𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 || sasusaku

Chapter Thirty-Five: Interlude-Sasuke's Trial Begins

Unlike when Sasuke first went here, the people, women and children, are all over the place chatting and the children playing tag. The atmosphere was also uplifting unlike before when there was the disease.

"Nii-chan!" A little girl yelled as she run towards Taisho. Sasuke briefly remembered her to be Taisho's little sister.

"Eh? Where's Sakura-neesan?" She asked, head tilting as she looked around for the pinkette.

"Sakura-neesan is busy, Kanao," Taisho said with a smile and Sasuke scowled.

Kanao was then pulled by another children to play tag and Taisho led Sasuke to a tent where they found Chief Ginko sipping tea.

"Ah, Sasuke," the old Chief greeted as he motioned for Sasuke to sit. Taisho stayed inside the tent, sitting beside Sasuke as well.

"I suppose you didn't come here for a mere visit. What might be the reason?" Chief Ginko asked, a smile evident on his wrinkled face.

"The Hokage sent a message," Taisho said, sliding the scroll to his grandfather. The old man skimmed the message as he nodded his head.

"The scroll, eh?" He muttered.

Chief Ginko put down the message and looked at Sasuke. "I forgot to mention it before. Must be my old age, being senile and all."

The old Chief laughed but humour did not quite trace his tone. Sasuke knew something else was up and Sasuke was on the edge of his seat to know what it was.

"I came to know what happened to the rest of this scroll." Sasuke cut down to business as he took the scroll from his poncho.

"Sasuke, there is something I must tell you," the Chief's tone had gone deadly serious. Taisho cleared his throat and stood up.

"I'll be waiting outside," he said before walking outside the tent.

"The scroll I gave had been a part of an old library located somewhere in this tribe. Unfortunately, our ancestors managed to retrieved only a few scrolls and that is one of them. However, there are other scrolls connected to the Otsutsuki Princess."

Sasuke perched on his seat. "Kaguya?"

The old Chief nodded. "We do not know the exact location of those scrolls except for one."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Where is it?"

"You don't mean to retrieve it yourself, do you?" Chief Ginko's tone did not go unnoticed. He sounds concerned.

"I know, more than anyone, what Kaguya Otsutsuki was capable of. If the remnants of the war she left in her wake is a threat, no matter how small the probability is, it is my job to eliminate it."

For the future, Sasuke thought. And this might only be the beginning. Chief Ginko sighed in defeat as he took a sip of the lukewarm tea.

"Frankly, I don't want to send you in that place. But it looks as if no one can stop you."

Chief Ginko stood up and walked towards a bookshelf where he took one of the books and opened it. Resting between the pages of the book was an old map. The Chief took it as he returned to his seat. Unfolding the map, he placed it on the table.

"There is a cave southwest of the tribe. It is located in the middle of the border of the Land of Steam and the Land of Waterfalls. Somewhere in the depths of this cave lies the scroll." Chief Ginko pointed on the map where a red mark circled the cave.