Chapter Text
It was an usual day in Ninja Mountain, the village full of life and joy. The Master had decided to give his students a break from all their training, after all, they were kids, too. And although some of them insisted he joined them in playing catch, he recognized he wouldn't be able to match with them, he was past his prime years, even if being a Master both in the ninja arts and Kuji magic separated him from others, he wasn't quite at the full potential of his that was once there.
He sighed, and chuckled at the kids running all around the village grounds.
But that was interrupted by an alarmed Tengu approaching him.
"Excuse me, I come all the way from the Village of the Great Carp, I thought it would be best to come to you, The Ninja Master." He said in a rush and with exhaustion.
The Master pondered for a moment.
"And what brings you here from so far away?"
"Well you see, lately there have been alarming storms going on that seemingly appeared out of nowhere! It's been destroying the farms of other villagers and causing problems even beyond my village. I was here to deliver these strange reports."
"Storms you say? It doesn't seem too good, but are you sure these aren't just regular storms?"
"If they were, I wouldn't have come all the way to Ninja Mountain."
"Well, in that case, I want you to keep gathering reports of these storms, as this is unfortunately too vague for me to be able to interfere or help in any way."
The tengu nodded in understanding.
"Of course, I will try to get more information from other places. Farewell, Ninja Master."
"Farewell, and take care."
They bowed to each other, and with that, the tengu left.
He tried convincing himself that it was nothing to be alarmed of, but a feeling of great concern was resting at the back of his mind.
He hoped the storms would go away in due time, and that nature was just taking its natural course.
---
A couple weeks had passed since that day, and the Master was still troubled. He knew he shouldn't think of the maybe ridiculous possibility of it being the result of who he suspected it could be… but he simply could not shake the thoughts away. He tried his best not to show it to his students, although they were all perceptive, he wouldn't be surprised if they were suspecting something was up.
He was broken away from his inner monologue by a knock at the door. He went over to see who it was, and it happened to be the same tengu from before.
He bowed down to the Master.
"Just as you've told me, I gathered more information about the storms. They have not stopped at all, in fact they're… getting worse and worse as time goes on. More words of floods happening, villages getting affected by this strange phenomenon…"
The Master's eyes widened the more he heard of this terrible news.
"I see. This shouldn't be happening… I know what to do. Return to your village, and should there be more anomalous recurrences, report them to me. Until then, I think I have this under control. Thank you."
The Tengu bowed down, said his farewell and was on his way out the village once more.
---
The following day, the Master called his students to have breakfast, nothing that's unusual.
Hiro was walking with Futo by his side, they seemed to be having a conversation, although it wasn't too coherent, seeing as both of them were tired. They were ninjas, sure, but they were also the youngest and not as experienced. That included not being the best at waking up at early hours, no matter how many times they've already done it before.
Hiro's eyes fell shut for a moment, and he bumped into Suzume who was up ahead.
"Ow! Hey! Watch where you're going, Hiro! Don't fall asleep on the road."
He immediately jolted away and opened his eyes again.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"Of course, let's get going, we don't wanna keep the Master waiting, do we?" She looked at both Hiro and Futo as she spoke.
"I agree with Suzume, let's go, Hiro."
And so, the three continued to make their way forward. Kunoichi was up ahead, although as usual, she was quiet, she never talked during the mornings, unless she really had to. Tora and Shun were already inside, waiting.
Once they all got in, they sat at their respective seats, the Master waiting for them to settle. Their dishes were already set, miso soup, with steamed rice in another bowl placed close to it.
They all began eating peacefully and quietly, well with slight exceptions of Hiro whispering to Futo occasionally, but getting always bumped in the shoulder by Suzume who was sat next to him. "Don't talk with your mouth full!" she kept whispering back to him.
The delicious breakfast was finished by everyone eventually, and they were getting ready to leave, but the Ninja Master loudly cleared his throat to get their attention.
They all turned their heads in curiosity, not knowing what to expect.
"My students, I have to inform you of something very important and serious."
If anyone was whispering to one another before, now they all surely sat quietly.
"I've had reports of storms happening these past few weeks, getting progressively worse. It's affected villages from all the way to the Great Carp and beyond, bringing floods and damage all throughout."
He looked at each of his students with a serious look. They all knew that whatever he was to say next, it would be very important.
"I have decided to send one of you to explore and find any sort of information. While the Tengu and other villagers from far away were helpful with the news, it would be better to send one of my ninja students instead, in hopes to find out more about these mysterious storms."
They all looked at each other with a slightly worried look, they didn't know whose name he would speak out.
"The one that will go on this mission, is Tora. I will give you a couple days to get ready, after that, you shall go investigate this mystery. Because you will travel a long way, you should take your time, but do not linger too much, be back in a month at best."
Tora looked at the Master and nodded.
"You can all go, now, if you wish."
And after that phrase, everyone left to go outside.
Tora went and sat down in the grass, picking flowers to ease his nerves. At some point, he began hearing footsteps behind him, and he saw that Kunoichi was approaching. When she got close, she sat down next to him.
Their conversations usually consisted of silence, but Kunoichi decided to be the one to break that for now.
"So, you're gonna go on a very important mission to investigate some weird storms."
Tora let out a meow as a response.
"You're gonna do well."
With those words being said, she began to pick flowers alongside Tora.
In just a few days, he would go on the most important mission he had been tasked to do so far.
He would make the Ninja Master proud and solve the mystery.