Iwagakure – Village Hidden by Rocks.
"What's going on?" Kurotsuchi asked, her expression puzzled as she watched the document clerks rushing about.
"It must be that old geezer Onoki getting another one of his crazy ideas," Deidara scoffed, a corner of his mouth twitching.
"Entirely possible," Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement.
Listening to their conversation, Kitsuchi, standing nearby, couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead. Is the future of Iwagakure really safe in the hands of these two?
Bang!
The tightly shut door was violently kicked open from the outside. Watching the door slam against the wall and then quickly rebound, Onoki felt the veins on his forehead begin to throb.
"Old man, look who I brought back!" Kurotsuchi's arrogant voice followed close behind.
"No matter who you brought back, you're fixing my door today!" Onoki said, pointing at the rickety wooden door.
He, the dignified Tsuchikage, when had he ever suffered such indignity? It was only because this little hellion was his granddaughter.
"Look who this is!" Kurotsuchi leaped lightly to the side, gesturing towards a somewhat bewildered Deidara.
"So you still know how to come back." Onoki snorted, looking at Deidara's now more mature face.
"Stop pretending. If you're happy, show it. Don't walk around with a long face all day, or Deidara-nīsan might get angered by you and leave again," Kurotsuchi said, exasperated.
"Hmph!" Although Onoki said nothing, his expression was no longer so stiff.
"Third!" An Iwagakure ninja walked into the room, his face tense.
"Kurotsuchi, take him down to rest properly. Kitsuchi, you stay," Onoki instructed the three.
Seeing his serious expression, Kurotsuchi didn't cause any more trouble and obediently led Deidara out of the office.
"It's been so many years since you've been back. Do you still remember the way?" Kurotsuchi asked, tilting her head.
"You think I'm as brainless as you?" Deidara snorted.
Watching the two bicker as they left, Onoki turned his head to look at his son. "Roshi is in trouble."
"What happened?" Kitsuchi's expression tensed.
His father had just issued the order to recall both of them, and now Roshi was in trouble. Wasn't this a slap in Iwagakure's face?
"It was Akatsuki who made the move," Onoki said, his face somewhat grim.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Iwagakure had once employed the Akatsuki.
To be backstabbed by someone he had once hired… no matter how he thought about it, he felt a sense of displeasure.
"When do we move?" Kitsuchi asked.
Whether for Roshi's sake or for the dignity of Iwagakure, a confrontation between the two sides was inevitable.
"Where is Akatsuki?" Onoki asked the messenger ninja.
"Ninja from the Kamisuru clan sent back news that Akatsuki's base was discovered in the Land of Grass," the messenger ninja quickly replied.
"Kitsuchi, I'll give you one hour to rest. Once the men are assembled, head directly to the Land of Grass and bring Roshi back to me," Onoki ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Kitsuchi responded in a deep voice.
Gazing at the distant mountains shrouded in white mist, Naruto stretched lazily.
Finally found the location of Ryuchi Cave…
Having pinpointed the location, Naruto leaped and disappeared into the vast white mist.
"The internal conditions are very different from how it looks from afar."
The situation of not being able to see one's hand in front of one's face, which he had imagined, did not occur. Actually being within the white mist, his field of vision was instead wide open, without any obstruction.
"Those so-called Sages just love to play these mysterious tricks. If you strip it all away, it's just a large-scale barrier," Kurama huffed.
"All things considered, it's a pretty good initial show of force," Naruto said, surveying his surroundings.
Being within this barrier, there was an inexplicable force urging him to turn back, but the force was very weak; any genin with a slightly firm will could resist it.
It was likely a jutsu Ryuchi Cave had set up to deter ordinary people.
Relying on the perception of his Mind's Eye of Kagura, Naruto locked onto the location of Ryuchi Cave's Sage and vanished from his spot.
A few minutes later.
Gazing at the solemn and grand building before him, Naruto's expression flickered. These Ryuchi Cave Sages really know how to live, huh?
Just as he was hesitating whether to walk in, a melodious female voice came from within the building.
"Esteemed guest, why not come in and sit for a while? Perhaps I can offer you some assistance."
Interesting…
Naruto touched Kusabimaru at his waist, a slight smile playing on his lips as he walked into the building.
The interior decoration of the building was also exceptionally solemn. Expensive building materials shimmered with rainbow hues under the lights, as if one had stepped into a religious sanctuary, instantly focusing a scattered mind.
"Esteemed guest, for what purpose have you come here?" In the center of the room, a stunningly beautiful woman, dressed like a shrine maiden, inquired.
Naruto withdrew his gaze from the room's decor and looked at her. "Who are you?" he asked.
"…" Hearing this, the woman paused slightly, then smiled enchantingly. "I am Tagorihime, one of the Three Great Sages of Ryuchi Cave."
"If you have any problems, feel free to tell me. Perhaps I can give you a perfect answer."
She walked up to Naruto, her breath fragrant, her expression exceedingly bewitching.
"I want to see the White Snake Sage," Naruto said, his brow furrowing slightly as he subtly leaned back.
"Why do you want to see the White Snake Sage? Isn't seeing me good enough?" Tagorihime's body slowly pressed against his.
"Either I dismantle your body and find the White Snake Sage myself, or you take me to the White Snake Sage." The blade of Kusabimaru was positioned between the two of them.
"Our guest must be tired from the journey. Why not eat something first, then go find the White Snake Sage?" Tagorihime's expression faltered, and she slowly retreated.
Several pretty serving girls with excellent figures entered in single file. In no time, the low table in the room was laden with delicacies.
"Hahaha…" Watching this scene, Kurama let out an unkind laugh.
Naruto looked at the table of 'delicacies,' his brow twitching. What is all this random junk…
These things, just by looking at them, indeed appeared to be delicacies. But in essence, they were a pile of rotten fish and spoiled shrimp. Most outrageously, Naruto even saw a pile of filth.
"I am paying a visit; I don't wish for this to become awkward for both parties."
"I'll ask one last time: where is the White Snake Sage?"
Tagorihime's smile slightly faded. "So, our guest does not intend to eat these things?"
The moment her words fell, her stunningly beautiful face instantly contorted into a ferocious expression, and a long, thin, forked snake tongue flicked out from her mouth.
The serving girls who had just been carrying the dishes also surrounded him, revealing an assortment of strangely shaped weapons.
Seemingly done with the charade, Tagorihime also gave up manipulating the surroundings. The splendid building that had been conjured by illusion transformed into a desolate stone cave; the dazzling array of delicacies on the table also revealed their true, disgusting forms.
Naruto even saw a considerable number of human skeletons in a nearby corner.
"Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku truly have completely different styles," Naruto commented to Kurama in his mental space.
"The taste of a young man should be quite good," Tagorihime's figure slowly faded, her voice echoing around the stone cave.
Gazing at the serving girls attacking him with sharp weapons, a golden tail materialized behind Naruto. With a casual flick, they lost their ability to move.
Tagorihime's concealment technique was very advanced; even the Mind's Eye of Kagura couldn't detect her. But unfortunately for her, her overflowing malice and surplus life energy fluctuations were, to Naruto, no different from a bright lamp in the dead of night.
His figure abruptly vanished from his spot.
Boom!
Tagorihime, her neck seized, was slammed so hard against the cave wall that her body almost seemed to become embedded within it.