Morning wind swept across the silent clifftop. As a nation situated on the open sea, the Land of Hot Water carried a fresh brine tang on every breeze. For anyone unaccustomed to coastal living, the humid heat was equally punishing. It was not, by any measure, a pleasant place.
But the young man sitting at the cliff's edge seemed oblivious to all of it. Head bowed, eyes closed, he sat in perfect stillness. The black cloak patterned with red clouds made him look deeply enigmatic, but the Konoha forehead protector on his brow—scored through with a deep slash—marked him as something dangerous. That mark was a rogue ninja's calling card.
"Ah, so this is where you've been, Itachi. I can see how the climate here would be a bit much for a landlubber like you."
Steady footsteps approached, and a towering figure appeared at the young man's side. Compared to the one called Itachi, this newcomer was downright monstrous. Shark-like gill markings, shark-like razor teeth, and shark-like beady little eyes—nothing about him looked remotely human.
"Kisame. That took you long enough."
Itachi opened his eyes slowly. A flicker of displeasure crossed those dark irises. The one called Kisame merely flashed an unconcerned grin. "Come now, Itachi, you can be awfully demanding sometimes. You weren't out there fighting—this bunch actually had some bite to them, so it took a little longer."
There was no need to elaborate further. These two were Akatsuki's Vermilion Bird and South Dipper: the former being Uchiha Itachi, rogue ninja of Konoha and Uchiha Sasuke's only brother by blood, wanted for the massacre of his entire clan. The latter was Hoshigaki Kisame, formerly one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, wanted for his rebellion against the Mizukage.
"You talk too much. If the mission's done, let's leave."
Standing, Itachi pulled his gaze back from the distant sea. As a member of Akatsuki, the tasks assigned by the organization's leader were, for the time being, complete. There was no reason to linger in a backwater sea-country like the Land of Hot Water.
"Now, now—no rush. I found something interesting in the loot this time."
Kisame swung Samehada onto his back, then fished a book out of his rear ninja tool pouch. The cover bore a smear of blood—clearly lifted off one of the unlucky targets he'd just dispatched.
Kisame wasn't much of a reader, but on a monotonous journey, he wouldn't turn down something to kill the time.
"This is apparently the best-selling book in the Land of Fire right now. I even saw a billboard for it in the last town we passed through. Worth a look."
He wiped the bloodstain off the cover with his palm and flipped it open as he fell into step behind Itachi. "Mm... high-quality paper. Oh—here's the foreword: 'A love story spanning a thousand years of reincarnation, penned with the most sincere devotion between human and yōkai...' Hm, a story with a yōkai protagonist? That's unusual. I'm intrigued."
"I had no idea you were into that kind of book."
Itachi offered a flat comment on Kisame's enthusiasm. He had no intention of caring about this book. He already carried enough weight on his shoulders.
"Ha—I know a thing or two about how humans work. Nothing but betrayal and deception, and it all turns out to be smoke and mirrors in the end. But yōkai? That's new territory for me. Can't hurt to learn a little. Besides, are we even still human at this point? Maybe we'll come back as yōkai in the next life. Ahahaha—"
Kisame chuckled as he read and commented simultaneously. "Oh—a fox spirit who's searched across a thousand years of reincarnation for her lover from a millennium ago. Makes sense—humans could never have that kind of patience or loyalty. Not bad."
That remark stirred a faint thread of interest in Itachi. Yes—human loyalty and endurance. How long could those things sustain him? No, not a thousand years. He only needed four more years. Just four more years, and Sasuke should have grown strong enough.
Kisame had clearly entered reading mode. The ostensibly brutish rogue ninja was devouring the illustrated volume with relish, peppering in commentary between pages.
Then Itachi's gaze happened to sweep across one of the open pages. His pupils contracted—sharp and sudden—and his footsteps halted.
"Kisame. Give me that book."
The request came out of nowhere. Kisame, deep in the middle of a gripping passage, blinked in surprise. "Itachi? You want to read it too?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
Itachi's eyes had already shifted—blood-red, three tomoe spinning. Kisame tilted his head, then handed the book over with obvious reluctance. "All right, all right, don't get upset. Here you go."
Taking the volume, Itachi flipped directly to specific pages. But what the young man was studying wasn't the characters—it was the courtyard scenery and the interior set design in the backgrounds.
Even after years away, Itachi identified the filming locations almost instantly. There was no mistaking them. These were the grounds of his former home—the Uchiha compound.
In other words, this illustrated volume had been shot right inside Konoha, in the Uchiha estate.
With that realization, Itachi's gaze shifted to the male lead—the character called "Zuo Lin." Now that he had a theory, it took only moments to recognize those eyes, so startlingly similar to his own, and understand exactly who was playing this role.
"..."
After several seconds of silence, Itachi snapped the book shut. "Kisame. Where can I buy the rest of the series?"
"Huh? Oh... probably only in the larger cities. It's marked as a limited edition. The capital of the Land of Hot Water is just ahead—it should be available there."
Kisame cocked his head with mild interest. As an S-rank rogue, he'd naturally sensed that something was off with Itachi, but there was no point mentioning it. "You want to pick up the next volumes, Itachi? Perfect—I'm right in the middle of a good part."
"Shut up."
With that cold remark, Itachi strode forward. Kisame trailed behind, shaking his head with familiar bemusement before matching his partner's pace. He was genuinely curious about where the second half of the story would go.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rivers—inside a cave.
"Hey, hey, Sasori—you done resting yet? Lately it seems like you're the one dragging your feet. Hm!"
The speaker was another young man in a black-and-red-cloud cloak. A high ponytail and a scope over his left eye gave him a sharp, brisk look, though at the moment his face was creased with impatience and curiosity.
"Shut up, Deidara. I'm looking for inspiration for a new piece."
A red-haired young man sat propped against the wall near a campfire, also wearing the Akatsuki cloak. These two were Akatsuki's Jade Maiden—Sasori of the Red Sand—and Azure Dragon—Deidara. The former was an S-rank rogue from Sunagakure; the latter, an S-rank rogue from Iwagakure.
And in Sasori's hands, unmistakably, was an illustrated volume. From the cover, it was the exact same first edition of Fox Tales that Kisame had looted.
"Hah? You've been glued to that thing lately, haven't you, Sasori? Carrying it around all day. Hm!"
Seeing that Sasori still showed no sign of moving, Deidara trudged back into the cave and plopped down beside him. As fellow artists, he was genuinely curious about whatever had captured Sasori's attention. "Is it really that good? Hm?"
"Quiet. Read it yourself and you'll know."
Sasori stared at the golden-haired Fox Immortal on the page, firelight dancing in his brown eyes like twin flames.
"Hahah, the blonde with the huge rack? Didn't think that was your type, Sasori. But—can your body even, y'know? Hm?"
Deidara peered over Sasori's shoulder at the page and shot his partner a sly look. As the ultimate puppet master, Sasori's body had long since ceased to be human. Yet here he was, apparently fascinated by a woman. That was genuinely entertaining.
"Are you an idiot? What, are you in heat? What a childish thought."
Sasori dismissed the teasing without so much as a glance. His eyes burned with something far beyond adolescent interest. "Look closer. She isn't human—she's a fox spirit who's lived for over a thousand years. And yet, after all those centuries, she's still beautiful. Still radiating youth. Is that... the fundamental difference between yōkai and humans?"
"Ah, so she's not human. An immortal yōkai with eternal life and youth—no wonder you're hooked, Sasori. Hm."
Now Deidara understood. As a puppet master obsessed with "eternity," Sasori was the ultimate devotee of the everlasting. The Fox Immortal wasn't some mere human with a limited lifespan—she was a being who'd endured a millennium and still retained her beauty and vitality. Of course that would catch Sasori's eye.
"All right, let's go."
Just as Deidara had settled in beside Sasori and gotten absorbed in the book himself, Sasori abruptly closed the volume and stood. Deidara's face soured immediately. "Hey, hey—I was just getting to the good part! Hm!"
"This is only the first volume, and its release date was a month ago. That means newer volumes should be out by now. I need to collect them."
Climbing inside Hiruko, Sasori's voice turned muffled through the puppet shell. "If you want to read it, go find your own copy. There should be a mid-sized town nearby."
And hearing that, Deidara's eyes lit up. He smacked his palm with sudden energy.
"Oh—is that so? Right then! Let's go hunting! I've been bored out of my skull anyway. Hm!"