Continue the Mission

"Lady Kushina?"

Kushina's three companions were also somewhat stunned. What was going on?

When did Kushina create a Shadow Clone? Why didn't they know anything about it?

The Akatsuki members surrounding the four Konoha ninja were also a bit confused.

They hadn't detected any other ninja on the periphery just now. How did this Kushina clone appear within the encirclement? Was it really a Shadow Clone Kushina had just used?

Kushina Uzumaki also breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Minato Namikaze arrive.

What she had been worried about was not being able to wait for Minato to arrive. Now that Minato was here, it gave her some confidence.

"Everyone, hold onto my hand!"

After Kushina extended her hand to her three companions, they readily grasped it. Minato didn't linger either, placing his hand on Kushina's shoulder. The four people plus one Shadow Clone instantly vanished from the Akatsuki's encirclement.

To avoid appearing too abnormal, Minato didn't move them too far away.

"Let's go. The mission target has hired the Akatsuki, a rogue ninja organization that includes Orochimaru. We must re-plan, preferably postponing the mission."

Although Kushina hadn't done much intelligence work in the Ninja World, she still had some basic knowledge.

For example, Anju had specifically told her to pay attention to the Akatsuki. They had even acted as mercenaries for Iwagakure during the war between Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

Their strength was high, and their anti-detection capabilities were so strong that they allowed ten thousand Iwagakure Shinobi Army members to penetrate deep into the Land of Lightning, over a hundred kilometers from Cloud Village, before being discovered.

Now that the Akatsuki had appeared in this mission, it clearly couldn't be considered an easy task.

What Kushina didn't notice was that her three companions were even more interested in her Shadow Clone.

They kept asking Kushina how she learned the Flying Thunder God Technique and expressed confusion as to why she hadn't used it before.

What could Kushina say?

She didn't know the Flying Thunder God Technique. It was Minato's Chakra that knew it.

"Alright, everyone, we are still in the Land of Rain and haven't left the dangerous zone, so let's retreat first."

Anju, who was in Kushina's Sealing Space, knew that Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique was mixed in with the rain in the Land of Rain. If Pain wanted to find them, he could absolutely do so.

So Anju immediately reminded Kushina to continue retreating.

They couldn't remain exposed in the dangerous zone.

Kushina wasn't too worried about this. With Minato present, they could quickly retreat using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Being able to attack and defend was the right path.

Anju in Kushina's Sealing Space was also very eager for Kushina to leave.

"Kushina, this mission is too dangerous. I suggest you return to Konoha and abandon this mission."

"Anju, as ninja, we cannot abandon a mission because it's dangerous. That would cause a big problem for the Ninja Village's credibility."

Kushina rarely talked back to Anju.

Anju, considering his own safety, naturally prioritized survival, but Kushina was different.

For Naruto, and for the Uchiha who trusted her, she had already started considering running for Hokage. To compete for Hokage, she really couldn't abandon this mission.

Anju couldn't help but curse the Third Hokage under his breath for being shameless.

He was practically using every trick in the book against the younger generation, giving such a dangerous mission to the Hokage candidates, making it impossible for them to give up.

After all, among the requirements for the Hokage candidate missions, failure was acceptable, but abandoning a mission was not.

If even the Hokage abandoned a mission, what would the client think?

This was essentially the Third Hokage openly telling her, either you do the mission, or you abandon the mission and simultaneously abandon your Hokage candidacy.

Was there even a choice?

Anju was also quite helpless.

He wasn't Kushina; he could only provide Chakra to Kushina and Minato Namikaze. Beyond that, he couldn't interfere.

He couldn't possibly fall out with Kushina as well; then Anju would truly become Kushina's pet fox.

"Minato! Can you sneak into the city, eliminate the mission target directly, and bring them back?"

Anju transmitted his thoughts to Minato Namikaze. As for convincing Kushina, Anju had already done his best.

"No, the mission objective is to recover the property. Killing that noble is simple, but finding that noble's wealth is the key."

Minato Namikaze was also a bit troubled. He knew Kushina's idea was difficult, especially since he had also encountered an enemy he found hard to deal with. Neither his Sealing Jutsu nor his Flame Sun Courage could inflict much damage on them.

Or rather, he was being countered.

Unless he could use his Flying Thunder God Technique, he couldn't deal with the ninja who used attraction and repulsion.

On the other side, Orochimaru and the other three were also feeling frustrated. The cooked duck had flown away; the encirclement was complete, but the opponent used Flying Thunder God to escape with someone. Who could handle that?

A Pitcher Plant Monster appeared nearby. "You wait here for a moment, the Leader will be here soon."

The four weren't too surprised. The opponent had entered the Land of Rain, and with such a high bounty target, the Akatsuki naturally had to handle it properly.

Soon, six Red Cloud Black Background Pain arrived in the sky.

"It's alright if this ambush wasn't successful. They haven't left the Land of Rain, so we can prepare for the next net.

Also, these scrolls are specifically designed to counter Space-Time Ninjutsu. They were provided by the client. Once you surround Kushina Uzumaki, place these scrolls nearby to restrict her from using Space-Time Ninjutsu to escape."

At this moment, Orochimaru picked up a scroll. After a few glances, he immediately knew which Ninja Village was behind it.

Orochimaru recognized a raw material used in scrolls that only Konoha produced, and some of the characters on it were also commonly used in Konoha.

This was hard to avoid. After all, the techniques of each Ninja Village differed, their scroll production varied in quality, and the raw materials and processes used were also different.

Orochimaru had served in the Anbu under the Third Hokage, joined Root, and was involved in human experiments, giving him extensive experience dealing with scrolls.

"Leader, Kushina has the Flying Thunder God Technique. If she senses danger, she might leave immediately. We might not be able to surround her. She'll slip away the moment she discovers us."

"Don't worry, Zetsu will conceal your presence."

After Pain finished speaking, Zetsu also nodded in understanding.

"Go now."

After Pain finished speaking, Orochimaru and the others also nodded and chased after them in the distance.

Konoha Village.

Hokage Office.

The four elders gathered once again.

"Hiruzen! My Root is in urgent need of funds! Those damned Akatsuki are asking for too much!"

Danzo Shimura unceremoniously demanded an increase in funding.

"Danzo, don't go too far. The Akatsuki increased the price because you had a conflict with them before. I've already lowered the price and even included quite a few scrolls."

Homura Mitokado didn't want to indulge Danzo anymore. He was the one who met with the Akatsuki this time because it was inconvenient for Danzo to show his face.

As a result, the Akatsuki still demanded an exorbitant price. Fortunately, they used many scrolls to offset some of it, otherwise the commission would have been even more outrageous.

The most crucial point was that Danzo Shimura had a conflict with the Akatsuki, which was why the Akatsuki added an extra charge.

Koharu Utatane was also unhappy.

After all, those scrolls were deducted from her. They were originally meant to deal with the Masked Man, but now they were all given to the Akatsuki. She had to make new scrolls again.

"Danzo, where are your spies in the Land of Rain? Why is there no information about the Land of Rain at all? Now we can't even get any information about the situation. I feel the funding for your Root needs to be cut!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was also very dissatisfied. He had asked Danzo several times, but Danzo always said there was no information about the Land of Rain.

"After the Third Great Ninja War, the intelligence system in the Land of Rain couldn't be established. Perhaps the Demigod in the Land of Rain has some other means."

Danzo argued, "Moreover, the cost of this is also high. I don't know why the Demigod wants to do this, so we've maintained peace until now."

"So, there is no Konoha intelligence system in the Land of Rain?"

"Yes."

"Hmph, Danzo, I'll settle this matter with you later. Let's have the meeting first."

"Uchiha..."

The four elders continued their meeting. Regarding the situation in the Land of Rain, they all felt they could relax. After all, since the Akatsuki took the money, they would do the job.

Without intelligence, further discussion was useless.