[Naruto·Itachi bg] A clear spring

Silence, extremely quiet, leaving only the slightest movement from the road, blended into the sound of the wind blowing the leaves.

Ever since they knew what kind of mission their team was carrying, everyone had calmed down and concentrated on their way.

During the Third Ninja War, they were still children in the team, but they had already experienced or witnessed the cruelty of those days.

Those blood-soaked lands exuded the breath of death, and the ninjas were consumed one by one, just for a little profit in the contract.

War never gives ordinary people a way to survive, nor does it give ninjas a chance to hesitate.

The team had been traveling non-stop for six days and six nights, and when the sun rose at dawn on the seventh day, they still had no intention of stopping to rest.

The sunlight slowly hit the goggles, and Uchiha Izumi felt his eyes become sore.

If they followed the shortest path, they wouldn't have to rush so much.

Even though she had a good sense of direction, she was almost stunned by the teacher leading the group.

Sometimes on the main road, sometimes on the small road, they were moving in a circuitous way.

"The time conditions required there are very strict. You can only do it sooner rather than later."

"There is an ANBU team following us secretly. We will support each other when necessary."

"We have to arrive quickly but also secretly. There are multiple teams escorting the scroll at the same time. Only one of them is authentic."

Soon, she knew that what their team was doing was definitely true.

Because there are fewer and fewer people following and escorting them secretly...

"Be on guard, 45 degrees and five miles to the left, three people." This time, Hinata Kiyoshi, who was in charge of guarding at the front of the team, immediately discovered the enemy.

"Turn around and turn back to the right to avoid a head-on conflict. Our mission is to escort the scroll." Sarutobi Kino gave the order without hesitation.The task he received was to quickly and promptly deliver the scroll to the peace negotiation location ahead.

In the previous Third Ninja War, Konoha had the advantage in combat power. Now Konoha can no longer fight on a large scale. If the other party renews the contract, they may not recognize the previous cooperation treaty, so this original document is particularly important.

"No, there are three teams at the back right." Izumi Uchiha, who was at the back of the team, immediately reminded that the Sharingan's reconnaissance ability is not as good as the Byakugan. Fortunately, she is a ninja with the wind attribute.

"Go to the front right, there is a shortcut to the cave." Yu Hayata reminded, "I have seen the map of the area. The cave landscape has underground rivers. You can go there by diving in this season."

"Are you sure? It's the rainstorm season in late summer. If the cave is blocked, we will be stuck inside." Hinata Kiyoshi stared at the enemy's movements, "Sanli, very fast, very powerful chakra."

"Go to the cave to avoid direct conflict with the other party." Sarutobi Kino knew this route. If they could pass it smoothly, they could reach the scheduled location in just one afternoon.

"Yes." After receiving the order, the three people quickly changed their direction and ran towards the cave. Yu Hayata, who was at the end of the team, quickly eliminated the traces of the four people's passing.

In less than a moment, they arrived at the cave entrance indicated on the map.

"This cave is called Beauty Cave. It is an ancient cave. The interior looks like a beauty lying in peace, but it has many branches. Only the main road leads to the Zhongnan Mountains near Muzhiyu Village." Hayata Yu quickly explored, "The soil It’s humid, it’s rained recently, so the cave walls should be drier, so there must be some water accumulation.”

Boom - the direction they were in a quarter of an hour ago quickly burst into flames, like a movement caused by a detonating talisman.

"It seems that we have encountered -" Sarutobi Kino paused, and there was not a single ANBU team left that had followed them before.

"Is this map reliable?" Izumi Uchiha was a little worried, "We only have the map in hand, and the other party is probably very familiar with this place."

"Caves are not the terrain we are good at." There are few caves in the Land of Fire, and training for these terrains has never been done before. "Among us, only Quan has water properties." Hinata Qing was also a little worried, The Hyuga clan is good at close combat.

"There is no way to go, Izumi, you open the way in front, we will pass quickly." Sarutobi Kino quickly came to the conclusion that ANBU has always been secretive, and they will keep silent if they can. Now that they have used the detonating talisman, Such a loud movement was obviously a reminder to them to move faster.

"Yes." Quan, who took off his goggles, quickly took out a bell and tied it on his hand to sense the wind direction.

The sound of wind in the cave can tell her a lot of information.

"If you walk on the rock wall, the moisture on the ground will leave traces." At the command of Teacher Sarutobi, Izumi Uchiha took the lead in taking off, using the rock wall to jump into the cave.

The others followed closely behind, with Hinata finishing last.

As a few people went deeper, the light in the cave became darker and darker, and Uchiha Izumi had to open his Sharingan.

There was a constant breeze in the cave, and the air was not dull, nor did it look like there was no way out.

The wind chime hanging in his hand has not been moved, and there seems to be nothing strange.

Everything is obviously going well, and the cave is extremely quiet——

There was no sound of dripping water or the chirping of bats.

Uchiha Izumi's eyes shrank and he immediately stopped. He jumped off the rock wall and returned to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Hayata Yu who was following behind also stopped immediately. They seemed to have entered for a long time and were already a long way away from the sunny cave entrance. There was still some echo in the cave when they spoke.

Uchiha Izumi touched the soil under his feet. The mud was even more moist and smelled of bat guano.

She looked up and saw that the top was deep and there was no trace of any creature stopping.

"What did you find?" Teacher Sarutobi also stopped. The last person to come down from the rock wall was Hinata Kiyo at the end of the team.

"Logically speaking, there should be bats here, and there should be dripping water in the small pool with water here." Uchiha Izumi's inner uneasiness intensified. How could a naturally formed ancient cave have no traces of life activities?

But the sound of wind blowing over is very natural. What is going on?

Either there really is no problem at all, or the other party's strength is far superior to hers...

Just as she was meditating for a moment, the natural and fresh wind in the cave suddenly became dull, and the wind chime in her hand started to move crazily.

"Be careful!" Yu Hayata stepped forward and pulled her hard. A huge boulder fell from above her head and would soon block the way back.

There were only four of them, and being separated would mean death.

At this critical moment, Uchiha Izumi quickly formed a seal with one hand——

Water Escape·Water Rock Power

The water in the pool surged up instantly, like a hand holding up a boulder that had fallen two thirds.

"Come here!"

Taking advantage of the gap before the boulder fell, Sarutobi-sensei and Hinata Kiyo immediately walked around the boulder from the bottom.

The ninja tools dropped crazily from top to bottom, and the enemy dropped from the top to pursue.

"I've been discovered, come on."

"Not a single one."

Then the falling boulders blocked some of the attackers, and the four of them pulled the battle line forward in a tacit understanding.

Their team has trained for long-term cooperation.

"Fire Release: Ash Burning" In the small cave, there was insufficient oxygen, and the teacher's ninjutsu, which was supposed to burn on a large scale, did not completely block the enemy.

"Wind Release·Wind Blade" Before the smoke cleared, Uchiha Izumi immediately added another hand.

But the opponent was agile and better at controlling the wind direction than she was.

They ran forward for a while and soon discovered that there were ninjas waiting in front of them.

"Damn it, how many people are there?"

"Wind Escape·Wind Blade"

"Wind Escape · Cuilan Gale"

"Ninja Technique·Super Beast Fake Painting"

"Empty Eight Diagrams"

There are small pools of water on the cave floor, which is very conducive to the performance of local water escape ninjas. Fortunately, the Uchiha Spring can also be used to some extent.

"Hayata, pay attention to the direction."

There were too many forks in the cave, and since they had been fighting all the time, they had no skills at all. If they went in the wrong direction and were blocked by the enemy, they would be doomed.

"Understood." Yu Hayata raised his hand and released a small bat exploring the way.

Another round of crazy throwing of ninja tools and falling boulders, this time the attacks were more intensive.

Everyone responded with great vigor, and no more conversation took place.

In the melee, you must first ensure that you survive.

"Water Release·Water Dragon Bullet" before the water splash falls.

Uchiha Izumi, who quickly killed the remaining three enemies, soon discovered that she was separated from her teammates.

Apart from the dull air in the cave and the pervasive smell of blood, the only sound left was her rapid breathing.

Uchiha Izumi held his breath and quietly felt the wind direction and sound in the cave.

It was too quiet. Logically speaking, the place where she and her teammates were separated should not be far from here.

Her nerves, which had not rested for many days, jumped suddenly. She felt dizzy and even had hallucinations.

She even heard someone singing in her ear: "Where is the spring? Where is the spring? Spring is in the Zhongnan Valley."

"Dad, are you home if you go ahead?"

"Yes, go around here and dive out again. You must remember to hold your breath."

Come around, dive, hold your breath...

Those fragments, whether they were hallucinations or memories, disturbed her already painful nerves.

"Ah -" After hitting his head hard and shaking his head, Uchiha Izumi gradually calmed down.

In the middle of the aisle, Izumi Uchiha looked forward, then behind the three ninjas, and followed the traces of the fight. She was more likely to encounter the troops chasing behind them.

It's better to take a gamble, I thought to myself.

Uchiha Izumi ran quickly towards the familiar yet unfamiliar front.

The air at the tip of my nose is getting fresher and fresher, and the sound of running water is getting louder and louder.

She didn't know how long she had been traveling, but she soon encountered a rapid underground river.

The top of the cave becomes narrower and narrower until it is submerged in the river.

There is no way.

Either dive over or go back the way you came.

It seems that this is not the main road of Beauty Cave.

Huge and deep caves, humans do not fully understand them.This season is when there is abundant rain. If the water is not so urgent, she can try to dive over.

Once such a fast-flowing river goes down, we can only leave it up to fate as to where it will go.

Uchiha Izumi tightened her lips. When she got here, she had no choice.

Those fragments of memories that came and went intermittently would pop up from time to time, but they never deceived her.

After "Water Release·Liquefaction" collected enough water and air, she tried to form the seal again.

"Water Release: Bubble Technique" The bubble water ball filled with air quickly expanded and enveloped her in it.

Looking at the deep and fast river, Izumi Uchiha jumped into the river with his eyes closed.

The water flow from top to bottom kept hitting her, and her vision was completely useless in the deep river bottom, so she could only adjust her direction to a place where there was no backflow.

The bubble ball she deliberately maintained did not last long, and finally burst under the action of gravel and strong scouring force.

She hurriedly tried to form another seal, but found that the strong current made it impossible for her to lift her hand.

Uchiha Izumi had no choice but to hold his breath, his limbs tightly pressed against his sides, and pray that the water flow would calm down as soon as possible.

With her eyes closed, the sound of the roaring river could be heard in her ears. The lack of oxygen made her brain gradually become sluggish.

"How long do I have to hold my breath?"

"When you see the light, open yourself up and let's go to the pool."

Pool, light.

When the light came, feeling the light on his eyelids, Izumi Uchiha immediately used his strength and swam in the direction of the light.

"Cough cough cough..." When the water was about to come out, I still choked, and the back of my nasal cavity became sore.

Uchiha Izumi adjusted for a moment before opening his eyes and looking at where he was.

Bright sunshine, vibrant valleys, and bamboo forests not far away...

No matter how you look at it, it looks like a paradise.

This familiar fragrance of birds and flowers seemed to touch the deep desire in my heart.

That feeling of being close to home.

There is also the familiar, abundant, boiling chakra.

This must be where she had been, but now was not the time to think about that.

The mountain walls on all sides of the valley are extremely tall and smooth, leaving only the top of the mountain where the sunlight shines directly into the deep pool.

This deep pool was where she came out. It was so quiet and deep that it was impossible to tell that there was such a fast river underneath.

With such a sinkhole terrain, there seems to be no other way except to go up.

The sinkhole was huge, but Uchiha Izumi quickly found a path leading to the top. It was very narrow and seemed to have been taken care of.

____________

"Qing, take the scroll and leave. I'll take the rear." The three of them were chased here by the enemy. They were already scarred. In addition, they lost a team member who was good at water escape, which put them at a complete disadvantage.

"No, teacher, let's go together." They have already lost a teammate, and it will only be more disadvantageous for them to be separated again.

"Let's go together, teacher, we won't leave you behind." Hayata, whose right arm was seriously injured, had to switch to his left hand, and the speed of drawing slowed down.

"Okay, you take the scroll first, and I'll take it later." He stuffed the agreement scroll into Hinata Qing's arms very forcefully, and Sarutobi Kino quickly made two seals.

"Earth Release·Yellow Quannuma" The huge swamp quickly appeared on the ground, and in conjunction with Hayata's ninja beasts, they flew down into the air and blocked a large part of the enemy.

The three of them kept running forward, and soon they finally came out of the Beauty Cave.

But it encountered a more serious siege.

The open area finally gave Hinata Qing more room to play.

"Bagua·120 Eight Palms"

……

The three people who were fighting and fleeing finally arrived at the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains.

Miraculously, the number of pursuing ninjas dwindled down, and they were eventually wiped out completely.

The three stopped to catch their breath.

Having not rested for days, their nerves were stretched to the limit.

"Qing, do you remember where you lost the spring?" Yu Hayata asked him, covering his stiff right arm.

"In the cave, she didn't avoid the piece of gravel, so she was separated. I don't know the rest." The situation was chaotic at that time. He only knew that Uchiha Izumi was originally on his side and was attacked by the enemy. check.

"Escort the things over first, time is of the essence." Sarutobi Kino didn't want to delay at all, and immediately wanted to move forward.

Just as they were about to move forward, strange protrusions appeared on the land and rocks around them.

"No, it's the Iwagakure Jutsu!"

The three of them jumped up immediately, but Yu Hayata, who was seriously injured, was a step too late and was dragged into the ground by the enemy.

"Earth Release: Heart Beheading Technique"

What's worse, he was quickly pulled underground, with only one head exposed. Hayata Yu watched the enemy's blade attack him.

The arc of the flying blade gradually slowed down, as if giving him time to mourn his life.

He had never lived a good life for himself. Those gentle eyes and a similar smile appeared in his mind——

"Hayata-kun, come back soon, I've been waiting for you."

Clang - the sound of weapons clashing sounded, and the threat in front of him was quickly eliminated.

"Hayata, are you okay?" Soon, the restraints on his hands and feet were also lifted.

"Chisato?" Apparently Yu Hayata has not yet recovered from the memory of his impending death——

No, Chisato won't be here.Seeing the brown-haired opponent joining the battle, Yu Hayata immediately braced himself to deal with it.

The four people who gathered again quickly entered a state of running and fighting again.

"Quan, how did you come back?" Hinata Qing remembered that she had been separated from them for a long time.

"It came from another route." Uchiha Izumi didn't want to explain too much.

With the cooperation of the four people, the new ninjas were quickly cleared.

"Teacher, let's find a place to rest. There is something wrong with Hayata's arm." Uchiha Izumi soon discovered that Hayata Yu's movements were slow and his right arm was blue, indicating that he was poisoned.

"It's too late, I'm going to run out of chakra." Sarutobi Kino looked at the three students who were in trouble——

Hayata's injury was the last, followed by Hinata Kiyoshi, and Uchiha Izumi, who had just returned, only seemed to have some superficial injuries.

"Quan, you will lead the team for the rest of the time and be sure to hand over the mission scroll to the predetermined location."

"Teacher?" Izumi Uchiha, who was bandaging and killing the poison, didn't quite understand what the teacher said. Why should he lead the team?The teacher is still standing still.

"Teacher, you can just continue to lead the team..." Yu Hayata endured the pain and noticed the importance in the teacher's tone.

"I'm just a shadow clone. Now my chakra is not enough. Remember to complete the mission!"

"Teacher! We have to go back..." Hinata Qing retorted eagerly, why did he forget to observe the teacher's condition.

"Shut up! The essence of ninja is that the mission comes first. Any sacrifice is worth it. You will only cause trouble for me when you go back..." The chakra seemed to be really exhausted. Sarutobi Kino's shadow clone quickly disappeared. He didn't even finish his words.

Silence fell again among the team members.

Their teacher was dragging the enemy behind, just to make them hand over the scroll on time.

"Qing, where did the teacher separate from us?" Hayata Yu thought that if it was not far away, they should immediately support him. The teacher's current identity is much more valuable than this mission scroll.

"It should be the entrance of the cave." Hinata Qing came to the conclusion that they were still not far from the exit of the beautiful cave.

The sun had begun to set, and this great escape actually lasted the entire day.

"Izumi, take this scroll. You are in the best physical condition in the team now." Hinata Kiyoshi threw the scroll towards Uchiha Izumi without hesitation.

"I can't leave my teacher behind. You two go to Muzhiyu Village immediately." Hinata Qing planned to return alone.

"No, I'll go with you." Hayata Yu immediately retorted, and the wound began to bleed again.

"Hayata, you continue to Kinoshima Village. I can't detoxify your wound. Excessive use of chakra will accelerate the spread of the poison." Uchiha Izumi carefully bandaged the wound and cut off the blood vessels where the poison spread. "This poison is too overbearing. I will stop the blood supply to your arm first. You must receive treatment quickly, otherwise the arm cannot be saved."

"I'm going to hand in the mission alone. If I encounter enemies on the way again, I won't be able to handle it. How about..." Yu Hayata still doesn't want to be separated from his teammates.

"Shadow Bun. Body Jutsu" Soon, someone like her stood next to Uchiha Izumi.

"My clone will go to Minoshima Village with you, and Qing and I will go to pick up the teacher together." Uchiha Izumi quickly made a decision.After entering that place, her ever-sparing amount of chakra increased.

Compared with this task, the teacher is more important in her heart.

"Okay, you must come back safely." Hayata Yu knew that this was the best solution, and now that he was gone, it would only add to the chaos.It is better to arrive at Muzhiyu Village as soon as possible under Quan's care. As long as Quan's shadow clone is still there, they will be safe there.

"Don't worry, we will bring the teacher back safely, but you, please don't be late for the assignment." Hinata Qing's confident smile matched the setting sun and was imprinted in their eyes.

"It's a word."

"It's a word."

"It's a word."

The three of them separated and headed towards their respective battlefields.