Konoha's task master

Early morning, Hokage's office.

Hatake Sakumo was processing documents quickly, occasionally putting down his pen to think about countermeasures, while three shadow clones around him were writing quickly.

Whoa…

Yakumo jumped in through the window. His face was a little pale after running around all night, but when he saw Hatake Sakumo was intact, he finally felt relieved.

"Shouldn't you be in the Fire City now?"

Hatake Sakumo was confused.

"That's not important. Where is the delegation from Sunagakure Village?"

"The Sunagakure delegation left Konoha Village yesterday afternoon. They just came to congratulate me on becoming Hokage and to confirm whether the treaty of peaceful coexistence will continue to be implemented."

"That's not right." Yakumo collapsed on the sofa.

At the same time, his hands began to form seals, and invisible waves spread.

It is true that no strange chakra fluctuations were detected in the village. Could it be that there was no so-called assassination at all, but was it just that I was overthinking it?

Is this just a mistake...

Yakumo sorted out his analysis in his mind, and opened his mouth to explain to Hatake Sakumo why he rushed from the Capital of Fire back to Konoha at night.

Hatake Sakumo gradually laughed.

"You don't really think that someone can assassinate me quietly under the 24-hour protection of ANBU, do you?"

Hatake Sakumo's tone was filled with strong confidence.

"Is there a boy with pink hair in the mission?"

"I don't remember, but there is a man in the Sunagakure mission who is covered in bandages. I guess he is probably the puppet master." Memories flashed in Hatake Sakumo's eyes.

Yakumo sat on the sofa, put the food from the storage scroll on the table, and immediately began to wolf down the food in front of him.

He kept bursting with chakra and rushed on the road, and finally rushed back to Konoha before dawn. However, it seemed that things did not develop according to his ideas. Was he being plotted... or was he just being too imaginative?

"You are being too cautious," Hatake Sakumo said.

Yakumo was speechless and felt a little ashamed. He felt that his image of being extremely intelligent was crumbling little by little.

"Yakumo, relax, everyone gets confused sometimes. You came all the way back just because you were worried about my safety." Hatake Sakumo comforted me.

Yakumo was a little embarrassed.

"Uncle Sakumo, be careful about the poison in Sunagakure Village."

Before leaving, Yakumo reminded Hatake Sakumo.

At five o'clock in the morning, there were not many pedestrians on the streets of Konoha, and it seemed extremely empty and lonely. Yakumo lowered his head and was still thinking about the context of the whole thing.

There is a blood feud ahead, and Sunagakure Village will never kindly congratulate Hatake Sakumo on becoming the Fourth Hokage. This visit to Konoha must come with some malicious intent.

If not for killing...Hatake Sakumo.

Could it be...that their target is Kakashi!?

Wait, there's a problem.

This matter has nothing to do with Shinichi!

When Shinichi invited himself to go to the Fire Capital, he never expected that Uncle Sakumo would let him take Kakashi there. This was just a coincidence and there was no such thing as a plan to move the tiger away from the mountain.

It should be said that the target of Scorpion's revenge is Kakashi!

Yakumo secretly cursed himself for being confused, thinking he had seen through the enemy's plan, but he didn't expect to create an opportunity for the enemy to kill Kakashi!

Jiraiya-sama, you should be more reliable in this critical thinking!

Yakumo exerted all his strength at his feet and ran toward the Fire City toward the rising sun. Golden arcs of lightning enveloped his whole body, and his speed increased to its peak in an instant.

The shadows of the trees receded rapidly, and the whistling wind wrapped around Yakumo's body. His body quickly broke through the air, like a golden missile that broke through the air, and disappeared in a flash.

The City of Fire, Daming Mansion.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Jiraiya and the other three came to the restaurant. Surrounded by several servants, Shinichi arrived late. When he looked at Yakumo, a warm smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Last night I convinced the Minister of Finance to increase the annual military allocation to Konoha to 8.5 billion starting from this year, but there is a small condition..."

"What conditions?" Jiraiya asked warily.

"Small problem, I know that the Rain Hidden Village is actually under the control of Jiraiya-sama's disciples. I want the Rain Hidden Village to cooperate and let the caravans under the Daming Mansion control the trade of the Kingdom of Rain." Shinichi smiled.

answer.

Jiraiya was silent.

In the Country of Rain, where it rains all year round, the only way to obtain food and daily necessities is to rely on the export of specialty products to ensure the normal life of the people. This move is tantamount to handing the lifeblood of the Country of Rain into the hands of the Daming Prefecture.

"I can't make the final decision on this matter."

"That's such a shame."

Shinichi said sadly.

"However... I still agree that the future military expenditure standard will be 8.5 billion. There is no way who can call me and my brother Yakumo... good brothers."

"Thank you, Brother Shinichi."

Yakumo's shadow clone smiled and said, he was a little surprised that Shinichi was so cooperative.

After the meal, Jiraiya proposed to leave Daming Mansion.

Yakumo's shadow clone had told him his suspicions last night, and now Jiraiya was extremely worried about whether Hatake Sakumo had been assassinated in Konoha.

"Why...leave so soon."

When everyone came to the door of Daming Mansion, Shinichi asked reluctantly, with a sincere smile on his face.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy." Jiraiya said.

"Brother Yakumo, how many days will you stay?"

"No, no..." Yakumo's shadow clone said.

The three of them set off immediately. Shinichi stood there and looked at the backs of the three of them, gradually disappearing from his sight, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared...

In the woods, Yakumo's shadow clone was released.

Jiraiya took Kakashi on his way.

On the other hand, after Yakumo's true body received the memory of the shadow clone, his face gradually became more anxious.

The night was getting darker, and Jiraiya and Kakashi were eating barbecue. They had no idea that the fatal danger was coming. Under the cover of the night and the breeze, the extremely fine gray powder flew towards the people beside the fire.

Laiya and Kakashi gathered around them.

Suddenly a light rain began to fall in the sky, and the sudden change in wind direction dispersed the gray powder settled in the air. That kind of powder was very difficult to detect under the cover of darkness.

Kakashi took out a rainproof tent, and Jiraiya used chakra to light the firewood in front of him. The orange-red flames reflected Jiraiya's square and determined face.

"Kakashi...be careful."

At this time, he had already noticed the abnormality in the operation of chakra, and couldn't help but remind him aloud.

"The chakra in my body cannot be mobilized."

The gray poisonous mist had a greater impact on Kakashi.

Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded inaudibly, formed a shadow clone, and ran wildly towards the depths of the forest. Tens of meters away, more than a dozen mysterious people wearing black cloaks were approaching.

"You can rest assured that I'm here."

"call out--!!"

There was a dense sound of breaking through the air like raindrops, and hundreds of kunai and senbon suddenly passed through the entire sky. The tips of some of the weapons showed purple, quenching the poison that would seal their throats when they see blood.

Jiraiya hugged Kakashi into his arms with his backhand and began to break out in the direction of Konoha while forming seals with his hands.

"Ninjutsu: Needle Jizo!"

The white hair stretches and grows, blocking the incoming weapons like a shield. At this moment, Jiraiya suddenly understands that the target of Sunagakure Village is not Hatake Sakumo, but Kakashi!

"Aren't they afraid of provoking a ninja war!?"

During the rain, Jiraiya was like a white chariot, crashing through the sea of ​​weapons composed of thousands of weapons, and running quickly in the rain.

What Jiraiya didn't notice was that his white hair was stained with purple venom from the tip of the weapon, which immediately mixed with the rain and dripped on Jiraiya's body.

The rain at this time was neither heavy nor light.

But those black cloaks did not pursue him immediately. They were like experienced hunters, staring at Jiraiya's rampage, waiting for him to fall into the second carefully prepared trap, waiting for the prey to gradually exhaust its energy.

.

Jiraiya ran with Kakashi on his back, his breathing gradually became rapid, and he found that his physical strength was losing much faster than usual.

This is poisoning... he thought to himself.

Jiraiya took out three antidote pills made by Tsunade from his bag, and handed two of them to Kakashi after a slight hesitation.

From graduation to now, he has experienced hundreds of battles and been poisoned dozens of times, so he thinks that his ability to resist poison is stronger than Kakashi.

"After eating it, try to mobilize chakra."

Jiraiya asked.

A few minutes later, the shadow clone that refined the senjutsu chakra dissipated, and Jiraiya showed a confident smile. The energy in his body was replenished. He moved Kakashi up, who was weak, and began to accelerate towards the Hidden Leaf Village.

Ten minutes later, Jiraiya raised his head.

The sky was very dark, as gloomy as coal black. Although the rain was not heavy, the chill invaded his body along with the rain, making his limbs numb. Is this chill that numbed his limbs really because of the rain?

Jiraiya suddenly woke up and suddenly expanded the perception range of sage mode. He finally sensed the black cloak that was moving slowly and slowly behind him.

The enemy will be immersed in the magical poison in the rain.

Jiraiya estimated that this method of poisoning had surpassed that of the Chiyo elders of Sunagakure Village, so who was attacking? It couldn't be an old monster of the same generation as the Second Kazekage, right?

"bump."

Jiraiya formed a seal and summoned two immortals, Fukasaku and Shima, and the three completed the conversation in an instant.

Jiraiya immediately turned around and quickly bumped into the man in black cloak following behind him. His white hair lengthened and gathered together, and a torrent of white washed out in the next second!

The raindrops between the sky and the earth were chopped into pieces, and the white torrent was composed of countless white senbons. It was like a white dragon coming from the sky, and it rushed towards the black cloaked man at an extremely fast speed due to the effect of magical chakra.

"Immortal Technique·Thousands of Hair Needles!"

The black cloak subconsciously dodged backwards, and the seals on his hands failed at this moment, and those invisible chakra threads were knocked away by the white torrent of Senbon.

The next second a huge black shadow fell from the sky.

With a bang, it hit the ground.

Jiraiya turned around like a thief and ran towards Konoha, but Fukasaku and Shima were left behind to hold off the enemy and buy time for Jiraiya.

"Kakashi, are you okay?" Jiraiya asked.

"Fortunately...I just can't sense chakra."

"My body feels a little numb."

Jiraiya felt a little anxious.

At the same time, he secretly cursed himself for his carelessness, as he was so unaware of the poisoning. The poison in those raindrops had a greater impact on the weaker Kakashi.

Jiraiya knew that the enemy didn't need to make a surprise attack at all, he just needed to keep poisoning him, and finally the mixed poison would form in Kakashi's body to kill Kakashi!

Suddenly, black cloaks rose from the ground and blocked Jiraiya's path. Behind them were cloaked figures covered in white bandages.

"Is this the true body..."

Jiraiya murmured that the enemy was more difficult to deal with than he was. The most important thing was that he was worried that Kakashi was poisoned again and his physical condition would further deteriorate.

The man in black cloak began to take action, first politely greeting him with hundreds of thousands of books, and the next moment, long swords, chains, short blades, and meteor hammers all attacked Jiraiya at the same time.

"Ninpo Technique: Ranshishi Technique!"

The extended hair serves as both a shield and a long whip. After fending off everyone's attacks, the white hair extensions wrap around the cloaked man wielding a long sword.

"drink!"

With Jiraiya's soft drink, the cloak was torn apart, revealing a body made of dark red wood, and the word "Scorpion" on its chest.

Boom... Jiraiya tried to crush the puppets with all his strength, but found that the hardness of these puppets was beyond imagination.

"It's a bit difficult to handle."

Jiraiya scratched his head, then carried Kakashi on his back and continued running wildly. The accumulated water exploded with his footsteps, forming a row of drainage columns.

The enemy's solid puppet and all-pervasive poison were very restrained by Jiraiya at this time. He lacked an explosive ninjutsu that could deal with the enemy and destroy the enemy's tough defense alone.

"I want to send a signal to Yakumo..."

Yakumo understands that he cannot get rid of or defeat the enemy with Kakashi on his back. All he can do now is hope that his righteous partners will arrive soon.

"bump."

Shima and Fukasaku appeared on Jiraiya's shoulders. Almost at the same time, the ground beneath Jiraiya's feet cracked. The accumulated water was temporarily washed away by the explosive force, and surged around like water, as if there was thunder on the ground.

Jiraiya turned around and faced a dozen puppets, forming seals with his hands. At the same time, the abdomens of the two toad sages on his shoulders began to expand, and the magic chakra gathered in his mouth.

"Senpō Goemon!"

The forces of fire, oil, and wind are combined into one.

The extremely thin line of fire ignited the oil in an instant, and then burned fiercely under the influence of the strong wind, spreading into a sea of ​​​​fire. Almost instantly, more than a dozen puppets were swallowed up by the sea of ​​​​fire.

The heat wave spread across the ground, like a huge sun falling into the world, unleashing the power of heaven wantonly. The dejection on Jiraiya's face was wiped away. Under the reflection of the firelight, his resolute face shone with passionate fighting spirit.

Being beaten passively for so long made him very angry!

Jiraiya gasped and looked ahead warily.

The black cloak was instantly burned by the flames, revealing a dark red wooden body. Just as Jiraiya guessed, these cloaked figures were all puppets.

The scorching flames slowly climbed up the surface of the wooden puppet and began to burn. Even the extremely flame-resistant wood could not compete with the immortal fire and seemed to burn all tangible objects.

In the sea of ​​fire, several puppets made of steel were burned red, but they had not yet melted. Raindrops fell on the surface of the puppets, making a squeaking sound.

Huge amounts of white steam evaporated into the sky.

Those puppets were walking in the fire, approaching Jiraiya step by step, and then opened their mouths and spit out burning fire dragons!

"Water Escape·Water Formation Wall!"

Jiraiya formed a seal, and the surrounding rainwater gathered into a half-meter-thick barrier, blocking the burning fire dragon.

Jiraiya did not sense any fluctuations in chakra from these two fire dragons.

These two fire dragons are the product of a combination of kerosene and high-pressure spray guns, which are equivalent to two moving flamethrowers.

The next second, the steel puppet exploded due to the high temperature!

The explosion formed an extremely high-temperature shock wave, and the surrounding water evaporated into white steam at an extremely fast speed, rising into the sky, followed by a deafening explosion that spread wantonly to the surroundings.

The shock wave temporarily divides the battlefield.

Jiraiya helped Kakashi and ran away!