The Return Journey

However, Danzo was still unwilling to pay with Ninjutsu. He wanted to get them for free.

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

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

"Using Hiruzen Sarutobi's things to exchange for your own benefits is 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 apart with one slap!

But after venting, he still agreed to pay in Ninjutsu.

However, Kumogakure's demands were 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 named an outrageous price, but Danzo's counteroffer was far too ruthless!

Honestly, C-rank Jutsu and B-rank Jutsu were not all that useful to a Shinobi Village.

A Shinobi Village's most important combat power was its Jonin. Even the election of a Kage had to pass a Jonin vote.

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

If a village only had C-rank and B-rank Ninjutsu for a certain nature transformation, then no genius would choose that path anyway.

Naturally, Chiba Shun would not agree so readily. At the very least, he had to secure one A-Rank Earth Release Technique suitable for himself.

The two then entered intense negotiations.

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. Fortunately, the two A-rank Jutsu he requested from Danzo were both earth-natured and suited him.

Danzo was highly efficient. Not long after they reached the agreement, he had that Kurama Clan shinobi deliver a Ninjutsu scroll to Chiba Shun through a special method.

Chiba Shun opened it and examined it carefully. There were indeed thirty-seven Ninjutsu written on it, and their ranks and natures were correct. The Ninjutsu Chiba Shun had specifically requested were all included.

However, these were all the most primitive versions of the Ninjutsu.

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 the hand seals.

Chiba Shun curled his lip and raised no objections.

The Ninjutsu were already in his hands. There was no need to stir up more trouble.

Their call ended. Danzo began planning how to arrange a mission for White Fang, while Chiba Shun prepared to leave Konoha the next day.

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

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

He realized that he might never see Minato Namikaze again, which left him somewhat regretful.

Then he found it rather amusing. During the day, he had been all sunshine and smiles while discussing 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 then another thought struck him. Could Minato Namikaze be discussing filthy interests with his confidants at this very moment too?

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

If so, Minato Namikaze would be far too terrifying.

Shaking his head, he hoped he was judging a gentleman with the heart of a petty man.

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 with Ninjutsu. Your ideas are fascinating. Until we meet again."

After saying that, Chiba Shun did not wait for Minato Namikaze to respond. He immediately called for the children to leave.

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

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 go report back to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The road out of Konoha was exceptionally 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.

Yozuki A was among them as well.

Yozuki A inspected Chiba Shun and the twenty-four children to make sure 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 increase in chakra possessed by Chiba Shun and these children.

Yozuki A and seven others escorted Chiba Shun's group 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, nor in the Land of Moon, yet something would happen in their own Land of Lightning.

They were attacked at night.

Four elite squads led by Jonin launched a surprise attack on 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 close enough to pull one of them out of danger, while Yozuki A was fast enough to save another.

No one else was spared!

The two sides quickly clashed.

While forming hand seals, Chiba Shun rapidly said to Yozuki 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 don't actually understand anything."

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

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

Despite the chaos, Chiba Shun still heard a muffled groan come from the direction Yozuki A had charged toward.

Chiba Shun did not know whether the person Yozuki A had targeted was dead, because he was in danger as well.

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 performed the Ninjutsu he knew best.

The next instant, a ring-shaped Earth-Style Wall rose around him and the two surviving children. It joined above their heads, completely sealing the three of them inside.

This Earth-Style Wall was somewhat like Yamato's Wood Release Earth Locking Wall from the original work, and somewhat like Earth Prison Dome.

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

During his year in Kumogakure, Chiba Shun had only learned this one Ninjutsu and had not learned any others. However, he had improved this Ninjutsu.

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

Earth-Style Wall could only defend against enemies in front of him. Sometimes there were enemies behind him and in the sky as well. How could it compare to Earth Locking Wall's defensive effects?

In truth, this Ninjutsu 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 pits.

While forming hand seals, Chiba Shun said to the two terrified, crying children beside him, "Calm down. You are the village's future. You must fight like heroes. Don't disgrace our Kumogakure in front of the enemy."

Hearing Chiba Shun's familiar voice in the pitch-black darkness, the two children calmed down somewhat.

Chiba Shun added, "Stay here. I'm going out 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 trained it while in Konoha, nor had he dared to.

But after obtaining the Ninjutsu, he had memorized it, then continuously pondered it in his mind.

From Konoha to this place, most of his attention had been focused on figuring out how to perform the Earth Release Ninjutsu Danzo had given him.

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

The battle outside was fierce. Kumogakure had fewer people and soon fell into a disadvantage, suffering casualties.

However, after seeing Chiba Shun's group of three hide inside an Earth Locking Wall, the attackers did not use any powerful Ninjutsu against it.

They could not spare the hands, so they intended to deal with Yozuki A and the others first.

Their mission was to wipe out Kumogakure's exchange delegation to Konoha!

They had originally planned to annihilate the exchange delegation in the first round of ambush. At the time, the entire delegation had been standing together, so they had a chance.

Who would have thought Chiba Shun would escape and even save someone?

If they could kill Chiba Shun as well, their mission would be more or less complete. Whether one or two children survived was insignificant.

As for Yozuki A saving someone too, they found that perfectly normal. Yozuki A was a Jonin, after all.

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 shinobi from using other Ninjutsu beneath the ground.

Otherwise, this Ninjutsu would be far too useless.

Soon, Chiba Shun detected the people fighting above ground.

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

He did not hesitate and swiftly moved toward one position.

Then he formed another twenty-seven hand seals with both hands: Earth Release—Heartless Decapitation Technique!

This was also obtained from Konoha, and it was one of the B-rank Earth Release Ninjutsu Chiba Shun had specifically requested.

Danzo had not cared much about such low-level Earth Release Ninjutsu, which Chiba Shun treated like treasures.

Above ground, a taijutsu shinobi guarding two Ninjutsu shinobi suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

But he did not immediately discover where the threat was coming from. He was still watching his surroundings vigilantly.

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

His entire body was pulled inside, rather than being left with his head sticking out like when Kakashi used it on Sasuke in the original work.

Kakashi had obviously held back. He had merely been toying with Uchiha Sasuke.

In fact, Chiba Shun had only succeeded because of the fierce battle around them. Otherwise, having only just learned the Heartless Decapitation Technique, his chakra fluctuations would have been obvious, and he could not have succeeded in a sneak attack.

But in this chaotic environment, violent chakra fluctuations were everywhere, and that man failed to immediately notice someone underground meant to harm him.

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

Since when did Kumogakure shinobi attack their enemies from underground?