Chapter 195: The Miniature Scroll Printed on the Body
Going to Orochimaru's base again this time, they were already familiar with the path.
So their speed was also a bit faster.
After a full day of travel, the three Anbu squads once again arrived near their destination.
The one who met Squad 14 was still that Inuzuka clan ninja from last time and his little white... uh, Kotarō.
The group found a hidden place nearby to rest for a night. The next morning, Squad 14 and the reconnaissance ninja sneaked towards their destination.
"This base is the place where Kotarō smelled the strongest scent. It's very likely to be Orochimaru's real lair! Are you sure you want to start from here?" the reconnaissance ninja asked, hiding in a hidden corner and reminding Shino.
"Deal with the most important thing first to avoid complications from delays! This is the principle of Anbu operations," Shino said while checking his equipment. "I'll have to trouble you to keep watch up there. You must remain vigilant!"
He looked back at Haruno Sakura, probably understanding in his heart why Tsunade had handed this area over to Squad 14.
Before, the way she looked, how did it look like a relapse of a hidden injury?
See through but don't say through. Shino silently made a hand signal, and Squad 14 stealthily entered the underground base.
This time, they still did not find any remaining enemies here.
The empty base was quickly cleared by Squad 14. Perhaps because they had left in a hurry, Orochimaru hadn't even set up many traps here. Apart from Orochimaru's important secret jutsu materials, which had been taken away, a large amount of other materials had also been left here.
They were probably all things he looked down on.
However, even if he had taken away the most essential parts, the remaining content was still a treasure trove for Konoha.
This mission, with everyone carrying a very large sealing scroll on their back, was also in anticipation of finding many things in Orochimaru's base.
"Since it's safe here, let's speed up and split up," Shino said.
He glanced at Sakura, knowing that she had something she wanted to get.
The latter understood and nodded, saying, "Then I'll be in charge of that side."
The cat-faced ninja was pointing precisely at the laboratory where the cloning technology and other human experiment materials were stored.
After dividing their respective areas of responsibility, Shino said in a clear voice, "Alright, whether you're done searching or not, gather here in half an hour!"
Half an hour?
Haruno Sakura looked at the scrolls and books that filled an entire bookshelf and felt that even with Tsunade's secret technique, time was still very tight.
She formed hand seals and created dozens of ice clones.
"Everyone, split up and find the books and scrolls on cloning technology. We don't have much time!"
She said, while washing off the layer of nude-colored nail polish on her fingernails.
On her clean, light pink nails, she had, at some point, written extremely small, micro-runes.
—The Rune Shrinking Jutsu.
A small ninjutsu that came with the Yin Seal, originally used to shrink the runes of the Yin Seal onto the body's surface (see Chapter 127 for details).
So, there was no problem in using it to shrink a sealing formula by a hundred times and print it on a fingernail.
In the world of the original story, more than twenty years later, this micro-rune technology would eventually develop into a micro-scroll, which was used by Uzumaki Boruto in the Chunin Exams.
And in this world, the first appearance of the micro-scroll was printed on a young girl's fingernails.
Of course, in principle, she could also print the sealing formula on other parts of her body... After all, when they returned, they just had to hand over the large scrolls that could store things. Konoha wouldn't go so far as to strip-search the Anbu who had carried out the mission, not even if the other party was a Root ninja.
There was just one problem. This kind of formula was very difficult to wash off. Most formulas had this characteristic, and the Yin Seal was the same, it was just that its formula would become transparent and invisible. And the Fourth Hokage's Flying Raijin formula, if it were printed on an enemy's skin, might never be washed off in a lifetime...
And fingernails are always growing. If this formula was no longer needed, she could just let it grow out with the nail and be clipped off. And after being covered with nude-colored nail polish, it was also very well-concealed. Others—apart from Tsunade who had given her the idea—would not notice these details, let alone think that she could shrink a sealing formula to such an extent and print it on her fingernails.
So there was no need for her to ruin her own skin.
Writing characters on her body, that one time with the Yin Seal was enough. Sakura didn't want her image to completely collapse...
Haruno Sakura gently stimulated the micro-runes on her fingernails with her chakra, and a dozen or so blank scrolls appeared on the ground in a puff of white smoke—although this sealing formula was tiny, its function was not vague at all. The amount of things it could store was in no way less than a normal sealing jutsu.
Soon, the busy ice clones had copied all the useful information they had found onto the blank scrolls using the shrinking jutsu, and then they were collected by her into the micro-scrolls on her fingernails.
She reapplied the nail polish to cover the formula, then collected the original materials, emptied the laboratory of its scrolls and equipment, and after checking the time, she walked towards the meeting point.
At almost the same time.
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
The figure of the Third Hokage, with a pipe in his mouth, once again appeared by the window.
"Tsunade, what did you need me for?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked plainly, taking a puff of his pipe.
This place, ever since Tsunade had gotten on the right track in her administration, he had rarely come here.
After all, there cannot be two suns in the sky. If the previous Hokage was always appearing in the current Hokage's office, the ninja below would be a little at a loss. If it were to cause a situation where the people below did not listen to the Fifth Hokage's words but instead carried out his orders, that would be even more awkward.
In short, after retiring, apart from holding the post of a Hokage advisor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, with his noble character, had basically retired from everything he could. The Third was already very old, and it was also time for him to enjoy his old age and pay attention to his family matters.
If nothing major had happened, like Orochimaru's last operation, he would rarely appear here.
However, as far as he knew, nothing major was happening in Konoha right now that would require him to make a special trip.
Tsunade saw his confusion and said with a smile, "Old man, that guy Jiraiya has sent a letter."
She picked up an infant-sized toad from by her feet. Seeing that everyone was present, it directly spat out an envelope, and then reverse-summoned itself away.
Inside the envelope were three sheets of letter paper. Two were private letters for Tsunade and the Third respectively, and there was also an official secret intelligence letter.
The Third took the private letter addressed to him. The letter was very short, the brushstrokes powerful enough to pierce the paper. On it was a brief introduction of his and Naruto's recent situation, and then a greeting to him in Jiraiya's unique tone. To sum it up, it was two sentences: "Naruto and I are fine. Take care of yourself."
The Third carefully read the few short sentences back and forth several times. He could feel the deep concern in the letter. A smile couldn't help but appear on his old, weathered face. He then carefully folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
He looked up and saw that Tsunade was still reading the private letter Jiraiya had written to her. The content of the letter was obviously much longer than the one written to him. As she read, her face was tinged with annoyance. He didn't know what Jiraiya had written in the letter to make this woman both angry and amused.
The Third smiled and shook his head. These two disciples of his were clearly already in their fifties, yet in some aspects, they were still like children. Not wanting to disturb the Tsunade who was one moment secretly laughing and the next gritting her teeth, the Third Hokage directly opened the official secret intelligence letter. After reading just a few sentences, the warm smile on his face was completely gone.
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