Chapter 111: Child's scream

"So, this is what the outside of the village looks like huh? it's amazing" muttered Naruto as he enjoyed the ride on the carriage that I hired.

Of course, I wasn't going to drag two kids that weren't ninja with me on such a long journey on foot, so I simply sent a clone to find if there were any merchants heading south while waiting for Sasuke, and after paying some money along with constant persuasion, I finally made someone agree to take us.

This merchant was called Ryukai, He was an old fat man, probably in his fifties, his hair started to whiten but his body and face seemed very vigorous and energetic.

After talking with him for a while, I found out that he actually comes from the land of tea, which is my destination in the first place so I was pleasantly surprised.

He had a nervous-looking young man with him called Hotaru that acted as his guard and he was the reason I had to work hard to reach an agreement with him as he kept telling Ryukai not to take me with him for some reason… Which made me suspect that something was off about this guy.

I could tell that from the moment I approached them, his body was always positioned in a way to protect Ryukai in case I try to do anything so his fighting capabilities were definitely not to be underestimated…

"This is your first time outside?" Ryukai asked Naruto with a kind smile when he noticed the look of curiosity on his face

"Um, old man, this is my first time outside" replied Naruto innocently causing dark lines to appear on Ryukai's face who doesn't like to be reminded of his age

"Who are you calling old man? I'm still young" said Ryukai who regretted talking to this kid in the first place.

However, this time Sasuke interrupted and said "tch, stupid old man" causing Naruto to burst out laughing before that laughter was interrupted when they both got punched in the head by me...

"What did you hit us for Bakorio!" asked Naruto with a pout as he rubbed his head and Sasuke was the same.

"Don't be rude…" I said and I paused on purpose

Ryukai quickly nodded and said " umm umm what a sensible ki-" but I suddenly interrupted him as I continued saying "to this old man" and then I burst out laughing with Naruto and Sasuke joining me...

"You rascals!!!!" yelled Ryukai making me sure that this journey wasn't going to be boring…

Meanwhile, Itachi and Shisui were keeping Hotaru company at the front of the carriage while he acted as the coachman...

"Sorry about the kids, they are just having fun" said Shisui apologetically when he heard how we were making fun of Ryukai.

Hotaru seemed less nervous by now, maybe because I wasn't traveling with them on my own …

"It's fine, Ryukai-san seems to be having fun too"

Shisui nodded at this agreeing with him and then Itachi asked "Hotaru-san, how long is it going to take us to reach the southern border of the land of fire?"

Hotaru looked at the sky before he said " it's a little bit cloudy today, so I suspect it might rain delaying our journey, so between 6 and 8 hours and maybe more…"

"I see, you are right, the weather seems to be changing and it will be hard for the carriage to move In such muddy terrain" replied Itachi who has experience traveling from the many missions he accomplished…

'It might rain huh?' I thought when I overheard their conversation 'well I guess Mukai will have to wait for a while …'

Just like that, our journey continued peacefully for 3 hours with the kids bickering and having fun from time to time among themselves or with Ryukai who took a liking to them and it already started raining heavily to my enjoyment…

*tac**tac**tac*tac*

The sound of the rain hitting on the roof of the carriage along with the strong smell of the earth made me feel calm and relaxed like my spirit was being cleansed even though the inside of the carriage was a little bit crowded with the addition of Shisui and Itachi.

Thunder would roar from time to time breaking this calm, but soon after, I find myself returning to the same serene state... that was until I heard a very far sound different from the roars of thunder, it was the pained scream of a child…

I immediately stood up with a serious look on my face to the surprise of the people in the carriage other than Ryukai who didn't know me well and said jokingly "What's wrong Bakorio-kun, did you have a bad dream?"

However, I simply ignored him and focused all my mind on locating the sound of the scream… slowly, the sound of the rain started vanishing, then the sound of the carriage and the horse drawing it, and after all noise was eliminated, I finally heard clearly the sound of screams and someone asking for help! and right after that, I was woken up by the roaring sound of thunder…

"What's wrong Bakorio?" asked Shisui who started having a bad feeling

"I heard the sound of a child screaming" I said, but Ryukai didn't take what I said seriously because I was only a kid, not to mention that his guard Hotaru whom he trusted so much would have noticed such a thing if it was true so he jokingly said

"Are you sure it's not the sound of thunder?"

"I'm sure, stop the carriage" I said as my body started leaking a murderous aura which Ryukai took very seriously this time as he thought in fear 'This kid is more dangerous than any assassin that was sent after my life!"

The carriage immediately stopped as Hotaru opened the door holding a dagger in his hand without any of his previous nervousness on his face but Shisui immediately stood in front of him and said "stop, this is a misunderstanding"

However, Hotaru didn't listen to him and was about to attack until he heard Ryukai speaking "Hotaru, stop!"

Sasuke and Naruto kept looking at what was happening worriedly especially when they sensed the killing intent I kept hidden inside my heart…

"I underestimated you" said Ryukai as he shot me a deep look " but if there's a kid in danger I will definitely rescue him, can you lead us there?"

"Ryukai-san we can't trust such a dangerous individual!" yelled Hotaru hurriedly but he was interrupted by me as I said

"You don't need to trust me, I didn't ask you to accompany me in the first place, tch, Shisui, Itachi, please take care of Naruto and Sasuke I will go check out what's happening"

"No, I will come with you" said Naruto

"Me too" followed Sasuke

Ryukai let out a laugh and said to Hotaru "Well we can't be outdone by kids right? Let's go"

"Be careful then" I said before I shot Itachi and Shisui a look to protect the kids before anything else and I started directing Hotaru to drive us to where I heard the sound coming from…

It wasn't that far away, but it was muffled by the rain, that's why they couldn't hear it, however the more we got closer to the entrance of a certain cave that was way off the road, the clearer the sound became, and they all turned serious and enraged at who could cause so much pain to a child.

However, just as the carriage arrived near the cave, a tall muscular man with short messy black hair suddenly emerged from it.

He had a very distinguished face including a broad jawline, pronounced forehead, and noticeable creases under his eyes. He also had black triangular markings on each of his cheeks…

'This is …' this man seemed familiar for some reason, however I couldn't bother with his appearance because the moment he appeared, he was already doing the hand signs of a Jutsu I recognized

Dog → Snake → Horse → Tiger → Snake → Dog → Tiger

'Not good' I thought and I immediately grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and jumped far away from the carriage as I yelled to the rest "LEAVE THE CARRIAGE!"

Hotaru immediately tried to carry Ryukai but he found him heavy so fortunately for him, Itachi and Shisui helped him as they all jumped away and just as we did.

That man muttered " Earth Release: Fissure Jutsu!" and soon after, a huge fissure that spanned a long distance appeared under the carriage swallowing it whole and completely devastating the terrain with the fate of the people that were in it unknown…

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An: What do you guys think's going to happen?

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