I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 25 | Legacy of the Bloody Mist

It had only been a week and a few days since Naruto had left Kiri, but it felt like much longer. So much had happened, and the time travel had a disorienting effect.

The port they went to was further south than any of the ones Naruto had visited before. It was just past the base where they had clashed with Orochimaru and Sasuke on the cliff. This was a place that had been burned to the ground.

They were there to keep their departure relatively secret. Most of the people were gone. Only a few small boats had returned to a couple of newly rebuilt docks, and according to Jiraiya, they all belonged to Water.

"Why did Kisame and those other guys do this?" Naruto asked as they walked down the lonely beach toward the far dock. "Why would the older Obito use them to fight against himself?"

"Fighting Yagura wasn't his goal. It was just a way to get people on his side and cause chaos. He probably fed them something about Akatsuki hunting all jinchuuriki, and they agreed because Yagura was one. Pretending they had common goals. But hopefully the investigation will have found out something about that."

"They were looking for another jinchuuriki at the time, right? The one Ao-jii and the others told me about," Naruto said. "If he's still missing, do you think Akatsuki got him?"

"I have no idea, kid."

"When we take down Obito's older self, we should go tell all the other jinchuuriki about Akatsuki's plans. Warn them."

"The other Hidden Villages have all been warned by now, thanks to Tsunade. But that doesn't mean all the jinchuuriki know. It's definitely the kind of thing you need to be careful with. There is a lot of politics behind what jinchuuriki are allowed to know or do."

"Yeah, I've noticed that." Naruto scowled. "I don't care. They have a right to know that Akatsuki is going to come after them. I don't even know if stopping the fake Madara is going to stop that."

"Me either. We don't know how much of that was his idea. Okay, this one's our ride."

Naruto looked up. They had come to a small boat, not unlike the one Konoha had sent after him before. Someone was walking down the gangplank. Naruto shaded his eyes against the sun with one hand.

"Ao-jii!"

Ao was looking down at them with his usual severe expression, a deep crease between his brows, but Naruto was too relieved to be discouraged. He stepped onto the dock and trotted up the gangplank.

"I'm glad to see you're alright! You were still knocked out in the hospital when we left. Lava-Lady was really worried."

Ao glanced from one end of the beach to the other before relaxing slightly. "Good. The two of you were not followed."

"How has everything been going with the village after that attack—?"

"We should be on our way," Ao cut in, beckoning. "It's not safe to linger here, even now."

Naruto looked back over at his shoulder at Jiraiya, who nodded and followed Naruto up to the boat, his wooden geta clopping loudly on the gangplank and boat deck.

Then they went below, and Naruto felt the boat move.

"We're leaving already?"

"The sooner we can get to protected waters, the better."

Naruto didn't see anyone in the cabin they entered below, though there must have been someone else on board, for the boat to be moving. They must have been waiting, ready to go at any moment.