Chapter 388: Sasuke's new Ally.
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The Cave Entrance (Same Time)
While Sasuke was asking the villagers a variety of questions to determine what was happening and what the villagers saw, Zabuza was busy inside the cave finding out if the collapse was man-made and how deep was it.
After a few minutes, Sasuke withdrew himself from the crowd and stood in front of the cave. He saw Zabuza come out of the cave at the same time.
"So what conclusion have you come to after seeing the collapse?" Sasuke asked.
"The collapse is obviously man-made and it is pretty heavy as well. I think they didn't stop at one explosion. They knew that someone who tried to dig out the big pieces and start exploring the tunnel again so they created multiple explosions." Zabuza answered. It was just as Sasuke feared, the cave was no longer a path they could take if they wanted to explore the tunnels in such a short time.
But Sasuke wasn't one to give up this easily, he looked back at the villagers and whispered "Do you think these people can dig fast?"
Hearing this Zabuza also glanced at the villagers. Even though they looked poor but their strength was nothing to scoff at. "They do look strong but without having their bodies nourished by Chakra, how useful do you think they will be? And we can't make a decision when Yami isn't here."
"We just need extra hands to get the debris out and most likely we will connect back to the tunnels. How much time do you think Yami and Haku will take to find a new hidden entrance and remove the seal on it? Come on, if you are just scared of Yami then say so."Sasuke chuckled.
The last part got Zabuza good because his face immediately took a tint of red. "You are saying this because you are his brother. If I say something like this then.." Zabuza said as massaged his neck checking if it was still connected.
Sasuke could understand why Zabuza feared Yami to this extent. He had seen Yami's strength firsthand. He reassured Zabuza as he said "Leave this to me...if he asks then tell him that I did this on my own and you tried to stop me."
Without waiting for Zabuza to give the go-ahead, Sasuke went back to the villagers and said "I know you all have gone through a lot already but I need to ask you for more. The tunnel was collapsed by those who are inside it. We can't let them get away this easily, especially after hurting the villagers."
The village chief looked at the villagers around him and said "These people have to come help us even though we don't have to. We don't come under the Land of Fire and they have no obligation to help us but still they are...the least we can do it listen to them."
Seeing the village chief was on his side, Sauske proceeded with his request and said "The tunnel is blocked by big stones. We will break them down into smaller ones. We just need you all to scoop them up and dump them outside the cave. This way we expect the debris to be cleared in no time and we can explore the tunnel further.
"But what if something happens to us? What if the ones inside the tunnel attack us?" One of the female villagers asked in fear. Sasuke glanced back at Zabuza once and said "Nothing like this will happen because this guy here will be with you guys inside the cave helping you break down the big debris. He is stronger than he looks and has been hired to protect even at the cost of his own life.
The villagers looked to the side at Zabuza which made Zabuza a little nervous. He quickly paced toward Sasuke and whispered "Why am I stuck on digging duty? Didn't you say that I can pretend to be against this plan?"
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and whispered "Alright...I will go inside then and you can stay outside the cave so that you can answer Yami's questions when he comes back."
Without a single word, Zabuza walked inside the cave and said "Come inside all of you...I will take care of you in here." Sasuke chuckled as he saw a grown man behave like this and signaled the Village chief to go inside the cave with the villagers.
For the next hour and a half, the villagers continued to bring out baskets filled with debris and dropped them off at the side of the cave. From time to time, they would also take breaks. Some old women and children who were not physically fit to work in the cave prepared food for the others and made sure everyone was well-fed.
As Sasuke was looking at all this, he saw the woman who had expressed her fear earlier walk towards him with a bowl of soup. "This is for you...Your friend in there has been protecting everyone for a long time now. It would be good if he could come out and eat as well. I know you shinobis are trained to work under high-pressure situations but..."
Sasuke didn't let her finish her sentence and said "I understand...I will go in and send him out."
The woman smiled as she heard that and said "Fill your belly first and then you can go. I will prepare more" she said and went back to the others.
"It seems that you can't stay put brother" Yami's voice sounded in Sasuke's ears. Sasuke looked to the side but there was no one. Just as he was about to look back, he felt the weight of the soup bowl lessen. He looked to the other side and saw Yami holding the soup bowl and smelling it.
"It smells delicious. It is amazing how the dish tastes so different here. The crops that grow in this area are different from the ones that grow in the land of fire." Yami said as he drank a spoonful of soup.
"The water that appears around this area is naturally hot and that has changed the entire way they farm. Even the soil is different. I am sure they taught us about it in the Shinobi academy." Yami said as he watched his brother empty the entire bowl.
"I thought I told you to stay put." Yami said as he looked at the villagers still bringing out baskets full of debris.
"I am your brother and not your subordinate to follow your instructions word to word. For the record, Zabuza was against this and I forced him to do it." Sasuke clarified.
Yami was going to give a fitting reply to this but then a villager waved his hand above his head to get Yami's and Sasuke's attention and shouted "THE MERCENARY IS SAYING THAT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TUNNEL IS NOW VISIBLE. HE IS CALLING YOU INSIDE"
"See my way paid off, didn't it?" Sasuke said as the brothers started walking toward the cave but then Yami saw a small bat gunning towards him.
"Looks like you aren't the only one with news." Yami said as he lifted his hand and the bat sat on it upside down.
It made some noise which sounded like a random noise to Sasuke and the others but not to Yami. He looked at his brother and said "There is some movement deep inside the jungle east of here. It might be another entrance from where they are bringing out everything from inside the cave."
"That's great. Me and Zabuza will go inside the tunnel from here and investigate while moving forward. You and Haku can pinch them from the other end of the tunnel. This way the slippering snake that you talked about won't have any escape.
Yami didn't like the plan but he knew that his brother was strong enough to handle himself and Zabuza had also trained a lot the past few years. He decided to trust them for now and said "Alright we can do that but your goal is to only explore and push them towards me. I don't want you getting into fights in such an enclosed place. And yes...tell Zabuza to switch his sword to his favorite one while inside the tunnel."
"Everyone, come out of the cave now. We are going to explore the tunnel. I want all of you to go far from here. There is no one to protect you all out here while we all are focused on catching Orochimaru and his accomplices." Sasuke said as he pulled out his sword and walked inside the cave.
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