Mission to Konoha

Aside from the Explosive Tags and the longsword, the other miscellaneous items were much cheaper, costing only around 3,000 ryo.

Just like that, 78,000 ryo was gone!

"Ninjas really are an incredibly expensive profession!" Chiba Shun said through gritted teeth.

Before becoming a Chunin, 78,000 ryo had been more than a year's income for him!

After buying the ninja tools, Chiba Shun began selecting children from the Ninja Academy to accompany him to Konoha.

First, he could not choose geniuses. The village would never agree to that.

Second, he could not choose children with parents. Their parents would never agree either.

Finally, he could not choose those who were too old. The village had already spent some resources on them, so they could not be wasted.

After all, in the eyes of everyone involved, including Chiba Shun himself, this trip to Konoha was a near-certain death sentence.

Chiba Shun could only select twenty-four younger orphans, either six or seven years old.

Chiba Shun gave each of them 5,000 ryo as payment for risking their lives.

He needed them to obey him, or at least not cause trouble. If even one of them acted recklessly in Konoha, he would be finished!

For twenty-four people, that came to 120,000 ryo, and Chiba Shun had paid it out of his own pocket.

As for whether these orphans spent the money immediately or gave it to their friends, Chiba Shun did not care.

In short, Chiba Shun was now practically penniless.

Twenty-four mediocre children, boys and girls alike, along with himself, formed a strange delegation preparing to visit Konoha.

Well, calling it a delegation was giving themselves too much credit. At most, it was an exchange group.

Half a month later, an exchange group made up of Ninja Academy students departed the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure amid the villagers' discussions. Under the protection of two elite squads, they headed for the Land of Fire.

Yugito and her mother stood among the crowd, watching Chiba Shun and the others depart.

After Chiba Shun and the others had gone far away, Yugito looked at her mother and asked, "Mom, can that senior Shun really kill the White Fang of the Leaf?"

Yugito's mother shook her head. She held no hope for it.

Unaware that Yugito had taken an interest in him, Chiba Shun had originally been in a terrible mood. But when he spotted someone in one of the two elite squads, his attention shifted.

The future Fourth Raikage, Yozuki A!

(The original work was strange about the titles of the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure's Kage. They were all called A, so the Third Raikage was in fact already called A. The current Fourth Raikage's name was never mentioned. To distinguish them, the future Fourth Raikage would simply be called Yozuki A.)

"What a powerful presence!" Chiba Shun said enviously.

Yozuki A was not even as old as him, was he? He seemed to be twelve, but judging by his presence, he should already be a Jonin.

The two escort squads were each led by a Jonin, with three Chunin members, a typical elite squad composition. ANBU squads generally used the same setup.

Yozuki A was the captain of one of those squads, so he was definitely a Jonin.

A Jonin at twelve was only slightly behind Kakashi from the original work.

Moreover, Chiba Shun believed that given Yozuki A's status, he had surely learned plenty of special methods from the Third Raikage. Even among Jonin, he definitely would not be weak.

Yozuki A's identity was special, so naturally he would not enter the Land of Fire with Chiba Shun and the others. They only escorted them to the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire.

Eight Konoha ninja were already waiting there.

Escorted by those two Konoha squads, Chiba Shun and the twenty-four children slowly made their way toward Konoha.

Because the group included twenty-four children who had only just refined chakra, they moved very slowly. Reaching Konoha in a single day was impossible.

That night, the group stopped to rest in a forest within the Land of Fire.

From the moment he entered the Land of Fire, Chiba Shun had been in a bad mood.

The Land of Lightning had no such dense forests, while the Land of Fire had them in vast stretches.

The Land of Fire's soil was simply too fertile.

Possessing the best territory in the entire Shinobi World, the Land of Fire's prosperity surpassed that of the other four great nations combined!

Having lived in the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure for fourteen years, Chiba Shun already considered himself a member of the Land of Lightning.

He dearly wished that those fertile lands belonged to the Land of Lightning.

If the Land of Lightning became prosperous, the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure would receive more funding, its shinobi would be paid better, and his own strength could improve as well.

But he could not show such thoughts now.

Not only could he not reveal them himself, he also had to restrain the children.

After the camp had been arranged, Chiba Shun addressed the twenty-four extremely nervous children. "Don't be nervous. We're here to negotiate with Konoha!"

"We can't disgrace the village!"

The children nodded, forcing themselves to remain calm.

But that was only temporary. Chiba Shun had brainwashed them far too many times back at the Ninja Academy.

In their minds, Konoha was a dragon's den and tiger's lair, a place that ate people alive. How could they possibly not be nervous?

After some thought, Chiba Shun said, "Lord Raikage stands behind us. Konoha wouldn't dare do anything to us!"

"This time, your only mission in Konoha is to eat!"

"Konoha is prosperous, unlike our village, which lacks funding."

"Every extra bite you eat is one bite saved for the village."

"Back in the village, we struggled to train because there wasn't enough food. But once we reach Konoha, we won't have to worry about that."

"Eat as much as you can, then train your bodies properly."

"Instead of eating three meals a day, eat four or five meals a day once we're in Konoha."

"Work hard to turn food into strength!"

"When we return to the village in the future, I believe our strength will improve noticeably!"

Having had their attention diverted, the children finally relaxed somewhat and began imagining just how prosperous Konoha was.

But for these orphans, they truly could not imagine how rich Konoha might be.

Naturally, those Konoha ninja escorting them could not fail to hear those words.

They exchanged glances, thinking, "Why did Kumogakure send someone like this for an exchange group?"

"Can someone like him really represent the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure?"

"Shouldn't Kumogakure shinobi be hot-tempered muscleheads who start fighting at the drop of a hat?"

However, they also knew they could not damage the friendly relations between the two sides, so they did not mock Chiba Shun and the others.

They were Hiruzen Sarutobi's direct subordinates and knew his policies.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly wanted an alliance with Kumogakure.

He never wanted to experience the early stages of the Second Shinobi World War, when Konoha had fought one against four, ever again.

However, some people in Konoha did not share Hiruzen Sarutobi's views.

Late at night, Chiba Shun heard unusual movement from the escorting ninja.

He did not leave his tent. Instead, he used a sensory ninjutsu.

Very quickly, he confirmed the situation.

The eight people protecting them had not moved, but someone was fighting two hundred meters away.

However, both sides appeared restrained. They were not fighting to the death, merely making tentative contact.

Chiba Shun sighed. Danzo again! Only a clash between Root and ANBU would be so restrained!

Hiruzen Sarutobi, you'd better come through!

But things rarely developed as Chiba Shun wished.

Just as he hoped Hiruzen Sarutobi would prove reliable, he detected an extremely faint chakra fluctuation.

Chiba Shun's mouth twitched. What were those eight people outside even doing? Someone had gotten so close, yet they had not noticed?

Chiba Shun wanted to warn them, but after opening his mouth, he held back.

He did not want to expose his intelligence.

Chiba Shun glanced at the children beside him, then moved to one side of the tent and quietly waited for that person to approach.

"Who's there?" Those two escort squads were not completely useless. Just as the hidden person was about to approach the tent, they finally noticed him.

A taijutsu-type Jonin immediately rushed over, while the other ninja began preparing ninjutsu.

Seeing that he had been discovered, the man stopped approaching. While evading their attacks, he hurled a string of kunai toward Chiba Shun's tent.

Earth Release—Earth-Style Wall.

Seeing that those Konoha ninja were truly unreliable, Chiba Shun had no choice but to act.

Fortunately, acting now made it seem as though he had only raised his defenses after hearing the commotion, so it would not expose his sensory ninjutsu.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three explosions rang out, blasting the Earth-Style Wall apart and sending shattered stones flying.

Chiba Shun was unharmed, but quite a few of the children he had brought were caught in the blast.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After a brief exchange between the Jonin and the attacker, the two separated.

Seeing that his operation had failed and that he risked being surrounded, the attacker immediately chose to retreat.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Masked Konoha ANBU rushed in from the distance.

They did not enter the camp, instead standing guard around the area for any enemies who might still be present.

Once Chiba Shun saw that the danger had passed, he finally called out, "Everyone from Konoha, do you have any medical ninja? Some of us are injured."

The Konoha side did not hesitate. Two medical ninja immediately stepped forward to treat the children's injuries.

None of them had been struck directly by the Explosive Tags. They had only been cut by flying rocks, so their injuries were not serious and were quickly treated by the medical ninja.

The sight made Chiba Shun extremely envious. The Shinobi Village of Kumogakure could not afford such luxury. Two squads actually had two medical ninja.

It seemed Konoha had already begun assigning medical ninja to squads according to Tsunade's ideas.

In truth, Chiba Shun was overthinking it. Konoha was far from having that many medical ninja.

It was only because these two squads were Hiruzen Sarutobi's direct subordinates that they had been among the first equipped with medical ninja.

After the medical ninja finished treating everyone's injuries, Chiba Shun comforted the children again.

He sighed inwardly. Fortunately, no one had died this time.

Then he asked one of the Konoha squad captains, "Senior, at our speed, how long until we reach Konoha?"

The ninja hesitated before answering, "Three to four days!"

Chiba Shun looked at the dark night sky. There probably won't be any danger tonight, but what about the next two or three nights?

After thinking it over, he said, "I have a suggestion. How about each of you carries one child in your arms and another on your back, and we force-march toward Konoha overnight?"

There had originally only been eight escorting ninja, which was not enough.

But now two more ANBU squads had arrived. There were already sixteen Konoha ninja, more than enough to carry away these children from the Shinobi Village of Kumogakure.