Escape From Konoha

The Country of Pools, a port city.

This is the political and cultural center of the Country of Chi, and the residence of the noble group of the Country of Chi, headed by the daimyo.

Since it is a national capital and a port city, the business travelers that come and go inject a lot of commercial vitality into this place. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most prosperous city not only in the Country of Chi, but even among the surrounding small country groups. .

In the hot spring hotel, Tenzo took Naruto and the three of them passing through this port city. They planned to stay in the hotel for one night and take a dip in the famous hot springs in the country of ponds at night. They would set out from here early the next morning and return to Mu. leaf.

Even though a ninja has a strong willpower after living outside for several days in a row, he will inevitably find such days a bit boring and needs to enjoy himself in time to add some spice to his life.

"Speaking of which, Captain Yamato, what is going on in this country? It was clearly not like this when I passed by here before."

In a lounge near the courtyard, a group of people gathered here after putting down their rituals.

Naruto was the first to speak, asking the doubts in his heart.

It was obvious that he was still brooding over the previous battles he had encountered in the wild forest.

Seeing so many people die in front of him, and those who didn't die, making pitiful cries, was heart-wrenching, and made Naruto feel unspeakably depressed.

Sakura's expression was also a little gloomy. As a medical ninja, her compassion was not inferior to that of Naruto. Those samurai should be affiliated with the Daimyo of the Country of Pond, an armed group that protects the country, just like Konoha's view of the fire. The meaning of country is the same.

But now they were dying in front of him one by one. The warriors who were not dead were also taken away and taken to unknown places, feeling extremely disappointed.

In response to Naruto's inquiry, Tenzo shook his head just like he did in the forest before and said: "No, I don't know the inside story. The soldiers who attacked the Samurai of the Daming Mansion in Chi Country don't know what's going on either."

Then, he glanced at Naruto and Sakura, and continued: "However, these things are not our business. As ninjas of Konoha, if we rashly intervene in other countries' battles, it will bring great harm to the village. negative impact."

This is not the time of the Ninja World War. The village has very strict restrictions on ninjas who go out to perform tasks. They cannot do things as easily as they did during the war.

Although there are ninja villages that behave domineeringly whether in war or peace, such as Kumogakure, in comparison, Konoha is relatively a more rule-abiding ninja village.

If the reputation of Konoha Village is damaged because of this kind of thing, Team 7 will definitely get angry, and they will be in constant trouble.

"But……"

"Naruto, we are ninjas, not philanthropists. It is our duty to take people's money and eliminate disasters. Don't meddle in matters other than the mission. Especially the previous battle seemed to involve The changes in the power of the top management of Chi Country will be even more troublesome if you intervene casually."

Tenzo said to Naruto seriously.

Being kind-hearted is not a flaw of the ninja. On the contrary, it is a very good character. However, the ninja must understand when to give out his kindness and when to restrain his kindness.

It means giving one's good intentions, but in the end it may cause huge evil consequences instead of good ones.

"It's really bad if you want to help others but end up getting involved. In such a foreign country, it's better for us to keep a low profile."

Sai said with a smile.

As a member of the Gen, he has long been accustomed to fighting. Perhaps the previous battles were a bit too cruel in the eyes of Naruto and Sakura... but this is indeed a reality in the ninja world.

Perhaps, the truth of the matter is more cruel and violent than they imagined.

Every minute and every second in this world is indispensable for the struggle between humans.

The conflicts that I encountered accidentally in the forest before were just the tip of the iceberg of what this ninja world showed.

"I got it, I don't need you to explain it specifically, Sai, huh!"

Naruto turned his head and snorted softly, seeming a little impatient with what Sai said.

He always preached to himself like he had seen the world, but he couldn't refute a word, which made Naruto extremely depressed.

He naturally knew that ninjas were not philanthropists, but he couldn't bear to see so many lives passing away in front of his eyes.

Sai smiled slightly. He was already familiar with Naruto's personality, so he just thought that the other person was pretending to be relaxed.

Just as Naruto couldn't understand his reality, he couldn't understand the kindness in Naruto's heart.

In this ninja world, he never believed that kindness and love were needed, only pure violence and cold-blooded fighting.

The colors in his inner world are so monotonous and indifferent.

This may be where their current ambiguity lies.

But I don’t actually hate this different kind of life. Sai asked himself this in his mind.

But the warm colors are too luxurious for him now...

"Then, it's time for free activities. Anyway, we'll talk about the hot spring bathing in the evening. You can use the rest of the afternoon to your own discretion."

Tenzo stood up from the floor and smiled at the three Narutos.

In short, performing tasks will also put huge physical and psychological pressure on the ninja. Therefore, he decided to let the three Narutos relax here at this time.

Because the protective power of Anbu Anbu has been strengthened, even if there is an emergency, his side can be on time for support.

In addition, Naruto was different from half a year ago. Even if a jounin-level ninja wanted to sneak attack Naruto, it would be impossible for him to do so under the protection of ANBU.

"You too, Sai, after finally coming out, you should also relax a bit."

He walked up to Sai and knelt down, patted him on the shoulder, and left the words "Naruto will be in your care for the time being" in his ear, and then disappeared from the room.

Sai stared at the direction Tenzo left, thoughtfully.

Are you going to do something?

It seems that the captain is quite concerned about the things in the forest on the surface, and is not as indifferent as he seems on the surface. Zuo Jing thought to himself.

"It would be nice if it was just me and Sakura..."

On the other side, Naruto began to have thoughts.

Sai turned his head again and said with a smile: "I'm really sorry, it seems like I'm going to disturb your date this time."

If you are in Konoha, the vigilance can be relaxed appropriately, but not outside Konoha Village. You must take strict precautions and follow Naruto inseparably.

"Sai, don't listen to Naruto's nonsense. I have no interest in dating or anything like that."

Sakura rejected it without hesitation.

However, the capital of Chi Country is also a well-known prosperous city in the ninja world. Due to the prosperity of commerce, the types and quality of goods are no worse than those in Konoha, and are even more complete in variety. She indeed has a great interest in shopping.

The three of them gathered together for a while, then left the hot spring hotel and walked to the street.

Next, I plan to spend half a day exploring this port city.

"I didn't expect there to be a ninja shop here. It seems to have a full range of items. I just don't know what the prices are like?"

The first person to enter was a ninja shop. The owner of the shop was a middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairstyle. He was sitting at the door of the shop, looking drowsy in the sun.

There was only one young female clerk taking care of the store. When she saw the three Narutos coming in, she gave them a friendly and friendly smile, and she was very approachable.

"After all, it is a port city where merchants from both sea and land gather. In this city, it is normal to open a ninja shop."

Sakura disagreed.

The Country of Chi is a country with a large number of ports, and the hot spring industry is developed. Businessmen passing by, as well as ninjas passing by on missions, can't help but stop here to enjoy the scenery of this country.

In a city like this, it is normal to have a large number of ninja shops.

Naruto had already started to pick up the ninja tools on the shelf in the shop and began to think about them. Sai could not help but also walked to the shelf where the ninja swords were placed and carefully stared at the fine ninja swords on the shelf.

Although the store is not large, the ninja tools in the store are all of high quality. Many of the ninja tools are even made of precious chakra metal and have extremely strong chakra properties. This type of ninja tool has a very obvious effect on the growth of ninjas in actual combat.

Ordinary metals are very inefficient at conducting chakra, which also weakens the adhesion effect of chakra, resulting in a significant reduction in power.

Therefore, ninja tools made of chakra metal are definitely in short supply and are favored by many ninjas.

Compared to Naruto's casual look, Sai's posture of choosing the ninja sword is more like a professional connoisseur, who can quickly judge the quality of a ninja tool, and his eyes are extremely serious, making people aware of it at a glance. I know that if I have learned similar tasting knowledge, I am not just showing off to outsiders.

"Sai, have you chosen your ninja sword?"

Sakura came to Sai and asked softly.

Sai turned his head to glance at Sakura, then turned back to look at the two light ninja swords of similar standards in his hands.

"No, I'm thinking about which Ninja Sword to choose. This Ninja Sword is the standard Ninja Sword for military ninjas in the Kingdom of Demons, and here is the Ninja Sword made by the capable blacksmiths of the Kingdom of Iron. The quality of the blade is , including the ability to conduct chakra, seems to be pretty much the same."

Sai frowned in embarrassment.

Thanks to its extremely powerful industrial capabilities, the country of ghosts has improved the quality of its ninja tools every year.

The Kingdom of Iron benefited from its own country's accumulation, especially in smelting weapons, and became unique in the ninja world.

After all, the warrior culture in this country is extremely prosperous, and the quality requirements for the blade itself are also stricter.

It can be said that the cold weapon ninja tools on the international arms market today are basically ninja tools produced by these two countries.

The ninja tools forged by other countries are slightly inferior in comparison.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be enough to just buy them all?"

Sakura suggested.

"No, if I buy them all, I won't have any money left to buy painting tools."

Compared to his requirements for ninja tools, Sai's requirements for painting tools are no less stringent than those for ninja tools, and are even more picky. This makes the purchase of painting tools a large expense in his daily expenses.

Moreover, the selling price of ninja swords forged from chakra metal is extremely expensive, which cannot be compared with ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken.

"That's it."

Sakura nodded and said nothing more.

On the other side, seeing Sakura chatting quietly with Sai, Naruto's eyes suddenly burst into flames of jealousy.

Just when he was about to step forward and interrupt their communication, a figure suddenly rushed in from outside, grabbed Naruto's shoulders, and shouted with great joy:

"You are a ninja of Konoha! Great, you are finally here. The daimyo has been waiting for you for a long time!"

This sudden scene made Naruto freeze on the spot in astonishment.

"Hey, wait, grandpa, who are you? You must have recognized the wrong person, right?"

The man who ran over and grabbed his shoulders in front of him was about fifty years old, his hair was starting to turn gray, and he looked happy, as if he was crying with joy.

But Naruto was sure that he didn't know the old man in front of him, and he was confused for a moment.

"It's not a mistake, I'm looking for you Konoha ninjas! Come with me quickly to see the Daimyo-sama!"

With that said, the old man was about to pull Naruto out of the ninja shop.

"etc!"

Sakura and Sai came over and stopped the old man from making any further moves.

Sakura looked at the old man with vigilant eyes and said, "We are indeed Konoha's ninjas, but who are you and why do you come to us?"

When the old man saw Sakura and Sai, he knew that his actions were too rude, so he let go of Naruto, coughed, and replied seriously: "I am a retainer serving the Daimyo of the Country of Chi. Now the Daimyo is important. I urgently need to see you Konoha ninjas, please follow me."

"Lord Daimyo?"

Sakura and Sai looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

I don't understand what's going on at all, why it suddenly involves the Daimyo of Chi Country.

The shop owner, who was drowsy at the entrance of the ninja shop, heard the conversation of several people and opened his eyes slightly. Then he closed his eyes as if nothing happened and continued to take a nap while lying on the old man's chair.

◎

Daming Mansion.

The Daimyo of Chi no Kuni is a man in his thirties with a rather wealthy figure. His gorgeous clothes make him look bloated.

On both sides of his body, there was a beautiful girl with a charming expression, her eyes were charming, and she was serving the daimyo with a very obedient attitude.

Naruto and Sakura looked slightly unnatural when they saw this scene.

They always felt that the current scene gave them an out-of-place feeling and was a bit explosive.

His impression of the name of Chi Country was directly reduced by three points.

Only Sai seemed to be used to this, and the expression on his face did not change at all.

"You Konoha ninjas are finally here. Now I have an important task for you to do. That is to help me quickly suppress all the rebellious people in the country!"

The Daimyo of the Country of Ikea ate the fruit brought by the maid, while holding a folding fan, he gave orders to the three Narutos as a superior.

Although the power of Konoha Village is powerful, as an employer, the Daimyo of the Country of Ikea has no respect for the ninjas of Konoha Village. He just gives orders to his subordinate samurai.

"Um, Lord Daimyo... have you made a mistake? We have not received a mission about the Country of Chi. Moreover, we are only passing through the Country of Chi and will return to the village soon."

Although the attitude of the Daimyo of the Country of Ikea was a little bad, considering that he was the lord of a country, if he spoke harshly, it would be easy to leave a bad impression on the other party, so Sakura had to try to keep her tone calm and at the same time use His eyes gave Sai a signal to hold Naruto down and not let Naruto come up and cause trouble.

"Are you kidding me? The letter of authorization was clearly sent to your Konoha Village three days ago. Are you telling me this now to ruin the Hokage's reputation?"

The Daimyo of Chi Country frowned, pushed away the maids serving him on both sides, and glanced at Sakura with some displeasure, thinking that the other party was playing a trick on him.

"We didn't mean that, but we really didn't receive a mission about the Country of Chi... I think the Konoha ninja who took over the mission entrusted by the Daimyo should be someone else, not our team."

Sakura explained patiently.

This kind of accidental situation occasionally happens.

For example, when a ninja completed a mission and returned to the village, he passed through a certain country and met a client who happened to entrust a Konoha ninja to do something. As a result, he mistakenly thought that the team rushing back to Konoha was the ninja who took on their mission. squad.

The situation today is similar. The Konoha ninjas who took over the mission from the Country of Chi were not their seventh squad, but another unit.

In situations like this, generally speaking, you can just ignore it.

But that's not possible right now. Although this is true according to the rules, if you really follow the rules and leave directly, you may ruin the name of the Country of Chi.

As the monarch of a country, it can be said that he has the power of life and death in the country. Explaining it in person will appear more sincere.

After all, depending on the identity of the client, it is occasionally necessary to weigh the pros and cons and cannot be generalized.

Rules are rigid, but problems encountered in reality often require flexibility to effectively solve them.

What Sakura meant made the Daimyo of Chi no Kuni's brows gradually relax, and he seemed a little unsure.

"Are you really not the Konoha ninjas who came to assist me?"

"Yes, our team is on its way back to Konoha and is just passing through here. The Konoha ninja who has taken on the daimyo's mission should be on the way."

Sakura couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the Daimyo of Chi Country had finally listened to what he said.

The famous person from the Kingdom of Chi looked at the retainer standing next to him. It was this person who led Naruto and the three of them here. He gave the other party a fierce look, as if he was blaming the other party for finding the wrong person.

The old retainer lowered his head in embarrassment, not daring to look at the Daimyo of Chi Country, and realized his mistake.

Naruto and the other three were not the Konoha ninjas he was looking for.

At this moment, a warrior walked in from outside the palace.

He walked to the center of the hall and knelt down in front of the captain of the Kingdom of Chi.

"Lord Daimyo, a Konoha ninja named Yamato is outside asking for an audience."

"Yamato?"

The Daimyo of Chi Country glanced at the three Narutos.

"He is the leading jounin of our team."

Sakura answered.

The Daimyo of Chi no Kuni held a folding fan and tapped his head lightly, as if he was thinking about something seriously.

"Bring him in."

"yes."

The warrior took the order and went down.

After a while, the samurai led Tianzang into the hall.

Seeing that Naruto and the other three were fine, Tenzo nodded slightly to them, then his eyes fell on the Daimyo of the Country of Chi, and he stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, Daimyo."

"Are you a Jounin of Konoha?"

The Daimyo of the Country of Chi did not pay attention to Tenzo's salute, but asked this question.

"Yes."

Tianzang responded neither humble nor arrogantly.

Tenzo, who is well-informed, naturally understands what the current situation is. It is simply that the retainers of the Daimyo of the Country of Ikea have found the wrong person and mistakenly mistook Team 7 for the Konoha ninja who received the mission. And the Konoha ninja they were really looking for was still on the way and had not arrived in the Country of Chi.

"Do you understand the current situation?"

"I can guess a little bit. So please forgive me, Lord Daimyo. I think the Konoha team that will take over the mission will arrive soon."

The implication is that Team 7 will not get involved in the mission of the Kingdom of Chi.

Firstly, this is against the rules and disrupts the task system. Secondly, it will also cause some disagreements among colleagues.

For Tianzang, such troubles must be thrown away as soon as possible.

"But the current situation is critical, and some unexpected situations may occur at any time here in the castle..." The Daimyo of Chi Country seemed hesitant, "It's better than this. I will pay you double the reward of Konoha, which is considered a temporary contract. Your team, Let’s also participate in this mission.”

Providing double the remuneration, that is to say, the remuneration allocated to the original team has not been reduced. In this way, disagreements between colleagues can be avoided.

After all, this so-called disagreement is, in most cases, based on unreasonable distribution of remuneration, and major problems arise.

For most Konoha ninjas, missions are jobs that support their families, and any mission reward that belongs to them does not want to be detracted.

"Your Excellency Daimyo, this is really..."

"No need to say more, Yamato Jonin. Regarding the current situation, I will personally write to your Hokage-sama later to explain that the reward that belongs to you in Konoha will not be less. In this way, you will have nothing to worry about. , and you can also gain the friendship of the Country of Chi.”

The Daimyo of the Country of Ikea saw Tenzo's rejection and blurted out first, blocking Tenzo's words, and by the way, he talked about the friendship between Konoha and the Country of Ikema.

If you don't agree, it is likely to affect the diplomacy between the two parties. This responsibility is too heavy for a jounin.

Tianzang smiled helplessly in his heart, what's the matter? If he had known it, he wouldn't have come here to soak in the hot springs.

He just went out to investigate and got some extremely shocking news from the people of Chi Country - that is, this country is undergoing a civil war.

The militia organized by the people and the aristocratic group headed by the great masters of the Country of Chi are engaged in extremely fierce firepower collision, openly declaring war.

Many places in this country have been occupied by militia organizations, and only a few important cities are still in the hands of the noble group of the Country of Chi. However, according to the trend of the battle, the people generally believe that the nobles have a greater chance of losing.

His instinct told him that getting involved in such a thing would make things messy.

But the words of the Daimyo of Chi Country had to be carefully considered.

If the relationship between Ikeda and Konoha was at odds because of his refusal...it would give me a headache just thinking about it.

"How do you think about it, Yamato Jounin?"

The Daimyo of the Country of Chi asked.

"In that case, fine. However, we can stay here for one night at most. Our team will leave here early tomorrow morning and return to the village to recover."

Tianzang thought about it again and again and decided to agree to it later.

But the bottom line is that they can only stay here for one night. No matter what happens the next day, their seventh team will leave here and will not be involved in the disputes in the Country of Chi.

"One night..." The Daimyo of Chi Country frowned thoughtfully, and then he opened his brows and said, "Okay, just one night. Then, I leave it to you all to ensure the safety of the castle tonight. Well, I can finally sleep now. A peaceful sleep.”

The Daimyo of Ikeda Country considered that three days had passed since he sent the letter asking for help to Konoha. Calculating the time, the Konoha team that actually took over his mission would arrive tomorrow at the latest, just in time to complete the handover of the work.

The title of Jounin of Konoha is still very valuable in the ninja world.

Compared with the jounin of a small country, the jounin of a big country are not only superior in professional ability, but also very excellent in strength.

Although the cost of hiring is a bit higher, it is definitely worth it.

As long as he can protect his own safety, the Daimyo of Chi Country is not stingy with money.

◎

At night.

The air in the port city seems much colder than during the day.

Every important checkpoint in the castle-style daimyo mansion was filled with patrolling samurai and soldiers. They held katana swords and spears and vigilantly stood at their posts under the moonlit night.

Located inside the castle is the room prepared by the Daimyo of the Country of Chi for Naruto and his party, not far from the courtyard where the Daimyo of the Country of Chi is.

If an accident does occur, timely support can be provided.

"You obviously promised to take a nice bath in the hot springs at night, but you ended up going out on patrol. That daimyo is really good at summoning people..."

Naruto said in a complaining tone.

Not only him, but Sakura also had some complaints on her face. She was forced to take on a mission that was as troublesome as her own team. It would affect her mood no matter what.

But unlike Naruto, she would not express it verbally, but would whisper in her mind and curse the Daimyo of the Country of Pond in a low voice.

Unlike them who go out to patrol in the freezing cold at night, the Daimyo of the Country of Chi may be hugging his concubine at this time, enjoying the beauty of the scenery in a warm room.

The first impression I got from seeing him during the day was that this Daimyo of the Country of Chi was very good at enjoying himself, and was fundamentally different from the image of a monarch in his imagination.

Can such a monarch who only knows how to eat, drink and have fun really manage the country well?

She knew how hard the Hokage of her village worked. In order to improve the living standards of the village, it could be said that she stayed up late every day thinking hard. It was precisely because of this example that Konoha was able to quickly recover from the sluggish state of the previous year and grow further.

Sakura couldn't understand.

Sure enough, there is a gap between fantasy and reality.

"Stop complaining. It seems we can only talk about the hot spring bathing when we go back."

Tianzang comforted.

"I know, then let's take action."

In order to cheer himself up and not get sleepy at this moment, Naruto patted his cheek hard and was about to take action.

Suddenly a whistling sound sounded loudly in the night sky.

boom!

Something exploded in the dark night sky - an extremely brilliant firework.

Taking this as a signal, countless whistling sounds rose into the sky, coming from all directions of the castle, and the loud sounds were endless.

I saw that the originally dark and monotonous night sky was instantly dyed with colorful lights, and then these gorgeous flower petals exploded and fell like rain, like a dream.

The lonely and deserted night suddenly took on a lively atmosphere.

Seeing this scene, Naruto looked stunned.

"Eh? Is there any festival celebration tonight?"

Not only Naruto, but Tenzo, Sakura and Sai also frowned, feeling puzzled by this.

They have never heard of any festival celebrations in the Country of Chi tonight.

In order to find out the situation, Tianzang took the lead and jumped to a high building in the castle to look at the situation in the distance.

Naruto and the other three also jumped up and looked around.

At this moment, Naruto discovered something and pointed at the sea behind the castle.

"Look, what is that!"

Under the dark night, the sea area is dyed in pitch black, like a bottomless and terrifying quagmire, creating a frightening atmosphere.

In that dark field, there was only one light source, and the ferocious outline of a huge steel monster was vaguely visible.

"That is……"

Yamato was shocked when he saw the giant steel beast looming on the sea.

Before he could say anything, the steel monster instantly burst into a ball of light, lighting up the sea.

boom!

The explosion was deafening. In the widened eyes of the four people, the castle tower located at the highest point of the castle was instantly turned into ruins. A large amount of rubble flew away. The flames generated by the explosion surged in the dark night with cruel tongues of fire, destroying the castle tower. The pavilion was engulfed in flames.

All of this happened without warning, catching people off guard. The castle thousands of meters away from the steel giant was bombarded.

"What, what's going on?"

Naruto asked stammering, this scene was beyond his imagination.

Tenzo was not in the mood to respond to Naruto, but instead swept towards the outside of the castle condescendingly, feeling a chill rise behind him.

The sound of the explosion was masked by the sound of fireworks. Under the light emitted by the fireworks, countless black shadows flickered in and out of the light, running as fast as lightning, like locusts crossing the border. In the blink of an eye, they spread across the mountain road, approaching the daimyo. of the castle.

The silent depression and terror are reminiscent of suffocating death.