Ninjas never walk the righteous path.
They attach chakra to the soles of their feet, allowing them to travel using ninja footwork. Their feet can also adhere to big trees as if walking on the ground, and the same goes for treading on water, enabling them to travel a thousand miles in a single journey.
The running posture is also very special. When sprinting at high speed, the upper body is often straightened and leaned forward, with both arms swung backward, relying entirely on the explosive force of the legs to continuously step on trees and the ground, springing forward.
It is said that this can narrow a person’s physique, reduce air resistance, and increase running speed.
Uchiha Sasuke rarely communicated while traveling with Otsutsuki Amenohoko, yet he was surprised to find that Amenohoko could actually keep up with his speed.
This was not just because the other party had good physical fitness—Amenohoko’s taijutsu even surpassed Orochimaru’s by a notch, a fact he knew very well.
It also meant that Amenohoko excelled extraordinarily in practicing ninjutsu; not only did he quickly master the way of traveling, but he could also use it proficiently, far from the stupidity he claimed to have.
Sasuke’s gaze was undisguised, and Amenohoko naturally noticed it, returning a gentle and bright smile.
He looked away again—he knew that in this extremely hypocritical Orochimaru, many people were unfathomable and harboring their own hidden agendas.
Half a day passed, and Amenohoko took the initiative to speak: “Can we rest for a bit, Lord Sasuke?”
Sasuke was very willing to listen to his companion’s opinion and stopped in his tracks: “Yes.”
The two used the Body Flicker Technique to move from the slender tree branches down to the ground.
Since it was noon, it was time to enjoy lunch.
During a mission, ninjas are not allowed to be picky about food. Sasuke usually ate military ration pills—a kind of pill used to quickly restore physical strength and replenish chakra, equivalent to a ninja’s compressed combat rations.
A slightly better meal would be taking out rice balls from their own scrolls and finishing them in two or three bites.
Sasuke took out a military ration pill from his ninja tool pouch just like before, and was about to toss it into his mouth to chew it all at once when his wrist was grabbed.
He turned his head, looking at the white-pupiled youth, pitch-black deep eyes carrying a hint of confusion.
Amenohoko argued logically: “Since I am here, food like military ration pills, which merely maintain vital signs, should not appear on Lord Sasuke’s menu.”
Sasuke: “…”
Amenohoko’s eyes curved: “This is my dignity as an attendant.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a yellow-and-white grid-patterned picnic mat from his spatial scroll, his hands moving with a rapid swish-swish-swish to arrange plates and food on it, so fast that afterimages could be seen.
Amenohoko still wore that pure and innocent expression, saying apologetically to Sasuke: “Wild conditions are hard, and there is no hot food. I can only wrong Lord Sasuke into eating rice balls.”
Sasuke cast his gaze over; the plates not only held small, cute rice balls, but also exquisitely shaped sushi, and a pink plate was even filled with fresh, dripping-wet small tomatoes.
Seeing him look over, Amenohoko even took out a water skin and poured black tea into a cup.
Sasuke frowned and sincerely said: “Troublesome.”
After such exquisite enjoyment, packing things up afterwards was inevitable, which would waste a lot of time during the mission.
Almost instantly deducing his thoughts, Amenohoko smiled and said: “Ah, it’s fine. Lord Sasuke only needs to enjoy it; leave all the packing up to me. If you want to hurry on your way, you can also leave right after finishing your meal, and I will catch up with you.”
As soon as those words fell, Sasuke abruptly raised his head, his sharp and fierce pitch-black eyes staring straight at him, like snow on a mountain peak, both beautiful and hurtful.
A thick, unresolvable gloom settled within those black pupils, and Sasuke rarely directed his viciousness and ruthlessness toward Amenohoko.
He uncontrollably recalled the Sound Four he encountered when he hesitated to defect from Konoha to Orochimaru; their condescending attitude and disdain for him pierced the heart of an avenger.
Everything seemed to be saying that his determination for revenge was not worth mentioning at all, and even Orochimaru’s subordinates could cast contemptuous gazes at him—then did he still deserve to live in this world under the name of the Uchiha clan? That kind of pain of having one’s pride crushed to pieces…
And Amenohoko’s casually blurted out words also seemed to be telling him that all the effort he made, risking his life for endless training, amounted to just this.
The moment he thought of how even Orochimaru’s taijutsu was slightly inferior to the other party, the title of genius mentioned in the past also seemed to carry a bit of mocking sarcasm.
17.
The anger burned incessantly; obsidian-like pupils turned into crimson eyes in an instant, with three black tomoe spinning within them.
“Are you looking down on me, Amenohoko?” Caught in anger, Sasuke remained expressionless, his voice cold as ice.
“No.” Amenohoko’s voice was steady as he put away his smile, “I have never had such a thought.”
“From the very first moment I saw you, I knew you would be a powerhouse standing at the top of the world. What I just said slipped out without thinking; it was truly presumptuous, please forgive me.”
He quickly explained, smoothing down Sasuke’s fur: “My original intention was that no matter how far ahead you walk, and no matter how unswervingly forward you go, I will closely follow behind you and will never betray or negate you. This is my duty.”
He admired his talent and his personality of never showing weakness. Looking into those pretty eyes that were sharp and thorough at every moment, it was hard not to feel admiration.
The spinning crimson Sharingan retreated, and the furrow that had appeared on Sasuke’s brow at some point relaxed. He looked into the distance and snorted: “I don’t need that kind of thing; my only purpose is to kill a certain person.”
He meaningfully emphasized: “Besides, the object of your following and allegiance is Orochimaru, after all.”
Sasuke’s casual gaze turned back, but he couldn’t help widening his eyes, even his black pupils trembling for a split second.
Amenohoko’s pupils gained a bit of divine indifference, his eyeballs like inorganic glass marbles, and his tone was also flat: “Ah, that might not be certain either. In our day-to-day interactions, the bond between you and me, Lord Sasuke, might far surpass everything else.”
Sasuke calmed down, too lazy to bother with such sweet words wrapped in a veneer of pretense.
He sat cross-legged on the picnic mat, obediently eating his rice balls now that his tantrum was over, his cheeks puffing out as he chewed. His posture was graceful yet cute.
Seeing the child who was being raised plump and tender, Amenohoko was also extremely satisfied, and he reminded him: “Oh, right. Actually, Lord Sasuke can also reluctantly wait for me for a bit; you don’t have to leave so fast. It’s best not to do strenuous exercise right after eating, and it just so happens to give me time to clean these up.”
Sasuke rolled his black pupils, glanced at him, and agreed with a stinky face.
18.
“Hey, Amenohoko, wanna fight me after the mission?”
“As you wish.”
19.
Shallow light leaked through the wooden paper windows, straw mats covered the floor, and a low table sat quietly in a corner. Wisp after wisp of faint smoke rose from the white porcelain incense burner resting on it, the soft smoke slowly entangling the wooden beams of the eaves, making the entire quiet room look serene and desolate.
The senior vassal specifically responsible for serving the Daimyo of the Land of Fang knelt behind the low table. He looked very plump, dressed in plain formal wear that revealed brightly colored inner garments from beneath his arms during movement.
The senior vassal covered the lower half of his face with an exquisite cypress fan, his eyes showing exhausted relaxation, but his gaze also revealed a bit of shrewd calculation and ambition.
Accustomed to the scheming infighting, when dealing with Uchiha Sasuke and Otsutsuki Amenohoko, he had already begun to cunningly evaluate: “What we entrusted to the Sound Village is an S-rank mission after all. Does Orochimaru, this Sound Shinobi, just send two wet-behind-the-ears kids to brush us off? There’s even one who…”
“Cannot see?”
One of the youths had raven-feather-like black hair, deep and clear black pupils, fair skin and red lips, and a cold temperament, possessing an aggressive type of beauty. As for the other, he had white hair, and apart from his eyes being blindfolded, his facial features were also exceptionally striking.
Their overly superior appearances made the two look almost unlike ninjas; calling them the idols most adored by juniors nowadays would not be an exaggeration!
That being said, there wasn’t much doubt in the senior vassal’s eyes; he merely narrowed them to appraise the pair, habitually giving them a psychological blow to exact benefits through suppression.
Sasuke had already knitted his slender black brows; he hated dealing with people like this and was not good at exchanging polite pleasantries with them.
Amenohoko’s utility came into play at this moment. Even with the white gauze blindfold on, he could accurately locate the senior vassal’s direction, proving that he was not truly blind.
“Please rest assured, my lord. Your willingness to entrust this mission to Lord Orochimaru is precisely because you valued the Sound Village’s extremely high mission completion rate and our reputation, isn’t it? Lord Orochimaru naturally wouldn’t treat a commission as a joke; you only need to explain the details to us.”
He tossed that soft nail right back, showing that they were definitely not soft persimmons to be arbitrarily slaughtered and oppressed.
The senior vassal’s gaze, hiding shrewdness and gloom, swept over him before he unhurriedly explained the mission this time.
The prerequisite for Uchiha Sasuke’s willingness to accept this S-rank mission was that it did not have a specific requirement to kill someone, stating only that it was a deeply perilous investigation mission.
The mission would delve deep into the Land of Water, a major nation, and might even produce conflicts with elite ninjas from Kirigakure, hence its extremely high danger level, which naturally qualified it as S-rank.
The confidentiality level of the content was very high, because this matter concerned a scandal between the Daimyos of the two nations—
Not long ago, the Daimyo of the Land of Fang passed away, and the only heir succeeded him. However, the heir was born in the Land of Water and was only brought to the Land of Fang after the Daimyo’s death, so the Daimyo’s retainers began to suspect the heir’s lineage, doubting whether he was truly of the Daimyo’s bloodline.
“It’s just that the heir’s mother is the younger sister of the Daimyo of the Land of Water, a princess of noble status. It’s difficult for ordinary people to investigate the truth about the princess returning to her country back then, so we can only ask you ninjas to step forward.”
Sasuke asked suspiciously: “You don’t have tools to verify bloodlines?”
Even a minor matter that could be handled here at Orochimaru’s—why take such a huge detour? Why wasn’t it verified when the person was brought back originally?
The senior vassal shook his head: “We were busy with the Daimyo’s funeral at the time, so the verification was rather hasty. Later, we found his conduct unworthy of public elegance, which aroused our suspicions. Without evidence sufficient to shake his position, we could not rashly verify the Daimyo’s bloodline, otherwise it would be the crime of deceiving the sovereign and committing regicide.”
The two understood: if they could not produce a breakthrough concerning the truth, the retainers’ behavior would appear bizarre and fail to convince the public, which was why ninjas had to be sent to investigate first.
What they needed to do now was head to the Land of Water to investigate the former private life of that princess.