Chpater 100: Samui?

Sato, Hinata, and Karin didn't take several days to memorize the Anbu manual; instead, they devoted just one night to prepare. The following day, they applied for temporary leave certificates and departed Konoha immediately.

Upon leaving the village, the three of them found a dimly lit tree hole and entered. When they emerged once more, their clothing had transformed. Their standard active ninja uniforms had vanished, replaced by Anbu attire complete with matching black cloaks and animal masks. All three of Sato's masks featured White's cat-like face.

Dressed as Anbu operatives, they set out for their first destination: Hōzuki Castle.

Hōzuki Castle was an unusual place—it could be described as both a city and a prison. This facility, entrusted to Kusagakure by various countries, served as a detention center for criminal ninjas who had violated the principles of their profession.

Ninja villages were typically not suitable for hosting prisons due to their limited size and the need to separate the general population from dangerous criminals. As a result, Hōzuki Castle came into existence.

Whenever ninjas from different nations committed severe infractions against the ninja code, they were brought to Hōzuki Castle. The prison officials fitted them with Chakra-restraining chains, which contained their powers. These chains were also enchanted—if an inmate attempted to escape, they would transform into fiery restraints, burning the escapee.

Hōzuki Castle first appeared in the "Naruto Shippuden Movie: Blood Prison" and later made an appearance in Boruto. It was located on a small island near Kusagakure, situated by the seaside.

Sato's mission was to infiltrate this prison and capture a specific inmate. The reason for capturing instead of rescuing was simple—they intended to kill the prisoner and take his head. To do this, they needed to pose as Anbu operatives, concealing their identity as Konoha Shinobi.

The prisoner in question was an important target of their genocide mission. Although he appeared to be a ninja from Cloud Shinobi Village, he was, in reality, a high-ranking official from a small ninja village. Cloud Shinobi Village had manipulated his status, declaring him a deceased ninja from their village, and then sent him to Hōzuki Castle under a false identity as punishment for a ninja law violation. After some time, they planned to retrieve him, thereby legitimizing his status as a Cloud Shinobi Village ninja.

Why would Cloud Shinobi Village show such kindness to a high-ranking executive of a small Shinobi Village? This was merely a transaction, a way to toss the dog a tasty bone.

This deal had a connection to the reason Konoha took several months to stabilize the Land of Fire. The senior officials of this small ninja village, and even their families, were among those who had caused trouble on the Fire Kingdom's border. During these conflicts, they had beaten one of Konoha's high-ranking executives to death. Now, Konoha intended to send someone to eliminate this individual and his family, providing an explanation to their wronged colleague.

Hence, this mission was another high-stakes game between the great nations and major ninja villages: Konoha, representing the Land of Fire, and Cloud Shinobi Village, representing the Land of Thunder. Sato, Hinata, and Karin were the primary players in this game.

Tsunade assigned them this task to expose Sato to the darkness of the ninja world in advance, helping him accumulate experience as a leader. This would prepare him to skillfully wield Anbu's sharp blade after becoming Hokage.

For Sato, this mission was a piece of cake. If he carried it out alone, he could wipe out the chief messenger's family from the small ninja village in just two or three days. If the objective was to destroy the entire village, Sato could complete it in less than half a day, thanks to his potent AOE ninjutsu.

However, with Hinata and Karin by his side, Sato decided to use this mission as a training opportunity for the two women to complete their transformation. Karin, in particular, had evolved from a mere healer to a real ninja. She had mastered the Chakra Enhanced Strength and part of the sealing technique, making her the most formidable among the three women, even surpassing Sasuke and Naruto in strength.

The key to this mission's success lay in Karin's transformation from a healer to a fully-fledged ninja. This would be the mission's greatest achievement.

Yet, as life often unfolds, unforeseen complications could arise. Two days later, Sato and his team infiltrated Hōzuki Castle, relying on the Byakugan's farsightedness and clairvoyance, along with Kagura's mind's extensive sensory range. However, they discovered that the target had already been picked up by Cloud Shinobi Village half a day earlier.

The Land of Fire occupied the central fertile region on the Ninja World map. The Land of Wind lay in the southwestern desert, the Land of Earth in the northwestern rocky mountains, and the Land of Thunder in the northeastern mountainous area. The Land of Water encompassed the southeastern sea.

The Land of Grass, a small country, was nestled between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire. It shared borders with the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain.

To reach Hōzuki Castle by water, Cloud Shinobi Village would have to navigate through seas near smaller countries like the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Iron, and the Land of Sound. This journey would take at least twice as long as Sato and his team's travel time.

Sato, using an illusion to hypnotize a guard, learned the direction in which the Cloud Shinobi Village ninja had departed. He then led Hinata and Karin in pursuit.

With Karin's high-sensory perception spanning tens of kilometers, it took Sato and his team only a few hours to detect several Chakra signatures. Among them, one Chakra signature stood out, significantly stronger than Hinata's.

As they approached the powerful Chakra source, Hinata, with her Byakugan's telescopic abilities, quickly confirmed that the individuals were wearing Cloud Shinobi Village forehead protectors, making them their mission's targets.

However, as Hinata described the appearance of the leader of the Cloud Shinobi Village escort team, Sato's expression turned peculiar. Due to the black-and-white perspective, he couldn't discern the color of the individual's shoulder-length short hair. There was also a particularly prominent bust—larger even than Hokage-sama's.

If his memory served him correctly, this individual seemed to be the icy beauty from Cloud Shinobi Village—Samui?