The next morning, outside Sunagakure's eastern gate.
A group was preparing to depart.
At the very front were Kakashi and Guy, leading the Konoha party.
Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji...
Every one of them carried a pack. Their faces held the anticipation of finally going home, yet the extra people in the group left them noticeably restrained.
Behind them stood a unit of Sunagakure elite ANBU.
All of them wore black uniforms, their animal masks hiding their faces as they silently guarded three carriages.
Those carriages were sturdier than ordinary ones.
The compartments were covered in special sealing tags, and from inside came a faint chakra fluctuation that made the heart pound uneasily.
The Four-Tails jinchuriki, Roshi, was locked inside.
Kakashi had once found a chance to get close enough for a look.
Inside the carriage, Roshi sat collapsed on the floor.
His body was wrapped in chains, and his face was frighteningly pale.
It was not the pallor of ordinary weakness.
It was the hollow emptiness of someone who seemed to have had something vital ripped out of him.
His eyes were half-closed. His breathing was so faint it was almost impossible to detect.
He looked like he was at death's door.
Kakashi frowned.
Something was wrong.
A jinchuriki's life force should not have been this frail.
With a tailed beast inside him, even if he suffered serious injuries, the beast's chakra should still be sustaining his life.
Unless...
A terrible possibility flashed through Kakashi's mind, but it felt too absurd to believe.
Before leaving, he had specifically gone to find Teizawa.
"Lord Kazekage."
He carefully chose his words.
"The Four-Tails jinchuriki's condition... seems a little off."
Teizawa was organizing his things. At those words, he looked up and gave him an unconcerned smile.
"Is that so? Who knows."
He shrugged.
"Maybe he just isn't adjusting well to the local climate."
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
Not adjusting well to the climate?
A Kage-level fighter. The Four-Tails jinchuriki.
And he had ended up like that because of "the climate"?
The excuse was absurdly perfunctory.
But looking at Teizawa's face, at that smile that plainly said I don't feel like telling you, so what are you going to do about it?, Kakashi knew there was no point asking further.
He could only withdraw in silence.
...
At the rear of the group, Teizawa swung himself onto his horse.
He wore an ordinary Sunagakure shinobi uniform instead of the eye-catching Kazekage robe.
At his waist hung an unremarkable bracelet.
Several plain beads were strung on it.
One of them was red.
Every now and then, under the sunlight, it flashed with a strange gleam.
No one noticed that bead.
And no one knew what was hidden inside it...
Teizawa's fingers lightly brushed over the red bead.
A faint smile rose to his lips.
Half of the Four-Tails' chakra.
Stay put in there for now.
Once they reached Konoha, the other half of the Four-Tails would fetch a good price.
And this half...
He withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping over the Konoha genin ahead.
He would keep it and use it slowly.
...
Within the group, Ino and Sakura walked side by side.
Both of their expressions were complicated.
But for completely different reasons.
Ino kept her head lowered, yet the corners of her mouth kept trying to lift.
He was going to Konoha too!
That was wonderful!
Inside, she was cheering, practically bursting with joy. She wanted nothing more than to jump up and spin in circles.
But reason told her she could not show it.
There were too many people around.
Kakashi-sensei. Guy-sensei.
And all of her teammates.
If they noticed anything...
She took a deep breath and forced herself to look normal.
But her gaze still could not help drifting backward.
That man was right there at the back of the group.
Mounted on horseback, calm and composed.
Every now and then, he would glance this way.
And every time their eyes met, Ino's heartbeat would skip.
Act like we're strangers...
She repeated it to herself over and over.
I have to act like we're strangers...
Walking beside her, Sakura was in a completely different state of mind.
She was looking back too.
But there was no joy in her eyes. Only turmoil.
Why was he going to Konoha too?
Hadn't they agreed never to see each other again?
Then why... did she feel a little...
She could not even explain what the feeling was.
Anticipation?
Fear?
Or something else?
Every time she thought of that bastard, she remembered those nights, those humiliating moments.
Those scenes that made her want to kill him...
But every time she thought, we'll never meet again...
Her heart felt strangely empty.
No.
She shook her head hard.
That was a devil.
The man who had forced her.
She hated him.
Absolutely.
And yet her gaze still kept slipping backward.
...
Kakashi walked at the very front of the group.
He looked as if he were watching the road, but in truth he was observing everything around him.
That carriage holding the Four-Tails.
Those silent Sunagakure ANBU.
And that young Kazekage, calm as drifting clouds.
This journey was not going to be peaceful.
That was the thought Kakashi held in silence.
In the distance, Sunagakure's outline gradually blurred.
Ahead lay the road to Konoha.
This mixed and uneasy group had officially begun its journey.
And no one knew what was waiting for them up ahead...
...
On the second day after Teizawa left Sunagakure, the Kazekage Building suddenly fell into silence.
The air abruptly twisted.
A vortex appeared out of thin air.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had torn space open.
It grew larger and deeper.
In the blink of an eye, a black figure stepped out of the spiral and landed steadily on the ground.
A man wearing an orange spiral mask.
Only his right eye was visible.
His scarlet Sharingan glimmered eerily in the dimness.
Obito Uchiha... or rather, the man calling himself "Madara Uchiha."
He stood where he was, frowning faintly.
His sensory perception spread outward like invisible tendrils...
Sweeping across the entire Kazekage Building, across the surrounding streets, across the core of Sunagakure itself...
Nothing.
The chakra signature he was looking for was not there.
Too late?
As he was thinking, the ground by his feet suddenly bulged upward.
A black-and-white figure rose halfway out of the earth.
On that bizarre face, one side was solemn and the other wore a grin.
"Obito..."
"Shut up."
Obito cut him off coldly.
"How many times have I told you? Call me Madara."
White Zetsu stuck out his tongue, with not the slightest trace of respect in his voice.
"Yeah, yeah, got it, got it."
He paused, and a gloating smile appeared on the white half of his face.
"But O... uh, Lord Madara, your timing couldn't be worse."
"That Kazekage already left Sunagakure."
Obito's single visible eye narrowed slightly.
"Where did he go?"
"Konoha."
Black Zetsu's voice was hoarse and low as he answered slowly, "He took the Four-Tails jinchuriki and left for Konoha with those Konoha shinobi."
Obito fell silent for a moment.
"The Four-Tails?"
"That's right."
Black Zetsu nodded, amusement creeping into his tone.
"Roshi. That idiot came looking for trouble on his own and got captured alive by the Kazekage."
"And now that Kazekage is taking him to Konoha. Looks like he's planning something big."
Obito said nothing.
That lone eye turned toward the window, toward the direction of Konoha.
"Taking the Four-Tails to Konoha..."
He murmured the words, and an unusual gleam flickered in his eye.
"Interesting."
White Zetsu shouted from the side, "What's so interesting about it? Isn't he just moving the prisoner somewhere else?"
"You don't understand."
Obito withdrew his gaze, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"That Kazekage isn't going there to imprison the Four-Tails."
"Then what is he going for?" White Zetsu asked curiously.
Obito did not answer.
His body began to twist, and ripples spread through the surrounding space once more.
"If the Four-Tails has gone to Konoha..."
His voice drifted out from within the widening vortex.
"Then I should go join the fun too."
The moment the words fell, the vortex abruptly contracted.
The black figure vanished completely into thin air.
Only White Zetsu and Black Zetsu remained, half their bodies above the ground, staring at each other.
"Why's he going to Konoha?" White Zetsu scratched his head.
Black Zetsu was silent for a few seconds before his hoarse voice slowly sounded again.
"Maybe... he wants to take a look at that Kazekage."
"And while he's at it..."
He paused, and a strange smile rose on the black half of his face.
"He'll see whether he can muddy the waters and profit from the chaos."
White Zetsu froze for a second, then grinned too.
"Interesting," he said.
The two figures slowly sank back into the ground, disappearing without a trace.
The Kazekage Building returned to silence once more.
(End of Chapter)
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