Konoha: Sage Body

In a border town in the Land of Fire, the White Fang Squad arrived safely after using their transformation techniques.

This was a relatively prosperous town, but its prosperity was built on the war between Konoha and Sunagakure, because its main consumers were those Konoha ninja who had just escaped death on the battlefield.

The most numerous shops here were izakaya and massage parlors.

Kirito saw many Konoha ninja going in and out of these izakaya and massage parlors. Most of the people who came out had a relieved expression on their faces.

"We'll part ways here for now, sensei. I still have some business to attend to,"

Hatake Sakumo said with a smile as he led Kirito and the others into the town, checked them into a hot spring hotel, and then after a soak in the hot springs and a sumptuous lunch, he said to the three of them.

"What is Hatake Sensei going to do? It's not like those Konoha ninja in town who do things that aren't suitable for children, is it?"

Kirito quipped upon hearing this.

"Cough cough...children should mind their own business,"

Hatake Sakumo blushed, coughed a few times, and then said with a stern face.

Nawaki saw this and looked at Hatake Sakumo blankly, unable to hear a word Kirito was saying.

However, he was very interested in the things that Kirito said were not suitable for children, and thought that if he did those things, he could grow up quickly. He immediately said, "Hatake Sensei, can you take me there?"

Chizuru then gave a disdainful look at Hatake Sakumo and Nawaki.

"No, you three can also move around the town freely, but you must act together. Nawaki must listen to Kirito and never act on your own. That's it, I'm leaving first,"

Hatake Sakumo sternly rejected Nawaki's request and then gave the three of them a piece of his mind.

As soon as he finished speaking, he instantly disappeared from the spot, quietly using the Shunshin technique to leave.

"Stingy,"

the naive Nawaki said discontentedly when he saw that Hatake Sakumo was not taking him along for the fun.

Then, he suddenly had a good idea and immediately used the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique to create more than ten shadow clones, then took out his wallet and divided the money among them.

"Please everyone, let's taste all the food here together,"

Nawaki said excitedly to his shadow clones after distributing the money.

"Oh~"

Nawaki's shadow clones responded in unison, and then they all ran out of the hot spring hotel and began a food tour of the bustling town together.

"Kirito, Chizuru, let's three go to the town and have some fun too,"

Nawaki said to Kirito and Chizuru as soon as the shadow clones had left.

"Sure, it's nice to relax for a change, and not have to keep eating sand in the desert,"

Kirito agreed.

Chizuru had originally planned to refuse Nawaki's invitation, as she intended to stay here and continue her training, but when she heard Kirito say that, she didn't insist anymore.

Although the days in the Devil's Desert were short, the pressure was very high, and in just a few short weeks, it felt like months had passed.

"Let's go have some fun,"

thought Chizuru.

But the next moment, she remembered something and decisively used the Shadow Clone Technique to create a shadow clone.

As soon as the shadow clone appeared, she left without another word.

Kirito saw this and narrowed his eyes. Without saying anything, he began to pull the hands of Nawaki and Chizuru and leave the inn.

While the three of them were fooling around in town, Hatake Sakumo, who had used his transformation technique, entered the toilet of a pub in town. After he twisted a faucet inside, a secret door was suddenly opened, and a mixture of body odor and embalming fluid immediately came from inside.

Hatake Sakumo entered without a change in expression. This was the town's gold exchange, a place where bounty hunters often came.

In addition to being a Konoha ninja, Hatake Sakumo's second identity was that of a senior bounty hunter. However, his identity as a bounty hunter was a result of his using a transformation technique to change into a wandering ninja vest called Yabane.

"I didn't realize the person who came in was Mr. Yabane. I'm really sorry for the poor welcome,"

The person in charge of the exchange office was a middle-aged man with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. He immediately looked surprised when he saw the appearance that Hatake Sakumo had transformed into, and then said with a respectful face:

"Cut the crap, I need information on the unknown source of funding for Sunagakure."

Hatake Sakumo gave the middle-aged man with horn-rimmed glasses a cold look and said coldly.

In addition to providing the function of exchanging bounties for bounty hunters, the exchange office also deals in intelligence.

The people behind these exchange houses are basically the top echelons of each country, in control of many secrets of the ninja world, with numerous informants at their disposal and a very well-developed intelligence network. As long as there is enough money, bounty hunters can obtain the information they want from the exchange houses.

Hatake Sakumo had received a new mission from Sandaime, but found that Sandaime had not given any useful information. His first thought was to go to the exchange house and try his luck, to see if he could find the target he was hunting this time.

Over the years, the information provided by the Exchange has been crucial to the completion of many of his S-rank missions, saving him a lot of time and effort.

"I'm very sorry, but I don't have the information you want, Mr. Yabane. In fact, we would also like to know. If you have the opportunity to get this information, our Exchange would be happy to buy it."

The middle-aged man in the toad-shaped mirror immediately responded upon hearing this.

In the past year, the sudden appearance of a large amount of gold on the market had long since attracted the attention of the powerful figures behind the gold exchange. Many of them wanted to find out where the Sunagakure had obtained so much gold.

However, the Sunagakure had hidden this secret very well, and had even deliberately released a lot of false information, thoroughly confusing the waters and trapping and killing many powerful bounty hunters and enemy ninja.

The gold exchange house is now afraid to sell related information in order to avoid damaging its reputation.

Although Hatake Sakumo had long expected this result, he was still a little disappointed and sighed, "This mission is indeed very tricky."

This mission doesn't even know who the target is, which is really a headache for Hatake Sakumo.

From the current situation, the only way for Team White Fang to complete the mission is to infiltrate the Sand Hidden Village and find the target.

Suddenly, Hatake Sakumo noticed the expression on the middle-aged man's face in the toad-shaped mirror, who was about to speak but stopped. He immediately took out a stack of money from his body and placed it on the table, then pushed it in front of the other party and continued, "Do you have anything you want to add?"

"Recently, a new force has appeared on the black market for intelligence. Their intelligence capabilities are very strong, and they have taken away a lot of the intelligence business from the gold exchange. Maybe they will have what you need, except that their fees are a bit strange,"

The middle-aged man in the toad's mirror nonchalantly put the money away and then whispered,

"Where can I find them?"

Hatake Sakumo's eyes lit up at this and he asked in pursuit.

He was not afraid of the strange fees charged by intelligence merchants, but he was afraid that the intelligence merchants did not have the information he needed.

The middle-aged man in the toad's mirror did not immediately answer Hatake Sakumo's question, but just smiled at Hatake Sakumo and rubbed the substance of his right hand against his thumb.

Hatake Sakumo saw this and could not help but feel dissatisfied with the greed of the man in front of him. A cold light flashed in his eyes.

But in the end, he did not choose to take action against this person here.

If he killed the other person, the Exchange would just lose a greedy branch manager, and he would become the Exchange's blacklist, losing the Exchange's intelligence network.

Soon, Hatake Sakumo left the Exchange.

The middle-aged man in the toad mirror watched as the door to the exchange house closed again, and his smile instantly disappeared from his face. Then he continued to slouch on the table, and he actually fell asleep in an instant.

But the next moment, he woke up again, and said somewhat confusedly, "Did I just fall asleep?"

Half an hour later, Hatake Sakumo entered a pharmacy and asked the owner to name four types of medicinal herbs. He was then invited by the owner to an anteroom in the shop on the grounds that one of the herbs was not here.

There wasn't much in the dark room, just a table and two chairs, and a single candle burning on the table.

"Please wait here for a moment, our person in charge will be here soon,"

the owner of the pharmacy said expressionlessly to Hatake Sakumo, before quickly leaving and closing the door to the dark room.

Hatake Sakumo was highly skilled and had a lot of courage, so he wasn't afraid of tricks either, and just sat in one of the chairs and waited.

In a moment, the door to the dark room opened again, and a woman with long red hair walked in.

"Red hair, and such a powerful chakra. This woman is from the Uzumaki clan?"

Hatake Sakumo looked at the red-haired woman and thought in surprise as he sensed the terrifying amount of chakra coming from the other party.

The amount of chakra in the red-haired woman's body had far surpassed that of an elite jōnin.

Although the other party did not give him a sense of threat, he could tell that the red-haired woman in front of him was an elite jōnin.

The head of a branch of an unknown intelligence organization was actually an elite jōnin, and most likely still a member of the Uzumaki clan. It seemed that the forces behind this mysterious intelligence organization were indeed not simple.

The red-haired woman wore an exquisite silver mask that revealed her delicate chin. She quickly sat across from Hatake Sakumo and inquired, "What information do you wish to obtain, sir?"

"The source of the unknown funding behind Sunagakure?"

Hatake Sakumo didn't waste any words and immediately stated the information he wanted.

Upon hearing this, the red-haired woman fell silent for a moment before using her summoning technique to conjure a scroll, which she then opened and replied, "We have the information you are asking for, but we need you to sign this contract in order to tell you the truth."

Hatake Sakumo's eyes were already fixed on the contents of the open scroll on the table, which was an incredibly complex seal array.

From his perspective, he could only tell that it was some kind of binding contract-type sealing technique.

"What is this?"

Hatake Sakumo said coldly.

If the other party did not explain the contents of this sealing technique clearly, there was no way he would sign it.

"Please be assured, this is just an equal contract for the Shinigami to sign as a notary. I will also write my name in blood on it and then tell you the truth. In exchange, you need to provide us with some information when we need it,"

The red-haired woman said truthfully.

As soon as she finished speaking, she bit her index finger and took the lead in writing her name on it.

"Uzumaki Ryoko, as expected, is a member of the Uzumaki clan."

Hatake Sakumo looked at the name the red-haired woman had written on the scroll and revealed an expression of "as expected", before pondering whether he really wanted to write his own name on it.

He had just met the red-haired woman, and he had no sense of trust at all. If the other party was deceiving him, and the seal technique on this scroll was not the kind of equal contract that the Shinigami signed as a notary public, as the other party had said, then he would fall into a pit.

But the next moment, a gust of wind suddenly appeared in the dark room, and the flame of the candle in front of Hatake Sakumo suddenly turned a dark blue.

Uzumaki Ryoko was seen to be surging with chakra at this time, and it was transmitted through her fingers to the seal technique on the scroll.

Soon, an illusory figure appeared before Hatake Sakumo's eyes.

It was an evil spirit dressed in white, with purple skin and a terrifying face. It had two red horns growing out of its head, and it was holding a short knife in its mouth, looking very much like the legendary Shinigami.

The white-clad evil spirit was obviously intelligent. Its eyes first glanced at Uzumaki Ryoko, and then looked at Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo felt a creepy sensation and a strong sense of threat the moment he was looked at by the other party.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, the Shinigami will not strike against someone who has not broken the contract,"

Uzumaki Ryoko reassured, seeing that Hatake Sakumo looked as if he was facing a great enemy.

Hatake Sakumo did not say a word, his eyes continuing to stare fixedly at the Shinigami, so large that if the Shinigami made any rash move, he would immediately strike and kill Uzumaki Ryoko, who had summoned the Shinigami.

But as Uzumaki Ryoko had said, the Shinigami did not make any further movements, and just floated silently in the air between the two of them.

Hatake Sakumo saw that the Shinigami had not moved for a long time, and finally confirmed that what Uzumaki Ryoko had said was true, as well as the authenticity of the sealing scroll in front of him.

"This organization is really not simple, there must be a powerful ninja proficient in sealing techniques behind it, who can actually create a contract sealing technique that uses the Shinigami as a witness."

Hatake Sakumo once again turned his gaze to the scroll, becoming more and more wary of the forces behind Uzumaki Ryoko.

But he didn't have time to dig deeper into the forces behind Uzumaki Ryoko. After a moment of silence, he pointed his index finger and wrote his real name on the scroll.

After writing his name, Hatake Sakumo suddenly found himself being targeted by the Shinigami again, and then a piercing pain appeared from his body.

But the pain disappeared in just an instant.

"So you are Konoha White Fang, I have heard a lot about you."

Uzumaki Ryoko was surprised to see the name Hatake Sakumo wrote on the scroll.

"You can tell me now,"

Hatake Sakumo said coldly, not interested in Uzumaki Ryoko's compliments.

This Shinigami contract is too strange, he just wants to obtain the information and leave as soon as possible.

"Of course,"

Uzumaki Ryoko said with a smile, and then told him what she knew about the source of the Sunagakure's unknown funds.

As Uzumaki Ryoko revealed more and more information, the expression on Hatake Sakumo's face became more and more solemn.

...

That night, in the hot spring inn above the town, the White Fang team gathered in a room to discuss things.

"This is probably the content of the mission. Do you have any questions?"

Hatake Sakumo said with a serious face.

After returning from the mysterious intelligence organization, he pondered for a long time before finally choosing to share all the hard-won information with the three Kirito.

For example, this mission will likely encounter obstacles from the top Sand Hidden Leaf Village force, the Sandaime Kazekage, as well as a siege by many elite Sand Hidden Leaf ninja. Once the mission fails, the chances of escape are very low.

"We have only been on the mission for less than a month, and Sandaime-sama is already asking us to carry out such a task. Isn't that a bit too much faith in us?"

After listening to Hatake Sakumo's content about the new mission, Chizuru stared at Hatake Sakumo with a frosty expression.

Are you kidding? Asking White Fang Squad to infiltrate Sunagakure Village and assassinate the major Sunagakure benefactor, who is most likely protected by the Kazekage, is something that White Fang Squad is capable of doing right now?

Even if they do, will they be able to leave alive?

Once the Kazekage is assassinated, they will definitely be pursued by Sunagakure like crazy, to the point of no return.

The reason why the White Fang Squad has been able to evade the Sunagakure's pursuit so far is largely due to their flexible use of guerrilla tactics. They never stay in one place for long. Now, if they were to actively break into the enemy's base camp, it would be like giving up their advantages and fighting the enemy head-on.

The shadow clones she sent out during the day had already learned about recent events in Konoha from some of the clan members in the town, and realized that this mission was likely a conspiracy.

Chizuru was an excellent ninja, but not one who would willingly die, at least not for Konoha.

She was unwilling to take on a mission that was clearly suicidal in nature.

"Is this mission difficult? It's just to go to the Sunagakure village and kill someone. Kirito has the Spirit Transformation Technique, so he can completely infiltrate the Sunagakure village and kill the target. We just need to guard Kirito's physical body, and Kirito has the Vermillion Bird puppet, so even if the mission fails, we can still leave safely."

Nawaki is carefree, and he doesn't realize how difficult this mission is at all. Instead, he said excitedly:

Hatake Sakumo had just said that if their White Fang team could complete this mission, then they would become the heroes who ended the war between Konoha and Sunagakure.

If he completed this task, he would definitely be able to take a big step towards becoming the Hokage.

"Hmph, you're the smart one. The information that Kirito can use the Spirit Transformation Technique has long since been leaked. When Sunagakure saw this information, do you think they wouldn't be on guard against Kirito's Spirit Transformation Technique? You speak so lightly. What you just said is completely asking Kirito to risk his life to verify whether the Sunagakure will have a way to restrain the Spirit Transformation Technique. What a fool."

Chizuru heard Nawaki's words and immediately angrily rebuked him, glaring at Nawaki with her Sharingan.

Nawaki didn't expect Chizuru to react so strongly and was suddenly taken aback. He instinctively became angry, but when he heard what Chizuru said, he immediately calmed down and revealed an expression of guilt.

He had indeed not thought about it that much. If what Chizuru said was true, then his suggestion just now was endangering his good friend Kirito.

The thought that his good friend might be killed by him made Nawaki immediately feel guilty and apologize to Kirito: "I'm sorry, Kirito, I was inconsiderate. Don't mind it, I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know, I didn't take it to heart,"

Kirito said with a smile, casually diffusing the slight discomfort.

Then, he turned his head to look at Hatake Sakumo and asked, "Hatake Sensei, what do you think? The task that Sandaime-sama has assigned us this time is no mean feat. If what you just said is true, this task is clearly beyond our capabilities. Not to mention success, the information we have at the moment is very limited, and it is simply impossible to complete it in a short period of time."

Rasa's Magnet Release: Gold Dust is definitely the highest secret in the Sunagakure. Only a few core high-level personnel know about it, and Konoha is currently unaware that the source of the Sunagakure's unknown funds is Rasa.

The information that Hatake Sakumo received from Uzumaki Ryoko was actually something that he instructed Uzumaki Ryoko to tell the other party. The content did not mention that Rasa was the major benefactor, but merely stated that Rasa was a Magnet Release ninja who had awakened the Magnet Release: Gold Dust technique and was currently under the protection of the Sandaime Kazekage.

The reason Kirito didn't want to report the complete report to Hatake Sakumo through Uzumaki Ryoko's hands was actually that he hoped Hatake Sakumo would know when to quit and not let Team White Fang go on such a dangerous mission.

He is now a skilled person with a bold heart, especially with his Lightning Release reaching level 5 and his mastery of the Spirit Transformation Technique, he is completely confident that he can escape even if he is exposed in the Sunagakure village.

However, Nawaki and Chizuru are not so sure. They lack powerful means of escape, and if they fall into enemy hands in Sunagakure, they are certain to die.

Hatake Sakumo saw that both Chizuru and Kirito were reluctant to take on the new mission, and sighed. Then he said expressionlessly, "The mission must be carried out, but..."