The Root

Starting from the entrance of Konoha Village at noon, it would take at least ten hours to travel to the battlefield of the Kingdom of Fire.

At night, Baishi and his group of six found terrain easy to defend and difficult to attack to rest at night, preparing to start again early in the morning of the next day, in the evening of the next day, they should be able to run to Konoha's camp.

In this ninja war between Sagyun and Konoha, its border is at the border between the Country of Rivers and the country of fire.

This is a small country that exists between the two big countries of the country of fire and the country of wind, and the north is adjacent to the country of rain. There is a certain ninja power in the country, but the organized ninja village is too weak, and in the ninja world Nor is it famous.

Therefore, in this war, the ninja power of the country of rivers is almost negligible.

The six people are resting in the open space, but the desire to communicate with each other is not very strong.

After most of the time on the road, everyone is already exhausted, and they all hope to have a good rest.

Secondly, the two teams are not very close to each other.

Maybe Jiraiya also has a good relationship with Sakumo, but there is no connection between the three and Minato.

Even if they knew each other, they just heard each other's names by chance, and were at best acquaintances, he wasn't even a mutual friend.

"He is strong."

Baishi leaning against a big tree was frowning and contemplating natural energy when Ruri next to him suddenly said something like this.

"what?"

Shiraishi finished thinking and raised his head subconsciously.

"This guy has no flaws in his whole body. Even when he is resting, he chooses the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. He also judged it for the first time. It can be seen that his analytical ability is also first-class. Facing the teacher Sakumo At the time, he did not appear to be arrogant or impetuous, and he was not overwhelmed by the aura of Teacher Sakumo. He was very confident in his strength."

Baishi understood who Ruri was talking about.

Shiraishi nodded in agreement with Ruri's evaluation.

How can a ninja be trained by Sannin to be simple?

What's more, when he was in Ninja School, the other party had already emerged, and he was a well-known genius.

According to Shiraishi's estimation, Minato's current strength is likely to have reached the level of Jōnin.

"But compared to Ruri, you should be a bit worse."

Ayane said with a smile at this time.

Ruri's strength in the Sakumo squad is second only to the Sakumo leader. Along with the blood heritage of the Uchiha clan, it is difficult for Ruri to suffer a loss.

"This kind of thing can only be known after one fight."

Although Ruri is proud, she feels that being able to follow a Sannin shows that Minato is extraordinary.

However, Ruri is also very confident in her strength, especially after mastering the natural energy, the physique ability alone makes the upper-level ninja feel extremely headache.

What's more, in the battle, we must always pay attention to her Sharingan.

On the whole, Ruri doesn't think he has the possibility of losing if there is a fight.

But it is also true that the opponent is strong.

If the situation permits, I want to test it out. At this time, this kind of location, it is better to restrain it a little.

"Well, it's almost time to patrol."

At this time, Shiraishi got up and ended the topic Minato.

Even if the last mission eliminated an elite force from the sand village, and there was no news of damage in the fireland, you can't relax.

As long as you leave the village to perform tasks, you must pay 200% of your attention to prevent accidents.

The patrol mission of the Sakumo team has always been in teams of two.

Shiraishi and Ayane are in charge of the first half of the night, and Ruri and Sakumo are in charge of the second half of the night.

Now that the sky is almost dark, Shiraishi and Ayane have also started patrols in the first half of the night, patrolling around to see if any enemies are lurking.

Nodded to Ruri, Shiraishi and Ayane disappeared from their places and started patrolling.

Ruri glanced at the back of the two of them and said nothing.

The task of patrolling is relatively simple for Shiraishi. After all, Ayane has the Byakugan, and within a radius of five kilometers, as an enemy approaches, they will appear to Ayane's eyes with no chance of hiding.

While it can't be compared to sensory ninjas in terms of range, the sensor can only determine distance, direction, and the number of targets, while the Byakugan's omnidirectional surveillance capabilities can identify which moves the enemy uses to fight, which means let her take the lead and quickly suppress the enemy's morale.

It is precisely because of the Byakugan that Konoha can avoid the enemy's well-designed traps in every war and invalidate any enemy's conspiracy.

"It's almost here."

In another forest, Shiraishi stopped.

Ayane has opened her eyes.

Next, they only need to turn around regularly to complete the patrol mission in the first half of the night.

Shiraishi took a note from the ninja bag and put it in Ayane's hand.

Ayane tilted her head incomprehensibly, but she held it in her hand and looked around and found nothing unusual before opening the note.

It says-Are their toads around?

"..."

Toad?

Ayane didn't quite understand why Shiraishi wanted to ask such a question, but she shook her head slightly.

There are a lot of bugs around, but the nearest toad is more than 100 meters away from here, still in the river.

"It seems there is no toad."

"Yes, no traces of toads were found around. However, why does Shiraishi-Kun care about toads?"

Ayane blinked and asked her doubts.

"That's because a lot of frogs have suddenly appeared in Konoha village recently. I'm worried that someone is watching our movements.

"Organizing frogs to watch over Konoha?"

"Well, the one who did this is probably Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas. I heard that he signed a psychic contract with the toad of Monte Myōboku. And the toad is very Ignored by others, it is convenient to gather information"

This is the reason why the cats that Ruri cultivated do not rule out the use of toads to gather information.

"Is it looking for something?"

Ayane was contemplative.

"It's not very clear. Anyway, the toad has nothing to do with us. At most, when we exchange information in the future, just pay attention to it."

"That's it, indeed."

Ayane nodded understandingly.

There is no abnormal situation around them, and there is no hidden part to monitor, which means that the secret between them has not been exposed.

Too many actions will be superfluous and attract unnecessary attention.

Even if something unexpected happens at this time, just keep the usual rhythm.

"By the way, there is one more trouble I want to explain to you."

Shiraishi scratched his head and sighed helplessly, not knowing how to speak for a while.

"trouble?"

"Ah, it's related to Ruri."

Shiraishi glanced away unnaturally.

Ayane thought of a possibility.

"Should it be..."

"Just as you thought, our affairs were exposed. So when the three of you act in the future, I don't need to deliberately hide my strength. I will fight with all my strength."

Shiraishi continued to scratch his head, feeling that things were getting more and more troublesome.

Because of Ruri's attitude towards this matter, he couldn't guess any useful information at all.

But that's okay, he doesn't need to hide his strength to cover up when the three-person team moves in the future.

This might accomplish the task better.

After that, as long as the credit goes to Ruri and Ayane, he can continue to be an inconspicuous little transparent.

After all, safety comes first.

"That's it."

Ayane lowered her head slightly, making her expression invisible.

Did not ask why it was exposed, because this kind of question has become meaningless.

So just relax and get along with each other.

But thinking about it this way, I feel a little bit unwilling.

It should be me who first came into contact with Shiraishi-Kun's real secrets, right? Ayane thought in distress.

"Well, are you okay?"

Seeing Ayane lowering her head, Shiraishi was a little worried that she would be thinking wildly.

"No, it's nothing. I think Shiraishi-Kun should confess to Ruri earlier."

Ayane raised her head and smiled. She had already cleared up her feelings of loss and did not show it on her face. As for what she thought in her heart, only she knew.

I couldn't read anything from Ayane's smiling face. Compared to before, it grew a lot.

Therefore, it is better to end this topic as soon as possible.

I always feel that continuing this topic and talking about another woman in front of another woman will make things very scary.

After that, Shiraishi gave Ayane the natural energy practice method, as well as supplementary medicine.

Let her use natural energy as quickly as possible.

To be honest, among the three of them, Ayane is probably the one who receives the most care of natural energy.

Because the main fighting method of the Hyuga clan is taijutsu, which is the soft fist method.

Shiraishi couldn't guess to what extent Ayane could increase the power of the Soft Fist after mastering the natural energy, but the benefits she would receive would definitely be greater than what he and Ruri received.

Shiraishi is eager to see the level of strength Ayane will achieve with her natural energy and gentle fist.

When Ayane got the things, she didn't immediately start training here but started patrolling around with Shiraishi.

No problems were found during the patrol in the first half of the night, but since the Jiraiya team also intervened in the patrolling team, at night, the patrol period was divided into three stages.

Therefore, Shiraishi and Ayane ended their patrol mission two hours earlier than usual and returned to the camp to rest.

One night passed and nothing happened.

In the early morning of the next day, a group of six people set off again.

I have been rushing during the day, and it was not until the evening that I finally arrived at the border area between the country of fire and the country of rivers.

Konoha's general base for fighting against the sand hidden forces is stationed here.

There are more than two thousand Konoha ninjas here, and the commander is Orochimaru, who is also Sannin as Jiraiya, and Tsunade is the deputy commander who assists Orochimaru in his work.

Even so, the battle on the front line still cannot be underestimated.

After a rigorous review, Ninja guarding the large camp was released.

After entering the camp, Shiraishi felt a depressive atmosphere completely different from that of Konoha Village.

The paramedics carried the wounded into the camp on a stretcher.

Gathered in twos and threes next to the camp, holding a ninja with simple hot food in his hands, numb with a thin face, and ate the food in his hands dryly.

Then I didn't know if it was because they couldn't eat, or the food was too unpalatable. Many ninjas vomited directly, pounded their chests, and started gulping water.

When passing by the medical area, one can still hear the horrible and painful howls coming from the camp.

Everyone's nerves are frayed, and any movement can set off the negative emotions that have been pent up in their hearts for a long time.

This is war.

Sakumo and Jiraiya also need to meet with Commander Orochimaru, and Shiraishi and Minato need to wait outside the camp.

The waiting time was not long. About a few minutes later, Sakumo walked out of the camp with an extra scroll in his hand, which recorded the tasks that the Sakumo team had to complete.

"let's go."

"Yes."

Time is running out and Sakumo is preparing to rush on the road while explaining the content of the mission.

"Then we will meet again next time, Minato."

"Okay, goodbye. Please be careful."

Facing Baishi's gentle farewell, Minato also smiled slightly and watched the group leave the camp.

◎

"Next we will be divided into two groups, and the task is to cut off the supply of sand hidden."

No time was wasted. About a few kilometers away from Konoha Camp, Sakumo stopped in a valley area and described the content of the mission concisely.

"Are we the only team?"

The three were taken aback.

"There will be Anbu to assist on the way. Another point is that this mission is of great importance and cannot reveal any whereabouts. Therefore, once you encounter someone on the way...kill them all!"

Sakumo's face was cold, and the three were awe-inspiring.

The supply line of the sand village cannot be placed in the territory of the Fire Country. They have to enter the country of rivers to cut off the supply line.

In other words...Even ordinary people in the country of rivers must clean up without leaving them to prevent their whereabouts from leaking.

"From this direction, about fifteen kilometers away, there will be a team of Anbu to respond."

Sakumo pointed to the southwest.

The three looked in the direction pointed by Sakumo, and further ahead was the area of the country of rivers, which did not belong to the area of the Fire Country.

"If you understand, start acting."

After speaking, Sakumo disappeared from another direction.

The three looked at each other, and they could see the solemn color in each other's eyes.

Not only did it issue a cruel order to wipe out all witnesses, but the goal of the mission was to cut off the supply of sand hidden. This was an extremely miserable S-level mission.

Even with the assistance of the Anbu, this task is full of dangers.

Shiraishi sighed and said, "Don't worry too much. Since I was given a task like this above, it means that this task is possible to complete. The most important thing now is to converge with the Anbu personnel."

Indeed, although Sakumo gave them three tasks, the specific task steps were not given.

It can be understood that Sakumo has his mission, and he only knows so much.

The three people need to join the Anbu staff to know how to proceed with the next mission and cooperate with Anbu.

Ruri and Ayane had no objections, so they acted immediately.

It took more than ten minutes to arrive at a distance of 15 kilometers to the southwest.

Sure enough, as Sakumo said there, Konoha's Anbu was dormant here, with a total of four people.

But one thing is strange, that is, the masks worn on these Anbu faces are slightly different from the masks worn by the Anbu ninjas that Shiraishi has seen before.

The mask patterns on the faces of these Anbu ninjas give people a feeling of depression and coldness.

It seems that for this mission, compared to the Sand Ninjas, Baishi has to be more vigilant with this Anbu ninja.