Withdrawal Back to the Village

Normally, according to habit, one should loot the corpses after a battle, but since this involved a jinchuriki, he did not want his fingerprints left on the two Cloud ninja's gear pouches.

Do not be fooled by the fact that it is only Konoha Year 33; the current ninja world already possesses technology related to fingerprint detection, and its prevalence is quite high. He certainly does not want to be sent to the Interrogation Unit for questioning.

However, being unable to loot the corpses does not mean he gained nothing.

When he clashed with the two Cloud ninja, he had triggered quite a few entries, and the entries scattered all over the ground were all related to Lightning Release ninjutsu and lightning-attribute chakra.

With these entries, it is enough for him to gain Lightning Release chakra and some C-rank or D-rank Lightning Release ninjutsu out of thin air.

Of course, what he values most are the attribute-type entries.

"Pure-Blooded Dark Skin (Blue)"

"Conqueror of Cloud-Thunder Gorge (Blue)"

"Heavenly Lightning Infusion (Purple)"

"Cloud-Flow Sword Seed (Purple)"

Touma had not expected that two Cloud chunin could drop purple-tier entries. Clearly, red is not the highest grade; there must be other tiers of entries above it.

The "Heavenly Lightning Infusion (Purple)" allows the Lightning Release ninjutsu he uses to possess a portion of the violent destructive power of heavenly lightning, while also increasing Touma's own resistance to electricity.

This was hidden potential triggered when that guy Shoku underwent the baptism of heavenly lightning after passing the trial at Cloud-Thunder Gorge, but now it belongs to Touma.

As for the "Cloud-Flow Sword Seed (Purple)" entry, it was dropped by the Cloud ninja whose brains were splattered; it allows Touma to grasp the true essence of Cloud-Flow Kenjutsu.

Coupled with the "Cloud-Flow Kenjutsu (Blue)" found among the ninjutsu entries, Touma can quickly master Cloud-Flow Kenjutsu, rapidly reach proficiency, and has a very high probability of reaching the so-called master realm through diligent practice.

However, Touma does not intend to fuse the "Cloud-Flow Kenjutsu (Blue)" entry.

Not to mention how it would look for a Konoha genin-in-training like him to waste his energy on Cloud-Flow Kenjutsu instead of learning Konoha-style sword techniques.

Just the fact that his own combat system is built around an iron staff as its core means that suddenly picking up a ninja sword would be far too conspicuous.

If his swordsmanship were to improve rapidly, it would only make people more suspicious. Living in a village where that bandaged man Danzo resides, Touma does not dare to expose such suspicious points casually.

After waiting for about twenty or thirty minutes, the three of them finally waited for the arrival of the main force's reinforcements.

In truth, one cannot blame these border patrol ninja.

Before, when the three Cloud ninja were retreating with Kushina, they had encountered harassment from a joint force of Cloud and Rock ninja.

Most of their strength had been dispatched to resist those coalition forces harassing the border.

And when they saw Namikaze Minato's distress signal and began to move toward this side, the sound of explosions had already rung out; Minato had already engaged the Cloud ninja.

Even with the fastest speed, covering a distance of over twenty kilometers—these border guards do not possess the Body Flicker speed of Namikaze Minato—arriving now is already the result of them giving their all!

Seeing that the three of them had no missing limbs, only some minor wounds, these border guards also let out a sigh of relief.

After all, if it were exposed that they had been lured away from their posts and nearly lost the jinchuriki-in-training, they would certainly face severe punishment.

At best, they might have their ninja status revoked and become commoners or rogue ninja; at worst, they might be subjected to interrogation by the Intelligence Division's Interrogation Unit and eventually thrown into the Konoha Prison.

The Konoha Prison is not that terrifying; the main issue is that the Interrogation Unit is too frightening. They once had a squadmate who became a complete idiot after undergoing interrogation once due to a failed mission. After all, they do not believe their own resistance is any stronger than that companion's!

Ten minutes after the border guards arrived, the Anbu and Root members arrived one after another, with two squads of six people each.

Among them, Kushina could clearly recognize an Anbu big sister who had taken care of her; she had a very unique silver-gray hair color and wore a crow mask.

Touma also recognized who this person was beneath the mask; she was Hatake Sakumo's newlywed wife, Hatake Inami.

The reason he recognized her was that the gift for Hatake Sakumo's wedding had been a box of wagashi custom-ordered from his mother Takako, and it wasn't cheap—a single wagashi box cost about 5,000 ryo, which could be considered quite luxurious.

When custom-ordering the wagashi box, Hatake Sakumo had incidentally sent invitations to Takako and Touma, inviting the mother and son to attend his wedding.

However, what Touma had not expected was that Hatake Inami's public identity was an internal medicine physician at the Konoha Hospital. He had not expected her to have an Anbu identity in private, and that she could even be entrusted with the task of guarding the jinchuriki; this shows just how high her loyalty is in the eyes of Konoha's top brass!

However, this is quite normal in Konoha, as most Anbu have another profession in reality to cover their identities.

Just like Hatake Sakumo, whose public identity is a jonin responsible for large-scale combat command within the Jonin Squad, while secretly he is also a squad leader of an Anbu combat unit.

Not only are they not short of combat missions, but they can even collect two salaries. One must know that the Jonin Squad responsible for decision-making has a fixed salary, and they do not need to perform missions to earn mission fees.

Hatake Inami also sensed Touma's gaze and nodded at him, without saying anything further.

Although she had questions in her heart about why he was here, she did not speak them aloud. This was not her job, and she could not overstep her bounds.

Anbu work is most particular about saying less to make fewer mistakes, and saying nothing to make no mistakes. After all, the Anbu's own interrogation unit is three times more ruthless than the Intelligence Division's interrogation unit; even the wife of a Combat Squad 1 leader would not be exempt from interrogation.

With the border guards clearing the path in front, the Anbu ninja protecting the three children in the middle, and the Root members tactfully taking the rear, they quickly marched toward the village.

In the center of Konoha, on the top floor of the Hokage Building.

The entire room was permeated by the smoke exhaled by Sarutobi Hiruzen. In the crystal ball before him, Kushina's figure remained nowhere to be seen within the barrier.

Seeing their companion's anxiety, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who were sitting to the side, also tacitly remained silent, waiting for news to arrive.

Suddenly, a sound of breaking air rang out in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen's desk; it was an Anbu operative coming to deliver intelligence.

"Lord Third, the Three-Bird Squad has already found the jinchuriki Kushina and is retreating toward the village!"

"According to preliminary intelligence, those who stole the jinchuriki were three Cloud chunin; the team-leading jonin was not outside the border. Currently, two of the three Cloud ninja are dead and one is injured; they are being escorted back to the village!"

After hearing the report from the Anbu, Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pipe and reactivated the crystal ball, catching sight of the group entering the village through the special Anbu passage on the west side of Konoha.

Noticing that vibrant red hair, the stone that had been weighing on Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart finally fell, and he slumped into his seat, feeling inexplicably drained.

It wasn't that he feared other great nations creating a perfect jinchuriki if Kushina were lost; he was afraid of being questioned by his own village's perfect jinchuriki.

One had to know that his ability to secure the position of Hokage had relied heavily on the overt and covert support of Uzumaki Mito. If a conflict were to arise between them, the hard-won peace in Konoha would undoubtedly be stirred into turmoil once again.

Within Konoha, aside from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the other ninja clans were far from pleased to see him in this position, especially the Hyuga and the Uchiha. These two great dojutsu clans, which could not be ignored anywhere in the ninja world, had never truly held him, the Hokage, in high regard.

Coupled with Shimura Danzō, who had always been coveting this position from the shadows, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a wave of exhaustion and secretly pondered if there was any reason to retire early...

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was sinking into this lethargy, the door was kicked open with a loud "bang," and Shimura Danzō, with a cross-shaped scar on his chin and bandages wrapped around his right eye, suddenly strode in!

The moment he saw this companion, the lethargy that had been slowly festering in the depths of his heart vanished without a trace!