Escape From Konoha

Stepping into the territory of the Kingdom of Ghosts again, this should be considered the second time in life.

Different from traditional villages like Konoha, although there are abundant green plants here, Shikamaru still feels that the industrial atmosphere here is too strong at first glance.

The high-rise buildings and various steel and cement buildings that cannot be seen in Konoha Village are the facts.

I always feel that it is not an easy task for ninjas to manage law and order in a place like this.

For this reason, the Kingdom of Ghosts has very relaxed conditions for recruiting personnel into the security force, as long as they can use chakra roughly and have stronger force than ordinary people.

Force can cause destruction, but it can also create order. This is no different in every country or village.

If you want to resolve conflicts between people, force is always the bottom line that must exist.

Therefore, at the platform of the train station, a large number of members of the Ghost Country's security force can also be seen, working in groups of two, carrying out daily patrols nearby.

However, because it was a special train, there were almost no tourists at the platform where Shikamaru and others came down. Only the envoys from Konoha and the Fire Country Daimyōfu gathered together, which frequently attracted people from other platforms to turn their attention and observe Shikamaru. actions of others.

The leader of the Konoha Village's envoy is Shikaku, the Jonin squad leader, while the leader of the Fire Country's Daimyo's envoy is an official over fifty.

According to Shikamaru's understanding, the other party has been responsible for the diplomacy of the Country of Fire, and often travels to other countries, meets with high-level officials of other countries, and even takes photos with the famous names of various countries many times. Obviously, this is the coming of age ceremony for the main lineage of the Demon Country, the shrine maiden. The Fire Nation's Daming Mansion also showed corresponding respect.

When they exited the platform and didn't ask them to wait any longer, a government official from the Kingdom of Ghosts walked over with a smile, followed by two military ninjas who acted as escorts.

These two ninjas from the Kingdom of Demons, who were affiliated with the military, wore thick silver-gray chakra armor and held a heavy gun in their hands. The all-metal texture looked very heavy. These two men were fully armed and inadvertently gave people a strong sense of intimidation, causing those who wanted to join in the fun to stop their progress immediately.

In fact, seeing these two fully armed ninjas from the Kingdom of Oni, the expressions on the faces of several Konoha ninjas behind Shikaku looked slightly unnatural. Even the jounin of the Sarutobi clan who was accompanying him had a more cautious look on his face.

They are all Konoha ninjas who have experienced the Fourth Ninja War. They have chakra armor that can absorb chakra, can block ordinary ninjutsu and ninja tools, and has chakra armor that ensures sufficient chakra as long as you press the switch. , heavy firearms that can continuously spray 'fire escape' attacks have given them a great psychological shadow.

As long as a jounin is equipped with such a ninja tool, his destructive ability on the battlefield will be greatly improved, and a small team can be severely damaged in an instant. If there are not multiple Jonin of the same level to suppress it, a large number of lives must be used to fill it.

As long as there are more than ten people like this, even in a melee of considerable scale, it is enough to tilt the balance of victory towards the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Chakra armor, as well as the "flamethrower" that can continuously fire fire escapes, are controlled products strictly controlled by the Kingdom of Ghosts and are not sold to the outside world.

This made Konoha and other ninja villages who wanted to buy and arm their own ninja after the war feel extremely regretful.

As soon as the officials from the Kingdom of Ghosts came up, they exchanged greetings with Shikaku and the head of the Damingfu envoy group for a while.

To say how familiar they are, the two parties are actually not very familiar with each other. After all, they only meet when they are on missions. At most, they are just "acquainted".

However, according to etiquette, Shikaku, who represented Konoha, and the Daimyo official who represented the Fire Country also responded with smiles and mingled with the officials of the Oni Country government.

Seeing the "hypocrisy" among the adults, each of them wanted the other to die immediately, but they still maintained a warm and kind smile. Although he knew that this was a skill that must be learned in the process of growing up, Shikamaru still felt that people It's hard to get along with people.

Fortunately, this kind of greeting lasted very short and ended in less than two minutes. Under the leadership of the officials from the Kingdom of Ghosts, everyone walked towards the VIP exit of the platform.

Although he wanted to take some action immediately, Shikamaru knew that now was not the best time to just follow the team forward.

About half an hour later, we arrived at a hotel chain that receives envoys from various countries.

"It's you."

The speaker was a woman who was older than Shikamaru.

Shikamaru recognized the identity of the other party at first sight, Temari, the eldest daughter of Rasa, the fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure Village.

Although his hair was shorter than before, his face was much more mature, and his eyes were gradually becoming more steady as an adult, Shikamaru recognized the other person's identity immediately.

It's really troublesome... As soon as this sentence came to Shikamaru's mouth, Shikamaru swallowed it back and couldn't say it out.

His intuition told him that if he said such words to a girl at this time, something terrible would happen.

But Shikamaru was a little surprised to see Temari here.

But since the other party appears here, it means that the purpose of the other party here is consistent with the Konoha ninja.

"Are you also here to attend the coming-of-age ceremony for the miko of the Kingdom of Ghosts?"

Shikamaru asked aloud.

"Yeah, I just came out for a drive. It seems that your purpose is the same."

Temari nodded.

"So, what about the other two people?"

Shikamaru didn't see Kankuro and Gaara beside Temari.

In his mind, he remembered that the three of them had always been inseparable.

"The two of them are resting upstairs. Okay, I have something else to do here, let's talk about it when we have time."

After Temari finished speaking, she left the hall and walked upstairs.

"You can't tell, Shikamaru, you're hooking up with a girl from Sunagakure Village."

Ino patted Shikamaru on the shoulder, secretly laughing whether he was happy or teasing.

"Don't talk nonsense, there is nothing between me and her, we just happen to know each other."

"But I remember you saved someone's life once during the Chunin Exam."

Ino talked about it.

"Those are all old things. I have forgotten them a long time ago. Well, let's quickly put the salute in the room."

Shikamaru urged.

"That's true. But, can we really meet Sakura here?"

Ino thought of something, looked down at her feet, her eyes darkened, and her tone was full of doubts about herself.

Choji couldn't help but slow down when eating snacks, and looked at Shikamaru, hoping that he would come up with an idea.

"Only God knows this kind of thing. But since we are still in the world of ninjas, it is only a matter of time that we encounter it. However, the real problem is after encountering it. It is best not to have any hope for some illusions..."

Shikamaru dropped these words, carried the salute, and walked towards the passage on the other side of the hall.

Ino and Choji looked at each other and had no choice but to follow Shikamaru's footsteps.

◎

"So, the guys from Konoha are here too?"

In the hotel room is a resting spot for Sunagakure.

Knowing from Temari that the Konoha ninjas were gathering in the hall downstairs, Kankuro, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, showed an interesting smile.

Because of the alliance, Konoha and Sunagakure have established diplomatic relations for many years. Over the years, the relationship has always been harmonious.

Even in the previous Fourth Ninja War, they were still advancing and retreating together.

"The team is led by Nara Shikaku, the Jonin squad leader of Konoha. He is a heavyweight."

Temari said.

Listening to Temari and Kankuro communicating with each other in the room, Gaara, who was standing at the window, remained unmoved.

As always, he was carrying a heavy gourd behind his back. His height could be said to have grown a lot compared to before, but the indifference between his brows was actually deeper than before.

His brows were furrowed tightly, as if there were shackles that couldn't be let go.

Temari and Kankuro on the side couldn't help but sigh when they saw this.

Although their father Luo Sha has become more aware of some of the wrong education methods in the past over the years, the cause and effect of the matter has been planted. Even if he wants to make up for some regrets in the past, the 'hatred' between father and son is by no means It can be eliminated so easily.

Letting Gaara come out this time may not be without the idea of ​​letting him come out to relax.

And this is probably some insignificant compensation that the Kazekage can make.

Otherwise, as Sunagakure's Jinchuuriki, he would never be able to act so freely.

"Gaara, this city is beautiful. Do you want your sister to take you out to play later? If there is anything you want to buy, just tell your sister."

Temari came to Gaara's side and tried to slow down her tone to show her tenderness.

This made Kankuro, who was sitting on the bed board, very happy.

To Gaara, he was considerate, spoke softly, and took care of everything.

But for his younger brother, he always speaks rudely and might even give him a beating when he is upset.

This made Kankuro groan inwardly.

He must be the younger brother he picked up from the trash can.

Gaara just stared at Temari, turned around and took steps.

"I'm going for a walk."

After saying that, he opened the door and left, causing Temari and Kankuro who stayed in the room to look at each other.

"If he goes out alone... it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Kankuro hesitated before asking the question.

"Idiot, of course there will be problems, hurry up and follow!"

Temari looked at Kankuro with a serious face.

"Why don't you go?"

Kankuro retorted subconsciously.

"Huh? What did you say? Do you have the guts to tell me again? I find that you have become a lot bolder recently!"

Temari directly grabbed Kankuro's collar, lifted his body from the bed, and forced his eyes to meet hers.

Kankuro swallowed.

"I, I understand, don't hold on to my clothes like this. Really, you just know how to handle me."

Whoever marries this female tyrannosaurus in the future will definitely be in bad luck. Kankuro was so sure.

"If something goes wrong with Gaara, I will hang you on a telephone pole outside for the night. I will keep my word."

Temari's faint words made Kankuro shudder, and he ran out of the door in a panic, chasing Gaara's figure.

◎

"Did you make a mistake? Why did Sunagakure Village send jinchūriki out?"

Ayane, who came to the security force building to handle official duties, saw Gaara's name on the list of people participating in the shrine maiden coming-of-age ceremony in Sunagakure Village, and she was immediately speechless.

You must know that security on the day of the miko's coming-of-age ceremony is left to the security forces.

Now that Sunagakure Village has sent jinchūriki here, doesn't this make her job more difficult in disguise?

Although it is not difficult to suppress a tailed beast of Ichibi's level when it goes berserk with her power, the question is, who would be okay and play with the tailed beast? And before that, the tailed beast's chakra rampage will definitely cause irreparable damage to the city of the Demon Country.

If she hadn't understood that Sunagakure Village could not cause trouble to the Kingdom of Demons in such a stupid way, Ayane would have thought that Sunagakure Village was deliberately looking for trouble.

After all, it's just one head and one tail, not a perfect Jinchuriki, nor a super-standard tailed beast like the Nine-Tails. The Kingdom of Demons has too many ways to target it.

"Then, Buchou, do you want to keep an eye on Sunagakure's Jinchuuriki?"

The reporting jounin asked.

"Of course we have to keep an eye on it. Although the possibility of going on a rampage is very low, it is not impossible. Take out the ninjas of the Uchiha and Uzumaki clan from the security team and let them monitor the movements of the Sunagakure jinchūriki 24 hours a day. If The other party is a security risk, so we can capture him directly without reporting it."

The tailed beast's rampage didn't happen overnight.

Because the tailed beast completely goes berserk, it will cause life-threatening danger to the jinchuriki. Therefore, in many cases, it takes time for the tailed beast to completely erode the jinchuriki's heart and let its power fully manifest. At this time, as long as targeted methods are used, the tailed beast can be stopped from corroding the jinchuriki's heart and its chakra can be prevented from leaking.

Therefore, sending Uchiha ninjas who can restrain tailed beasts and Uzumaki clan ninjas with sealing skills is the best way to prevent hidden dangers.

With the coming of age ceremony for the miko, her work has become very busy and she has no time to monitor the one-tail jinchuriki.

And even if she has time, if she does this in her capacity and lets other countries know about it, they will probably laugh out loud and think that there is no one left in the Ghost Country.

After all, it is just to monitor the tailed beast, not to suppress the tailed beast from going berserk. This is a completely different matter.

"yes!"

The Jonin who reported the report got the order and went down quickly to follow Ayane's order, organize the Uchiha and Uzumaki clan ninjas in the security force, and let them form a surveillance team to keep a close eye on Ichibi during the Sunagakure ninja's stay in the Demon Country. The movements of the jinchūriki.

After the Jonin left, Ayane checked other work contents.

To be honest, during this coming-of-age ceremony for the mainline miko, the Demon Country will become very busy.

If we still maintain the attitude of a small country as in the past, it naturally does not need to be too complicated, and we only need to go through an internal process. Anyway, at that time, the Kingdom of Demons did not have much presence in the ninja world. It was only because of the existence of miko that it retained its status as a neutral country. It is estimated that only people from this country would pay attention to the coming-of-age ceremony for the mainline shrine maiden.

But since the Ghost Country is now a member of a big country, if the coming-of-age ceremony for the monarch of a country is too shabby, other countries will look down upon it.

Although you won't really be looked down upon, it will leave a rude impression on other countries.

Moreover, if this Miko Coming of Age Ceremony is successfully held, it can further unite the hearts of people in the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Based on this situation, organizing the order of the day is the top priority facing the security forces.

As long as a very small accident occurs on that day, it will leave an indelible stain.

Therefore, people who have entered the country recently will be subject to strict scrutiny.

People like Jinchuuriki who are potential safety hazards must be monitored 24 hours a day.

"Sure enough, Liuli's job is better. I must be at home at this time, spending time leisurely."

Ayane was a little annoyed.

Although he was promoted to the position of head of the security forces, this was only based on the arrangement of her husband Shiraishi.

From the beginning, she was not interested in the high position that everyone wanted.

Because being in the spotlight and enjoying the awe and envy of everyone does not bring her any sense of accomplishment.

When it comes to excitement, it is the emotion that bursts out at the moment of being dominated by her husband Shiraishi. That is unparalleled satisfaction and pleasure.

Therefore, besides wasting her own time, this position did her no good at all.

In contrast, although Liuli had a temporary position in the military, he only held the position of president of the Ziyuan Flower Chamber of Commerce.

But there was no need for Liuli to come forward when it came to the Chamber of Commerce. Her parents, who had retired to the position of vice-president, would take care of everything for her.

As for his parents... his father died early, and his memory has become very weak. This figure is basically no longer in his memory. He has already sacrificed his life and blood for the Zong family... As for whether he is active or passive, it is unknown.

The relationship between his mother and himself is not good. Even if it has improved over the years, they only meet a handful of times each year. Not only does he have no talent as a ninja, he also has no management skills.

Thinking of this, Ayane couldn't help but press the phone next to her.

"Mother?"

On the other end of the phone, about ten seconds passed before Zicai's voice sounded.

"Cai, are you at home now?"

Ayane put the sorted documents into a pile, stood it upright, tapped it on the table a few times, and casually asked Cai on the other end of the phone.

"Yes. Mom, what can I do for you?"

Cai was a little confused about her mother Ayane coming to see her at this time.

"Speaking of which, are you going to take the Jonin test this year?"

"Yes."

Cai answered.

"Then, come to the security building later. I have some things that I need you to deal with. I'm just here to observe whether you are qualified to participate in the Jonin test."

After saying that, without waiting for Ayato's response, Ayane hung up the phone and let out a long breath.

Sure enough, at this time, the son is the mother's warm cotton jacket.

◎

Konoha.

A training ground built on the Death Forest was full of regular, huge circular potholes, from which wisps of light smoke were still rising into the sky.

At this moment, an extremely terrifying explosion suddenly sounded in the training ground.

The white hurricane raged and blew up wind blades that reflected dazzling light, destroying the entire land.

Countless amounts of dust and smoke were blown around by the storm, and even the nearby woods were affected and began to tremble uneasily.

When the dust and smoke dissipated, a regular circular pit similar to its surroundings suddenly appeared on the ground.

A figure stood in the circular pit, the ribbon protecting his forehead fluttering in the wind. The whole person stood in the pit, assuming a thinking posture, as if he was thinking about the inspiration for releasing the ninjutsu at that moment. But maybe that inspiration was too difficult to grasp, so after thinking for a while, I still couldn't grasp the important trick.

"Hey, Naruto."

There was a shouting sound in my ears.

The figure in the pothole, Naruto, couldn't help but raise his head and look towards the edge of the pothole.

Captain Tianzang was standing there, waving to him, as if he had something to explain to him.

Naruto gave up thinking, jumped up easily, and the next moment, he suddenly appeared next to Tenzo.

"What's going on, Captain Yamato? I'm at a critical moment in my training right now. Didn't I tell you that there's nothing important, so don't bother me?"

Naruto seemed a little concerned about Tenzo disturbing him.

"Well, of course I'm disturbing you at this time because of an important matter. Besides, haven't you finished injecting chakra properties into the Rasengan to change it yet? It doesn't matter if it's a little later. Anyway, , your current strength has surpassed that of my captain."

Tenzo looked helplessly at Naruto in front of him.

The biggest growth between Naruto and before was not the drastic change in height, let alone the maturity in appearance, but the leap in strength.

As far as Tenzo knew, Naruto had initially mastered the magic of Miaomu Mountain a year ago.

Nowadays, the practice of injecting changes in properties into the A-level ninjutsu Rasengan is being carried out.

This is something that the founder, the Fourth Hokage, was not able to completely accomplish. If Naruto can accomplish this, there is no doubt that his strength will make another leap.

As for how strong Naruto is now, to be honest, Tenzo, as the leader of the team, can no longer see through it.

"That's why I'm practicing here, just to complete the change in the chakra properties of the Rasengan earlier." Even so, if he was interrupted, he was interrupted. Naruto quickly recovered his mood, and he would not do it for He blamed Tenzo for such a thing and asked: "But, what is the important thing you said...?"

"It's a new teammate."

Tenzo smiled mysteriously.

"New teammates?"

Naruto was stunned.

Probably because he didn't expect this to be what Tenzo was talking about, Naruto didn't react for a while.

"Yes, after all, there are only three people in Team 7 now. Considering the balance of the team, of course a fourth person must be arranged. Although we have not found a good candidate before, it seems that Master Hokage has found an excellent substitute. That’s right. Sai has passed, let’s go too now.”

Tenzo smiled.

"oh oh."

Naruto was in a daze. The fourth person in the team...

To be honest, this was a bit of a shock.

For two consecutive years, the seventh team has only had three people performing tasks. They did not expect that a fourth person would be inserted at this time.

"Speaking of which, does Captain Yamato know who the fourth person is?"

On the way to the Hokage Building, Naruto asked Tenzo who the fourth person was.

"We'll find out when we get there."

Tianzang pretended to be mysterious and did not reveal anything, but only quickened his pace.

Naruto had no choice but to chase after him.

I just feel a little heavy in my heart.

But I also knew that now was not the time to be sentimental, so I quickly dealt with the disappointment in my heart.

The training ground is not too far from the Hokage Building, it takes about ten minutes to get there.

Arriving at the Hokage's office, as Tianzang said, Sai has been waiting here for a long time.

Two years have passed, and the other party's height and appearance have changed slightly.

The only thing that didn't change was probably the fake smile on his face.

"Captain, Naruto."

Sai smiled and nodded.

Naruto curled his lips. Even though he recognized in his heart that this guy was also his companion, the sight of that fake smile still made him feel uncomfortable.

But Zuo Jing was not surprised and smiled without saying a word.

"We're all here, you three."

The owner of the office, the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, spoke up.

"Grandma Tsunade, um, who is the fourth person you are talking about?"

Naruto asked this question when he came up. Apparently the fourth person that Team 7 was going to penetrate made him very curious.

"Let me tell you first, Sakura is a very good ninja. It will not be easy to find a ninja to replace her."

Naruto's hidden meaning was that if he was too weak, he would not be qualified to join Team 7.

"Don't worry, I can guarantee your ability. Well, come in."

With Tsunade's voice, the side door of the office was opened.

Not only Naruto and Tenzo, but also Sai could not help but look there.

A figure came out of the side door.

A young girl.

Under the beautiful orange hair, there is still a childlike temperament on the round cheeks, and there is also a light blush.

"Uh...kid?"

Naruto was startled when he saw the girl who was only a little taller than his shoulders.

Is this the fourth person who will be merged into Class 7?

Too young?

It made Naruto feel very much like himself four years ago, a young bird who had just graduated from the ninja school...

"I'm not a child, I'm already a chuunin!"

Perhaps stimulated by Naruto's words, the girl immediately raised her eyebrows and emphasized that she was a chuunin in a serious tone.

"Chunin? Fake, right?"

Hearing this, Naruto's jaw dropped in shock.

Only then did I realize that the girl's outfit was not simple.

It's the attire of an ANBU.

Although he was not wearing a mask, the color and style of his clothes were very similar to those of ANBU. If you didn't distinguish them carefully, you would have thought that the other person was an ANBU ninja.

Her sparkling eyes revealed strong confidence.

Even a child is not an ordinary child.

"Hmph!" The girl snorted softly: "In the world of ninjas, strength is everything, and age is not a problem at all, Naruto-senpai. Ah, no, I am a chuunin, and you are still a genin."

Poof!

Naruto felt strong malice from the mysterious girl.

What a hateful guy!

Yes, although his strength has become much stronger in the past two years and he has already acquired the ability to fight as a jounin, at the administrative level, he is still a genuine genin.

As a junior, Huonoko was, strictly speaking, his superior!

Regarding the girl's self-evaluation, Tsunade nodded in approval and said: "That's right, Naruto, you can't judge the strength of a ninja by his appearance. Even though Hanoko is only twelve years old this year, she is already an ANBU Alternate. All these are her achievements through her own strength."

"Anbu candidate?"

Tenzo, who already knew this, just shrugged.

Naruto and Sai are full of incredible things.

It was enough to become a chuunin at the age of twelve, but in the end he was still an ANBU candidate... This was not an honor that ordinary ninjas could obtain.

It also means that the opponent can change from an ordinary chuunin to a member of the Hokage's direct troops at any time.

Ordinary ninjas definitely don't have such abilities.

"But Hanoko... the name is quite cute."

Naruto said.

"Haha, just like in the intelligence, he doesn't know how to grasp girls' thoughts. Ninjas can't be described as cute, you idiot-senpai."

Huonoko's beautiful face was full of ridicule and ridicule.

"...Captain Yamato, can I beat her up?"

Naruto smiled half-heartedly.

"This is really difficult to handle. After all, I am also my next teammate."

Tenzo smiled bitterly.

"How does this look like a teammate? After all, she is just a disobedient brat, right? And does she really have the strength to join Class 7?"

Naruto pointed at Hanoko.

The other person is really too young, he looks like a rookie who just graduated from the ninja school.

"What's the strength to join Team 7? If it weren't for Hokage-sama's arrangement, I wouldn't want to join Team 7 where there are always rebellious ninjas."

Huonoko's words made Naruto even more furious.

"What did you say?"

This is definitely a taboo in Naruto's mind.

"The defecting Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke, as well as the later Haruno Sakura, are nothing more than traitors to Konoha...Am I wrong?"

Hanoko showed no sign of Naruto's anger.

In her slender eyes, one can feel her tenacious and determined will.

"hateful!"

Naruto clenched his fists, even though what the other party said was true, but...

"I won't allow you to insult them!"

"So, do you want to defend the rebel ninja? Hokage-sama, I think the other party's ideas have seriously harmed the safety of the village. It would be better for a guy like this who doesn't understand his position to be imprisoned in prison and undergo labor reform."

Hanoko suggested to Tsunade in a cold tone.

"...You two stop for a moment."

Tsunade stopped this farce with a headache.

However, Naruto and Huonoko stared at each other, both of them disliked each other.

"Hinoko, the situation in Class 7 is a bit special, please be patient."

Tsunade shook her head helplessly.

Then, she looked at Naruto and said, "You too, Naruto, don't get angry at your juniors. Although Huonoko's words were a little ugly, they were not wrong. There are some things that I can't say more about, but you actually understand in your heart. ’s... forget it, anyway, Huo Yezi is the fourth member of Class 7, starting from today, you guys can get along well."

Naruto wanted to say something else, but Tenzo held Naruto's shoulders and swallowed the words he wanted to say.

"Then we take our leave, Hokage-sama."

With that said, he took Naruto out of the room.

Sai smiled at Hanoko, and Hanoko smiled back, but there was a deep wariness and vigilance in the smile towards Sayi, a ninja with a deep background.

Following the footsteps of Tenzo and Naruto, the two left the office one after another.

(PS: Huonoko is a character who appears in the official novel. She was fourteen years old when she appeared in the novel and was an official member of the ANBU.)