About a day later.
In the forest at the junction of the River Country and the Fire Country, a team of three people rushed back towards the Fire Country.
Compared to the tense atmosphere when heading to the River Country, the atmosphere now became much more relaxed and comfortable.
The team that rushed back to the realm of Fire Country was Shiraishi, Liuli, and Ayane.
After wiping out the root team, he never encountered any enemies again and spent the day peacefully.
The chakras of Shiraishi and Ayane have also recovered. Half a day ago, Ruri also woke up from her deep sleep. Although she has not fully recovered from the injuries caused by the senjutsu, her face still looks very pale, but she has also regained a little strength. Have the ability to protect themselves.
Considering that this mission involved a lot of camouflage and involved a game between Konoha's top brass, and the Sand Ninjas didn't know if there would be any follow-up hunting troops, so after Liuli woke up half a day ago, the three of them totaled After a moment, he rushed back to the Country of Fire with all his strength to find out what the mission was all about.
It was about three o'clock in the morning, and it was still very dark.
Ayane carried Ruri, who was temporarily unable to move, on her back and hurried on with all her strength, Shiraishi following closely.
"Speaking of which, is it really okay to go back like this?"
Ayane seemed a little worried and suddenly spoke.
"what do you mean?"
Shiraishi glanced at her.
"The root ninja must be a member of the ANBU. Although they are under different affiliations, they died in our hands after all."
Ayane didn't think anything would happen if she went back like this.
Although the root ninja framed them first, if the person behind the incident was a high-ranking person in Konoha, what would happen even if he knew about it?
Maybe the three of them would be convicted on the grounds that they killed the root ninja.
"It doesn't matter, haven't those corpses been disposed of in advance? After we go back, we just need to explain that we fell into the trap of the Sand Ninja. If they ask, just insist that they didn't see any roots."
Liuli, who was lying on Ayane's back, breathed lightly and spoke slowly.
"That'll be fine?"
"Of course not. But as long as we deny that we didn't see it, there is nothing we can do without evidence. In the end, I will use the power of Uchiha to use the wrong intelligence source to punish the village's senior officials. Pressure. If the other party wants to get to the bottom of it, then make this matter known to everyone. Let’s see how they end it.”
Liuli said in a calm tone.
In response, Ayane nodded in agreement.
She couldn't borrow Hinata's power to put pressure on the top management of Konoha, but Ruri was different.
She is one of the candidates for the next patriarch of the Uchiha clan. She has enough prestige within the Uchiha clan and even has a group of very loyal fans to her.
This is the power of a wealthy family, even the top brass of Konoha must weigh it.
"Sometimes I really envy you, Liuli."
Ayane lowered her head and said with a smile.
"Envy? Speaking of which, the two of you hooking up together behind my back have not yet been settled."
Liuli raised an eyebrow, not satisfied with this.
Shiraishi and Ayane smiled awkwardly and turned away, without answering Liuli's question directly.
"After you go back, it's best to explain this matter clearly."
"Yes, I understand. It's not a big deal anyway."
Shiraishi touched his head, looking distressed.
Where should I tell it, fully explain it, or should I tell it half and hide the other half, so that this matter can be revealed smoothly? The power of words is really charming.
"However, I didn't expect you to choose a risky way and use unfinished magic to activate Fire Release. For the sake of safety after returning, it's better to have a re-examination."
"Lou Suo. I can do whatever I like."
Liuli snorted, shook her black hair, and turned her head.
"It's really troublesome..."
Hearing Shiraishi complaining again, Ayane smiled and was about to say something when suddenly two figures appeared in her field of vision.
"Someone is catching up from behind. It's Jiraiya Jonin, and his old classmates from the next class."
Ayane quickly revealed the identities of the two ninjas chasing them.
Shiraishi and Liuli both frowned.
Although they were confused as to why Jiraiya and Minato appeared here, the three of them stopped and waited for the two to catch up from behind.
After a while, Jiraiya and Minato appeared in front of the three of them. The two were dusty and had signs of battle on their bodies. They seemed to have suffered a little.
After seeing that Shiraishi and the other three were fine, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "That's great, I hope you three are fine."
If these three people die in the conspiracy, then he may have to live with guilt for the rest of his life.
The clothes on the bodies of Shiraishi and the other three were somewhat torn and stained with blood. It was clear at a glance that the three of them had experienced a very brutal battle and escaped from death.
"Jiraiya Jonin, and that yellow hair, why are you two here?"
Liuli asked Jiraiya in a cold tone the reason for his visit.
"Um, Uchiha-san, my name is Nam Feng Shui..."
"Shut up, yellow-haired guy, I didn't ask you, I asked your teacher."
Jiraiya patted the shoulder of Minato who was smiling bitterly. Minato had heard in school that Ruri was a difficult person to get along with, so he didn't take offense to it.
"It's a long story about this matter, but the most important thing is the safety of the three of you. The village will definitely give you an explanation later."
"Explain?"
A contemptuous sneer appeared on Liuli's lips.
"Yes, I will personally vouch for you..."
"No need. Uchiha will solve Uchiha's matters by himself, no outsiders need to intervene!"
Liuli's attitude is also very tough.
Hearing this, Jiraiya became more certain that Liuli and the others understood some of the problems in this mission.
For example, the roots... no, I must know it.
Especially Ruri, a ninja from a wealthy family, with excellent vision and mind, Jiraiya did not dare to fool around on this matter.
"I just do what I should do. If Uchiha wants to pursue it, that is your business. I help you only out of the responsibility and obligation of the ninjas in the same village."
Jiraiya smiled, he might as well be happy to see this happen.
There is nothing happier than being able to defeat that guy Danzo.
"I hope so."
Liuli didn't take Jiraiya's promise seriously.
The so-called Sannin, in the eyes of the entire Uchiha, is no more than this.
Besides, they still belonged to the Senju clan, so Liuli only believed half of Jiraiya's words.
"Compared with such a trivial matter, I'm curious about what kind of punishment the Hokage will give to the senior executive who made the mistake. This is the key, isn't it?"
Ruri's sarcastic words made Jiraiya sigh helplessly.
A little girl actually sees things so clearly. The Uchiha are indeed a powerful family that cannot be ignored.
Baishi stood silently on the sidelines, acting as a little transparent person in everyone's eyes.
◎
Returning to the Konoha camp will be a few hours later.
Shortly after dawn, the Konoha ninjas in the camp walked out of their tents one after another.
During the shift change of the duty staff, the medical ninjas rushed towards the simple infirmary without even having breakfast, and alternated with the medical ninjas who had been busy there all night.
Because Hatake Sakumo, the captain of Sakumo's team, has not returned and is still on a mission, Ruri is temporarily the captain and goes to report the contents of this mission to Orochimaru, the most senior officer here.
Jiraiya took Minato somewhere else to do his work.
Shiraishi and Ayane were waiting boredly not far from the camp.
"Hey, Shiraishi kid, long time no see. He's much stronger than before."
The voice came from one side, it was a familiar and very cheerful female voice.
Turning his head, Shiraishi saw a beautiful woman with light golden hair.
After Baishi was stunned for a moment, the other party smiled evilly and said, "What, you don't recognize me anymore?"
Only then did Shiraishi react and bowed to the female ninja: "Long time no see, Tsunade-sensei."
Although not a direct disciple, Tsunade was indeed the instructor of Konoha's first medical ninja experimental training class, and taught Shiraishi a lot of knowledge about medical ninjutsu.
"Hello Tsunade-nin."
Ayane also bowed and quickly saluted Tsunade.
Tsunade just waved her hand and said with a smile: "No need to be like this, just be casual. Is there any problem in this mission?"
She asked intentionally or unintentionally.
Shiraishi didn't think anything, and answered honestly: "I heard Liuli say that this was a trap by the Suna Ninja, and they deliberately used wrong information to lead us Konoha Ninjas there and annihilate them."
Then, he looked very confused, as if he didn't quite understand what this mission was about.
Ayane coughed twice.
"Hinata girl, are you feeling unwell?"
Tsunade looked at her.
"Well, when I came back, I found that my throat was a little uncomfortable, maybe I had a cold."
Ayane answered.
"Girls should pay attention to their health." Tsunade turned her attention to Shiraishi again, patted his head gently, and her voice softened: "It's okay, it will be fine as soon as it passes. I will do the next thing for you Settled."
"Thank you, Tsunade-sensei. But Suna Ninja is really despicable, Tsunade-sensei should be more careful."
Seeing Shiraishi's innocent and harmless eyes that truly cared about her, Tsunade sighed in her heart.
That guy Danzo is so damned.
These are the pillars of Konoha's future.
Tsunade paid some more attention to Shiraishi, and before entering the camp, she gave Shiraishi a few scrolls, all of which were Tsunade's valuable experience in medical ninjutsu.
She sincerely admires a simple and upright young man like Shiraishi. Even though his talent in medical ninjutsu is not outstanding, he may have joined Sakumo's team through nepotism, but his seriousness and concentration are worth her treatment. The younger ninjas who work hard and make progress are vigorously cultivated.
The little Uchiha girl must also like this in him. Tsunade thought to herself.
"Shiraishi-kun, you are so bad."
Ayane watched Tsunade enter the camp and complained to Shiraishi.
If she hadn't known the truth, she would have almost believed Shiraishi's lies.
"I don't want to do this either, but this is the capital I rely on to survive. And I feel bad for deceiving someone who treats me so sincerely. She is the only ninja who, besides you, like Mr. Fujimura, really wants me to be a good person." .”
Speaking of this, Shiraishi thought of his class teacher Taiga Fujimura who had accompanied him through six years of study.
I don’t know if my single life has ended now, but I am now a chuunin-sama who is about to run three years. It’s really worrying.
Ten minutes later, Liuli walked out of the tent with a look of displeasure.
Because the injury to his body has not healed yet, he is not walking very fast.
"What does it say above?"
Shiraishi and Ayane came over and asked.
Liuli glanced at the two of them, tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart and said: "What else can we do? Commander Orochimaru-sama, let the three of us return to the village immediately and stand by."
"immediately?"
"Return to the village and wait for orders?"
These two questions came from Shiraishi and Ayane one after another, with surprised expressions.
"Wait a minute, Teacher Sakumo hasn't come back yet..."
"He told us not to wait for him to come back. We should set off immediately to escort the wounded who cannot participate in the battle back to the village with other teams."
Liuli repeated this order unhappily.
"Is that so? It seems like things are more troublesome than I thought."
Shiraishi said meaningfully.
Although Sakumo's team has special responsibilities, the overall commander of the battlefield is Orochimaru, one of the three ninjas.
He has higher on-the-spot dispatch power than their leader, Sakumo Hatake.
Therefore, no matter how much the Shiraishi trio protested, it was of no use and they could only return to the village and wait for orders.
As for what happened on Sakumo's side, the three of them were completely unaware. There were still many unresolved questions about the fault of this mission, but Orochimaru Jounin, as the commander, would not reveal it to the three of them.
In the final analysis, it is because of insufficient identity and strength.
If Sakumo was here, even if Orochimaru had a higher status, he wouldn't be able to ignore Sakumo's question.
"That's it, pack up and get ready to go."
Liuli was unhappy, and she had no plans to return to the village.
It has only been a few days since she came to the frontline battlefield, and now she has to go back. She is really a toy to play with.
Half an hour later, many ninjas gathered at the Konoha camp and many carriages were prepared. Many wounded people were resting in the carriages.
In addition to the three Shiraishis, they were accompanied by more than thirty Konoha ninjas, including four Jonin. There were also several medical staff in the team responsible for treating the wounded.
…
"Why should the three of them go back?"
Inside the camp, Tsunade sat aside and looked at the pale young ninja in confusion.
His long, jet-black hair hangs straight down, and his face is handsome, but with a somewhat feminine temperament.
This person is Orochimaru, the commander-in-chief of Konoha's frontline forces against Sunagakure.
A ninja who ranks among the three ninjas along with Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Faced with Tsunade's question, Orochimaru gave a very simple reason: "The war is coming, and I don't want this troublesome political dispute to make my place a mess."
"But let the three of them go back like this..."
"We can't let Sakumo know about this. He is not suitable for this kind of political field, and he might cause other troubles. The main goal of Konoha now is to defeat the Suna Ninja, and I don't want to be distracted by this kind of thing."
Orochimaru shook his head, no matter what the truth of this matter was, he was not interested.
He won't be distracted by this kind of thing, and the final result depends on the Hokage himself. He is not the one who makes the final decision.
"I'm not worried about Uchiha and Hinata's little girl, but that boy..."
"You care about him?"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade as if interested.
"He is one of the students I taught. I don't want him to be exposed to the dark side of the village. He just needs to do his job as a medical ninja and survive."
Tsunade sighed.
"Yes, in this chaotic era, surviving is the best outcome. But the growth of human beings is often accompanied by pain and the realization of the coldness of the world. Just like the rope tree is to you, it is also to me. in this way."
When Orochimaru said this, he looked at his hands, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes.
"Actually, we can't do anything, and we can't change anything..."
