Night
Uchiha Chiba slowly opened his eyes.
Purple clumps of hardened poison covered his body. Then Chiba clenched his fist, and familiar chakra once again filled his body.
"Phew... I guess something good came out of a bad situation." Uchiha Chiba briefly cleaned the hardened substance off himself, then closed his eyes.
The next second—
HUM!!!!
The crimson Single Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly in Uchiha Chiba's eye socket.
His strength had returned.
"Come to think of it, I've been gone so long. Konan must be worried. I'd better go back first." Uchiha Chiba deactivated his Sharingan, put on the loose robe Hanzo had prepared, and left Amegakure's central building.
The familiar rain fell on Chiba,
washing the grime from his body as best it could.
Normally, when he felt the rain without chakra, it was always cold. But now was different. Chakra clung to the surface of his body, so the rain could only wash him; it couldn't affect his body temperature. (The rain in the Land of Rain at this point wasn't a ninjutsu. The rain later on was the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, which Nagato set up through Yahiko's corpse as a means of surveillance.)
On the way, Uchiha Chiba could think of only one thing.
Why had Hanzo the Salamander taken him as his apprentice?
This sort of good fortune wasn't exactly common. Being injured at random and then taken on as the Demigod of the Ninja World's personal disciple was like having a pie fall from the sky and land squarely on his face.
"Something's not right..." Uchiha Chiba sensed the chakra in his abdomen.
The biggest secret he had... could only be... Wait, that map!
At the thought, his pupils contracted.
Uchiha Chiba hurried out of Amegakure.
He had no idea that, after Chiba left,
Hanzo the Salamander and a Rain Ninja stood quietly on a rooftop, watching Chiba's retreating figure.
"My lord, if you want that thing, why not just kill the kid?" The Rain Ninja was named Hanzo's Right Hand. He and Hanzo's Left Hand were known together as the gods' left and right hands.
Hanzo the Salamander simply watched.
"Heh, that little wolf is just like I was back then. He's even wary of me having some ulterior motive after leaving the village." Hanzo the Salamander shook his head. After a long while, he finally spoke. In his few memories, he only recalled constantly fighting through some means, until he was implanted with Ibuse's poison sac and turned into a secret weapon. Back then, Hanzo had been just like Chiba was now—a wounded wolf who trusted no one.
"But, my lord, weren't you planning to get that map and then..." Hanzo's Right Hand was cut off halfway through his sentence by Hanzo the Salamander.
Hanzo the Salamander smiled.
"I've changed my mind. I want him to become my true disciple. As for the map, I'm only curious about what's hidden in it." Hanzo the Salamander's words made Hanzo's Right Hand's eyes nearly pop out of his head.
"What?! My lord, don't you already have Young Master Sheng Yue? Raising a ninja who isn't from Amegakure could be..." Hanzo's Right Hand furrowed his brows.
When Hanzo the Salamander didn't answer,
Hanzo's Right Hand slowly lifted his head.
He saw that Hanzo was simply looking him in the eye.
"I said he'll be my personal disciple. Besides, I'm not afraid of a wolf cub killing the wolf king. On the contrary, if he's truly capable of killing me, I'll cheer him on. Youzo, you're my trusted subordinate. You should know what I'm like. Don't make decisions on your own next time." Hanzo the Salamander's pale yellow hair fluttered in the wind.
"Yes, my lord." Hanzo's Right Hand lowered his head and answered respectfully.
Not far outside the temporary hideout,
Uchiha Chiba had just stopped himself from going to look for whatever was hidden on the map. He was afraid someone was watching him. After all, Danzo had specifically sent Root to Amegakure to retrieve this map. That meant whatever was hidden inside had to be valuable. Even if it couldn't make him stronger, it could still provide information; failing that, he could always make a trade.
"Chiba?" Konan's voice came from behind him.
Then,
he looked up.
Konan stood in the rain, wearing a straw raincoat. Her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.
The next second,
Konan ran toward Chiba
and threw herself into his arms.
"Welcome home." Konan's soft voice resonated against Chiba's chest.
"Sorry for making you worry." Uchiha Chiba stroked Konan's head.
"Yahiko and I found you gone that morning, so we went around Amegakure asking for information. But all we heard was that a boy around ten years old had been attacked by an intruder and badly injured... I was so worried about you, Chiba." As Konan spoke, her voice gradually grew choked. Then she started crying again.
"Okay, okay. I'm back now, aren't I? Don't cry. The prettiest girl around will turn into a little crying cat." Uchiha Chiba spoke gently beside Konan's ear.
After a long while,
"By the way, where's Yahiko?" Chiba asked.
"He's been staying in Amegakure until late every day, trying to find out what happened to you. They should be back soon." Konan wiped away her tears, then lightly smacked Chiba, as if getting back at him for calling her a little crying cat.
Every day?
They?
Wasn't I only injured for one day?
Huh? (Black guy confused?.jpg)
Then,
not far behind Chiba and Konan,
HUM!!!!
A powerful gaze seemed to lock onto Chiba.
"Who?!" Chiba immediately shielded Konan and pulled a kunai from the clothes Hanzo had prepared for him.
As a Sharingan wielder,
Chiba was far too sensitive to traces of ocular power.
Then,
his crimson Single Tomoe Sharingan slowly turned.
"Hm? Chiba, why are your eyes red? Are you a rabbit?" Yahiko emerged from the shadows.
Behind Yahiko, Nagato gradually came into view. There was no hostility in those terrifying Rinnegan, but they gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"It's been a whole week. You're finally back, Chiba. This is Nagato, our new friend. Pretty cool, right?" Yahiko said with a laugh, patting Nagato on the shoulder.
"Y-hello, Chiba. I'm Nagato." Nagato's voice rang out.
"Uh, hi. My name's Chiba." Uchiha Chiba no longer had the presence of mind to be shocked by the Rinnegan's power. He just felt that something was strange.
A week?
The Konoha scouts had only just infiltrated the Land of Rain?
And Nagato—wasn't his tragedy supposed to happen after Konoha and Amegakure went to all-out war?
Had the story already reached this point? That couldn't be right. Wasn't Hanzo the Salamander supposed to be fighting the Sannin around this time? Why would he bother with an ordinary kid like him, who didn't even have a name... Well, he did have a name.
What Chiba didn't know was that
Konoha's forces were currently stationed near the border of the Land of Rain, overwhelmed with work.
Medical Ninja Camp
"Damn it." Tsunade's beautiful eyes narrowed. Her hands paused, and she slowly set down the scalpel.
She stepped out of the tent.
Tsunade's face was grim. Behind her, dozens of Konoha medical ninjas moved constantly between the large tents, tending to the wounded. They were so busy that they had no time to eat or rest, because... their wounded already made up more than half of the Sannin's forces!
Inside the command post,
Tsunade pushed aside the flap.
"I'm sorry, Orochimaru, Jiraiya. I failed again," Tsunade said grimly.
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