10: Swirling Ashes

Sunrise was beginning again, though the skies actually grew darker and cloudier by the moment.

Cold blasts of wind drafted downward and across the thoroughfare, buffeting Kana's cloak against her back and legs. There was a certain earthy smell to the air, too, which made everything feel damp.

The temperature was cooling, not uncomfortably, but the wind and clouds suggested a coming storm of the kind one would not like to be caught outside in.

These conditions manifested after traveling a few kilometers north from the intersection, and with them signs of human activity started to appear.

These signs however, were far from promising.

Kana noted a few trails of footprints that continued along the path heading both north and south, though substantially more led northward. Early on, a walking staff lay abandoned near the center of the road.

Then there was a damaged straw hat being blown through the dirt every few seconds. A discarded bamboo sandal, snapped in two. A dull razor-like blade, embedded into the ground.

Later, she encountered a two-wheeled handcart, upturned and abandoned by the side of the road. From the looks of it, it had only arrived rather recently. The contents had been thoroughly ransacked, but the cart itself was in good repair. The footprints around were all chaotic, as if there had been a scuffle.

With her headache and the weather both worsening, Kana picked up her pace.

Individually, none of what she'd seen was really cause for concern, but when combined all together... it invoked an unsettling feeling. She didn't like situations like this. It reminded her too much of the cultists, the feeling of them surrounding her to drag her away for...

Surrounding?

Kana glanced up and around furtively. There was no one within immediate notice, though the skies to the south had grown even more alarmingly dark.

When she was truly alone, she felt calm and at ease. The opposite was true now.

Her natural senses were trying to clue her in. On this instinct, she was sure that something was nearby, but not exactly what or where. As she continued on, this feeling only grew.

The birds were abnormally quiet, and the only ones visible were flying northward as well, away from the smoke seen earlier.

Kana's heart beat louder and it echoed in her ears all the more so in the quiet.

At this moment thunder rumbled, the skies opened up, and the humidity broke into rain. If she were more relaxed she might have even enjoyed the sensation, but it quickly became apparent that this was no normal storm.

Black ash and soot was mixed into the raindrops.

And for there to be so much soot... the fires producing it must be extremely severe. The ground soon became stained black with puddles of sooty and acidic water, staining and stinging Kana's bare feet as she splashed through them.

Just as she was starting to get really worried, a few lights appeared in the distance up on the left of the road ahead. They were lanterns hanging on an awning out front of some long two-storied building. Her target within sight, Kana felt a burst of motivation.

Chakra molded to her desire and her speed drastically spiked, her body flashing hundreds of meters ahead. It was at such a speed that to a casual observer, she would have simply flickered out of existence and reappeared again in the distance.

Her sudden desperation to reach those lights ahead extended through her will and her chakra obliged, facilitating her movement for a brief instant.

Kana willed her body to move beyond normal speeds, her chakra again molded by that strange mix of intuition and memory, performing something... it was called...

With a thought, the name came to her. 'Shunshin no Jutsu?' [Body Flicker Technique]

A few more meters dashing through the rain and she arrived under the awning, stumbling back against the front wall of the building. Standing within the light, she no longer felt that eerie feeling of being watched. Peering out into the ashen rain revealed nothing.

After moments spent calming her roaring heart, the tension in her shoulders dissipated. She hadn't even realized how tense her body was, but it was a marked difference now that she reached some relative... safety?

Casting her eyes back towards the building, she noticed a hanging sign indicating that it was a roadside inn; the name was apparently Ryokan Suzume.

From within, she briefly overheard muffled voices.

"I tell you-"  . . . "crossing the border more and mor-" . . . "-ot surprised Iwagakure was doing it."

Rather than trying to understand what was said, Kana was more disturbed at how shocking it felt to hear another voice. It just really hit home how alone she had been for so long. How would she even deal with other people? Other people were... uncomfortable at best. The most recent people she'd encountered were the cultists trying to sacrifice her. Not exactly fond memories.

Now that she'd made it to civilization, there was no hurry. She could... figure it out. For now, it would be wise to observe, to come up with a plan. She needed a plan.

She moved to a window, peeking through the gap to catch sight of the people inside. The first people she would meet in the outside world after gaining her freedom.

The thick, opaque glass instead gave her a glimpse of her own bedraggled reflection. Though she was dry enough under her clothes, water sopped her hooded cloak, her feet were covered in sooty mud, and she looked absolutely pitiful.

If someone walked up to Kana looking like she currently did... she'd probably avoid them as troublesome.

Instead of heading inside she crouched by the front door, pushing it open ever so slightly to hear the inn's occupants better over the rain. She might gain some much needed information about the outside world.

"- wish those Kusa-nin were more like Hanzō, that man can stand up to the Great nations!" a loud and raucous voice exclaimed.

A second, more exasperated voice chimed in, "Hush! Don't you think that's a bit much. The Salamander is a monster. No way Kusagakure has anyone that strong. I heard only a few even survived against him... what were they called again? Sannin?"

"If what those patrol shinobi said earlier is true.. we're much better off aligning with Konoha. They're the only ones able to fight on all the frontlines. Able to fight Hanzō. The border is close enough that they can push back those damn Iwa-nin, too." this time a deep and melancholic third voice.

"And what? Bring a new frontline to our doorstep? That's suicide! We're lucky we haven't been outright invaded." the first voice again.

"Hey, it's only a matter of time! If more bandits and refugees keep heading up the north road, the whole Land of Grass will be overrun! Konohagakure would control the border to secure their own supply lines anyway, its just a matter of when and if they get permission. Kusagakure is just stalling for time!" the second voice agreed with the third, "The patrol squad came by earlier and there was even fewer of them today. They can't keep up, even with the volunteer reinforcements. The war is on its way here. They can't keep this up much longer. They have to decide: Iwa or Konoha"

War? That was grave news indeed. War meant danger, Kana knew that much. Especially for travelers.

Even if she was free now, the safest plan might well be to delay her searches and fortify her former prison, the temple at Mt. Shumisen. Well, that plan had its own issues, but...

the voices continued on,

"-Iwagakure has already proven they're willing to make our lands a frontline, and they don't ask for permission. Officially or not, their agents use the western bridges to send forces to Amegakure. Konoha at least attempted to make an alliance before marching their troops-"

The sound of something heavy slamming against wood interrupted the speaker,

"Damn all those outsiders, this is why we needed someone like Hanzō from our own ranks..."

There was a tense silence before all three voices sighed and the second voice began to speak again.

"Just be glad we're this far north. Even with Hanzō, Amegakure is in a bad way. Those Sunagakure lunatics have been using poison left and right. Casualties be damned! I saw some refugees bringing along their dead back to be buried... and the bodies  were all purple and bloated-"

Kana knit her eyebrows tightly, glad of her prior decisions, glad to have spent this time eavesdropping. It sounded like going south was really bad news right now. This Hanzō character especially seemed like a big deal, for they spoke of him with awe.

And if she had waited to venture out for supplies a little later, she might've been caught up in a war totally unprepared.

This information put a whole new lens on that feeling from earlier. If the voices inside were to be believed, then combatants from three or four nations were prowling along the very road she'd traveled...