Chapter 8

We reached the gates by leaping across rooftops, and honestly, I didn't think a person could develop such speed. A vehicle — sure, but not on foot! Everything around was flashing by so quickly that I couldn't make out the details, turning my head from side to side.

It may seem easy to move like this from the outside, but in reality, the oncoming wind stings the eyes, and distinguishing where exactly to jump is not so simple, not to mention the considerable height. So I hung onto Mom's back like a sack of potatoes, clutching her neck tightly and trying not to stick out.

We reached the gates literally in a couple of minutes, and considering that it takes about two hours to walk through the village, the capabilities of shinobi command respect. The need for any means of transportation like cars just disappears. Well, thank goodness, at least the air is clean and nature is unpolluted. That alone outweighs all the downsides of this world.

Stopping for a couple of minutes, we had our papers checked by the four chunin on guard duty, one of whom was a member of the Hyuga clan, and then we left Konoha.

"Nara-san."

As we rounded the massive wall protecting the village, the squad leader moved closer to us, while the chunin formed a neat box around us — two in front, two behind, and two on the sides.

"Yes, Hyuga-san?"

"Before I decide on our route, I would like to know if you prefer to camp under a roof, or if camping in the forest wouldn't be a problem?"

Mom threw a quick questioning glance at me.

"In the forest!" I replied without hesitation.

One might wonder why we brought scrolls with sealed tents and futons if we were going to stay in hotels?

"Excellent, then we'll head west in a straight line to Khan, without detouring to settlements for overnight stays," the jonin nodded and, with a small burst of chakra, moved to the front of the squad.

After running through the open space before the walls, we plunged into the forest, and the NIGHTMARE began! If I thought it was scary to move across rooftops some time ago, that was just child's play compared to this!

The trees here resembled thousand-year-old baobabs that even five people couldn't wrap their arms around, and the lowest branches were about twenty meters above the ground! Running up the trunks, the shinobi jumped onto them, gradually climbing higher.

Soon, the ground below started to seem very far away, and only by sheer force of will did I suppress the fear of heights that began to creep up. But even that wasn't the worst part — moving at such speed as a passenger, I simply couldn't keep up with all the branches coming towards us, and I was constantly afraid that we would crash into one of them at full speed.

I had to look around to avoid getting myself unnecessarily worked up. Another problem was the jumps from branch to branch — the contents of my stomach kept rising to my throat at the peak, only to fall back down when we landed on the next tree.

Of course, the movement was smooth, without sharp jolts, but the constant up-down motion made me quite queasy. Luckily, I managed to start circulating chakra rapidly in my body in time, miraculously avoiding the embarrassment of regurgitating half-digested food in front of everyone. I wouldn't want to disgrace myself like that in front of everyone.

After a couple of hours, somewhat getting used to this mode of transportation, I simply closed my eyes and soon felt myself drifting off to sleep. The whole day had passed uneventfully and rather monotonously, except for Hyuga activating his Byakugan.

Nothing interesting, just veins appearing on his temples and around his eyes, and the eyes themselves beginning to glow slightly from the excess chakra in the dojutsu. The squad made several stops to eat and take care of necessary matters, after which the movement resumed.

In principle, all journeys should go like this — fast, boring, and without traffic jams! Even normal conversation could only be done through hand gestures, but since I hadn't learned them yet, Mom's hands were busy, and the rest were vigilantly guarding us or pretending to, just as bored as I was, I could only watch the shinobi and doze off.