Sitting on the back of Yatagarasu, overlooking the scenery of the Ninja World.
At this moment, Aoki Yoru felt fortunate that he did not give up when he could not find it in the Land of Grass. What was originally a five-day journey was completed in one hour by Yatagarasu flying at full speed.
At the border of the Land of Fire, he jumped down from its back and stroked the head of Yatagarasu.
"Good job! Go back now, and remember, never enter the airspace of the Land of Rain."
Yatagarasu nodded, flapped its wings, and disappeared from view shortly after.
Aoki Yoru patted the dust off his body and walked toward the camp. The reason he did not let it stop at the camp was that he did not want to be too conspicuous, and also because of the scarcity of flying ninja beasts; he was afraid the Village would use him as a taxi to carry people on urgent missions every day.
After verifying his identity, he walked into the tent of Kakashi Hatake. Perhaps it was because there were too many documents, even the time for reading icha icha paradise was reduced, and his mental state had actually improved a lot over this past year.
This could be considered a good thing for Kakashi. After all, being so weak at a young age was not good, Aoki Yoru thought wickedly.
Kakashi, who was processing documents, looked up and saw Aoki Yoru walking in.
"Judging by your expression, you must have gained quite a bit."
"Yes, this ninja beast is quite useful." He briefly told him about the situation with Yatagarasu, as the squad would likely need to use it in the future.
After listening, Kakashi nodded. "It is indeed a good aid, especially in times of war; it has excellent utility for traveling and surprise attacks."
"You returned just in time. The Village sent orders; our mission is over, and we will set off to return in 10 days. If you had not returned in 10 days, I would have found an excuse to gloss over it, but now that is not necessary."
Aoki Yoru looked at Kakashi in surprise. "Isn't it not yet a year? Why end the mission early?"
"There are abnormal movements in the Hidden Cloud Village. Sandaime ordered us to return to the Village to wait for orders and be ready to support at any time. The Village has already started gathering manpower." Kakashi said with a serious expression; he knew too well the cruelty of war.
Aoki Yoru nodded solemnly, walked out of the tent, and muttered to himself while looking at the sky:
"War, is it? Have the breezes from the butterfly flapping its wings gathered into a tornado? In the original work, it was just border friction."
The insignificant things he did after graduation after crossing over had actually triggered a fierce struggle between two great nations, and perhaps it would even evolve into a war that would sweep across the Ninja World.
Wouldn't the Fourth Shinobi World War break out early because of this butterfly effect? Thinking about it, there really was that possibility. In his previous life, did the First World War not start because of a small incident that ignited the powder keg?
"It seems the plan needs to be accelerated. I hope it is not too late."
On the way back, Aoki Yoru decided to speed up the experimental pace. The situation in the Ninja World was slowly becoming unrecognizable, and he could no longer view it based on the memories of his previous life.
The next day, after having a good sleep and getting together with his two teammates, he used the excuse of testing a new jutsu to walk to the border alone.
He summoned Yatagarasu and headed toward Kannabi Bridge.
He wanted to go there to see if he could find a White Zetsu. He did not dare to capture one in Konoha for fear of being tracked down; he dared not underestimate the intelligence capabilities of Black Zetsu.
During the patrol at the border, he used Sage Mode to sense several times, but unfortunately, he found no traces of White Zetsu.
This time he would try his luck at Uchiha Madara's old hideout. If he still could not find one, he would have to find a way within Konoha.
Relying on the astonishing speed of Yatagarasu, it only took a moment to reach Kannabi Bridge.
He signaled Yatagarasu to lower its altitude and circle at a low altitude. Aoki Yoru's mental energy, mixed with Natural Energy, spread out in all directions, covering the entire area.
"Found it."
Aoki Yoru did not expect his luck to be this good; he actually found one. It was in the deep mountains nearby, in a deep and dim underground cave; it should be Uchiha Madara's former hideout.
He jumped off the bird's back, signaled Yatagarasu to fly higher, and used Earth Release to drill into the cave.
Walking into the cave, the rock walls were rough and pitch black, and the air was filled with a damp, earthy, and faintly rotten smell. It was empty; it seemed they had moved out long ago.
Arriving at the wall deep in the cave, he wrapped his palm with Natural Energy, smashed the wall with one punch, and dragged the White Zetsu out from inside.
"Who are you? How could you discover me..."
"Snap."
Before it could finish speaking, he twisted its neck directly and took out a scroll to seal it inside.
He used Earth Release to destroy the entire cave, quickly reached the surface, sat on Yatagarasu, and left the place.
In case other White Zetsu came to check, if he was discovered appearing in the vicinity, he would definitely be treated as the prime suspect.
At this time, Black Zetsu in the Land of Rain sensed that a White Zetsu had disappeared. He was shocked and immediately went to find Uchiha Obito.
Uchiha Obito, who was muttering about Rin Nohara, was shocked to hear that a White Zetsu had disappeared. He understood the heaven-defying efficacy of White Zetsu all too well.
He immediately sucked Black Zetsu into his space and came to the cave at Kannabi Bridge.
"So cautious, they even destroyed the cave." Looking at the destroyed cave, Uchiha Obito's eyes were full of killing intent.
"Do you know who did it? The other party was clearly prepared. Has the purpose of White Zetsu been discovered?"
"No, the moment I sensed it disappeared, I ordered the nearby White Zetsu to set out to search for suspicious personnel, but there was no one around." Black Zetsu said hoarsely.
"Uchiha Obito, the other party either knows space Ninjutsu or can fly."
"Then investigate all suspicious personnel in the Ninja World, especially people like Orochimaru and Danzo. Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I will find him." After speaking, he sucked himself into the different dimension and left.
Watching Uchiha Obito leave, Black Zetsu muttered to himself, "I hope it does not affect Mother's resurrection."
Then he disappeared into the ground.
On the other side, the successful Aoki Yoru returned to the camp with an excited face. He did not expect it to go so smoothly.
He resisted the urge to take the White Zetsu out. Now Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito must be searching for the culprit like crazy; it was better to wait until the wind died down before researching it.
In the following days, Aoki Yoru returned to his original life, going out to patrol with his teammates every day, then practicing on his own, and occasionally catching some game to improve his meals.
Walking through the gate of Konoha, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They had been away from the Village for nearly a year; even a loner like Aoki Yoru missed home a little, not to mention people with attachments like Jieyi and Kenta.
The squad disbanded at the gate. Kakashi Hatake went to report to Sandaime, and the three of them could not wait to go home.
At the door, he saw little Chino playing a game. Seeing Aoki Yoru, she ran over and hugged his calf.
"Brother Yoru, you're back! You've been out for so long, Chino missed you."
Ever since he saved her from Root, Grandma Chidao often brought her over to visit and thank him, and over time, she became dependent on him.
"I missed you too, Chino. Have you been a good girl at home and eating well?"
Chino nodded proudly.
"Yoru is back." Grandma Chidao saw Aoki Yoru and greeted him warmly.
"After you left, Sandaime came by. He apologized to us for the lack of security in Konoha and promised that it would not happen a second time." She looked full of admiration when mentioning Sandaime.
Aoki Yoru sighed. When it came to winning people's hearts, Danzo could not catch up in eight lifetimes.
Afterward, he said goodbye to the enthusiastic neighbor and returned to his own home.
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