False Intelligence

The entire squad of Rock Shinobi was dead. All that remained was to clean up the battlefield.

The two ANBU and Kushina sealed the Rock Shinobi corpses, while Chiga looked at the crows covering the ground and let out a sigh.

In such a short time, dozens of crows had died.

By then, Kushina had sealed Sida's corpse inside a scroll. She walked over to Chiga and said, "All right, don't worry too much. Crows grow quickly. As long as you raise them carefully, you'll have another batch in no time."

Chiga nodded, agreeing with Kushina.

Once the battlefield had been cleaned up, Chiga and Kushina had technically completed their C-Rank Mission.

After returning to the village and having the village chief sign the mission scroll to confirm its completion, the four of them prepared to head back.

Kushina's smile never left her face along the way.

The four of them hurried toward Konoha through the night. Since it wasn't far away, the two of them reached Konoha's gates just as dawn began to break.

At this point, Heiha and Kazuma's mission of protecting Kushina was considered complete, and they prepared to leave. Kazuma said,

"Kushina, now that we've made it here, the two of us should go report to the ANBU."

Kushina nodded. Seeing that Kazuma still hadn't left and seemed to want to say something, she immediately said irritably, "I know, I know. I'll embellish last night's battle a little. I'll just say that I ran into danger, so the two of you had no choice but to reveal yourselves and help me."

Kazuma scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "Haha, then I'll have to trouble you!"

With that, he and Heiha disappeared before Kushina's eyes.

After returning to Konoha, Kushina and Chiga finally relaxed completely and even took the time to have breakfast.

Only after eating did they leisurely make their way to the Hokage Office.

"Old Man, Kushina's back!"

Bang!

The familiar sound of the door being shoved open made Hiruzen Sarutobi freeze. He looked up at Kushina in surprise.

He knew Kushina very well. Since she had finally left the village, it would be strange if she didn't spend several days causing trouble outside.

Kushina walked straight in and expertly snatched the smoking pipe from Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand. "Old Man, we're here to report on the mission!"

Coming back to his senses, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked suspiciously, "You're back already? Did something happen?"

Hearing that, Kushina raised an eyebrow. This old man really does know me well. If the incident with the Rock Shinobi hadn't happened, she had genuinely planned to take Chiga out to have fun for a few days before returning.

"Ahem, Old Man, look at this first!"

Kushina tossed the scroll in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"What's this?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi first looked at Kushina in confusion, then picked up the scroll and opened it.

But after only one glance, his expression changed drastically. He looked at Kushina sternly and said, "Where did you get this scroll?"

"It was partly luck. The C-Rank Mission you gave me was caused by a Summoning Beast belonging to the Rock Shinobi. After Chiga and I found the cause—"

Kushina recounted everything that had happened that day. Aside from lying about what happened with the ANBU, she also exaggerated both her own and Chiga's contributions.

After listening to Kushina's account, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said with a trace of anger, "You! Three months of confinement. Uchiha Chiga, one month of confinement."

When she heard that, Kushina's previously radiant, praise-seeking expression darkened at once, and the atmosphere in the Hokage Office suddenly froze.

She forcefully suppressed her anger and said in a low voice, "Hokage, did you misspeak?"

"Kushina, you need to understand that you're a member of the Sealing Team. Combat isn't your strong suit. When you encountered that squad of Rock Shinobi, the correct choice was to retreat, not engage them without any certainty of victory!"

Facing Kushina, whose face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, Hiruzen Sarutobi unusually did not speak to her in his usual gentle tone.

"The Sealing Team shouldn't get special treatment either. I'm also a Konoha shinobi. Besides, you sent two ANBU to protect me. I had the confidence to stop the Rock Shinobi precisely because I took that into consideration."

"Hmph, do you really think the ANBU would obey your orders? Without my instructions, those two ANBU wouldn't have listened to a Konoha jonin! And this problem arose precisely because I indulged you too much."

Kushina's eyes widened instantly. She stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi in disbelief.

Those words struck her like a heavy blow. She had thought she had already taken control of the people monitoring her, and that everything she did only reached the Konoha Higher-Ups with her consent.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had given her a resounding slap in the face. Every move she made had been under his watch.

Her face turned livid, and she asked doubtfully, "Weren't those two obeying me because I beat them up and then bribed them?"

At that, Hiruzen Sarutobi abruptly rose to his feet. An imposing presence naturally radiated from him as he said, each word heavy and clear, "Konoha's ANBU do not accept threats or bribes from anyone!"

The force of his presence even made the strong-willed Kushina take a step back. She stared blankly at Hiruzen Sarutobi. Is this really that kindly Old Man who has always treated me so gently?

Sure enough...

The older the ginger, the spicier it is!

Standing behind Kushina, Chiga thought this to himself. The Shinobi Hero truly lives up to his name. When it comes to playing mind games, Kushina is still several levels behind him!

The ANBU monitoring Kushina seemed to have been bought off by her, but in reality, that was merely to make Kushina believe she had bought them off.

At the same time, Chiga understood that since Hiruzen Sarutobi had spoken to this extent, today's matter was far from as simple as it appeared. Kushina might have done something harmful despite her good intentions.

"In any case, follow orders!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Kushina, who was still questioning everything she knew, and said stiffly. He then ignored her and lowered his head to deal with his usual affairs.

"No! You have to give me a reasonable explanation today, or I'm not leaving!"

Kushina had realized that she might have done something wrong, but without knowing the whole story, she refused to let the matter go.

Hiruzen Sarutobi also understood her personality, so he said, "Fine! You want to know the reason, right? I'll tell you today!"

He pointed at the scroll on the desk. "Do you really think this scroll contains the defensive deployment map of the shinobi at the Grass Country border?"

Kushina and Chiga froze, then said together, "Could it be..."

Before the two of them could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted them. "That's right. This is false intelligence! I drew the map myself!"

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