Naruto: From Novice to Grave

In the current ninja world, there is not much knowledge about the tailed beasts. This kind of information is all top secret, and only the high-ranking officials of each village and a few elite Jonin know about it.

Because of the damned ninja secrecy policy, ordinary ninjas have no idea what tailed beasts are; in their minds, they are all dangerous monsters.

Yes, currently, ninjas and ordinary people in the ninja world only believe that the tailed beasts are legendary monsters.

As for how long it takes for a tailed beast to revive after death, how it is revived, and what the specific location of its revival is, these are top secrets.

It's estimated that only Kirigakure has relevant information. Those bastards have a peculiar way of thinking; they don't hesitate to kill Jinchuriki when they fight amongst themselves.

Their family is practically the ninja world's tailed beast regenerator, possessing extensive experience in recycling.

Just as the One-Tailed Shukaku would only revive in the desert if it died, the Three-Tailed Shukaku should also only revive in places with vast bodies of water.

Half a year ago, after the Three-Tails died along with Konoha ninja Rin Nohara, its remaining chakra spread around like the atmosphere, but mainly in the sea southeast of the Land of Fire.

There aren't many within the Land of Fire, but Kirigakure doesn't dare take the risk. What if the Three-Tails gets brain-dead and wants to taste fresh water, choosing to revive within the Land of Fire?

It's not important whether Konoha has any ideas; what's important is that we believe you will have ideas.

If my things appear in your house, you are guilty. As for why they are in your house, that's none of your business.

Therefore, in order to eliminate any possible risks, it is necessary to completely eliminate the hidden dangers lurking in the southeastern waters of the Land of Fire.

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In the vast forests of the southeastern coast of the Land of Fire.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Eight ninjas appeared as if in the blink of an eye, suddenly appearing beside a stagnant lake beneath a waterfall.

Higashino sensed the surrounding environment, and the Uchiha team also activated their Sharingan, searching for any possible traces in the vicinity.

Although the Sharingan doesn't have the ability to see through objects, it's by no means weak in finding subtle traces and can see things that ordinary ninjas can't.

Two of the four have three-magatama and two have two-magatama, making them an elite squad.

"There's nothing unusual in this area!" Higashino Makoto said to Gekko Unmi after sensing the area.

After the Uchiha team finished their search, the Eighth Hokage said, "The most recent traces of their journey end here. It seems the enemy deliberately left these traces to mislead us."

Looking at the map, Moonlight Cloud pointed to the upper reaches of the river: "Let's keep going and take a look at the lake area upstream."

After identifying their next target, the eight quickly left.

Searching for a group of ninjas who would hide their tracks within this vast southeastern landmass would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, the other party's purpose was too obvious, which made things much simpler; we just needed to follow the water network to investigate.

At noon, the two teams ate and rested at a high point with a wide view.

Ninjas are not perpetual motion machines; their chakra is limited. In addition, they have to deal with enemies that may appear at any time, so they cannot wait until their chakra is exhausted before replenishing it.

They ate ninja-made portable biscuits and other dry food, which were high in calories and nutrients and provided quick replenishment. They also had a good feeling of fullness when eaten with water. Ninjas on missions generally couldn't cook over a fire, as that would expose their location.

As for soldier pills? Nobody likes to eat those unless they desperately need to replenish their chakra.

Suddenly, Higashino looked up at the sky. In the distance, a black dot rapidly grew larger and approached. It was a ninja-trained messenger eagle that could use chakra, was highly intelligent, fast, and could fly for a long time.

Although wired telephones and radio wave communication have been invented in the world, they are inconvenient for ninjas to use when on missions abroad.

Moreover, it's not safe, as it's too easy for someone to intercept your calls. Ninjas tend to trust traditional communication methods, such as messenger hawks or summoning beasts.

Soon, the messenger hawk landed on Gekko Unmi's shoulder. After receiving the intelligence written in Konoha's secret script, he glanced at it and said, "There's been progress. Terai Jonin's squad discovered traces of the enemy's cover, but for safety reasons, they didn't dare to get too close behind."

Uchiha Yatsuho: "Should we go and join them?"

Moonlight Cloud unfolded the map and pointed in a direction, saying, "No need. Once we confirm the enemy's tracks, their next route will be easy to guess. We'll approach from the side, which will allow us to encounter them faster."

After confirming their target, the eight set off again, accelerating their pursuit.

More than an hour later, Higashino stopped and said, "Found them. There are about 40 of them. They are heading northwest. Judging from their chakra fluctuations, they are all at least Chunin level."

Chakra quantity does not fully represent strength, but a strong ninja generally has a large amount of chakra.

Moonlight Cloud opened the map again: "In the northwest, there are many lakes along the way, the largest of which is Lake Biwa. These are likely their mission destinations."

Lake Biwa here does not refer to Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife, but rather to the largest freshwater lake in the Land of Fire. To be precise, the Third Hokage's wife's name was taken from this lake.

Uchiha Hachimoku: "We must find a way to hold them off, ideally forcing them to jump into our encirclement."

Moonlight Cloud looked at his disciple: "Is there a way?"

"I'll give it a try. If they prioritize their mission and are unwilling to initiate a war with the Konoha ninja, then perhaps it can be done."

After finishing speaking, Higashino created a shadow clone and caught up with the group of Mist Ninjas at top speed. Relying on his sensory abilities to conceal his special characteristics, he closely followed behind them.

The eight main characters maintained the initial distance and continued their pursuit.

Upon sensing that the shadow clones were approaching the enemy, Higashino immediately ordered everyone to change direction and then stopped using his chakra to conceal the team's movements.

The Mist Ninja were not advancing quickly because they were behind enemy lines, so they had to be careful not to leave any traces that could be used to track them.

"Um?"

Just then, a slightly overweight ninja from the Mist Ninja team, wearing red goggles similar to diving masks and with three blue markings on his face, stopped and asked in confusion.

He appeared to be the leader of the group; the others followed his lead and stopped advancing. A companion beside him asked, "Lord Chukichi, have we spotted more Konoha ninja?"

"Yes, they are right behind us, eight people in total."

At this moment, another impatient Mist Ninja said, "There are only eight people. Let's just kill them all."

Zhongji was a cautious but also impatient person. He turned to stare at his companion who had given him the bad idea: "Bastard, if you dare to have such thoughts again, I'll kill you first."

This is just a group of Konoha search parties passing by. Just avoid them and don't cause any trouble. Our primary goal is to complete the mission.

"Remember this: anyone who dares to sabotage the mission will be the first to die!"

Now, no one dared to get angry anymore.

Regardless of their strength, without Zhongji's sensory cover, they would all die in the Land of Fire. The ninjas from Kirigakure are just crazy, but not stupid.

After a brief pause, Nakaji said, "Let's adjust our direction and keep going. The Konoha guys are just passing by and haven't noticed us yet."

Zhongji seems to be very confident in his perception.

After they left, Higashino's shadow clones dissipated on their own.

Instantly, Higashino's true form received the returned information and stopped, saying, "The limit of the Kirigakure's sensory ninja's range is about 6 kilometers."

At the same time, they genuinely do not want to clash with our search team and will actively avoid any Konoha ninja they encounter.

"Is that so?" Moonlight Cloud said, marking a location on the map. "Then let's force them to go towards Grass Valley and send the information back."

"Yes!" The young ninja named Uchiha Inahisa summoned four jet-black crows. After tying the written information to their legs, he released one of them from the summoning. The other three flew off in different directions, towards the locations of the other three search teams.