Shanks and Hatake Sakumo vomited for a long time.
They kept vomiting until there was nothing left to throw up, and even then, they continued dry-heaving.
“I’m going to die.”
After finally finishing, Shanks spoke weakly.
Half an hour later, the two recovered a little.
After eating soldier pills, their bodies no longer felt so hollow, and they began cleaning up the stronghold.
If the corpses were left alone, they might cause disease later.
That would be even more troublesome.
After setting fire to the stronghold and burning the corpses together with it, the two returned to the place where Hiruzen Sarutobi was waiting.
By then, the sky had already turned dark.
“Oh?
You completed the mission?”
Hiruzen was somewhat surprised.
They had set off at ten in the morning, and now it was only around eight at night.
Subtracting the six hours needed for travel, that meant they had used roughly four hours to eliminate one jōnin-level missing-nin and several chūnin?
As for the ordinary bandits, Hiruzen ignored them.
“Yeah.
We rested for a while and ate something before coming back.”
Shanks said it lightly, pretending to be casual.
“Congratulations on completing the mission successfully.
We leave immediately.
Bad news has come from the border.”
Hiruzen did not want to keep arguing with him.
After speaking, he stepped forward in the direction of the border.
Shanks and Hatake Sakumo exchanged a glance, then immediately followed.
Three days later, after traveling without stopping, the three finally reached the border camp.
“You can tell Konoha has taken heavy losses here.”
Shanks looked around.
The camp was covered with traces left behind by ninjutsu.
“Lord Hiruzen!”
A guard at the camp entrance greeted Hiruzen.
“Ryōto, these two are Hatake Sakumo and Uzumaki Shanks,” Hiruzen said.
“We came under orders from Lord Hokage.”
“Please wait a moment.
I’ll report to Lord Danzō.”
The chūnin named Ryōto spoke, then left quickly.
“So the camp commander is Brother Danzō?” Shanks asked Hiruzen.
“Yes.
Danzō and Homura are stationed here to guard against Sunagakure.
Kagami and Torifu are at another front guarding against Kumogakure.
Brother Mokuma is leading the Senju Clan near the Land of Rain to watch Iwagakure.”
“Hahaha!
You finally arrived!”
Danzō came out with Ryōto, laughing loudly.
Shanks looked at him.
He had to admit, the current Danzō really did look like Hiruzen’s rival for the Hokage position.
Aside from being weaker than Hiruzen, Danzō was roughly equal to him in many other areas.
Right now, Danzō was still an upright young man who wholeheartedly cared about the village.
So cheerful.
So bright.
The new X-shaped scar on his chin did not damage his appearance.
On the contrary, it made him look even more imposing.
Power really was a harmful thing.
It could force a bright, hardworking young man into becoming a scheming friend of villains.
“Huh, Brother Danzō, you’re looking more and more imposing.
How did you get that X-shaped scar?
It’s even more domineering than the one near my eye.”
Shanks teased him casually.
“Hahaha!
I was ambushed by a few Sunagakure jōnin last night.
If Homura hadn’t discovered them early, I wouldn’t have gotten away with just this scar.”
Danzō did not seem bothered by the ambush at all.
Instead, he sounded proud of the scar.
As the saying went, scars were the highest honor of a warrior.
After the four of them entered the main camp, Shanks and Sakumo went to rest.
After all, they had killed for the first time, vomited until they were empty, then spent three straight days rushing to the border.
Once the two entered the rest tent, they did not say a word.
They crawled onto the beds and fell asleep.
Inside the command tent, Hiruzen and Danzō entered together.
Homura immediately asked Hiruzen, “Did Teacher ask you to bring any intelligence?”
“Yesterday, Teacher informed me that one of our spies sent back information.
Tomorrow, a Sunagakure squad will transport a batch of grain.
The route is here.”
Hiruzen took out a scroll and handed it over.
“But Teacher said this spy may already be useless.
Before taking action, we need to confirm whether this is a trap.”
Danzō and Homura studied the map and fell into thought.
After a long while, Homura spoke.
“Even if it’s true, ambushing them may not mean much.
Sunagakure has Chiyo, and she is a master of poison.
Even if we obtain the grain, we cannot confirm whether it has been poisoned.”
He paused.
“If the intelligence is false, then we’ll be even more passive.”
“By the way,” Danzō asked, “what mission did you bring Hatake Sakumo and Shanks here for?”
“Teacher heard that Sunagakure’s jinchūriki seal has run into problems again,” Hiruzen said.
“He wants me to take those two to investigate.
Ideally, we can draw the jinchūriki out and create some chaos inside their village.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous?” Danzō frowned.
“Hatake Sakumo and Shanks are both geniuses of Konoha.
If the mission fails, they’ll be in danger.”
“There’s no way around it,” Hiruzen said.
“In front of war, geniuses don’t receive special treatment.
Besides, they’re young and easy to overlook.
No one will expect Konoha to send two children to infiltrate Sunagakure.”
He smiled faintly.
“And don’t underestimate those two.
Shanks has plenty of tricks.”
The next day, Hiruzen found Shanks and Hatake Sakumo.
“Your mission this time is to infiltrate Sunagakure and investigate the jinchūriki’s situation.
After that, leave the village and report to me.
I’ll wait near Sunagakure’s entrance and leave coded marks nearby.”
“Second Uncle really thinks highly of us,” Shanks muttered.
“Sending two eight-year-old brats to investigate a jinchūriki.”
“Precisely because no one will imagine Konoha sending two children into Sunagakure, your chances of infiltrating and gathering information are higher,” Hiruzen explained.
“Second Uncle really is cunning.”
Shanks complained without hesitation.
“…”
Hiruzen chose to remain silent about that comment.
“How are we supposed to enter Sunagakure?” Hatake Sakumo asked the important question.
Both of them were beginners when it came to genjutsu.
Sakumo had no time to train it.
Shanks had Observation Haki and could resist genjutsu to a degree, so he had not practiced much either.
“One of our spies in Sunagakure will be on duty at the village entrance.
When the time comes, use the Transformation Technique and make contact with him using the code.
He’ll take you inside.”
Hiruzen handed the spy’s information to the two of them.
“Don’t tell me, this guy is pretty handsome,” Shanks said, looking at the photo.
“The village only made him guard the gate?
What a waste.”
“Ahem.
Focus on the mission.”
Hiruzen’s face turned serious.
“After entering Sunagakure, be extremely careful while gathering information.
It would be best if no one suspects Konoha.”
“Okay.
Understood.”
Shanks corrected his expression.
“Then let’s move.”
The three immediately set off.
Half a month later, they entered the Land of Wind.
“You are the wind, I am the sand—pah, pah!”
Shanks looked at the surrounding desert and started singing, only to get a mouthful of sand.
They had been inside the Land of Wind for three days, and the entire journey had been nothing but wind and sand.
“Shanks, stop singing and hurry up,” Hatake Sakumo said helplessly.
“We’re almost at Heaven’s Thread Pass.”
Shanks had been singing strange songs the entire way.
“You two, ahead is Heaven’s Thread Pass,” Hiruzen said.
“I’ll wait nearby.
Remember, you are here to gather intelligence.
If you can avoid fighting, don’t fight.”
“I know.
You’re not even old enough for menopause yet, Uncle Hiruzen.”
This little brat.
Hiruzen vanished with a Body Flicker.
Shanks and Sakumo immediately used the Transformation Technique.
Shanks transformed into a handsome blond boy.
Hatake Sakumo transformed into a simple-looking black-haired boy.
“Halt.
You brats, what are you here for?”
As soon as they reached the village entrance, a handsome black-haired young man walked over and questioned them.
Then, in a low voice, he said, “Heavenly King Covers Earth Tiger.”
“Hiruzen Sarutobi is one meter fifty,” Shanks answered.
“We’re refugees from the Land of Wind,” Shanks then said loudly.
“Our families were killed by bandits, so we had no choice but to flee here.”
The handsome young man turned to another Sunagakure guard behind him.
“Register them.
I’ll report to Lord Kazekage.”
After speaking, he glanced at Shanks and Sakumo, then left to make his report.
Shanks registered under the name Deidara.
Hatake Sakumo registered as Iwato.
According to their story, they were civilians from the Land of Wind.
A group of bandits had attacked their village, and after the two escaped, they came to Sunagakure.
After waiting for a while, the handsome young man returned.
“You can go in.
Someone inside the village will take you to find work and arrange a place for you to stay.”
At this time, the great villages had all been established not long ago, and their populations were still not large.
Because of that, they accepted many refugees to increase their numbers.
Compared to Konoha, Sunagakure actually accepted more refugees and orphans.
The living conditions in the Land of Wind were too harsh.
Many people who could no longer survive became bandits or mountain thieves.
Because of that, the Land of Wind had no shortage of refugees and orphans.
The current Sunagakure was not yet the later village that received little funding from the daimyō, had few missions, and needed the Kazekage to pan for gold just to maintain village operations.
At this time, the Wind Daimyō still strongly supported Sunagakure.
Every year, he provided a large amount of money and food.