"I'll still go with you, yes. You were very helpful."

"Thank you."

And he'll check with Ellisaria that she's ready to go, before heading off - he'd rather be back at the base before debriefing (which he does explain).

Fine with her.

The flight back's done not quite in a sprint, but still at speed. Isobu seems to be treated the two hundred mile an hour flight as a lazy drift.

Sasuke lands them on a beach in Rice Fields not nearby any ports, having gone well out of his way to avoid Lightning's coasts, and bows shallowly to Isobu. "Thank you for coming. Now, I would like to discuss the fight more - what you noticed." Then, "Ellisaria, if you want, we can go over your part first, if you would like to return to your mountain? Or later, even, though I would like that debrief at some point, for tactical reasons."

"The initial explosion caught me off-guard, though it did no substantial damage. I responded with fire to incinerate the explosives before they got close, and switched to lightning when you proved that more effective."

Karin crosses her arms. "They were right around the edge of the range I scan more carefully - I can't really pay attention to everyone actually in my range. Didn't expect someone to attack from that far off. Or be able to locate us at all, my range beats most people's, but if that teleporter was spying..."

"Then one might assume he knows where you asked Isobu to move to. I can ward against scrying, but I do not know how useful that may be."

"We'll monitor the area closely, and I'll stay within sprinting distance - the country's only five hours at its longest at my top speed, so if I was away you'd have to hold out until then. But I should be nearby usually."

"It is a risk, though, and I might just move one of the bases up here."

Isobu shakes his head. "I can leave the water. I don't like to, but if there's a river or a lake I'll be fine. And that way I can talk to your people better about the ocean."

Sasuke nods. "That might be for the best, at least in the short term."

"I will visit as well."

Isobu nods. "I like talking to you," he says to Ellisaria. "So that would be good."

She nods at him.

"Is that teleportation common?" she asks Sasuke.

"I don't think so. I'm not positive how he's doing it, but if it's the technique it seems to be then it's unique to his specific bloodline within the Uchiha clan. Anyone else who could have it is dead."

"Good. Was there anything else you needed from me at the present time?"

"No," Sasuke says, while Isobu shakes his head. "I'll come out or send a hawk if I want to talk again. Thank you for your help."

"It has been a pleasure, young human. Isobu."

She heads for home.

Her home's undisturbed.

(Meanwhile, Isobu shrinks into a positively hide-able size, then follows Sasuke inland.)

She continues her renovations. Taller mountains would be nice, more canvas to work with. She starts on that. Her lair gets a reservoir of lava for heat and light, fed by the magma burbling up to the tops of the peaks.

Soon enough, a wolf the height of two horses at the shoulder, something thoroughly odd about her, shows up to lurk at a polite distance from Ellisaria's lair's front, crossing her paws and grinning.

She pokes her head out.

"Did you want something?"

"I noticed a new neighbor. Not human, nor chakra construct. Interesting, really. Thought I'd come around and introduce myself," the wolf says, voice amused. "I'm the kami of a mountain to your north, Unarida. I am usually called Okami, for my shape, or Unarida, for my mountain."

"I am Ellisaria, the black. I had thought this land dead entirely. I hope my working have not disturbed you unduly."

"Seeing the shrine workers grumble when their bells ring because of the shaking is funny. My mountain won't crack, because it is mine."

"The land is mostly dead, though it hasn't always been. In these days, if we leave, we cannot return, and many leave, for the human realm is not our home."

"How sad that is. A land is nothing without its spirits."