novelraw Chapter 160 Captain of the Hidden Clouds
Chapter 160 Captain of the Hidden Clouds
Not long after the mission notice from the Land of Mist arrived, Yugito received the order.
As a Jinchūriki, training on Turtle Island is essential. Under normal circumstances, the old turtle will patrol along a fixed route because the warm currents rich in food have fixed routes; wherever the food is, the old turtle will go. However, there are exceptions. For example, hurricanes.
The hurricane inevitably interfered with the old turtle's judgment, and it was difficult for humans to correct its course. Normally, the island's situation was relayed regularly by ninjas. If the old turtle moved, they would even have to sail out to confirm the route, otherwise even the Cloud Village itself wouldn't be able to find that treasure trove. However, this month's report was submitted early, and the summoning beast brought back terrible news. Due to the hurricane, the island's ships were severely damaged and unable to sail, and it would take considerable time to build another large ship suitable for long-distance travel. Meanwhile, the Cloud Village was holding the Chunin Exams and couldn't openly send people out to search for their secret weapon, so they had to send small teams out to sea to search. But they were heading in the wrong direction, focusing their main forces on the sea bordering the Land of Water, neglecting the waters on the other side of the Land of Hot Springs. Upon receiving this mission, they knew things were dire, and an urgent mission was sent to Yugito, who was closer to the Land of Mist.
To avoid arousing suspicion from other countries, Yugito led her team to the town where the mission had been launched. The town felt strange to her, especially the young mayor who received her. Matatabi said she disliked the young man, which seemed inexplicable, but Yugito trusted Matatabi's intuition; tailed beasts always possessed some strange abilities. Therefore, she refused his request for assistance, simply renting a small boat locally, ascertaining the directions, loading the necessary supplies, and setting off.
[Report from the Huinan Town branch: The Cloud Village has sent Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. We tried our best to persuade her, but she did not agree to let us accompany her.]
[Headquarters received. Maintain the status quo and do not reveal any weaknesses characteristic of ninjas.]
[Received by Huinan Town Branch.]
After the branch report ended, the group of five who had heard the information remained silent for a moment.
Izuna: "Kumogakure actually sent a Jinchūriki. How interesting. This mission objective is probably very important to them."
Tobirama: "Rumor has it that Kumogakure possesses the secret to taming tailed beasts. Could it be...?"
Naruto: "Stop guessing. I'm in the Land of Iron, on the same mission. There's a huge creature at sea, but the chakra flowing within it is almost like natural energy; ordinary sensory types can't detect it at all."
Is Hashirama a living being possessing natural energy? Similar to the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest?
Naruto: "...Similar? I've never seen the Slug Sage's true form."
Fugaku: [Shouldn't the focus be on "the same task"? We could clearly save this money.]
Naruto: "If that thing really belongs to Kumogakure, we can't just take it now, can we? If Konoha is the only one dealing with it, are we just going to occupy it? That's impossible; Kumogakure might just find another opportunity to start a war!"
Izuna: "Tsk, what a bunch of warmongers."
Tobirama: "It really feels strange coming from you."
Quan Na〖......〗
Hashirama: "Sigh, war seems to exist in every era... Wait, Naruto, have you set sail yet?"
Naruto is getting ready~
Hashirama: "Then wouldn't you two run into each other at sea? Won't the Hidden Cloud Village try to silence you to protect their secret?"
Izuna: "Are you really Hashirama Senju? Your reaction was incredibly fast."
Hashirama: "...We're talking about serious business! What should we do if we run into them?"
Naruto: "Yugito doesn't seem like the type to do something like this. If all else fails, I'll give her a Kurama-style shock~"
Fugaku: "You seem quite happy. Do you enjoy sea missions?"
Naruto: "Huh? No, it's Sasuke who infiltrated the fleet."
Naruto: "He didn't seem to use a transformation jutsu, he just wore a samurai armor. How come he grows so fast?!"
Naruto: [Last time I saw him, he was in his Golden Wheel form, I didn't even notice! Did he grow this tall in just three months?]
Naruto: [I was still figuring out how to infiltrate Orochimaru's base, but now I can just celebrate my birthday outside!]
Fugaku...Remember to take the scroll with you.
Naruto: "Oh! Of course I'll remember! By the way, Sasuke isn't going to be living with samurai, is he? Wouldn't that be too easy for them to find out? With his personality..."
Tobirama: [Shut up! No private conversations allowed on the public channel!]
Our gaze returned to the sea.
In the search for Turtle Island, Jinchūriki have a natural advantage. The ruins on Turtle Island are closely related to the Tailed Beasts and can resonate with Jinchūriki to some extent. Therefore, after three days of sailing at sea, the ship carrying the Cloud Village crew successfully entered a mist. Yugito breathed a sigh of relief; she was extremely familiar with this mist, and once inside, she wasn't afraid of not finding Turtle Island. The Cloud Village had truly expended a great deal of effort to capture Turtle Island, a place where Jinchūriki could be trained. However, before they could even catch their breath, a massive aura of chakra swept over them, physically knocking the entire ship over.
"It's the Nine-Tails!" Yuta exclaimed in surprise. Ever since the Tailed Beasts were scattered by the First Hokage, the Nine-Tails had been the least frequently encountered among them. It must be admitted that this creature with the most tails truly had the capital to stand out from the crowd, and was also the most difficult to control. Therefore, encountering the Nine-Tails in a place like this was truly shocking to her.
Yugito's mood was far less optimistic. She ordered the fleet to halt and jumped aboard to probe the front. She knew best the power of the Tailed Beasts, understanding that aside from a few top-tier ninjas, human strength was utterly incapable of subduing them; sending more people would only be suicide. No news of a Jinchuriki's death had reached Konoha, and this generation's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki wasn't as secretive as his predecessor. Like his father, he was a rising star in the ninja world, dazzling enough to have even caught the attention of Kumogakure. He rarely traveled abroad, so Kumogakure didn't have much information, but one piece was enough to raise everyone's guard, fearing the reappearance of the Yellow Flash.
That boy has already mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique!
As she pondered, Yugito suddenly noticed something strange about the current in the seawater beneath her feet. The abnormal shifts were easily detected by Matatabi, who was adept at balance. She reminded him again, "This area is completely soaked with the Nine-Tails' power. With such a large-scale chakra overflow, has that guy escaped its seal?"
"Impossible. If Naruto Uzumaki can't control the Tailed Beasts, Konoha would never allow him to lead a mission." Yugito rationally analyzed the situation before her. No matter what, she didn't want the situation to get out of control.
The water beneath my feet was winding and flowing in one direction, its speed constantly increasing... Could it be a whirlpool ahead?
Just as Yugito was about to send a clone to investigate, the water flow suddenly accelerated. She nimbly leaped out of the spinning area, and sure enough, a deep, black hole-like pit appeared there. The burst of chakra dispersed some of the water mist, and she saw a figure wearing a tailed beast cloak standing at the other end of the pit.