novelhk Chapter 44 Loulan Mission
Chapter 44 Loulan Mission
In the blink of an eye, it's the 46th year of Naruto, and nine-year-old Kyosuke has successfully become a Chunin.
In fact, Kyosuke's strength had long been recognized, but he spent all his time training, mastering ninjutsu, taijutsu, medical jutsu, and sealing jutsu. He was not very proactive in missions, so he was promoted to Chunin much slower than Kakashi.
Fortunately, the five of them shared the training content; otherwise, even if Kyosuke worked himself to death, he wouldn't have learned so much.
That day, Kyosuke ate at Kushina's house and learned how to use the sealing technique. On his way home, he encountered Root ninjas.
"Kyosuke Uesugi, your strength has been recognized by Lord Danzo. He hopes you will join Root and make greater contributions to Konoha."
Hmph, enslaved in Root?! I'm going to be the Hokage!
Kyosuke said directly, "I refuse!"
The Root ninja wore masks, so his expression couldn't be seen, but Kyosuke keenly sensed that the other party was radiating killing intent. However, Kyosuke was not afraid and confronted the other party without backing down.
Seeing that intimidation had no effect, the Root ninja stopped talking and turned to leave.
"With Sakumo Hatake dead and holding Orochimaru's secrets, Danzo probably feels that no one can threaten his position as Hokage. I've heard that the Root organization has been making frequent moves recently, vigorously expanding its strength."
Thinking about the situation in the village, Kyosuke felt a little heavy-hearted. He only hoped that Minato Namikaze could become Hokage like in the anime, and not go down an unforeseen path because of the butterfly effect.
At this moment, Minato Namikaze, whom Kyosuke was concerned about, was in the Hokage's office with Shimi Aburame and Choza Akimichi, receiving a secret mission.
"The dragon vein beneath Loulan City possesses immense chakra. Given the current turbulent situation, the Sand Ninja might utilize the dragon vein in the war. However, the bloodline of the Loulan Queen can seal the dragon vein."
"Your mission is to seal the Dragon Vein and ensure that the Sand Ninja cannot use it."
Upon receiving orders, Minato Namikaze, as the captain, made a suggestion.
"Lord Hokage, Kakashi and Kyosuke are only Chunin, but they are very excellent ninjas. We hope you will allow them to participate in the mission."
Do you want to train them?
The Hokage took a drag of his cigarette, pondered Kyosuke and Kakashi's information, and nodded: "Okay."
The next morning, Kyosuke opened the door and saw Minato Namikaze: "Minato-sensei, what brings you here?"
Minato Namikaze smiled and said, "Let's have breakfast together. It's on me. We can talk while we eat."
During breakfast, Kyosuke, knowing he was going on a mission, looked sullen and gave Minato Namikaze a suspicious look.
"This mission is so difficult, you shouldn't have brought a Chunin like me along. Minato-sensei, you're not doing this out of spite because I've been going to Kushina-neechan to learn sealing techniques every day and it's ruined your date, are you?"
Minato Namikaze blushed and shook his head in denial: "Don't talk nonsense. I did this to train you. If you want to become stronger, you can't just focus on training. You also need to experience the tempering of actual combat. Besides, I also called Kakashi this time."
"Then why are you blushing?!"
"The rice is too spicy!"
"This is glutinous rice porridge, and you just added a spoonful of sugar..."
"..."
A moment later, the five of them gathered and set off. Because Loulan was located in the Land of Wind, they all wore masks to conceal their identities.
After a few days of hurried travel, they arrived at Loulan City. The group agreed on a time and place to meet and then split up to gather intelligence.
The storyline of Loulan seems to be that Naruto travels from the future to this place, joins forces with Minato Namikaze to defeat the villains, and seals the Dragon Vein.
Kyosuke couldn't remember the specific details, and he even forgot the villain's name.
Kyosuke found a deserted alley, grabbed an ordinary person, and used simple illusion magic to extract information from him.
"So the female lead's name is Sara, and the main villain's name is An Lushan. What great names! They're obviously loyal to the highest order."
He then used illusion magic to confirm the accuracy of the message from different people before joining up with the others.
The group gathered the information they had obtained and came to a general understanding of the situation.
Six years ago, An Lushan came to Loulan and persuaded the then queen to combine the power of the dragon vein with An Lushan's puppetry skills, which led to Loulan's great development.
Some time ago, the Queen of Loulan died, and Sara is about to become the new queen.
“Then, we need to control Sara and seal the dragon vein. However, An Lushan is a powerful ninja and may also be connected to the Sand Village. We must complete the mission quickly.”
Minato Namikaze began assigning tasks: "Shiwei, Choza, we'll continue deeper to find the Queen and An Lushan's location. Kyosuke, Kakashi, you two stay outside the castle and be ready to meet us at any time!"
"Yes!"
Minato Namikaze and his two companions re-entered Loulan, while Kyosuke and Kakashi remained on guard outside the city.
A few hours later, an explosion was heard in the city. Kakashi got up to go and provide support, but Kyosuke stopped him.
"Watch out, someone's watching us!"
Kyosuke formed hand seals: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge fireball slammed into a sand dune.
"Wooden Escape? Wooden Spindle Wall!"
A row of sturdy wooden pillars appeared, blocking the flames, and a man with brown short hair and jet-black eyes appeared.
Is this Yamato? Is he also in this storyline?
Kyosuke was surprised by Yamato's appearance, but remained wary.
Kakashi looked at Yamato's headband and asked in confusion, "Wood Release? You're a Konoha ninja? What are you doing here?"
Kakashi had many questions, such as when did the village acquire Wood Release ninjas? This was the First Hokage's Wood Release, and the legendary power of Wood Release could be summed up in two words—invincible.
Furthermore, the relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure is currently very tense. They have to conceal their identities when they come to the Land of Wind to carry out missions, yet this Konoha ninja directly exposed his identity. Why?!
Could it be that he was placed there by the Hokage to secretly help us?
Kakashi certainly couldn't have imagined that Yamato came from the future. At that time, Konoha and Sunagakure were allies, and Yamato and his companions were invited by Sunagakure to come to the Land of Wind to hunt down Centipede, so they didn't need to hide their identities.
Unlike Kakashi's confusion, Yamato, seeing two unfamiliar ninjas, assumed they were Centipede's accomplices and was extremely wary: "Who are you! Why are you here!"
Faced with Yamato's questioning, Kyosuke and Kakashi remained silent.
Kyosuke knows the plot but can't show it, while Kakashi is unsure if Yamato is a true Konoha ninja and dares not reveal his Konoha identity while carrying out a secret mission.
At this moment, Yamato was worried about Naruto's safety and was quite anxious. After waiting for a while without receiving a response, he immediately launched an attack.
"Since you won't talk, then we'll capture you and interrogate you! Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
Yamato stretched out his right arm, and numerous strong branches and vines grew wildly from it, rushing towards Kyosuke and Kakashi's location.
Kyosuke and Kakashi immediately scattered to avoid the attack, and the vines struck the ground, stirring up gusts of sand.
"Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"
A new Yamato sprouted from the branches and vines and charged towards Kyosuke, while the Yamato itself, wielding a kunai, charged towards Kakashi.
Upon seeing this, Kyosuke couldn't help but laugh: "Using a clone to deal with me? I've been underestimated."
This is unfair to Yamato. As a powerful fighter with extremely rich combat experience, Yamato would not underestimate any enemy. He only intended to use Wood Release to delay Kyosuke, and then deal with Kyosuke after he had dealt with Kakashi.