When the group realized their movents had already been exposed, a wave of unease swept over them. Who knew how many more reckless fools would co courting death along the way?
Without hesitation, Arima ordered everyone to travel light. Once the Anbu arrived to take custody of the captives, they would imdiately depart.
By now, the train had long departed, and with dusk settling over the land, Arima judged it best to rest for the night.
He summoned his signature Wood Style and swiftly constructed a delicate three-story villa in the open field, complete with ornate carvings and elegant decor.
Noticing the presence of Tsunade and Iwa among the group, Arima went a step further and used Water Style to create an outdoor bathhouse, neatly partitioned into two sections and encircled with sturdy wooden fencing.
The group looked on with envy. Wood Style truly was a remarkable ability, no matter where you traveled, there was never any need to fear sleeping rough or missing a proper bath.
A comfortable hot spring soak was always within reach.
They quickly picked out rooms and settled in, then washed off the dust and gri of the road in comfort.
That night, as Arima rested, the familiar voice of the system echoed in his mind:
"One good deed completed.
Rank: S.
Full score: 5000 points.
Evaluation: 100.
Virtue Points earned: 5000.
Current total Virtue Points: 390,490 points."
Arima raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected that subduing this group of rogue ninja would be deed an S-rank act. Rewards at that level were rare even for him.
Still, he could feel himself drawing ever closer to the ultimate secrets of the ninja world.
His thoughts drifted back to the final words of Kagami, spoken before his death. So much ti had passed, yet those words still stirred deep emotion in Arima's heart.
If he hadn't studied the Uchiha clan's stone tablet in their ancestral hall, he never would've discovered just how deeply entangled the Uchiha were in the hidden truths of the world.
Thanks to his Mangekyo Sharingan, one approaching the power of the Eternal Mangekyo, he had deciphered far more from the stone tablet than Kagami ever had.
Among those revelations were fragnts about the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Staring out at the starry night sky, Arima murmured, "Can the Infinite Tsukuyomi really save the world?"
The question weighed heavily on him. For now, he still hadn't found the answer he sought.
It seed the only option was to keep moving forward. He held quiet hope for the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and the truths it might reveal.
The night passed without incident. Everyone slept soundly until morning, no sentry rotations were needed.
With the Third Hokage among them, all felt safe, almost as if they were back ho in the village.
By midday, several Anbu squads arrived and took custody of the captives. The rogue ninja's futures would likely be spent rotting in the prison of Hozuki Castle.
After the handover, the seven-mber team resud their journey, crossing rapidly through the Land of Rain and the Land of Birds, heading toward the Land of Bears without pause.
The Land of Rain was perpetually cloaked in drizzle, ravaged by ceaseless civil war. Its civilians lived in destitution, often starving.
With important matters ahead, Arima and his group had no desire to linger. Now was not the ti to cross paths with Hanzo, any such conflict could throw their mission into chaos.
However, as they approached the Land of Bears, they noticed an increasing number of refugees clogging the roads.
According to the intelligence they had gathered along the way, the Sky Ninja, whose movents were erratic, would often descend from the skies to abduct villagers.
Their primary activity zones were the Lands of Demons and Bears, forcing waves of civilians to flee.
No wonder, the group thought, those two countries' daimyos had urgently begged Konoha for aid, even expressing willingness to join the Konoha–Kumogakure alliance.
With the Sky Ninja's rampage, their nations were on the brink of collapse.
Arima sensed sothing deeply unusual.
Without precise intel, the Sky Ninja's widespread, organized abductions shouldn't have been possible. Why were they targeting civilians? What was the purpose behind it?
Another strange detail, the Sky Ninja had only attacked Hoshigakure, thus far, avoiding confrontations with any of the other shinobi villages, large or small.
After a brief discussion with the team, Arima decided they would head directly to Hoshigakure and investigate. Hopefully, they would uncover valuable information.
Hoshigakure lay less than a day's journey from the border of the Lands of Bears and Birds. They pressed forward at full speed and reached the village before nightfall.
A deep chasm stretched before them, filled with poisonous miasma.
Arima instinctively clapped his hands together and perford a jutsu. In the blink of an eye, a sturdy wooden bridge spanned the gap.
Seeing this, the others felt a bit guilty. They had relied far too much on the Third Hokage, every ti they encountered a mountain or a river, he was the one clearing the path for them.
Tsunade, though long accustod to being protected by her Arima-nii, didn't want to seem like a burden during missions.
She said frankly, "Arima-nii, you can leave these smaller tasks to us! We've barely contributed anything so far, and everyone's itching to help."
The rest of the group nodded. Tsunade had voiced what was on all their minds.
Though none of them could yet match the Third Hokage, they had their own pride, and a sincere desire to do sothing for him, no matter how small.
Arima smiled and apologized, "I suppose I've been overstepping. It's not that I doubt your abilities, I'm just so used to helping others that I act without thinking.
My apologies. I'll make sure to let you all work together as a team from now on."
They hadn't expected such a sincere apology from the Third Hokage himself and were a little flustered by it. Still, that small mont helped bring the team into closer harmony.
They passed through the miasma and arrived at the entrance to Hoshigakure, only to find ruins and rubble. The village had been utterly devastated, no signs of life remained.
Arima gestured for everyone to split up and search the area.
As he explored, he could sense that two distinct and unusual chakra signatures had once existed here.
One was exceptionally potent, still highly active despite the passage of ti. Its qualities resembled those of a tailed beast's chakra.
The other was of much lower quality than tailed beast chakra, more akin to human chakra, yet it exuded a sinister and oppressive aura.
Though Arima combed the area carefully, he found no usable clues and had to wait for the others to report back.
With nothing else to do, he clasped his hands together and entered Sage Mode on a whim.
Through Sage Mode's enhanced perception, he noticed that the dark chakra was infused with intense negative emotions, a discovery that shocked him. He hadn't known that negative emotion could be converted into chakra.
A disturbing theory surfaced in his mind.
What if the Sky Ninja were harvesting those emotions from civilians as a chakra source? If so, then those who had been abducted were in grave danger.
Moreover, he realized the high-quality chakra he'd sensed earlier shared the sa origin as tailed beast chakra, but was even purer.
A troubling question ford in his heart:
"Could the Sky Ninja be after that teorite? The chakra it contains seems closely linked to the tailed beasts. This whole situation is getting more complicated…"
Suddenly, he detected a faint trace of life beneath a nearby ruin.
Arima rushed over and quickly ford hand seals to use Earth Release, lifting an underground chamber from beneath the debris.
Sensing the life force rapidly fading, he tore open the chamber's doors and stepped inside.
There, lying on the floor, was a little girl no older than three or four, her body filthy and frail, barely clinging to life.
Arima didn't hesitate. Ignoring the gri, he knelt and infused her body with his chakra. He then pulled out his water flask, carefully dripping water into her mouth.
The girl had clearly gone days without food or water. Her body was completely spent, any later, and even Arima wouldn't have been able to save her.
Thanks to his ergency treatnt, the child slowly ca to.
As he helped her sip so broth and gently cleaned the dirt from her face, her delicate features were finally revealed.
Though thin and malnourished, her large eyes sparkled with life. She radiated a natural, innocent charm.
Curious, Arima asked, "What's your na, little one?"
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