Escape From Konoha

"What a fierce battle. What happened over there?"

Although I didn't witness the battlefield between Kakashi and Kisame with my own eyes, but with the water bombarding the ground and the fallen trees accompanied by the occasional thunder and roar, Hong can judge that the battle there is very urgent. It seemed that he was using all his strength to attack his opponent with his own ultimate blow.

In this situation, Hong couldn't tell who had the advantage.

"Hinata, can you see the scene over there?"

Hong's face turned and he looked at Hinata beside him and asked.

She wanted to know what was going on with Kakashi.

Hinata opened her eyes, shook her head, and said in a tone of self-blame: "Sorry, Hong-sensei, I can't see the battlefield on Kakashi-sensei's side, my eyes are not far enough away."

Although the Byakugan has the ability to see far and see through, Hinata's Byakugan is limited in the distance it can observe.

The battlefield where Kakashi and Kisame were located was beyond the distance she could observe.

Kurenai was not too disappointed. With Hinata's level, it was indeed difficult to use Byakugan's ability.

As far as she knew, the distance an adult Hyuuga clan jounin could see was about one kilometer.

Hinata's strength is probably far behind that of Chuunin. It is estimated that Hinata's eye-rolling limit is at a distance of two hundred meters.

"That's it, it doesn't matter, just protect yourself."

Hong comforted.

Hinata lowered her head, still blaming herself for her lack of strength.

In fact, there was no need for her to blame herself. Even a ninja of Kurenai's level would be very reluctant to intervene in such a battle, let alone a genin.

"Are we going to watch like this?"

Naruto asked reluctantly, he seemed to want to go up and help.

"Don't be impulsive! You will only get in the way and distract Kakashi and Gai from protecting you."

Kurenai sternly dismissed Naruto's idea of ​​going up to help.

Although she is a newly promoted jounin, she still has good eyesight. Naruto is very good compared to his peers, but this is not a battle that he can intervene in.

Moreover, this is a life-and-death fight without the so-called no-kill rule. As a jinchuriki, Naruto is the primary target of protection and no accidents can occur.

"Where is Asuma Jounin? You can detect the abnormality here. There is no way he can't detect it."

Sasuke was also unwilling, but he knew that going up to fight Itachi would only be of no help. If he wanted to join such a battle, he must at least be a jounin.

"He is maintaining the security of the camp. There may be other guys watching in secret. A jounin must be left there to guard it."

Red replied.

Then, she focused her attention on Kai and Itachi again, her eyes flashing, trying to find an opportunity to strike.

But Itachi's every move is impeccable. While rivaling Kai in physical skills, he still has enough time to pay attention to the movement around him, calm and composed, and his face has not changed from beginning to end.

Itachi's calmness made Hong feel more stressed.

If she had been there, she would probably have been mercilessly defeated by Itachi's overwhelming taijutsu.

As for the genjutsu competition she was best at, she didn't think her genjutsu could defeat the Sharingan, so she was thankful to be able to remain undefeated.

The kunai and nunchaku collided with each other, making the sound of metal clashing in the dark forest, and sparks flying.

With strength, speed, and reflexes, Itachi was able to keep up with ease.

In other words, his poker face has remained unchanged for thousands of years, making it impossible to read from his face whether he has used his full strength.

The veins on both sides of Kai's temples began to throb, his skin was congested, and his eyes were fixed on Itachi's every move. The countless stick shadows he swung out in an instant, no matter which direction he attacked from, were intercepted by Itachi with kunai. He couldn't even touch Itachi's body.

"Water Release·Water Fang Bullet!"

It's another ninjutsu that seems to be released without any seals.

Spiral water jets appeared everywhere, attacking Kai's body.

Kai dodged back, and the spiral water column flew away.

Afterwards, countless shurikens occupied the field of vision, and flew out from Itachi's hand at some unknown time. All the attacks were perfectly connected, one chain after another, leaving Kai with no chance to breathe.

Kai stepped on the ground and swept out the shadow of his stick. Ding Ding Ding knocked down all the shurikens and gasped slightly.

Itachi's shoulders also shrugged slightly. Although his face still had an attitude of ease, it was obvious that after such a long period of high-explosive physical skills, his physical strength was a bit too much.

It was more difficult than he thought to block Kai in his five-door state.

"It seems that you are not completely able to withstand my attack."

Kai was still in the mood to smile, but the solemn color in his eyes lingered.

He was extremely surprised by Itachi's ability in taijutsu to be so inseparable from him in his five-door state.

No wonder his strength is so highly regarded by Kakashi.

Itachi pursed his lips and said nothing. He didn't like saying meaningless words in battle. It was just a waste of energy.

At this moment, Itachi rolled his eyes, and a figure jumped next to him.

The posture is quite awkward, there are a few wounds cut by the blade on the black-bottomed red cloud coat, and the skin on the back of the hand is also a little blackened, but he firmly grasps the bandage knife in his hand, and stares fiercely at the front.

Kakashi appeared next to Gai at some point, standing side by side, confronting Itachi and Kisame again.

Kakashi was also a little out of breath, his clothes were wet and a little torn, just like Kisame, he grabbed the dagger in his hand with a calm posture and didn't relax.

"You seem to be in a mess, Kakashi."

"Don't talk about me, don't you too? This guy's strength is extraordinary, even you may not be able to match him. And his weapon can suck my chakra."

Kakashi glanced at Kai and said.

"Is that so? Do you want to change your opponent next? Itachi was once your subordinate. You should be more suitable to deal with him than me."

Kai suggested.

Kakashi didn't speak, just held the knife and stared at Itachi and Kisame.

"If you want to take them down, you may need to show your real skills. Such a painless attack is useless against them."

Kisame turned to Itachi and said.

Itachi was silent for a moment and said: "It seems that there is no way to recover the legacy of the Fourth Hokage this time."

"Huh? You mean..."

"Since the sneak attack failed, the action of taking Naruto away is meaningless."

Itachi gave up the idea of ​​continuing to fight.

"Let's go. There is no point in staying here anymore. If we continue to fight, we may suffer even more losses. There is no need to rush. The intelligence collected here is enough."

After saying that, Itachi turned around and ran backwards, leaving very simply.

Kisame took a deep look at Kakashi and the others, then ran behind Itachi and left this place.

Seeing Itachi and Kisame escaping so cleanly, Kai and Kakashi both relaxed their bodies, as if they had escaped a fierce battle and let out a sigh of relief.

In fact, in a real fight, two against two, the two of them don't need to be afraid.

It's just that when there are people around, it's too clumsy to let go and fight, and you may accidentally affect your own people.

What's more, in this situation, protecting Naruto is the most important thing, not dealing with the rebellious nin who targets the Jinchuuriki.

"finished?"

Hong walked over with Naruto and the three of them.

The slightly swollen muscles on Kai's body began to shrink and returned to normal. The color of his skin also returned to normal. The strong chakra fluctuations on his body disappeared, and no excess energy was leaked.

"It should be over. Even if they go and turn back, the result will be the same as before. With Naruto as their target, they should belong to an organization..."

Kaisong said in a tone.

Although he was not an ANBU member, he had heard something about a certain organization that was capturing tailed beasts throughout the ninja world.

"Well, it seems that after we go back, we need to solemnly report to the Hokage-sama. I hope that the rest of the way back will be safe."

Kakashi put away the White Fang dagger and put it in the sheath behind his back.

Looking at Sasuke who looked unwilling, Kakashi said:

"Don't worry too much. You can't be Itachi's opponent now. If you target him, just make sure you get stronger next."

"You don't need to tell me about this, of course I know!"

Sasuke's mouth twitched slightly, with an unhappy tone.

Among the group of people, he was the most seriously injured and could barely walk now. He needed Naruto's help to walk normally.

Then, Kakashi looked at Naruto who was hesitant to speak and wanted to ask something, and said: "As for this matter, I will explain to you when I get back. Now we have to set off overnight, and it is no longer safe here. .Red, inform Asuma and rush back to Konoha as soon as possible."

"good!"

Kurenai nodded and returned towards the camp, asking them to stop setting up the camp and returning to Konoha Village overnight to minimize the risk.

◎

In the next day, under the leadership of Kakashi, a group of sixteen people traveled day and night without stopping, heading towards Konoha.

If you are hungry, you can just eat cold rice balls bought on the roadside, or use Bingliang Pills to replenish the consumed chakra and physical strength as a way to satisfy your hunger.

It was not until ten o'clock in the morning on the third day that Kakashi and others finally returned to Konoha Village. Seeing the familiar buildings in the village that had not been seen for a long time, everyone felt more cordial and safer. They no longer had to worry about being attacked halfway. .

"Genin, please go back and rest, we will report on this mission."

Asuma spoke.

He asked the genin to return to their respective homes to rest, and the jounin submitted the mission report to the Hokage.

Naruto and the other genin had no objection at all. After saying goodbye, dragging their exhausted bodies, they all returned to their homes and began to rest.

Looking at the genin returning to their respective families, Asuma and the others turned back and looked at each other. Although they also wanted to go home and sleep, before that, they still needed to complete the mission report, which was not complete yet. Time to relax.

At this time, not long after the Hokage went to work, the staff in the Hokage Building began a new day of administration.

"Hey, Kakashi, you guys are back so soon?"

In the corridor of the Hokage Building, a young ninja walked towards him.

The color of his ninja uniform is slightly lighter, and you can tell that he is a chuunin.

——Steel and iron.

Although he is only a chuunin, his strength is also outstanding among the chunin and he has the potential to become a jounin.

The direction he was walking in was that he should have just walked out of the Hokage's office.

"Yeah, are you resting with Izumo today?"

Kakashi nodded. He had not been at the main entrance of Konoha before. When he saw Gang Zitie and his good partner Kamizuki Izumo, he knew that today was the day off for the two of them.

"Yes, I'm here to hand over the task. Izumo has gone back. I'm going back to rest soon."

Gangzitie nodded.

"That was really hard work."

"Compared to you jonins, our hard work is nothing. However, you are the first batch of jonins to come back from the land of ghosts."

Gangzitie said.

There are far more Konoha Jounin who went to the Ghost Country this time, but because those Jounin did not go to the Ghost Country with a mission, but entered the Ghost Country as tourists, they were relatively free to move.

The situation is different for the jonins led by Kakashi. Unless there are special circumstances, their time to return to the village will be limited, and they must return to the village safely within the specified time.

A few days after the Chuunin exams ended, they returned directly to Konoha, not daring to stay.

"Well, the business and tourism there are very prosperous. It is indeed a good place to take a vacation."

"That's great. I'll go there to have fun next time. Then I won't disturb you anymore. See you later."

"See you."

After saying goodbye to each other, the four Kakashi walked to the door of the Hokage's office without any obstruction, knocked on the door and entered.

The image of the Third Hokage smoking a pipe in the office in the early morning is really deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Although Kurenai was a little dissatisfied with the smell of tobacco in the office, she had no choice but to endure it when faced with the Hokage.

From a ninja's point of view, tobacco should not be used. Not only will it weaken a ninja's willpower, but it will also make it easy for people to get the smell of tobacco and be used by the enemy in battle.

Asuma was used to it, and if he hadn't noticed Kurenai's staring eyes, he would have wanted to take out a cigarette and smoke it.

But for now, forget it.

As usual, he held the cigarette in his mouth and did not light it with a lighter. He just pretended to smoke.

"Ahem."

The Third Hokage was coughing because of the smell of tobacco.

The ravine-like wrinkles on his face have become deeper, and the fatigue is obvious. It is obvious that he has been working at a high intensity these past few days, and his body feels worse every day.

It's just that he himself feels good. Compared with his body, quitting smoking is more painful for him, even though his body is very old.

"Thank you for your hard work this time. Regarding the video of the Chuunin exam, I have watched it after it was sorted out and sent by the Demon Kingdom yesterday. As for the Chunin rating, it will take a while to list the list of qualified candidates. "

Naruto reaching the finals was something Hiruzen didn't expect.

At first, he thought that Sasuke and Neji's results would be even better.

But he didn't expect Neji to be directly eliminated in the first round, and was defeated by the opponent's overwhelming force.

Sasuke persisted until the second round and tried his best. Hiruzen couldn't force it, knowing that was Sasuke's limit.

Only on Naruto, he put a question mark.

He didn't know what Kakashi and Jiraiya did to Naruto, but it was obvious that it was probably not Naruto's own power.

What exactly it is needs to be further observed.

Therefore, Hiruzen did not hesitate to cross out Naruto's name from the list of qualified Chunin.

The first round of exams was seriously unsatisfactory, and basic knowledge and intelligence gathering abilities were severely lacking. Although there was some judgment ability, it did not affect the final evaluation.

Compared to the scores on paper, Hiruzen valued the candidates' answering process in the first round of the exam rather than the answers themselves.

After that, Naruto's game was remarkable... Although his strength was sufficient, several other important abilities to become a chuunin were not outstanding in Naruto.

Hiruzen can only regret and look forward to Naruto's performance next year.

Although Sasuke and Neji failed in the exam, they performed well and had the necessary qualities to be a chuunin.

Shikamaru of the Nara family was eliminated due to the preliminary round and had no chance to show his true power. Like Naruto, he waited to fight again next year.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. In addition, we have one more thing to report."

Kakashi stepped out and said.

"What's up?"

"We were attacked by Uchiha Itachi and Inigaki Kisame on the road. They came here for Naruto."

Kakashi looked serious.

"...Itachi? It's such a long-lost name. Has that organization been unable to bear it so quickly?"

Hiruzen Mei knew very well that Itachi's attack on Kakashi and others was not to capture Naruto, but to use this fake attack to hint some information to him.

But because the message was too ambiguous, Hiruzen couldn't tell what message Itachi wanted to send.

There was only one thing that could be confirmed. The danger of this organization was getting higher and higher, which made Itachi start to feel restless. He told Konoha through the attack, hoping that Konoha would prepare early and no longer be passive in counterattack.

"Yes, there is Sasuke's matter at the end..."

"Phew, things are getting more and more difficult. You three go down first, Kakashi."

Hiruzen looked solemn and left Kakashi alone to discuss.

When the other three Jonin heard this, they had no choice but to leave the office and make way for the space here.

◎

In the dark and deep room, countless black shadows gathered.

Each of them wore a black windbreaker and a set of masks on their faces. Their whole bodies exuded a biting cold aura, as if they were standing there on ice.

"Then each group will perform its duties and disperse."

Danzo was at the front, with two bodyguards, Yamafaze and Aburame Horine, standing next to him.

He was holding a cane in his hand, like a frail old man relying on a cane to walk and stand alone.

In Danzo's brief and indifferent words, a famous ninja in front of him disappeared without a trace in an instant, and he didn't know where he was going.

Since the end of the Third Ninja War, the root's power has been expanding rapidly.

Both the quality and quantity of ninjas far exceeded the previous scale and reached an unprecedented state of prosperity.

What was supposed to be the root of the ANBU branch, thanks to Danzo's years of unremitting efforts and development, has become a powerful force to counterattack the ANBU.

Thinking of the countless painstaking efforts I have spent on root development over the years, and with Danzo's temperament at this time, I can't help but feel a little excited. His era is coming.

However, we can't get into trouble yet.

It's not the best time to take action yet.

In order to obtain the position of Hokage, he has been waiting for decades, which is not enough time.

"Master Danzo, Kakashi has just returned. Do you need to summon him at this time?"

Shan Feng reported.

"No need, he just needs to appear at the most critical moment. There is no need to involve him in the plan for the time being to prevent Hiruzen from noticing anything unusual."

Danzo looked very calm.

Although victory is just around the corner, some plans still need to be prepared in advance.

Danzo was not dazzled by the sudden joy of the huge victory he was about to complete.

If there are flaws in the plan due to greed for rash advancement, it may be too late to even buy the regret medicine.

Therefore, the more critical this moment is, the more important it is to calm down and think, and find out if there is anything that needs to be added.

Because once he takes action next, it means that the root and the Hokage are dead and the two are dead, and only one of them can exist.

And Danzo has obviously already realized this.

"The most important thing now is to keep an eye on Tsunade, and then use Tsunade to transfer Jiraiya out of the village, leaving Hiruzen isolated and helpless."

The ideas in Danzo's mind were very clear.

If you want to win the Sun Slash and have enough time to deal with the subsequent complicated changes, you must ensure that people with the ability to make trouble will not return to the village during this period, so as to increase the working ability of the roots.

From Danzo's point of view, Tsunade and Jiraiya are two people with the ability to cause trouble, especially the former, whose existence is very important.

Because relying on the normal Hokage election method, he would not be able to defeat Tsunade no matter what, so cutting off Hirazan's final retreat and making everyone have to choose themselves is also a way out.

Although doing so may cause some bloodshed, thinking that he has reached this point, it is already too late to retreat.

"Then, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, Feng, take the root, the two of you will also formally participate in the plan to ensure the smooth progress of the plan."

Danzo narrowed his eyes and made this important decision.

"Yes, Lord Danzo."