Over the next few days, Orion, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura split into pairs, taking turns protecting Dazuna while he worked on the bridge.
During this time, Zabuza Momochi did not appear again.
Kakashi stayed with whichever group was guarding Dazuna, since Dazuna was the mission's primary target and he didn't trust anyone else to protect him alone.
In just a few days, Orion had already mastered dozens of jutsu. He had even fully learned Raikiri. Now, he had begun studying sealing techniques under Kakashi Hatake.
His learning speed shocked Kakashi. Even after everything he had already seen, Orion continued to exceed expectations. At this point, Orion had already acquired enough jutsu to qualify as an elite jōnin in terms of raw strength.
The only thing he lacked was combat experience.
Orion valued combat experience highly, but Kakashi didn't see it the same way. In his opinion, Orion already possessed elite jōnin-level strength. Even without much experience, defeating him would be extremely difficult for most elite jōnin.
Several peaceful weeks passed.
That day, Orion returned from training in the back mountain.
As soon as he reached the entrance of Dazuna's house, he sensed something was wrong.
He stopped. His hand hovered in midair, just about to open the door.
"…Too quiet."
He stepped back.
"Whoosh—"
His figure vanished like a ghost.
In the next instant, Orion appeared on the second floor, entering through the balcony of their room. Chakra gathered beneath his feet, allowing him to walk silently across the wooden floor.
Everything looked normal.
He turned and walked downstairs.
Still silent.
No Tsubasa cooking in the kitchen. No Inari running through the hallway. Sakura was gone too.
From top to bottom, the house was empty.
Then, on the dining table—
A letter.
After a brief pause, Orion gathered chakra into his hands. Golden chakra wrapped around them like gloves.
He opened the envelope.
His expression turned serious.
"So something really did happen… This is clearly a trap."
It was a kidnapping letter.
Sakura, Tsubasa, and Inari had been taken. The letter demanded that Orion come alone to the back mountain. If he didn't arrive before sunset, they would all be killed.
After only a moment of thought, Orion rushed out.
He didn't go to inform Kakashi.
There wasn't enough time.
As he sped through the forest, his expression grew colder.
"They knew exactly when I'd return… they must have been watching for a long time."
"Their goal is to stall me. The real objective is to assassinate Dazuna."
"Zabuza is probably already attacking Kakashi's group."
Orion quickly pieced everything together.
After their previous encounter, Zabuza knew he couldn't defeat Kakashi and Orion together. So he arranged for someone to kidnap Sakura and the others to lure Orion away.
With Orion gone, Zabuza would only need to deal with Kakashi.
And if he had help… killing Dazuna would be even easier.
Even knowing all this, Orion had no choice but to follow their plan.
Because he couldn't ignore Sakura and the others.
Soon, Orion arrived at the location mentioned in the letter.
Deep within the forest stood a small wooden cabin.
Inside—
Sakura, Tsubasa, and Inari were tied to wooden stakes. Their bodies were covered with countless explosive tags.
In front of them sat three rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.
The leader was a man with long green hair and sharp teeth—Raiga Kurosuki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Behind him stood two chūnin subordinates.
After learning about Orion's strength, Zabuza had sought out Raiga as reinforcement.
Gato had paid an additional S-rank mission fee for this.
Painful as it was, he had no choice.
Raiga looked at the three captives and spoke coldly, "Don't worry. Once that brat arrives, I'll send all of you to die together. I'll even give you a grand funeral—hahaha!"
Sakura struggled and shouted angrily, "You green-haired freak won't succeed! When Kakashi-sensei and Orion get here, they'll defeat you!"
Raiga laughed. "Foolish girl. Kakashi is probably already dead at Zabuza's hands."
"As for that brat Orion… I admit he has some skill."
"But I have you three."
"Your so-called 'bonds of comradeship' will force him to come."
"No matter how fast he is, he can't outrun the explosion of these tags."
"What a pity. That boy is a genius… yet he'll die trying to save a foolish girl like you."
For days, Raiga had been observing Orion. He knew how strong Orion had become.
Without hostages, he wasn't confident he could kill him.
But now—
With three hostages in hand, especially Sakura—
He was certain Orion would come.
That was his advantage.
Combined with his weapon—Kiba swords—his strength rivaled elite jōnin. With two chūnin assisting him, he saw no way to lose.
Hearing his words, Inari trembled.
He was reminded of his father.
Wasn't this exactly how his father had died?
Tears streamed down his face as despair consumed him.
"So there are no heroes… Anyone who tries to be one is just a fool… and fools die…"
"People are always so foolish…"
His voice broke as he muttered to himself.
The small spark of hope Naruto had given him days ago—
Was gone.
Completely shattered.
Tsubasa's face turned pale.
She understood what Raiga meant.
They were going to die.
To her, Orion was still just a child. No matter how talented he was, how strong could he really be?
Kakashi was likely tied up elsewhere.
Her father… might already be dead.
Losing both her husband and father—
The thought crushed her.
She couldn't even speak anymore.
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