Southern front camp.
The moment Taiichi stepped inside, he immediately noticed how relaxed everyone seemed.
No constant stream of people moving in and out of the medical tents. A few medical-nin were even leaning against the entrance, chatting and laughing.
The mission assignment center had gone from ten people down to five. Two of them were openly yawning from boredom.
The only real activity he sensed was around the edges of camp, where several training grounds had been set up. Plenty of shinobi were working out, but their pace was casual, more like they were killing time than pushing themselves.
Taiichi's brow furrowed. He slowed down without meaning to.
He had spent the last several months jumping between the hottest fronts. High-intensity fighting had become normal. Walking into this kind of laid-back atmosphere felt strange.
This was the southern front. On any of the other three lines, the enemy would've already taught them how brutal war could be before any commander even opened his mouth.
His arrival didn't go unnoticed. Most of the people still here either owed him their lives from the medical tents or had fought alongside him on the front lines. Recognition spread quickly.
"Lord Taiichi! What are you doing here? Did the village finally decide to launch a full assault on Sand?"
"Lord Taiichi, are you bringing orders from the village? When can we go home? Or even transfer to another front? It's so boring here!"
Warm greetings followed him as he walked. Taiichi kept a polite smile on his face, but his steps unconsciously quickened.
Someone had already run ahead to inform Jiraiya the moment Taiichi entered the camp.
Inside the main tent, Jiraiya was still wondering why Taiichi had shown up. The eastern front was supposedly going well—multiple victories, heavy losses inflicted on Mist, even the deaths of several of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and two major clan heads. It didn't sound like they were in trouble and needed help. So why was he here?
Unless… the kid had just come to visit. Knowing Taiichi's personality, that wasn't impossible.
Hearing the growing noise outside the tent, Jiraiya gave up guessing. Taiichi would be here in a second anyway. Better to just hear it straight from him.
Thinking about seeing his long-absent student again, Jiraiya couldn't help laughing. He turned to Nara Shikaku beside him with obvious pride.
"Look at that. The brat's been gone for months and people still remember him."
"Taiichi has helped a lot of people," Shikaku replied evenly. "It's not the kind of thing you forget after just a few months."
He kept his tone neutral, but inside he was annoyed. Too bad Taiichi wasn't a Nara or one of his own students. All he could do was watch someone else show off.
Before either of them could keep talking, Taiichi pushed the tent flap aside and walked in.
After getting used to Tsunade's style, the difference here was obvious. Besides Nara Shikaku, the tent was almost empty. No constant stream of reports. No urgent discussions.
Maybe the fighting really had died down that much.
Still, the thick stack of scrolls on Jiraiya's desk made Taiichi's expression shift slightly when he compared it to Tsunade's usually spotless table.
Yeah… I still have a lot to learn from Tsunade when it comes to using people.
Jiraiya caught the look immediately.
He touched his own face, checked his clothes, found nothing wrong, then frowned.
"What's with that face, you little brat? You spend a few days with Tsunade and suddenly you're looking at me like that?"
Taiichi raised an eyebrow, then smiled brightly.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I'll be sure to tell Tsunade-sensei you said she taught me bad habits."
Jiraiya's face darkened instantly.
"You little— I never said that! Don't twist my words!"
He looked ready to lunge across the table. Nara Shikaku quickly grabbed his arm before things got physical, then turned to Taiichi.
"Taiichi. You showing up now means Lady Tsunade has something to pass on, right?"
Taiichi dropped the teasing. He pulled out Tsunade's sealed letter and handed it over seriously.
Jiraiya took it, checked the seal, then opened it without hesitation. He scanned the contents quickly, eyebrows drawing together. Without a word he passed the letter to Shikaku and closed his eyes, thinking hard.
Taiichi stayed quiet. From the way Jiraiya's brow kept twitching, it was clear the news wasn't good.
Shikaku read even faster. The further he got, the wider his eyes became.
So now we're supposed to deal with Mist on top of everything else? And they might be teaming up with Sand? We're catching someone else's problem.
When he finished, he carefully folded the letter and set it aside, taking a moment to steady himself.
After a long silence, Jiraiya opened his eyes and looked straight at Taiichi.
"You're still tracking Mist. Where are they right now?"
Taiichi glanced around, spotted the large map of the Land of Rivers area on the left wall, and walked over to it. He studied it for a second, then pointed at a stretch of ocean roughly thirty kilometers off the coast of the Land of Rivers, on the side closest to the Land of Fire.
"Their fleet is somewhere around here. Still moving south and staying away from land."
Jiraiya and Shikaku studied the spot.
The Land of Rivers was a long, narrow country running north to south. Its coastline wasn't very long. If Mist kept this heading without turning, it didn't look like they were planning to land inside the Land of Rivers at all.
"Are they… heading for the Land of Wind?" Shikaku asked uncertainly.
"It's still too early to say for sure," Taiichi replied. "My shadow clone will keep watching them. By tonight we should know exactly where they're going."
"That's all we can do for now," Jiraiya muttered, still staring at the map.
He raised his voice.
"Someone come in here!"
A middle-aged chunin pushed the flap aside and bowed.
"Lord Jiraiya. Your orders?"
"Pull twenty teams and strengthen coastal patrols. Any unusual activity gets reported immediately. Also send another ten teams toward the Land of Wind border. I want eyes on Sand's movements."
Jiraiya's orders tightened security without overextending their forces.
Once the messenger left, the three of them sat down again. The serious talk was over. Now came the catching up.
Jiraiya asked most of the questions. Taiichi answered. They talked about what had been happening on the other fronts. Reports from the village only gave cold results. Hearing it from someone who had actually been there felt different.
Taiichi didn't hold anything back. None of it was classified as far as Jiraiya was concerned.
They talked for over an hour. A few people came in with reports, but nothing urgent. By the time Taiichi finished, his throat was dry. He picked up a cup of water and finally said what had been on his mind since he arrived.
"Sensei… there's something else. The atmosphere in this camp right now isn't good. If fighting breaks out again soon, people are going to get hurt because they're too relaxed."
Jiraiya and Shikaku both went still.
The southern front had been quiet for months. After Taiichi left, the intensity had dropped again and again. Long stretches of low pressure made people loosen up without realizing it. Even the two of them had started to relax without noticing.
Taiichi pointing it out made the difference obvious now.
Jiraiya stood up immediately.
"I'm not going to sit here and talk about it. I need to walk the camp myself."
He grabbed Shikaku and headed for the exit.
Taiichi didn't linger. He had already pointed out the problem. Staying longer would just make things awkward.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I'm heading back out to keep an eye on Mist's fleet. I don't trust a shadow clone with something this important."
"Yeah, yeah, go already. Looking at you is giving me a headache!" Jiraiya called back with a laugh as he disappeared outside.
Taiichi didn't take it personally. He knew it was just Jiraiya being Jiraiya.
He used Flying Thunder God and reappeared on the coast of the Land of Rivers.
He would stay here tonight. Watching the sea and training at the same time.
The next morning.
As the first golden-red light touched the dark horizon where sea met sky, Taiichi opened his eyes from his seated position on the shore.
A full night of meditation hadn't left him tired. Instead, the sight of the sunrise felt strangely vivid.
The sun looked like a child refusing to get out of bed, lingering in the ocean's arms and painting the water red for a long time. Then, all at once, it rose fully above the surface.
Light spilled across the land like it was waking everything up.
Birds chirped in the trees behind him. Fish occasionally broke the surface of the water in front of him. Even the sand around his legs made soft popping sounds as hidden shells and creatures drew breath.
The scene was full of life. It filled his eyes and sank into his heart, pulling his spirit upward.
In that moment, the same special state from before returned.
Natural energy appeared before him again.
This time it felt more alive than before. More willing to interact. Taiichi let his perception spread naturally, touching the vibrant energy around him.
Maybe because he was right by the ocean, the blue water-nature energy was especially dense here. It responded to him more easily than the others.
As his spirit brushed against it, the energy moved—shifting forward, backward, left, right—following the gentle pull of his will. It was the first real sign that he could influence natural energy instead of just observing it.
Taiichi didn't rush. He simply let his spirit play with the energy, moving with it instead of trying to force anything.
Slowly, other colors joined in. Red fire. Green wind. Yellow earth. Purple lightning. All of them began responding.
His spirit kept spreading farther and farther.
One kilometer.
Two.
Three.
That was usually the limit of both his chakra sensing and his spirit. But right now his spirit was still expanding beyond his control.
Taiichi was completely immersed in the connection. It felt intoxicating. Peaceful.
Then a sharp warning suddenly rang through his mind.
He snapped back to awareness and felt an overwhelming emptiness. His body felt drained, like he had nothing left. His spirit, spread so far, was slow and sluggish as he tried to pull it back in. The farthest edges barely responded at all.
Cold sweat broke out across his back.
This was the danger of chasing natural energy this way.
Mount Myōboku's method could turn you into a stone toad if you lost control.
Ryūchi Cave could drive you mad and make you serpentine.
Shikkotsu Forest drained your life force until you aged rapidly.
His own accidental method seemed to be scattering his spirit into the world itself.
Was he trying to dissolve into nature?
Taiichi forced himself to stay calm and poured everything he had into reeling his spirit back in. He recovered as much as he could, but he had to abandon the parts that had gone too far. There was no telling what would happen if he left them out there too long.
Right now, the priority was pulling back whatever he still could.