Chapter 155
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique!)
Boom! A giant eagle appeared — though it wasn't Birdra.
This one was much smaller than Birdra, just large enough to carry a single person. But it had excellent speed and stamina.
Birdra's injuries were already healed, but due to its massive size, it would attract too much attention. It wasn't suitable for stealth missions. Besides, Tenten might need to use Birdra on her end as well.
Natsuki leapt onto the eagle's back and gave it a pat.
The giant eagle let out a sharp cry and soared into the sky, flying northward toward the Land of Fire's border.
The Shinobi World, truthfully, wasn't very large. According to original canon, it only took about three days to travel from Konoha to Sunagakure. The Land of Rice Fields was roughly half that distance from Konoha. Given that Natsuki's eagle was exceptionally fast, he reached the border in less than a day.
But Natsuki didn't rush to enter immediately. Instead, he had the eagle fly along the border twice.
After confirming that only Konoha shinobi were stationed there and finding no trace of Sound Ninja, he finally let out a breath of relief.
As dusk fell, he found a concealed place to rest and eat while thinking over his plans.
The original series did mention Orochimaru's hideouts more than once, but their locations were always vague. Even descriptions of Otogakure itself were scarce, so trying to pull intel from the canon wouldn't help much.
At most, he could recall bits about the Sound Four and Guren with her Crystal Release — both considered significant threats.