The doors of the Hokage Tower slammed behind Renjiro as he burst into the corridor. He didn't slow. Didn't even glance back. Didn't offer explanations to the administrative workers who stared as he passed. His body flickered, and he was outside, the evening sky stretching above him, the village walls rushing toward him.
He shot through the gates of Konoha like an arrow loosed from a bow, the guards barely registering his passage before he was gone. Trees blurred past, the road became a ribbon of grey beneath his feet, and the wind screamed in his ears. He travelled kilometres in minutes, his Sharingan active and his mind fixed on a single objective.
No time for stealth. No time for backup. Orochimaru has the children.
Every minute increased the risk of experimentation, of relocation, of the children disappearing into the Snake Sannin's network of horrors. Orochimaru had been waiting. He had anticipated the hunt. And now he held the leverage.
I need the fastest transportation available.
Renjiro skidded to a halt in a clearing, his breath fogging in the cooling air. He bit his thumb; hard, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth, and formed the seals.
He then slammed his palm onto the ground.
POOF.
The smoke was enormous, a billowing cloud of white that rolled across the clearing, obscuring the trees, the sky, everything. The ground trembled. A shadow fell over him—vast, winged, predatory.
The smoke cleared.
A giant eagle stood before him, it was massive; far larger than he remembered, its wingspan blocking out the fading light, and its talons leaving deep gouges in the earth. It tilted her head, studying him, and a familiar voice rumbled from its throat.
"It's been a while, Renjiro."
Renjiro blinked.
"Tenjin? I need—"
"I'm not Tenjin."
The eagle ruffled her feathers, clearly amused.
"Look closer."
He did. The shape of her beak, the pattern of her feathers, the colour of her eyes—they were familiar, but not quite right.
"Uno?"
She preened.
"Took you long enough."
Renjiro stared at her, the last time he had attempted to summon her, her mate had answered instead. Uno had been nesting. She had been pregnant.
Eagle summons place huge importance on offspring, Renjiro recalled. Producing strong descendants is considered a major event among their clan. She would have been focused on that, not on battle or anything else.
But now—she was different. Larger. More mature. Her feathers had darkened and her eyes held a confidence that had been absent before.
"You've grown," he said.
"I'm not a hatchling anymore." Uno's voice carried a hint of pride. "It's been years, Renjiro. Did you think I would stay small forever?"
"I didn't think you'd answer at all."
"My chicks are grown. My mate watches the nest." She lowered her head, bringing her eye level with his. "And I wanted to see you. It's been too long."
Renjiro's lips twitched—almost a smile.
"I'm glad you're here. But I don't have time to catch up."
His tone shifted, becoming serious, urgent.
"I need to get to the Land of Rivers. The border region. There's a clearing, I'll guide you."
Uno's expression changed instantly. The playfulness faded, replaced by the sharp focus of a predator.
"Danger?"
"Life-threatening."
"Good." She crouched, spreading her wings. "Get on."
Renjiro jumped.
Uno was much larger than he remembered; he couldn't simply vault onto her like he used to. He needed leverage.
So silver links erupted from Renjiro's chest, snaking through the air, wrapping around Uno's neck, her wings, her harness points. He pulled himself upward, hand over hand, his muscles straining, his chakra flowing through the chains. The silver links gleamed in the fading light, and within seconds, he was settled on her back, his legs gripping her feathers, his hands locked around her harness.
"Hold on tight," Uno warned.
Then she launched.
THOOM.
The shockwave was deafening. Trees bent, their branches snapping under the force. Dust erupted from the ground in a massive cloud, obscuring the clearing. The earth beneath Uno's talons cracked, fissures spreading outward like spiderwebs. And then they were airborne, the forest dropping away, the sky opening before them.
Renjiro had ridden Tenjin many times. He was familiar with the rhythm of eagle flight; the steady beat of wings, the gradual climb, the gentle arcs. This was not that.
Uno was fast.
Impossibly fast. The acceleration pressed him into her back, his cloak whipping behind him, his long red hair streaming in the wind.
I shouldn't have let my hair loose.
The trees below became a green blur, then a grey smear, then nothing. The clouds rushed toward them, and Uno shot through them like an arrow, the moisture cold on Renjiro's face.
She's faster than Tenjin, he realised, his shock evident. Much faster.
He estimated their speed—already beyond Mach 1. The fastest flight Tenjin had ever given him was a fraction of this. Uno was still accelerating, her wings beating with a power that seemed almost unnatural.
"Uno!" he shouted over the wind. "How fast are you going?"
"Fast enough!" she called back, her voice carried by the wind.
"This is insane!"
"You wanted speed!"
The wind became brutal. Breathing became difficult. Renjiro's eyes watered, his cloak threatened to tear away, and he felt himself sliding—just slightly, just enough to remind him that if he let go, he would fall thousands of meters to his possible death.
He summoned more chains, wrapping them around Uno's body, anchoring himself to her harness, her wings, her chest. The silver links bound them together, ensuring that nothing short of death would separate them.
If I let go for even a second, I might die.
Uno seemed to sense his struggle. She increased her speed.
===
Orochimaru sat on a fallen log, his back against a tree, his eyes closed. The clearing was quiet; the children had been subdued, drugged, and restrained. They lay in a neat row on the grass, their chests rising and falling in shallow, drugged breaths.
He had not harmed them. They were too valuable for that.
Orochimaru bit his thumb, formed the seals, and slammed his palm onto the ground.
POOF.
The smoke was immense. When it cleared, Manda stood coiled in the center, his eyes slitted and hungry.
"Orochimaru." Manda's voice was a low rumble, vibrating through the earth. "This had better be important."
"It is." Orochimaru gestured to the children. "I need you to transport them. To the laboratory in the Land of Rivers. The secondary facility."
Manda's eyes narrowed.
"I am not a pack mule."
"No. You are a god among serpents. But you are also bound to me by contract." Orochimaru's smile was thin, cold. "And I am asking for your assistance."
"Asking."
"Requesting."
Manda hissed, his tongue flickering.
"There will be compensation."
"There always is."
The great serpent uncoiled, his body stretching across the clearing. He opened his jaws—wide, impossibly wide—and the children were lifted by unseen hands, floating into the darkness of his throat. One by one, they disappeared, swallowed by the serpent, held in a pocket of preserved space that Manda maintained for transport.
When the last child was gone, Manda closed his jaws and fixed Orochimaru with a glare.
"Do not take long."
"I won't."
Manda dissolved into smoke and was gone, leaving Orochimaru alone in the clearing.
The Snake Sannin surveyed the empty space, the flattened grass where the children had lain, the fading traces of chakra that marked Manda's departure. Then he turned his attention to the forest, to the sky, to the direction from which he knew Renjiro would come.
He walked to a nearby tree, a massive oak with low-hanging branches, and climbed onto a wide bough. He settled against the trunk, making himself comfortable, closing his eyes.
Orochimaru appeared to be asleep. His breathing was slow, even, his posture relaxed.
Two hours passed.
Then—a shift. A disturbance in the chakra of the sky. Orochimaru's eyes opened.
He was instantly alert. He rose from the bough, dropping silently to the ground, and walked into the centre of the clearing. He looked up.
A speck on the horizon. Small, distant, barely visible. But growing larger—rapidly.
"So, Renjiro," Orochimaru murmured, his voice soft, almost affectionate. "You've finally delivered yourself to me."
=====
Bless me with your powerful Power Stones.
Your Reviews and Comments about my work are welcome
If you can, then please support me on Patreon.
Link - www.patreon.com/SideCharacter
You Can read more chapters ahead on Patreon