The man who appeared in front of Sasuke was Mizuki, who was rated as an outstanding elite teacher in the past ninja school.
He is especially good at teaching students how to use shuriken and kunai. With his handsome appearance and gentle attitude, he can always listen to the students' various complaints with the most patient attitude. Therefore, he is completely different from the stern Iruka. , he is more popular among students.
That is, assuming he doesn't become a traitor.
Everything in the past is a disguise, so the nature of this person is worthy of a little questioning.
Determined by Konoha to be a dangerous defecting ninja, Sasuke once thought that he had been captured by Konoha's pursuit force and put in Konoha's torture chamber for reform... Suddenly, he saw that this guy was different from Kakashi. There is also an ulterior connection between them.
Thinking of this, the corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched. Could this guy also be a spy planted in Konoha by the Kingdom of Ghosts?
"Don't be so wary, I'm here specifically to meet you."
Mizuki smiled indifferently at the wariness in Sasuke's eyes.
Sasuke snorted and said nothing.
Kakashi said: "Indeed, this guy doesn't need to be ignored."
"You really like to be sarcastic." Mizuki snorted, then leaned against the wall and asked: "So, when do you plan to set off? The borders of the Fire Country have been sealed. It seems that the Uchiha clan's Orphans are quite important to those high-level officials."
Kakashi handed the box lunch in his hand to Sasuke, and then said to Mizuki: "In order to avoid a long night and many dreams, we will set off early tomorrow morning. Are there any problems on your side?"
"Of course not, but when we get to Orochimaru, this kid's life may not be easy. Besides, Orochimaru is also one of the three ninjas. Can this kid really deal with him? If the mission fails, my reward will be That’s gone.”
Mizuki looked at Sasuke suspiciously.
Whether Sasuke lives or dies, whether the mission fails or succeeds, has nothing to do with him.
But if Sasuke caused him to lose his important job, he would have nowhere to cry.
It took a lot of effort to reach this point, but he didn't want to waste all his efforts and start all over again.
Sasuke was about to speak unhappily, but Kakashi held Sasuke down and said on his behalf: "No problem, Sasuke's ability, as his mentoring Jonin, I am very sure of it."
"That would be great. Even if I fail, I don't want to take any responsibility. When it fails, remember to leave me alone. Of course, if you succeed in killing Orochimaru, just mention my name a little bit. I won’t ask for too much.”
"It really seems like the way you do things."
"I'm different from you. I'm a family man."
"..."
Kakashi choked.
Suddenly, I felt that this guy Mizuki had become disgusting.
"Then you can continue to rest here, I'm going out to look out."
After saying that, Mizuki opened the door and walked out of the stone room.
"This guy looks like he's not alone in the ninja school."
Sasuke said suddenly.
He vaguely remembered that Mizuki in the ninja school was not such a utilitarian teacher.
Or does it mean that after leaving Konoha, he no longer needs to hide and resumes his original nature?
"Don't pay attention to what he said. He was probably bored at work and came here to complain. But he was right. Orochimaru is very dangerous. If you want to retreat, I can arrange for you to go to the Kingdom of Ghosts. , where you can grow stronger safely without being threatened by anyone. But when you cross the border tomorrow, you can only choose Orochimaru's route, which will be full of all kinds of murderous intentions and threats."
Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, preparing to give Sasuke a final chance to make a decision.
"No need. Only when there is danger can I have the motivation to become stronger. Putting me in a comfortable environment may not be a good thing."
After hearing Sasuke's answer, Kakashi continued:
"In that case, let me tell you how to get along well with Orochimaru when you see him."
◎
"Too reckless."
In Konoha Hospital, in the ward, Shikaku used a stern tone to teach Shikamaru who was lying on the hospital bed.
"I originally planned to report to you, but I was blocked by ANBU and couldn't enter."
Shikamaru, who had regained consciousness, still defended his behavior in a low voice.
"Even so, we shouldn't take such a risk, and drag a group of people into a place like the root."
"The situation was urgent, so I could only arrange it that way. As for the transfer order from the superior, didn't I ask Ino to come back?"
Shikaku stared at Shikamaru for a while, then finally sighed and said nothing.
"As for your departure, we will wait until you recover from your injuries."
"Then Sasuke's side..."
"He hasn't been found yet. He should still be hiding somewhere in the Country of Fire. But there is little hope of finding him in the future. Moreover, the whole thing is not as simple as you think. There is someone behind it who is adding fuel to the fire. .”
Shikaku had a solemn expression on his face.
Compared to Shikamaru, he had collected more clues. He knew that someone was secretly causing trouble about Sasuke's escape.
It can be said that people like Shikamaru are also being used.
"I understand, just accept the punishment. I will reflect on my mistake this time."
Shikamaru didn't argue anymore and calmly accepted the superior's decision to punish him.
"It only makes sense to accept and change. Simple repentance is worthless. In such a situation with incomplete information, you still pursue the enemy deeply. If you are on the battlefield, all of you have been killed, instead of lying here and accepting treat."
Probably feeling that the lecture was enough, Shikaku ended the topic, continued to look at Shikamaru, and asked:
"When you entered the base, you probably didn't take anything secretly, right?"
Shikaku's expression became very serious and serious, and the color in his pupils also became cold and scary, implying a warning.
Although Shikamaru tried his best to maintain his expression, his appearance made Shikaku feel even more suspicious.
“Take things out and don’t think about putting them in your hands and doing unnecessary things.”
Hearing what Shikaku said, Shikamaru had no choice but to take out a scroll from his arms and hand it to Shikaku.
Lu Jiu took the scroll, opened it, and glanced at it casually. His expression did not change from beginning to end.
As if confirming something.
Finally, he rolled up the scroll, looked up at Shikamaru and asked, "Have you read what's on it? Or... have you shown it to the others?"
He wanted to make sure of that.
If Shikamaru had just seen it, it wouldn't be a big problem. But if it is seen by other people, it will definitely cause some trouble.
"Don't worry, I haven't had time to watch it yet, and I've never shown it to anyone else."
Shikamaru answered honestly.
"It better be this way."
"And I can guess what's written on it without even looking."
Root leader Shimura Danzo possesses the Sharingan.
The corpses of dozens of Uchiha clan ninjas were not buried. Instead, they were gathered in the dark base stronghold, and without exception, their Sharingan eyes were dug out.
In addition, Sasuke directly made the decision to leave the village after reading this scroll, which was enough for Shikamaru to think of a lot of content.
Therefore, even if the scroll was not opened and read, Shikamaru knew roughly what was written on it.
"...There's no need to get involved in this kind of thing."
Shikaku was silent for a moment and said to Shikamaru.
The Uchiha clan of Konoha has disappeared into the dust of history. Even the last orphan has made the choice to leave Konoha. It is meaningless to continue to hold accountable.
The most important thing right now is the issue of rebuilding Konoha.
Uchiha Sasuke, to him, was just a troublesome episode.
Compared to the mess left by Danzo and the Third Hokage, this is nothing. It can't get any worse anyway.
"...Sasuke, he will come back sooner or later for revenge."
As Shikaku lifted his feet and left, Shikamaru's firm voice came from behind, as if he had seen such a future.
Shikaku paused, sighed, and left the ward without saying anything.
◎
Hokage Building.
Located in a small conference room on a certain floor.
"I can't believe that this secret file that has been sealed for a long time has been known to the Uchiha clan. Now things will become very difficult."
When Shikaku took the scroll he got from Shikamaru and spread it out for Konoha's two top advisers to see, the two advisers' brows suddenly frowned.
At the same time, they also understood why Sasuke suddenly made the decision to leave Konoha.
"The root ninjas in that stronghold have been cleaned up in advance. It is obvious that someone is inducing Uchiha Sasuke. Do you have any good suspects?"
Shikaku asked, staring into the eyes of the two advisors.
After Mito Kadoyan and Koharu, who had transferred to the dormitory, looked at each other, they both shook their heads. They could not guess who deliberately asked Sasuke to go to the root stronghold and obtain the sealed intelligence files from there.
"Is that so? It seems that there is one more trouble to deal with. However, Uchiha Sasuke's departure has become a fact, and it is too late to save it now. I want to ask, will Uchiha Itachi still stand in the village? This side?"
Shikaku weighed the scroll in his hand and looked directly at the two of them.
There are enough enemies in Konoha now, including the Kingdom of Oni, Orochimaru, and if there is another Uchiha Itachi, Shikakujiu feels overwhelmed just thinking about it.
And what makes Shikaku feel the most nonsense is that these enemies were once Konoha ninjas and were cultivated by Konoha.
Shikaku wanted to complain and didn't know where to start.
Before Sasuke left, Konoha could also restrict Itachi's actions and stance in the name of protecting Sasuke.
But now that Sasuke has left Konoha, there is a question mark as to whether Itachi will still abide by the 'agreement' with Konoha.
Shikaku was not involved in the Uchiha genocide, so he was unable to know some of the details.
Therefore, we can only seek verification from the parties concerned.
"This... To be honest, we are not particularly clear about this matter. The channels for contacting Itachi have always been controlled by Hiruzen and Danzo. Now that Hiruzen has passed away, the only one who knows how to contact Itachi The only person left is Danzo.”
Mito Monoyan hesitated for a moment and then answered.
Only a handful of people knew that Uchiha Itachi was a Konoha spy.
Shikaku only confirmed this matter after reading Genbe's files.
Before that, he was also kept in the dark.
After all, the real behind-the-scenes story of the genocide of the Uchiha clan was the result of a failed political struggle. The direct result was that Konoha's military power began to decline rapidly.
Shikaku didn't want to get involved in the right and wrong inside.
"Elder Danzo? I understand. I will continue to explain to him later. In addition, the most important point is that I want to know more things."
Lu Jiu looked at it with intense eyes.
"More things?"
"Yes, what else did the third generation do that I don't know about when he was in power... I want to know all the details."
To be honest, Shikaku really has no sense of security in Konoha at this time.
First, Danzo conspired to rise to power, then the Hokage was forced to commit suicide, the ANBU minister was a spy, and then the Uchiha clan revealed shocking inside information. Shikaku was deeply afraid that another bomb would come later, which would hit him badly and unprepared.
To this end, he must know more about the inside story of the village that he did not know before, so that when something breaks out, he can take preventive measures in advance, so as not to let the village be tortured to death again.
Countless ninjas have come to complain these days. Many ninjas have lost their jobs directly, and the task delegation system has been paralyzed. This has made many clients dissatisfied with Konoha. As a result, the number of task delegations in other villages has increased by an average of 20%, earning a lot of money. amount of development funds.
And these originally belonged to Konoha.
It is estimated that these ninja villages are all in their hearts at this moment, and they can't help but feel grateful to Konoha.
And this kind of gratitude, Lu Jiu is unwilling to give up.
"This... is not necessary. Anyway, everything has passed, and it has been so long. If we continue to pursue it now..."
When they went to bed, Koharu and Mito Kadoyan had a lot of cold sweat on their faces.
"Then, when something unexpected happens again, will the two elders be able to shoulder their responsibilities as advisors?"
Lu Jiu looked at the two of them with sharp eyes and asked rudely.
Obviously, Shikaku didn't believe in the ability of these two people to act.
If they really had the role of consultant, Konoha would not be like this, being made a mess by a mere Orochimaru.
These words made the two consultants fall silent.
They also know that they cannot shoulder such a responsibility.
But as a consultant of Konoha, being questioned by a junior Shikaku like this, I still felt a little embarrassed and angry.
As a result, the scene became stiff for a moment.
◎
The next day, nine o'clock in the morning.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Mizuki, who avoided the sight of the Konoha garrison on the border of Fire Country, successfully crossed the defense line and entered the territory of Tian Country.
This is a typical small country.
It is surrounded by land on three sides and only faces the sea on the north.
Mainly developing forestry and agriculture, the country's daimyo has a reputation for being greedy in the world. According to Kakashi, Orochimaru's Oto Ninja Village was successfully established after bribing the daimyo of Ta no Kuni with heavy sums of money. .
But in essence, the Sound Ninja Village does not serve the aristocratic group of Tian Country, but only serves Orochimaru alone.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to regard the ninjas of Sound Ninja Village as private soldiers trained by Orochimaru.
The base of the Sound Ninja Village is located in the northern part of Tian Country, near the sea. Probably due to the abnormal weather in the Kingdom of Iron, the climate in the Kingdom of Fields is much colder than that of the Kingdom of Fire.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Sasuke followed Kakashi and Mizuki to the sound ninja village.
Unlike the ninja villages in Konoha that are full of people, the first impression given by Oto Ninja Village is that of depression and dullness.
The size of the village is not that big. There are no civilians or shops here. There are cold-eyed and malicious ninjas everywhere.
These ninjas uniformly wear the forehead protectors of the Sound Ninja Village. The youngest is about eleven years old, and the oldest is forty or fifty years old.
Some of them, after seeing Sasuke, clearly showed a murderous look in their eyes, and silently walked around behind Sasuke, wanting to attack him.
Jealousy, greed, hatred, these people made no secret of their hostility towards Sasuke.
Just when some of them couldn't help but want to take action, a cold voice came:
"You bastards have nothing to do? Don't embarrass me here!"
What appeared in front of Sasuke and others was a boy with six arms.
His skin is slightly darker, and in terms of age, he is two to three years older than Sasuke.
He exudes an aura that is different from that of ordinary ninjas.
On the back of his neck, there was the same curse mark as Sasuke.
As soon as he arrived, he sternly stopped these Oto-nin's overestimating behavior.
He couldn't even tell the basic difference between ourselves and the enemy, so he thought that he would continue to train these useless soldiers in the future.
At least play the role of cannon fodder.
"But, Kidomaru-sama..."
"Didn't you hear what I said clearly?"
The boy named Kidomaru had a terrifying murderous look in his eyes, staring at the talking Oto-nin as if he were looking at a dead person.
He was obviously in his twenties, but when Kidomaru stared at him like this, his face turned pale and he didn't dare to breathe.
Although the others were unwilling to give in, due to Kidomaru's strength and considering his status as Orochimaru's personal bodyguard, they had to temporarily restrain their hostility towards Sasuke, but their eyes seemed to still be saying 'this matter is not over yet' kind of words.
In their view, it was hard for them to accept that a boy who had just arrived could directly gain the respect of Lord Orochimaru, whom they admired.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke-sama, Kakashi-san, these guys have caused you trouble."
Kidomaru naturally had no intention of paying attention to the weak, but he was very respectful to Sasuke and Kakashi.
As for Mizuki, he ignored him.
"Stop talking nonsense, now lead the way."
Sasuke said impatiently.
According to Kakashi, speaking more arrogantly and speaking in a harsher tone will actually make Orochimaru feel happy.
"certainly."
Kidomaru didn't pay attention to the dissatisfaction in Sasuke's tone. He just smiled and nodded, looking very patient, leading the way.
"Mizuki, you can leave."
Halfway there, Kidomaru suddenly said to Mizuki who was following him.
Mizuki shrugged his shoulders slightly and turned away indifferently.
He originally didn't want to meet Orochimaru, that slimy and gloomy man.
As if he was afraid that Sasuke would misunderstand, Kidomaru said: "The Oto Ninja Village follows the rule of the jungle, and the strong have absolute dominance over the weak. A guy like Mizuki is simply not good enough to be among the core. He is very important to Sasuke-sama." ,like water off a duck's back."
"Does this mean that you are of use to me?"
Sasuke sneered.
"Of course, as the four sound ninjas, we are not only Orochimaru-sama's most trusted bodyguards, but we have also developed the curse seal to the second state. Even if we face two jonin with full firepower at the same time, We can also start to solve it.”
Kidomaru said with a proud tone.
"..."
Sasuke was speechless.
In other words, the combined strength of the so-called four sound ninjas is probably stronger than that of two jounin, but when facing three or even four jonin, the outcome is unknown.
To be honest, the strength of the close guards around Orochimaru... Sasuke didn't expect them to be so weak.
Even so, they are among the most powerful ninjas in the Sound Ninja Village. This can be seen from the attitude of the surrounding Sound Ninja towards Kidomaru.
Thinking that Sound Ninja Village was just a small place, Sasuke felt that he couldn't be too demanding of this village.
He regretted not choosing to go to the Kingdom of Ghosts.
Can you really become stronger quickly in a place like this?
Kakashi wasn't fooling him, was he?
After all, this is not the first time Kakashi has done this, he has many previous convictions.
"Then, take me to see Orochimaru quickly. I heard Kakashi say that you can get more powerful power here, so I came here specially. If you can't satisfy me, I don't want to stay."
"Yes, but this can't be done. Lord Orochimaru is out of town for the time being and is not in the village. After a long journey, you two should have a good rest here today. I'll have someone prepare dinner. The meeting with Lord Orochimaru will be held tomorrow. How about more?"
Kidomaru asked with a smile.
"Huh, just wait for him for a day."
"I can't thank you enough, Sasuke-sama."
Kidomaru smiled and led the way. In this way, he initially made contact with Sasuke and moved one step faster than the other three of the four.
His position in the Sound Ninja Village will become even more unbreakable.
◎
The country of ghosts.
Compared to the hustle and bustle of the outside world, here is leisurely afternoon tea time.
"The third generation committed suicide and Danzo lost power. Now Konoha can only be maintained by jounin squad leader Nara Shikaku and two advisers. Tsk tsk, it's really pitiful. It's a pity that there are no people who have witnessed the tragic situation of Konoha with their own eyes."
Ayane, who was sitting on the sofa opposite Shiraishi, had a look of sadness and pity on her face, but her tone revealed a sense of schadenfreude.
"It's Orochimaru who should be grateful. If it weren't for him, we would probably have done it ourselves. We are so lucky to be able to remove it now."
Shiraishi said with a smile.
From his point of view, it is indeed a happy thing for Konoha to end up like this.
No one thought that the internal conflicts in Konoha would be aroused to this extent.
If the Third Hokage is strong enough and weakens the power at the root, no matter how much conflict they stir up, it will be difficult to disintegrate Konoha's morale from within.
How long will it take for Konoha to recover from such a situation?
It would be nice if Konoha could handle this kind of thorny problem on its own.
"Why, what's on your mind, Liuli?"
At this time, seeing Liuli standing at the window, silent and silent, Shiraishi asked.
"No, I can't say it's on my mind. I just feel a little regretful that I didn't deal with the Sandaime personally. With his status, dying on the battlefield is his final destination."
Liuli turned around and responded to Shiraishi.
"Sure enough, it's your style. Compared to this method, you prefer to fight with real swords and guns."
"Well, because I want to try my hand at becoming a ninjutsu doctor."
Liuli did not deny this.
"It's still in the preparation stage, so it's not appropriate to start a big fight for the time being. But before the plan starts, there should be a chance for you to make a big fuss."
Seemingly feeling that he owed Liuli, Shiraishi had no choice but to accommodate him.
"oh?"
Liuli raised her eyebrows and looked at Shiraishi.
Shiraishi didn't answer, but stood up from the sofa and stretched.
"Okay, I've had afternoon tea. Next, I have to go out. Just in case, I will take the three clones of Shadow Dancer, Chi Zi and Fire Elf with me. I'll leave the affairs at the headquarters to you for the time being. Please help me deal with it."
"Don't you need us to follow?"
"No, for things like exploring the road, the fewer people the better. What's more, I'm well prepared."
Under the gaze of the two men, Shiraishi took steps and left the room.
