novelhk Chapter 89 Joint Mission
Chapter 89 Joint Mission
Chapter 89 Joint Mission
"Jiji, open the window, Jiji, open the window." The sound of banging on the window rang out outside, attracting Taiyi's attention.
Taiichi put down the book in his hand, turned his head and saw Captain Yamaguchi's summoning beast Gigi standing at the window, flapping its wings from time to time to maintain its balance. Obviously, the narrow window could not accommodate its increasingly fat body.
Taiyi walked to the window, opened it, and let the fat bird into the room.
"Gigi, you should lose weight. If you get any fatter, you won't even be able to fly anymore." Although he said this, Taiichi actually opened the drawer next to him with ease and took out a bag of delicious snacks and scattered them on the table.
"Gigi, Taiichi is so mean. He makes Gigi lose weight, but he still makes such delicious snacks for Gigi to eat."
It seems the culprit has been found.
Taiichi touched his nose, looking a little embarrassed. He just wanted to tease the gibbon, and he really didn't expect to feed it so much that Captain Yamaguchi had come to him several times because of it.
And this bird is obviously a greedy bird. Ever since it first tasted Taiyi's special snacks, it has been clamoring for more every time it comes here.
"You've come to see me, is it for another mission?" Taiichi changed the subject.
"Gigi, yes, there's a mission." As it spoke, it lifted its leg, which was so fat it was almost invisible.
Taiyi then noticed that Gigi's leg was tied with something. When he took it off, he saw that it was a task description written in tiny print.
After reading the mission details, Taiichi frowned. It was a rescue mission, and more importantly, the person who needed to be rescued was Hatake Sakumo.
Taiichi was puzzled as to why ninjas of this caliber would need their assistance.
"Gigi, Taiichi, after you finish reading, roll it up and put it on Gigi's lap. Gigi still needs to inform others." Gigi, who had finished her snacks, urged the dazed Taiichi.
"Oh, that's good."
Seeing Gigi fly out of the window, Taiichi stopped thinking about it and prepared the supplies before heading to the gates of Konoha to assemble. He believed that the captain would have more mission information.
When Taichi finished packing up the supplies and arrived at the gate, he found Captain Yamaguchi chatting and laughing with a blond ninja. It seemed that the two had a good relationship.
Taiichi recognized the blond ninja from his back. Who else could it be but Minato?
At that moment, Captain Yamaguchi also saw Taichi arrive and called out from afar, "Taichi, come here quickly."
Pulling Taichi closer, Captain Yamaguchi introduced him: "Minato, let me introduce you. This is our team's most powerful member, Matsushita Taichi."
"Oh, the best? How good is it?" Minato teased.
Captain Yamaguchi's face stiffened, not understanding what Minato meant.
"Captain, I've known Minato for a long time," Taichi explained, tugging at Yamaguchi Seisuke's sleeve with a helpless expression.
"You...you guys! Senior brother?" Clearly, this was unexpected by Yamaguchi Seisuke.
"Haha, Seisuke, you didn't know that, did you? Taiichi is Tsunade's disciple, so it's not a problem for him to call me senior brother." Minato explained from the side.
"So that's how it is. Taichi, you kept it well hidden!" Captain Yamaguchi patted Taichi on the shoulder with a big smile. Although he had always known that Taichi was good at medical ninjutsu, he did not expect that he was Tsunade's disciple. Now his medical care would be more secure.
The three chatted for a while, and then the other team members arrived one after another.
Once everyone had arrived, Minato stepped forward and explained the specific details of the mission to everyone.
After Minato finished explaining, everyone seemed to relax. They had initially thought it would be a difficult task requiring two teams to complete, but it turned out to be quite simple.
As stated in the mission description, the village has already sent a note to Kumogakure, so Kumogakure should no longer pressure Sakumo-senpai excessively. Their trip was just a backup plan in case of emergency.
After everyone learned about the mission, Minato and Yamaguchi Seisuke introduced their respective team members. It was then that Taichi learned that Minato's three subordinates were named Inuya Makoto, Gekko Sora, and Nakamura Rei.
The names of three ninjas I'd never heard of before; I wondered if they'd died in some war.
After everyone got to know each other, it was almost time. Led by the two captains, the group left Konoha and headed to the agreed-upon rendezvous point—a dense forest on the border between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of the Moon.
Before Taichi and the others received their mission, Danzo, who had just finished a meeting, returned to the Root base.
Thinking of Hiruzen Sarutobi's smug face during the meeting, Danzo felt a nameless fire burning in his heart.
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Why should the Hokage position be reserved for him? Why should he be in the sunlight while I have to hide in the shadows? Why should Sakumo steal the fruits of Root's hard work in investigating the mission, and now I have to clean up Sakumo's mess? And why can't such a good seedling come to his Root?
All of this was because I was stunned for just one second back then.
Whenever Danzo thought of these things, his heart was filled with resentment and anger.
I hate myself for being so cowardly back then, for not being the first to respond to Tobirama-sensei's request.
He hated Hiruzen's decisiveness back then, which led to him taking the Hokage's throne.
He even resented Tobirama-sensei for being so hasty, not giving himself a second chance.
This has almost become his inner demon, constantly reminding him and tormenting him.
"Someone come here." A gloomy, oppressive voice rang out.
"Yes, Lord Danzo." A figure suddenly appeared in front of Danzo and knelt on one knee.
"Send this investigation report to Cloud Village. Remember, send it at this time tomorrow, understand?" The gloomy voice rang out again, but this time it was even more sinister, sending chills down one's spine.
"Yes, sir!" The Root ninja answered without hesitation, without questioning the mission at all, and simply obeyed Danzo's orders.
Now it all depends on your luck. That's all he can do. Any more and it will be hard to explain, and it will arouse the Hokage's suspicion.
At this moment, Taiyi and the others were clearly unaware that their mission had encountered setbacks even before they had set off.
They are currently traveling on the road to the Land of Hot Springs. Since time is not of the essence, everyone is controlling their speed.
"So, Taiyi, the cause of this mission is somehow related to you?" Yangping asked, drawing everyone's attention.
The members of the Minato Squad were also curious about how their mission could be connected to Taiichi.
Seeing that everyone in Minato's team was so interested, Taiichi briefly recounted how he had rescued Kurama Chizuru.
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Everyone was amazed, never expecting that the mission they were carrying out was caused by something that happened to one of their teammates a few months ago.
Without the pressure of rushing, everyone chatted and laughed along the way, making the journey anything but boring.
Perhaps because they had never carried out a mission with another squad before, the three members of the Eighth Squad were quite excited.
Especially Yangping, who really made the three members of Minato's team get to know the Uchiha clan in a new light. They never expected that there could be such a talkative and interesting ninja in the Uchiha clan. The group became good friends in less than a day.
Seeing their subordinates getting along so well, Minato Namikaze and Seisuke Yamaguchi nodded in approval. No matter what mission they were carrying out, team unity and teamwork were crucial, as they greatly increased the success rate of the mission.
From this perspective, the team's coordination in this mission was at least satisfactory.
It took the group two days to reach the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. They were resting under a large tree.
"The Land of Hot Springs is just ahead. Once we cross the border, everyone needs to be careful on the road. Don't worry about anything outside of the mission. We'll speed up our journey from here on out," Captain Yamaguchi said to everyone, holding a water bag.
However, he kept staring at Yangping while speaking, which puzzled Yangping.
"Captain, you don't think I'm going to meddle, do you?"
After taking a sip of water to moisten his lips, Captain Yamaguchi's words immediately broke down Yohei's defenses: "You know that's good!"
"Haha!" Everyone burst into laughter, especially Makoto Inuzuka.
Of the three members of Minato's team, he had been playing best with Yohei these past two days, and he was laughing the loudest right now. He was so abruptly laughing that he shook the ninja dog that was pretending to sleep on his head off, causing the little ninja dog to bark angrily.
This prompted Inuya Makoto to quickly apologize to the little ninja dog.
Even Yang Ping himself couldn't help but laugh out loud.
After resting for a while, the group resumed their journey. Their next stop was the border between the Kingdom of Soup and the Kingdom of the Moon—the agreed-upon rendezvous point.
Not long after Taiichi and his group entered the Land of Hot Springs, Danzo's investigation report was finally delivered to A, the Third Hokage of Kumogakure.
"Carol, what is this? Why was it delivered to me?" The Third Generation Ai was sitting at his desk, holding a huge special dumbbell in one hand, working on his strength.
"This is a diplomatic note from Konoha Village and their investigation report. I took a look, and it describes our previous operation to seize their bloodline limit."
"Oh!" Third Generation Ai put down the barbell in his hand and picked up the diplomatic note on the table to read it.
But as he read, the veins on his forehead became more and more prominent, until—
"Bang!" That was the sound of a punch hitting the table.
"Crash!" That's the sound of the table falling apart.
"What does Konoha want? They killed my men and now they want to threaten me, demanding I withdraw the pursuing ninjas? Dream on!" The Third Hokage, A, unleashed a furious tirade, his angry roar echoing throughout the Raikage Building.
Looking at the enraged Raikage and the shattered table, Carlo didn't even flinch, as if he was used to it all.
"Lord Raikage, things may really only be done that way, if you don't want to become the target of everyone's criticism." As she spoke, she picked up the investigation report that the Third Hokage A hadn't even looked at from the shards of the table and handed it over.
After listening, Ai looked at Carol with suspicion, took the investigation report from her hand, and began to read it carefully.
At this moment, Carol was directing her subordinates to quickly clear away the wreckage of the desk and carry in a new one from outside. Judging from their practiced movements, this was clearly not the first time they had done this.
At this moment, Aya Sandai finished reading the investigation report. He felt a fire burning in his chest, which he couldn't vent but couldn't suppress. Frustrated, he wanted to find something to smash.
"Lord Raikage, the village is short of funds. This is the eighth table we've used this month. You should think more about the ninjas under your command." Karoi calmly advised the Third A.
"Are all the intelligence ninjas in Konoha like rats? How come they're everywhere? They know so much about what's happening in other villages!" Third Hokage A complained loudly.
Clearly, the level of detail in this investigation report exceeded the Third Hokage A's expectations. Now that the report has been given directly to him, if Konoha were to distribute it to the other ninja villages, then Kumogakure's situation would be quite precarious.
Not to mention the joint boycott from other ninja villages, even mission assignments may be affected, since not everyone wants to cooperate with a village that only cares about coveting other people's valuables.
Once an image and reputation are damaged or lost, it becomes extremely difficult to rebuild them.
"Send a message back to Konoha, saying that we will give up the pursuit of Hatake Sakumo, but if he dies at someone else's hands, that's beyond our control." The Third A was also decisive, knowing that the goal could not be achieved, he gave up decisively.
"Yes, I'll reply right away."
"By the way, send someone to notify the pursuit team a day later. After all, they've already chased so far, it's understandable that the village can't find them for a while," the third-generation Ai instructed.
"By the way, let's spread the news that Sakumo Hatake was seriously injured in the Land of Lightning, and see if anyone can help us solve this problem."
Carol looked at the Third Generation Ai with a surprised expression, as if she was discovering for the first time that the Third Generation Ai also had so many tricks up his sleeve.
"Yes, I'll take care of it right away."
Watching Carol disappear from the room, the Third A felt a surge of anger. "You think you can just kill someone in my Hidden Cloud Village and leave peacefully? You're dreaming!"
Not to mention that Hatake Sakumo was already severely injured when he fled, the subsequent pursuit alone would have been enough to give him a hard time, not to mention the hyenas that came running after hearing the news.
If he manages to survive this, then it can only be said that he was destined to live.
The rendezvous point is located on the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon.
Taiyi and the others had been here for almost half a day, and two hours had passed since the agreed time.
The relaxed mood they had when they arrived was gone, and everyone's face was heavy.
Being a ninja is a profession that requires punctuality, especially during missions, where a strong sense of time is even more crucial. And situations like not arriving at the agreed-upon time rarely end well.
The two captains were currently torn between continuing to wait or entering the Land of the Moon to directly search for Hatake Sakumo's whereabouts.
Another hour passed, and the two captains couldn't wait any longer. If Hatake Sakumo hadn't arrived after so long, he must have encountered danger. If they continued to wait foolishly, they might not even see his body.
"Minato, we still need to leave some people to keep an eye on this place. What if we all leave and Sakumo comes over instead? We'll miss it then," Captain Yamaguchi suggested.
Everyone agreed that this made sense, but staying behind was not a good task. Staying too many people would delay the search, while staying too few would be quite dangerous in this environment.
Just as everyone was pondering, Minato began to form hand seals, performing a summoning technique.
With a "pop," a puff of white smoke rose up, and a toad the size of a palm appeared on the spot.
"This is the communication frog from Mount Myōboku. I left it here to keep watch. Even if enemies come, they won't notice a toad watching them." He then took out a specially made three-pronged kunai from his ninja tool bag and handed it to the communication frog, instructing it to hide it carefully.
When Taiichi saw Minato take out that special kunai, he was shocked. Flying Thunder God Kunai! So Minato learned this move so early? Then this mission might be much safer.
"Let's go!" Minato, having arranged everything, called everyone to enter the Land of the Moon and explore towards Kumogakure. Although they didn't know Hatake Sakumo's exact route, following this general direction couldn't be wrong.
"Shiro, summon all your companions. Now it's your turn to shine," Minato said to Makoto Inuzuka.
"Alright, watch me!" Everyone saw Makoto Inuzuka use his summoning technique, but what he summoned were three large dogs.
"Makoto and his ninja dogs can use secret techniques to exchange information over short distances. Let's split up into two teams of two, each with one ninja dog, and search separately," Minato suggested to Captain Yamaguchi.
"it is good."
And so, everyone paired up, with Taichi following Makoto Inuyasha, and leading the way was a little ninja dog named Kuromaru who was perched on Makoto's head.