"The Land of Water… an island nation with its own strange culture. Mist-covered mountains. Scattered islands. Villagers bound to their customs like barnacles stuck to a ship's hull."
Fuyu's soft voice floated above Tobika's head as the cat lounged across his hair like a floppy orange hat, reading from a battered guidebook titled Tourist Survival Warnings: Land of Water Edition. He flicked his tongue over his nose, then rubbed his paws into Tobika's hair.
"I swear you're using me as a sunshade," Fuyu complained.
"Ridiculous," Tobika said. "Stuffing you in my shirt is too hot. Making you run is too tiring. On my head is optimal. Mutual benefit. Efficient system."
"…Fine," Fuyu admitted, flipping another page dramatically. "Next warning: never enter Kirigakure. Last tourist who tried it looked someone in the eye and got dragged into the fog. Never returned.Also: do not fall for affectionate locals. One visitor spent a few warm nights with a woman, then ditched her. They say he, too, vanished into the mist."
Fuyu paused, then glanced down at Tobika."…This book isn't fake, right?Why are women of the Water Country so dangerous?"
"It's not the women," Tobika said, stomping a scorpion flat with one clean strike. He took a long drink from his canteen. "It's Kirigakure's politics. They've spent decades persecuting bloodline clans. Locals don't trust kekkei-genkai users. Bloodline families avoid marrying internally, but marrying a civilian risks denunciation. So some target foreigners instead."
"Oh." Fuyu scratched his chin. "Right. Only Kirigakure is insane enough to hunt its own talent."
Tobika veered right. Fuyu immediately yanked his hair. "Idiot. Yakura's scent is on the left."
Tobika squinted. "You sure?"
Fuyu puffed up proudly, sitting on the book like it was a throne. "Cats have better olfactory cells than dogs. Do not question me."
A heavy gust slammed into them. Fuyu clung to Tobika's head like a terrified banner.
"Hey," Fuyu yelled over the wind, "the Third Hokage's son—what about him?"
"I prepared the condolence money," Tobika replied. "When they hold the funeral feast, I'll take you."
"Your tone… sounds like you're hoping he dies."
"Don't be stupid."
Their silhouettes vanished across the dunes. The wind filled the tracks behind them.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━The Land of Water looked like paradise, if paradise smelled faintly of mold and salt.Towering cliffs. Endless mist.A mushroom-shaped island whose capital spiraled upward like a stone helix, fortress stacked upon fortress, gates upon gates. A hundred stone barriers between the outer docks and the daimyo's mansion. A real mountain-city.
Tobika stepped off the pier—and immediately collided with a crowd of gaunt civilians.
Every village had two types of commoners:Those with hollow eyes and empty stomachs…And those with bright, darting eyes: thieves.
"Cough… cough—"
A violent hacking shook the street. Tobika glanced at Fuyu, who now wore a tiny face mask like a surgeon.
"You're a ninja cat," Tobika said dryly. "How are you this scared?"
"The mist here is toxic," Fuyu said bluntly. "Shortens lifespan by decades. You should wear a mask."
"No."
Fuyu sniffed dramatically at the air. "I smell piss, mold, and mist. Give me half a day to adjust. Yakura's scent trail is close."
Tobika sighed. Yakura had burned every spare drop of chakra escaping into this place. He still hadn't caught up.
He checked into an inn that evening.
"Well… the humidity's perfect for selling Uchiha snail-noodle bowls," Tobika muttered, eating one to dry out the cold damp in his bones.
But sleep didn't come.
Next door: someone coughing like their lungs wanted to escape.Upstairs: men and women loudly "appreciating the briefness of life."Outside: the entire country sounded like a wet graveyard.
Annoyed, Tobika opened his window—And a wave of thick white fog poured in like dry ice on stage.
Below, villagers chanted around bonfires, burning old meat and rotten fish, praying to some deity.
"'Evil God'?" Tobika whispered. "Don't tell me… the Hidan cult? Why does the Land of Water have a branch?!"
He slammed the window shut."Not staying here. As soon as Fuyu's nose recovers, we're leaving."
That was when the door burst open.
A kunai pressed to his throat before he could blink.
"Don't move," a woman hissed. "What did you mean by 'Evil God'? Answer."
Tobika raised an eyebrow."You can hear through doors?"
"Speak."
"The Evil God is a cult. Originates near the Hot Springs borderlands. Some people worship it."
The woman hesitated, then pushed the kunai harder. "Why do you know so much? Who are you?"
"Me?" Tobika blinked innocently. "Uchiha Sasuke."
Her eyes widened a split second before his Sharingan ignited.
Genjutsu: Sharingan.
Her mind froze. Kunai clattered to the sheets.
"Fuyu," Tobika called, shaking the cat awake, "your favorite part. Interrogation time."
Fuyu instantly sobered, eyes sparkling with malicious professionalism.
"Sasuke isn't even born yet," he muttered as he stretched. "Are you craving a mother figure? Anyway—what intel do you want?"
Tobika glared. "Shut up. We need details on Kirigakure's negotiations with Sunagakure. And anything about their involvement with that cult."
Fuyu nodded, whiskers stiffening.He looked at the frozen Kiri kunoichi with dark seriousness rare for him.
"Understood.No body measurements… everything else is fair game."