Chapter 23: Danzo and Orochimaru's Attention! Where is Everyone?

Summer retreat?

Danzo's mouth twitched.

So that's why you had a shovel. You actually wanted to dig a hole here?

"This isn't the place for you. Leave immediately!"

"Oh."

Hanako looked disappointed and left with the shovel and backpack.

On the way, he couldn't understand why Danzo came to the back mountain.

"If I can't find shade here, then I'll find another place."

He circled around to the sunny side of the back mountain and found another good spot.

The forest was still dense, and there was a stream nearby.

The only drawback was that this side faced the village.

"As long as I'm careful, I shouldn't be discovered by people from the village."

Meanwhile...

Danzo arrived at a secluded stone wall on the shaded side of the back mountain and pressed a mechanism.

Click!

Accompanied by the sound of the mechanism, a stone door slowly rose.

Danzo's figure disappeared into the depths of the cave.

"Why are you here?"

In the darkness, a hoarse voice came as Orochimaru emerged from the laboratory.

"The Sand Village attacked the Land of Rivers. Your experiments will have to be put on hold for now," Danzo explained the reason for his visit.

"Oh? I see..."

Orochimaru looked disappointed.

His experiments had made some progress, but now they had to be interrupted.

Because the Third Hokage would definitely summon him to the front lines.

"By the way, have you told anyone about this secret laboratory?" Suddenly, Danzo asked.

He thought of Hanako, who had been nearby earlier, and felt that it was too coincidental.

Why would a lower-level ninja come to the shaded side of the back mountain? For a summer retreat? That reason seemed a bit far-fetched.

Danzo didn't think much of it at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss.

"Told someone? Do you think I'm an idiot?" Orochimaru's tone was filled with displeasure.

All the experiments conducted here were unauthorized. How could he possibly tell anyone?

"I see. Then I regret to inform you that the secret laboratory may have been exposed," Danzo warned.

"What? Exposed?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"Just now, I saw someone from Team 9 nearby."

"Team 9? The one led by Hiruzen Sarutobi?"

Orochimaru instantly became alert.

It was one thing if it was someone else, but Hiruzen Sarutobi was a shinobi even more talented than himself.

Orochimaru had to admit that.

The problem now was: why did Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple suddenly come to the back mountain, even digging near his secret laboratory?

What did this mean?

Did he really come for a summer retreat?

Only an idiot would believe that.

"Why didn't you kill him just now?" Orochimaru questioned.

"This is your secret laboratory. It's only natural for you to take action," Danzo threw the question back at him.

Are you kidding?

Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple had preliminary mastery of space-time ninjutsu. Who knows what methods he had left behind for his disciple?

And even if the secret laboratory was discovered, it would be Orochimaru's problem, not mine, why should I care?

Thump!

Suddenly, the wall of the cave trembled slightly.

Although it was only for a moment, both of them noticed it.

Looking at the deformed shovel, Hanako felt like crying.

"I was careless. I forgot that a shovel can't break through rocks."

Squatting in front of the stone wall, Hanako tossed the shovel aside.

He had been thinking about digging a hole, but he had overlooked the fact that he needed to dig through the stone.

Now that the cave hadn't been dug and his tools were already ruined.

"If I go back to the village to find tools now, there's a high chance of being discovered."

"But without tools, how can I dig a hole?"

He couldn't just hide under a tree forever, could he?

The probability of being discovered was extremely high, and what if it rained?

After some thought, he glanced at the Strength attribute on the status panel.

Strength: 114 [Shadow-level]

So, Hanako came up with an idea.

Tools?

Who needs tools?

He himself was the best tool.

"Tools are unreliable. I'll rely on my own hands!"

Taking a deep breath, Hanako raised his right fist, gathering his strength.

Then...

Boom!

As his fist made contact with the stone wall, tremendous power exploded.

The solid wall shattered, and cracks began to spread.

Crack, crack.

Hanako took a few steps back, watching the falling debris with great joy.

With that punch, he had created a small cave that could accommodate one person.

"Just my fist hurts a bit."

Looking at his slightly reddened knuckles, Hanako rubbed them.

It's not a big problem.

"My Constitution attribute is also at the Shadow level. It should recover quickly."

Among the four attributes, his Constitution was the highest in terms of cost-effectiveness.

Hanako muttered to himself as he looked at the remaining attribute points on the status panel.

Constitution attribute is the highest, surpassing the Strength attribute by 30 points.

Of course, these are just today's stats.

After clearing the debris, Hanako used them to build a makeshift stove.

Then, he entered the cave with his backpack.

On the mountainside!

Orochimaru and Danzo stood on a tree, silently watching as Hanako entered the cave.

In the end, Danzo spoke first.

"So, did we overthink it? Is this straggler afraid of joining the war, so they're hiding in the back mountain?"

"Straggler?" Orochimaru was speechless.

Based on the tremors just now, Orochimaru could determine that the lower-level ninja named Hanako had created the cave with a punch.

Creating a cave with a single punch, and they called this person a straggler?

What amazed Orochimaru even more was that he didn't sense any fluctuations in chakra.

In other words, Hanako had achieved it purely with his physical strength.

Involuntarily, Orochimaru recalled how he had created his own cave.

How did he do it? It was with the help of Wind Release ninjutsu. If he had only used his fists, they would have been crushed without achieving anything.

"Pure physical training, huh?"

Muttering to himself, Orochimaru thought of the Maito father and son.

It seemed that Hanako was another ninja without natural talent for ninjutsu, focusing on rigorous physical training.

Happy Bathhouse.

Obito cursed and complained.

Kakashi's hair drooped.

Rin was drenched in sweat.

Finally, they completed the task of cleaning the bathhouse.

"That Hanako, he's been missing since the beginning. It's just the three of us doing all the work!" Obito exploded with anger.

"He's so inconsiderate!" Kakashi agreed.

"Now that we're done cleaning, let's go find Hanako and submit the mission together," Rin suggested, wiping her sweat.

Result.

The three of them searched the entire bathhouse but couldn't find a single person.