[ Bai Lu's name was supposed to be Ryoko, which I didn't noticed at first. So apologies if you saw Bai Lu somewhere ]
In the forest of the Land of Rivers, in an area closer to the Konoha main camp, a water tornado suddenly rose from the ground, a spectacular sight.
The sudden water tornado caused strong winds, the surrounding trees rustled, and heavy rain poured down from the sky.
Such a magnificent water tornado truly startled Rasa, but fortunately, he had already left in advance, and the distance was relatively far, so the impact was not significant. Otherwise, being directly sucked into the water tornado would have been dangerous. As for where he would be thrown afterward? Only Heaven knows.
"Is this also the power of that Ninjutsu?" Rasa thought to himself, and after avoiding the greatest power of the water tornado, he immediately approached its center. He had not given up; he was determined to obtain this new Ninjutsu.
...
The water tornado had immense power and affected a wide area. Kakashi and the others, while sprinting, had already entered the Konoha main camp's alert zone, but the sudden tremor from behind felt like a typhoon or earthquake. When they looked back, the water tornado was soaring into the sky.
Even the genius Ninja Kakashi was awestruck by such a scene, and Uchiha Obito stared at the water tornado with his mouth wide open, too shocked to speak.
"Is this some kind of Ninjutsu?"
"Is this the Ninjutsu she used?"
Two questions, one from Uchiha Obito and one from Rin Nohara. They weren't asking the same question, but they were asking the same person, and that person was Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at the water tornado, momentarily forgetting to answer, but seeing him clenching his teeth and fists, it was clear that he must have been feeling terrible at that moment.
This Ninjutsu was Water Release Ninjutsu, and while there were Ninja in Sand Village who could use Water Release Ninjutsu, none could use it to this extent. So, at present, there was only one person who could use this Ninjutsu: the Genin loli who was even younger than him.
Comparing oneself to others can be infuriating. As the saying goes, no comparison, no harm. Kakashi's genius glass heart finally shattered.
Kakashi, who had always considered himself the top young Ninja, was slapped in the face by a little girl, and it was a resounding slap. Perhaps it was because of this incident that Kakashi trained harder and more desperately in the future, his strength improving even more than in the original work, directly approaching the fame of the Sannin.
"Another subject worth observing has been found." A barely audible, indistinct voice suddenly sounded.
The person who made this sound was none other than the Genin boy who had always been a background character. A hint of appreciation quickly flashed across his face. But in an instant, his face reverted to a dazed and foolish expression. He pointed at the distant water tornado and, with a look of great surprise, shouted, "Is that still Ninjutsu?"
Hearing this very timely remark, Uchiha Obito awkwardly bluffed, "Idiot, of course, that's Ninjutsu! I'll be able to use it sooner or later!"
Obito's exaggerated expression made Rin Nohara giggle, "Oh! So you mean you can't use it now?" Rin Nohara's teasing made Obito sulk, and Obito's awkwardness made Rin Nohara laugh even harder.
Kakashi glanced at his two companions and pulled up his mask. "Let's go! We still have intelligence to deliver."
...
Let's rewind the timeline a bit, to the time before Inoyue used Water Formation Wall.
At this moment, Inoyue, as the main body, had no idea that her clone would encounter the future Fourth Kazekage Rasa.
If she had known, she would never have been led by curiosity to track Rasa; doing something so suicidal was not her style.
Currently, Inoyue was exercising her princess's rights with her five maids.
Wherever a princess went, her entourage was quite grand. Someone cleared the way, someone provided protection; although the Land of Rivers was a small country, the Daimyo was still the de facto wielder of power, and everything that should be there would be.
Inoyue had just finished praying at Cloud Cave Temple, a Buddhist temple, and her next stop should have been the Altar of Heaven.
She had visited all the halls and Buddha statues in the Buddhist temple, and the craftsmanship was indeed exquisite, much better than the simple temples of her previous life. However, she found nothing unusual.
The Old Monk inside was kind-faced, looking like an enlightened high monk; the young monks were cute and universally likable. But the younger monks were somewhat spirited, occasionally peeking at Inoyue's five maids, somewhat reminiscent of "Seishun Kyosokyoku." (This song is the first opening theme of Naruto, quite good.)
In a normal Buddhist temple, inhabited by a group of perfectly normal male monks, there were indeed no suspicious points found.
Inoyue had also observed with her Mind's Eye; the monks' soul light was a bit more solid than that of ordinary people, but still a distance away compared to Ninja.
Furthermore, their souls seemed a bit whiter, which perhaps meant purity! A group of simple people doing simple things, completely without any evil intentions.
The Buddhist temple was in the east of Kikyo Castle; every morning, the sun first shone on Cloud Cave Temple. On foggy mornings, when the morning light appeared and the dense fog was penetrated by the sunlight, it looked like a cloud cave, which is how Cloud Cave Temple got its name.
Cloud Cave Temple was in the east, but the Altar of Heaven was in the west of Kikyo Castle. Walking from Cloud Cave Temple in the east to the Altar of Heaven in the west would take several hours, especially when exercising the rights of a princess.
An entourage was a good thing, capable of satisfying one's vanity and highlighting one's nobility. That feeling of being high above and different from ordinary people was truly nice.
But this good thing also had a downside: no matter where you went, it took too much time.
With an entourage, the right to freedom was gone. Instead, there were maids reminding her how to maintain a princess's image, what to do, and what not to do. Otherwise, it would lose face for a great nation.
...
The procession finally arrived at the Altar of Heaven, but by then, noon had passed, and the sun was setting in the west.
The Altar of Heaven was in a plaza, a three-tiered platform with four openings, rising layer by layer, a total of three tiers.
Legend had it that this was originally the true center of Kikyo Castle, but for some unknown reason, the center of the new city was moved to the current Daimyo's mansion.
The Altar of Heaven was used for ancient rituals of worshiping Heaven, but now it was no longer used for that, so it had fallen into disuse, and few people came here.
The old stone steps were covered with marks of time's wear, and some places were already damaged. Inoyue, surrounded by her entourage, stepped onto the first tier of the Altar of Heaven.
As soon as she reached the first platform, Inoyue felt something was off. This feeling was inexplicable, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Walking up to the second tier, Inoyue's feeling grew stronger.
"You all wait at the very bottom!" Inoyue instructed her maids, then walked towards the third tier herself.
Karura and Ryoko exchanged glances and disregarded Inoyue's instructions, still following behind, as if they also sensed something unusual.
Inoyue said nothing about the two following her, but continued to walk up to the third tier.
With each step up the stone stairs, Inoyue's feeling grew stronger.
Upon reaching the third tier, Inoyue was startled because there was a stone statue lying upside down.
There had been no stone statue here originally; Inoyue had confirmed this the last time she came. A life-sized stone statue would not have been missed by Inoyue's eyesight.
Karura and Ryoko were also stunned, because they had also checked here repeatedly, and the third tier was just an empty platform, with nothing on it.
But now, a lying stone statue had appeared out of nowhere.
[ Sorry for Not Uploading any new Bonus chapters, My mental health was a bit down. So there will be few delays in my overall uploading Pace ]