I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 104 The Degraded Bloodline Limit - Smoke Release! (5th update, 16,000 words)

"The mission is of utmost importance."

Nara Rangatsu refused Ibrahim's invitation to let everyone enter the cave, speaking frankly.

"The Hokage's mission scroll did not provide detailed information about the two missing children of your clan."

"If it's convenient, could you give us some general information about this disappearance? That would help us complete our mission as soon as possible."

Upon hearing Nara Rinka's words, Ibrigota pondered for a moment before nodding in reply.

"The two missing children are a brother and sister. The sister's name is Ibrixuejian, and the brother's name is Tianzang."

While providing the names of the two children, Ibrahim also gave a general description of their physical characteristics.

"My older sister is twelve years old this year, and my younger brother is nine years old."

"Yesterday morning, the older sister and younger brother had not left yet. At noon, no one found any trace of them. It wasn't until the afternoon that we were completely certain that the two of them had left the cave."

"Due to the physical condition of our family, we are unable to operate outside for extended periods of time, leaving us no choice but to request assistance from Konoha... and then the four of you arrived."

After hearing Ibrigota's account, Nara Rinkei came to a conclusion.

The siblings have been missing for almost a day and a half.

Nara Rankei asked, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ibri, we don't know much about the Ibri clan. What exactly are you referring to as the 'physical issue'?"

"Our family possesses the ability to transform into smoke."

Ibrigota remained silent for a few seconds, glanced at the Konoha headbands of Nara Ranka and the others, and then raised his hand to activate his ability.

Under the influence of a special chakra, Ibriwutai's rough, broad hand turned into wisps of gently drifting white smoke.

White smoke enveloped Ibrahim's palm, with fine wisps connecting his forearm to the smoke.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that the wisp of smoke formed from the palm is swaying incessantly with the faint air currents around it, as if a strong wind could blow it away completely.

"This ability to turn into smoke is very unstable. Even a slight increase in the surrounding airflow could take the lives of my people."

Ibrahim transformed his hand back to its original shape and said in a deep voice.

"Adults can still rely on experience to barely control the timing and effect of the vaporization, but children..."

Ibrahim didn't say the rest aloud, but everyone present understood what he meant.

Compared to adults, inexperienced children are more susceptible to external environmental influences, which can lead to accidental death.

Under these circumstances.

The siblings, Xuejian and Tianzang, had been out and about for almost a day and a half...

Nara Rinkaku's success in finding Ibri and her brother has significantly reduced their chances of success.

Uchiha Shisui and Shizune's expressions changed slightly.

Hinata Rei's expression remained as calm and indifferent as ever.

"I know it will be very difficult to find Xuejian and Tianzang under these circumstances."

Ibrahim said with great difficulty.

"But in any case, these two children are my people."

"I cannot allow the rest of our people to disregard their own safety and risk their lives to go out and search for their siblings."

"We can't just ignore whether the siblings live or die... At the very least, I need an answer."

"I'm begging you, esteemed Konoha ninja!"

In closing, Ibrahim bowed deeply to Nara Rangatsu and the others.

The four-person team tacitly turned to the side, avoiding the client's bow.

"A ninja accepts a commission and completes the mission; this is the most basic professional quality."

Nara Rinka spoke up.

"We will do our best to help find the location of those two children."

"But considering the age of the two children, I have a few questions I need to ask Mr. Ibrahim."

"Please speak."

Ibrahim straightened up.

"I will definitely answer all your questions."

"Are the two children familiar with their surroundings?" Nara Ranka asked. "Do they have any areas or places they frequently play in?"

"Regarding this matter... in fact, the original dwelling place of our Ibri clan was not in this cave, but in another place in the Land of Fire."

Ibrahim explained.

"About three months ago, Lord Orochimaru learned of our clan's existence from somewhere and promised to solve our clan's survival constitution problem, and then invited us to live near Konoha."

"Although he also..."

Ibrahim suddenly realized that he seemed to have said something he shouldn't have, and quickly cut to the chase.

"In short, Lord Orochimaru is the benefactor of our clan."

"Xuejian and Tianzang are two children, and they should not be familiar with their surroundings."

"After all, adults often warn children not to go out unnecessarily."

"As far as I know, Xuejian and Tianzang have almost always stayed inside the cave."

"The last two questions."

Nara holds up two fingers.

"First, where did the Ibri clan originally live? You don't need to go into too much detail, just point out the general direction."

"Secondly, how many people are there in the Ibri clan?"

Ibrewtai first gave the number of his tribesmen, and then pointed in a direction outside the cave.

I don't know if it's a coincidence.

The area where the Ibri clan originally lived was in the direction where the night raid between Konoha and Iwagakure took place.

Nara Rinka nodded to Ibrigota, then led the other three away from the cave at high speed, heading in the direction they had just received.

"Captain, have you found anything?"

Seeing Nara Rinka's swift actions, Uchiha Shisui assumed that the latter had already discovered something.

But as soon as the group entered the forest and moved out of sight of the cave, Nara Rangsuke stopped moving forward.

"Hinata."

The squad leader called out the name of the girl from the Hyuga main family.

"Take a look at the cave behind us and confirm the number of humans inside."

"Hold on."

Hinata Rei stopped, turned around, and opened his Byakugan.

Its powerful insight penetrated the trees and soil, directly piercing the cover of the trees and soil, and looked directly into the caves where the Ibri tribe lived.

A moment later.

Hyuga Rei closed his Byakugan and proactively reported to his superior.

"There are two numbers less than the number the other party just mentioned."

"It seems that the two children have indeed left the cave."

Nara Rinka nodded and continued moving forward, but his speed slowed down considerably, becoming no different from that of an ordinary person.

"After hearing what Chief Ibri just said, does anyone have any opinions or thoughts?"

"I think... this mission is likely to fail."

Silently offered her opinion.

"The chief just said that the children in their family are inherently less resilient than adults, and those two siblings have been away from the cave for so long, I suspect they've already..."

"I think so too."

Uchiha Shisui frowned, not because he disagreed with Shizune's opinion, but because he was in a bad mood.

"The Ibri clan's bloodline limit ability is extremely strange, but their survivability is just too weak..."

Nara Rinkei nodded again, looking at the last team member.

"Hinata, what's your opinion?"

"almost."

Hinata Rei gazed ahead, his expression indifferent.

"However, my suspicions lie in a different direction..."

"Lord Orochimaru."

Shizune asked疑惑地, "Do you, Hyuga, think there's some special connection between Lord Orochimaru and this incident?"

"No."

Hinata Rei shook his head slightly.

"What I meant was, there might be some hidden story between Lord Orochimaru and the Ibri clan."

"I think Hinata's statement makes some sense."

Nara Rinka knew Orochimaru's whereabouts—he learned it from Tsunade.

Several months ago.

Orochimaru had already rushed to the front lines under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, leading the Konoha ninja to fight against the Iwagakure forces from the Land of Earth.

Correspondingly, there was the war zone encompassing both the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain, which was under Jiraiya's jurisdiction.

Although, according to the intelligence information Nara Rinkei knew, Orochimaru was fighting against Iwagakure on the front lines three months ago.

However, it is not hard to see from Ibrigota's attitude that he genuinely respects, and even reveres, Orochimaru.

So, three months ago...

Orochimaru—or perhaps someone acting in Orochimaru's name—made contact with the Ibri clan and moved them from their original settlement back to the vicinity of Konoha.

Could it be that Orochimaru, this research fanatic, came into contact with the Ibri clan because of their special "smoke transformation," or rather, their "smoke release" bloodline limit?

Nara pondered deeply.

It seems that only the bodies of the impoverished and destitute Ibri clan could attract Orochimaru.

But if that's the case...

Could the disappearance of those two children be related to Orochimaru, or even... Root?

Nara Rinka banished this somewhat unrealistic thought from her mind.

Although he was very familiar with the name "Tianzang".

However, he can at least be certain that the Yamato who will master Wood Release and be skilled in landscaping and building houses in the future will not have the surname "Ibri".

"Hyuga, stop worrying about the relationship between Orochimaru and the Ibri clan."

Nara, holding a laurel tree, points to the road ahead.

"If Ibrahim and Ibrahim Tsang were still alive, a twelve-year-old sister with a nine-year-old brother wouldn't have gone too far in a day and a half."

"Use your white eye to explore this path."

"If we don't see the siblings on this path leading to the original territory of the Ibri clan, we'll fly into the sky and use our high altitude advantage to conduct a thorough search of the other areas around the cave."

"clear."

Hinata Rei nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and activated her bloodline limit once again.

"Eye roll!"

Within the maximum estimated distance a twelve-year-old child can travel in a day and a half.

The four-person team began an intensive search operation.

After the precise detection of the Byakugan.

There were no traces of Ibri Xuejian or Ibri Tianzang's actions on the path leading to the original territory of the Ibri clan.

The confirmation of this news undoubtedly lowers the chances of survival for Ibrixuejian and Ibritianzang by a considerable margin.

Nara Rinka summoned a shadow creature, which carried Hyuga Rei back to the cave where the Ibri clan now lived, and began searching from the opposite direction—the direction leading to Konoha.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Shisui and Shizune continued their search operation from both sides of the path leading to the original settlement of the Ibri clan.

The four-person team split up, each leaving a shadow clone of the other for communication and reporting purposes.

High in the sky.

The shadow creature hovered and flew.

Hinata Rei glared with his white eyes, scrutinizing every corner of the earth.

Time passed little by little.

The girl with the white eyes has finally brought good news.

"Captain, I saw it!"

"Direction, location."

After learning the exact location, Nara Rinka manipulated the [Shadow Creature] to descend continuously until they arrived in front of a giant tree that was as thick as several people could hug.

Such thick trees are almost ubiquitous around Konoha Village, and are hardly noticeable.

Between the main branches of the giant tree, two children, one big and one small, could be vaguely seen sleeping soundly.

Tap! Tap!

Nara Rinka stepped forward, bent her fingers, and gently tapped the tree trunk as if knocking on a door, awakening the two sleeping souls inside.

The first thing the older child saw when he regained consciousness was the Konoha headband tied to Nara Rinka's body.

Ibrixue was surprised rather than pleased. She hugged her younger brother Tianzang tightly and hid in the tree hole, asking timidly.

"Are you ninjas from Konoha?"

A very faint sound came from the crack in the tree hole.

"Yes."

Nara Rinka pointed to her own headband and the headband on Hinata Rei's body beside her.

"We have received a mission from the Ibri clan to escort you back to your family."

"We don't want to go back to our family!"

With a sudden burst of strength, Ibrixuejian pulled on her arms, and the younger Tianzang was pulled into a cloud of white smoke by her older sister's strength, and involuntarily floated outside the tree hole.

"We're going to Konoha to see Lord Orochimaru!"

Fifth update.

It was later than I expected.

There are still 15 updates to be added.

(End of this chapter)