Outside Konoha's encampment.
"Tengen, you have to come back," Minato said, pulling Tengen into a brief embrace.
"Minato, don't worry, I'll be back," Tengen replied with a smile.
"Tengen, when you return, we'll have a drink together," Nara Shikaku said, nodding at Tengen.
"Don't worry, Shikaku, but you're kind of a bad influence, talking about drinks. I'm just a kid, you know," Tengen said with a grin.
At the moment, Tengen was only ten years old.
Though his mastery of taijutsu made him seem like a teenager, he was still just a boy.
"You're no kid. In my eyes, you're an old monster," Shikaku teased.
In their usual interactions, Shikaku never saw Tengen act like a child.
"Tengen, come back safe," Kushina Uzumaki said, wrapping her arms around him.
"Relax, Kushina, your team captain will return safely," Tengen said, patting her back.
"You better not be lying," Kushina said.
"Don't worry," Tengen said, looking at Minato and the others. "Well then, everyone, I'm off."
With that, Tengen slowly rose into the air, using the power of the Dance of the Sky Technique.
He vanished from sight.
"Let's wait for Tengen's return," Minato said.
"I believe Tengen will come back victorious," Shikaku said slowly. "He's Konoha's hero, after all."
"I believe it too," Minato said firmly.
In the sky, Tengen locked onto a direction and sped toward it.
That direction led to the Land of Water, the location of the Kirigakure.
Some time later.
Tengen looked down at the buildings shrouded in thick fog below, a faint smile crossing his face. This was the Kirigakure.
Using his ability to sense chakra, Tengen detected numerous powerful chakra signatures within.
There were many Jonin inside, as well as Kage-level shinobi.
Looking at the fog-covered buildings, Tengen didn't descend immediately. He knew the Kirigakure likely had defenses similar to Konoha's. If he entered at a certain altitude, the Kiri-nin would likely detect him.
Not that Tengen intended to sneak into the Kirigakure.
His sole purpose was clear: to destroy the Kirigakure.
"Well then, let's do this," Tengen murmured, his gaze sharpening as he descended toward the village's entrance. To destroy the Kirigakure, he'd fight his way in, step by step.
At the entrance, Tengen clenched his right hand, and a jet-black sword appeared in his grip, the Zanpakuto he had obtained earlier.
Ryūjin Jakka.
"Let's go," Tengen said, his figure plummeting toward the ground.
Thud, thud. Tengen landed firmly at the entrance of the Kirigakure.
"Who's there?" a Kiri-nin guarding the entrance shouted. Someone descending from the sky, could this ninja know flight ninjutsu?
Why had this ninja come to the Kirigakure?
A flurry of thoughts raced through one of the guards' minds.
"Wait, he's a Konoha ninja," another Kiri-nin said urgently, spotting the Konoha headband on Tengen's arm.
"A Konoha ninja? Aren't we at war with Konoha?" one of the Kiri-nin said, stunned.
Indeed, they were at war. Why would a Konoha ninja come to the Kirigakure?
Had the Kiri-nin been defeated, and Konoha was now attacking? One of the guards trembled at the thought.
If that were true, it would be terrifying.
"Has Konoha invaded?" the Kiri-nin asked, taking a deep breath.
"Of course not. I came here alone," Tengen said, shaking his head.
"Alone?" The guarding Kiri-nin froze, then burst into wild laughter. "You little brat, you came here alone? What do you think you can do?"
Indeed, what could one person do?
Even if it was the infamous Tengen, rumored to wield the supreme power of the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release, they would make sure he stayed here.
After all, the Kiri-nin in the Kirigakure had only heard tales of Tengen's power, never witnessed it.
Not to mention, the terrors of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were now mere legends.
The number of ninja who remembered their fearsome power had dwindled.
Sometimes, legends were unreliable, and in this isolated Kirigakure, Tengen's strength was met with nothing but disdain.
The guarding Kiri-nin looked at Tengen mockingly, their earlier tension gone. It wasn't Konoha invading, so all was well.
"I'm here to destroy the Kirigakure," Tengen said calmly, gripping Ryūjin Jakka.
"Destroy the Kirigakure?" The Kiri-nin who heard Tengen's words roared with laughter. "Kid, have you read too many novels or watched too many movies? Do you think you're invincible just because you can fly?"
"If you tell us why you're here, we might let you die quickly," one Kiri-nin said with a cruel smirk. "Otherwise, don't blame us for torturing you, kid."
"Is that so?" Tengen said, his gaze cold and indifferent as he looked at the speaking Kiri-nin. No anger, no fear, just calm.
Seeing that look, the Kiri-nin felt a chill, then quickly reminded himself this was just a kid.
"Brat, you're dead," the Kiri-nin snarled, pulling out a kunai, ready to strike Tengen down.
Tengen looked at the ninja as if he were already dead.
"Sōzetsu," Tengen said softly, swinging his Zanpakuto. A dazzling, brilliant light flashed in the Kiri-nin's eyes before fading.
"What did you do?" one Kiri-nin stammered, shaken by a sudden sense of dread.
But the spray of blood beside him snapped him back to reality. The ninja next to him had been sliced in two, his body cleaved apart.
He hadn't even had a chance to react.
Sōzetsu, a long-range sword pressure technique, struck like a flash of light.
This Chunin-level Kiri-nin died under the attack without even a moment to respond.
***
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