Takigakure, a village built in the center of a vast forest, surrounded by a lake.
The village's periphery consisted of towering waterfalls, making it difficult to enter Takigakure's interior without a guide.
Currently, the Tailed Beast Protection Squad, Akatsuki, and the 'Where's Daddy?' quartet were all heading in this direction.
So, who would take first place?
The answer is… the [Hero Water Plunderers] led by Suien, a Missing-Nin from Takigakure.
"A place like this, can we really get in? Suien-sama."
A Ninja wearing an Amegakure's forehead protector asked the man leaning against a large tree.
They were the ones who had defected from Amegakure earlier.
It wasn't just because Pain, the village's protector, had disappeared… in fact, this group had always been dissatisfied with Konan and the others' management style.
Leaving was only a matter of time, so this was just a coincidence.
"Trust me. After all, I was once a Jonin of this village."
If there was anything about Takigakure that Suien was worried about, it was only the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki.
'But as long as I knocked her out immediately to prevent her from rampage, that little girl wasn't much of a concern.'
Thinking this, Suien also shared the information about the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki, Fu, with the others.
"As soon as you see her, knock her out immediately. Don't kill her."
For some unknown reason, he didn't reveal Fu's identity as a Jinchuriki.
Although his subordinates still had some doubts, with the mission nearing completion, no one had much mind to delve deeper.
Thus, a group of Amegakure's Missing-Nin, led by a Takigakure's Missing-Nin, passed through the natural barrier of the waterfalls via a hidden passage and easily entered Takigakure.
Not long after they left, two figures wearing black robes with red clouds also arrived.
"So this is it? The hiding place of the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki."
Hiruko looked at the dense forest, his thoughts unknown.
Zetsu beside him seemed to notice something and replied in a low voice, "Let's hurry. It seems someone has already been here before us."
"Oh? That's convenient... Let them scout the way for me."
Hiruko's face was bandaged from the nose down, leaving only his eyes darting around, occasionally looking at Zetsu, then at the area where Suien and the others had stepped.
Whether for Hiruko or Zetsu, at their level, ordinary Ninjas were no longer worth considering.
At this moment, Akatsuki was still unaware that another group was also collecting Tailed Beasts.
...
Inside Takigakure.
The leader, Shibuki, carried the eleven-year-old Fu on his shoulder, running through a secret passage leading to the location of the Hero Water.
On his shoulder, Fu struggled constantly.
"Shibuki! Let me go! Let me save them!"
Just moments ago, Suien and his group had successfully attacked Takigakure.
Under his leadership, the Missing-Nin struck first, and Takigakure offered little resistance before most of its people were captured.
To be honest, if it were during the era of the First Hokage's rule, Takigakure couldn't have been invaded so easily.
Back then, Takigakure was known as 'producing many Jonin'.
Ninja of Suien's level were a dime a dozen.
This included Kakuzu, Akatsuki's former financial director, who also came from this village.
But perhaps Takigakure's decline was precisely because of Kakuzu.
Back then, Kakuzu received orders from Takigakure's upper echelons to assassinate the so-called [God of Ninja], Senju Hashirama.
The result was predictable.
Although it's unclear if the battle result was as absurd as the rumor 'threw a shuriken at a Wood Clone from eight hundred miles away', Kakuzu still failed.
Hashirama didn't take Kakuzu's life. However, upon returning to the village, Takigakure's upper echelons unanimously deemed Kakuzu's mission a failure and decided to execute him.
That's when things went completely wrong.
Takigakure wasn't destroyed by Konoha's retaliation but by Kakuzu's hands.
Kakuzu not only slaughtered almost all the upper-echelons at the time but also stole the village's secret technique, Earth Grudge Technique, using the hearts of those higher-ups to replenish his body.
Since then, Takigakure was essentially cut off from its legacy.
By the time of Suien and Shibuki's generation, only a few remained.
They could only rely on the [Hero Water] and the Seven-Tails to maintain some semblance of strength.
But now, only Shibuki knew the location of the Hero Water, and the current Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fu, was still young and hadn't matured yet.
"Fu, you stay here. Leave the rest... to me."
Although fear lingered in his heart, Shibuki genuinely wanted to protect Takigakure.
'It seemed now was the time for sacrifice.'
Shibuki's father had once drunk the Hero Water to protect the village, but the result wasn't ideal… his father still died in that battle.
He took out the transparent gourd containing the Hero Water from the secret box… this was all the output from over so many years.
'According to legend, just one sip would temporarily increase my Chakra tenfold. Surely that would be enough to deal with those Ninjas.'
After repeatedly urging Fu not to come out, Shibuki returned the way he came with the gourd.
Outside, Suien and the others had already gathered the villagers in the open area. He was currently holding a kunai to a little girl's neck.
"Shibuki! Hand over the Hero Water now! Otherwise, I'll start with this brat and kill them one by one!"
Suien had once been Shibuki's Ninjutsu Teacher, so he knew this leader's character well.
Timid, cowardly… applying constant pressure would surely make him yield.
Sure enough, as the kunai drew a line of blood on the little girl's neck, a waterspout suddenly erupted from the pond outside the village, sweeping several Amegakure's Missing-Nins away.
As the water spray dissipated, Shibuki stood there, his Chakra so dense it was visible to the naked eye.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Unlike a certain disappointing Kirigakure's Ninja, Shibuki in this state could easily perform the Water Dragon Technique with just a few hand seals.
The dragon's head swept horizontally, effortlessly clearing out the attacking Ninja.
However, all of this was within Suien's expectations.
Seizing the moment when Shibuki was performing the Ninjutsu, Suien launched a surprise attack, piercing Shibuki's chest with a water-formed sword.
There was no helping it.
Although Shibuki had drunk the Hero Water, he still lacked much practical combat experience.
Combined with his originally average talent, even a tenfold increase was still just that.
Taking the gourd from Shibuki's embrace, there was indeed still plenty of Hero Water inside.
"Ahahahaha! Now! I am invincible!"
Suien uttered the phrase almost every failing villain loved to say.
And just as he set up this 'flag', the next moment, Zetsu and Hiruko appeared before them.
"Oh… This is truly an unexpected pleasure."
Hiruko looked at the Hero Water in the other party's hand… he had heard rumors about that thing.
Zetsu, however, didn't seem interested, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the village.
"Don't forget our purpose. The Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki doesn't seem to be here."
Hearing Zetsu's words, Hiruko looked completely unconcerned.
"Then you go look for her first. I'll join you after dealing with them."
Zetsu shot a gloomy glance at Hiruko but said nothing, simply merging into the tree trunk and disappearing.
There was no deep trust between them to begin with. Leaving this guy here to attract attention wasn't a bad idea. He could just notify him after finding the Jinchuriki.
'Speaking of which, Deidara and the others shouldn't be too far from here, right?'
Assigning Deidara and the others to the Land of Earth in the first place was partly to keep an eye on Hiruko.