"Aniki..." Rinya spoke with unease in his voice.
Aoba tried to compose himself before saying, "This is no small matter. You two shouldn't have known about it. I'll report this to the Hokage. This man must be brought back to the village."
As he spoke, he took out a rope and securely tied up the Otogakure ninja, wrapping his mouth tightly with a cloth.
The severity of the situation only made Rinya and gumi more anxious.
To shift their attention, Natsuki scolded them, "You two can date, but don't get so carried away that you don't notice soone tailing you. That little relationship of yours— and Aoba-sensei saw through it long ago. No need to keep pretending. As punishnt, all the D-rank missions when we get back are yours!"
"...Got it, aniki," the two mumbled, heads lowered in embarrassnt and frustration, not daring to protest.
Aoba nodded in approval at Natsuki's approach. Natsuki didn't ask too many questions, nor did he let Rinya and gumi ask more either—after all, this wasn't sothing genin should be involved in.
Just to be safe, the four of them decided not to separate for now.
"Tonight, stay in my room. First thing in the morning, we'll rush back to the village!" urgency flickered in Aoba's eyes.
"Aoba-sensei, my kuchiyose no jutsu (Summoning Technique) calls a mountain giant eagle that can carry up to seven people and flies really fast. How about we ride it back to the village tomorrow?"
Natsuki was worried that Orochimaru might still be in the capital of the Land of Fire, so the sooner they returned to the village, the better.
Although his current strength allowed him to exchange blows with Orochimaru, and teaming up with Aoba might give them a fighting chance, they were still outside the village with no reinforcents—and with Rinya and gumi not being strong enough, facing an S-rank missing-nin was just too risky.
Avoiding conflict was clearly the better choice—and it was obvious Aoba thought the sa.
As for the giant eagle summoning beast, Natsuki and Tenten had already signed the contract scroll long ago, after soone answered the bounty they posted through the Bounty Exchange. Natsuki had even communicated with the eagle a few tis, but hadn't dared fly it around the village before.
It turned out that contracting a giant eagle had been a forward-thinking move. Now was exactly the ti to use such a convenient transportation thod.
As for who provided the scroll, Natsuki had good reason to suspect Kakuzu. After all, the bounty Tenten had offered was quite substantial—enough to make even soone with five hearts tempted.
"A mountain giant eagle summoning beast? That works. We'll leave it to you tomorrow, then!" Aoba had no objections. He needed to return to the village as soon as possible and report what he had read from the enemy's mories.
Early the next morning, the group checked out and left the city imdiately.
Just outside the city, Natsuki bit his thumb, quickly forming hand seals before slapping the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu! (Summoning Technique)"
Boom! A massive eagle appeared out of nowhere. The oppressive aura made everyone hold their breath, and the dust stirred up by its wings made it hard to breathe.
The Otogakure ninja had just regained consciousness—and promptly fainted again at the sight.
Caw! The eagle let out a long cry in greeting to Natsuki.
Despite its size, the eagle couldn't speak. Only those who had signed a contract with it could understand its intentions.
Natsuki leaped onto its back. "Birdra, take us back to Konoha."
Birdra—the na Natsuki had given it, inspired by the mighty Digimon, Birdramon, when he saw how majestic and fire-breathing it looked. Fortunately, the eagle wasn't displeased—in fact, it seed rather happy to have a na.
Aoba and the others grabbed the unconscious Otogakure ninja and climbed aboard. It was only when they were on its back that they truly realized how enormous the eagle was.
If not for weight limits, they could have brought a few more people along.
Whoosh! With a beat of its wings, Birdra shot into the sky. Everyone's hair was whipped into disarray.
But no one could deny the speed—within two or three hours, Konoha's outline was already visible below. Natsuki instructed Badora to land a kiloter outside the village.
The eagle was simply too big. If it landed too close, it might be attacked.
Once they dismounted, Aoba finally let out a breath of relief. "Alright, follow back to the village. After that, you're dismissed for a day of rest. If anything cos up, I'll notify you."
Natsuki waved to Birdra. "You can go back for now. Next ti, Tenten will prepare so delicious beef for you."
Birdra let out another cry before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Team Nine didn't linger—they picked up the pace and rushed to the village.
At the gate, the two guards called out, "Aoba, you're back already? That huge eagle just now was..."
"I'll report to the Hokage. Natsuki, register your return," Aoba cut them off, then vanished with the Otogakure ninja.
The guards looked at Natsuki and the others, but he said nothing—only gestured for them to handle the paperwork. Then Team Nine disbanded and headed ho.
...
Inside the Hokage's Office
Aoba placed the Otogakure ninja on the floor, his voice urgent. "...After we arrived in the capital of the Land of Fire, Rinya and gumi were followed while walking around town. Fortunately, Natsuki spotted the stalker in ti and captured him. I used Mind Reading Technique to read his mories and confird that he is indeed from Otogakure—and that the village was founded by Orochimaru!"
"Nani!? Orochimaru?!" Hiruzen shot up in shock.
"No wonder Otogakure has been so mysterious. It's actually a village created by Orochimaru?" the elderly Third Hokage muttered, suddenly looking uneasy. He couldn't quite understand Orochimaru's motive, but his instincts told him the man was up to sothing.
Otogakure had been established in the Land of Rice Fields, which bordered the north of the Land of Fire.
Now, with one of their ninja tailing Konoha shinobi, they were clearly planning sothing.
"Aoba, why was he following our people?" Hiruzen pressed.
"According to his mories, Orochimaru intends to launch an operation against Konoha. He ordered surveillance on our shinobi. This guy had been assigned to lie low in the capital and started tailing us after spotting with Team Nine yesterday. He appeared to be acting alone—no sign of teammates." Aoba's face remained grim.
"Operation? What kind of operation?"
"Unclear. There was no information in his mories—he genuinely didn't know."
That uncertainty was exactly why Aoba had rushed back to report.
Orochimaru, once one of Konoha's Sannin, knew the village inside and out. If he was truly plotting sothing, then Konoha was in serious danger.
They had to start preparing—imdiately.
(End of Chapter)
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