Land of Wind.
Walking on the winding sand dunes, the young face of Sasori had a gloomy expression under the cloak.
Looking towards the distant sky, he muttered in frustration, "Nothing here either?"
For the past 10 days, he has been searching in the major towns, black markets, and even several Oasis on the commercial route connecting most of the towns in the Land of Wind, but he found nothing at all. It was as if the trail of Hyuga Kuroto disappeared out of thin air.
Ever since he managed to learn of Hyuga Kuroto's true identity, Sasori has been making plans to exact his revenge on the bastard!
The only hurdle is that he is unable to track the kid.
Hyuga Kuroto is a member of the Konoha's Anbu Black Ops, so his whereabouts are only known to the Hokage and the fellow teammates.
Once he leaves the village, the kid has to perform secret missions under Hokage's directives, so his position can't be tracked at all.
This time, Sasori finally got some tip from the informant in the Black market, and he thought finally he could hunt down the kid so Sasori rushed from the Land of Water all the way to the Land of Wind only to find nothing!
It's like the kid has already left the Land of Wind long ago.
"Stay alive while you still can, coz' lady luck won't always help you!" – after uttering these words with a cold snort, Sasori wrapped his cloak tightly and walked in the direction of the Land of Rain…
…
Land of Fire, inside a dense forest…
Kuroto landed on a tree branch from the flight and gasped for breath as the Tenseigan Chakra Mode faded away.
Because Kuroto can't afford to use all of his Chakra so as to keep the Kazekage puppet active in the Land of Wind, he has access to only half of his total Chakra Volume. Due to this, he can keep the Tenseigan Chakra Mode active only for five-six minutes.
Therefore, he has to continuously rest and recover chakra to continue his flight.
Fortunately, Kuroto's flying speed is extremely fast while in the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, so even if he is traveling in short bursts, it is much faster than his normal running speed.
While chewing the Military Ration Pill, Kuroto spread the map on the ground and carefully looked at the route he has been following.
It has already been two full days since he sneaked out of the village, and according to the plan, he should be able to cross the territory of the Land of Fire and enter the territory of the Land of River soon.
The main reason why it took him so long was that Kuroto chose a route that's too remote for human travel.
During the entire journey, he has only seen the endless forest in sight, including the occasional mountains he crossed, with some small cliffs, rivers, swamps, and valleys.
In fact, Kuroto was also helpless, so he had to choose this route.
The Tenseigan Chakra mode is too eye-catching, and if he doesn't take such a remote route, he will most certainly be perceived by the perceptual ninjas present in the Konoha Guard posts spread throughout the Land of Fire.
So, even if it is troublesome, Kuroto has to use this method.
A few days later he finally crossed the border of the Land of River and enter the territory of the Land of Wind.
After entering the desert, Kuroto didn't rush headfirst and sensed the position of the Kazekage puppet.
While sensing the position, he suddenly opened his eyes in surprise, "So far away!"
The reason for his surprise was that the Kazekage puppet that was keeping track of Roran survivors was about 200 miles away from his current position.
Opening the map, he drew some dots with a pen.
The initial point was the location where he left the Kazekage puppet before heading back to the Land of Fire. Using that point as the center of a circle, he scanned the map and finally locked his gaze on an Oasis named 'Manto'.
Drawing a circle in the specific Oasis, Kuroto muttered silently, "This should be their next stop!"
The 'Manto' is a semi-popular Oasis in the Land of Wind, and the important detail to notice is that it lies along the major Trade Route, and based on the trajectory the Caravans of the Roran survivors were following, this 'Manto' has to be their next stop.
After figuring this out, Kuroto immediately put away the map and headed towards 'Manto' at the fastest speed possible.
It took another 2 days to reach 'Manto' after the high-speed flight.
In these 2 days, the Roran Survivors also arrived at Manto.
After arriving at Manto, Kuroto didn't rush to meet the Queen of Roran but choose to put back the Kazekage puppet and restore his peak state.
Wrapping a black cloak over his body along with a mask with a demonic look that he bought in a market, Kuroto made sure to keep his identity as hidden as possible.
He didn't want to leave any trail that could lead someone to him for stealing the Dragon Vein.
After doing all the preparation, Kuroto waited for nightfall.
With the setting of the Sun, the moon appeared high in the sky.
Right now, there were many bonfires lit with groups of two or three people sitting around it while carrying out various activities, like chatting, dancing, playing games, cooking, etc., in short enjoying the rare leisure time of the day when they forget all their troubles.
Queen Sara didn't sit around with the others but was taking care of her young child alone while humming a lullaby in her private tent.
Under the cover of night, Kuroto sneaked into the Queen's tent without alerting anyone, and whispered in low voice to draw Queen Sara's attention who was distracted in sadness, "What are you thinking?"
Sara was shocked as she suddenly heard the sound, quickly holding the baby in her arms, she drew a dagger while retreating towards the corner and looked at the person wearing a black cloak and a red demonic mask alertly, and asked, "W-who are you!?"
Kuroto looked at the Dagger as he thought to himself, 'That should be the Konoha Chakra Blade Naruto left behind!'
But to him, this thing didn't matter as he said lightly, "Don't be too nervous, I am only here to make a deal with you."
Queen Sara muttered in confusion, "Make a deal?"
In their tribe there is nothing of value except for some animals, so she can't think of anything that might interest anyone, therefore she didn't relax her vigilance because of the masked person's words.
At the same time, she was smart enough to not call for help, because she understood that for someone to sneak in here without even alerting anyone outside could only mean that the person is a ninja.
And if that's the case, then calling for help will only put her people into danger, the fact that this person is here and didn't harm anyone outside means that he isn't here with the intentions of killing their entire tribe, so negotiations are still a possibility, as long as the other party is satisfied, he shouldn't take some drastic action.
But the question is, what is he after?
Kuroto nodded, "Yes, make a deal!"
Queen Sara wanted to say something, but because of nervousness and panic, she coughed, and the coughing didn't stop at all, it appeared that she was even having difficulty in breathing.
Seeing her condition, Kuroto activated his Tenseigan and scanned her body, he was surprised to find that many of her blood vessels had clotting; affecting the blood flow, then there was also a blockage in her lungs, from the looks of it she was seriously ill.
Kuroto frowned upon noticing this, "You are sick!"
While trying to catch her breath, Sara said weakly, "I… I know!"
Looking around at her tent that didn't have a very hygienic atmosphere, Kuroto said deeply, "You need immediate medical treatment, if not your condition will continue worsening and you won't be able to survive even a few more years."
Looking strangely at the masked person, Queen Sara asked with a serious expression, "Just who on Earth are you? What do want from me? And why do you care about my well-being??"
"Didn't I say it already, I am here to make a deal with you!"
However, Sara shook her head, "I can't think of anything that I can sell!"
"Actually, you do! You have a priceless treasure in your hands." After a short pause, Kuroto continued with a mocking smile, "It's just that this priceless treasure is actually useless for you and your people!"
When the masked person said this, Queen Sara realized what the stranger meant as she muttered with a horrifying expression, "Y-you are after the Dragon Vein!!"
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