Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

A single figure trailed far behind, keeping hidden from everyone's notice. He wore a white fox mask and the standard black cloak of the Konoha ANBU, or rather, of the Root division.

A slight bulge on his back revealed the shape of a sword, a weapon nearly every Root member carried.

With his face covered by a mask, one could not see the veins bulging around his eyes or the pure white of his pupils.

He was a member of the Hyūga clan, one of those recruited under Danzo's control.

In recent years, Danzo had sent several assassination squads to hunt down Ye Zi, all of which had failed. Even members assigned to gather intelligence on his battles had been uncovered by Ye Zi.

After losing numerous subordinates without acquiring substantial information, Danzo only managed to gain rough estimates of Ye Zi's whereabouts through intelligence channels, such as this current operation in the Land of Water.

With the failure of the assassination squads, Danzo stopped risking his valuable operatives and instead focused on intelligence gathering, deploying a Hyūga clan member for this task.

His desire to eliminate Ye Zi remained intense, but knowing it was currently beyond reach, Danzo became patient. When he learned that Kushina had formed a team to search for Ye Zi, he relaxed, especially with Jiraiya and Tsunade out there as well.

Thus, he shared general intelligence on Ye Zi's whereabouts with Kushina's team, though due to timing discrepancies, the information was less accurate.

Back then, Ye Zi was in the Land of Fire, and Kushina's search there, based on Danzo's intel, had turned up nothing.

Unwilling to waste his resources, Danzo relied on Kushina's team to pursue Ye Zi, assigning his Root member with the Byakugan to focus on intelligence gathering.

This Hyūga member in Root operated carefully, preferring to gain no information rather than risk being detected by Ye Zi.

This time, thanks to the Fourth Mizukage, he'd obtained useful information and promptly sent it back via his summoning beast as a precaution.

Now, he continued trailing Ye Zi from a safe distance, using his Byakugan.

Staying far behind, he carefully avoided approaching Manda's battleground. Moving ahead of the Mist ninjas would increase his risk of being discovered, so he waited patiently.

Manda, following orders to cover the rear, used his massive size to wreak havoc, his tail sweeping down vast swathes of trees, blocking Kisame and his team from advancing.

"Damn it. If we don't shake him off soon, Lord Mizukage…" Ao muttered grimly.

This enormous snake, Orochimaru's summon, seemed to have a sensing ability, allowing it to detect their movements and block them with its bulk.

"Ao, you go on ahead. Kisame and I will cover you."

At this point, Mei, her expression hardened, seemed influenced by Kotoe's actions earlier.

"I'll create an opening for you," Kisame said, discarding his broken sword. Even with his large chakra reserves, the prolonged fight had drained him.

Hearing Kisame's suggestion, Mei and Ao exchanged glances; it was the best course of action.

Ao could track, while Mei was the main attacker, a good pairing.

"Stupid snake, let's see if I can rip you apart."

With a cold laugh, Kisame moved outside Manda's rampage range and prepared to use his remaining chakra for a large-scale Water Release. However, Manda's enormous body suddenly dissipated in a cloud of white smoke, vanishing without warning.

The three Mist ninjas paused, quickly realizing that the summoning time had expired.

The smoke drifted over the forest, and the trio immediately pursued in Ye Zi's direction.

Seeing Manda vanish along with the retreating Mist ninjas, the Hyūga ninja continued to follow silently from the rear.

In the Land of Water, a place mainly composed of islands, the main island where the Village Hidden in the Mist resided was the largest. To leave the Land of Water, one had to cross the sea from the main island unless they had a flying summoning beast.

Unfortunately, none of the three—Ye Zi, Kotoe, or Shin—had a flying summon.

Carrying Kotoe, Ye Zi ran with no spare time to create misleading tracks. They soon left the forest, crossing a stretch of plain toward the island's edge, the beach.

After running a distance across the plain, Ye Zi sensed the approaching enemies. Without turning, he slightly furrowed his brow.

Had he looked back, he would have seen the three figures emerging from the forest in pursuit.

Kotoe, nestled in Ye Zi's arms, noticed his furrowed brows and realized the enemy might be catching up. Silently, a thought formed in her mind.

"Are they closing in?" she asked weakly.

Hearing her, Shin's eyes sharpened.

Ye Zi was silent for a moment, then replied, "They're right behind us."

Upon hearing this, Shin glanced back, confirming the three Mist ninjas in pursuit.

"Let me stay behind. I can delay them," Kotoe said seriously.

Shin started to say something but stopped as Kotoe continued, "I'm just a burden right now… so, Ye Zi, you could…"

"Shut up."

Ye Zi's cold words interrupted her.

Hearing Kotoe's offer to stay behind as a rear guard stirred anger within him. After everything she had done for him, he couldn't accept her disregarding her own life, even if it was for his sake.

So when he spoke, his words carried a trace of anger.

Shin looked at Ye Zi's determined, unshaken expression. He opened his mouth but said nothing.

With Ye Zi's two words, Kotoe fell silent. She obediently closed her eyes, abandoning her request to stay behind.

The three pressed forward in silence, crossing the plain until they reached the island's edge, the beach. Their pursuers were closing in.

With no boats, the only way to cross was by running on water with chakra at their feet until they reached the next island.

Ye Zi and Shin stepped onto the beach without hesitation, immediately running across the water. The main island was surrounded by many smaller islands.

From this starting point, they'd encounter several small islands along the way where they could stop to rest, but their first priority was to lose their pursuers.

Ye Zi, Kotoe, and Shin had already set out across the water when Ao and his team reached the shoreline and followed suit.

With his Byakugan, Ao could see Ye Zi's group but noticed that Yagura was missing, leaving him puzzled.

Even so, Ao relayed the situation to Mei and Kisame, and the three decided to continue the pursuit.

Even if Ye Zi had hidden Yagura somewhere, they hadn't seen anything suspicious along the way. They couldn't afford to let him leave the Land of Water without finding out.

Meanwhile, another group of unexpected guests arrived on a small island in the Land of Water.

The small islands rarely saw ninja presence, and this group was from Konoha, not the Hidden Mist.

After two years of peace, the nations had shown no significant hostility toward each other.

The Konoha team, led by a young girl with vibrant red hair, was none other than Kushina Uzumaki.

With her were her students in Team 7—Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.

Their purpose for being in the Land of Water was clear: they were looking for Ye Zi.

Having crossed several islands already, they now found themselves here.

"Where could he be…?"

After a quick resupply in a nearby town, Kushina led Team 7 out, choosing a random direction to start searching.

As they were in an enemy nation, they couldn't use the usual search methods, like a wide, five-kilometer grid search.

Their search strategy was simple but effective in the absence of other clues: cover one area, then move to the next.

Still, with so many limitations, they had to rely heavily on luck.

Where, then, would fate guide them?

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Currently on Chapter 325 - Retreat and A Chance Encounter