Chapter 118 (Patreon)

“Still, Danzō wouldn’t travel all the way to the Land of Waterfalls for no reason,” Roy said thoughtfully. “Its military strength is mediocre, it isn’t a major transportation hub, and it has little economic value. If that old man showed up there, he’s probably after the tailed beast.”

Even before his defection, Danzō had always coveted the power of the tailed beasts. He had wanted to harness that power and use it to seize the position of Hokage.

Now that he was a rogue shinobi, however, he had little left at his disposal. Aside from a handful of trusted subordinates, the only person likely to offer him any assistance was Orochimaru, who was also a rogue shinobi.

Dreaming of returning to Konoha with such meager forces was nothing short of absurd.

Takigakure, on the other hand, was currently in decline yet still possessed a tailed beast. It was entirely possible that Danzō saw the Seven-Tails as the trump card he needed to reclaim Konoha.

Knowing Danzō, he would most likely exploit Konoha’s name to deceive Takigakure’s leaders before placing them under his control from the shadows.

Although Konoha had already announced his defection, Takigakure rarely interacted with the outside world. There was a good chance its leaders had yet to learn that Danzō was now a rogue shinobi.

Kushina had also been wondering why he had gone there.

The Land of Waterfalls lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, but Danzō could hardly be passing through on his way to defect to Ōnoki and seek refuge in Iwagakure.

After hearing Roy’s explanation, everything fell into place.

As for whether Danzō truly possessed the ability to control a tailed beast, that was another matter entirely. At the very least, Danzō himself undoubtedly believed that he did.

“No. If he’s already taken control of Takigakure, Shisui and a single ANBU squad could be in danger. We need to send reinforcements.”

Kushina had no intention of allowing Danzō to escape, much less losing Shisui and his Mangekyō Sharingan in the process.

“Agreed,” Roy said. “Kakashi isn’t away on a mission right now, is he? Send him with two more ANBU squads to reinforce Shisui. Have Chiyuki accompany them as well.”

“What? Are you itching to go out again?”

Kushina immediately understood what he was planning.

Chiyuki had awakened Ice Release and possessed strength comparable to a jōnin, but she had no real combat experience. Ordinarily, sending her on a mission to capture Danzō would be little different from delivering her straight into his hands.

Roy’s reason for sending her was obvious. He intended to use Chiyuki as an anchor so that he could leave the village as well.

“Takigakure no longer has the strength to protect a tailed beast,” Roy said solemnly. “I’ll go and see whether I can coax... ahem, bring the Seven-Tails back to Konoha for safekeeping.”

And so, Chiyuki—who had just coaxed Haku to sleep and was preparing to take a bath before being coaxed to sleep herself—received the diplomatic documents Kushina had prepared, knocked on Kakashi’s door, and set out for the Land of Waterfalls with him that very night.

During the journey, Kakashi’s usually listless eye occasionally drifted toward Chiyuki.

He had seen her several times at Kushina’s home, but he barely knew anything about her. All he knew was that Yakushi Nonō, who had once served as Kushina’s caretaker, had brought her back to Konoha from outside the village.

Normally, an ANBU operation—especially one involving the capture of a rogue shinobi as dangerous as Danzō—would never include an outsider without good reason.

However, the order had come directly from the Hokage. On a personal level, Kushina was also the wife of his late sensei. Kakashi had no grounds to object, either as an ANBU shinobi or as Minato’s former student.

Besides, Chiyuki had no trouble keeping pace with them. Whatever her circumstances might be, she was clearly no ordinary woman.

Roy did not travel with them. Once Chiyuki reached the Land of Waterfalls, he could simply cross through the Mirror Space and appear at her side.

Rather than waste several days on the journey, he chose to remain at home and continue training with Kushina and the others.

On the morning of the third day, Roy received Chiyuki’s signal. After informing Kushina, he entered the Mirror Space and appeared beside Chiyuki.

“Lord Roy, Shisui and his team arrived first, but they found no trace of Danzō.”

Taking advantage of a brief rest, Chiyuki explained the situation to Roy within the consciousness space.

Shisui had initially assumed that the mission had failed and was preparing to return to Konoha. Before his team could leave, however, they happened to encounter Kakashi and his reinforcements.

After the two sides exchanged reports, Kakashi had also been ready to withdraw. That was when Chiyuki revealed the second mission Kushina had entrusted to her: investigate Takigakure.

The mission scroll was authentic and bore the Hokage’s seal. Once Kakashi confirmed Chiyuki’s identity, Shisui had no further reason to doubt her.

Takigakure was unlike the shinobi villages of the Five Great Nations. It had not been built out in the open, but lay concealed within the Land of Waterfalls behind an enormous waterfall.

Its location was exceptionally well hidden, and the surrounding terrain made it easy to defend and difficult to invade. None of the three Great Shinobi World Wars had ever reached the village.

Neither Kakashi nor Shisui knew Takigakure’s exact location, and none of the ANBU under their command had ever been there.

Roy, however, had a clue.

He had never visited Takigakure either, but while on Summoning Island, he had seen fragments of the ultimate artificial summoning beast’s memories. Among them were the memories of a Takigakure shinobi who had once pursued Kakuzu.

As long as Roy could locate a few recognizable mountains and waterfalls from those memories, he would be able to pinpoint both Takigakure and the secret route leading inside.

Following the directions Chiyuki relayed on his behalf, Kakashi and Shisui ordered the ANBU to spread out and search for the landmarks Roy remembered.

Half a day later, one of the ANBU fired a signal flare. Everyone immediately converged on his position.

After examining the surrounding terrain, Roy confirmed that it matched the scenery from the memory fragments.

He took the lead, and Chiyuki followed closely behind the invisible figure that only she could see. Kakashi and Shisui exchanged a glance before quickly leading their teams after her.

Before long, they passed behind the curtain of a waterfall and discovered a seemingly bottomless cave.

The tunnel twisted and turned until it eventually ended at a solid wall.

Everyone looked toward Chiyuki in confusion. From her perspective, however, Roy had already jumped into one of the several pools scattered across the cavern floor.

Seeing that, Chiyuki drew a deep breath and followed him without hesitation.

“Captain?” one of the ANBU asked, turning toward Shisui.

“Follow her.”

Shisui jumped in first, and the others quickly followed.

The group swam through a submerged passage before finally emerging into a lake.

By the time Kakashi, Shisui, and the ANBU reached the surface, Chiyuki had already made it to shore. Buildings stood beside the lake, and a group of Takigakure shinobi had surrounded her.

Chiyuki calmly produced the token Kushina had given her.

“We are shinobi of Konohagakure, acting under the Hokage’s direct orders. We have urgent business to discuss with Takigakure’s leader.”

Because Takigakure was not one of the shinobi villages belonging to the Five Great Nations, its leader did not bear the title of Kage.

Under normal circumstances, Takigakure’s friendly relationship with Konoha meant that its shinobi would never obstruct an envoy carrying the Hokage’s orders.

Unfortunately, Takigakure had already fallen under the control of Danzō’s men.

The moment they noticed the Konoha forehead protector hanging around Chiyuki’s neck, several of Danzō’s subordinates hidden among the crowd began signaling to one another, silently preparing to strike.

Roy immediately noticed the change in one man’s expression. It was the same lifeless, unquestioning look worn by the Root shinobi whom Danzō had brainwashed back in Konoha.

While Chiyuki kept everyone’s attention on herself, Roy carefully observed the crowd and quickly identified the rest of Danzō’s men.

The appearance of Shisui, Kakashi, and the ANBU forced the Root operatives to abandon their plan. Instead, they exchanged discreet glances and remained hidden among Takigakure’s shinobi.

They had clearly recognized the Uchiha prodigy known throughout the shinobi world as Shisui of the Body Flicker. With Danzō having taken Ryōma and several other skilled subordinates elsewhere, the handful of Root operatives left behind stood no chance against him.

Their best option was to remain hidden and learn why the Konoha shinobi had come. They needed to prevent Takigakure’s people from asking Konoha for help while finding some way to alert Lord Danzō.

What they failed to realize was that an invisible presence stood among them—and their identities had already been exposed.