area51novel Chapter 484 Border Inspection, Uchiha Tai 1
Chapter 484 Border Inspection, Uchiha Tai 1
Chapter 484 Border Inspection, Uchiha Taichi
On the hillside outside Nagano Castle, Neji withdrew his gaze from the castle gate, turned around, and gestured with his chin to the group of Konoha youths behind him, each with a different expression.
"Let's go, let's do the pre-entry registration first."
Naruto pulled his backpack strap up a bit and glanced at Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't look at him, because he was staring at the neat rows of gray tents and the blue-uniformed staff moving among them at the bottom of the hill. His expression was unreadable, but he had already taken a step forward.
Naruto grinned and chased after him in a few quick steps.
The soles of the shoes crunched over the withered grass and pebbles, making a soft, rustling sound.
A few steps behind, Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets, his fingertips tapping lightly on the inside of the fabric.
He mentally went through all the fragments of information from Fukuyama Castle to Nagano Castle.
Kimimaro's departure halfway indicates that the pursuers sent by Konoha have been stopped. Neji's attitude towards them has changed from initially surrounding and suppressing them to now accompanying and guiding them, indicating that they are at least not prisoners, but visitors who can move freely to a limited extent.
"Be careful," Shikamaru said in a low voice to Ino and Choji beside him.
Choji and Ino nodded slightly.
Kiba took Akamaru off his head and held him in his arms. Akamaru's ears were pressed back against his head, and his nose was twitching rapidly in the air. The unfamiliar scents were too dense, and his sense of smell was overloaded.
The group consisted of ninjas, and they moved very quickly.
Neji led them around the slow-moving long line of refugees on the main road and went straight to a separate checkpoint on the west side of the city gate.
It was a makeshift wooden guard post, covered with a waterproof tarpaulin, with white-painted roadblocks on both sides.
Behind the guard post, a special passage marked with white lime powder extends, with a ninja wearing a Star Ninja headband standing every few steps on both sides of the passage.
Their appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention. The refugees walking on the main road saw this group of people dressed in ninja vests...
The boy wearing a headband strode over, instinctively shrinking back to the sides.
A woman, holding two children's hands and carrying an infant on her back, hurriedly retreated to the side of the road, stepping into a drainage ditch, where mud splashed onto her calves.
The baby in her arms was startled awake by the tremors and let out a faint cry.
An old man next to her reached out to help her up, his cloudy eyes staring fearfully at the headbands on the foreheads of the group of teenagers, his lips moving but no sound coming out.
Among the police force responsible for maintaining order, three Star Ninjas had already surrounded the area from different directions. One of them raised his right hand and made a stop gesture.
"Gentlemen, please stop." The Star Ninja's voice was not loud, but his pronunciation was clear.
"This is the Nagano Castle Eastern Immigration Inspection Station in the Land of Stars! Please present your valid identification and cooperate with our registration and quarantine procedures. Thank you for your cooperation!"
His gaze lingered for a moment on the Konoha headbands on Naruto and the others' foreheads, then swept over the ninja sword at Sasuke's waist, before moving to the huge scroll carried by Tenten. He marked the positions of all the weapons within two breaths.
Neji stepped forward and casually took out a small, hard-covered notebook with the emblem of the Land of Stars from his ninja tool pouch, and handed it over.
It also features the five-pointed star symbol of the Star Kingdom and several lines of small gold lettering.
The police ninja took it and examined it carefully.
The notebook clearly displays Neji's photo, name, ninja number, and other information, along with anti-counterfeiting stamps and chakra marks.
The police ninjas checked the documents very carefully, even injecting a wisp of chakra into them to confirm the authenticity of the anti-counterfeiting mark.
A moment later, he closed the document, handed it back to Neji with both hands, and the serious expression on his face softened considerably, even showing a hint of respect. He bowed slightly and said, "So you are Jonin Neji. My apologies!"
He paused, looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and the Konoha people behind Neji, and said in a businesslike tone, "Please wait a moment, these people still need to register and undergo quarantine."
He turned his head and made two hand gestures towards the guard post.
Three ninjas responsible for registration and quarantine quickly emerged from behind the guard post.
Their positions were spread out, vaguely forming a semi-encirclement around Naruto and the others, a completely different approach from how they had guided ordinary refugees earlier.
At that moment, a figure strode quickly from the direction of the city gate.
A head of short green hair swayed slightly in the wind, and his blue-gray Jonin vest was clean and crisp. A silver leaf-shaped badge was pinned to the left breast pocket of the vest, which was the mark of the medical ninja sequence.
Hyuga Natsu stopped in front of Neji, bowed slightly, and her green hair slipped down her shoulders.
"Young Master Neji."
Neji nodded, his tone gentler than when he spoke to the Star Ninja: "Sister Xia, the checks here are much stricter than before."
Hinata Natsunao stood up and sighed wearily: "The disaster situation in the neighboring countries is even more serious. The total number of refugees pouring into the Land of Stars this month has exceeded 500,000."
"According to the Level 3 emergency plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Administration and the Ministry of Medical Affairs, five border cities have been opened to accept inbound travelers at the same time. Our medical team was assigned to the Nagano Castle Defense Zone to be responsible for the resettlement and quarantine of disaster victims in this area. However, there are too many disaster victims, and manpower is still a bit tight."
She raised her hand and pointed towards the medical area behind her.
Following the direction of her finger, you can see that the outermost layer of the quarantine area consists of several rows of temporary wooden fences. Inside the fences, at intervals, there are notice boards filled with notices and instructions, with the rules for entering and exiting the quarantine area clearly marked in large red letters.
Further inside, rows of white tents billowed gently in the breeze, with different colored warning lines strung between them to delineate three areas: highly suspected, low suspected, and confirmed.
Three Byakugan ninjas from the Hyuga branch family were positioned in a triangular formation at the intersection of the three areas, using the Byakugan's X-ray vision to scan the line of disaster victims one by one.
By using the Byakugan to directly penetrate the skin and muscles, one can observe the flow of chakra in the meridians and any possible pathological tissues within the cells.
Six other medical ninjas wearing light green aprons were half-squatting in front of a row of disaster victims sitting on wooden benches, using chakra probes to conduct a detailed re-examination of their meridian nodes.
A dozen or so ordinary medical staff in dark blue uniforms jogged back and forth between the tents. Some carried boxes of disinfectant, some carried patients who had just been diagnosed with infectious diseases on stretchers to the depths of the isolation area, and some squatted next to an elderly man who kept coughing, taking samples from the inside of his mouth with cotton swabs.
Shiren retracted the five combat puppets behind him onto the scroll. Before the sealing smoke had even dissipated, he had already walked to Neji's side, his short hair fluttering slightly in the wind.
"Is it because of the pandemic?" Sheren asked.
"Yes." Hinata Natsu nodded.
She didn't elaborate, because everyone present, including Naruto and Shikamaru from Konoha, could smell the answer in the increasingly strong scent of herbs and disinfectant in the air.
A major disaster is always followed by a major epidemic; this is a rule that every nation in the ninja world that has experienced war and famine understands.
A large number of malnourished and extremely vulnerable refugees gathered together, and with just one source of infection, a plague could be ignited within days that could engulf the entire city.
Suddenly, a commotion arose in the crowd.
A middle-aged man leaning on a rough tree branch as a cane was led out of the regular examination queue by two medical staff.
His gray cloth clothes were so dirty that their original color was no longer visible, his trousers were rolled up to his knees, and his calves were covered with dried mud and cuts from tree branches.
His face was sallow, his eyes were sunken, his lips were dry and cracked, and his legs were trembling when he walked. But what was more noticeable was the unnatural bloating of his abdomen and the cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
A Byakugan ninja from the Hyuga branch family lowered his raised finger and said a few words to the medical ninja beside him.
The sound wasn't loud, but everyone around heard it.
"Suspected dysentery."
The middle-aged man's expression changed instantly.
His pupils suddenly contracted, and his thin, bony fingers gripped the branch cane tightly, his knuckles bulging and turning white from the force.
"No! I'm not sick! I'm really not sick!" His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded.
He shoved aside a medical worker who was about to help him, his movements rough but weak enough to only push the person back a small step.
He lost his balance from the force of the push and fell to the ground, his cane flying out of his hand and landing on the muddy ground with a thud.
Two Star Ninjas quickly moved in from both sides, grabbing his arms on either side and lifting him off the ground.
The middle-aged man kicked his legs wildly in the mud, tears and snot mingling on his face.
"I don't want to die! Please! I don't want to die—" His voice changed from a roar to a wail, and the last few words broke into breathy sounds. He was like a withered branch bent by the wind and unable to bounce back, his whole body trembling so much that he could hardly stand.
The ninja, who had his left arm supporting him firmly under his armpit, scolded him angrily, "If you don't want to die, then accept your treatment properly! We're not going to kill you, why are you screaming like a pig being slaughtered! Save your energy for your medicine!"
The middle-aged man was dragged away.
He walked step by step toward the quarantine zone, his struggles growing weaker and weaker, but his shoulders were still twitching.
Among the people queuing around them, some bowed their heads, some made an unknown prayer gesture on their chests, and some held tightly to the hands of their loved ones.
But no one retreated, no one fled.
They've seen it far too many times.
From the moment they step across the border, this scene plays out several times a day.
There was some panic, but less than anywhere else.
A man wearing a blue-gray Star Ninja vest walked to the front of the crowd, took out a metal megaphone from his waist, and held it to his mouth.
His voice was loud and steady: "Please don't panic!"
"Let me say it again! Patients showing signs of infectious diseases are only isolated for treatment in order to prevent them from spreading the disease to other family members and friends who are not sick."
"If you have no signs of infectious disease, please come here and queue up to receive your medication as usual."
"Don't worry, everyone will receive treatment, and everyone will have food to eat!"
The whispers among the crowd gradually subsided.
A young woman holding a child peeked out from the queue, glanced in the direction of the quarantine area, then lowered her head again, hugging the child tighter, but she did not leave the queue.
Not far away, an old woman wearing a headscarf held a bowl of porridge she had just received. She scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to the little girl squatting at her feet.
The little girl's cheeks still bore traces of dried tears and sand, but as she chewed the porridge, a faint light appeared in her eyes.
Not all problems were solved, nor did all fears disappear, but they knew they could get food, medicine, and clean water here.
Unlike their previous experiences in the Land of Fire, where they were driven away by samurai with swords, and in the Land of Rivers, where they knelt outside the city gates for a day and a night without being paid any attention, here at least someone bent down and asked them where they felt unwell.
Naruto watched the middle-aged man being dragged away until he disappeared among the white tents in the quarantine area before turning his gaze away.
At the entrance to the quarantine area, a medical ninja wearing a light green apron was registering newly admitted patients, with a bandage wrapped around her wrist for support.
The smell of disinfectant was stronger inside the fence, so strong that even Naruto could smell it from where he was standing.
"Will that old man be cured?" Naruto's voice was soft; he simply wanted to know the answer.
Hyuga Natsu tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Naruto's shoulder and landing on the pointed tops of the rows of white tents in the quarantine area.
"That's a special isolation area where patients with signs of infectious diseases receive treatment according to their disease progression." Her voice, like her personality, was gentle as a flowing stream, neither exaggerated nor perfunctory.
"And it's not just the quarantine area; the open space you're standing on right now, the disaster relief camps, and all the residential areas along the eastern border, including Nagano Castle, will be disinfected and sterilized three times a day."
"The medical department's requirement is to eliminate all possible sources of infection, leaving no blind spots."
Her explanation was clear, professional, and also had a calming effect.
Naruto nodded, seemingly understanding, and the worry in his eyes lessened considerably.
Shikamaru and Ino exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
They were all from the ninja clan, and the Nara clan, who dealt in medicinal herbs and deer, were very clear about the value of medicine.
Herbal medicine cultivation is one of the pillar industries of the Yamanaka clan. Ino has been following her mother around the flower nursery and herb fields since she was a child. She knows that the price of a three-year-old honeysuckle vine on the market is equivalent to half a season's worth of food for a farmer.
In the ninja world, medicine is never a common good; it's a luxury.
Ordinary people usually have to tough it out when they get sick; if they can't, they die.
And the Star Kingdom was willing to provide such a large amount of medicine and medical resources free of charge to treat these refugees.
Worthless disaster victims?
This is simply unimaginable luxury.
If nobles from other countries saw this, they would probably cry foul about the waste.
But what we see before us is a fact that is happening right now.
Sakura stood beside Tenten, not saying a word since earlier.
Her gaze followed a medical ninja at the entrance of the quarantine area who was taking a little girl's temperature. She watched as the man gently touched the little girl's forehead with a chakra probe, his movements practiced and gentle.
Her eyes reflected the rows of white tents, and her voice was filled with undisguised admiration: "Amazing—so many people, and they all received such proper care and treatment—the medical ninjas here must be very strong and kind—"
Tenten pulled Yakumo closer to her, making way for two medical staff carrying an empty stretcher who were jogging past.
Tian Tian said softly, "This is so much better than the places I've seen before."
Yakumo nodded, her little hand unconsciously tightening its grip on Tenten's clothes: "That's great, everyone looks like—there's hope."
Although she is introverted, she is very perceptive.
They recalled the scenery they had seen on the official road in the land of rivers.
Rows of unmarked graves line the banks of a dried-up river. A mother and child, emaciated and huddled together under a withered tree, cling to each other. Refugees fight amongst themselves over a few tree roots, their breaths coming in the panting of wild beasts.
Those images hadn't even faded from my mind when this orderly scene before me was placed side by side with them, creating a stark contrast.
Neji stood at the entrance of the checkpoint and stepped aside to make way.
He raised his arm and made a simple gesture: "Alright, although it's just a routine matter, come up and check it out."
"Okay! I'll go first!" Naruto, who always had boundless energy, was the first to step forward.
As he walked, he craned his neck to peer into the checkpoint, his eyes filled with curiosity.
Inside the checkpoint was a small wooden hut with two tables and an iron rack filled with disinfectant spray cans standing in the corner.
Sitting behind the table was a young ninja who looked no older than him. He wore a white clan uniform over a gray-blue vest worn by a Star Ninja, and square-framed glasses perched on his nose.
The young ninja pushed up his glasses, formed hand seals, and when he opened his eyes again, his pure white pupils were already aimed at Naruto's body.
The X-ray vision penetrated Naruto's skin, muscles, and meridians layer by layer.
The amount of chakra flowing through his meridians far exceeded that of a normal ninja, but the Hyuga boy was somewhat prepared for the abnormal amount of chakra.
His gaze continued downwards, passing through the sternum and intercostal muscles, until he scanned a complex and intricately patterned sealing technique on Naruto's lower abdomen.
Eight Trigrams Seal!
The chakra within the seal possessed a texture completely different from any chakra he had ever seen.
Extremely dark, extremely thick, extremely heavy.
Even through the sealing technique, the chakra continued to seep outwards. Although the amount of each seepage was extremely small, the sheer pressure was like someone had placed the heart of a sleeping ancient beast inside the blond boy's stomach.
The young ninja maintained the power of his Byakugan without flinching, but a fine layer of sweat had already seeped from his forehead, and his glasses frame slid slightly half an inch across his nose.
Naruto noticed the other person's odd behavior and tilted his head: "Wait? What's wrong?"
The young ninja withdrew his Byakugan, pushed his glasses back up, and forcefully wrote a few words on the registration form.
Then he looked up at Neji and Hyuga Natsu standing behind Naruto and shook his head.
"Very healthy."
Next up is Sasuke.
Sasuke walked to the table and calmly met the boy's Byakugan gaze for a moment.
The Byakugan of the Hyuga boy swept over Sasuke's meridian nodes and organs, pausing for a moment in the meridian area around his eyes.
The chakra density and activity there far exceeded normal levels, clearly indicating the holder of a bloodline limit for eye techniques.
But apart from that, there was nothing unusual.
Sasuke walked straight around the table and out.
Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Yakumo, and Lee were examined one by one.
The Hyuga ninjas in charge of the inspection used their Byakugan powers to rapidly scan the various meridian points, detecting abnormalities in chakra circulation...
Hidden diseased tissue, possible curse marks, or latent poisons.
These are the key screening items for entry inspection, and the inspection time for each person does not exceed three minutes.
When it was Lee's turn, the ninja in charge of checking him raised an eyebrow after seeing the size and density of the muscle fibers in his right leg, but didn't say anything. He just wrote a line on the registration form.
When they reached Yakumo, the ninja examining her paused briefly with his fingers while scanning the meridians in her brain, then continued as if nothing had happened.
After all the checks were completed, a female staff member wearing a light blue uniform, mask and gloves walked up to the group and distributed a stack of folded cards to each person.
The small card is made of stiff paper, with the holder's name and number printed on the front, and the expiration date and a circular stamp of Nagano Castle Medical Branch printed on the back.
"This certificate is valid for seven days. After seven days, please remember to go to the local medical department for a re-examination and to renew the certificate." Her gentle voice was slightly muffled behind her mask.
"If you feel unwell during this period, please go to the nearest medical facility immediately."
Shikamaru flipped the health certificate in his hand, his fingers gently rubbing against the edge of the cardboard.
The handwriting still has a slight ink feel, and the number is handwritten, but the format is very consistent.
He looked up, flipped the ID over, and said lazily, "Is it that complicated? Do I have to renew it every seven days?"
Ya picked up the health certificate in his hand and brought it close to Akamaru's nose.
Akamaru sniffed the paper with his shiny black nose, exhaled a puff of hot air, and then barked.
Hinata Natsu explained to everyone, "Border cities will be stricter, after all, the inbound traffic is too large, and the epidemic situation in the surrounding countries is different, so we can't make an accurate prediction."
She stepped aside to let a medical worker running towards her carrying a medical kit pass by, her gaze lingering briefly on the documents in Shikamaru's hand, before continuing, "Once you arrive in the Star Capital, you'll only need to undergo initial entry and a seven-day follow-up examination. If both are normal, and there are no unforeseen circumstances, you won't need to undergo any more regular checks."
Sakura carefully tucked her health certificate into the innermost waterproof compartment of her ninja tool bag, and glanced at Shikamaru with a smile: "A major disaster is often followed by a major epidemic, you know. We were taught this at the ninja academy, so please understand."
Shikamaru stuffed the documents into his pocket and shrugged.
Neji crossed his arms and glanced at the nine people behind him who had already scattered and were organizing their equipment.
He glanced at the sky and said to everyone, "Alright, let's continue. I'll show you what kind of country the Star Kingdom is."
Upon hearing this, a hint of anticipation involuntarily flashed in the eyes of Shikamaru, Sakura, Tenten, and the others.
Although they were "invited" here, or even forcibly brought here after being defeated.
But the sights they saw along the way, especially after entering the borders of the Star Kingdom, were completely different from what they had previously known about countries and their methods of governance.
Their curiosity has been completely piqued.
Neji and Toneri are not currently restricting their freedom; it's more like they're on a peculiar sightseeing trip.
The group composed themselves and prepared to follow Neji and Toneri into Nagano Castle to begin their initial exploration of this mysterious country.
Just then, a series of orderly footsteps came from the direction of the city gate.
The rhythm was precise, the landing points were even, and there was a faint sound of metal plates rubbing together.
Naruto and Sasuke stopped in their tracks.
Shikamaru and the others also stopped.
Several Star Ninja patrolled along the main road.
The appearance of this patrol of ninjas was not unusual in itself.
But the appearance and attire of the person leading the group instantly attracted everyone's attention, especially Sasuke, whose pupils contracted almost simultaneously!
He was a boy who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.
Tall and handsome, with well-defined features, he exudes a youthful vigor and a hint of aloofness that keeps strangers at bay.
He wore a well-tailored dark blue turtleneck tribal uniform, over which was a gray-blue vest worn by Jonin of the Land of Stars. A standard ninja sword hung at his waist, and his steps were steady and powerful.
Most striking is the red and white flame fan pattern on the patch on his left arm.
The Uchiha clan crest!
Hyuga Natsu noticed the patrol approaching, turned her head slightly, and greeted them with a gentle smile, "Jonin Taichi, how did today's patrol go?"
Uchiha Tai nodded, slowed his pace, and was about to reply.
Then his eyes caught sight of the black-haired boy standing next to Naruto, wearing a black turtleneck and a cold expression.
Time seemed to be infinitely stretched and frozen at this moment.
The cold arrogance on Uchiha Taichi's face vanished in an instant, replaced by astonishment and disbelief, followed by an explosion of boundless hatred and rage!
Buzz!
A crimson light, like a blood moon, suddenly shone in his eyes!
Three jet-black magatama beads began to spin wildly in that crimson light!
Without a word, without the slightest hesitation.
Swish!
Everyone only saw a blur before their eyes, and a blur of motion, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound and overwhelming killing intent, instantly swept across a distance of more than ten meters!
clang-!!!
A piercing, metallic clang suddenly exploded!
Sparks are flying through the air!
Naruto's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at Uchiha Taichi, who had appeared beside him!
Sasuke, who had somehow already drawn his ninja sword from his back, held it horizontally in front of him, and steadily blocked the sudden and thunderous attack!
The blades of the two ninja swords were locked together, groaning under the immense force.
The two chakra clashed violently through the blades, creating an invisible shockwave that violently pushed the dust on the ground in all directions!
Caught off guard, Shikamaru, Sakura, Tenten, Ino, and the others were stunned by the sudden burst of chilling killing intent and the clash of auras. They instinctively took a step back, their faces filled with astonishment.
Uchiha Taichi's three-tomoe Sharingan, which appeared particularly ferocious and crimson due to anger, stared intently at Sasuke, who was standing close by and had also activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
"It's been a long time—" He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, each word sounding like a shard of bone being ground out from between his teeth.
"Sasuke!"
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