STEP 2.0
The trip back to Taki was maddeningly uneventful, which may sound like a paradox only if you aren't properly paranoid. The battles on Mount Shumisen hadn't exactly been quiet or stealthy after all, and our group was much larger than when I first snuck through the outer edges of Grass, close to the border with the Land of Earth. Despite this, despite my constant paranoia, we didn't run into any patrols or roaming ninja or even another living human being for that matter. Which was honestly frying my nerves, though to be fair, most of my suspicions weren't actually aimed at our surroundings.
No, in my mind, the true threat was closer to home, so to speak.
It's pretty hard to relax when you're under constant watch by masked black ops specialists after all. Especially considering the type of fucked up wetwork these guys have to be trained in when you consider that the 'usual' black ops stuff like assassinations is just standard fare for your average shinobi village. The stuff that even they don't want showing up in their ledgers is the truly heinous shit that I only knew from watching the show back in my old life.
I had absolutely zero intention of experiencing that shit first hand in this new world.
Tsubaki was a godsend during the week of travel it took us to sneak through Grass without straying too far into Earth while dodging border patrols from both. The Henge is not an demanding technique by itself, other than the increasing skill cap required the further you tried to (convincingly) alter your appearance. It does however, still require a constant upkeep of chakra, which becomes tougher to maintain the more you push your body. Fortunately, thanks to my new and improved constitution (which was ironically being hid underneath said Henge), that wasn't as much as a concern to me as it would've been to the original Mizuki.
However, the constant upkeep does mean that it can't be sustained while I'm sleeping.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my ANBU surveillance.
As both the first nightfall and my mounting worry began creeping in, it was Tsubaki who pulled a tent from our storage scrolls, a casual little gesture that I hoped would be convincing enough for the always watching ANBU. I knew they weren't stupid; they'd probably pieced together that Hiruko's hideout had been picked clean. I just hoped this little show made them think we'd only stolen creature comforts, not classified nightmares.
Then in no uncertain terms she had loudly announced she was going to attend to my wounds and that she would be grateful to the privacy our fellow Konoha shinobi would of course provide, before assertively pulling me inside the tent. With the Brothers guarding the entrance (which actually meant they just plopped their massive bulk down in front of the entry flap where they promptly fell asleep with earth-rumbling snores), I felt safe enough to share the watch with Tsubaki, throwing on the Henge whenever she needed to sleep and trusting her to keep lookout when it was my turn for some much needed shut-eye.
The ANBU either didn't want to test us, or they managed to sneak in anyway while I was sleeping without Tsubaki noticing, but to my surprise my altered appearance wasn't brought up even once during the rest of our travels to Taki. Whether they truly didn't know, or were just waiting to confront me about it later for some reason, I couldn't even begin to guess. Since playing mind games with ANBU sounded like a losing game, I decided to simply stick to preparing as much as I could and worry about potential fall-out later.
Despite travelling with a larger company, we made good time and soon we passed familiar landmarks in reverse order, from the mushroom forests of Grass to the destroyed Kannabi bridge. Somewhat to my surprise, the ANBU paused for a brief moment of silence, bowing their masked heads to the ruins sunken far below, before we pressed on. It was unlikely that they knew the details of the pivotal tragedy that had occurred here, but even so this battle had been the one that had cemented Minato's name in legend.
And had been the battle that had lost him one of his students.
The mood was sombre for a while as we continued to travel, only really lifting again once we began to hit the massive woodlands that covered so much of the Land of Fire and Taki. The familiar surroundings and Taki's status as our ally put my ANBU escort enough at ease that we even stopped flitting through the trees and skulking through the shadows, instead simply walking across one of the well-worn dirt paths that criss-crossed the country.
I was near the front of the group, Tiger several paces ahead of me when I saw the captain's mask focused intently on the woodlands alongside our flank. Likely feeling my gaze on his back, Tiger turned to look over his shoulder, studying me for a long moment before jutting his chin to the left.
"See that ridge over there, in the distance?"
Following his direction, I narrowed my eyes, trying to peer past the many tree trunks and branches, somewhat surprised to find almost what looked like a massive wall of rock jutting straight up some distance away. It gave me flashbacks to the base of Mount Shumisen and I quickly refocused on Tiger, who I could see was waiting for an answer.
As I nod, he remains silent for a moment and I can't help the feeling of… perhaps not being judged, more… evaluated?
"We follow that ridgeline until its highest point. High enough that most genin and even some chūnin would struggle with scaling it straight up to the top. Part of the reason why Taki was never successfully invaded. It's at that point we'll come across the waterfall it's famous for. We'll sign for communication, then sit tight and wait for an escort. Even most ANBU don't know the precise location of their Village's entrance." Tiger said, voice still carefully neutral and I blink a bit at the offered knowledge.
Seeing as he was in a good (and surprisingly sharing) mood, I try to pry for more intel.
"I get that a naturally defensive formation like this can help in keeping a Village safe and hidden from enemies, but their location is literally in their name, right? Once we come across a suitable waterfall, then it's just a matter of water-walking to peek behind the curtain, no?" I question and again Tiger remains silent for a long moment.
"You wouldn't be the first one to think that. You won't be the last one to be wrong. The very fact that we're allied with Taki is the reason we even know which waterfall to look for in the first place. There's multiple ridges like this one spread throughout their country, and while we're heading for the biggest waterfall in the area, there's plenty more alongside this cliff face alone. Even then, exactly where the true entrance itself is located, behind or underneath the waterfall, is merely speculation at this point."
Here Tiger pauses and suddenly his gaze feels a lot sharper than before. His tone barely changes and yet the implied warning could not be clearer.
"As a matter of professional courtesy, we don't pry further into our allies' secrets." He says firmly and I can almost hear the 'capisce?' at the end of that sentence, so I quickly nod.
Tiger's eyes (or rather, the empty holes in his mask) remain fixed on me for a moment longer, before he gives a slight nod, looking ahead again as I release a light breath of relief. Seeing that the captain was done with his sharing mood, we kept travelling in silence for a couple of more hours, before I could detect just the faintest hint of a telltale rumbling sound.
The sound of rushing water.
The noise grew steadily stronger and stronger until it became a near constant light thrum in the earth underneath our feet and we could detect a sharp increase of cooling moisture in the air.
'No wonder their jōnin like Suien are such competent Water users when they can pull of massive techniques straight out of thin air, almost like Temu-Tobiramas.' I think as I feel the miniscule droplets settle over my skin.
Next to me, Tsubaki was fussing over her massive braid as she tried to stop her hair from becoming curly, which was somewhat surprising to me. I suppose with everything else about her, from her looks to her skills, being fairly average, she took extra care for her one defining feature.
Eventually the rumble became a constant rushing sound and when the trees finally parted before us, I saw a sight that, perhaps not as grand in terms of sheer magnitude as Mount Shumisen had been, was still awe-inspiring to see in the flesh. The anime hadn't been able to do justice to the sheer size, the massive weight of the waterfall. It reminded me of some of the largest waterfalls back in my old world, but this single one managed to put them all to shame. A massive pillar of rushing water, taller than most skyscrapers and wide enough that it almost seemed like a vertical lake, thundering into a massive basin below, sending up a spray of misty water that towered over the surrounding woodlands. And the sheer noise of it, an angry roaring that I could feel thrum all the way down in my lungs.
"It's beautiful." Tsubaki whispered at my side, but it was Tiger who answered in a wry tone.
"It's also practically impenetrable to a large-scale assault." He noted and looking at the sheer strength with which the massive volume slammed into the lake below, I couldn't help but agree with his assessment.
Your average rank and file shinobi would struggle to scale the sheer cliffside, especially if it had defenders at the top specialized in long-range techniques (or even just mid-range, considering most techniques still work just fine if they get tossed over the edge of a cliff and let gravity take care of the rest). Genin and even chūnin would probably not be able to Water Walk on a volatile surface like the waterfall and even if you managed to push through the thick curtain of water, you likely faced a maze of cave networks and tunnels which made for ideal ambush spots and murder holes for determined Taki nin.
"Tch. Give me a dozen good men and I'll have this Village on its knees within the week. Their defences have holes if you know where to look and the defenders aren't worth shit without their little trump card." Suien spat darkly from further back in the group, before he was silenced by a kick to the back of his legs, forcing him to fall to his knees with an angry snarl.
"Oh? Care to enlighten us to these defensive weak spots, mister missing nin?" Tiger asks, voice cool as he half-turns to face the traitorous Taki nin from the corner of his eye, but Suien just smirks.
"Make me Kage of Taki first and then we'll talk." He retorted and to my surprise that actually got a dismissive scoff out of Tiger, which I'm guessing might as well have been a full-body laugh from the normally stoic captain.
"Offer denied. We'll just stay on good terms with their current leader then. Or, even better terms, I should say, once we've brought you to justice." Tiger said coolly.
Suien snarled at that, but quieted down as the Akimichi ANBU (who had unfortunately been saddled with carrying the missing nin like a sack of angry potatoes all the way through Grass) stepped closer, thick arm raised in a threatening back-hand.
Seeing the missing nin cowed, for now at least, Tiger shrugged as he stepped closer to the lakes' edge, stepping onto its rippling surface as if pulling off a Jesus-impression was the most normal thing in the world for him.
"Besides, natural defences and the famed Hero Water aside, that still does not account for their own Jinchūriki."
As Tsubaki had explained to me during our travels, Taki being the only minor village with a Tailed Beast (and a pretty powerful one at that) was a point of pride for Konoha, a sign of our close bond established by Hashirama Senju himself, a constant reminder that it had been our founder who had determined the balance of power over the whole continent.
Hell, even our other ally, Suna, hadn't received even a single Tailed Beast from the God of Shinobi, even though they were a proper Great Nation ninja village, unlike Taki. Then again, that was mostly their own fault. They might've felt confident enough in the might of the Ichibi at first, having already captured him way back during the Warring Clans Era, to merely ask Hashirama for an increase in more fertile territory instead, adding a much needed breadbasket to their otherwise barren lands. Still, I can only imagine how foolish the First Kazekage must've felt when instead of orchards or fields of grain, other Villages ended up getting several living nukes from the Shodaime, even a small backwater like Taki. Not much point in demanding an increase in land if one Bijudama from a tiny village's jinchuuriki can turn said land into a barren crater. No wonder they've been giving Konoha the stink eye these past couple of world wars. Though that didn't explain why Taki had sent Kakuzu to kill Hashirama for his generosity.
'Maybe they needed an excuse to get rid of Kakuzu instead? Maybe they never expected or even intended for the man to survive a fight against the strongest shinobi to have ever lived, so when he managed to somehow make it back anyways, they resorted to bullying him instead. Perhaps try and pull of a Sakumo Hatake, drive the man to suicide, save them the trouble. Except that backfired… horribly.' I thought darkly, noting that both Suien and Tiger had failed to mention the Jiongu in Taki's arsenal.
That dimmed my prospects for Taki somewhat, but then again I didn't know just how keen I was turning myself into a shinobi's version of a stuffed haunted doll. Though perhaps a lesser version could pair will with the lesser version of Hiruko's Chimera Technique I would (hopefully) decipher soon? Something to keep an eye out for, as in the meantime the majority of my focus would be on what Suien and Tiger had mentioned as Taki's strengths: the Hero Water and their Jinchūriki, Fū.
The Hero Water would only become useful once I have further increased my body's vitality, and until I don the Infinite Armor (or suddenly become massively better with seals), getting access to Chomei's chakra through Fū was a pipedream as well.
Still, it was good to lay the groundwork, especially since I still didn't know if I'd be staying in Taki as a guest or as a prisoner.
Out on the lake, near the foot of the waterfall (and once again showing his superb chakra control as he was barely affected by the shuddering waves), Tiger calmly crouched down, one finger resting lightly on the water's surface. Even from this distance I could feel the distinctive pulses of chakra that rippled out over the massive lake. The pattern repeated itself several times before the ANBU captain straightened and calmly made his way back over to shore.
"An agreed upon signal, the pattern includes our numbers and the fact we have a prisoner." Tiger mentioned casually, though I didn't miss the way he said prisoner, singular.
"There's a code for that?" Tsubaki lets slip out as I find myself once again over-analyzing the captain's words, arguing with myself on whether or not it was an intentional slip of the tongue to get my guard down, before I realize I'm thinking in circles and focus on Tiger's answer with an annoyed huff.
The ANBU just gives her a look as the woman shrinks back slightly.
"There's a code for everything." Is the flat answer, though this catches the attention of the two Brothers who have ambled over, catching the end of Tiger's sentence.
"Really? Even-" asks Fujin.
"Everything."
"Even-" asks Raijin.
"Yes."
"And-"
"Yes."
"But-"
"That too."
"What about-"
"No."
"Really?"
"No."
As Tiger continues his verbal spar with the Brothers, Tsubaki's eyes are left spinning somewhat and I pat the woman on the shoulder in sympathy. Leaving the ANBU captain to his little game, I glance instead towards his second, the Bear mask trained unerringly on me this whole time.
"So now that the captain has sent the signal, what do we do now?"
"Simple. We wait." Was the flat response.
Hearing the Brothers continuing to try to and needle the impressively stoic Tiger, I can't help but sigh.
"Then I guess in the meantime, I'll take first watch against the greatest shinobi killer of all." I said morosely and I can feel Tsubaki grabbing my hand, eyes wide.
"Wait what, who?"
"Boredom."
//
Annoyingly, it took well over an hour before one of the ANBU on watch duty alerted us to movement coming from behind the waterfall as our group stirred. For a brief moment all I could see was shifting shadows behind the thick curtain of rushing water, before three blurs punched through the waterfall itself, landing lightly on the surface of the lake.
They were a motley group and the only thing they had in common was their Taki headband instead of a standard uniform, probably because they didn't even have enough people to make having one a necessity. The difference between a Great Ninja Village and a lesser one was truly vast when it came to numbers. Konoha, Kumo and Iwa had been able to field actual armies during the last war (though by my own world's standards, even those had been fairly small skirmishing groups), with Kiri and even Suna not that far behind.
By contrast, even a relatively stable, long established minor village like Taki could probably only field a couple dozen combat-ready ninja at any given time. It was actually worse in Taki's case, considering they relied on a few particularly strong jōnin being capable of holding their natural choke points, especially when enhanced with the Hero Water, rather than relying on numbers.
Though since that same Hero Water had ended up killing most of their strongest ninja in the last war, that left them in a pretty vulnerable spot these days. Suien had been the only ninja of his level in the village for several years by now and while he wasn't weak by any means, in the grand scheme of things he was decidedly mediocre, a typical filler villain. Hell, he got beat by a rasengan-less Naruto after all.
'Then again… so was I… and for Mizuki, Naruto hadn't even needed to pull out his bullshit Biju chakra…' I mope as I try to evaluate the three Taki nin approaching us, measuring them against Suien and thus myself.
They certainly didn't look impressive, being of fairly average build and I couldn't feel any sense of hidden danger from them like I did from Suien when I first met him, or like I can constantly feel expertly contained by Tiger even now. The most interesting thing about them was that the guy in front was bald with a goatee and an expression like someone had stuffed a lemon in his mouth.
And one up the other end for the sake of symmetry.
"Ho there, Konoha nin! Identify yourself!" the leader of the Taki nin barked out sternly and to his credit he didn't falter when faced with a dozen blank ANBU masks.
The call was mostly a formality, considering that information would've been included in Tiger's signal, but still the captain nodded his head at the newcomers, stepping to the front of our group.
"Greetings, Taki nin! ANBU field squad under Tiger, reporting! We have come on a mission from Konoha in an attempt to further the bonds between our two villages." Tiger answered, voice calm despite his little white lie.
"Oh? Taki never commissioned a Konoha team for such a thing, and we were not aware of Konoha issuing something like that either." The man countered, though his tone was more polite now.
It's probably good diplomatic policy to not directly call out ANBU on bullshit as they're feeding it to you. Still, Tiger played along, once again bowing his head.
"I understand. This mission was first issued by Konoha itself to protect our own interests alongside our shared border. Some of our people there had been going missing and we got complaints from our merchants that travel through those parts of our lands had become more unsafe as of late. Our investigation has been concluded successfully, however, the decision has been made to share our spoils with Taki. As such, this would be the first you've heard of it." Tiger smoothly explained and if it weren't for the fact that I had been involved from the start, I actually would've believed him too.
'You're one sly bastard, Tiger. They should've given you a fox mask instead… though after the Kyuubi attack, I can see how that might've been in poor taste…' I think, shooting the man a considering look.
The three Taki nin are surprised, sharing confused looks, before their bald leader turns back towards Tiger, eyes narrowed.
"… yes, we were aware of… recent unrest in those regions, though we've not yet had the chance to commit an investigation of our own into the matter. Naturally, we are most grateful for Konoha's timely response in this. However, what 'spoils' result from a mission like that, that you feel so strongly must be shared with my people?" the bald man said, still wary but unable to keep his curiosity from leaking into his voice, probably thinking this was all sounding too good to be true.
Konoha cleaning up the mess in their own backyard, and rewarding them for it too? Hell, I'd not trust us either, and he was right not to. From Konoha's perspective, they had collected trash, and were now simply returning it to sender: such a service would hardly be free after all, even for an ally.
In answer to the Taki nin's suspicions, Tiger stepped aside, sweeping out his arm as Suien's guards dragged him forwards, throwing him unceremoniously to the ground at the lake's edge.
"We considered you would be most interested in assisting us in delivering justice, no?" Tiger continued calmly.
"Suien!"
Seeing their missing nin suddenly appear at their feet was enough of a shock for the Taki nin, one actually briefly lost his footing as his chakra concentration slipped for a moment, dunking him up to his ankles in the lake. The bald leader's mouth dropped open, eyes almost bulging out of his head as the still bound and kneeling Suien glared up at him, spitting out muffled obscenities past the gag in his mouth.
"This is… this.." the Taki nin stammered for a moment, looking from the missing nin to the ANBU and back to Suien again, at a loss for words.
Apparently, what he eventually settled on in his mind was something along the lines of 'this is way above my paycheck', which meant he wanted to take Suien with him back to Taki proper where the village leader and his counselors would decide the missing nin's fate. Not that Tiger allowed that to happen without a Konoha presence there to remind everyone just who it had been that cleaned up the village's mess. Somewhat understandably, the Taki nin weren't keen on guiding a dozen or so ANBU through the top secret entrance to their village either, so it was eventually agreed upon that only Tiger and the Akimichi ANBU, as well as Tsubaki and I would be taken along.
Bear would stay behind to command the remainder of the ANBU squad who would function as a babysitting crew for the Legendary Brothers. No doubt Tiger split me up from my main heavy hitters on purpose, but there wasn't really any way for me to call the captain out on it in front of his men, so I just gave Raijin and Fujin the orders to stick close to the waterfall instead (perhaps busy themselves with trying to fish).
The three Taki nin guided us close to the bottom of the waterfall, before splitting up. Their leader grabbed Suien by the shoulder, before jumping through the curtain of water with him. One went with the ANBU and another went with Tsubaki and I, the jump itself briefly shocking when we had to pass through the raging current, the sheer mass of water almost like a punch landing across the whole of your shoulders and back.
Which, for just a moment, meant that a rushing mass of water slammed into the thin shell of chakra layered in an illusion over my body. It didn't shatter it outright thankfully, but the destabilization was still visible as a ripple through my form, only accentuated further by the fact that I was slighlly, if still noticeably taller than Mizuki had originally been, meaning that for a brief moment, the waterfall actually impacted me several inches above where it should've.
As I landed on slick, condense-coated rocks, my hands immediately flew up to strengthen the chakra shell, though the tension in my body sky-rocketed even further when our Taki guard had clearly spotted something from the corner of his eye, as he was already beginning to turn back to me, eyes drawn in suspicion as-
"Ah!"
Tsubaki fumbled her landing, half-crashing into, half-catching herself on the Taki guard, her sandaled feet slipping away on the slick rocks.
"Take care Miss! These caverns can be treacherous." the Taki shinobi called out in concern as he steadied her on her feet, and Tsubaki gratefully leaned against him, embarassed smile on her face.
"Oh, it's nothing, sir. The waterfall simply surprised me, I misjudged my jump. How embarassingly clumsy of me, my apologies." she explained demurely and the Taki nin let out a proud chuckle at that.
"Ha, don't you worry nothing! Most outsiders underestimate the power of Takitsuhime, it's actually a part of our defenses! During the first world war, an Iwa nin tried to follow one of our retreating heroes and jumped straight through the fall, only to get dragged down by her fury mid-flight! His body smashed itself apart of a nasty outcropping just below the cavern we're standing in, and-"
"Daigo! Quit stalling. We do not share our secrets, nor the history of our past battles with outsiders lightly!" the bald leader called back from further in the cave, his face strict and the now-named Daigo rubbed the back of his head in embarassement as he hurriedly let go of Tsubaki's arm.
"R-right, fath-, I mean... yes, Saburo-san, sir!"
Daigo's father merely grunted before abruptly turning on his heel, his fellow Taki shinobi falling in line, the Akimichi ANBU dragging along Suien as well with Tiger following shortly behind. Tsubaki waited on me for only a moment as I emerged from behind her, hidden in the shadows of the cavern, looking like the ordinary Mizuki once again with none the wiser.
'Though then again, the way that Tiger looked back over his shoulder, could be suspicious... could also be nothing, just to check what the hold up was... or maybe it was in my imagination all along... gah! Figuring out how that guy ticks is a nightmare!'
As I step up next to Tsubaki, my hand finds hers in the gloom of the cave, and I give it a slight squeeze, whispering from the corner of my mouth as we both keep facing ahead.
"Nice show."
Tsubaki doesn't answer beyond squeezing back, but even her small smile is easily visible in the surrounding darkness. Minor crisis averted (for now at least, I still don't like the way Tiger's look lingered for just a second to long) I finally focus on our surroundings as we follow the group up ahead. To my surprise, we landed in a massive cave system, the air damp and chilly and the raging sound of the waterfall both oddly echoing and muted at the same time.
The massive cavern extended further back into the cliff face, though it was difficult to make out any details in the low lighting, even though it was still midday outside. Still, the three Taki nin at the front moved without pause and we quickly fell into step behind them as they walked deeper into the cave. Somewhat past the midway point their leader made a sudden sharp turn to the right and seemed to disappear into the walls of the cavern itself, though as we followed I quickly realized that what had first appeared as a shadow between two outcroppings was instead the hidden mouth of a large tunnel reaching further down and into the mountain range. Stalactites and stalagmites lined the walls as moss slick with damp covered the stone surface of the cave system, but to my surprise the tunnel itself was smooth and roomy.
'This cave system is less defensive than I had first thought. You can march an army through here, one jōnin squad at a time. Do they have other defenses perhaps?' I wondered, though before I could voice my question, I was taken aback by a weak, greenish light coming up from ahead, barely enough to alleviate the cloying darkness that seemed to fill the cave with an almost physical weight.
After a little bit more walking, we came across yet another large cavern, this one with stalagmites and stalactites so large they connected to form thin, warped pillars, like the ribcage of an ancient giant. The biggest surprise however was that the light came from fluorescent pools, at least a dozen arrayed at different heights across the floor of the cavern like plateaus. The light seemed to come from algae and luminescent lichen that clung stubbornly to cold rock as the water remained deathly still, almost like shining mirrors.
The leader of the Taki nin glanced over his shoulder, his voice grave as he warned us.
"Many of these are dangerous. Some are a dead-end, tightening and tightening until your limbs are trapped against your body and there is no turning back. Some loop back on themselves, or connect to others in a maze without an exit, and even a shinobi needs to come up for air at some point. There is but one pool that grants access to our Village and within that pool there is but one route past it twists and turns that will grant safe passage. Follow our every move and do not divulge them to another under any circumstance. Even your Hokage is not exempt from this: when the great Hashirama Senju came here, he did so on invitation of our elders only." Saburo warned and I tried not to scoff at his words.
Not the warning, that part I took dead serious. I had seen enough cave diving memes and videos back in my old life to have a healthy respect for the deep dark places of the world that offered only slow, agonized deaths in forgotten hollows and underneath constricting rock.
Consequently, I also held a healthy amount of ridicule for people who made a hobby out of some of the most completely avoidable deaths in human history. You know what's so great about caves? They can't chase you, they don't run. They're just there, and you, a bipedal creature, don't have to be! Every single day, hundreds, even thousands of people don't die horribly, simply by choosing not to step inside the gaping maw of the earth and so far, that seems to work out great!
No, what I found more amusing was the man's comment about Hashirama Senju.
'As if the God of Shinobi needs an invitation to go anywhere. 'Sides, Tsubaki told me that when he first came across Taki, he just leaped up the waterfall in a single bound. Which might've been propaganda if I didn't know for a fact the dude's made of complete bullshit. Even his cells are complete bullshit, and he was made out of 100% Hashirama cells!'
"Of course, Taki's secrets shall remain it's own." Tiger said diplomatically, even if everyone here knew he'd be reporting everything back to his village.
It was merely what was expected of a ninja, the rest was just a polite fiction. The bald Taki nin frowned, but as he glanced back at the fuming Suien, he realized he didn't have much choice, nodding at the ANBU captain's words before turning on his heel and without a further word, Saburo and his companions dove into one of the nearby pools.
Tiger and the Akimichi (still carrying Suien) quickly followed suit and after exchanging a quick glance with Tsubaki, we did the same.
This underwater tunnel quickly became much, much tighter than the cavernous one we had been travelling through so far, the water cold though thankfully without a strong current. Still, visibility was distressingly low and at several sharp bends and turns in the tunnel, jutting rocks and outcroppings meant that we had to physically squeeze through at some points, even as the constant exertion meant that I could feel my supply of air rapidly lowering.
At one point the tunnel curved sideways and up sharply (I think so, at least, since by then my sense of direction had been so thoroughly scrambled, we might as well have been upside down for all I knew) and we came up for a brief air-pocket before submerging again.
All I could do during the second stretch of our cave dive (now distinctly moving upwards at least) was repeat the same mantra over and over.
'Don't think about The Cave video. Don't think about The Cave video…. Don't-'
Yeah, I might as well have tried telling myself not to think of pink elephants at that point. Thankfully, the fluorescent algae and lichen in the cave system meant that I could stick close to the large bulk of the Akimichi in front of me and to my massive relief, eventually the pale, almost sickly light began to give way to warm, actual sunlight. The mouth of the tunnel opened up to the wide open basin of a lake and the last stretch to the surface of the water was a blessed mad scramble.
Though after I had breached the surface and finally got some fresh air into my lungs again, I was left speechless as I finally took in my surroundings.
"Woah…"
Towering up in front of us, over us, across from us was the largest thing I'd ever seen since Mount Shumisen. A tree that seemed to replace the sky itself. It's gargantuan trunk was so wide it resembled a mountain range and even the furthest, highest branches were larger than some of the biggest trees I saw in the forest outside. The massive tree rose up from an island in the middle of the lake and though the gargantuan shrubbery on top of it made it seem small, a temple on the nearby shore made me realize it was probably roughly the same size as the volcanic island that housed my former prison. Despite the surrounding lake's massive size, the tree still managed to reach the distant shores, letting through a few lightshafts past its reaching canopy, casting the entire glade in a dappled shade.
As we came ashore and quickly dried ourselves off, my gaze followed a long, thin bridge extending from the island at the base of the gargantuan tree back to the other shore, where I could see a village that could be best described as 'cute'. It looked more like a five-star getaway rather than a ninja village, with houses done up in warm wood with red-tiled roofs in a traditional eastern style sitting peacefully on the beach of the lake, surrounded by a lush forest.
'This basically looks like Konoha Lakeside Resort or something. No wonder the Shodaime liked it here.' I think dryly as we follow the three Taki nin standing at the beginning of the bridge to the village.
Like me, Tsubaki is looking around with blatant awe and though their masks hide it well, even I can pick up on the ANBU's body language that they're impressed. The only one that wasn't looking up at the sky full of mega-flora above and around us was Suien, but then again he had seen this sight his entire life.
He probably would've preferred it if the entire thing burnt down to kindling, Sylvanas style.
Seeing our awe, Daigo can't help but wear a proud grin on his face despite the seriousness of the situation, sweeping his arm out wide towards the bridge at his back and the picturesque village further behind it.
"Welcome… to Takigakure no Sato!"
//
AN: I kinda beefed the description of the waterfall that hides the village (though the tree is indeed fuck-off massive). When I was younger, I visited both Niagara and Iguazu Falls and what I distinctly remember is that waterfalls of such size aren't peaceful, but that their beauty is savage, almost rageful. The sheer volume of it, the sheer sound, it's genuinely a roaring that I felt was more appropriate for a ninja village named for it, rather than the pretty small one we see in the OVA. Just a little change, all things considered, but one I wanted to mention.