Shanks followed the shinobi into the cave.
The barrier inside had several cracks running across it.
Those had probably been caused by the One-Tail just now.
Shukaku’s current state looked almost like a dried fish.
His lower body had already entered Bunpuku’s body, while his upper body still remained outside, looking listless and half-dead.
Several shinobi were working to strengthen the seal.
A brown-haired Chiyo turned around when she saw Shanks enter.
“Kid, what’s your name?
How was my son captured by Iwagakure shinobi?”
There was suspicion in her voice.
“Ah, Auntie Chiyo, my name is Deidara,” Shanks said anxiously.
“This morning, I was playing with En when a shinobi wearing an Iwagakure forehead protector suddenly rushed over and took him away.
Luckily, he only grabbed En and left.
That’s why I was able to come notify you.”
After hearing that, Chiyo became even more worried about her son’s safety.
“Lady Chiyo, don’t worry,” Second Kazekage Shamon said.
“I’ll go back and investigate the situation over the next few days.
You stay here until the sealing is complete.”
After speaking, Shamon took several shinobi and left the cave.
Shanks secretly let out a breath of relief.
One big shot had left.
That made things a little easier.
Shanks glanced at the One-Tail.
Only Shukaku’s shoulders and head were still outside now.
In a little while, the sealing would probably be complete.
No time left.
Forget it.
“Hey, fat cat!” Shanks suddenly shouted at the One-Tail.
“Lord Son Goku told me to pass on a message.
He says he looks down on you, you fat cat.
Getting sealed every day?
You might as well wait to die!”
After shouting, Shanks immediately turned and fled toward the cave entrance.
Before the people inside could react, the One-Tail, which had been lying there like a dead fish, suddenly opened blood-red eyes and began struggling violently.
“Son Goku, that bastard!
Ah!
Ah!
You bastards!
I’ll kill you all!”
“Tailed Beast Ball!”
A black Tailed Beast Ball shot from the One-Tail’s mouth.
Compared with Vacuum Bullet, Tailed Beast Ball was on a completely different level.
Boom!
The barrier shattered on impact.
“Damn it.
Shukaku was holding back after all.
That Tailed Beast Ball is ridiculous.”
Shanks, who had already reached the cave entrance, saw the barrier get blasted apart by the Tailed Beast Ball.
“Quick!
Restart the barrier!”
Chiyo shouted angrily.
She saw Shanks flee from the cave, but she no longer had the attention to care about him.
If the tailed beast broke free, the entire village would suffer.
After escaping outside, Shanks shouted while running.
“Lady Chiyo says to go in and help!
The barrier broke!
The tailed beast has gone berserk!”
After shouting, he ignored everyone else and rushed down the mountain.
Hatake Sakumo saw Shanks run out and immediately followed him downhill.
When the shinobi guarding outside heard Shanks’s shout and the massive explosion from the cave, they rushed inside one after another.
“Quick, restart the barrier!”
When Chiyo saw the group of shinobi enter the cave, she immediately shouted at them.
But before they could react, the One-Tail had already fully broken free from Bunpuku’s body.
A huge amount of wind and sand surged through the cave.
“I’ll kill you all!”
“Vacuum Bullet!”
Boom!
Another Vacuum Bullet smashed toward the group of shinobi.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Rampart!”
At that moment, Chiyo’s younger brother, Ebizō, arrived.
On Shanks and Sakumo’s side, neither of them cared how chaotic the cave became.
After escaping to the foot of the mountain, they were surrounded by a group of Sunagakure shinobi.
“Same as before,” Shanks said.
“I’ll take the front.
You flank them.”
After speaking, Armament Haki wrapped around Shanks’s entire body.
His skin darkened faintly, and the sword in his hand was also coated in Armament Haki.
“Charge!”
Shanks rushed in one direction.
“One-Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds!”
Shanks swung his sword and released dozens of weak flying slashes toward the shinobi in front of him.
Several shinobi failed to react in time and were cut down by the sword energy.
At the same time, the shuriken and kunai thrown by the other shinobi struck Shanks’s body.
Clink, clink, clink!
The shuriken and kunai failed to pierce his skin.
Instead, they struck him like they had hit steel and fell to the ground.
Still, Shanks felt some pain.
His Armament Haki was not yet fully mature.
The places struck by the weapons were left with small red marks.
“Lightning Dragon Slash!”
At that moment, Hatake Sakumo also attacked.
This was currently the strongest move he had learned from the Hatake sword style.
Several more shinobi died beneath his blade.
Because Shanks was taking the pressure in front, Sakumo could rely on his speed to move through the enemy formation with ease.
“Move!
The One-Tail is coming down!”
Shanks saw the sky full of wind and sand beginning to surge down the mountain and immediately warned Sakumo.
The two rushed toward the village entrance.
“Stop chasing them.
We’ll settle accounts with Iwagakure later.
First, stop the One-Tail!”
Shamon, who had rushed over, saw that the shinobi still wanted to pursue the two children and immediately gave the order.
Shanks and Sakumo reached the village entrance, killed the two gate guards to silence them, then searched for the coded marks Hiruzen Sarutobi had left.
They finally found Hiruzen in a small cave above Heaven’s Thread Pass.
He was standing at the cave entrance, looking toward Sunagakure.
“Hah… hah… damn, I’m exhausted.
We’re lucky to be alive.”
Shanks felt genuinely relieved.
Hatake Sakumo was also leaning against the cave wall, panting heavily.
“Yes.
You are lucky to be alive.”
Hiruzen’s face was serious.
“You acted on your own without reporting the situation to me.”
“There was no choice.
Tonight was the last chance.
When I entered the cave, the tailed beast was almost sealed.
If those Sunagakure people’s brains had been working properly, our mission would have been meaningless.”
Shanks shrugged and did not argue too much with Hiruzen.
“Sigh.
Sunagakure will lose many people tonight.”
Hiruzen looked toward Sunagakure, where explosions and screams rang out from time to time.
Shanks looked at his hypocritical face and almost wanted to stamp his shoe onto it.
“Let’s withdraw.
Right now, I really miss my bed in Konoha.”
“That’s fine,” Hiruzen said.
“You completed this mission.
I’ll report everything truthfully to Lord Hokage.”
He looked at the two of them.
“Because this mission involved a tailed beast, it will be classified as S-rank.
Congratulations.
Your first two missions as shinobi are B-rank and S-rank.”
“Wait.
The stronghold mission wasn’t A-rank?” Shanks asked.
“You’re thinking too much,” Hiruzen said.
“That mission was originally C-rank.
Considering that the stronghold leader was only an ordinary jōnin, it can barely be counted as B-rank.”
Seeing the two boys panting like exhausted dogs, Hiruzen sighed helplessly.
“You don’t look like you can travel right now.
Rest tonight.
We leave tomorrow.”
After a whole night of tense nerves, Shanks and Hatake Sakumo fell asleep not long after lying down.
With Hiruzen keeping watch, they were safe enough.
One month later, the three returned to Konoha.
Shanks and Hatake Sakumo went home, while Hiruzen went to report to Tobirama.
Meanwhile, news had spread through the shinobi world.
Iwagakure had allegedly sent two eight-year-old genius boys to infiltrate Sunagakure.
Taking advantage of the moment when Sunagakure was reinforcing the tailed beast’s seal, they had used shameless methods to enrage the tailed beast and break the seal, causing massive losses to Sunagakure.
The Kazekage demanded that Iwagakure hand over the two boys and compensate Sunagakure for its losses.
The Second Tsuchikage replied that the Kazekage must be out of his mind.
What village would be stupid enough to send two eight-year-old geniuses on a mission like that?
For a time, the names Deidara and Iwato became famous throughout the shinobi world.
Two boys just over eight years old, both with at least special jōnin-level strength.
The Second Tsuchikage was very depressed.
After his investigation, Iwagakure truly did not have those two people.
That meant they belonged to another village.
“Which shameless bastard did this?”
Senju Tobirama remained silent.
Although Tobirama found this kind of hidden scheme quite satisfying, being indirectly called stupid still annoyed him.
He even considered giving Iwagakure a taste of the same thing later.
However, the Sunagakure incident also reminded the various villages of something important.
Tailed beasts were better hidden away.
If that could not be done, then the jinchūriki should at least be kept farther from the village center.
A tailed beast rampage was no joke.
Because of Sunagakure’s losses this time, they had no energy left to send shinobi to harass the Land of Fire border.
They were busy closing their doors and licking their wounds.
The next day, Shanks and Hatake Sakumo were called to the Hokage building.
This time, Shanks did not destroy the door.
Bang!
He punched it open instead.
“Second Uncle, we just came back yesterday.
Can’t you let me rest?”
Shanks complained.
Tobirama ignored the way he opened the door.
“This time, I’m not assigning you a mission.
You performed very well during the Sunagakure mission, so from today onward, both of you are officially promoted to chūnin.”
He gestured toward the side.
“Go receive your chūnin vests.
For the near future, you and Hiruzen will take missions near the village.
After some time, I’ll arrange other matters for you.”
After saying that, Tobirama sent them away to collect their chūnin vests.
Shanks’s dream of wearing his big cloak and swaggering through the village was shattered.
“Wow!
Shanks, you’re a chūnin now?”
When Shanks returned home wearing his chūnin vest, Tsunade looked at him curiously.
“Tch.
It’s just chūnin.
Do you know how many chūnin I instantly killed in Sunagakure?”
Shanks began bragging.
Bragging did not cost his life anyway.
“Hahaha!
I heard you angered Shamon and that old woman Chiyo quite badly?”
Hashirama asked curiously.
“You know that Auntie Chiyo?” Shanks asked.
“Of course.
Back then, after Mito, Chiyo was considered the greatest beauty in the shinobi world.
Though when I met her, she was still only a teenage girl.”
Hashirama fell into a brief memory.
“Tch.
She’s already an auntie now.
My aunt is still the greatest beauty in the shinobi world.”
The moment Shanks sensed killing intent, he immediately changed his words.
After all, both of them had once held the title of the shinobi world’s greatest beauty.
The desire to compare had existed since ancient times.
“Hehe.
My Shanks really has good eyes.”
Mito smiled, then looked at Hashirama with a faintly resentful gaze.
“Unlike some people, who already have the best at home but still look elsewhere.”
“Ahem, ahem!
Tsunade, help Grandpa go rest.
Grandpa’s chest feels stuffy.”
Hashirama immediately put on an act and fled with Tsunade’s help.