Escape from Konoha.

He was ruthless towards his enemies and caring towards his colleagues, but he wasn't very good at expressing himself. He treated everyone equally.

He can be considered a qualified candidate for Hokage.

Most importantly, Sakumo's strength is still improving rapidly, and he is far from reaching the peak age of a ninja.

Even so, he is now a remarkable Jonin in the village.

Ten years from now, he will be even more terrifying, a nightmare that his enemies will never forget.

"He is not suitable to be Hokage."

Hiruzen said this.

Koharu and Menyan glanced at Hiruzen in surprise.

"It's good that you know what's going on. After all, there are Uchiha ninjas in his team now. They are young and have not only reached the level of Jonin, but they are also radical members of the Uchiha clan. We must be careful and on guard at all times."

Hearing Homura and Koharu talking about the Uchiha clan again, Hiruzen sighed and took another drag of his cigarette before exhaling.

"Alright, I've made preparations for this. You can go back now."

He didn't want to argue with the two of them about this; he needed to finish his work for the day.

Furthermore, how to further reward the Shuo Mao squad is also a rather important issue.

This annihilation of the Sunagakure forces is of great significance. By using the secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan, we can not only obtain various confidential intelligence from the enemy's mind, but also many of Sunagakure's secret techniques, including information about the puppet forces.

Even without these factors, simply stabilizing the internal situation of the Land of Fire is enough to warrant a high reward for Sakumo's team.

However, considering the two girls in Sakumo's team, one from the Uchiha clan and the other from the Hyuga clan... Hiruzen was in a bit of a predicament.

He had some ambiguous thoughts about the fact that the Hyuga clan's girl was from a branch family. The key point was that Ruri, who was valued by most of the elders in power in the Uchiha clan, certainly had no shortage of resources.

If we really want to reward her, we can only open the Book of Seals to her once, allowing her to choose a ninjutsu to learn.

However, if Hiruzen were to open the Book of Seals to the Uchiha clan ninjas, he could imagine that Homura and Koharu would definitely come over with long faces and lecture him.

Then, Hiruzen picked up Shiraishi's personal profile book. Hmm, this is easy to get rid of. High-level ninjutsu, more advanced medical books, etc., can all serve as rewards this time.

Chapter 45 Liuli's Parents and the Research Work on Returning to Daily Life

"There will be no missions for a while, so you are free to move around, but it's best not to relax too much and to maintain a state of combat readiness."

"Yes!"

After Shiraishi and the other two had lunch, Sakumo found them, gave them a few words of advice, and then they all went home.

Shiroishi and Ruri returned to the mansion on Uchiha clan land.

Having not returned to the village for several months, Shiraishi felt as he walked along the road that the place seemed to have changed a lot, yet at the same time, nothing seemed to have changed.

"What are your plans for the days to come, Liuli?"

The rest period will not be too short, but it will not be too long either. It is estimated that in about half a month, the next difficult task will begin.

"Cultivation".

Liuli gave a concise and to-the-point answer.

"That's just like you. I've had some new ideas in my head lately, and after these past few months of missions, I think I can make some useful items to aid in combat."

"How to say?"

Liuli seemed quite interested in this.

"Smoke bombs are good, but they are easily countered by wind-style ninjutsu, and their duration is not very long. They can be used for surprise attacks... But what if we add some poison gas to the smoke bombs? Even if we use wind-style ninjutsu to disperse the smoke, the enemy will have already inhaled a lot of poison gas, and their strength will be greatly reduced."

Shiraishi shared his thoughts, deeming them feasible.

"Ninjas generally have some degree of resistance to poison, especially Sand Village ninjas. If the poison is not strong enough, it will not have much effect on ninjas."

"Even the best resistance to poison has its limits. However, if we need to fight with poison gas, we need to prepare antidotes in advance and have our own people take them beforehand to avoid being accidentally injured."

"It is suitable for small-scale operations, but its effect may be counterproductive in large-scale battles."

Shiraishi nodded in agreement with Ruri's insightful observation.

In large-scale battles, the production of antidotes becomes a problem, and poison gas is used in conjunction with smoke grenades. Even if one survives the poison gas with antidotes, visibility will be impaired for a short period due to the smoke.

However, Shiraishi didn't originally intend to promote this tactic; he only wanted to implement it within Sakumo's squad.

After so much time, Shiraishi had long understood that their squad mainly carried out dangerous and important classified missions, and developing unique tactics suitable for the Sakumo squad was essential.

Returning to the long-lost mansion, as they approached, they suddenly saw a man and a woman standing at the door of the fallen leaves, waving in their direction.

No, to be precise, they were waving at Liuli, looking very happy and excited.

"know?"

Shiraishi hadn't seen the man and woman in the Uchiha clan for the past two or three years, so he turned to look at Ruri.

"My parents."

Liuli answered calmly.

"!?"

Shiraishi was getting a little unsettled.

This was the first time he had met Liuli's parents. He had only heard about them from Liuli before, and this was the first time he had met them in person.

However, ever since Shiraishi started staying at Ruri's house, he hasn't seen Ruri's parents come home.

Even during the Lunar New Year, they only exchanged photos and letters. Liuli's birthday and Lunar New Year gifts were also very simple: a savings account.

The passbook starts with a 1, followed by many zeros.

These are the birthday and New Year's gifts that Ruri receives every year—simple and uninteresting.

"It's been a long time, Xiao Liuli. Have you missed your mom and dad?"

The woman was dressed in a gorgeous and elegant outfit, and her hair was neatly styled in a bun adorned with many ornaments.

It looks a bit too bright and flamboyant, but it doesn't give off a vulgar vibe.

How should I put it? It seems like she was born with this kind of temperament.

She immediately hugged Liuli tightly, rubbing her face against hers, causing Liuli's small face to wrinkle. Baishi was afraid that Liuli would spit out a fireball at this moment and reduce her mother to ashes.

"It's so noisy. I've told you so many times, don't spit on my face."

Liuli's face was tense, as if she was seriously reprimanding her mother.

"Don't say that, Liuli. Mom hasn't seen you in a long time. Just like when you were little, let Mom love and pamper you..."

boom!

Shiraishi was behind him, rubbing his forehead.

I knew this would happen.

A wall of the nearby mansion was smashed through by a fireball, billowing black smoke.

Liuli's mother's face was covered in cold sweat, her neck was turning mechanically as if it were rusty, and the smile on her face had become extremely forced and stiff.

"Honestly, Xiao Liuli isn't as well-behaved as she was when she was little. She used to be so..."

"Want me to throw you out? Or burn you? Or even drown you?"

Liuli's brow twitched, as if she had reached her limit of patience.

The woman in gorgeous clothes sighed and had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​continuing to hold Liuli in her arms and torment her.

Such a lovely daughter, and I can't do this or that. I should have had a son to play with back then.

My daughter is not well-behaved at all.

“Honey, how about we have another one? Little Liuli is all grown up now and doesn’t want her mom and dad anymore.”

"It's clearly your fault, you know that Liuli has grown up."

The man, who had been watching the harmonious scene between the mother and daughter, scratched his head, seemingly troubled.

His daughter has always had a strong personality and is the only one who matters to him at home. As her father, he is used to this.

"Oh my, you must be the Shiraishi-kun that Ruri often mentions in her letters?"

The glamorous woman finally noticed Shiraishi.

"Ah, yes, yes, please guide me."

Finally noticed, Shiraishi quickly came up and politely bowed and asked a question.

"Don't be nervous. It's rare for Xiao Liuli to find such good playmates. When she was little, Xiao Liuli used to chase after a whole bunch of boys all by herself."

Upon hearing the glamorous woman's words, Shiraishi had already envisioned that scene in his mind.

If it's made of glass, then maybe that's really possible.

"By the way, when are you two planning to get married? You absolutely must have a boy, because I suddenly feel that boys are a bit more fun than girls."

The glamorous woman asked with a smile.

"..."

The topic jumped around a bit too much, causing Shiraishi's brain to freeze completely, leaving him in a complete mess.

A tic-tac-toe symbol appeared on Liuli's forehead, and she began to form a hand seal.

boom!

◎

Ruri's mother is named Uchiha Miyoko. She is twenty-eight years old this year, in the prime of her life. She likes luxury goods and wearing beautiful and gorgeous clothes, just like a princess.

Ruri's father is named Uchiha Sousuke, who is thirty-six years old. He is a mature-looking man who wears a proper suit and looks much more serious than his wife, Miyoko. He also seems to be a more honest and upright person.

However, considering that Ruri is already twelve years old this year, while her mother Miyoko is only twenty-eight, in other words, Miyoko was only fifteen years old when she became pregnant with Ruri, a minor.

Looking at Uchiha Sousuke's seemingly honest face, Shiraishi didn't think Sousuke was honest at all.

Because neither of them has the talent to be a ninja, they are still only at the Chunin level... By Ruri's standards, being a Chunin at twenty or thirty years old means they really don't have the talent to be a ninja.

Over the years, the couple has been working hard to build their business. With the help of the connections they've built up within the Uchiha clan, they've managed to do alright in business, in their own words.

Over the past few years, the couple had returned to Konoha to visit, but due to their busy work outside, they only met with Ruri at the entrance of Konoha Village before leaving in a hurry.