Yugito

After presenting a gift on behalf of the Ninja Academy, Chiba Shun glanced at the little girl and found her somewhat familiar.

He thought carefully but still couldn't remember where he had seen her before.

Just then, the girl's mother said, "Yugito, thank you, Senior Shun."

Chiba Shun froze for a moment. Yu... Yugito?

The Two-Tails Jinchūriki from the original story?

Chiba Shun quickly recovered. He had even met the Third Raikage, and he had seen the Fourth Raikage several times in his youth. Yugito's appearance surprised him, but it did not leave him stunned for long.

After thinking it over, Chiba Shun felt that Yugito probably was not yet a Jinchūriki.

But whether she was or not, Yugito's talent certainly wasn't poor. Could he take her as his disciple?

If he could take Yugito as his disciple, and if she still became the Two-Tails Jinchūriki as in the original story, his standing in the village should rise considerably, right?

Unfortunately, he was merely a Chunin. Yugito and her mother probably wouldn't think much of him.

Just as Chiba Shun exchanged a few words with Yugito and her mother and prepared to leave, several more people entered through the door.

There were three of them in total. The Third Raikage stood in the middle, with two high-ranking advisors behind him. Chiba Shun had encountered one of them when exchanging for a sensory ninjutsu. It was Advisor Yukio.

The other was a woman about the same age as the Third Raikage. Chiba Shun had heard of her as well. Her name was Sanada Masaki.

Chiba Shun hurriedly bowed to the three of them. "Greetings, Lord Raikage, Advisors."

After bowing, Chiba Shun noticed that all three of them paused to look at Yugito.

Has Yugito already been listed by the higher-ups as a backup vessel for the Two-Tails? Chiba Shun began wondering whether he still had a chance to take her as his disciple now that she had entered the higher-ups' sights.

At that moment, Yugito ran up to the Third Raikage, tilted up her little head, and said with a serious expression, "Uncle Third, I want revenge on the White Fang of the Leaf!"

The Third Raikage halted at her words. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Yugito, you're still young. With your current strength, it is impossible for you to defeat the White Fang of the Leaf."

Perhaps because Yugito would become a Jinchūriki in the future, the Third Raikage did not brush off a child. Instead, he answered her very seriously.

Yugito bit her lip and said nothing, simply staring at the Third Raikage.

In this world of chakra, though Yugito was only three years old, she clearly had thoughts of her own.

Chiba Shun's heart stirred. He looked around and found that aside from Yugito and her mother, only the village's three higher-ups were present. Gathering his courage, he said, "Lord Raikage, I have an idea. It might be possible to eliminate White Fang."

The Third Raikage frowned at those words. Before he could speak, Advisor Yukio harshly berated him, "Shut up! You're just a Chunin. Do you know how strong White Fang is?"

"You actually dare to speak of eliminating him!"

"Do you know that, with White Fang's strength, there are only a few people in the entire Shinobi World who would dare claim they could defeat him completely?"

"In Kumogakure, only the Third Raikage is confident of defeating him!"

"Sunagakure has even publicly declared that if they encounter the White Fang of the Leaf during a mission, they may abandon the mission immediately!"

"You're only a Chunin, yet you dare spout such nonsense? Do you really think the affairs of the Shinobi World are like those ninja games at the Ninja Academy?"

Hearing that, Chiba Shun fell silent. Their statuses were far too different, and he could not talk back.

However, the Third Raikage first looked at Yugito and saw that she was indeed watching him with some expectation.

So he turned to Chiba Shun and said, "Tell me your idea."

Chiba Shun let out a breath of relief. The White Fang of the Leaf—he was going to commit suicide anyway. This was practically free credit.

He slowly said, "To kill White Fang, we don't need to do it ourselves. We can borrow Konoha's own strength."

After saying that, he cautiously looked at the Third Raikage and the other two, waiting for them to berate him again.

To his surprise, the Third Raikage did not refute him. Even Advisor Yukio, who had been displeased with him all along, said nothing.

Chiba Shun continued, "Before the Second Shinobi World War, White Fang was Konoha's future and a leading candidate for the Fourth Hokage."

"But now, the Third Hokage has produced three genius disciples, each with strength at the level of a Kage."

"Under such circumstances, White Fang has become too accomplished for his own lord!"

"I believe Konoha's higher-ups are also troubled over how to deal with White Fang. I suspect they already intend to suppress him, so why don't we give them a push?"

The Third Raikage asked, "Be more specific."

It was obvious that the Third Raikage had finally begun taking him seriously.

Chiba Shun said, "Just as Advisor Yukio said, Sunagakure has publicly declared that if they encounter the White Fang of the Leaf, they may directly abandon their mission."

"If Kumogakure does the same, White Fang's reputation will rise to another level."

"Then we send people to Konoha to secretly spread word of White Fang's accomplishments. Would Konoha's higher-ups think White Fang was claiming credit for himself, or even trying to force their hand?"

"And then, we contact Konoha's higher-ups, such as Danzo, the man who calls himself the Darkness of the Shinobi World."

"I believe Danzo would be happy to suppress White Fang."

At that point, Chiba Shun said no more. It was already good enough that the higher-ups had listened to one suggestion from him. How to implement it specifically was not his place to interfere.

The Third Raikage turned back and exchanged glances with Advisor Yukio and the other advisor. All of them saw interest in one another's eyes.

What truly made the three of them feel that it might succeed was Chiba Shun's mention of Danzo!

To the Third Raikage and the others, Danzo was the sort of person capable of doing anything.

It seemed that Danzo had also been involved when Konoha previously eliminated the advisors left behind by the Second Hokage.

However, the three did not make a decision on the spot. They merely spoke briefly with Yugito and her mother, gave them a sum of compensation, and then left.

Chiba Shun also left under Yugito's curious gaze.

Yugito had not actually understood what Chiba Shun had said earlier. She still did not understand why he had said that Konoha's higher-ups would get rid of Konoha's hero.

Several days later, an ANBU found Chiba Shun and directly brought him to the Raikage's office.

This was Chiba Shun's first time entering the spacious office. He first glanced at the Third Raikage's desk, then quickly withdrew his gaze and bowed to the Third Raikage and the other higher-ups who were already there.

Our Shinobi Village had four higher-ups in total. Judging by their ages, two had been left over from the Second Raikage's era, while only Sanada Masaki belonged to the Third Raikage's generation.

Could the village, like Konoha, also have factions among its higher-ups?

The Third Raikage got straight to the point. "Chiba Shun, if the village sends you to Konoha to contact Danzo, are you confident you can persuade him?"

Chiba Shun's body stiffened, and he nearly blurted out a curse.

I brought this on myself!

What kind of place was Konoha?

In the eyes of countless people who had transmigrated to Konoha, it was home, a harbor from the storm.

But in Chiba Shun's eyes, it was a dragon's den and tiger's lair, the highest floor of a demon tower, the most, most, most dangerous place in the entire Shinobi World!

And not long ago, he had offended Danzo!

What kind of person was Danzo? He had no scruples in how he acted!

But under these circumstances, Chiba Shun had no way out.

He calmly swept a glance at Advisor Yukio.

He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but Chiba Shun felt that Yukio's expression was somewhat subtle.

Chiba Shun took a deep breath, then said firmly, "Lord Raikage, if the village can cooperate, I have at least a seventy percent chance of success!"

The Third Raikage nodded and asked, "How do you want the village to cooperate?"

Chiba Shun organized his thoughts, then said, "There are three things. First, begin exchanging letters with the Third Hokage and express Kumogakure's goodwill."

"We need to give Konoha the impression that we wish to form an alliance."

"Then propose an exchange between our Ninja Academies. I can select twenty or thirty children from the Ninja Academy as representatives to visit Konoha."

"Finally, I ask Lord Raikage to write a secret letter expressing willingness to ally with Konoha, which I will secretly deliver to the Third Hokage."

The Third Raikage did not hesitate. "Fine. Make your preparations. You will depart in half a month!"

Advisor Yukio added, "This is an S-rank Mission!"

Chiba Shun swallowed. "Yes!"

Advisor Yukio's declaration that this was an S-rank Mission was not meant to secure benefits for Chiba Shun. It was a reminder that he had to do everything possible to complete it!

An S-rank Mission was an important mission that affected the village. If it failed, it would cause the village tremendous losses.

Advisor Yukio was emphasizing that, if necessary, Chiba Shun had to sacrifice his life for the mission!

But Chiba Shun had no ability to refuse!

He merely wrote Advisor Yukio's name down in his little notebook.

After leaving the Raikage's office, Chiba Shun was in an extremely bad mood.

But he had no choice. After returning home, he took stock of his belongings.

Aside from four ninja blades and some auxiliary ninja tools, he had around two hundred thousand ryo in cash.

After considering it, Chiba Shun decided to buy some Explosive Tags from the ninja tool shop.

Ninjas could regularly collect commonly used ninja tools from the village, but the quantity was very small and often could not support a ninja's normal expenditure during missions.

Moreover, the village would not distribute expensive ninja tools like Explosive Tags.

Chiba Shun hesitated for quite a while in the ninja tool shop before buying only twenty.

Each cost three thousand ryo. They were far too expensive!

Chiba Shun also bought five long swords.

He could now barely use the Four-Sword Style, but he had not yet entered the Five-Sword Style.

Under normal circumstances, four swords were enough.

But after his battle with Konoha's intelligence ninja, Chiba Shun knew that long swords could also be destroyed in combat, so it was necessary to keep several spare ones.

Fortunately, his ninja tool pouch had spatial properties and could store long swords.

The five long swords forged from refined iron cost another fifteen thousand ryo.

Chiba Shun glanced once more at the long sword displayed in the most conspicuous spot by the ninja tool shop owner, said to be capable of conducting chakra to a certain extent.

But he quickly looked away, because that long sword carried the staggering price of three hundred thousand ryo!

Until he became a Jonin, he should not entertain such extravagant hopes.