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Byakuya and Tagorihime avoided the Sand ninja stationed in the Land of Rivers and returned safely to the Land of Fire.
The pair didn't even bother passing through Konoha's checkpoints. With a summoning beast from Ryuchi Cave like Tagorihime, terrain that ordinary shinobi would struggle to cross became as easy as walking on flat ground.
They took a long, winding route and finally chose a miasma-filled canyon about a hundred miles from Konoha as Tagorihime's hiding spot.
The canyon wasn't narrow—it was quite wide, with a rushing river running through it and dense primeval forests lining both banks.
Byakuya breathed in the miasma. It was nauseating, and his skin felt an unnatural damp heat, but he experienced no discomfort.
Tagorihime was even less affected. She carried him through the primeval forest inside the canyon.
"There are still places like this in the Land of Fire—perfect for hiding," she said.
"Sorry to make you stay here, Tagorihime."
"No need to say that, Byakuya. I actually quite like it here. Places humans think are terrible might be very comfortable nests for snakes." Tagorihime smiled sweetly.
The miasma spread for several kilometers. After passing through it, they were greeted by a sparkling lake. Streams branched off from the lake and flowed down the steep cliffs where the canyon suddenly narrowed.
Tall grass grew thick around the lake, ancient trees stood lush and green, and nameless wildflowers decorated the area.
"Wow, it's like paradise! Look, Byakuya—it's so beautiful!"
"A village hidden in the willows and bright flowers," he said, genuinely surprised.
At this spot the canyon formed an oval, cradling the clear lake.
Tagorihime circled the area once and was especially pleased. She smiled sweetly. "Now you don't have to worry about me anymore, right?"
"Do you need a house to live in?"
"Ah! Byakuya's going to build me a wooden house?"
"Why not?"
"Okay! I'll help you build it."
He remembered the scene where Yamato replaced Kakashi as team leader and built a luxurious wooden house with Wood Release for the team to rest in the wilderness.
Jumping into the grass, he drew his ninja blade and waited while Tagorihime knocked down old trees and cleared the flowers and plants—
He had stored the explosive-tag sword in his storage scroll. After using up the tags on the last mission, he had restocked them back at the warehouse. It wasn't difficult—just time-consuming.
Like building with blocks, he roughly constructed a small wooden house for Tagorihime. Her full serpent form obviously couldn't fit inside; she would need to use the Dragon Ground Cave Transformation Jutsu to become a girl.
He also carved furniture for the little house—table, chairs, stools, bed, wardrobe, everything.
Tagorihime's smile never left her face the whole time.
Dinner was fish from the lake.
The fish were huge, and there were countless of them.
Fish raised in lake water needed a different preparation from ocean fish.
Byakuya once again showed off his cooking skills in front of Tagorihime. She ate until her eyes curved into happy crescents.
They spent three carefree days like this in the little wooden house by the lake. During that time he completed one timed mission from the system—the reward was a small increase in chakra capacity.
Early morning.
"Tagorihime, I have to go."
"Mm, I know. Whenever you need me, just use the summoning technique."
Even though she was reluctant to part with him, she understood he had his own duties. If she acted spoiled and tried to keep him, she would be the unreasonable one—and she didn't want Byakuya to dislike her.
He smiled. "Can you use reverse summoning?"
"I can."
"If you're ever in danger, summon me."
"Okay."
Byakuya waved. "See you next time."
"See you next time." Tagorihime, now in her sweet girl form, took a few quick steps forward. "Byakuya, remember—whenever you need me, just summon me to your side. I won't get upset."
He held out his hand.
Tagorihime took it.
"I know. After all, we're good friends!"
"The best good friends in the whole world!"
---
On the way back.
He ran into several waves of Konoha shinobi returning from the front lines. They all wore different styles of masks.
Byakuya looked at them; they also secretly observed the one wearing the Shuten-doji mask.
Back in Konoha.
The gate guards had changed. One was about to stop Byakuya when his partner grabbed him.
"What's wrong?"
"Look—he's wearing the Shuten-doji mask!"
"Even if it's Shuten—"
The man suddenly remembered.
Fire Shadow Advisor Danzo Shimura had personally issued an order: if any shinobi wearing the Shuten-doji mask returns to the village, report it immediately. No delays.
"I'll go report."
"Let me go. You don't know that lord's temper."
"Fine."
Byakuya headed toward the Ninja Academy. Instead of going to the Root underground base, the gate guard sprinted straight to the Hokage Tower.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently overwhelmed. The Tailed Beast Jinchuriki from Iwagakure and Kumogakure kept appearing on the battlefield. Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were barely holding them back.
He knew this was the two villages trying to stop Konoha from counterattacking, but—should he send Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, to the front lines to intimidate those four Jinchuriki?
"Absolutely not."
Hiruzen Sarutobi forcefully suppressed the desperate idea.
The consequences were too great. If anything went wrong, even as Hokage he couldn't bear the responsibility.
Besides, Kushina Uzumaki was also Minato Namikaze's beloved.
And Minato was the one he had chosen as—
"Hokage-sama."
"It's Izumo Kamizuki. What is it?"
"Lord Danzo Shimura's personal order has results. The shinobi wearing the Shuten-doji mask has returned to the village."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression didn't change. He nodded. "Thank you for your hard work. I understand."
"I take my leave."
"Mm. You should also report to Danzo. After all, the boy is from his Root."
"Yes, sir."
After the door closed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe, stood up, and walked to the window overlooking Konoha.
"Danzo is placing far too much importance on that boy codenamed Shuten-doji."
"I don't even know who he is."
"I should send someone to investigate."
He knew exactly what Danzo was thinking. As the saying went, the higher you stand, the farther you can see. Standing at the pinnacle as Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi was fully aware of many of the under-the-table moves his subordinates made. He simply chose not to expose them.
"Come."
"Hokage-sama."
"Where is Orochimaru?"
"He left the village this morning and went deep into the forest. The ANBU tailing him lost him."
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his large pipe and sighed inwardly. After experiencing the brutal Second Great Ninja War, Orochimaru's personality had become… unreasonable.
As for the research project between Orochimaru and Danzo, he knew about it. In his drawer he even had intelligence on how Orochimaru had helped Danzo prepare the Hashirama cells.
"Take a team and personally investigate the Root shinobi codenamed Shuten-doji."
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
After the ANBU captain left.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. "Danzo, you've really gone this far. Your right arm can't handle the First Hokage's cells. Even if the rejection reaction is currently weakened many times over, once you expend a large amount of chakra, the rejection will become far stronger than you can imagine!"
Danzo himself didn't possess all the research data on the Hashirama cells. The most classified portions were known only to Hiruzen Sarutobi as Hokage.
---