Maki Uzumaki

All three of them changed expression, unable to stop themselves from wondering who in Kumogakure had a Tailed Beast inside them, and whether that person would suddenly turn into an enormous monster like the Seven-Tails.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun said, "Jinchūriki are the village's heroes. They help the village suppress the Tailed Beasts, preventing them from becoming the village's enemies and allowing their power to be used against the village's foes instead."

The three of them did not quite understand, but they still nodded.

Kakuzu's appearance had calmed Chiba Shun's previously restless mindset, which had come from his greatly increased strength.

From then on, he no longer dared to act as a ninja. Instead, he disguised himself as an ordinary person and traveled with a merchant caravan 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 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 in the future, so this relative was probably still a teenager.

Chiba Shun spent a long time making inquiries near Kusagakure, but he found no trace of that 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.

The Land of Grass was a small country, far from home, and had no Tailed Beast, so Kumogakure had not stationed many shinobi there.

The only intelligence ninja Chiba Shun knew of was this one. It was also this person 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 gestures and code signals, Chiba Shun asked, "Have there been any reports on Kakuzu, Takigakure's S-rank rogue ninja, recently?"

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

"Takigakure's Jinchūriki was injured. They will probably need to replace their Jinchūriki soon."

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

It was Chiba Shun's first time hearing of this, and he immediately became interested. "Takigakure has that much nerve? They are actually handing the lifeline of their village 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 has Kakuzu come to Kusagakure?"

The intelligence ninja replied, "Rest assured, Lord Shun. There is no related information."

Chiba Shun felt a little embarrassed. The man definitely knew that he had been offered a huge bounty on the black market and had guessed that Kakuzu wanted to earn that money too.

Chiba Shun then obtained the precise information on the Uzumaki orphan from him.

Just 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? He is ostensibly a physician."

The intelligence ninja found the question strange. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I have not. Do you want me to investigate?"

Chiba Shun hurriedly waved his hands. Embarrassed, he said, "No, no. I do not 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 his assistance, not the authority to assign him missions.

After bidding farewell to 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.

The only person who likely knew about this Uzumaki orphan's special constitution was that Grass shinobi.

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

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

With three children in tow, Chiba Shun could not move quickly.

After settling the three children, Chiba Shun waited alone near the Grass shinobi's home.

After waiting all night, the Grass shinobi finally appeared.

Carrying some food, he cautiously approached 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 rushed straight out of his concealment.

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

Once exposed, he would kill him 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 detected Chiba Shun.

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

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

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

At that moment, he completely abandoned any thought of resistance. 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 could hear a muffled bang followed by a scream.

Clearly, the man's signal flare had been intercepted, then exploded inside the cramped sealed space and injured him directly.

Chiba Shun did not foolishly dispel the Earth Locking Wall. He directly unleashed 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. She looked extremely weak.

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

But there was no time to worry about that now.

There was no mistaking that this woman was from the Uzumaki clan. The Uzumaki's red hair was easy enough to identify.

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

After being rescued, she was still somewhat dazed.

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

Although she was an Uzumaki, she did not have much chakra left in her body. It was probably not even enough to match a Genin's 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 simply said, "I came to save you. We can talk later."

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

The sight surprised Chiba Shun somewhat.

It seemed that her original strength had not been poor. She had merely been excessively drained.

Or perhaps that Grass shinobi Jonin had deliberately denied her enough food, preventing her from refining chakra.

The two reached the three children, then took them 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 made this Uzumaki orphan cover her hair.

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

The three children ate while curiously watching the woman.

They had never imagined that someone could eat so much.

Chiba Shun already had a huge appetite. 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 he did in a single meal.

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

That meant one of her meals cost Chiba Shun five thousand ryo!

And she ate at least five meals a day!

Chiba Shun had wanted to remind her not to upset her stomach, but when he remembered that 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 those five days, Chiba Shun spent roughly one hundred and fifty thousand ryo!

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

Chiba Shun could not help grumbling inwardly: When the Warring States Era ended, all the major ninja clans joined together to establish ninja villages. Only the Uzumaki clan founded a ninja village by themselves.

Was it because the Uzumaki clan ate too much, and 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 did not head south or west, which means you are not from Konoha or Suna."

"You are either Iwa Shinobi or Kumogakure shinobi."

"Judging by your appearance, you should be from Kumogakure, 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 not stupid.

He could not treat her like Kushina Uzumaki or Naruto.

Chiba Shun said, "I am a Kumogakure shinobi. I came specifically to find you and invite you to join Kumogakure."

Maki Uzumaki looked somewhat surprised. "Kumogakure actually has ninja skilled in Earth Release?"

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

Chiba Shun said, "There is no point dwelling on past hatred."

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

"Most importantly, if you had not 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 our 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 and resentment—all of it was meaningless."