Konoha Village Main Gate.
The ninja responsible for registration for leaving the village clearly recognized Sora, who had gained some small fame within the village recently as the "Konoha Green Snake".
After seeing the scroll signed by Sarutobi Hiruzen stating "Leave the village to seek a summoning beast to sign a contract", he did not interrogate excessively, only performed a routine registration.
Walking out of Konoha's main gate, Sora did not look back. He walked along the main road at an unhurried pace for a distance, until he confirmed no one was following behind and no one was paying attention around him. Then, his figure flashed, and he swiftly vanished into the dense forest beside the road.
Entering the depths of the forest, Sora immediately began his disguise.
He first changed into a set of plain gray rough-cloth clothes without any markings. He also smeared some mud and ash on his face, and then used the Transformation Technique.
Now, he looked like an ordinary rogue ninja, completely different from the Konoha Anbu "Green Snake".
'Time is tight. I must reach the Land of Rain border at the fastest speed.'
Sora estimated the distance and the required time.
If relying on conventional travel methods, even with his leg strength, a round trip plus uncertain waiting time, two days would definitely not be enough.
'I can only use it... Fortunately, I'm far from the village now, and there are no obvious chakra reactions within six ri around.'
[Translator: The Author uses measurement terms like li/ri. If i want to change it i have to change numbers which i might make mistake. 1Li = 0.5km. Same for ri. The li and ri is measurement system of China which later spread to japan and korea]
[1Li/ri= 0.5km]
Sora took a deep breath. The immense power within his body, originating from the Azure Dragon Fruit, began to quietly surge.
The next moment, faint blue scale phantoms flickered briefly on the surface of his skin. His legs exerted force slightly, and his whole person shot into the sky like a cannonball, instantly breaking through the forest canopy!
High in the air, strong airflow rushed against his face.
Sora controlled his body, adjusted his direction, and towards the direction of the Land of Rain border, transformed into a streak of blue light, swiftly streaking away!
Flight, this was one of the enormous advantages brought to him by the Azure Dragon Fruit, and also his greatest confidence in daring to undertake various high-risk missions.
Whether for infiltration, retreat, or for long-distance raids like now, the ability to fly, much like Namikaze Minato's "Flying Thunder God" on the battlefield, gave him absolute initiative.
'This feeling, no matter how many times I experience it, is always thrilling.'
Feeling the howling wind in his ears and the mountains, rivers, and forests speeding by beneath his feet, Sora couldn't help but feel emotional inside.
But he quickly gathered his thoughts, focusing his attention on sensing his surroundings and controlling his speed.
Although the probability of being discovered during high-altitude flight was relatively low, the ninja world had too many strange ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai. It was hard to guarantee that a ninja skilled in perception or possessing special vision might happen to notice the anomaly in the sky.
He deliberately increased his flight altitude and used cloud layers and light for concealment, ensuring complete safety.
At full-speed flight, a journey that would originally take two or three days to complete, Sora took less than half a day to approach the location where his shadow clone last transmitted information—a dense mountain forest located at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
Sora circled once in the high sky. Relying on the subtle connection with his shadow clone, he precisely locked onto a location hidden within a crevice in a cliff face.
Slowly landing near the cliff, Sora first fully expanded his unique elemental and life force perception, carefully probing all movements within a six ri radius around him.
After confirming it was safe, he silently slipped into that narrow crevice.
Inside the crevice, a figure identical to Sora was sitting quietly in meditation. It was the shadow clone responsible for continuing surveillance.
Seeing the original arrive, the shadow clone nodded, said nothing more, and directly transformed into a puff of white smoke and disappeared.
A large number of memory fragments flooded into Sora's mind, mainly about the movements in the target area during this half day—the squad that Yamato was part of was still staying at a temporary camp a few ri ahead, with no signs of moving.
'Still in place... Are they waiting for orders, or is the mission not yet completed?'
Sora slightly frowned. Then he found a clean rock to sit on. While partially maintaining a vague perception of the distant temporary camp, he began to close his eyes and rest, recovering the energy expended from the long-distance flight.
Hunting required patience above all.
...
Time passed minute by minute. The mountain forest was completely silent, only the occasional sound of water droplets falling on stone, "plip plop plop".
Sora's state of mind was as calm as an ancient well without waves. All distracting thoughts were excluded, leaving only the lock on the target and absolute control over the surrounding environment.
Regarding the matter of seizing Yamato's cells, he had no psychological burden.
After all, Yamato's life was also filled with tragedy.
As a child, he was used as a test subject by Orochimaru and Danzo. After much difficulty, he was brainwashed by Sarutobi Hiruzen and became an Anbu loyal to Konoha. Then, not many years of peaceful life later, after encountering Naruto, he became a nanny plus construction worker. In the later stages of the Fourth Great Ninja War, he was even drained of chakra and almost died...
In comparison, Sora now taking a few of his cells did not seem too excessive.
Time slowly passed in patient waiting. Finally, just as it was about to get dark, within Sora's perception, those four chakra signatures moved!
Moreover, the direction of movement was exactly towards the location of Konoha Village!
Mission completed, returning!
Sora's spirits lifted, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. He had truly been worried that Yamato and the others might stay here for several days. If that were the case, he would have to act on this border battlefield.
Fortunately, Sora's luck was good. Then, like the most experienced hunter, he continued to silently lock onto Yamato's group through long-distance perception.
Yamato's squad moved at a fast pace, clearly eager to return to the village to report.
Sora followed far behind, tailing them all the way relying on his perception range that far exceeded ordinary people's.
...
The night passed uneventfully.
The Root squad only took a brief rest during the night and set off again as soon as day broke.
Sora still followed unhurriedly.
Until the afternoon of the second day, when Yamato and the others had already penetrated deep into the Land of Fire's interior, with about a day's journey left to Konoha Village. The surroundings were already a densely forested area with sparse human habitation.
'This is the place.'
A fierce light flashed in Sora's eyes, and he no longer hesitated.
After confirming the absolute safety of the surroundings, he once again utilized the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit. His whole person instantly shot into the sky, straight into the clouds!
High in the sky, Sora identified the direction, then transformed into a streak of blue light, making a large detour as he swiftly streaked towards a point ahead of Yamato's group.
After flying for about a quarter of an hour, based on their travel route, Sora chose a narrow mountain valley pass as the ambush point.
The terrain here was treacherous. There were steep rock walls on both sides, with only a few-meter-wide path in the middle, very suitable for interception.
Sora concealed all his aura and hid in a sunken area overgrown with shrubs.
Not long after, four dark figures appeared at the entrance of the valley.
They maintained a standard defensive formation: two in front, one in the middle, one at the back. It was the standard Root marching mode.
The figure in a position slightly behind the middle of the squad was the relatively short one wearing an animal mask—Yamato.
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