Three days after the sighting report, I reached a dusty little town in Taki no Kuni — a place so ordinary it made Konoha's market district look glamorous.
Three Anbu operatives sat waiting for me in a worn-down inn, dressed as civilians to blend in.
As soon as the door shut, they knelt.
"Hokage-sama."
I didn't bother with formalities. Time was chakra.
"Report. Everything you found about the Tailed Beast."
The three exchanged a look before one of them stepped forward.
"Seven days ago, the locals reported a 'mountain demon' living in the peaks north of town. An area they call forbidden ground."
I nodded. "Go on."
"We entered the mountains immediately. The terrain is rough, but we discovered tracks consistent with a massive creature and dense, lingering chakra… far stronger than anything native to this region. We believe a Tailed Beast is present. Identity unknown."
A week of searching and no visual contact.
That meant one thing:
This Tailed Beast is either careful, intelligent, or stupidly good at hiding.
Possibly all three.
Before I could think further, one of the Anbu stiffened.
"Hokage-sama… we also have a casualty."
My eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"Akito, of the Kagenami Clan. During reconnaissance."
My heartbeat skipped. Not out of grief — out of calculation.
Akito was no novice. A Kagenami elite, practically brushing the level of an elite jōnin when he used his clan's secret arts.
"How?" I asked sharply. "He was killed by the beast?"
"No, Hokage-sama."
The Anbu swallowed hard.
"He was struck from behind. His heart was… removed."
The room went cold.
An elite close-range specialist — taken down in one blow?
"And you're certain it wasn't the Tailed Beast?"
"Yes. The killing method was surgical. Human."
Human.
Meaning someone out here had the ability to erase a top-tier operative without alerting the rest of his squad.
A shadow-level threat — or something worse.
I rubbed my temples. "Anything else?"
"Yes. We believe we're being watched. Someone has been shadowing us since the first day. Likely the same person who killed Akito."
A thin pulse of irritation rose in my chest.
Great. Not even my first Tailed Beast, and I already have a serial lurker to deal with.
"Fine," I said calmly. "If he returns, leave him to me."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
They vanished to report to the others, leaving me in the quiet inn.
I stared out at the mountain range.
Mist curled around the slopes like white serpents.
"Which Tailed Beast are you, exactly…?"
Even with my prior-world memories, Taki no Kuni wasn't linked to any specific beast.
This was uncharted ground.
Well. Nothing for it.
I waited for the other teams to return, gathered their intel, and headed directly into the mountains myself — Anbu at my back.
A Hunter in the Trees
The moment we crossed the treeline, I felt it.
A presence.
Quiet. Measured.
Almost polite in how it stalked us.
Someone was watching.
I didn't look back. Didn't break stride.
"Hmph," I thought. "Persistent little ghost."
As we passed a thick cedar tree, I tapped the trunk with my fingertips — just once — a soft signal to myself.
Then I walked on as though nothing was wrong.
We traveled another fifty meters before I stopped abruptly.
"Stay alert," I told Anbu.
Then I vanished.
In the next breath, I reappeared beside the cedar tree.
A boy — sixteen at most — froze in terror as I materialized behind him.
"To tail the Hokage," I said quietly, "you must have a death wish."
He turned just in time to see my fist.
The punch landed square in his chest.
"—GHK!"
The impact launched him through the air, blood spraying, his body smashing into another tree hard enough to snap the trunk clean in half.
That should've killed him.
I didn't even use full strength — seven tenths was enough to shatter a normal jōnin's ribs like cheap pottery.
But then—
The boy twitched.
Then moved.
Then stood.
Heart area caved in… yet alive.
And he started sprinting toward the deeper mountains in blind panic.
"What…?"
Even for this world, that wasn't normal.
Some kind of forbidden technique… regeneration… or something even more grotesque.
"Hokage-sama!"
The Anbu arrived, looking around at the destruction.
"Someone was following us," I said flatly. "He survived a fatal blow. After him."
Without waiting for a response, I shot forward, chakra kicking off the earth.
The boy may have escaped the first strike…
…but no one outruns the First Hokage.
Especially not in my mountains.