Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

In a border town in the Land of Fire, the White Fang Squad safely arrived after using their transformation technique.

This is a relatively prosperous town, but its prosperity is built on the war between Konoha and Sunagakure, because its main consumers are the Konoha ninjas who have just escaped death from the battlefield.

The most common shops here are izakayas (Japanese pubs) and massage parlors.

Kirito saw many Konoha ninjas going in and out of these izakayas and massage parlors, and most of them had a relieved and relaxed expression on their faces.

"Let's part ways here for now, teacher. I have some things to take care of."

Sakumo Hatake led Kirito and the other two into the town, then checked into a hot spring inn. After soaking in the hot spring and having a sumptuous lunch, he smiled and said to the three of them.

"What is Hatake-sensei going to do? Is he going to do something inappropriate for children like those Konoha ninjas in town?"

Upon hearing this, Kirito joked.

"Ahem, ahem~, kids shouldn't worry about adult matters."

Sakumo Hatake's face immediately turned awkward. He coughed a few times and then said with a straight face.

Seeing this, Nawaki looked at Hatake Sakumo with a blank expression, completely unable to hear what Kirito was saying.

But he was very interested in the things Kirito said were inappropriate for children, and thought that if he did these things, he could grow up quickly, so he immediately said, "Hatake-sensei, can you take me there?"

Chizuru then gave Sakumo Hatake and Nawaki a disdainful look.

“No, the three of you can move around the town freely, but you must stay together. Nawaki must listen to Kirito and not act on his own. That’s all, I’m leaving now.”

Sakumo Hatake sternly refused Nawaki's request, and then gave the three of them some instructions.

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished from his spot, silently using the Instantaneous Movement Technique to leave.

"mean."

Nawaki, in his innocence, complained when Hatake Sakumo didn't take him along.

Then, he suddenly had a good idea. He immediately used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to create more than ten shadow clones, then took out his wallet and distributed the money to them.

"Please, everyone, let's try all the delicious food here together."

After distributing the money, Rope Tree excitedly addressed his group of shadow clones.

"Oh~"

The group of shadow clones of Rope Tree immediately responded in unison, and then ran out of the hot spring inn to embark on a culinary journey together in this bustling town.

"Kirito, Chizuru, let's go to town and have some fun."

After the group of shadow clones left, Nawaki spoke to Kirito and Chizuru beside him.

"Sure, it's a rare treat not to keep eating sand in the desert, so it's time to relax properly."

Kirito agreed.

Chizuru had originally intended to refuse Nawaki's invitation, as she planned to stay and continue her training, but after hearing Kirito's words, she changed her mind.

Although her time in the Devil's Desert was short, the pressure was immense; the mere ten days or so felt like several months had passed.

"Let's go have some fun then."

Chizuru thought to herself.

But the next moment, she remembered something and decisively used the Shadow Clone Technique to create a shadow clone.

As soon as the shadow clone appeared, she left without saying a word.

Upon seeing this, Kirito narrowed his eyes, said nothing, and began to lead Nawaki and Chizuru away from the inn.

While Kirito and his two friends were fooling around in town, Sakumo Hatake used his Transformation Technique to enter the toilet of a tavern in town. After he turned on a faucet, a hidden door was opened, and a smell mixed with the stench of corpses and preservatives immediately came out.

Sakumo Hatake entered without changing his expression. This was the town's gold exchange, a place frequently visited by bounty hunters.

Besides being a Konoha ninja, Hatake Sakumo's second identity is that of a veteran bounty hunter. However, his bounty hunter identity is a wandering ninja disguised as Nightblade, which he creates by using the Transformation Technique.

"I didn't expect it to be Mr. Nightblade who came in. I'm so sorry for not greeting you properly."

The person in charge of the gold exchange was a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses. When he saw the form that Sakumo Hatake had transformed into, he immediately showed a surprised expression, and then said respectfully.

"Stop talking nonsense, I need information about the source of Sunagakure's unexplained funding."

Sakumo Hatake glanced at the middle-aged man with the toad-like glasses with a cold look and said in a cold voice.

In addition to providing bounty hunters with the function of exchanging bounties, the gold exchange also facilitates information trading.

The backers behind these gold exchange shops are mostly high-ranking officials from various countries. They possess many secrets of the ninja world and have numerous informants and highly developed intelligence networks. As long as they have enough money, bounty hunters can obtain the information they want from these gold exchange shops.

When Hatake Sakumo received the new mission from the Third Hokage and found that the Third Hokage had not provided any useful information, his first thought was to try his luck at the gold exchange and see if he could find the target he was to hunt down there.

Over the years, the intelligence provided by Huanjin has been crucial in many of the S-class missions he has completed, saving him a lot of time and energy.

"I'm very sorry, but I don't have the information you're looking for, Mr. Nightblade. In fact, we'd love to know as well. If you have the opportunity to obtain this information, our exchange would be more than happy to buy it."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man with the toad-like glasses immediately gave a reply.

The recent surge in the amount of gold appearing on the market has attracted the attention of powerful figures behind gold exchange, many of whom want to find out where Sunagakure obtained so much gold.

However, Sunagakure hid this secret very well and deliberately spread a lot of false information to muddy the waters, causing the deaths of many powerful bounty hunters and enemy ninjas.

To avoid damaging their reputation, gold exchange companies are now hesitant to sell related information.

Although Hatake Sakumo had anticipated this outcome, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed, sighing to himself, "This mission was indeed quite troublesome."

The fact that the target of this mission is unknown is causing Sakumo Hatake a great deal of trouble.

From the current perspective, the only way for the White Fang Squad to complete their mission is to infiltrate Sunagakure and find their target.

Suddenly, Hatake Sakumo noticed the hesitant expression on the middle-aged man's face, so he immediately took out a stack of papers from his body, placed them on the table, pushed them in front of the man, and continued to ask, "Is there anything you want to add?"

"Recently, a new force has emerged in the black market for intelligence. They have a strong intelligence network and have taken away a lot of intelligence business from the gold exchange. They might have what you need, sir, but their fees are a bit strange."

The middle-aged man with the toad-like glasses calmly put the money away and then said in a low voice.

Where can I find them?

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo's eyes lit up, and he pressed for an answer.

He wasn't afraid of the intelligence dealers charging strange fees; he was afraid that the intelligence dealers wouldn't have the information he needed.

The middle-aged man with the toad-like glasses did not immediately answer Hatake Sakumo's question, but instead gave Hatake Sakumo a smile and rubbed his right hand and thumb together.

Upon seeing this, Hatake Sakumo couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with the greed of the man before him, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

But in the end, he did not choose to take action against the man there.

If he kills the other party, the gold exchange will only lose one greedy branch manager, but he will be blacklisted by the gold exchange and lose its intelligence network.

Soon, Sakumo Hatake left the exchange.

The middle-aged man with the toad-like glasses watched as the door of the gold exchange closed again. The smile on his face vanished instantly, and he continued to lazily lie on the table, falling asleep almost immediately.

But the next moment, he woke up again, and said somewhat groggily, "I just fell asleep?"

Half an hour later, Hatake Sakumo entered a pharmacy and asked the owner to buy four kinds of medicinal herbs. The owner then invited him to a dark room in the shop, claiming that one of the herbs was not available.

The dark room contained few items: a table, two chairs, and a flickering candle burning on the table.

"Please wait here for a moment, sir. Our manager will be here shortly."

The pharmacy owner spoke to Sakumo Hatake expressionlessly, then quickly left and closed the door to the secret room.

Sakumo Hatake was highly skilled and daring, so he wasn't afraid of his opponent's tricks and just sat on one of the chairs to wait.

A moment later, the door to the dark room opened again, and a woman with long red hair walked in.

"Red hair, and this powerful chakra... is this woman a member of the Uzumaki clan?"

Sakumo Hatake looked at the red-haired woman and was surprised to feel the terrifying amount of chakra emanating from her.

The amount of chakra within the red-haired woman far surpasses the level of an elite Jonin.

Although the other party didn't seem threatening to him, he could tell that the red-haired woman in front of him was an elite Jonin.

The fact that the head of a branch of an obscure intelligence organization is actually an elite Jonin, and very likely a member of the Uzumaki clan, suggests that the power behind this mysterious intelligence organization is indeed extraordinary.

The red-haired woman, wearing an exquisite silver mask that revealed her delicate chin, quickly sat down opposite Hatake Sakumo and asked, "What information does Your Excellency wish to obtain?"

"What is the source of the unexplained funds behind Sunagakure?"

Without wasting words, Hatake Sakumo immediately gave the information he wanted.

Upon hearing this, the red-haired woman remained silent for a moment before using her psychic powers to summon a scroll. She then opened it and replied, "We have the information you seek, but you must sign this contract before we can tell you the truth."

Sakumo Hatake's eyes were now fixed on the open scroll on the table, which was an incredibly complex sealing array.

In his eyes, all he could see was that this was a kind of sealing technique based on a contract with powerful binding force.

"what is this?"

Sakumo Hatake said coldly.

He wouldn't sign unless the other party clearly explained the contents of the sealing technique.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, this is merely an equal contract signed by Death as a notary. I will also write my name on it in blood and then tell Your Excellency the true information. In exchange, Your Excellency needs to provide us with information when we need it."

The red-haired woman told the truth.

As soon as she finished speaking, she bit her index finger and wrote her name on it first.

"Uzumaki Ryoko, as expected, is a member of the Uzumaki clan."

Sakumo Hatake saw the name the red-haired woman had written on the scroll and showed an expression of "I knew it," then pondered whether he should really write his own name on it.

He had only just met the red-haired woman and had no trust in her at all. If she was lying to him, and the sealing technique on the scroll was not the kind of equal contract signed by the Grim Reaper as a notary, as she claimed, then he would fall into a trap.

But the next moment, a gust of cold wind suddenly appeared in the dark room, and the candlelight in front of Hatake Sakumo instantly turned into a ghostly blue.

A surge of chakra appeared on Ryoko Uzumaki's body and was channeled through her fingers to the sealing technique on the scroll.

Soon, a phantom figure appeared before Sakumo Hatake.

It was a demon dressed in white, with purple skin and a terrifying face, two red horns on its head, and a short knife in its mouth, resembling the legendary Grim Reaper.

The white-clad demon was clearly intelligent; its eyes first glanced at Ryoko Uzumaki, and then looked at Sakumo Hatake.

When Sakumo Hatake was being stared at, he instantly felt a chill run down his spine and a strong sense of threat.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, the Grim Reaper will not attack those who have not broken their contract."

Seeing that Sakumo Hatake looked like he was facing a formidable enemy, Ryoko Uzumaki tried to reassure him.