Konoha: Uchiha, I get stronger by causing trouble.

Chapter 56 Sasori of the Red Sand

"The hot springs in the Land of Rivers are great! They're much nicer than the environment in our Konoha Village!"

With a towel on his head, Chika was submerged in the water, only his head showing, and said lazily.

The hot spring is surrounded by a lush bamboo forest. In the night, only the surface of the hot spring reflects the bright moonlight, shimmering in the sunlight.

The rising steam carries the scent of sulfur and the unique moisture of the hot spring, making one feel as if they are in a fairyland.

Kakashi appeared beside Chiga and replied, "That's because you haven't been to the Land of Hot Springs. The hot springs there are truly relaxing!"

"Really? Then I'd love to experience the Land of Hot Springs sometime."

Chiga said, and then saw the ninja dog Pakkun swim past him in a doggy paddle.

"Hey Kakashi, why did you let Pakkun in here too?"

"Summoning beasts are our partners too, so what's wrong with soaking in a hot spring together? You can even bring in your crow feathers!"

Kakashi said nonchalantly.

Have you ever seen crows soaking in hot springs?

"I've seen it," Kakashi replied matter-of-factly.

"."

Chiga was helpless as Kakashi blatantly lied.

I never imagined that my first hot spring bath would be spent with a dog, not with a pretty girl.

Chiga then turned to Minato on the other side and asked, "By the way, Minato-senpai, what did that intelligence report say?"

Since the intelligence scrolls for this mission weren't particularly important secrets, Minato had already opened and looked at them on the way.

This is also to ensure that if an emergency occurs or the scroll is lost, Minato can go back and explain it in person.

Minato said, "The intelligence reports that the previous daimyo of the Land of Wind has passed away, and the new daimyo of the Land of Wind is a playboy who only knows how to enjoy himself. He seems to be dissatisfied that a large portion of the annual budget is spent on Sunagakure and wants to cut the village's funding."

"They even wanted to abolish the ninja village system and learn from the Land of Rivers, handing over all responsibilities to other countries, and specifically mentioned Konoha Village."

"It seems he's a pro-Konoha daimyo. We must protect such a daimyo well, and not let them be killed by their own people."

Upon hearing this, Chiga smiled.

He also remembered that famous name.

In the anime, the ninjas of the Sand Village had already mentioned the plan to destroy Konoha.

Because the Daimyo of the Land of Wind cut funding to Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had to use ninjutsu to continuously extract gold dust from the desert to subsidize the village, and even pushed the Daimyo to allocate funds in order to demonstrate his strength.

It's surprising that the daimyo of the Land of Wind had this idea as soon as he took office.

As for why it hasn't been implemented yet, it's probably because he's only recently taken office and his position isn't stable yet, so it's not advisable to have a falling out with the Third Kazekage.

During the reign of the Fourth Kazekage, because the Third Kazekage had disappeared and the Fourth Kazekage's rise to power was hasty and unstable, the daimyo had the opportunity to cut funds.

"Don't be too happy yet. The existence of ninja villages is to maintain national security. If the funding for Sunagakure is cut, ninjas will leave, and without strong military force, it will lead to national turmoil."

"It is not a wise choice for the daimyo to propose cutting the funding of Sunagakure. Moreover, even if the cuts are not successful, Sunagakure and the Land of Wind will have a rift between them."

Minato continued.

Kakashi asked in confusion, "Isn't this a good thing?"

Minato shook his head and explained, "Good is relative."

"In the short term, due to a lack of funds, the Land of Wind will intensify its efforts to accept commissions from various countries. This will lead to even fiercer competition between us and the Sand Village for commissions from the Land of River. In the long term, if the Sand Village's commission revenue can offset the amount reduced by the Daimyo, that's fine. But if it's not enough..."

"War, war against foreign powers! And the best choice is the land of fire, rich in resources," Chiga said softly.

After all, when internal conflicts cannot be resolved, they can only lead to greater external conflicts.

At this point, both Chika and Kakashi fell silent.

Chiga knew that the Third Shinobi World War was indeed about to begin, which was also Minato's battle that made him famous.

"It's still early days. The entire Land of Wind isn't under the control of this newly appointed daimyo. Besides, such a short-sighted daimyo must be giving Sunagakure quite a headache."

Minato chuckled. Men, when it comes to national affairs, are full of opinions and speak eloquently.

As the three chatted, quite some time passed, and they all grew hungry.

"We've soaked in the hot springs, now it's time to eat. It's been a long time since we've had anything hot."

"Minato said."

Chiga and Kakashi didn't object, but Kakashi looked at Chiga and asked, "So, the question is, who's going to pay for the meal?"

"No need, I'll do it!" Minato said magnanimously before Chika could even speak.

"Minato-senpai, you've already treated us to a hot spring bath, so it's our turn to pay for it now. We can't let you pay for everything."

Upon hearing this, Chiga understood that it was indeed inappropriate to let Minato pay anymore. If they continued to form a team and Minato kept paying, he wouldn't even be able to afford to marry Kushina.

"You pay!" ×2

Chika and Kakashi spoke at the same time, and then slowly stood up, not caring whether Minato had seen their little birds.

Their eyes seemed to spark with energy.

Seeing the two seemingly locked in a stalemate, Minato shook his head helplessly, while quickly glancing at their lower bodies.

Oh no, Kakashi lost again!

After thinking for a moment, Minato suggested with a smile, "Let's have a competition to see who can hold their breath underwater the longest. The loser treats."

That's a good idea.

Seeing Kakashi's fierce competitive spirit, Chiga simply asked Minato, "Minato-sensei, why don't we compare sizes?"

"What's the point of comparing these two? Kakashi has already lost!"

Minato said without even thinking.

Kakashi: "."

[Negative emotions from Kakashi Hatake, emotion value +80!]

"Minato-senpai, you were spying on us?! I wasn't talking about comparing sizes, not those two ounces of flesh below!"

Chiga immediately returned to the water.

"Forehead"

Minato realized he had misunderstood and quickly apologized to Kakashi, "Sorry, Kakashi, I thought Chiga was referring to age."

"Minato-sensei, please help him!" This explanation only made Kakashi more desperate.

Moreover, even considering age, including the ten months in the womb, he is still two months younger than the other person.

Minato's words had a double meaning, offering words of comfort: "Kakashi, don't worry about it. You're still young; you'll grow up eventually!"

"But Chiga is only seven years old."

"Perhaps he has extraordinary talent!"

"."

[Negative emotions from Kakashi Hatake, emotion value +80!]

The three of them were also hungry, so they found a snack shop near the hot spring, following the principle of proximity.

Considering the huge blow Kakashi had suffered, Chiga generously offered to treat him to the meal!

Sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat.

Seeing the hot food, the three of them were very tempted and were about to start eating.

However, Pakkun, who was in Kakashi's arms, suddenly sniffed and shouted, "Kakashi, there's a strange smell in here."

Upon hearing Parker's words, the three immediately became alert. Just then, something suddenly burst out of the ground beneath Minato's feet.

Minato's expression changed. He leaped backward to dodge the attack, simultaneously drawing a specially made kunai and shouting to Chiga and Kakashi, "Go!"

Chika and Kakashi reacted quickly, arriving at the windowsill the moment Minato moved. With a light leap, they jumped onto the roof.

boom!

The snack shop collapsed the instant the two left.

The powerful explosion had already attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd, who screamed and ran for cover.

Chiga and Kakashi also ran along the rooftops towards the edge of town.

Chiga glanced back at Minato's location and saw two ninjas dressed in Sand Ninja attire attacking him.

"Never mind, let's get out of here!"

Kakashi said to Chiga.

Kakashi knew Minato's strength best, and as long as the two of them were safe, Minato could retreat at any time.

Chiga understood this as well, so after only glancing at Kakashi, she followed behind him.

However, things didn't go as planned. Two ninjas wearing Sand Ninja headbands blocked their path as Chika and Kakashi ran.

Chika and Kakashi stopped and observed each other with serious expressions.

Although there were only two of them, judging from their demeanor, they were not simple characters.

"I've been waiting for you two for ages, figuring out how to get you away from that Jonin. I didn't expect you to separate so easily. Looks like the relationships between Konoha ninjas aren't all that great!"

"Are the ninjas of Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Nations, only capable of such despicable methods as poison?"

Kakashi questioned coldly, otherwise he and Pakkun might have actually been poisoned by the Sand Ninja.

"You must be Kakashi Hatake. I originally wanted you to die quietly so that your bodies wouldn't be damaged. After all, corpses are easily damaged in battle, which would make it difficult for me to make puppets. Even if I did make them, they would be flawed works of art."

The leader of the Sand Ninja was Sasori of the Red Sand. He looked at Kakashi's white hair and thought it seemed to overlap with a figure he had seen in a photograph.

An overwhelming killing intent surged within him.

Upon hearing this, Chiga immediately recognized the person in front of him and whispered to Kakashi, "Kakashi, your chance has come. The other person is Sasori of the Red Sand, Chiyo's grandson. Remember what you said that night? Why don't you collect some interest first?"

"This is no time for jokes. Let's think about how to escape."

Kakashi could tell who it was, but he didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that one of the Sand Ninja was his father's enemy.

Even the act of poisoning them beforehand was clearly aimed at them.

It seems that his information appeared in Sunagakure, which triggered Chiyo's revenge.

He even wanted Scorpion to take revenge himself.

At this moment, the Sand Ninja standing behind Sasori glanced at Chika and Kakashi and exclaimed in surprise, "Such a huge amount of chakra! Lord Sasori, that Uchiha brat's chakra is six or seven times that of Hatake Kakashi!"

Upon hearing this news, Scorpion finally turned his gaze to Chiga.

"It seems you not only possess the Sharingan, but your physique is also quite impressive. I happen to be researching how to create human puppets, so I'll gladly accept your body."

Scorpion developed a slight interest in Chiga.

As a genius puppeteer, Sasori's talent in the art of puppetry is beyond question.

At this age, he's already thinking about how to surpass the first puppeteer, Monzaemon.

Human puppets can completely preserve all the ninjutsu and bloodline limits of the person in life, which is the greatest advantage of human puppets.

"abnormal!"

Upon hearing this, Chiga rolled her eyes at Scorpion, thinking that he really didn't learn anything good and insisted on learning from Snake.

Sasori ignored Chika and simply instructed the Sand Ninja behind him, "Leave this to me. You go and hold off that Jonin for those two. I'll deal with the Jonin after I've dealt with these two."

"Yes, Lord Scorpion!"

This Sand Ninja clearly felt that letting Sasori deal with two six- or seven-year-old children was no problem at all. On the contrary, in another battlefield, he could sense that his teammates were in a bad situation.

So after hearing Sasori's instructions, he instantly left and joined Minato's battle.

As the Sand Ninja left, Kakashi looked at Chiga.

"Looks like the two of us will have to hold out against this guy for a while until Minato-sensei comes back."

Kakashi said with a serious expression.

Sasori's reputation was earned through sheer terror in the ninja world, and Kakashi felt that even with Chika's help, victory was not guaranteed.

The incident happened so suddenly that Minato couldn't take them away immediately. Now, Minato is also entangled by three Sand Ninja and can't break free for the time being.

Chika and Kakashi still had faith in Minato, and the three Sand Ninja could only hold him off; they definitely couldn't kill him.

They might even be killed in return.

"Okay, you take the lead, I'll find an opportunity to give him a big one!"

Upon hearing this, Chiga nodded solemnly in agreement.

After all, he is stronger than Kakashi in close combat.

"Be careful. The opponent is not only a puppeteer, but also a master of poison. Don't let him hurt you."

The opponent is a ninja who controls puppets.

The weapons on those puppets were coated with deadly poison; without an antidote, touching them would result in death.

This is why Chiga was chosen as the main attacker.

Chiga possesses the Sharingan, which allows her to observe the puppet's movements and evade it.

"I see!"

After a brief discussion, Chiga opened his Sharingan, took out his katana, and charged towards Sasori of the Red Sand.

"Have you reached an agreement? Then I should get started!"

Sasori, who had been watching the two whispering to each other for a while and was starting to get impatient, gave a cold smile when he saw Chika rushing over.

He took out a scroll from his pocket and slowly unrolled it.

Ten humanoid puppets dressed in red robes appeared in front of Sasori of the Red Sand, protecting him like stars surrounding the moon.

At the same time, Sasori of the Red Sand stretched out his hands and softly shouted, "Red Secret Technique: Ten Machine Manipulation!"

(End of this chapter)