Chapter 21: Sato and Tazuna

After leaving Konoha and traveling a certain distance, Sato reverted from a child back to his original appearance.

To avoid attracting attention from Konoha's ninja on the road and being questioned why only one person was undertaking the mission, Sato quickly put away his Genin forehead protector as soon as he released the Transformation Technique. This made Sato and Tazuna appear as two ordinary civilians with a noticeable age difference.

As they traveled through several forest roads, Sato's perception technique suddenly detected two Chakra signatures with ordinary concealment abilities. However, the owners of these Chakra signatures did not attack Sato and Tazuna but instead followed them silently without getting too close. It wasn't until Sato and Tazuna entered a forest road that the pursuers switched from tailing them to launching an ambush.

Sato deeply admired their perseverance and skill. If they were participating in survival drills at the ninja school, they would surely receive high marks. Although their strength was slightly weaker, their overall quality was on par with a Chunin.

When Sato noticed two water ponds ahead of them that seemed out of place considering the recent weather, he shamelessly ignored them and continued on.

Suddenly, the sound of chains extending reached the ears of Sato and Tazuna. Two figures emerged from the water ponds, connected by a chain, and swiftly bound towards Sato and Tazuna from behind.

From stalking to ambushing, the ghost brothers(non-cannon) remained silent and displayed remarkable agility and professionalism. Unfortunately, their attempt to restrain Sato and Tazuna failed, and they found themselves hanging in mid-air before they could complete the binding.

Just as the ghost brothers were about to secure their captives, their eyes widened in shock. Although their consciousness remained clear, their bodies inexplicably lost control and became frozen in place. No matter how hard they struggled, they could only tremble slightly, unable to move an inch.

In the next moment, their surroundings underwent a drastic transformation. The previously foggy forest road gave way to a blood-red space. The ghost brothers found themselves with several large black iron nails piercing their bodies, causing excruciating pain. Yet, they were unable to vocalize their suffering, their voices silenced by their immobilized bodies.

As they looked up at the sky of this blood-red space, a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan eyes dominated their field of view, gazing down upon them with condescension.

With their consciousness fading, the ghost brothers lost all awareness.

Returning to reality, Sato, who had activated his Three Tomoe Sharingan, found his hands covered in black mist. Using the "Swallowing Hand" technique, he absorbed the ghost brothers into mysterious beads, breaking down their bodies, souls, and Chakra into pure energy and soul power. In the dark space within the beads, two edited movies appeared, awaiting Sato's viewing in his spare time.

After sighing, Sato continued on his journey with Tazuna, who had remained under the illusionary effect.

The Land of Waves, located in the eastern region of the Land of Fire on the Ninja World map, is a small island country surrounded by the sea. Before the construction of the bridge connecting the Land of Waves to the mainland, those traveling from the mainland to the country had to rely on water transportation.

In other words, controlling maritime transportation in this country equated to controlling the entire nation. This strategy was employed by the prominent figure Kado, who dominated the ninja world. By seizing control of maritime trade, Kado held power over the wealth, politics, and people of the Land of Waves.

Kado(non-cannon), who had gathered a large number of jonin, wandering ninjas, and rogue ninjas, became a nightmare for the inhabitants of the Land of Waves.

Tazuna's motivation for building the bridge was to establish a connection between the Land of Waves and the mainland, boosting the country's prosperity and influence.

Such actions directly threatened Kado's grip on power, prompting him to dispatch ninja to pursue and eliminate Tazuna.

Every time Sato contemplated this situation, a bewildered expression crossed his face.

While explosives existed in this world, detonating tags proved to be more practical than traditional explosives. Moreover, the cost of detonating tags was considerably lower than that of ice bombs.

As the wealthiest individual in the ninja world, how many detonating tags would Kado need to purchase? By having his ninja secretly destroy the bridge, he could shatter Tazuna's hope. Yet, how could one of the richest tycoons in the ninja world compete against an ordinary bridge builder?

It could only be said that all of these circumstances were necessary for the progression of the plot.

After eliminating the ghost brothers, Sato and Tazuna encountered no further assassination attempts until they left the Land of Fire. Upon arriving in the Land of Waves by boat, they boarded a vessel that had come to collect Tazuna.

Shortly after Sato disembarked, his perception detected the presence of two powerful Chakra signatures. One of these Chakra signatures closely matched his own.