Chapter 83: News of Jiraiya
Kakashi both loves to meddle in other people's business and loves to flock to dangerous places. He also became the teacher of two cheat-level ninjas. You should know, being the teacher of a powerful ninja in the ninja world often doesn't end well.
What's even more impressive is that this guy dares to act as a foot soldier against the BOSS before the protagonist appears. That's quite something.
But the reason he has lived so long, isn't it because he clearly knows when to be reckless and when to follow his heart?
After Kakashi Hatake finished explaining the rules, he disappeared before them. The ANBU enlistment training was not as simple as he made it sound.
First, elite ANBU members had to set up the area in advance, disguising correct and incorrect trails. If the new recruits made a misjudgment, they could be misled in the wrong direction.
The number of these trails was pitifully small. Shisui and Itachi needed to make judgments based on the trails to find the true destination. The only thing in their favor was that due to the snowy weather, most of the trails were relatively obvious.
"Looks like our luck is good."
After Uchiha Shisui entered the initial area, he saw a complex set of footprints in the snow. He cautiously walked in, "Some of these footprints were deliberately left. The depth is about the same. It seems the seniors are not very friendly!"
"Is it very difficult?" Itachi looked at the direction the footprints extended into the distance. There were at least four directions, but they all led to the forest.
Uchiha Shisui shook his head, "A disguise in an emergency situation can't possibly be perfect."
After a rough glance at the sprawling footprints, Shisui pointed to the shortest route to the forest in front of them, "If you were to walk backward to return to the original spot, the heel marks would obviously be deeper than the toe marks. Only this path has the deepest toe marks."
Uchiha Shisui's experience was clearly more abundant.
After entering the forest, the cold air was blocked by the trees. Similarly, there was less snow on the forest floor. The ANBU comprehensive assessment had only just begun at this time.
"Actually, Senior Kakashi Hatake is still very friendly. I thought summoned beasts that could assist in tracking wouldn't be allowed." Uchiha Shisui chuckled lightly as he landed on the ground and bit his own finger.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
A sky full of crows hovered around him, dispersing under his command. Shisui beckoned to Itachi, "Let's rest for a while! Wait for them to come back..."
Itachi looked enviously at the flock of crows obediently flying away and nodded vigorously.
No matter how envious he was, he couldn't possibly hope to have this flock of crows that could scout... In fact, he probably wouldn't even have a summoned beast in the future.
It was already hard enough raising a younger brother. To want to sign a contract with a summoned beast, was he not afraid the Uchiha clan grounds were built too sturdily and wanted Kitahara to help test the workmanship with a Tailed Beast Bomb?
With the help of Shisui's crow flock, they quickly found several traces. After discussing and judging, the two continued forward along what they believed to be the correct trail.
It wasn't until nightfall that they had to stop their exploration.
Uchiha Shisui took out a bag of dry rations and handed it to his companion, "Let's eat something first. At night, I can have my summoned beasts come over to keep watch."
"Shisui, I remember summoned beasts have a summoning time limit, right?"
Shisui took out bird feed from his bag and fed his own crow, "This flock of crows are all raised by me. They all roost near the Naka River, so there aren't that many restrictions."
"..."
Uchiha Itachi looked at Kitahara, who had suddenly poked its head out. When he and Jiraiya were training outside, it was always him and his teacher taking turns to keep watch.
They were both crows, yet the difference was simply too great!
"Caw?"
Kitahara looked at its own cub doubtfully. What's with that look, cub? What's for dinner? That's right, Uchiha Itachi still had to prepare dinner for the picky Kitahara.
"Kitahara... want to eat these?"
Uchiha Shisui pointed to the bird feed in his hand. Under Kitahara's death stare, he slowly withdrew his hand, "Should we go to the river to break some ice and see if we can catch a few fish?"
What a difficult master to serve!
However, grilled fish was indeed very fragrant.
After dinner, Kitahara, shivering from the cold, crawled into Itachi's backpack, intending to sleep. A sharp caw from a fellow crow patrolling in the distance caught its attention.
Someone's here!
"Let's go take a look!"
Shisui quickly extinguished the fire and chased in the direction of his summoned beast.
Uchiha Itachi grabbed Kitahara and held it in his arms, not letting it crawl into the backpack.
"Caw..."
"Kitahara, don't always go to sleep right after eating! Get some exercise!"
This area was used by ANBU for new recruit assessments. Usually, no one would approach. But if traces of people appeared within the area, then it was a special matter.
The training mission would usually be ordered to stop temporarily. Only after an ANBU proctor entered and made a judgment could they determine whether to continue.
"Shisui, is it an enemy?"
"No, it's a ninja sent from the Land of Rice Paddies border outpost to deliver a message!" After Uchiha Shisui found the person, he was helping him apply pressure to his wound, "He has intelligence about the rogue ninja Orochimaru..."
"...Sorry, I might have to entrust this matter to you."
The ninja from the border outpost clearly couldn't hold on much longer. His body was covered in wounds, with a long gash on his chest. It was clear he didn't have long to live.
He struggled to take out a scroll from his ninja tool pouch, "I can't hold on much longer... Inside is intelligence about Orochimaru. Please deliver it to Lord Third quickly!"
"...Yes!"
Uchiha Shisui, seeing his determination, had to put away the scroll in his hand. He knew this ninja wouldn't even make it to the Konoha hospital.
Uchiha Itachi stepped forward, "I remember Teacher Jiraiya went to hunt down Orochimaru... Did something happen?"
"Lord Jiraiya was defeated and is currently recuperating temporarily at our outpost."
"How is that possible?"
Even Kitahara was a bit surprised to hear this news. Based on a comparison of strength, although Jiraiya might suffer a setback, with Sage Mode on his side, the possibility of being defeated by Orochimaru should be very small, right?
Although Orochimaru was still in his prime and very strong, when facing Sage Mode, unless Orochimaru had Edo Tensei...
"In fact, Lord Jiraiya admitted it himself. We came to request reinforcements... Orochimaru is currently rampaging at the border and has already destroyed two outposts!"
"This..."
The few of them exchanged glances. A rogue ninja attacking Konoha, this was the first time such a thing had happened! Shouldn't rogue ninjas be honestly hiding somewhere to avoid being dealt with?
"According to our intelligence, Orochimaru should be looking for something..." The messenger ninja finally couldn't hold on any longer. He had just used a final burst of energy to deliver all the intelligence.
Orochimaru is looking for something?
Kitahara carefully thought about what Orochimaru wanted... There were quite a few things!
Strange and varied Kekkei Genkai...
A young, healthy, and vibrant body...
But for him to be willing to actively launch an attack to obtain something so soon after defecting from Konoha, even making him disregard Jiraiya's threat, this thing must be very important to him.
Shisui closed the border ninja's eyes and said softly, "It seems the training mission can only be temporarily terminated..."
(End of this chapter)