Land of the Waterfall, twilight.
A person and a dog ran through a complex mountainous area.
The twilight unknowingly faded away, a layer of oppressive dark clouds covered the sky, the wind suddenly intensified, blowing dust and sand, making the running Obito squint his eyes.
The ninja dog Pakkun leading the way ahead looked up at the cloud-covered sky and turned back to Obito, saying: "Looks like it's going to rain, we need to move faster while the scent hasn't dissipated."
"Got it."
Obito disregarded the consumption of Chakra, concentrating a large amount of Chakra on his legs and soles, increasing his speed.
He also took a Soldier Rations Pill from the Ninja Tool Bag, biting it with his mouth, to restore some Chakra and prevent a potential shortage during battle.
Before long, the sky started to shower soft silver threads, which turned into raindrops as the wind strengthened, bringing a chill as they hit Obito and Pakkun.
"Pakkun, how far are we from Lin?"
Obito asked while sprinting.
Pakkun replied: "Soon, we'll reach her in a few minutes."
"Is she in the forest?"
Obito looked at the rain-covered forest ahead, noticing the deeper he looked, the darker it became.
Upon entering the forest, Pakkun warned Obito.
"Obito, it's best to be careful here."
"Why?"
"There's a disturbing aura in the air."
"A disturbing aura?"
Obito frowned, puzzled.
"It's Chakra." Pakkun's eyes glanced at the eerie surroundings, saying, "This Chakra gives me a very bad feeling, all the animals have disappeared, as if something terrifying is dwelling in the forest, animals are most sensitive to the aura of danger."
"I see. But it's fine, I can fight with the Sharingan now, I must find Lin."
Obito clenched his fists, activating his Double-Tomoe Sharingan, showing no fear on his face.
Pakkun glanced back at Obito, then turned ahead, focusing on leading the way.
◎
In the rain-soaked forest, figures hurriedly ran, seemingly searching for something, with anxious expressions.
"Damn it, hurry up and find that woman, if she escapes to the Land of Fire it'll be troublesome."
They wore uniform ninja outfits, with a ninja headband different from the Five Great Nations.
The reason they were frantically searching in the forest was that the most powerful weapon of their village had been stolen.
And the one who stole it was an underage girl.
She wore a Konoha headband, but that was not enough justification for her to steal the most powerful weapon of their village.
Because that weapon was the ultimate ancient weapon—Tailed Beast.
They were from the Hidden Waterfall Village in the Land of the Waterfall, a ninja village among small countries, exceptional in strength apart from the Five Great Nations.
And the only ninja village among small countries legally possessing Tailed Beast Weapons.
That Tailed Beast was the Seven-tailed, entrusted to them by Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage of Konoha, after the first Five Kage Summit.
In their village legend, each Tailed Beast possessed earth-shattering power.
Such a mighty biological weapon had now been stolen by another village's ninja, which was naturally intolerable.
Even if the other party was a Konoha ninja.
"Still not found?"
"Damn it, where did that woman run off to?"
"Hurry up, search everywhere, she's definitely nearby, search carefully, don't miss a spot!"
"We must retrieve the weapon!"
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja searching for the thief of the Tailed Beast meticulously examined the surrounding environment, leaving no stone unturned.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, the Konoha girl with the Hidden Waterfall Village's most powerful biological weapon, the Seven-tailed, was heading towards Konoha in the Land of Fire.
At this pace, it would only take a day to reach Konoha in the Land of Fire.
This girl was, of course, the long-missing Lin.
Since being sucked into a strange swamp that day, her consciousness had been in a coma, vaguely feeling there was a large hand manipulating her from behind, her body and will completely beyond her control, occasionally regaining bodily autonomy.
When she awoke, she found herself surrounded by a group of strange white humanoid creatures, who called themselves White Zetsu.
Then they extracted the Tailed Beast, Seven-tailed, from the body of the Hidden Waterfall Village's Seven-tailed Jinchuriki, and resealed it in her, an inconspicuous medical ninja from Konoha.
They informed her they would use the power of the Seven-tailed inside her to destroy Konoha.
This news terrified Lin beyond measure.
Even as a Chunin, she knew that Tailed Beasts were forbidden dangerous weapons jointly banned by the Five Great Nations.
If she brought this weapon into Konoha and it rampaged completely in the village, Lin couldn't imagine how many would die.
By then, not only ninjas, but civilians would suffer heavy casualties in the sudden attack.
This must be prevented from happening.
However, her body wouldn't obey, heading towards Konoha uncontrollably, unable to harm herself, only watching as her body continued towards the Land of Fire, taking the extremely dangerous Tailed Beast into Konoha to detonate.
She didn't understand why the enemy sealed such a dangerous thing inside her, nor why they harbored such animosity towards Konoha, wanting to use the Tailed Beast's power to destroy it.