Maki Uzumaki

The three of them all changed expression, unable to help wondering who in Kumogakure had a Tailed Beast inside them, and whether that person would suddenly turn into a gigantic monster like the Seven-Tails.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun said, "Jinchūriki are the heroes of their villages. They help their villages suppress the Tailed Beasts, preventing them from becoming enemies of the village. Instead, the villages can use the Tailed Beasts' power against their enemies."

The three did not really understand, but they still nodded.

Kakuzu's appearance calmed Chiba Shun's restless mindset, which had arisen from his rapid increase in strength.

From then on, he no longer dared to act as a ninja. Instead, he disguised himself as an ordinary person and joined a merchant caravan heading toward the central region of the Land of Grass.

Kumogakure's intelligence indicated that a red-haired person had appeared within the Land of Grass, near Kusagakure.

Based on his knowledge of the original story, Chiba Shun deduced that this red-haired person was likely an elder relative of Karin Uzumaki.

However, Karin Uzumaki's birth was still far off. This relative was probably still a teenager.

Chiba Shun investigated around Kusagakure for a long time but failed to find any trace of the person.

Left with no choice, Chiba Shun contacted Kumogakure's intelligence ninja stationed in the Land of Grass.

Although Kumogakure was a major ninja village, its Ninja Academy had only been established recently, and it did not have many personnel.

For a small country like the Land of Grass, which was far from home and had no Tailed Beast, Kumogakure had not stationed many shinobi there.

The only intelligence ninja Chiba Shun knew of was the one who had sent back the information about Maki Uzumaki.

Using the contact method given to him by the Third Raikage, Chiba Shun found a merchant who frequently did business with Kusagakure.

After confirming their identities through hand signals and code phrases, Chiba Shun asked, "Is there any news about Kakuzu, the Takigakure shinobi's S-rank missing-nin?"

The intelligence ninja gave Chiba Shun a strange look before saying, "I heard Kakuzu fought a major battle with the Takigakure shinobi's Jinchūriki."

"The Takigakure shinobi's Jinchūriki was injured. They will probably have to replace their Jinchūriki before long."

"The Takigakure shinobi lack the ability to transfer a Jinchūriki themselves. I heard they issued a mission to Konoha, hoping to have them transfer the Seven-Tails."

It was Chiba Shun's first time hearing of this, and he immediately became interested. "Are the Takigakure shinobi really that bold? They're actually handing their village's lifeline over to Konoha?"

The intelligence ninja shook his head. "Perhaps Kakuzu killed too many of them, and their losses were too severe."

Chiba Shun nodded. "Then did Kakuzu come to Kusagakure?"

The intelligence ninja said, "Rest assured, Lord Shun. There has been no related news."

Chiba Shun felt a little awkward. The other man surely knew he had a huge bounty on his head in the black market and had guessed that Kakuzu wanted to earn that money too.

Then Chiba Shun obtained accurate information from him about the Uzumaki survivor.

As he was about to leave, Chiba Shun seemed to recall something. After hesitating, he still asked, "By the way, have you heard of someone named Shennong? His public profession is that of a physician."

The intelligence ninja found the question strange. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Never heard of him. Should I investigate?"

Chiba Shun quickly waved his hands. "No, no. I don't have the authority to command a senior."

Although this intelligence ninja was only a Chunin, he belonged to the intelligence system. Chiba Shun had only been granted the right to seek assistance, not the authority to assign him tasks.

After parting with the intelligence ninja, Chiba Shun found the Uzumaki woman.

She had been imprisoned by a Grass shinobi.

There was no need to think about it. That Grass shinobi had either treated her as a living blood pack or coveted her Uzumaki bloodline and wanted to have children with her.

When Chiba Shun found her, the Grass shinobi was not home. He was probably inside Kusagakure at the moment.

At present, that Grass shinobi was likely the only person who knew about this Uzumaki survivor's special constitution.

Chiba Shun did not intend to take her away directly. That Grass shinobi had to be eliminated.

Otherwise, he might contact other Grass shinobi and have them pursue them.

With the three little ones in tow, Chiba Shun would not be able to move quickly.

After settling the three little ones down, Chiba Shun waited alone near the Grass shinobi's house.

After waiting all night, the Grass shinobi finally appeared.

Carrying some food, he cautiously headed toward his home.

Just as he was about to enter the attack range of Chiba Shun's trap, he suddenly stopped.

He dropped the food in his hands and swiftly drew his weapon.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun did not continue hiding. He charged directly out of his hiding place.

So be it if he was exposed. This was the other man's territory to begin with, so it was normal for him to notice something amiss.

If he was exposed, then he would kill by force!

Chiba Shun opened with an A-rank Jutsu: Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!

This Grass shinobi was also a Jonin. Otherwise, he would not have discovered Chiba Shun.

The moment he saw Chiba Shun rapidly forming hand seals, he knew something was wrong. Rather than approaching Chiba Shun, he tried to widen the distance between them.

But he had not expected Chiba Shun's hand seals to be so fast, nor had he expected such a large-scale jutsu right from the start.

He failed to escape the range of the Swamp of the Underworld, and his feet quickly sank into it.

At that moment, he had no intention of resisting at all. His first reaction was actually to call for help.

He took out a scroll and prepared to launch a signal into the sky.

Of course, Chiba Shun would not give him that chance.

Earth Release: Earth Locking Wall!

An Earth Release wall far larger than before directly enclosed the Grass shinobi Jonin.

Through the Earth Locking Wall, Chiba Shun heard a muffled bang and a scream.

Clearly, the man's signal flare had been intercepted. It then exploded within the limited enclosed space and injured him directly.

Chiba Shun did not foolishly dismiss the Earth Locking Wall. He directly cast several Earth Spears through it.

Afterward, he used a sensory jutsu to investigate. Only after confirming that the man no longer had any breath did he turn and enter the house, rescuing the bound woman.

The woman was somewhat older than Chiba Shun had expected, probably close to twenty years old. She looked extremely weak.

He did not know whether she had been older when she gave birth to Karin, or whether she was not Karin's mother at all.

But there was no time to worry about that now.

There was no mistake that she was an Uzumaki. The Uzumaki's red hair was easy enough to recognize.

Chiba Shun grabbed her and ran toward where the three little ones were waiting.

After being rescued, she was still a little dazed.

Having suddenly regained her freedom, she did not know what to do.

Although she was an Uzumaki, she did not have much chakra in her body right now. This amount of chakra probably did not even reach Genin level.

After following Chiba Shun for a while, she finally remembered to ask, "Who are you?"

Chiba Shun did not have time to explain much. Who knew whether anyone in Kusagakure had heard the commotion? What if someone came after them?

He merely said, "I'm here to save you. We'll talk later."

The woman said nothing more. While running, she forcibly refined some chakra and increased her speed.

The sight left Chiba Shun somewhat amazed.

It seemed her original strength had not been bad. She had simply been excessively drained.

Or perhaps that Grass shinobi Jonin had deliberately not given her enough food, preventing her from refining chakra.

When the two reached the three little ones, they took them along and swiftly moved away from Kusagakure.

Fortunately, no one pursued them. The Grass shinobi Jonin's death had probably not been discovered yet.

Several days later, the five of them arrived at the small town where they had rested before.

Chiba Shun had already told this Uzumaki survivor to cover her hair.

Watching the woman wolf down food, Chiba Shun had originally wanted to ask her some questions, but now he could only give up.

The three little ones watched the woman curiously while eating.

They had never imagined anyone could eat so much.

Chiba Shun already had a large appetite himself. During his saturation training, he could eat ten portions of grilled meat in one meal. Yet this woman ate at least five times as much as Chiba Shun in one sitting.

The dishes Chiba Shun ordered were all high-energy foods that could replenish a ninja's chakra, and each portion cost one hundred ryo.

In other words, she spent five thousand ryo in a single meal!

And she ate at least five meals a day!

Chiba Shun had wanted to remind her not to eat herself sick, but when he remembered she was an Uzumaki, he gave up on the idea.

The five of them rested there for a full five days.

The woman ate enormous amounts of food every day, and the amount only increased as time passed. After eating, she ignored Chiba Shun and went straight back to her room to sleep.

Over five days, Chiba Shun spent around one hundred and fifty thousand ryo!

Watching his wallet shrink day by day, Chiba Shun's heart ached terribly.

Chiba Shun could not help complaining inwardly: When the Warring States era ended, all the major ninja clans formed villages together. Only the Uzumaki established a ninja village by themselves.

Could it be because the Uzumaki ate too much, so the other ninja clans were unwilling to partner with them?

Fortunately, the woman did not ignore Chiba Shun forever. Five days later, she finally spoke.

"My name is Maki Uzumaki. Which major ninja village are you from?"

Just as Chiba Shun was about to speak, Maki Uzumaki continued, "After leaving Kusagakure, you neither went south nor west. That means you aren't from Konoha or the Suna Shinobi."

"You're either Iwa Shinobi or Kumogakure shinobi."

"Judging by your appearance, you should be a Kumogakure shinobi. But your chakra nature is Earth Release, which makes you seem like an Iwa Shinobi."

"That makes it hard to guess."

Chiba Shun narrowed his eyes. This Maki Uzumaki was no fool.

He could not treat her like Kushina Uzumaki or Naruto.

Chiba Shun said, "I'm from Kumogakure. I came specifically to find you and invite you to join Kumogakure."

Maki Uzumaki said in surprise, "Kumogakure actually has shinobi skilled in Earth Release?"

Then she sneered. "Kumogakure? Whirlpool Nest Village was destroyed by you people!"

Chiba Shun said, "There is no real meaning in dwelling on past hatred."

"If we're talking about the Second Shinobi World War, your people were the ones who helped Konoha fight us first. Many Kumogakure shinobi also died at your hands."

"Most importantly, if you hadn't suddenly intervened, Konoha might already have been destroyed!"

"Your Whirlpool Nest Village ruined the Four Great Ninja Villages' strategy to capture Konoha, and it was the best opportunity!"

"If we go back even further, it becomes even more meaningless. During the Warring States era, every clan fought one another. Right and wrong, hatred—they all meant nothing."