The next day.
After a full night's rest, Heiyan woke up early with his energy fully restored.
After breakfast, he, as usual, invited Kushina and Minato to join him at the training grounds for practice.
At the same time, he continued practicing his newly developed "Dual-Blade Style." With Samehada in one hand and the Murakumo Sword in the other, alternating between close combat and long-range attacks, his techniques became increasingly skillful and fluid.
Throughout this time, Pakura stayed by his side. Whenever she saw him sweating or looking thirsty, she considerately handed him a towel and some water, urging him to take more breaks.
That was enough practice for now.
After practicing for most of the morning, Heiyan felt that the Dual-Blade Style had basically taken shape. The next step would be continuously refining it through real combat.
However, he also knew that although this dual-blade system was powerful, it could only serve as a temporary solution. Heiyan had to quickly address his core issue:
Physical exhaustion and depletion.
He needed to find ways to replenish his strength.
Drawing upon his memories of the original *Naruto* manga, he quickly thought of several power-enhancing treasures—like the Dragon Vein of Louran, the meteorite of Hoshigakure, and the Gruel Stone.
These treasures contained unimaginable amounts of energy and radiation, which could severely harm ordinary people. However, with Heiyan's Sage Transformation physique, he might be the perfect vessel for them.
Just as Heiyan was going over these memories, preparing to take action, his subordinate Azure Fox suddenly appeared, handing him a letter.
"Huh?"
Heiyan looked surprised because he realized this was a thank-you message from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall.
It turned out that during the battle at Uzugakure, Heiyan had killed Kakuzu—a high-ranking S-class rogue ninja from the waterfall village. When news of this reached the village, the high-ranking elders—including the village headman—expressed their gratitude by warmly inviting Heiyan to visit their village and offering him the village's priceless treasure:
The Hero Water.
After reading the letter, Heiyan immediately became very interested.
He knew about the thousand-year-old giant tree located in the waterfall village. Once every hundred years, sacred water flowed from its trunk, and drinking it could increase one's chakra tenfold.
Kakuzu had managed to consume this Hero Water, allowing him to fight Heiyan on equal footing even in Sage Mode.
For Heiyan, this invitation came at the perfect time—it was exactly what he needed.
Once he drank the Hero Water and neutralized its harmful side effects using his Sage Transformation physique, he could not only restore his body but also potentially evolve his Sage Transformation further.
When that happened, he would have far greater confidence in facing off against Madara Uchiha.
Thinking this through, he immediately instructed Azure Fox to send a reply, saying he would be honored to visit and would set out right away.
"Heiyan, let me go with you!" Seeing this, Pakura eagerly spoke up from the side.
"You… don't you need to return to Sunagakure?" Heiyan asked in surprise.
"You're really eager to see me leave...?" Upon hearing this, Pakura gave him a sorrowful look, her eyes filled with tenderness and longing, making her appear delicate and heartbreakingly tender.
"Fine," Heiyan helplessly agreed.
Azure Fox and White Elephant, standing nearby, exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.
As Heiyan's followers, they were supposed to accompany him on his entire visit to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. However, considering they would just be third wheels, the two had quietly slipped away. After all, with Heiyan's strength, this journey surely wouldn't hold any danger.
Heiyan let out an internal sigh.
He wasn't stupid—he could see right through Pakura's intentions.
Indeed, Pakura excelled in strength, looks, figure, and personality. She was the ideal partner for countless people.
Yet, images of Tsunade surfaced in Heiyan's mind. In his heart, compared to Tsunade, any other woman paled in comparison.
Therefore, he decided to find a suitable moment along the journey to clarify his stance to Pakura, so she wouldn't fall too deep.
After lunch,
Heiyan offered Minato and Kushina some final instructions, reminding them to keep training hard, before leaving Konoha with Pakura to begin their journey.
Five days later.
The Land of Waterfalls lay northwest of Konoha, surrounded by the Lands of Fire, Earth, Grass, and Frost. The country's terrain was complex, filled with countless waterfalls that served as natural defenses against invasions.
Hidden behind a massive waterfall was the Village Hidden in the Waterfall.
In the world of shinobi, aside from the Five Great Ninja Villages, it was the only one that had a Tailed Beast. Historically, due to its formidable strength, it once showed signs of becoming the Sixth Great Village.
However, the high-ranking elders of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall grew overly ambitious and arrogant, even going so far as to send Kakuzu to assassinate Hashirama Senju. When the mission failed, they tried to punish Kakuzu harshly instead. Eventually, Kakuzu escaped prison, took the Earth Grudge Fear with him, and used the technique to steal the hearts of every elder within the village.
If they hadn't acted recklessly, none of this would've happened — sometimes, people just bring disaster upon themselves.
Since then, the Village Hidden in the Waterfall gradually declined and went into hiding, no longer playing an active role in the shinobi world.
"This is the place."
After passing through a stretch of woods, Heiyan and Pakura arrived before a gigantic waterfall.
Water crashed down in roaring torrents.
But what surprised them both was the absence of any ninja coming out to greet them.
Something's off.
"I smell blood."
Frowning, Heiyan walked forward about ten meters and discovered, among some bushes… a corpse of a Takigakure ninja.
Clearly, something must have happened to the village hidden behind the waterfall.
Pakura quickly drew a kunai, assumed a battle stance, and scanned the area with sharp, alert eyes.
"Pakura, you stay here. I can handle whatever's inside alone."
Heiyan considered the situation before saying to her.
"No way!"
Pakura shook her head firmly and said, "I'm fighting alongside you. Don't worry—I won't slow you down!"
"Then… wear this."
Heiyan couldn't argue with her — he knew she really wanted to help. So he came up with an idea and handed her the Two-Tails Catgirl Armor.
"What is this…?"
Taken aback by the armor, Pakura hesitated momentarily, surprise flickering in her eyes. As she followed Heiyan's instructions to wear it and transform into a catgirl, she experienced a feeling entirely new and unlike anything before.
She took a few tentative steps in front of Heiyan, getting used to the catgirl's posture. Then, following Heiyan's suggestion, she summoned Scorch Release fireballs and discovered they had turned blue—greatly enhanced in both quantity and power.
Indeed, Scorch Release Pakura was perfectly suited for the Two-Tails Catgirl Armor.
Heiyan observed the scene, thinking to himself.
"Let's go. Prepare for battle."
After Pakura got used to her new powers, Heiyan engraved a Flying Thunder God formula on a nearby tree trunk as a precaution. Then he led Pakura along the path beside the waterfall and entered behind the water curtain.
Tat-tat-tat.
Walking through the cave behind the waterfall, the two soon came upon a small pond. They exchanged a glance, then dived one after the other and swam through the underwater tunnel.
One minute later.
As they broke the surface of the water, they found themselves already inside the Village Hidden in the Waterfall.
This village had once been a Jianghu-like paradise, but now it lay in ruins.
At the center of the large lake, the thousand-year-old tree within the waterfall village was ablaze. Countless charred branches continuously fell into the water, with flames lighting up half the sky and thick smoke billowing straight into the heavens.
On the shore, rows of houses were ruined and burning, while two factions of ninja fought fiercely. Kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and ninjutsu flew through the air, colliding chaotically.
Now, Heiyan saw a towering figure over twenty meters high tearing through the forest along the shore, hunting the ninja of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall—it was a six-winged beetle whose massive body radiated terrifying chakra waves.
Seven-Tails Chomei.
Ranked third among the Nine Tailed Beasts, second only to Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails, this was the tailed beast possessed by the Village Hidden in the Waterfall.
This was an internal conflict triggered in the Village Hidden in the Waterfall following Kakuzu's death.
Previously, Kakuzu had bribed several jonin from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall with money, making them his spies so he could learn immediately when Hero Water was produced, enabling him to sneak into the village undetected and seize it.
Now that he was dead, those corrupt jonin feared being exposed and punished, so they took desperate measures and staged a rebellion. They hired a group of bounty hunters from the Golden Exchange and, working together with inside traitors, not only burned down the thousand-year-old tree but also destroyed Chomei's sealing formation, releasing the beast, trying to make a grab for the Hero Water while the village burned.
"You help deal with the rogue ninja; leave Seven-Tails to me."
Heiyan quickly made a decision and instructed Pakura.
"Okay, be careful," Pakura nodded, then turned around, lightly hopping across the water surface toward the enemies.
Pakura blurred her hands into hand seals, conjuring seven or eight blue Scorch Release fireballs. Under her control, they floated silently like ghostly flames behind a group of enemies.
Before those people could even scream, the Scorch Release fireballs struck their targets, instantly evaporating all moisture within their bodies, leaving nothing but mummies.
"What the hell just happened?! Who did that?!"
Just as panic and fear gripped the group—
Whoosh!
Crossing her arms, Pakura flicked out sharp claws from her fingertips, dashing directly into the crowd like lightning, slicing through the enemy ranks.
Meanwhile.
Heiyan kept his distance from the Seven-Tails Chomei. His plan was to first injure it using long-range attacks, wait until it lost its fighting ability, then capture it with the Celestial Binding Chain.
Perfect, he could also use this opportunity to practice the Heavenly Sword — Ku no Taiga.
Whoosh!
Heiyan pressed his fingers together into a blade-like shape and pointed forward — executing a hand seal technique. The Murakumo Sword beside him shot through the air, circling around Chomei's massive body, darting up and down, back and forth in rapid succession.
Blades flashed rapidly, accompanied by bursts of red lightning, leaving the clumsy beast helpless against the assault.
Swish swish swish swish swish swish!
Within moments, all six of Chomei's legs were sliced off by the Murakumo Sword — it let out a deafening roar of pain.
Finally, it spotted Heiyan as its attacker. Instantly, it opened its mouth and spat out a large cloud of Scale Powder into the air, spreading throughout the battlefield and obscuring everything ahead.
[Scale Powder Stealth Technique!]
These scales not only blocked the enemy's vision but also carried a paralyzing poison — one of Chomei's trump cards.
Swish!
Seizing the chance, Chomei beat its wings and charged at Heiyan, aiming to impale him with the giant horn on its head.
At the last possible second, Heiyan activated the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge the attack. Simultaneously, gripping the Murakumo Sword tightly with both hands, he reappeared above Chomei's back.
He timed it perfectly — right when Chomei was charging forward at full momentum, unable to turn or stop due to inertia.
"Haa!"
Heiyan landed on Chomei's back, letting out a sharp cry as his sword plunged forcefully into its hard shell. Immediately afterward —
Zzzzt!
A surge of red Heavenly Release lightning erupted from the blade, spreading like wildfire across Chomei's body and locking every limb in place.
Boom! Boom!
The Seven-Tails Chomei crashed through an entire stretch of woods before finally collapsing onto the ground, convulsing, while white smoke rose from its burnt body.
However, being ranked third among the Nine Tailed Beasts, the Seven-Tails Chomei managed to briefly break free by unleashing powerful chakra just as Heiyan prepared to subdue it with the Celestial Binding Chain.
Bang!
Chomei seized the opportunity to open its massive jaws and launched a Tailed Beast Ball straight toward the group of people far away, attempting to destroy everyone from Village Hidden in the Waterfall — including Pakura.
Realizing this, Heiyan frowned and vanished instantly.
The next moment, he appeared along the flight path of the Tailed Beast Ball, his hands forming a huge sealing formula to block it head-on.
Swish!
Using the Flying Thunder God again, Heiyan redirected the Tailed Beast Ball through a previously placed Flying Thunder God formula beyond the waterfall.
Boom!
Deep within the mountain ranges surrounding Village Hidden in the Waterfall, a deafening explosion shook earth and mountains alike.
When Heiyan returned to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall, the Seven-Tails Chomei had already flapped its wings and ascended thousands of meters into the sky, escaping far into the distance.
Undeniably, this tail beast's escape capability ranked number one among the Nine Tailed Beasts.
Heiyan watched silently as Chomei disappeared into the distant horizon but did not pursue.
Because during the earlier fight, he had already marked Chomei with a Flying Thunder God seal tag. There would be no escape — it would surely be captured sooner or later.
He chose to help Pakura first, wiping out the remaining enemies in one swift strike. Soon after, he helped the Village Hidden in the Waterfall quell this rebellion.
The battle that had taken place behind the waterfall was now over.
On the lakeshore, as soon as the villagers recognized Heiyan's identity, they rushed to express their heartfelt thanks to the honored guest.
Later, under the guidance of the Village Headman, Heiyan dove into the lake and reached beneath the roots of the giant tree.
There, a hidden chamber lay waiting. Inside hung a gourd, filled with newly-formed Hero Water that sloshed gently within.
With a solemn expression, the Village Headman handed the gourd to Heiyan.
"Whether it's Chomei the Seven-Tails or the Hero Water itself, these things have brought more harm than protection. They stirred up greed and lust in people's hearts, bringing chaos and unrest to the village. Perhaps it's better this way—now that the Village Hidden in the Waterfall has no treasures left, maybe peace will finally return."
After saying this, the Village Headman let out a deep sigh.
The only pity was that the great ancient tree, which had stood firm through storms for a thousand years on the island at the center of the lake, had been reduced to a charred stump by a fierce fire and seemed on the verge of dying.
In other words, from this day forward, there would no longer be any Hero Water.
"Village Headman."
Just then, as Heiyan looked at the dying old tree, an idea suddenly struck him. He turned to the elder and asked, "Would it be possible for me to buy this tree?"
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