Shinna's Intuition

"Mmm~"

Instantly, Jiraiya pulled up the intelligence he had on Uchiha Shinmoku in his mind.

An intelligence operative, powerful, cold...

Had there been a glitch somewhere in the intelligence chain? Where was the coldness in a guy who liked to peep at girls bathing? "Closet pervert" would be more accurate.

"Pervy Sage—"

A roar interrupted Jiraiya's train of thought.

"We agreed you'd teach me how to train, so why did you run off again?" Naruto stomped over with a waddling gait. "Shinmoku? Are you peeping too?"

"..."

"I've already taught you; if you can't master it on your own, what do you expect me to do?" Jiraiya said.

Naruto was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. When he first met him, the boy had the Fourth's Eight Trigrams Seal and Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal on him.

The Five Elements Seal was an odd-numbered seal that disrupted the chakra within Naruto. He had already helped him undo it and had him sign his name on the summoning scroll of Mount Myōboku.

The training involved exhausting his own chakra first, then drawing out the Nine-Tails' chakra to utilize the Summoning Technique.

The steps were clear enough; he just needed to practice accordingly.

"But shouldn't you be staying with me?" Naruto retorted. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Fine, fine." Jiraiya sighed helplessly. "Let's start."

"Heh heh—" Naruto gave a smug grin. "Summoning Technique!"

"Poof!"

A small toad appeared in the smoke.

No, calling it a toad was a bit of a stretch; its tail hadn't faded yet, leaving it in a transitional form between a tadpole and a toad.

"Hmm~ Is that from Mount Myōboku?"

[Mission Triggered: Find a Summoning Beast]

[Ninja Cats are fine, but as an Uchiha, you need a more powerful summoning beast]

[Mission Objective: Sign a contract with a summoning beast of the Three Great Sage Locations level]

[Mission Difficulty: B-rank]

"Mount Myōboku?" Naruto heard Shinmoku's voice and asked curiously.

Shinmoku snapped back to reality and replied:

"One of the Three Great Sage Locations. The summoning beasts there are very strong, so keep practicing."

"But how exactly am I supposed to practice? Every time I summon something, it's just this thing!"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Jiraiya roared. "Use every last bit of your chakra, you idiot!"

The voice echoed through the valley.

"Someone's there!"

A girl bathing shouted, followed by a chorus of screams.

"See ya."

Shinmoku formed hand seals, used the Body Flicker Technique, and vanished from the scene.

In terms of overall capability, only the Outer Path Demonic Statue could rival the Three Great Sage Locations because it possessed senjutsu.

If talking strictly about the combat power of summoning beasts, Shinmoku knew of the Third's Enma, the various creatures of Pain's Naraka Path, and Hanzo of the Salamander's salamander.

There were certainly many other strange and bizarre things in the ninja world, but by comparison, seeking out the Three Great Sage Locations directly was simpler—at least there was a clear direction.

I choose Ryūchi Cave.

An Uchiha riding a toad felt a bit odd, and a slug didn't suit him either; for him, a snake was the optimal choice.

The known contractors of Ryūchi Cave were Orochimaru and Anko Mitarashi, but it seemed only Orochimaru had the authority to select contractors... did it involve some kind of permission issue?

After formulating a rough plan in his mind, Shinmoku began his evening training.

Boss Cat bypassed the crowd and returned to the Uchiha estate.

There was some urgent intelligence. It knew where Shinmoku was training, but it was just a cat; showing up abruptly would expose the methods they used to gather intel.

Fortunately, back when they were in Cloud Hidden, there were times when things were urgent, and it had bypassed Sifangtai to deliver intelligence to Shinna.

Writing the intel on a scroll using the Uchiha's exclusive cipher, it hopped onto Shinna's windowsill.

"Miss Shinna," it prompted, "urgent intelligence."

"Understood."

Shinna took the scroll, and the next moment, her figure vanished.

Guy's taijutsu training program was extensive; he didn't just run five hundred laps every day.

Today's training subject was grappling with a tree; he had been kicking it for three hours, using every variety of whip kick.

"BOOM--"

The large tree collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Shinmoku paused, and just as he was preparing to catch his breath, a fragrant breeze wafted over.

Shinna was dressed in a white ice-silk nightgown, barefoot, her long black hair still damp and draped over her shoulders.

"Is there something urgent?"

"Mm."

"Guy-sensei!" Shinmoku turned his head and shouted, "I'm heading back first; a faucet burst at home."

"Right!" Guy gave a thumbs-up, as always.

"Let's go."

As he spoke, Shinmoku looked over Shinna's attire, crouched down halfway, and patted his own shoulder.

Shinna bit her lip in hesitation before wrapping her arms around his neck.

As they passed Anko, she cast a deep, lingering look at her.

Upon exiting the training grounds, Shinmoku leaped high, darting and jumping between utility poles and rooftops.

"What is it?"

Shinna unfurled a scroll.

By the light of the moon, Shinmoku clearly saw the contents written upon it.

Kabuto Yakushi was a Sound Ninja spy; the Hidden Sound and Hidden Wind were colluding; Hayate Gekko had been killed.

"Destroy it."

The scroll turned into flames, dissipating into the air.

Shinna rested her head on Shinmoku's shoulder. "I suspect Anko Mitarashi has other motives for getting close to you."

"Can't it be that your brother's charm has simply won her over?" Shinmoku laughed.

"...That possibility cannot be ruled out."

"I like hearing that... Rest assured, I'm not that arrogant. Between Konoha and me, Anko would certainly choose Konoha. I just hope she never has to face such a choice."

"Mm."

"How have you been lately?" Shinmoku pressed.

"Are you trying to extract intelligence from me?" Shinna countered.

"I'm showing concern for you!"

"It's useless; I won't hold back during the exam."

"Fine, fine, just wait to get beaten. If I don't make you cry, I'm not an Uchiha!"

Trading harsh words all the way, the two returned to the Uchiha Mansion.

There was a tea room in the central courtyard; both sides of the room were open, allowing a breeze to flow through like water—it was quite pleasant.

After half a month of training, he had initially mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu, and based on this technique, he had gradually perfected his plan.

The next morning, after finishing his conditioning training, he said to Hinata:

"We'll have to pause for the next few days; I need to recuperate my body."

"Mm."

Hinata was aware of Shinmoku's grueling physical training at night... there probably weren't many people in Konoha who didn't know.

After lunch, Shinmoku arrived at the main gate of Konoha.

"I am applying to leave the village to search for some medicinal herbs."

"Right," the gatekeeper said, pulling out an application form, "fill this out."

"Do you need my help?" Anko appeared out of nowhere.

"...That would be wonderful."

Shinna's intuition was accurate, after all.

It wasn't a big problem; his first time leaving the village was originally just to leave behind Flying Raijin markers and Shadow Clones, and now there was simply an extra step of searching for herbs.

"What kind of herb are you looking for?"

"Waterfall Grass."

Shinmoku answered quickly.