Return Journey

However, Danzo was still unwilling to pay with ninjutsu. He wanted to freeload.

But Chiba Shun's next sentence directly changed his mind.

"Lord Danzo, Konoha now belongs to Hiruzen Sarutobi! Naturally, Konoha's ninjutsu belongs to Hiruzen Sarutobi too!"

"You're using Hiruzen Sarutobi's things to exchange for your own benefits. It's worth it!"

Konoha belonging to Hiruzen Sarutobi was Danzo's eternal pain, a fact he did not want to face.

Danzo angrily smashed the table with one palm!

But after venting, he still agreed to pay with ninjutsu.

However, the Kumogakure shinobi's asking price was too high. Danzo was no fool, so naturally he would not agree right away.

Thus, he said, "Twenty C-rank Jutsu and ten B-rank Jutsu!"

Chiba Shun was speechless. He had indeed started with an outrageous price, but Danzo's counteroffer was far too ruthless!

Honestly, C-rank Jutsu and B-rank Jutsu were not terribly useful to a ninja village.

A ninja village's most important fighting force was its Jonin. Even the election of a Kage had to pass a Jonin vote.

And a Jonin's killing moves had to be A-rank Jutsu.

If a village only had C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu for a certain nature transformation, talented people still would not choose that path.

Naturally, Chiba Shun would not agree so readily. At the very least, he had to secure one of the A-Rank Earth Release Techniques that suited him.

The two then entered into intense bargaining.

In the end, they reached a deal. Danzo would first pay twenty C-rank Jutsu, fifteen B-rank Jutsu, and two A-rank Jutsu.

That was right. In the end, Danzo only agreed to give two A-rank Jutsu, and not a single S-rank one.

Chiba Shun found that regrettable, but fortunately, the two A-rank Jutsu he demanded from Danzo were both earth-natured and suited him.

Danzo was highly efficient. Not long after they reached an agreement, he had that Kurama Clan ninja use a special method to send a ninjutsu scroll directly to Chiba Shun.

Chiba Shun opened it and inspected it carefully. It indeed listed thirty-seven ninjutsu, and their ranks and attributes were correct. The ninjutsu Chiba Shun had specifically requested were all there as well.

However, these ninjutsu were all in their most primitive versions.

Taking one of the A-rank Jutsu as an example, it actually required thirty-nine hand seals to perform.

There was not a single word about simplifying hand seals.

Chiba Shun curled his lip and raised no objections.

The ninjutsu was already in his hands. There was no need to create more trouble.

Their call ended. Danzo began planning what mission to assign White Fang, while Chiba Shun prepared to leave Konoha the next day.

Now that he had just reached an agreement with Danzo, when Danzo's intent to kill him was at its lowest, he needed to run while he could.

Lying on the bed, Chiba Shun recalled the entire course of this trip to Konoha.

He realized that he might not see Minato Namikaze again in the future, which was somewhat regrettable.

Then he found it rather amusing. During the day, he had been smiling brightly as he discussed the Will of Fire and the Will of Lightning with Minato Namikaze.

Yet that night, he had used the most blunt language to conduct the filthiest transaction with Danzo!

But on second thought, was Minato Namikaze perhaps discussing filthy interests with his confidants right now as well?

The thought scared Chiba Shun into breaking out in a cold sweat.

That would make Minato Namikaze far too terrifying.

Shaking his head, he hoped he was judging a gentleman's heart by his own petty standards.

The next morning, Chiba Shun stood at Konoha's gate with twenty-four children, bidding Minato Namikaze farewell.

"Minato, thank you for your hospitality during this time, and thank you for your guidance in ninjutsu. Your ideas are remarkable. Until we meet again."

After saying that, Chiba Shun did not wait for Minato Namikaze to reply. He immediately called the children over and left.

The two elite squads protecting Chiba Shun and the others quickly followed them.

Minato Namikaze froze for a moment, thinking, When did I ever guide him in ninjutsu?

And what ideas of mine?

He wanted to ask for clarification, but Chiba Shun had already left. He could only scratch his head and report back to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The road out of Konoha was very peaceful. Danzo did not send anyone to assassinate Chiba Shun this time.

After several days of travel, Chiba Shun and the others smoothly left the Land of Fire.

The ones meeting them were still the previous two elite squads.

A was still among them.

A inspected Chiba Shun and the twenty-four children, ensuring that Konoha had not done anything to them.

However, he found it strange that Chiba Shun had not lost anyone along the way, and he was even more puzzled by the increased chakra reserves of Chiba Shun and the children.

A and the other seven escorted Chiba Shun and the others through the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Moon, safely returning to the Land of Lightning.

But Chiba Shun had not expected that nothing would happen in the Land of Fire, and nothing would happen in the Land of Moon, yet something would happen in their own Land of Lightning.

They came under a nighttime attack.

Four elite squads led by Jonin launched a surprise assault against them.

Their targets were Chiba Shun and the children.

These children, who had barely refined any chakra, suffered a devastating blow immediately.

Of the twenty-four, twenty-two died on the spot!

Chiba Shun was nearby and pulled one child away from danger, while A was fast enough to save another.

No one else survived!

The two sides quickly clashed.

While forming hand seals, Chiba Shun rapidly said to A beside him, "They probably aren't from Konoha. If they were, they wouldn't waste effort killing these children. They would have come straight for me."

"Konoha's people know these children understand nothing."

A did not know whether he heard him. He was carefully observing both sides in battle.

Suddenly, he seemed to catch something. Lightning flashed across his body as he charged directly in a certain direction.

Though the scene was chaotic, Chiba Shun still heard a muffled groan from the direction A had charged toward.

Chiba Shun did not know whether the person A targeted had died, because he was in danger too.

More than ten kunai were already flying toward him.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall." Chiba Shun finally completed his hand seals. He slammed both palms against the ground and used the ninjutsu he knew best.

The next moment, a circular Earth-Style Wall rose around him and the two surviving children, joining above their heads before sealing completely shut.

This Earth-Style Wall resembled the Konoha Wood Release ninja Yamato's Earth Locking Wall from the original story, while also somewhat resembling Earth Prison Dome.

However, it lacked Earth Prison Dome's ability to absorb chakra.

During his year with the Kumogakure shinobi, Chiba Shun had only learned this one ninjutsu. He had not learned any others, but he had improved this one.

Not only had he reduced the number of hand seals to five and increased his seal-forming speed to four per second, he had also altered the shape of the Earth-Style Wall.

An Earth-Style Wall could only defend against enemies in front. Sometimes there were enemies behind or above him as well, so how could it compare to the defensive effect of an Earth Locking Wall?

In truth, this ninjutsu really should have been called Earth Locking Wall.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

More than ten kunai struck the hemispherical Earth-Style Wall, leaving only a few shallow dents.

As Chiba Shun formed hand seals, he said to the two terrified, crying children beside him, "Calm down. You are the village's future. Fight like heroes. Don't disgrace the Kumogakure shinobi before the enemy."

Hearing Chiba Shun's familiar voice in the complete darkness, the two children calmed down slightly.

Chiba Shun continued, "Stay here. I'm going to fight."

With that, Chiba Shun finally completed twenty-five hand seals and slowly sank into the ground.

This was a B-rank Jutsu he had obtained from Danzo: Underground Movement.

This was Chiba Shun's first time using Underground Movement. He had not practiced it in Konoha, nor had he dared to.

But he had memorized the ninjutsu as soon as he received it and had been continually working through it in his mind afterward.

From Konoha to here, most of his attention had been focused on figuring out how to use the Earth Release Techniques Danzo had given him.

Fortunately, although it required quite a few hand seals, he still succeeded without anyone interfering.

The battle outside was fierce. The Kumogakure shinobi were fewer in number and quickly fell into a disadvantage, suffering casualties.

However, after seeing Chiba Shun and the three children hide inside an Earth Locking Wall, the attackers did not use any powerful ninjutsu against it.

They had no spare hands, so they planned to deal with A and the others first.

The mission they had received was: annihilate the Kumogakure shinobi's exchange group sent to Konoha!

They had originally planned to wipe out the entire exchange group in the first round of their ambush. At that time, the group had all been standing together, so they had a chance.

Who would have thought Chiba Shun would escape and even save one person?

If they could kill Chiba Shun as well, their mission would be more or less complete. Whether one or two children survived would not matter.

As for A saving one person as well, they considered that normal. After all, A was a Jonin.

Underground, Chiba Shun formed hand seals again and used the first B-rank Jutsu he had learned: Chakra Sensing.

Underground Movement was merely a state and did not prevent a ninja from using other ninjutsu underground.

Otherwise, this ninjutsu would be far too useless.

Very soon, Chiba Shun detected everyone fighting above ground.

Some were moving rapidly, so Chiba Shun ignored them directly. But some seemed to be in relatively safe positions and had not moved at all.

He did not hesitate and quickly moved toward a certain location.

Then he formed another twenty-seven hand seals: Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!

This had also come from Konoha and was one of the B-rank Earth Release Techniques Chiba Shun had specifically requested.

Danzo had not cared much about this low-level Earth Release Technique that Chiba Shun treated like treasure.

Above ground, a taijutsu ninja guarding two ninjutsu users suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

But he did not immediately discover where the threat was coming from and remained alert to his surroundings.

The next moment, a hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the earth.

His entire body was pulled underground, not like when Kakashi used it on Sasuke in the original story and left his head sticking out.

Kakashi had clearly held back and was merely toying with Second Pillar.

In truth, Chiba Shun had only succeeded because the others' battle was so intense. Otherwise, having only just learned Headhunter Jutsu, his chakra fluctuations were quite obvious, and it would have been impossible for him to successfully ambush anyone.

But in this chaotic environment, violent chakra fluctuations were everywhere, so this person failed to notice in time that someone underground intended to harm him.

Most importantly, they were fighting the Kumogakure shinobi, not Iwa Shinobi.

Since when did the Kumogakure shinobi attack enemies from underground?