Chapter 71: Setting Out for the Land of Water

Each time he used the Monstrous Strength Fist, the finest nerves and blood vessels in his arm suffered minute damage, which was why it couldn't be used for extended periods.

Uchiha Nagi was quite satisfied with being able to use the Monstrous Strength Fist less than ten times. When he had copied Akaza's martial arts techniques, he knew that some immensely powerful taijutsu could only be used to their full potential by those with a correspondingly strong physique.

Take the Eight Gates, for example. The physical conditioning required to open the Seventh Gate was absurdly high. So, Nagi had anticipated that the Monstrous Strength Fist would have demanding physical requirements.

Moreover, this technique wasn't something that made you strong just by opening it; rather, it was that strong people who opened it became even stronger. It was like when Might Dai opened the Gate of Death, yet several of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen still managed to escape.

Besides, ninjas were a bunch of cunning schemers. The moment someone saw you activate a forbidden jutsu, they'd immediately flee, only to sneak back after your time limit expired. Therefore, this kind of technique could either be used when teammates were there to protect you, or you didn't use it at all. If you did, you had to annihilate all enemies.

As for why Tsunade, who inherited the First Hokage's powerful physique, didn't learn the Eight Gates? Nonsense. What woman would subject herself to that kind of self-torturous training? Being a lazy bum was much more comfortable—eating, drinking, and traveling around every day was so much better.

Including Uchiha Nagi himself, it was impossible for him to learn the Eight Gates. He couldn't abandon ninjutsu, genjutsu, and swordsmanship to focus solely on the Eight Gates.

So, Uchiha Nagi had only learned enough to open the first two or three gates; that was sufficient.

"Sigh~ Regardless, I can't stop my physical conditioning." Uchiha Nagi sighed. The Monstrous Strength Fist was such a powerful killing move; he couldn't let it go to waste.

Besides, strengthening his body would also benefit his swordsmanship, making it even more powerful.

"Are you sure? The target is the long-missing Konoha missing-nin, Uchiha Nagi?"

"Confirmed. The embedded Anbu member who went to find Shizune confirmed that the person who fought Lady Tsunade was indeed from the Uchiha clan, one who has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."

In a tea house, two people dressed as civilians were whispering to each other. They were from Root. After Tsunade was attacked, Shizune had left Konoha's unique distress signal.

As Konoha's princess, Tsunade naturally had the privilege of having embedded Anbu come to her rescue. Unexpectedly, however, the battle had ended before any rescue arrived.

When the Anbu later made contact with Shizune, they naturally learned of the situation. And since the Anbu had long been infiltrated by Danzo, someone was now here relaying the intelligence to Root operatives.

"Alright, I'll immediately report this back to Lord Danzo. Lord Danzo has been searching for this Uchiha Nagi for a long time; it's been keeping him up at night."

"Good, then hurry. I'll find a way to keep an eye on him—"

After speaking, the two nodded and left nonchalantly. In a neutral small country like the Land of Hot Water, necessary disguises were essential.

Uchiha Nagi frowned. He felt a sense of unease but couldn't pinpoint why.

After awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Nagi's senses had become exceptionally sharp; he could even detect someone staring at his back. And after his special training with the Stone Hashira, his senses had become even more potent.

Yet, for the past two days, he had felt this discomfort. But when he carefully pondered it or set traps, he found no enemies.

"Could it be? In the sky—" Uchiha Nagi looked up, activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, and scanned the distance carefully. Sure enough, he spotted a hawk tailing him from very far away, nearly several kilometers out.

Uchiha Nagi: "......"

Son of a bitch, it was confirmed. That thing was definitely ninja-trained, probably not a very powerful summoned beast, lacking special abilities.

The reason he hadn't felt that prickling-on-the-skin sensation was because the pursuer itself was an ordinary animal, a common hawk.

The hawk had no chakra, a measure to avoid detection by sensory-type ninja. Small animals without chakra were basically very difficult for sensory ninjas to notice.

But a hawk's eyesight was exceptionally good; it could see clearly from over ten kilometers away.

"This is troublesome. I can't fly..."

Uchiha Nagi looked at the hawk in the sky with a headache. From such a distance, several kilometers up, even if he used a Sharingan genjutsu on it, he wouldn't be able to hit it...

He thought for a moment. Since it wasn't a summoned beast but an ordinary hawk, its intelligence certainly wouldn't be particularly high. He could use some tricks to deceive it.

While passing through a forest, he used a Shadow Clone. His real body hid. After exiting the forest, the Shadow Clone led the hawk far away in another direction.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Nagi's real body rested well in the forest, waiting for nightfall to set out again. Although traveling at night wasn't ideal, his Sharingan's vision was clear enough.

This time, it went smoothly. Without the hawk's surveillance from above, he successfully traveled for a whole night and reached the coast.

Arriving at a port, he looked at the surrounding merchant ships and randomly chose a larger one. Merchant ships carrying cargo usually had many people and goods; with more people, it was easier to slip in unnoticed.

He quietly snuck into the captain's cabin. The groggy captain had just opened his eyes when he saw a pair of red irises...

"I'm your distant relative. I'll be staying in your cabin for a few days. Remember not to tell anyone about me—" Uchiha Nagi said.

"Alright—" the captain responded dazedly.

"Mm, good. I'll take the bed, you sleep on the floor..."

"Yes..."

At sea, the captain was the most powerful person on the ship; no one dared to enter the captain's cabin without permission. Uchiha Nagi could safely stay there until they reached the Land of Water.

As for how to evade the patrols of the Land of Water's ninja after arrival? Couldn't he just disembark early?

The coastline was so long; the Land of Water didn't have that many ninjas patrolling it.

A ninja's abilities allowed them to go into the sea, walk on water, and climb mountains; they were fundamentally impossible to guard against completely...

"Damn it, he spotted us! It was a Shadow Clone." A masked ninja led a team of four others, a five-man squad in total.

This squad was a pursuit team, specialized in tracking, reconnaissance, and speed.

Against Uchiha Nagi, who lacked the Byakugan and wasn't a sensory ninja capable of detecting enemies several kilometers away, they were actually quite safe.

They just needed to keep tailing Uchiha Nagi like flying a kite: chase when he ran, retreat when he turned back, and wait for the main force to arrive.

Who knew that even a hawk without chakra would be detected by Uchiha Nagi.

After pursuing for a day and a night, Uchiha Nagi's Shadow Clone ran out of chakra and dispersed. Only then did they realize they had been tricked.

The cat-masked man leading the team reluctantly announced, "Mission failed. We've lost the target's trail. Report to Lord Danzo..."

"The target has probably gone out to sea..."

_______

+50 chapters on: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls