Chakra Soaked in Toxin

Night.

Uchiha Chiba slowly opened his eyes.

His body was covered in solidified purple toxins. Chiba clenched his fist, and familiar chakra flooded back through his entire body.

"Phew... a blessing in disguise." Uchiha Chiba cleaned the solidified residue off his body, then closed his eyes.

The next second.

Hum!!!!

A scarlet, single-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly within Uchiha Chiba's eye sockets.

His power had returned.

"Come to think of it, I've been gone so long that Konan must be worried. I should head back first." Uchiha Chiba deactivated his Sharingan, donned the loose robe Hanzo had provided, and walked out of the central building of Amegakure.

The rain fell familiarly upon Chiba.

It did its best to wash away the filth from his body.

Usually, when he lacked chakra, the feel of the rain always left him with a cold sensation. But things were different now; with chakra adhering to the surface of his skin, the rain could only wash his body without affecting his core temperature. (The rain in the Land of Rain at this time was not a ninjutsu; the rain later in the series was the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, a reconnaissance method Nagato cast through Yahiko's corpse.)

On the road, only one thought occupied Uchiha Chiba's mind.

Why would Hanzo the Salamander take him as a disciple?

Such a stroke of luck was hardly universal. Being taken as a personal disciple by a demigod of the ninja world just because one happened to get injured was no different than a pie falling from the sky and landing squarely on one's face.

"Something is wrong..." Uchiha Chiba sensed the chakra in his dantian.

If he had to name his greatest secret... it was nothing more than... wait, that map!

At this thought, his pupils constricted.

Uchiha Chiba hurried to get outside the perimeter of Amegakure.

Little did he know, after Chiba left, Hanzo the Salamander and a Rain ninja stood silently on a rooftop, watching Chiba's retreating figure.

"My Lord, if you wanted that item, wouldn't it have been easier to just kill the brat?" The Rain ninja was named Hanzo's Right Hand, known alongside Hanzo's Left Hand as the hands of the god.

Hanzo the Salamander simply watched.

"Heh, this wolf cub is just like I was back then. Even after leaving the village, he's still wary of whether I have ulterior motives." Hanzo the Salamander shook his head. After a long while, he uttered this sentence. In the few memories Hanzo the Salamander possessed, he only remembered that he had been forced to kill repeatedly through certain means, eventually having a salamander venom sac implanted into him to become a secret weapon. Back then, Hanzo was just like Chiba now—like a wounded wolf, wary of everything.

"But, My Lord, didn't you want to get that map and then..." Hanzo's Right Hand's words were cut off halfway by Hanzo the Salamander.

Hanzo the Salamander began to laugh.

"I've changed my mind. I want to make him my true disciple. As for that map, I'm merely curious about what is hidden inside." Hanzo the Salamander's words made Hanzo's Right Hand's eyes bulge.

"What?! My Lord, don't you already have Young Master Sheng Yue? Cultivating a ninja who isn't from Amegakure, I'm afraid that..." Hanzo's Right Hand frowned deeply.

Seeing that Hanzo the Salamander did not answer, the Right Hand slowly raised his head.

He saw Hanzo staring directly into his eyes.

"I said, a personal disciple. Furthermore, I am not afraid of a wolf cub killing the wolf king. On the contrary, if he truly has the ability to kill me, I would even applaud him. Right Hand, as my confidant, you should understand my character. Next time, do not make decisions on your own." Hanzo the Salamander's pale yellow hair fluttered in the wind.

"Yes, My Lord." Hanzo's Right Hand lowered his head and responded respectfully.

Not far outside the temporary hideout.

Uchiha Chiba had just dismissed the idea of searching for what was in the map. He was afraid that eyes were constantly fixed upon him. After all, this map was something Danzo had specifically sent Root to Amegakure to retrieve. However, this also meant that whatever was inside must be something valuable. Even if it couldn't increase his strength, he could obtain some intelligence; at the very least, using it for a trade would be excellent.

"Chiba?" Konan's voice reached him.

Then, he looked up.

He saw Konan standing in the rain wearing a straw raincoat, her eyes red and swollen, as if she had just been crying.

The next second, Konan ran toward Chiba.

She threw herself firmly into Chiba's arms.

"Welcome home," Konan's soft, sweet voice resonated against Chiba's chest.

"Sorry for making you worry," Uchiha Chiba patted Konan's head.

"Yahiko and I found you missing that morning, and then we went into Amegakure to ask for information. We heard that a ten-year-old boy had been attacked by an intruder and was severely injured... sob, I was so worried about you, Chiba." As Konan spoke, her voice gradually choked up, and she began to cry again.

"Alright, alright, I'm back now, aren't I? Don't cry, or the beautiful girl is going to turn into a little crybaby," Uchiha Chiba whispered gently into Konan's ear.

After a long while.

"By the way, where is Yahiko?" Chiba asked.

"In order to find out what happened to you, Yahiko has been staying in Amegakure until very late every day. They should be back soon." Konan wiped away her tears and, as if retaliating for Chiba calling her a crybaby, lightly tapped him.

Every day?

They?

Hadn't I only been injured for a day?

Hmm?

Then, not far behind Chiba and Konan, a powerful gaze seemed to lock onto Chiba.

"Who?!" Chiba instantly shielded Konan, his right hand drawing a kunai from the clothes Hanzo had provided.

As a wielder of the Sharingan, Chiba was far too sensitive to the traces of ocular power.

Then, a scarlet, single-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated.

"Huh? Chiba, why are your eyes red? Are you a rabbit?" Yahiko stepped out from the shadows.

Behind Yahiko, Nagato's figure gradually appeared. There was no hostility in those terrifying Rinnegan, yet they radiated an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"It's been a whole week, you finally came back! Chiba, this is Nagato, our new companion. How about it, isn't he cool?" Yahiko laughed, patting Nagato on the shoulder.

"H-hello, Chiba. I'm Nagato," Nagato's voice rang out.

"Uh, hello. My name is Chiba." Uchiha Chiba no longer had the heart to be shocked by the power of the Rinnegan; he only felt a sense of unease.

A week?

Had Konoha's scouts only just infiltrated the Land of Rain?

And Nagato—wasn't his tragedy supposed to occur only after the full-scale war between Konoha and Amegakure?

Had the plot already reached this point? That couldn't be right. Shouldn't Hanzo the Salamander be off fighting the Sannin at this time? Why would he bother with an ordinary, nameless—well, named—kid like him?

What Chiba didn't know was that at this very moment, the Konoha forces were stationed near the border of the Land of Rain, completely overwhelmed.

In the medical ninja camp, Tsunade's beautiful eyes narrowed, and her movements faltered. She slowly set down her scalpel.

Stepping out of the tent, Tsunade's expression was grim. Behind her, dozens of Konoha medical ninjas were constantly moving between the large tents to tend to the wounded. They were so busy they didn't have a single moment to eat or rest because their casualties already accounted for more than half of the Sannin's total forces!

Inside the command tent, Tsunade pushed aside the curtain.

"Sorry, Orochimaru, Jiraiya. I failed again," Tsunade said gloomily.