Within the land where the rain poured by relentlessly, there lied a cave. Interestingly enough, it looked comfortable enough to live, with steady rocks blocking the water from smearing into the space.
On one side lied the wooden platform that is large enough to sleep, along with blankets scattered around. The humidity of the cave was considerably low in comparison to the outside, and the warm and steady fire was burning in the middle, brightening up the dark space.
Three teens—two boys and one girl—were sitting around the fire. They were none other than Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, who were now at the age of 11; it has been almost a year already since Jiraiya left them.
"...How funny it is," Yahiko, who seemed to be in a low mood, muttered with his eyes fixated on the fire, "that we only managed to attain the peace that you sought for, only after your departure."
The fire was warm. Akashi once told Yahiko that rain, at some instances, is soothing; Yahiko disagreed. In comparison to the warmth that the fire gave, rain was cold and cruel, sipping away even the smallest bit of heat within his body.
"Just like the fire that a human being needs to survive, we too were relying on Akashi to mend our needs." Konan then spoke with a nostalgic expression. Her eyes were hollow and glassy, and even though her demeanour, in comparison to four years ago, has drastically shifted to that of a mature one, her gaze was still headed far back in the past, where the boy messy brown hair was still with them.
Nagato lowered his head in silence.
That day, to the three of them, has become a traumatic event. Without Akashi, Yahiko would've starved, Konan would've been murdered, and Nagato would've been lost. Although they were together for a year or so, such span of time was enough to determine their goals, ideals, and morality.
However, now wasn't the time to fall into the depression. Yahiko, knowing this, took in a deep breath, before clapping his hands loudly, causing the other two to jolt up.
"Now now, let's not fall too deep into this endless pit, shall we?"
Yahiko placed his hand into his vest, and took out a slip of paper that had a complex seal drawn over.
"As you already are aware of, Jiraiya-sensei built up the information network around Amegakure through the use of this slip. He said that it's to monitor the activity of the suspicious man named Danzo, but that's not what matters for now."
Konan and Nagato nodded to Yahiko's words,
"We can't send any message, but only receive. However," Yahiko smiled confidently as he raised the paper up, "we can use this to identify our allies. The decision to help Jiraiya-sensei meant that they agreed to his desire for peace, and I believe that they will be willing to take a part in achieving our goal."
Konan commented thoughtfully, "...I assume that we will be running by feet."
"Exactly," Yahiko nodded, "That's what we should be discussing instead."
The information, due to Hanzo's action of locking down the borders, was quite scarce in the land of rain. The wisps of information that managed to enter the land, were concentrated in the Amegakure, and bingo book was of no exception.
'Preparation is the key to one's survival, Jiraiya-sensei said,' Yahiko thought, 'This time around, we possess strength. We have become someone capable.'
Jiraiya's slip of paper, bingo book, and further information gathering. All of them will be achieved upon entry into the village, Yahiko believed.
__________
"On south, there lies the port town. On north, there lies Koahi village. A small and humble village on the outside, but by now, it is well-known information to us, that," The leader of the four-men cell said calmly, "it is the major site for the underworld transactions."
They were leaping from branch to branch, traveling at a rapid speed. The other three, even Dai who was matching their speed with physical strength alone, were listening carefully to the leader's words.
"The variabilities in the fact that we don't know how much time is left until the 'month after,' and that the location that we are travelling currently, is speculation at best. But there is one thing that seems likely at the current moment."
The leader's eyes narrowed as he stared at the front,
"Gale Brothers—name value matters in headhunting. Image-making is one way of doing business, and there is no way that they would accept the mission from someone of lower caliber."
"That logic doesn't necessarily apply, for most of the headhunters move by money alone," The Hyuga shinobi retorted, "there is no such concept as 'dropping to the lowest of the low' to them. That's what they essentially are: the stray dogs in hire for all the dirty works."
"Well, what's the point of thinking about it?" The shinobi with spiky black hair then stated, "Our goal isn't to dispose of the culprit; the deaths of ronins from Suna don't concern us. The only reason why we visited Mesamatsu in the first place, was to see if the incident hinted the involvement of other hidden villages, after all."
"Correct," The leader agreed, "The most important matter right now is to investigate the current circumstance of the underworld market."
Then, he raised his hand up, causing all the other three to come to a stop along with him.
"We are now about to enter the village. Although it won't be much of a trouble under normal circumstances, we are currently at the war. Know that there will be no back-ups." The leader said seriously, "From here on, take off your forehead protectors."
"...What?" The spiky black wrinkled his face, "In the land of fire?"
"Are you questioning my order, chunin?" The leader shifted his eyes at the spiky black, causing the latter to evade the eye contact, and reluctantly remove the forehead protector.
"And as for you, genin," Then, Dai received the gaze full of despise from the leader, "don't fall behind. This mission is crucial for the village's survival, and no one is here to become your caretaker. Understood?"
"Yes, I do," Dai nodded with determination, to which the leader let out a snort before turning back.
"Now, I will be explaining the plan."
__________
I sat in the forest once again, now quite close to the village of Koahi. If I were to over-exert myself, I will be able to enter the location, in return for my vulnerability. Even with the risk of missing the chance to find the 'Immortal,' it was better to stay out.
Currently, I was thinking, of how to become stronger. To me, it was akin to daydreaming, for becoming stronger and standing above another, was another aspect of life where I found joy in.
'Wind Release,' I thought as I stared at the leaf that I was holding with my right hand, 'Creating something from the scratch surely isn't an easy thing to do.'
Few months passed, and I've only managed to reach the level of enveloping a sword with it, in contrast to my drastic improvement in taijutsu and overall physical capability. Wind Release users were extremely rare, and there weren't many occasions that I could learn about it; any further development from this point will, without a doubt, take more time, and I believed that it was impractical in comparison to training with respect to other natures.
After all, as I continued to accumulate battle experiences, I've come to realize that versatility matters—by quite a lot. The more the cards in my hands, the better the chance of victory.
Water soaks. Earth crumbles. Lightning wrinkles.
'With the use of Kiba, I can mend the use of lightning to some extent.'
'Water Release requires the surrounding body of water to have potent strength.'
Even now, the slight use of Wind Release uses up even more chakra than most of my Fire Release techniques do. And condensing the water molecules from the air—I knew that its use will be quite impractical.
This left me with the Earth Release. Clones, walls, along with the ability to morph the terrain itself. Without a doubt, its use will grant me various advantages.
'So...' I thought as I plucked one leaf from the nearby tree, 'Earth crumbles.'
I channeled the chakra into the leaf, trying to imagine the qualities and characteristics of dirt.
...The leaf was set ablaze by a very potent fire, and within a second, nothing but ashes remained on my palm.
I couldn't help but scratch the back of my head,
'The more the overall amount of chakra grows within me, the stronger my Fire Release becomes. At this rate, as more time passes on, the harder it will become for me to master the other natures.'
Chakra is a mix of physical and spiritual energy. Physical energy, in another word, is considered stamina. Mental energy is related to one's innate strength, including intelligence, determination, and other determinant factors of one's mentality.
I speculated that the rapid growth and maturation were the reasons why a ninja had a sudden and rapid increase in the chakra amount during its adolescence. I, who have been training vigorously and facing countless battles up until now, managed to acquire the chakra reserve amounting to 'high chunin,' according to Jiraiya, and it produced a synergistic effect with my strongest suit: chakra control.
'Kenjutsu and taijutsu for hand-to-hand combat. Ninjutsu to adapt to various situations, and produce variability in battle. Slight use of genjutsu, although not significant. The Eight Gates opening, although I am not sure if I am able to use it in accordance with my will, right now.'
'Train the use of Earth Release, and its synergy with fire and wind. Hone taijutsu and prepare many other means of combat, in order to reduce my reliance on kenjutsu. Perhaps, study genjutsu as well, although I am not sure how.'
My thoughts were jumbled up. There were simply a lot of ways for me to increase my strength—enough to give me a headache.
But it did bring a smile to my face. I may be being delusional, but... Jiraiya, Hanzo, and all those renowned ninjas of the world, I believed that it wasn't impossible to attain strength even above theirs.
'...I wonder how Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato will react when I flaunt my strength,' I couldn't help but think wistfully.