blogombal Chapter 153 Jinchūriki, Seeking Benefits for His Subordinates
Chapter 153 Jinchūriki, Seeking Benefits for His Subordinates
On the eastern border of the Land of Rivers, four figures sped across the wilderness towards the Land of Fire.
"Wait, we're safe now!" Suddenly, Karin, who was in the center of the group, stopped and looked delighted. "The shadow clone that the captain asked me to leave behind to sense things has been dispelled. That monster has been successfully suppressed by the Sand Village ninja."
"Great! At least we don't have to worry about that monster catching up anymore..."
"Speaking of which, what kind of being is that guy, that he can transform into such a terrifying behemoth to attack?"
Tarojiro breathed a sigh of relief and sighed, looking like he was still feeling lingering fear!
If it weren't for their older brother Ishikawa, they would have been dead the moment they encountered that guy without knowing anything about him.
"I'll ask the Hokage about this when I get back to the village. But for now, let's find a place to rest for the night and head back to the village tomorrow!" Ishikawa said casually, feigning ignorance, secretly thinking that just as he had expected, Maki and the others were too busy suppressing Shukaku to have time to chase after them.
Now that things are stable, I can leisurely return to the village to submit my task.
"Captain, there's a large crowd about five kilometers to the southeast. It should be a town or village where we can rest." Soon, Karin sensed something and her eyes lit up as she shouted.
Ishikawa naturally did not refuse and immediately led the three of them toward the crowd.
After arriving in what turned out to be a remote town, we found a restaurant, ate and drank our fill, and then checked into a hotel to relax, wash up, and go to bed to recharge.
While Ishikawa was enjoying his life, Maki was so angry at the sight of his two fallen sealing squad members and the seriously injured Gaara that he almost vomited blood.
Especially after Temari brought the injured Kankuro over and confirmed that the enemy was just a Konoha Chunin, her expression became even more gloomy!
With the Joint Chunin Exams to be held in Konoha in a few months, Orochimaru has already invited the Kazekage to launch a surprise attack on Konoha, and preliminary preparations have already begun.
At this time, the appearance of a Chunin boy in Konoha who could push Gaara to such a point is not good news!
It seems necessary to reassess Konoha's strength and have the Kazekage carefully decide whether to launch an attack on Konoha.
Meanwhile, Ishikawa was unaware that his appearance had made Maki question Konoha's apparent weakness.
Nothing happened that night. The four of them slept soundly until they woke up naturally. After having breakfast, they set off back to the village at a leisurely pace.
10 PM, Hokage's office.
"Very good, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me." After confirming that it was the target's head, the Third Hokage turned to look at the four Ishikawa members and praised them generously.
Although he was 100% confident that the mission would be a success, the Ishikawa squad completed it just too quickly!
It can only be said that the Ishikawa squad truly deserves its reputation as an all-around squad with the combined power of Kagura's Mind's Eye and Red Eye, possessing perception, insight, and super strong combat power.
"I have something else to report about this. Hokage, we encountered..." Ishikawa didn't hold back and, under the Third Hokage's constantly changing expression, directly revealed the information about their encounter with Gaara.
"Lord Hokage, what kind of monster is that guy from Sunagakure? How can he transform into such a huge monster and control sand to launch attacks!" After Ishikawa explained the whole story, Taro couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Jiro and Karin both looked over at the same time, their eyes flashing.
"Well..." The Third Hokage paused for half a second, feigning a puff of his cigarette, before turning a serious gaze to Ishikawa and the other three. To be precise, he looked at Ishikawa and Karin.
Perhaps it would be good to take this opportunity to let the two of them know about the existence of tailed beasts and jinchūriki, just as a way to give them a heads-up!
"If I'm not mistaken, that monster should be Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast of Sunagakure. And the boy who fought Ishikawa is Shukaku's jinchūriki." Under the astonished gazes of Karin and the others, the Third Hokage spoke eloquently.
"However, I didn't expect that you, Ishikawa, could complete the mission in the hands of the One-Tailed Jinchuriki and escape unscathed with your subordinates. You truly deserve to be Kakashi's disciple! Although the reward for this mission cannot be increased, I will register an A-rank mission record for you."
At this point, the Third Hokage looked at Ishikawa with obvious satisfaction!
Such an outstanding junior genius, who is also a true member of the Hokage lineage, is someone he knows inside and out. How could he not cherish him?
"Uh, no need for A-rank mission records! If possible, I hope the Hokage can teach Taro and Jiro a B-rank ninjutsu each." Upon seeing this, Ishikawa suddenly took a deep breath and pretended to be nervous as he pressed his advantage.
If the third generation agrees, then while strengthening the two younger brothers, it will at least buy him a week of rest time so he can stay home and train hard for a few days.
"Big brother..." Tarojiro was moved to tears when he saw Ishikawa directly advocating for their interests.
I never expected my brother to help them like this in front of the Hokage. A true friend would die for his friend, brother!
"Is that so? I grant your request." The Third Hokage looked at the three people, who were deeply bound together, with even greater satisfaction, and nodded in agreement without hesitation.
He might hesitate if it were Karin, but he would absolutely trust Tarojiro, who came from humble beginnings, and would be generous in offering his guidance.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Seeing the Third Hokage accept, Ishikawa immediately expressed his gratitude, then scratched his head, looking bewildered. "But Hokage-sama, what are these 'One-Tailed Shukaku' and 'Jinchūriki' you mentioned earlier? This 'One-Tailed Shukaku,' is it related to the Nine-Tailed Fox from 12 years ago? They're both called 'Several-Tailed' or something..."
The Nine-Tailed Fox is no secret in Konoha, given how many people have died on the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox. However, a gag order has been placed prohibiting any discussion of it in private.
“That’s right. There are nine of these monsters in the ninja world, named One-Tail, Two-Tail, Three-Tail, and so on, up to Nine-Tail, according to the number of their tails. Jinchuriki are ninjas who control the power of the tailed beasts.” The Third Hokage’s eyes flashed with a glint of light as he spoke ambiguously, without fully explaining the relationship between Jinchuriki and tailed beasts.
Even so, it left Karin and the other two speechless, as if they had seen a new continent!
"I see. Thank you for your explanation, Hokage-sama. It's getting late, so we'll head back now and come back to ask you for more information tomorrow." Seeing that the Third Hokage was unwilling to elaborate, Ishikawa didn't press further and simply took his leave.
Anyway, he knows more about these things than the third generation, and asking these questions is just to find an information source for his future explanation.
"Yes, you guys go back and rest first." The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe, nodded, and saw them off, not refusing Ishikawa and the others' request to come and learn ninjutsu the next day.
After the four men, including Ishikawa, left the office, the Third Hokage put away his pipe, his expression softening. "The Anbu sent intelligence this morning saying that the One-Tailed Beast had appeared in the Land of Rivers. I didn't expect it to be because of Ishikawa. Is the Sand Village's Jinchuriki also a teenager like Naruto? It's a pity the seal doesn't seem to be complete, otherwise he wouldn't have been so easily provoked to unleash Shukaku's true form!"
"This is indeed a very valuable and important piece of intelligence. Sunagakure will probably not use an uncontrollable tailed beast weapon lightly."
"Naruto, it seems you have plenty of time to grow, no rush..."