"Jiraiya, why not just tell her how you feel?" Orochimaru's hoarse voice rang out.
"There's no need. It's enough that I understand it myself, isn't it?" Jiraiya came over to Orochimaru and gave a self-mocking smile.
"If you confessed that you liked him, you wouldn't be stuck pining for him like this. You're so timid that you have to pretend to be a pervert when someone catches you. Are you an idiot?" Orochimaru said slowly.
Jiraiya laughed and draped an arm around Orochimaru's neck. "Orochimaru, you've definitely never liked a girl. You wouldn't understand how I feel right now. This is enough for me. Anyway, I'm going to check the map and take a look around the nearby villages. There might be some intel."
Jiraiya patted Orochimaru on the shoulder and waved.
Orochimaru turned and watched Jiraiya leave.
Rain fell softly on Orochimaru.
"I doubt I'll ever understand that sort of romantic stuff either... Heh. Romance. How strange." Orochimaru shook his head and went back to the tent.
Meanwhile,
inside Konoha,
at Root Base,
"Danzo-sama, we've already sent Wood Ghost to look for that map," a Root shinobi reported, kneeling with his head bowed.
"Make sure you find that map. It must not fall into anyone else's hands." Danzo's gruff voice rumbled. He rubbed the scar on his chin, a reminder of the war he'd fought alongside his teacher, Senju Tobirama.
His teacher's wish had been to protect Konoha.
And Danzo would protect Konoha in his own way, and show Monkey—and his teacher—
that I, Danzo, am the one who truly inherited his will.
Danzo slowly entered a dimly lit room.
"Monkey, how will you handle this one? I want to see whether you still have what it takes to bear the responsibilities of the Hokage." Danzo stared at the pile of correspondence scattered across the desk, his voice dark.
The desk was covered in letters between Danzo and Hanzo the Salamander. In short, Danzo secretly provided Hanzo with intel in exchange for resources and other things for Konoha.
In the Land of Rain, outside Amegakure,
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Wood Ghost bit his thumb, and a thin stream of blood welled up. He slammed it against the ground. A puff of white smoke followed, and a hound appeared.
"Woof!" Unlike Hatake Kakashi's ninken from the original story, this hound couldn't speak. Its skill was its keen sense of smell, which made it useful for tracking and hunting down targets.
Wood Ghost took a box from his pocket. It had once held the map and was a token he'd retrieved from Root Base. Such objects were often used as clues. Root was a department without the slightest trace of sentiment, where the mission came first. After a shinobi died, ninken like this one were needed to find the mission's target...
"Woof, woof, woof, woof!" The hound sniffed the box, then raised its head and immediately fixed on a direction.
"That way is... Huh? The kid's home? Could it be..." Wood Ghost narrowed his eyes, and a suspicion began to form.
At night,
Uchiha Chiba suddenly opened his eyes.
He looked around.
Konan was asleep in a corner nearby, wearing a cloak, while Yahiko slept in a corner farther away.
"Why do I feel so uneasy?" Chiba pressed a hand to his chest. For no apparent reason, panic gripped him, and he instinctively looked around.
It was still raining.
Rain pattered against the broken roof tiles.
"I'll go outside for a bit." Uchiha Chiba quietly slipped out of the house.
He pulled on a straw raincoat, and the rain soaked his hair.
He reached the nearby forest.
Uchiha Chiba stopped in his tracks.
"Something's wrong. It's too quiet here." Chiba frowned.
On rainy nights, frogs and other creatures usually appeared in the nearby forest. The Land of Rain's perpetually damp climate was their dream home. But today, there were no frogs croaking or insects chirping. Something was wrong!
Uchiha Chiba glanced around.
Rain fell onto the leaves,
then dripped to the ground.
I need to leave quickly.
There might be a rogue shinobi nearby.
In the Land of Rain,
the quality of its shinobi differed from that of the Five Great Nations. Compared with those of the great villages, Rain's shinobi were more likely to believe in the law of the jungle. They thought war was a chance to get rich, so they robbed and killed people outside Amegakure. Passing merchants who knew what was good for them paid a hefty sum to stay alive. Those who didn't were killed, and their goods were taken. That was why almost no ordinary merchants were willing to do business in Amegakure.
Uchiha Chiba slowly backed away.
Suddenly,
BANG!!!!!
A kunai landed beside Chiba's foot.
"Well, well. Since you're here... you're not leaving. There's a war going on, after all. No one will notice if a few brats die. Heh heh heh!" Up in a tree, Wood Ghost—the Root shinobi who had only seen Chiba once—laughed as though he were harmless.
This is bad...
The chakra coming from him...
He's a Jonin!
Uchiha Chiba took a deep breath.
Even if he weren't injured, he wasn't confident he could kill a Jonin. And now, Uchiha Chiba couldn't even mold chakra. In other words, he was weaker than a Genin. The only thing he could rely on was Taijutsu, around Chunin level.
"What are you thinking about? Answer one question, and maybe I'll give you a quick death." Wood Ghost stood in the tree. At first, he'd been a little surprised that he couldn't sense the kid's chakra.
Then, not long ago, he'd dug the bodies of Chen and Moon Crow out of the rain-soaked earth. After examining them, he found that Moon Crow's short blade was missing, and that the wounds seemed to have been inflicted by Chen. That was enough for the experienced Wood Ghost to confirm his suspicions at once: this kid was Moon Crow and Chen's target. The map was on him. There was no doubt.
Uchiha Chiba kept silent, his mind racing. All he had left was one Explosive Tag and two kunai...
Turning this around... was almost impossible.
What should I do?
"Kid, give me the map." Wood Ghost narrowed his eyes.
"The map isn't with me," Uchiha Chiba said slowly.
The next second,
Wood Ghost's twisted face appeared in front of Chiba. He grabbed Chiba by the throat and slammed him hard into the ground.
"Kid, you think you can fool me? My Ninja Dog smelled Moon Crow on you. Do you think I'm an idiot?" Wood Ghost kicked him.
Crack!
Uchiha Chiba's leg bone snapped.
"Ugh!" Uchiha Chiba groaned. The bastard wasn't giving him even a moment to think or a chance to stall. Was he worried something might happen?
Something happening?
Wait.
"Are you in a hurry? Afraid the patrol will come here?" Uchiha Chiba knew he was taking a gamble. If he was wrong, he'd be starting over.
"You... stop trying to stall. Amegakure's shinobi won't come this way. You may as well give up." Wood Ghost had naturally seen through Chiba's plan.
They won't come this way.
That means...
Before you continue