The Plan of the Land of Lightning

Takigakure, the Village Hidden by a massive waterfall, was concealed so well by its geography that it had never been invaded, even though it was surrounded by four nations. Currently, the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, Fū, resided in the village, having recently taken over the role after the previous jinchūriki's death.

As Furen traveled near the border, he sensed the presence of many Takigakure shinobi patrolling the area, their vigilance clear.

"It seems the village has prepared well," Furen muttered to himself.

Such a level of security was clearly aimed at defending against the opportunistic moves of the larger nations. After all, a tailed beast was a village's ultimate weapon, highly valued in every shinobi nation.

Furen adjusted the sealing scroll on his back, which contained the amber pot replica, and continued following the address given by the scarred man who had issued the mission.

At the border between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Fire, a colossal waterfall concealed everything behind it with its roaring cascade of water.

"This should be the place..." Furen stood above the turbulent waters, sensing the numerous chakra signatures behind the waterfall.

"Since they specifically requested that a Konoha Tokubetsu Jōnin escort this tailed beast sealing container... it's clear they want to frame Konoha for whatever is about to happen," Furen murmured. His eyes focused, and with a series of hand signs, he utilized the natural water from the waterfall to perform Ice Release, sealing all exits in layers of ice as he ventured behind the waterfall.

From a distance, the enormous, hundreds-of-meters-high waterfall had now transformed into a sparkling sheet of ice—beautiful yet imposing.

Meanwhile, in Takigakure...

"Village Chief Suien!" Two guards, Kegon and Kyūsuke, hurried into the room.

The village chief, Suien, turned to face them, his expression calm but questioning. "What's wrong? Has Fū snuck out to play again?"

"Yes, sir..." Kegon and Kyūsuke bowed their heads in shame.

Suien sighed, shaking his head. Fū had always been too playful for her own good. Despite only just becoming the new jinchūriki for the Seven-Tails, she frequently wandered outside the village.

"Deploy a team to find her immediately," Suien ordered, his brow furrowing. He was well aware that many foreigners had recently entered the Land of Waterfalls, and with the Land of Fire currently weakened after losing their Hokage, the other major nations were bound to make a move. They might even use Takigakure as a staging ground to test Konoha's strength.

"Yes, sir," Kegon and Kyūsuke responded, vanishing to search for Fū.

Takigakure's strategic location behind the enormous waterfall had made it nearly impenetrable, despite being surrounded by four of the Great Nations. Its natural defenses were as impressive as they were beautiful.

If Fū had still been in the village, Kegon and Kyūsuke wouldn't have needed to go through so much trouble. But Fū had already disappeared, leaving them in a difficult situation.

Meanwhile, Furen found the hidden base where the Kumogakure shinobi were stationed.

The ice sealing the waterfall's entrance began to melt, and the water resumed its natural flow. Everything seemed as it had been before.

Inside the natural cave behind the waterfall, Kumogakure ninja lay sprawled on the ground, each one dead, their blood frozen inside their bodies, leaving no trace of it on the surface.

Furen withdrew his hand from the last cloud ninja's head, watching as the body slumped to the ground.

"Just as I thought..."

As Furen suspected, the amber pot replica had been brought here to extract the Seven-Tails from Fū, the newly appointed jinchūriki of Takigakure.

To ensure the success of their mission, Kumogakure had dispatched four elite jōnin to secretly infiltrate the heavily fortified Takigakure and abduct Fū.

"Now, they should be arriving soon," Furen muttered as he casually seated himself on a rock, flicking his fingers to toss the cloud ninja corpses into the depths of the waterfall.

Sure enough, after waiting for ten minutes, four nimble figures leaped through the waterfall and into the cave.

"Hurry up with the amber pot!" the lead Kumogakure ninja barked before he even fully entered the cave. But upon seeing only Furen, sitting alone in the now-empty space, he froze in place.

The three other cloud ninja immediately noticed something was wrong. Without saying a word, they moved to encircle Furen.

"So, that's Fū, the Seven-Tails jinchūriki," Furen said, paying no mind to the four elite jōnin as he stared at the unconscious Fū, who had been brought back by the cloud ninja.

The four cloud shinobi glanced at each other, silently coordinating before launching an all-out assault against Furen—each attack aimed to kill.

Their strike was swift and lethal, but Furen's calm demeanor suggested that the battle would be far from simple.

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T/N:

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