like him… to hold on like that… his loyalty outweighs everything else."
"Yeah…" another muttered. "He owed me money. I won't ask his wife for it anymore."
Meanwhile—
Far away—
Taichi's spirit returned to his real body.
The instant he re-entered—
He jolted upright.
Pain.
Residual pain flooded through him.
Even though it wasn't his body—
The backlash carried over.
It took him a few minutes just to breathe normally again.
"…Yeah. I'm not using that casually again."
Once recovered, he surfaced and spread his chakra perception.
The entire battlefield replayed in his mind.
He watched—
As they mourned Shinji.
And couldn't help but smile.
From pervert… to hero.
Life really is unpredictable.
Half an hour later—
The pursuing squads returned.
Empty-handed.
Taichi didn't need to hear it—
Their expressions said everything.
"Did you catch them?" the rear squad leader asked.
The lead ninja shot him a glare.
"…No. Too fast. They vanished. We couldn't stay out too long."
Awkward silence.
They changed the topic.
Discussed Shinji.
And once again—
Praised him.
Even the jōnin leading them knew his reputation.
Which made it all the more ironic.
"People really can't be judged by appearances…"
After cleaning up, they returned to the city.
Soon after—
A messenger hawk took flight, carrying news of the incident back to the Sand Village.
Taichi withdrew his perception.
That—
Was done.
What came next—
He could already predict.
Whether Sand would remain careless—
Or finally take precautions—
That would decide everything.
If they strengthened internal defenses—
Then the pressure on Konoha's front in the Land of Rivers would ease.
Which meant—
His efforts weren't wasted.
He cast one last glance at Nekkai City.
Time to leave.
With a spy incident like this—
The city would soon lock down.
Staying would yield nothing.
Time passed.
Mid-October, Year 46.
Taichi had been operating alone for over half a month.
By now—
Every corner of the Land of Wind—except the Sand Village itself—had seen him.
At this point—
Even most Sand ninja didn't know their own country as well as he did.
And mobility?
He was unmatched.
Why?
Because he had placed Flying Thunder God markers—
In every city.
Every oasis.
Which meant—
His intelligence network was effectively omnipresent.
Every day—
He teleported across key locations.
Scanning.
Observing.
Moving again.
Half a day—
That was all it took to sweep the entire country.
The only gaps—
The vast deserts.
And the cost—
Even for him—
Massive chakra drain.
Recently—
Something changed.
Sand had increased internal patrols.
Supply routes.
Border guards.
Everything tightened.
Taichi noticed immediately.
When something's abnormal—there's always a reason.
So he adjusted.
No more attacking large squads.
No unnecessary risks.
He wasn't about to walk into a trap.
Two more days passed.
Then—
A massive supply convoy departed from Sunagakure.
Its destination—
The front lines in the Land of Rivers.
Convoys like this weren't unusual—
They moved every ten days or so.
But this one—
Felt different.
This time, however, something about the convoy was… off.
From a distance, it looked like any other large-scale supply unit—rows of camels, crates of provisions, escorting ninja moving in formation. But if one were to look from above, a pattern would immediately stand out.
The entire convoy revolved around a single core.
At the very center—
A five-man squad.
Everything else—supplies, personnel, defensive layers—formed concentric rings around them, shaping the formation into something like a long, narrow eye.
And those five—
They were the pupil.
Drawing closer revealed an even more unsettling scene.
The five stood in a cross formation. Four of them, positioned at the edges, each held a rune-etched chain. The other end of those chains—
Was fastened tightly around the neck of a frail young boy standing in the center.
The moment anyone with even basic knowledge of sealing techniques saw this, the conclusion would be obvious:
This was an enhanced containment ritual.
And something that warranted such extreme measures could only be one thing—
A Jinchūriki.
More specifically—
The One-Tail.
The history of Sunagakure's first One-Tail host was well known. A monk named Bunpuku had carried the beast since childhood. He had lived his entire life in confinement, yet never succumbed to hatred or resentment. His heart remained clear and steady.
It was said he had even earned the acknowledgment of Shukaku through sheer kindness.
During his time, there had never been a single rampage.
But no one lives forever.
After Bunpuku's death, Sunagakure attempted several successors.
None ended well.
Some lost their sanity and were killed by their own village.
Others died during uncontrolled tailed beast outbreaks.
And the current host—
Was already unstable.
Inside the village, things were manageable. Specialized barrier arrays kept Shukaku suppressed.
But transporting a Jinchūriki out into open territory?
That was a completely different matter.
The sheer scale of the escort made that clear.
This wasn't just protection—
It was desperation.
"Lord Kazekage, the situation remains stable. The Jinchūriki's emotional state is under control. No abnormalities so far."
An elite ninja rushed forward from the center and reported to Rasa.
Rasa nodded, allowing himself a small breath of relief.
"Good. Maintain constant monitoring. Report immediately if anything changes. Two more days—just two—and we'll reach the front lines."
If it weren't absolutely necessary, he would never have authorized this transfer.
Even as the Fourth Kazekage, he had personally taken charge of the escort.
Because if something went wrong—
A tailed beast rampage in transit would be catastrophic.
"Yes, sir!"
The jōnin turned to leave—
But Rasa stopped him again.
"Wait. Inform all perimeter patrol units—expand their surveillance radius. The next day's route is the most vulnerable stretch. I don't want a single disturbance going unnoticed."
He had no choice.
Between Minato Namikaze and Matsushita Taichi, Sunagakure's rear had been thrown into constant instability.
Those two alone—
Forced the Sand to commit nearly double the manpower just to maintain supply routes.
That was precisely why Konoha's commanders rarely assigned them direct battlefield missions.
Their impact behind enemy lines was simply too valuable.
Meanwhile—
Far out in the desert—
Taichi had already found the convoy.
Normally, he wouldn't bother with something like this.
Too big.
Too heavily guarded.
Not worth the risk.
At most, he would observe, record the numbers, and report back.
But today—
He lingered.
Hidden behind a sand dune, his chakra perception spread outward, quietly scanning the massive formation. After confirming troop counts and supply loads, he should have left—
As usual.
But then—
His eyes shifted.
A faint blue glow spread across them.
Soul Vision.
Ever since refining the technique from the Spirit Transformation Technique, Taichi had developed a habit of using it whenever possible.
Partly for research.
Partly because—
It revealed things ordinary perception never could.
And this time—
It showed him something extraordinary.
Among the many flickering "soul lights" within the convoy—
There was one.
Colossal.
Brilliant.
Overwhelming.
Compared to it, the others looked like fireflies beside the moon.
Taichi froze.
Then slowly smiled.
"…Now that's interesting."
Any thought of leaving vanished instantly.
If he walked away from something like this—
He'd be insulting both his mission and his own curiosity.
His posture shifted slightly, like a cat spotting prey—subtle, eager, controlled.
Excitement flickered in his eyes.
At the same time—
Inside the convoy—
Something else stirred.
The moment Taichi's chakra swept across the formation—
A seemingly unremarkable ninja beside Rasa reacted.
A sensory-type specialist, handpicked for this mission.
Sunagakure had not been careless.
They knew exactly what kind of enemies were operating within their territory.
"Lord Kazekage," he said quietly, without drawing attention, "someone is scanning us."
Rasa's expression tightened.
A flicker of frustration crossed his eyes.
"…So it's come to this."
"Can you locate the source?"
"Give me a moment."
The sensory ninja closed his eyes.
His perception shifted from passive detection—
To active scanning.
Like a radar pulse spreading outward.
Seconds passed.
Then—
He found it.
"Northeast. Two kilometers. One individual concealed there."
Two kilometers.
Rasa didn't even need to think.
Only one person operated at that range.
"…Matsushita Taichi."
A faint tension spread through the convoy.
He had hoped to avoid exactly this scenario.
But fate had other plans.
Between the two names he least wanted to encounter—
It was one of them.
Without a word, Rasa's fingers moved in a series of subtle signals.
Orders passed silently through the ranks.
The entire formation adjusted—quietly, efficiently.
Every ninja understood.
They had been spotted.
And now—
The hunt had begun.