Soon, the Kage escort group arrives at the border of the Land of the waterfall. Minato signals to Kakashi.
Kakashi takes out a scroll from his pocket and dashes deeper into the forest of the Land of the waterfall.
Soon, a gigantic tree appears in his vision.
Swoosh… swoosh…
Multiple shinobis with Takigakure headbands surround him. Kakashi lowers his cloak and reveals himself.
"I am Kakashi Hatake from the Konoha. And this is a letter from your village leader." Kakashi tosses the scroll toward the captain of the patrol team.
Hmm…
The captain of the patrol team grabs the scroll and reads its contents.
"Very well! We will escort your team to Takigakure."
"Well, then… I am off to inform them."
Kakashi returns to the escort group.
"They approved our entry. We can enter Takigakure."
The Kage escort group enters deeper into the forest. After walking for fifteen minutes, a gigantic tree with sky-touching heights appears in their vision.
"Woah! What an enormous tree?"
Naruto and the group raise their head to glance at the peak of the tree. The clouds in the sky block their vision. Multiple waterfalls surround the roots of the giant tree.
The flowing streams, waterfalls, massive foliage, plants, and flowers paint a picturesque scenery.
"Wow! This is amazing." Sakura, Hanabi, and Yakumo mutter in amazement.
"This might be the second tallest tree I have seen in my entire life." Naruto and Ayaka murmurs.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The Takigakure shinobis surround them.
Whoosh…
The captain of the team appears in front of the group and bows his head to Tsunade, Minato, and Mei in greetings.
"Welcome to the Takigakure, Lord Hokage and Lord Mizukage!"
The captain turns to Naruto and Ayaka.
"Our village boasts the shinobi world's tallest tree. Could you please tell me the location of another tree, which is seemingly bigger than this tree?"
"Oh, that! It's in the Shikkotsu Forest, one of the Sage regions." Naruto answers him.
"I… I see!" The captain doesn't refute his answer.
"Hmm… come to think of it, Katsuyu mentioned something about the seedling of that giant tree. Perhaps this giant tree might be a seedling of that giant tree in Shikkotsu Forest." Tsunade also inspects the giant tree.
Her previous journey to the land of iron was through the land of Earth.
The group takes multiple turns around the roots of the giant tree. Soon, they arrive in front of a water screen. The captain takes out a whistle from his pocket and blows it. The whistle produces some sound inaudible to human ears. After a while, the water screen in front of them disappears and a group of Takigakure jounins arrives in front of them. The patrol team captain passes Kakashi's letter to them.
One of the newcomers Taki jounin grabs the scroll and reads its content. He uses a secret seal to check its authenticity and nods his head.
"Please follow us!" The jounin and his team lower their head to the Kage group.
"Alright!" Minato nods his head and gestures for the escort team to follow them.
The patrol team returns to their post.
Soon, the group enters through the passage and arrives in front of yet another giant waterfall.
One of the Taki jounin walks towards the giant waterfall and makes a series of hand signs.
Fwoosh…
The water in the giant waterfall flows upward to reveal a secret hidden passage. There is a gigantic stone with multiple sealing formations blocking the passage. The jounin makes some more hand signs and slams his palm on the stone.
Shoom…
The seals on the stone glow, and the stone moves sideways to reveal a passage.
"Let's go!"
The Taki jounin gestures to them. The group follows after them.
"Wow, what tight security?"
Hanabi is surprised by the level of security measures adopted by the Takigakure village.
"Takigakure isn't a major hidden village since it doesn't have its official Kage. However, it has withstood three major shinobi wars. This is a testament to Takigakure's power. After the first shinobi war, Takigakure signed a treaty with the Konoha and since then we have helped Takigakure multiple times." Izumi reveals the information about Takigakure to the group.
"Izuna was also a part of the group which helped Takigakure during its time of need," Minato reveals a top-secret detail to the group.
"Nii-san!" The group is surprised to hear this.
"Yes!" Minato nods his head.
"Izuna has some business relationship with the current leader Shibuki of the Takigakure village. He is also a benefactor of the village leader. It's part of the reason Konoha was able to establish a stable trade route with the Land of Waterfall."
"Oh! No wonder." The group is astonished to hear this news.
"Not only this village, but Izuna also has a relationship with several other villages. His business is spread through most of the shinobi world and thus every village had to establish some degree of friendly relationship with Izuna to maintain a stable supply of goods. Izuna's economical influence on these villages is higher than his combat prowess influence. Not to mention his political influence. If Izuna wants, he can pretty much dissolve the Daimyo of any small nation with a few words." Minato reveals the scary influence of Izuna's power in the world.
"And that's just the tip of his prowess. Izuna's company controls the sixty percent market of the shinobi world. Countless shinobi and merchants will lose their job on his whims."
"Wow! Amazing! Izuna Nii-san is so amazing!" The group praises Izuna's power.
"Hehe… He is my Onii-san, after all." A smug smile appears on Ayaka's face as she mentions Izuna's name.
Their group moves through an underground cave system with multiple passages and dead ends, just like a maze. After walking for a while, the group arrives in front of a large water reservoir with a barrier to isolate the water.
"Wow!"
Hanabi's and Yakumo's shine brightly as multiple-colored fishes swim past them.
"Amazing!"
"This way, please"!
The jounin group guides them towards a pedestal located in the center of the giant water reservoir. The group climbs the pedestal, which slowly rises through the water.
Soon, they arrive in the middle of a large lake. The pedestal connects with a gazebo located in the center of the lake.
"Greetings, Hokage-Dono, Mizukage-Dono!"
A youthful figure clad in a light-yellow kimono jacket, gray pants, and a turquoise haori greets them. There is a red scarf around his neck with a kanji for 'Waterfall'. The young man has ink-black eyes and long, dark brown hair.
"Greetings, village head Shibuki!"
The group returns his greetings.
"Our Takigakure is pleased to have such guests. All of you must be exhausted from the journey. Please rest for the day. We will discuss political matters at a later date."
Shibuki signals his retainers.
"We will guide you to the nearby resort owned by Lord Izuna." The group strolls through the streets of Takigakure village. Multiple waterfalls, canals, and streams flow through the streets of the Takigakure village.
"It's one of the best vacation destinations. I will ask Dad to celebrate my birthday here." Hanabi looks around in amazement.
Ayaka takes out a camera from her storage and begins to click photos with the rest of the group.
Soon, they arrive in front of a luxurious building spanning several acres. The manager of the resort awaits their arrival with a red carpet.
"Greetings Mei-sama and Lord Kage!"
He signals some of his men to carry their luggage,
"We have prepared the VVIP rooms for your group in advance. There will also be a guide to tour around the village. Please enjoy your stay." The manager bows to them in utter respect.
"Mmm… not bad!" Tsunade looks around and nods in approval.
"Finally, I can eat some good food. I am tired of eating dried and half-cooked meals in the wild." Naruto complains.
"Sorry, if my food looks half-cooked to you." Tears flow through Sakura's eyes.
"Hehe… you don't have to feel bad Sakura-chan!" Minato attempts to appease her.
In their entire group, only Minato and Sakura know a thing or two about meal preparation.
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Somewhere on the outskirts of the Takigakure village,
"They have arrived in the Takigakure village. We have seven days to plan our ambush." A masked figure writes down a message on the scroll.
"This time, we won't fail! Konoha, you will pay the price for your arrogance."
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A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
Also, check out my pat reon www.pa treon.com/ForgottenLife to support my work and get a sneak peak at the latest chapters of both series in advance. Read upto 60+ chapters from both series combined in advance.