Two Years Change

"What is that?" A squad of six ninjas was standing on the ground looking at something strange. They were part of the Land Of Fire's outpost. They had received multiple reports of a strange bubble-like structure over the weeks and had finally gotten to time to send a squad to investigate. "It looks like it stretches for miles in every direction."

In Front of them was a blue sphere separating a large chunk of the forest from the other. If they had to describe it they would simply call it a barrier. "We should check if the other side is safe before trying to breach." The leader of that Squad gestured to the male ninja beside him. "Throw a wired kunai at that tree over there."

Pointing at a tree on the other side of the blue barrier the ninja nodded. Drawing a kunai from his back pouch he threw it as hard as he could. It whistled through the air and passed through the barrier with no obstruction or issue. And like clockwork, the sound of the kunai piercing the bark of the tree synced perfectly with its impact.

"It doesn't look like it's meant to stop anyone from entering." The ninja who threw the kunai then yanked on the string. Reacting to this yank the kunai detached from the tree and flew into the air while being pulled back. In a matter of seconds, the Kunai exited from the barrier before being grabbed by the ninja. "And it doesn't stop exiting either."

They took this very seriously mostly because of where the barrier was. It centers on the edge of the Land Of Fire's border meaning technically it could be another nation's actions that caused its sudden appearance. "Remain hidden and don't engage with anyone here to investigate." Warning them all before entering they all showed they understood.

Entering first the Squad Leader gestured for the others to follow. Entering through the barrier they felt a rush that they couldn't explain. Something was different on this side of the barrier that they had never felt before. Everything was flourishing and full of life despite there being no visual difference it's as if it was in the air itself.

"This place is weird. I can't imagine the rank of a Jutsu that could cause this kind of change to such a large area." One of the female ninjas there pointed this out which also caused them to imagine who in the world could have cast it. 'It would have taken a large amount of chakra to simply set up let alone maintain.

As they continued to move at a relatively fast but careful pace they began to make their way closer towards the origin of this barrier. They made sure to watch their surroundings carefully as they moved and only stopped every ten minutes of traveling. "Is it just me or is that purifying feeling in the air getting stronger."

It was after one of them mentioned that strange feeling that they heard a sound. It was loud and it was the iconic sound of a tree falling. No to be more precise it was the sound of multiple trees falling to the ground. They could tell it was more than just one from the fact the forest shook slightly five times over. "It's coming from that way."

Pointing northwest of their current location they all knew this was most likely going to be the cause of this barrier. They focused more on their stealth as they moved towards the sound until finally, they witnessed something. Traveling for no longer than a minute they were greeted by an entire area of the forest completely cleared out.

"I get that we need the space to expand but cutting down all these trees seems like a waste to me." Hiding in the forest the ninja heard a voice as someone entered their field of view. A blonde-haired kid with bright yellow eyes was standing beside a massive pile of logs. These were the trees that had been cut down however the ninja couldn't understand why.

"Was he the one who did all of this? He seems like he would be around Chunin rank to me." The others agreed as they observed the boy more closely. "The clothes he's wearing don't seem to be associated with any nation I am aware of. However, the mark on the back does seem to hold significance."

However, before they could look into him further he suddenly raised his hand. The sound of something whistling through the air entered their ears as one of them pointed out something in the sky. "What the hell is that?" All of them turned their attention to something flying through the air like a boomerang towards the boy. "It's a sword..."

Peering at the weapon as if flew closer the boy caught it mid-air by its handle before slamming it into the ground. The force of the slam almost made the ninja jump. 'How can anyone even use that thing.' This thought rushed through the Squad leader mind as he looked at the sheathed sword now jammed into the ground.

It was about two times the size of their bodies and had the width of someone's forearm. Compared to the boy the handle alone was almost the length of his entire body. That along with the sheath made him seem small compared to it but despite that fact, he still managed to grab it by the handle and slam it to the ground.

"We should retreat. This is too strange. We have enough info to report back to the Lord and wait for new orders." One of the ninjas said this which caused the rest to agree as well. Looking back at them the squad leader had to agree with them. "Alright well return to the outpo-" Before he could finish speaking they all heard the boy's voice screaming.

"Hey, you all can stop hiding. I know you're there." Waving his hand in a carefree manner the blond-haired boy seemed to look directly at them causing the entire squad to freeze up. "How did he know we were here?" They had made sure to remain completely hidden even when talking to one another.

On one other hand, Seiki waited there patiently until he finally saw a figure walk from out of the forest's shrubbery. "Im sorry for hiding from you. I'm simply here to investigate this place's existence." This person was the Squad Leader who wanted to verify if Seiki had found all of them. Staring at him with a strange look Seiki tilted his head.

"What about the other five?" Hearing that the Squad Leader tried to contain himself before gesturing to the rest. Soon all six of them were gathered a couple of meters away from Seiki. Looking at them all Seiki spoke out loud even though it was mostly for himself. "It's been a while since I've seen a human. Most of you usually turn back at the barrier or leave after entering due to the Reishi in the area."

Listening to Seiki one thing stood out to them and that was how Seiki addressed them as 'humans'. 'Finally, I have an excuse to get out of tree chopping duty.' Acting cheerful Seiki spoke to them from afar. "Well in any case you guys are probably ninja from one of the nearby nations, right? Rei told me to bring any ninja I find to him so you guys can just follow me."

Turning to his sword Seiki kicked its sheath that was buried in the ground. Flying out of the ground the sword began to spin as it flew up before falling back down. Landing on Seiki's shoulders he held it thereby placing his hand on its handle.

"He can hold that thing?" Being distracted by the disproportionate size of the sword the six of them snapped out of their daze when he started to walk.

"Squad Leader are we really just going to follow him? What if it's a trap?" One of the members of the squad was still suspicious of the entire situation and the Squad Leader agreed. "That is possible but it's important we learn what's actually going on. Reporting back without proper information could be dangerous. If it comes down to it I will distract them while you all run."

Stating that they all stopped talking to one another when they heard Seiki talk to them. "We're here." Turning their gaze's ahead they suddenly stopped walking altogether. "This place…" In Front of them was a large gate separating the outside area from what was behind it. The wall surrounded a large area and inside was what looked to be a massive building.

"How could something this big have been built without notice." Saying his thoughts out loud Seiki had heard him and turned around. "Well, originally this place was pretty small in comparison. But over the years Rei kept adding to it making it bigger and bigger until it finally reached this size."

Despite what Seiki said to them this place could only be described with an otherworldly term. Moving through the gate and the open yard behind its walls they made their way inside of the building. The ninja could say with certainty that it looked even better inside. Thanks to Rei being able to build the entire place out of Reishi during expansion he didn't take any liberties.

"How do you manage this place? From what I can tell there isn't anyone here." A place this large had to have someone to tend to it. And besides that, there was no way a building this big was only for one person.

"This place is-" Before finishing what he was going to say Seiki stopped himself. "I should just let Rei tell you he's probably still in the main hall." Hearing Seiki mentions Rei's name again and again all the ninja could assume he was the person in charge. "Seiki what did I tell you about having your Shikai activated like that. I don't need you causing any more damage to this place than you already have."

With a voice coming from behind them the squad of ninja quickly drew their weapons before turning around. Standing behind them wearing similar clothes to Seiki, Rei looked at all the ninja and then at their headbands. 'From the Hidden Leaf…' Seeing Rei staring at them intensely the ninja felt a strange feeling pressuring down on them.

"If you don't mind me asking who sent you?" Rei didn't bother with formalities and asked them directly. Seeing how Rei was treating them, Seiki took this as a chance to slip away. Hearing Rei the Squad Leader lowered his weapon slightly. "We… We are here to investigate. We are from a nearby outpost and are here to see why this place is built on the borders of the Land of Fire."

Listening to them and not hearing Danzo's name brought up Rei realized he had been glaring at them the entire time. "I see, well sorry to startle you all like that." Acting a lot less hostile to them the ninja, in turn, did the same and put away their weapons. 'I had thought we had kept this place well hidden by wiping the minds of civilians that came to close. Guess a few managed to slip by.'

It was a blunder on his part but not one he was too worried about. After so long he managed to finally set this barrier up along with filling it with enough Reishi to make it stable for spirits. Eventually, people were going to find out one way or another he was more worried about exactly how to go about dealing with more 'rude' guests.

Looking at the Squad Leader Rei asked him a strange question. "Do you mind telling me who you report to?" Hesitating for a moment with a look of confusion the man spoke. "Normally this would be dealt with by the Hokage Lady Tsunade however this may be directed to the Daimyo instead. Lady Tsunade." The words Fifth Hokage and Lady Tsunade stuck with Rei. 'Right… It's been so long of course they have a new Hokage. But I can't believe it's Tsunade.'

All of a sudden Rei smiled slightly. "Well if that's the case then you can report this to her. I'm currently using this area to 'build'. I'm sure she won't mind too much." He wouldn't consider Tsunade a friend by any regard but he wouldn't say they were enemies especially after he helped them out with that note.

Hearing Rei speaks about their Fifth Hokage like she was someone he knew the Squad Leader didn't know what to say. They did technically investigate the issue however what they found was a lot bigger than what they thought. 'It would be best to let Lady Tsunade decide what to do. If we are gone for too long then they may send another Squad in after us.'

"Very well then we'll take our leave. But I hope you understand that the possibility of you being able to stay here is unlikely. The Land Of Fire is governed by the Feudal Lord of the Land Of Fire even if Lady Tsunade decides to allow you to stay." Listening to them Rei didn't react in any type of way.

"I see well thank you for the warning." Rei took their words to heart and let them leave on their way. However, as soon as they left he sighed. "I'm really not looking forward to dealing with the political side of things…" He honestly couldn't believe two years past just like that.

'I had been procrastinating to put this off but I guess I can't avoid it now.'