Naruto: My Hiddden Village-Chapter 40: Ryūchi Cave

"Did anyone find any important clues?" Tsubasa asked, starting the discussion after they had gathered back in an empty hut on the edge of the dimly lit forest.

Benkei sighed heavily, his facial expression showing deep disappointment. "I didn't find anything meaningful, Tsubasa-sama. Only tracks of small animals that might have been foraging and some broken branches that seemed to be old. It doesn't look like our target passed through the area I searched."

"I'm also nil," Kyoya replied briefly, shaking his head with a blank expression. "The area I searched was as quiet as a grave. Maybe he took another path, or maybe he's already... well, you know."

Ginga added in a disappointed tone, "Unfortunately, I'm the same as you guys. Just a boring ordinary forest, no signs of the target's existence at all." Ginga, who was usually cheerful and energetic, looked a little listless this time, and even his report sounded less energetic.

Tsubasa turned his gaze to Ozora, who had been looking pensive, sitting apart from the others with his eyes staring far into the darkness of the forest. "What about you, brother? Why have you been silent all this time?" Tsubasa asked.

Ozora took a deep breath before answering.

His tone of voice sounded serious and a little sad, making everyone present feel that something was wrong. "I might... I might have found a clue about the target of this mission. But this clue points to the worst possibility. If my guess is correct, that person is definitely no longer in this world."

"Explain it to me, Brother! What did you find?" Tsubasa exclaimed urgently, wanting to know the truth behind the unease Ozora felt.

Ozora finally explained in a soft voice that in his search area, near a small river that meandered through the forest, he found quite a lot of dried bloodstains and some tattered pieces of cloth caught on thorny bushes.

"That cloth... that cloth is exactly the same as what that woman's husband was wearing. I remember the description very well, she mentioned the pattern and color in detail," Ozora said in a low voice, his facial expression showing deep sadness.

(Flashback)

A few days earlier, exactly a week after they parted ways with the InoShikaCho and Hatake groups after the incident with Kyuubi, they immediately submitted the mission to the noble.

After that, it was decided that they would immediately move their headquarters and continue their journey around the ninja world.

As they continued their journey and spent the night in a quiet little village, they were approached by a middle-aged woman who looked very anxious and desperate.

The woman came to the simple inn where they were resting and begged for help with tear-filled eyes to find her husband who had been missing for three days without a trace.

She found out about Tsubasa's group from a traveling merchant who had just returned from the town where their previous Yorozuya headquarters was located.

The merchant, with good intentions and hoping to help, told the woman information about their Yorozuya group, hoping their group could help find the woman's husband.

That's why they were in this place, carrying out a mission to find the middle-aged woman's husband.

Now, with Ozora's terrible discovery, a new question hung in their minds.

Should they try to investigate further and try to bring back the body or at least the remains of the woman's husband to provide a proper confirmation? Or should they return to the village and hand over the tattered remains of clothing that Ozora brought as tragic evidence of the unfortunate man's fate?

They discussed seriously again, considering the steps they should take next.

After deliberating for quite some time, they agreed to investigate further based on the clues Ozora found.

Besides the dried bloodstains and the remains of clothing, Ozora also saw the tracks of a snake that was quite large at the scene.

They began by visiting the location Ozora found on the bank of the small river, trying to reconstruct the tragic events that befell the woman's husband.

After carefully observing the remaining tracks, the most likely and terrifying conclusion was that their mission target had ended up in the stomach of a very large snake monster.

Then, they began to use their ninja abilities to track the snake's trail, hoping to find its lair.

After running and searching back and forth following the tracks of scales and the drag marks of a large snake's body, they finally arrived in front of a cave that looked dark and gaping like a giant mouth ready to swallow anyone who dared to approach.

They entered carefully, exploring the cold and damp cave with high alert, ready to face any dangers that might lurk in the darkness.

The deeper they went into the bowels of the earth, the more unpleasant the aura of the cave felt.

Faint hissing sounds began to be heard from various directions, and a strong, fishy smell stung their noses, making their hairs stand on end.

The threat from the cave's unfriendly inhabitants began to approach.

Many snakes of various sizes and colors began to emerge from the cracks in the dark cave walls, showing their sharp fangs and preparing to attack their group.

Some small snakes even tried to coil around their legs, making them have to be more careful in stepping and always alert to every movement around them.

As they began to enter this dark and dangerous cave, Tsubasa already had a bad feeling about their current location, even though he had no concrete evidence.

A strange and uncomfortable feeling enveloped his heart, as if a great danger far exceeding ordinary snakes was waiting for them in the darkness of this cave.

Tsubasa wondered if his guess was correct about this place.

If it was true, then they were in great danger and might not be able to get out of here safely.

Just as he was about to remind his group to be careful or even suggest immediately abandoning this increasingly dangerous mission, suddenly a large red-scaled snake of extraordinary size blocked their path.

The snake was so large that its head alone could seat three to five people, not to mention its length, which might be almost hundreds of meters, and its glowing yellow eyes stared at them as if they were its prey.

Then, the snake began to speak in a frightening voice that echoed throughout the dark and damp cave, "Brave little humans, why have you come to our Ryūchi Cave? Do you wish to become a delicious meal for us?" The voice sounded like a typical villain's voice.

Finally, Tsubasa's worst suspicion was confirmed.

They had entered one of the entrances to the legendary Ryūchi Cave, the dwelling place of giant snakes known to be dangerous and possessing extraordinary sage power.

As all his group members were in a state of alert, ready to fight at any moment, Tsubasa stepped forward calmly, trying to find a way out without having to engage in a battle that might be very difficult.

"Honorable Snake Lord," Tsubasa said in a calm but polite tone, trying to hide the tension in his heart, "believe me, we were just lost and accidentally entered this cave while looking for a safe place to spend the night."

The large red snake snorted disdainfully, thin smoke coming out of its large nostrils.

"Huh... what an interesting excuse you have, human. I don't sense the slightest fear from you when facing me. But, oh well, since you dared to come here and disturb us, then obey the law of nature and become a delicious meal for me!" The snake growled lowly, showing its terrifying rows of sharp teeth.

The fight was inevitable.

The large red snake attacked with incredible speed, its massive body moving agilely in the narrow cave space, slamming against the cave walls with tremendous force.

Tsubasa and his team immediately scattered, avoiding the deadly attacks of the snake monster that could crush their bones in an instant.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Tsubasa shouted quickly, creating several shadow clones of himself to divert the giant snake's attention and give the others time to prepare.

The clones attacked the snake from various directions, throwing kunai and shuriken to test the defense of their seemingly impenetrable opponent.

Ozora jumped nimbly onto one of the stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling, then he gathered chakra in his hands with focus.

"Oodama Rasengan!" A blue chakra ball the size of a basketball spun wildly and intensely in the palm of his hand.

He shot down quickly, trying to hit the giant snake's head, which seemed to be its weak point.

Kyoya swiftly launched his reliable wind element ninjutsu.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" A strong wind blew fiercely from his mouth, slamming into the snake's body with extraordinary force.

Several large snake scales appeared to come loose and were thrown off by the sharp wind attack.

Benkei, with his large and strong body, stepped forward as a living shield for his comrades.

He activated his earth element ninjutsu steadily.

"Doton: Doryuheki!" A sturdy and thick earth wall appeared instantly in front of him, withstanding the snake's tail attack that tried to hit them with a force that could knock down trees.

"Just attack from behind me!" Benkei shouted in his booming voice.

Ginga, with his incredible agility, moved quickly around the giant snake, taking every opportunity to attack his opponent's hard-to-reach weak points.

He used his water element ninjutsu.

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"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" A stream of water shaped like a dragon lashed at the snake's body, making it groan in pain and writhe uncomfortably.

The fight was fierce and thrilling.

The red snake was very strong and had an incredibly thick defense.

Each of its attacks could easily destroy the surrounding rocks.

However, Tsubasa and his team were not inferior.

They worked well together, utilizing their unique abilities to fight the snake monster.

After fighting for quite some time and exchanging dangerous attacks, Tsubasa saw a small opening in the snake's defense.

The snake seemed a little off guard after receiving a barrage of attacks from them that managed to injure it slightly.

This was their golden opportunity to end this tiring fight.

Tsubasa jumped high into the air with the help of chakra in his feet.

In both his hands, two chakra balls formed, spinning very quickly, emitting an intense and terrifying white light.

"Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken!" He shouted loudly as he threw both Rasen Shuriken towards the giant snake's head, which was his main target.

The Rasen Shuriken shot out at lightning speed, splitting the air with a terrifying hissing sound, and struck the red snake's head squarely.

A powerful explosion occurred instantly, shaking the entire cave until small rocks fell from the ceiling.

The snake's head was blown to pieces, and its large and long body collapsed to the ground with a thunderous sound, creating a shockwave that made everyone stagger.

Seeing the giant red snake lying lifeless with its head destroyed, Tsubasa immediately took out a large sealing scroll from under his cloak and quickly sealed the giant snake's corpse into it.

He did this quickly and efficiently, realizing the potential danger of other threats that might lurk in the dark cave filled with other Ryūchi snakes.

"Everyone, we have to get out of here immediately! I'm worried our fight will attract the attention of other snakes that might be even stronger!" Tsubasa ordered urgently, telling all his team members to move immediately.

They immediately ran out of the dark and dangerous cave, leaving behind the darkness and suffocating fishy smell.

After successfully exiting the gaping mouth of the cave, they immediately ran as fast as they could towards the village where they had received the mission.

They didn't stop running until they arrived back at the simple inn where they were resting.

Since it was already night and they were all very tired after the fierce battle against the giant snake in Ryūchi Cave, they decided not to report their search results immediately and chose to rest at the inn to recover their strength.

The next day, after resting and recovering their depleted energy, they met the middle-aged woman who had given them the mission to find her husband.

With a heavy heart and deep sympathy, Ozora conveyed the tragic results of their investigation.

He could only bring back the bad news that her husband had died after becoming a meal for a giant snake monster inside the cave, while handing over the tattered remains of their mission target's clothing as painful evidence.

Tears of sadness flowed freely down the woman's cheeks as she heard the bad news that had become a bitter reality.

However, she did not become hysterical or blame them for what had happened.

It seemed she had had a bad feeling from the start that her husband might not return.

In a soft voice full of sadness, the woman expressed her sincere gratitude for all their efforts and hard work in searching for her husband.

Tsubasa and his team could only bow their heads in silence, sharing the deep sadness felt by the woman.

Their mission this time ended tragically and sadly, but they had done their best to provide certainty to the victim's family, even though that certainty was very painful.

They hoped the woman could find peace after this.