I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 17 | Something Something Tactics

They were further out, in Naruto's opinion. But Jiraiya still wouldn't explain his new plan, no matter how much Naruto tried to bug him into telling.

To make matters worse, they had traveled for hours now, and it was getting seriously late. Both his feet and his eyelids were growing heavy.

"Ero-sennin... when are we going to stop to make camp?" Naruto mumbled, his voice as heavy as the rest of him.

"We're not going to make camp. I'm going to have one of the Toads reverse-summon us after a while."

"Ehh?" Naruto said disbelievingly. "What's the point of us walking so far, then? I thought we were stopping somewhere important or something."

"If there happens to be anyone following us, we can draw them out, or make them think we're going somewhere else," Jiraiya said. "We're going the opposite way we would need to go if we were really traveling to the Mount on foot."

"We can just check using Sage Mode, and then—" Naruto nearly bumped into Jiraiya when he stopped suddenly.

"I've already told you, that's not foolproof. But I think we're clear. This is a good enough spot as any."

Naruto looked around. They were still somewhere in the Land of Fire, but he hadn't recognized anything in a while. The thick forests were giving way to younger trees and long grasses. The only time he'd traveled this close to the Land of Rivers was in the future, and that was using a different route.

Jiraiya bit his thumb and splayed his hand out on the ground.

A small messenger toad appeared, much like the one that had woken Naruto that morning.

"We're ready."

The toad saluted with a croak and then disappeared.

"Okay, so since we're out here, can you—"

POOF!

Naruto blinked. The stars looked a lot closer than they had before. Overlarge ferns and elephant-ears bowed underneath the brilliant celestial display. Two small toads were in front of them.

"Hey, welcome back, boss." Gamakichi held up his webbed hand in greeting.

"Hey, Gamakichi." Naruto gave a yawn and rubbed his eyes, fighting to stave off the wave of tiredness that washed over him.

"You young ones should be in bed," Shima said firmly. "There will be time to visit tomorrow."

"Thanks for the lift, Shima-baa." Jiraiya held up his hand in a grateful gesture.

"Where're we gonna stay? 'S too small in your house for us both," Naruto pointed out.

"You can stay at our house. There's lots of space there," Gamakichi said.

Jiraiya scoffed. "I'd rather not wake Gamabunta to ask. We're going to the temple of the Honorable Geezer."

"Oh, alright then—be sure to come by in the morning for breakfast," Shima said.

Jiraiya laughed as if it was a great joke, and then turned to walk down the path they had landed on. Naruto caught up after a brief lapse.

The path down to the temple was just as beautiful as everything else, even in the darkness. It may have been the dead of winter at the base of the mountain, but the top of it was as mild and lush as ever.

"Why are we going to the temple? Did the Honorable Geezer see something?"

"No. But he's usually sleeping, so he won't mind if we drop in. The important thing is the energy there. Maybe it's because the Great Toad Sage is there, or maybe he's there because the energy amplifies his perception. Either way, If we need to search for something, that is probably the best place to do it."