He was in Konoha, and his domineering aura was overflowing.

This woman, who became Ishigami's mother, knew very well just how dark the darkness hidden beneath the lush and leafy tree of Konoha truly was.

The so-called Will of Fire has long been used by the higher-ups to seize profits, luring one young person or even child after another toward an end called death.

Most of the programs, ideologies, and governing principles put forward by any political system are good, but unfortunately, times change and things are constantly evolving.

A ninja is a ninja. Even if they put on a skin of the Will of Fire, it doesn't change the fact that a ninja is a killing tool.

However, despite knowing all this, she never entertained the idea of ​​taking the children away from Konoha.

The reason for this is simply that in this murky world known as the ninja world, the strongest and most benevolent Konoha is the best choice, a case of choosing the best among the worst.

When resources are available, ninja villages will adopt orphans to increase their population and select talent. If these children were placed in other ninja villages, they would likely be given only a little training and then thrown into a war as cannon fodder.

But in Konoha, well, that might not be in line with the Will of Fire, but according to Yakushi Nonou's understanding, the ninja clans are desperate to achieve results on the front lines, and they wouldn't necessarily throw young children onto the battlefield.

It can only be said that she had too much confidence in the bottom line of the ninja village. If Isugen knew, he would definitely teach her a lesson.

Do you even understand the significance of the Third Shinobi World War?

Yakushi Nonou wasn't sure if he had listened, and then asked about the lineup. When she heard that it was a luxurious lineup with Hatake Sakumo leading the way, accompanied by several Uchiha elites, plus a minor character, she was shocked.

Is this appropriate?

It's no exaggeration to say that a large part of Konoha's current prestige is supported by Sakumo Hatake. Would Danzo agree to have such a powerful figure come to his aid?

Oh, it was an order directly issued by the Hokage. Then it's alright.

This is what the group looked like when Isogen appeared before Sakumo Hatake and the others with the newly disguised Yakushi Nonou.

"???"

How did you find the person without even sending a contact signal?

After confirming his identity with the coded message, Hatake Sakumo prepared to head home.

Their purpose in this mission was simply to bring the person back to Konoha; any unexpected events that occurred during the mission were merely other miscellaneous tasks.

But Yakushi Nonou stopped her and gestured for her to talk to someone else.

Just as the two were talking, Minato Namikaze subtly found the 50th string.

"How did you do that?"

"what?"

"That kind of concealment that even Senior White Teeth didn't notice."

Information about ninjas is a very important resource. Minato Namikaze wouldn't rashly inquire about the other party's foundation. He just wanted Igarashi to answer his questions and give him the name of a technique.

Several Uchiha pricked up their ears.

"Just a little trick to use Shadow Clone Jutsu," Igarashi said casually.

Based on sheer strength, even at close range, Isogen couldn't escape Hatake Sakumo's terrifying perception, but he could use tricks.

When Wind Release chakra merges into the wind to search for a target, it easily causes chakra fluctuations. In such cases, the user usually stands at the center or edge of the fluctuations.

However, Gyūgen's physical condition is special.

Ordinary ninjas train their bodies and increase their chakra, gradually honing their strength, but ultimately they only touch upon the chakra attributes below the yin and yang attributes.

From the very beginning, the Fifty Strings stood on the opposite side of Yin and Yang, and each time it was a comprehensive upgrade of Yin and Yang attributes.

Even though the attribute enhancements of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were biased towards one aspect, Isogen was born with a unified and flawless nature, so I could only fight him head-on with his comprehensive and unhindered enhancement.

As the game progressed, the opponent eventually lost hope.

Details show that when Uchiha Takeshima was still in the police department, after awakening his three-tomoe Sharingan, he tried to defeat Isogen using genjutsu, but found that he couldn't move him at all.

After that, it became a matter of maintaining a respectful attitude towards Isogen during missions.

"So it's very simple. As long as you merge yourself with the chakra without causing the slightest fluctuation, you can achieve complete invisibility in terms of chakra perception."

Wu Xian said a lot, but it was automatically filtered out by the few people who heard it.

Aba aba.

Complete concealment of chakra?

If we could do that, we wouldn't be in this miserable state now.

Uchiha Genjiro felt it the most deeply.

If he could do that, he would dare to call himself the number one assassin in Konoha, and make the Konoha F4 not dare to raise their heads.

Do you understand the value of a ninja's high attack and low imitation? A single kunai can make you a master of the Thin Veil Shadow technique!

Just as they stopped in this corner, Sakumo Hatake brought some bad news from over there.

"We're afraid we can't leave for the time being."

The information that led Iwagakure to begin its pursuit of Yakushi Nonou was extremely simple.

The four-tailed jinchuriki is about to leave the village.

Fifty-string tilted his head slightly.

He didn't know much about the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Rōshi, and he could only remember them because of their names.

Roshi left the village to travel due to personality clashes with Onoki. The exact time is unknown, but it may have been before or during the Third Shinobi World War.

But definitely not now.

The Second Shinobi World War had only ended a year ago.

So it was Danzo who did this?

Upon learning that they could not leave the investigation site immediately, they became more vigilant.

The biggest taboo for ninjas when carrying out missions is unexpected changes.

Isogen instinctively felt that this change was inextricably linked to Yakushi Nonou.

When they are alone, Fifty-string asks questions directly.

"..."

Pharmacist Nonou knew that Isogen was clever, but she was still surprised by his keen insight.

When she was in the orphanage, Isogen was the smartest and most sensible among them. He even offered to use his inheritance to help her improve the orphanage, but she refused.

No matter how difficult things get, the orphanage cannot take the inheritance of the hero's family. Wu Shixian will also need this money to get married and have children when he grows up.

"Shortly after the Hokage informed me of my return, Danzo sent someone to order me to cooperate with the operation."

"Will this exacerbate the conflict between the Four-Tails Jinchuriki and the Tsuchikage?"

"...You're so smart."

Yakushi Nonou sighed.

For some inexplicable reason, I wanted to grow countless hands to press the fifty strings to the ground.

"I also have a guess about the rogue ninja in your mission, and the ninja I came into contact with is the most likely one."

“That was just a discarded scapegoat,” Isogen said incisively.

"..." Yakushi Nonou smiled bitterly.

Yes, abandoning a loyal Root elite. So what could make Danzo abandon such a loyal member?

It's impossible that a squad of Uchiha ninja accompanied them, and it's even more impossible that Hatake Sakumo was involved. There's only one answer.

A good child standing in front of me.

As for why it wasn't Minato Namikaze, the answer is obvious simply from the fact that Isogen didn't have any information at all and didn't directly find himself through a series of hiding measures he had prepared.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Chapter 40 Danzo's Temporary Inability to Be Carefree

Leaf.

The days have been especially comfortable without that evil brat Hiruzen Sarutobi who always throws tobacco in the trash.

They were enjoying themselves immensely, exhaling clouds and mist.

"Cough cough!"

The operative wearing a rabbit mask nearly choked to death as soon as he entered the room, his vision filled with a white blur, as if he were in a mountain mist.

"Lord Hokage, there is a secret message."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gestured to another person in the office—Yokkaku Nara, the current Jonin squad leader, Ikkan.

Nara opened the secret letter at the four corners, and frowned slightly as he read the information on the letter.

"Two ten-person teams from Iwagakure Village crossed the Land of Grass and arrived at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire. Do they intend to enter the Land of Fire?"

Now that the war is over, ninjas still need to eat. Although relations between the five great nations remain tense, ordinary missions such as escorting caravans do not prohibit ninjas from other villages from entering their countries.

One of the main reasons the Great Ninja War broke out was that each village was vying for more missions, since the resources needed to train a qualified ninja couldn't just appear out of thin air.

"It shouldn't be. Onoki isn't that reckless." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head slightly.

Iwagakure was one of the participants in the Second Shinobi World War. Konoha and Iwagakure fought fiercely in the Land of Rain, suffering huge losses. Normal commissioned missions were reasonable, but sending a 20-person combat team directly into the Land of Fire was an attempt to provoke a conflict.

Moreover, that is the border area between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.

The Land of Rain, as the main battlefield, was shattered. Hanzo was seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it. When this group of Iwagakure ninjas arrived, with his strength, Onoki could not find any fault with leaving them all in the Land of Rain.

In the ninja world, strength is paramount. If someone is killed, they can only blame their own lack of skill. Otherwise, would an old man like Onoki have to fight against a powerful demigod in the ninja world?

Hanzo might not be able to kill Onoki, but he could reduce Iwagakure to only having Onoki and other powerful ninjas.

"Wouldn't the simultaneous appearance of White Fang, the Uchiha Jonin, and the Iwagakure ninjas arouse Hanzo's hostility?" Nara's brows furrowed, but after a moment, he dismissed the conjecture.

"No, it shouldn't be. He knew that everyone needed to rest and recuperate not long after the war ended."

He knew that Sakumo Hatake was leading a team to carry out a mission near the Land of Rain, and he had no worries about the team that set off on the mission.

It's no exaggeration to say that the outcome of a training session between the Hokage and Hatake Sakumo is uncertain, especially considering Hatake Sakumo's exceptional strength and his special ability to attack people.

For a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't figure out what Onoki was up to.

The missions carried out by ninjas are top secrets known only to a select few. To learn more, one usually has to wait for the ninjas who carried out the missions to return and report.

But he did not receive the secret letter from Hatake Sakumo.

After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Jiraiya is still in the Land of Rain. Send someone to deliver a message to him to find out what's going on and to assist in completing the mission if necessary."

He gets angry whenever Jiraiya is mentioned.

During the final stages of the war, he ran off to the Land of Rain and didn't come back. If we hadn't called him back to take on disciples last time, he would probably still be out there. Even so, after taking on Minato Namikaze, he only taught him for a while before running off again.

However, this time he left Minato Namikaze with a learning task, and he will come back to check the results after a while, so he can be considered somewhat like a teacher.

A ninja leaving the territory without orders is considered a defection!

At the same time, the root.

Danzo was in the shadows, his cold aura blending with the dark and sunless Root Base.

"The Four-Tails Jinchuriki has left Imagakure and reached his destination. However, the ninjas from Kirigakure encountered the Hyuga clan on the way and were drawn by the Byakugan, preventing them from reaching the designated location."

Danzo Shimura's remaining eyes revealed disdain: "A bunch of fishermen who have never seen the world."

From the perspective of the well-off Konoha, he naturally looked down on other ninja villages.

The Root ninja knelt with his head bowed. Danzo had no intention of punishing him. It was normal for problems to arise during a mission; even the God of Shinobi couldn't have a perfect mission every time.

Most importantly, every Root ninja is an elite, and the losses during the war were too great. Unless Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly fills the gap, he won't be able to maintain his dominance until Root returns to its peak.

“Continue with the mission,” Danzo said.

"Do everything possible to bring the Four-Tails Jinchuriki into a fight with Sakumo Hatake, and find an opportunity to kill the Jinchuriki!"

Shimura Danzo's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

As for the potential consequences of killing the Jinchūriki of Iwagakure Village.

At that time, Iwagakure will lack a powerful fighter, and Konoha may also lack one, but Konoha, with its deep foundation, can afford to lose this.