In Konoha: I will spread the will of conquest throughout the ninja world.

Yakushi Nonou accepted the premise of Igogen Yoka coming to this border region between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain to find herself in just one minute.

It's only been a year, so it's not like she wouldn't recognize the children from her orphanage.

The sudden appearance of this child, and the apparent involvement of the old thief Danzo, weighed heavily on her mind, making her want to erupt with a sharp, explosive outburst.

"It will only take me a little while to blow him to ash."

"???"

Yakushi Nonou doesn't understand why Isogen would have such extreme thoughts, but she wants to say something.

"That's impossible. Listen to me, you absolutely must not do anything dangerous," Yakushi Nonou warned sternly.

This woman, who could become Isogen's mother, knew all too well just how dark the darkness hidden beneath the lush and verdant 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, wills, and governing philosophies put forward by any political system are good, but alas, times change and things are ever-changing.

A ninja is a ninja. Even if they wear the 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 conceived the idea of ​​taking the children away from Konoha.

The reason is simply that in this murky world called the Ninja World, the most powerful and seemingly benevolent Konoha is the best choice; it's like 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 based on Yakushi Nonou's limited understanding, Konoha, with its many ninja clans, wouldn't necessarily throw young children onto the battlefield if it wanted to achieve results on the main battlefield.

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

Do you even realize how significant the Third Shinobi World War was?

Yakushi Nonou wasn't sure if he had listened, and then asked about the lineup that had come. When she heard that Hatake Sakumo was leading the team, accompanied by several Uchiha elites, plus a small fry, 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 let such a strong person 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 Igor appeared before Sakumo Hatake and the others with the newly disguised Yakushi Nonou.

"???"

How did you find the person if you didn't even send a contact signal?

After confirming his identity by exchanging the coded message, Hatake Sakumo prepared to head back 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 matters.

But Yakushi Nonou stopped her, gesturing for her to speak aside.

Just as the two were talking, Minato Namikaze secretly found Isogen.

"How did you do that?"

"What?"

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

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

Several Uchiha members pricked up their ears.

"Just a little trick to combine Shadow Clone Jutsu," Igarashi casually remarked.

In terms of raw power, even Isogen at close range 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 triggers chakra fluctuations. In such cases, the user usually stands at the center or edge of the fluctuation.

However, Isogen's physical condition is special.

Ordinary ninjas train their bodies and increase their chakra, gradually honing their strength, but ultimately only manage to touch upon the chakra attribute under the Yin-Yang style.

From the very beginning, the fifty strings stood on the opposite side of the Yin and Yang attributes, and each time it was an all-round improvement of the Yin and Yang attributes.

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

As the fight went on, the opponent eventually gave up hope.

For details, see Uchiha Itsukushima when he was still in the police department. After awakening his three-tomoe Sharingan, he tried to defeat Isogen with genjutsu, but found that he couldn't hurt him at all.

After that, he became respectful to Igarashi during the mission.

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

Fifty Strings said a lot, but it was automatically filtered out by the others.

Aba aba.

Complete concealment of chakra?

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

Uchiha Itsukushima felt this most deeply.

If he could do that, he would dare to call himself the number one assassin in Konoha, making the Konoha F4 afraid to even raise their heads.

Do you understand the high attack power and low imitation of ninjas? A single kunai can make the Thin Veil Shadow skill so valuable!

Just as they stopped at this corner, Hatake Sakumo brought them some bad news.

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

The information that led Iwagakure to pursue Yakushi Nonou was extremely simple.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki is about to leave the village.

Fifty strings tilted their heads slightly.

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

Roshi left the village to travel after his personality clashed with Onoki's; 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 immediately, the group instantly became more vigilant.

The biggest fear for ninjas on missions is unforeseen changes.

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

When they were alone, Isogen asked me directly.

"..."

Yakushi Nonou knew that Isogen was intelligent, but she was still surprised by his keen insight.

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

No matter how difficult things are for the orphanage, it 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 too smart."

Yakushi Nono sighed.

For some 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 contacted is the most likely one."

"That was just a scapegoat." Isogen hit the nail on the head.

"..." Yakushi Nonou smiled bitterly.

Yes, a scapegoat. So what could make Danzo abandon a Root elite who was loyal to him?

It couldn't be a group of Uchiha ninjas accompanying them, and it was even less likely that it was Hatake Sakumo. There was only one answer.

A good child standing in front of me.

As for why it wasn't Minato Namikaze, the answer is obvious simply because Ichigo Ichigo arrived without any information and directly bypassed a series of his prepared hiding measures to find himself.

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.