Sasuke of the Village of Fire

Fate of the Present

Brisk wind whipped the dry badlands, poison infested trees, if they were trees at all, were already covered with sloppy webbing. These are the surroundings Itachi sees on a daily basis, searching for surviving villages is hard enough in these conditions. He almost gave up with no sign of life in distant neighbors. But that wasn't quite enough to make him stop searching since he hasn't even traveled that far north. Him and his Ogre King partner were tasked to find allies in the north and to no avail with was it fruitful. This was the last village they found far north from their village.

Cagasters are already roaming this ghost town and their larvae are huddling in groups where the road used to be. Toxic gas is a constant component to this type of environment, one thing that these strange insects can thrive on but humans can't. Humans -like Itachi- and Yokai -like Odana- must wear heavy masks in order to breathe in this environment.

The town square is in surprisingly good shape despite the environmental change that includes some of the houses too. The biggest building that survived the most harsh erosion and decay was presumably the town hall. That was the only place to look for evidence of life here. If the Cage was spreading down the southern desert, then the residents would have either fled before the Cage struck or just perished.

This one was the perished case, again, and probably the twelfth time in a row. Not even breaking down the doors of the town hall helped, it's people and monarch were all found dead and fossilized. Must have been like this for months and Itachi was way too late.

"Yet another dead village…"

When Itachi stepped out of the town hall buzzing of a growing hive became apparent, putting Odana, who was standing outside on high alert. It was foggy today but it wasn't very dense closer to the ground. So Itachi and his partner are able to see a few buildings in the distance but wouldn't be able to see what was right above them. Especially when Itachi thought he might be sensing or seeing Cagasters close by, the fog is dense but it's nothing to an Uchiha's Sharingan.

It would be best to leave now since this village is far too gone now and can't be saved, might as well, 'cause a swarm will start to occupy its new found territory. Which is something Itachi doesn't like to deal with.

"Odana, we need to leave. This place will become part of the Cage one way or another."

They were out of there, before more insects came to the scene, across the desert plain with swift ease. That village was never gonna be visited again, after all it belongs to the Cagaster's now.

Not much for the first ever chapter, but I assure you it gets better. Just please bear with me.🙏