Are We Still Going to Waste Time Here?

"The people from Sand have arrived. How are we going to explain this to them?" Danzo asked with a grim face. "Are we saying that Konohagakure is no longer qualified to form an alliance?"

"Konohagakure's status and value do not depend on the Nine-Tails," Tsunade emphasized, tapping her forehead and the table. "Since when did the Nine-Tails become Konohagakure's strategic weapon?"

"Whether in the past or now, my opinion has never changed." Her words were firm and resolute, her beautiful eyes sweeping across the room. "The Nine-Tails has always been just a sealed Tailed Beast."

Under pressure from Tsunade, the two advisors and Danzo also fell silent. The First Hokage's granddaughter—she certainly spoke with authority; after all, her grandfather had distributed the Tailed Beast one by one back in the day.

Since I couldn't argue with them, I simply changed the subject.

What about Sand?

"What should we do?" Tsunade stood up impatiently, leaving everyone with her back turned. "We should do whatever we need to do. If we break up the alliance over a mere Tailed Beast, Konohagakure will have no hope left."

With that, Tsunade walked away in her high heels.

"This mark is a bit unusual." Naruto pondered for a long time while repairing the Second's Space Ninjutsu Tool in the secret room. "Could it be random teleportation?"

"Damn it, if it's random teleportation, doesn't that mean we have to keep trying different methods? The problem is, once we're teleported, we can't come back!"

He scratched his head, looking utterly dejected.

He's barely left the house these past two days, staying in this secluded room. He and Jiraiya agreed on about ten days, and two days have already passed before they set off.

If this continues, the only way to get to the Land of Snow is by sea.

"What kind of rubbish did the Second tinker with? Couldn't he have made something better?" He complained as he kicked the ninja tool, which rattled and spun around like a tractor.

"No way?" Naruto's pupils dilated slightly, and he took two steps back.

Inside the sealed room, the clanging continued for a while before finally subsiding. The broken copper and scrap metal spun for a moment, leaving behind the repaired Flying Thunder God Mark, which glowed.

With a whoosh, the door was pulled open, and the Black-stockinged Secretary, Shizune, walked in and asked.

"How is it? Is it fixed?"

"No," Naruto sighed and said softly, "It will take some more time, maybe another day or two."

"Then let's continue fixing it. I'll come every day. Let me know if you need anything." Shizune smiled. "No need to rush. It's okay to take more time to fix it."

"The mission to the Land of Rain can be postponed. Lord Tsunade will put in a good word for Lord Jiraiya."

"Hmm?" Naruto sensed something was wrong and frowned as he asked, "Why did you suddenly agree? Did something happen?"

"Nothing much," Shizune said. "Lord Tsunade announced that Konohagakure no longer has Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and there's been quite a stir on all sides."

"Lord Tsunade means that this is due to poor management within Konohagakure and has nothing to do with you. If the ninja tools are successfully repaired, you can go to the Land of Snow to carry out the mission first."

This is a clear indication that he should lay low for a while.

Naruto pondered for a moment. Although he wanted to do something for Tsunade, he thought about the Land of Snow mission and the even more important Land of Rain mission, and decided to finish those first. So he nodded and said...

"Okay, I understand."

"Okay, I'll be going now." Shizune waved her hand.

The public opinion outside and the pressure Konohagakure faced were temporarily irrelevant to him. He knew very well that Tsunade and Jiraiya were more capable than him, and as long as the two of them were still in Konohagakure, Konohagakure would not be able to turn upside down.

Another day passed, and the repair process still made no progress.

On the fourth day, Naruto corrected the coordinates and finally sent the crumpled paper there. The approximate location was locked in the Land of Rain, or possibly the Land of Grass.

At the same time, a crumpled piece of paper floated down from the High Tower where Pain was, and was quickly soaked by the rain.

Pain raised his head, leaped into the rain, and caught the crumpled paper. He unfolded it in his hand and began to write a few sparse notes.

"I am Danzo, and I'm coming to your house tonight."

With a snap, the wet crumpled paper was thrown out. It flew into the rain, fell from the High Tower, and quickly disappeared and dissolved upon hitting the ground.

Day 5.

A rabbit fell from the sky above the Land of Grass, a live fish fell from the sky above the Land of Hot Water, and a chicken fell from the sky above the Kumogakure. These instances of animals falling from the sky occurred repeatedly in various places, but they didn't attract much attention.

Kumogakure.

The Fourth Raikage A, sat in his Raikage's Office listening to Darui tell a story about a chicken, and suddenly felt a surge of anger.

With a bang, Ai, unable to bear it any longer, slammed his fist on the desk.

"I asked about the Nine-Tails of Konohagakure, and you're telling me a story about a chicken? The world is so big, what's wrong with a chicken falling from the sky? Don't make a fuss!"

"I'm sorry, there's no further news at the moment," Darui said somewhat nervously. "Our people have been sent to the Konohagakure border to investigate the situation, and we'll report back once we have the results."

With a snap, the Fourth Raikage A, slapped his forehead, his expression one of extreme pain.

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense in the future."

"Where Samui and the others? You guys should also go to the border and put some pressure on Konohagakure."

"Yes." Darui walked out of the office.

A the Raikage, a burly man, slumped back into his office chair, rubbing his temples in pain. Ever since the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure died in battle, he had become the fastest man in the Shinobi World.

The Land of Lightning is located overseas, and the Kumogakure is even more isolated from the world.

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Kumogakure is actually quite powerful, only slightly weaker than the Konohagakure. It possesses two Tailed Beasts, the Two-Tails Eight-Tails, both capable of Tailed Beast Transformation.

This means possessing two mobile Tailed Beast Ball cannons, which poses a certain deterrent effect on major powers. However, it is still somewhat inferior to the Nine-Tails of Konohagakure.

The disappearance of the Nine-Tails is a blow to Konohagakure, but it presents an opportunity for Kumogakure to grow stronger.

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages' Kage, A the Raikage is an ambitious man.

As time passed, Konohagakure gradually declined, and those once- Shinobi World ninjas disappeared one by one. In contrast Kumogakure, under his leadership, had emerged from the predicament of the Third Raikage A's era of arrogance and nepotism.

Konohagakure was declining, while Kumogakure was slowly rising. He believed that the Shinobi World needed a stronger voice, and that voice was destined to come from Kumogakure.

A the Raikage stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the sea of clouds above.

"After ascertaining the truth, we'll put some pressure on Konoha. Even the legendary Sannin are outdated and a thing of the past. They have tailed beast jinchūriki but don't know how to utilize them; it's a real waste."

Day 6.

"You're not going to ask for live chickens again, are you?" Shizune cried, grabbing his shoulders in despair. "Do you know how many live chickens I've caught for you these past two days?"

"Thirty-five! A whole thirty-five! And there were more than forty live fish, so slippery. I feel nauseous just looking at fish now."

Naruto could only scratch his head and chuckle awkwardly. It was indeed a bit inappropriate to have the beautiful Head of Medical Department personally catch chickens for him, but...

"Shizune- nee, didn't you say you needed to ask me for help?" Naruto said. "And I have a small favor to ask Shizune- nee for right now."

"Even so, I don't want to catch chickens or fish anymore." Shizune's face was pale.

"I've fixed it, I don't need to catch fish anymore," he said, looking a little embarrassed.

"What is that?" Shizune asked after a moment of surprise.

"Could Shizune bring the person who commissioned the mission Fubuki Yukie, along? I'm about to start the mission," Naruto said, stroking his chin. "It would be best if you could also bring my Fox-dog."

For the past few days, Kazahana Koyuki had been hiding in bustling taverns, drowning her sorrows in alcohol. Listening to the rumors circulating around her, she felt increasingly frustrated. She didn't doubt Naruto's strength, but she was instinctively worried.

"What's wrong with that fox demon brat? He brought bad luck to the village, and now he's saying he's not the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." A group of people in the tavern were boasting, their breath reeking of alcohol.

"What else could it be? It's probably just another smokescreen from those guys at the Hokage Building."

"I would never believe that kid is innocent," one person said with a thick tongue. "What's the point of living if his body has such a terrifying thing?"

"You guys! Don't go too far!" Kazahana Koyuki couldn't stand it anymore and smashed a cup with a bang.

As an actress, she knows better than anyone how damaging rumors can be. Even the strongest person can be utterly devastated by gossip.

She had seen that kind of situation far too many times.

That's precisely why she felt annoyed. No matter how strong Naruto was, he was still essentially just a boy, and his status didn't seem to be very high.

"Excessive? What's excessive?" A drunken man pulled out a chair and staggered toward Kazahana Koyuki. "Why do you look so familiar?"

"Looking at you, you probably aren't from this village, are you? What business is it of yours if you're from another village?"

"She looks like that celebrity!"

"What? Are you drunk? You've lost your mind. What celebrity? She's clearly a crazy woman. We're talking about our own things, what does it have to do with her?"

As Kazahana Koyuki saw the approaching group of people, she instantly sobered up. She touched her self-defense bracelet and spray, and nervously swallowed as she backed away.

With a whoosh, the noren (traditional curtain) of the tavern behind them was pulled open.

A slender figure walked in. Kazahana Koyuki's eyes were momentarily blinded by the fleeting light, and it took her a while for her eyes to adjust. Turning her head to look more closely, she was immediately taken aback.

It was a female ninja, wearing an animal mask, with purple hair and a short sword slung across her back. Her first glance as she entered swept over the crowd; the uniform of Anbu Ninja exuded an intense sense of intimidation.

The noisy group of drunkards immediately shut their mouths, as did the group of lunatics from the Anbu.

"Princess Fuun?"

The other person called out her character's name, indicating they had also seen the movie, which makes sense. The movie "Princess Fuun" is quite popular within the Land of Fire.

"Hmm." Kazahana Koyuki forced herself to stand up, her hangover making her a little unsteady on her feet.

Uzuki Yugao breathed a sigh of relief, then produced a document with a swish and said solemnly.

"This is your mission request form. Konoha High Command official, Naruto Uzumaki, has officially accepted your request and informed you to come with me to the Hokage Building as soon as possible to begin the mission."

"Konoha High Command? What?" Kazahana Koyuki was stunned. She stood there for a while, then asked again, somewhat uncertainly, "You mean Konoha High Command?"

"Yes," said Uzuki Yugao, glancing at the group of drunkards. "The inside information was released at 8:00 AM this morning."

"Are we still wasting time here, Princess Fuun? The mission is about to begin."