Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 112: Takigakure

Shibuki's original plan was to seek help from Konoha and hire Konoha ninja to resolve the rebellion in his village. For this purpose, he had prepared a whole set of arguments, rehearsing lines about the traditional friendship between the two nations and the idea of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" multiple times in his mind.

However, this morning, he suddenly realized: Why should I go all the way to Konoha when the solution might be right in front of me?

Shibuki was timid, but as the heir to a ninja village, he had been trained from a young age and had a keen eye. Watching Ino use Water Wall and Water Dragon Bullet with such ease and grace, he could tell that this kunoichi was far stronger than he had initially thought.

This realization led him to change his plans.

Ino remained silent for a moment. She wasn't familiar with Tsunade's temperament. While the Fifth Hokage often seemed to act recklessly, there might be some unbreakable rules when it came to ninja missions. Ino wasn't willing to take any risks in this matter and directly refused.

"Hmm, Lady Tsunade instructed me to escort you to the village. She must have her reasons. Let's pick up the pace, and we'll deal with the rest later."

After two days of rapid travel, Ino eliminated all the enemies along the way and successfully brought Shibuki to Konoha.

The Third Hokage asked Shibuki a few questions and then turned to Ino. "Shibuki wants to hire you again to escort him back to Takigakure. Asuma is currently on a mission with Shikamaru and Choji to eliminate a group of bandits. I'll have Kurenai temporarily team up with you. Together, you'll resolve the rebellion in Takigakure."

While Kakashi's resume was a bit lacking for the position of Hokage, Kurenai, who had just been promoted to jonin, was even less qualified to be an advisor. The Third Hokage was racking his brains to give her more mission experience, and Takigakure seemed like the perfect opportunity.

What others didn't know was that Ino was already far stronger than the average genin. With her combination of ninjutsu and genjutsu, Takigakure wouldn't be able to stop them.

Since this was an officially assigned mission, Ino had no reason to refuse. The mission, which involved Takigakure's jonin, was classified as an A-rank.

Not long after, Kurenai, who was brimming with enthusiasm, arrived to join Ino. Along with their employer, Shibuki, the three of them left Konoha.

Kurenai felt that some things needed to be clarified. She asked Shibuki, "Takigakure must have jonin who are loyal to your father, right?"

Shibuki pursed his lips, seemingly unsure how to respond.

Ino, standing nearby, pressed further. "Did they betray you?"

"...The ones loyal to my father didn't betray me."

Ino thought she had figured it out. "Oh, so the ones who weren't loyal to your father betrayed you, and the loyal jonin died in battle?"

Shibuki looked miserable, struggling internally before finally answering. "...They have other missions. Missions that are more important than my life."

What kind of mission could that be? Ino hadn't paid much attention to Takigakure before, but combining information from the manga and some data from the Yamanaka clan, she had a sudden realization. It must be about the jinchūriki! Takigakure was the only village outside the Five Great Nations to possess a tailed beast.

Which tailed beast did Takigakure have? She vaguely remembered it being some kind of giant beetle.

Ino didn't have a deep impression of this tailed beast. If she wasn't mistaken, it was probably one of the weaker ones.

There was a rumor that when the Sage of Six Paths divided the Ten-Tails, Kurama cried his eyes out, while the other tailed beasts remained indifferent. Creatures like the giant beetle and the giant turtle had already run off to play somewhere else. The Sage claimed to divide the chakra equally, but in reality, he gave Kurama just a tiny bit more.

Although Takigakure's tailed beast wasn't strong and its jinchūriki wasn't particularly impressive, it was still a powerful weapon. During the village's turmoil, it made sense to hide it elsewhere and assign two jonin to guard it.

Along the way, they eliminated three waves of enemies. After resting for the night, Kurenai praised Ino's ghost castle highly. It could turn invisible, had space for meals, and most importantly, it even had a place to bathe. This summoning creature was truly amazing!

On the evening of the third day after leaving Konoha, the temporary team finally arrived at a waterfall that wasn't marked on any map.

Legend had it that Takigakure was hidden behind a waterfall a secluded paradise far from the ravages of war.

Reaching this point marked the completion of the first phase of their mission. Based on his observations during the journey, Shibuki felt that the Konoha kunoichi had no interest in his village's treasures.

He decided to reveal the truth. "Takigakure possesses a treasure called the Hero's Water..."

After saying this, he glanced at Ino and Kurenai to gauge their reactions.

Neither of them showed any particular interest.

Ino knew about this item and nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it. It's said that drinking the Hero's Water can increase one's chakra tenfold, but the cost is a significant reduction in lifespan after the battle ends. In severe cases, it can even lead to immediate death."

In her view, this so-called tenfold increase had its limits.

Choji's Red Chili Pill was said to increase chakra a hundredfold, and his performance against Jirobo was indeed impressive. However, three years later, Choji could achieve similar results without using the pill, which showed that such boosts had a ceiling.

Without the support of the Akimichi clan's secret techniques, one would die before their chakra could increase a hundredfold. The Hero's Water from Takigakure had a slightly lower cost, but the reduction in lifespan was still severe.

Ino wasn't that desperate. Her chakra reserves were more than sufficient, and she had no interest in the water.

Her response was calm, showing no signs of coveting the treasure.

Shibuki secretly breathed a sigh of relief. I guessed right!

He clasped his hands together and pleaded once more. "If I'm not mistaken, it's likely that the village's jonin, Suien, has set his sights on the Hero's Water. He wants to capture me and force me to reveal its location. I'd like to ask you to help me defeat Suien."

When it came to his village, Shibuki seemed to grow a bit braver. He shared all the information he had about Suien his jutsu, fighting style, and past achievements.

Suien had actually been his teacher. Shibuki's father had tried to use the bond between teacher and student to restrain Suien's ambitions. Unfortunately, not everyone valued such bonds.

After Shibuki's father died, the jonin had betrayed the village.

Kurenai suggested that Shibuki hide while she used a transformation jutsu to take his place and eliminate the enemy. However, Shibuki refused. At this critical moment, he couldn't afford to stay hidden.

"Fine, but don't stray too far from us."

After giving him some instructions, the two followed Shibuki as he led them through the waterfall. They found a hidden entrance underwater, swam about a hundred meters, and passed through two water channels before emerging in a village nestled at the base of a massive tree Takigakure.

Ino carefully examined the tree, which seemed more like a giant stump than a living tree. She activated her sensory abilities to detect that the tree's life force had completely vanished; it was dead. However, perhaps due to its proximity to Takigakure's great waterfall, some strange chakra still lingered within the roots.

It was this residual chakra that had given rise to the Hero's Water.

Ino was puzzled. Could this be the Divine Tree? Or perhaps a remnant of its roots?!

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