Chương 3: Ch 3: Meeting the Hidden Leaf's Sannin
Using the power of the Wind for an extended time with only a 35% sync rate was obviously strenuous for Souta.
But the thought of something bad happening to the village pushed him forward. He didn't dare stop and rushed through the forest as rain continued to get heavier.
Finally, Souta arrived, but—
"… I arrived too late."
Standing at the entrance of the small village, Souta lowered his eyebrows slightly as his gaze fell upon the horrific scene before him. The village was drenched in blood, corpses scattered everywhere in the mud as the rain continued to pour.
Everyone was dead. The old, the young.
Some of the young women met an even more tragic end, and their broken bodies were clear evidence of their suffering.
Honestly, if it had been another village, Souta might not be so sad, and he would have simply sighed and mourned their misfortune from a distance.
But this village was different. This village was his home. It was where his original body had grown up.
Before the original body learned body techniques, before he had gained the strength to hunt wild animals alone, it was the people in this village who took care of him. They had protected him.
A kind old woman who had treated him like her own child, a neighbor older sister figure, who always laughed and joked with him.
The uncle who saved him from beasts on several occasions.
And the little girl who called him big brother and followed him everywhere, all day long.
All of them...
All of them were dead!
This memory didn't belong to Souta, but to the body he now occupied.
After inheriting the memories of this body, the smiles of these villagers had become deeply etched into Souta's bones.
It was because of this connection that his first goal had been to return to this village. There was no logical reason—just a desire to come back.
But now, they were all dead. Every single one of them.
"They didn't wait for me to return... No! I came back too late!"
After a long silence, Souta lifted his head. This time, without the protective barrier of the wind, the rain hit his face mercilessly.
Suddenly, he smiled.
"It's just death... nothing more. The wind takes, the rain washes... that's all it is. Nothing to mourn."
That's what he told himself.
But even as he laughed, tears couldn't help but stream down his face, and his hand gripped the hilt of the longsword at his waist tightly.
The constant downpour was the only sound in this oppressive atmosphere until an angry female voice came from behind Souta.
"It seems you're the one who killed everyone in this village!"
Hearing those words, Souta slowly lowered his head.
Without a word, he drew his longsword and turned to look behind him.
.....
The Third Kazekage disappeared, and the Hidden Sand Village pointed its finger at the Hidden Leaf.
Although the Hidden Leaf felt deeply wronged by this, their protests were futile.
The disappearance was merely an excuse to ignite a war, and no one cared about the Hidden Leaf's explanation.
While war had not officially been declared, there were already minor skirmishes along the border between the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Leaf.
As a result, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, assigned the Hidden Leaf Sannin—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade—a mission to look into the situation at the border.
Their main goal was to prevent conflict at all costs.
The current Sannin of the Hidden Leaf were known throughout the Ninja World for their strength due to their battle against Hanzō of the Salamander, the demigod of the Rain Village, during the latter stages of the Second Ninja World War.
However, the Sannin had not yet reached the peak of their strength.
According to the timeline of the anime, their true peak would come after the Third Ninja World War.
Even so, Jiraiya and Tsunade already possessed the strength of elite jonin, while Orochimaru had reached the level of a Quasi-Kage.
Because it rained down heavily so suddenly, Jiraiya wanted to find a place to rest, and Tsunade and Orochimaru agreed.
But as they searched, the three of them smelled the smell of blood not far away.
Under normal circumstances, the Sannin wouldn't care too much about the smell of blood. However, given the current turbulent situation between the two villages, they couldn't afford to ignore such signs. Consequently, they rushed over to the source, only to find a small village completely destroyed.
Orochimaru, who had witnessed countless deaths and lives, remained indifferent, and his snake-like eyes looked at the lone figure standing amidst the carnage.
However, Jiraiya and Tsunade were different. Both were clearly angry. How could they not be furious in the face of such cruel devastation?
And now, there was a man standing in this massacred village with a sword at his waist. Combined with the sigh that escaped the stranger's lips, it made Jiraiya and Tsunade instinctively associate him with the perpetrator of this massacre.
Tsunade didn't think too much and shouted directly to the figure not far away. But when the figure turned around to face them, both Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were originally angry, were visibly stunned for a moment.
What kind of expression was that? Sadness? Loneliness?
Perhaps both.
Not to mention the tears that refused to stop.
This was not the face of a murderer.
"Uh! Sorry, I mistook you for the one who did this. You're from this village, aren't you? Do you know who's responsible for this massacre?"
Realizing that the person in front of her was not the murderer, Tsunade's tone became a little embarrassed.
The man in front of them showed such an expression at the village's situation. He obviously knew this village, so Tsunade asked this question.
Still, she felt somewhat enraged at the village's horrible situation.
This was the territory of the Fire Nation. It was unforgivable that someone attacked ordinary villagers in the Fire Nation.
It was like a slap in Hidden Leaf's face. How could Tsunade tolerate this?
Nonetheless, Souta did not respond to Tsunade's words. He closed his eyes slightly and slowly drew out the longsword from his waist.
A faint force of wind swirled around him.
When he opened his eyes again, Souta's eyes were filled with coldness.
"Since I'm not the murderer, then it must be you!"
Tsunade and Jiraiya were clearly startled for a moment and quickly explained to Souta.
"Wait! No! We didn't do this! We smelled blood, so we—"
But Souta ignored Tsunade's explanation. In a flash, his figure disappeared from their sight.
Faced with this sudden situation, Tsunade and Jiraiya's pupils shrank in alarm, knowing they had encountered someone troublesome.
Without wasting time, Tsunade reached for her shuriken.
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ProgressingDaily
ProgressingDaily For every one chapter here, I will upload two on Patreon, if you like this book, and want to read more while supporting me simultaneously, you can join me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/ProgressingDaily
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