Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

Minato nodded solemnly and described Kisame's appearance to Jiraiya, as well as the latter's ability to fire energy orbs from his mouth, and pointed out that the enemy had most likely escaped along the river.

Spiritual communication!

After forming hand seals, Jiraiya pressed his palms to the ground, summoning a three-meter-tall toad, which he then commanded to jump into the river.

Then, he stepped onto the toad's back and floated downstream.

The man and the clam quickly disappeared into the lower reaches of the Nanhe River.

Minato, along with Kushina, used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Konoha.

An hour later.

The Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi kept puffing on his pipe, deep in thought.

He had just learned the whole story from Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

An unknown enemy has invaded Konoha, likely targeting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Most shockingly, the enemy used the First Hokage's Wood Release sealing technique.

This was personally confirmed by the Nine-Tails within Kushina—it had extensive experience being suppressed by the First Hokage and was extremely familiar with the latter's chakra.

The situation is critical.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately ordered that Kushina be placed under strict protection. He also ordered the entire Anbu to be mobilized, in conjunction with other ninjas in the village, to search for anyone acting suspiciously.

For a time, the atmosphere in the entire Hidden Leaf Village was extremely tense, as if it had entered a state of war.

Like an enemy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remembered something.

Back when the Second Shinobi World War was raging, in order to end the war, he consulted with the Konoha leadership and ordered a secret study of the First Hokage's cells in an attempt to obtain the power of Wood Release.

However, during the years-long human trials, a large number of innocent people died, and research on interstitial cells still made no progress.

After much deliberation, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to halt the research.

However, he always suspected that Danzo, who was in charge of this research back then, did not obey his orders as Hokage, but continued to conduct cruel human experiments in secret.

Even his most prized disciple, Orochimaru, may very well be involved.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply.

He brought Orochimaru into Root and made him Danzo's subordinate, intending for this disciple to monitor Danzo and counterbalance his power.

Unexpectedly, Orochimaru grew closer and closer to Danzo, and further and further away from his teacher.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that Danzo had a unique set of standards for selecting and training Root ninjas, which he called "dark aptitude."

Clearly, Danzo understood Orochimaru's inner weaknesses, causing the latter to gradually fall into darkness.

Perhaps it's time to have a proper "talk" with Danzo and Orochimaru.

Hiruzen Sarutobi must find out who sent the Wood Release ninja who invaded Konoha, and whether they have any connection with Root.

This matter may eventually escalate into a bloody conflict.

……

While Konoha Village was in chaos, Kisame Hoshigaki, the instigator, had already fled to the Land of Grass.

He reverted to his original appearance and entered Kusagakure.

Hozuki Castle Prison is located on a small island near Kusagakure Village, surrounded by the Inland Sea and isolated from the world.

Kisame had never been there and didn't know the route, but he had his own way.

After waiting for two days in Kusagakure, Kisame was greeted by an escort team.

Several ninja from Amegakure were escorting a prisoner with a scar on his face in a prison cart. The scarred man had rebelled against the rule of Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, and had been arrested and sent to Hozuki Castle prison to serve his sentence.

After a brief rest in Kusagakure, the escort team left the village and headed straight for Hozuki Castle.

Kisame followed closely behind them, keeping a distance that wasn't too far.

The procession of prisoners disappeared around a street corner.

Kisame had just walked past.

Whoosh whoosh.

Several Rain Ninjas appeared from all directions, armed with weapons, and surrounded him, clearly having noticed the suspicious man long ago.

"It seems that the prisoner's accomplice has appeared. He dared to hijack the prison van all by himself. He's got some nerve."

The leader of the Rain Ninjas sneered.

The scarred prisoner in the prison van looked completely bewildered, because he didn't recognize Kisame at all.

"Everyone, you've misunderstood."

Kisame quickly raised his hands in surrender and gave a friendly smile, "I'm not here to rescue prisoners, I'm here to join you."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

"What do you mean?" the Rain Ninja asked, frowning.

"Here's the thing. I'm Kisame Hoshigaki, a ninja from Kirigakure. I was sent to Hozuki Castle prison for committing a serious crime. However, the ANBU ninja escorting me had something come up and turned back halfway. They told me to go to the prison myself, but I'm not familiar with the route, so I was thinking of hitchhiking..."

Kisame introduced himself with a smile and recounted the whole story.

92. Free food, free drinks, and free rides in prison vans (two-in-one)

Hitchhiking to jail?

This reason was truly unheard of, something the Rain Ninjas had never seen before.

The question is, who would be stupid enough to believe such nonsense?

The group had never heard of a prisoner running away to jail, especially to a notorious prison like Ghost Lantern City.

Unless you're tired of living and don't want to live any longer.

"Move on, take down this suspicious guy!"

Thinking of this, the leader of the Rain Ninjas gave a sharp shout and gave an order to his companions.

Upon hearing this, Kisame shook his head, sighed, and muttered to himself:

"Why do people never believe me? Do I, Kisame Hoshigaki, really look like a liar?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he had no choice but to act in self-defense.

Three minutes later.

The familiar scene played out once again.

Like the Kirigakure Anbu who had once escorted Kisame, these Rain Ninja were all defeated by Kisame, rolling on the ground and howling in pain.

Kisame didn't go too far, after all, he still needed these people to send him to prison.

However, he left the Explosion Release technique on each of the Rain Ninja and demonstrated the art of explosion to them on the spot.

boom!

A large blue stone, taller than a person, was blasted away by Kisame's Explosion Release, shattering into countless pieces.

This scene caused several Rain Ninjas to break out in a cold sweat and give up the idea of ​​continuing to resist.

Under their fearful gazes, Kisame walked straight to the prison cart and opened it.

"Thank you, sir..."

The scarred man in the prison van was overjoyed and was about to thank Kisame for saving his life when the latter pushed him into a corner of the van.

"Brother, make way."

Kisame reached out and pushed Scarface aside, then crawled inside, his massive body instantly filling most of the prison cart.

Faced with Kisame's "usurping" behavior, Scarface could only huddle in a corner, his entire face pressed against the pillar of the prison cart, making it difficult even to turn his head.

He was about to lose his breath.

What are you all standing there for?

Kisame waved to the stunned Rain Ninja and urged them, "Let's hurry on our way, or we'll be late."

The group looked at each other for a while, then had no choice but to accept the situation.

Under Kisame's threat, they had no choice but to obey his orders and escort him to Hozuki Castle.

The escort team set off again.

As a result, they hadn't gone far when they were stopped by someone in the face.

It is Jiraiya.

He revealed his identity and politely asked the Rain Ninja about some things, such as whether they had seen any suspicious people near the Grass Ninja Village.

As one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, Jiraiya's reputation still carries considerable weight.

Upon hearing this, the group's gazes all turned to Kisame in the prison cart.

Oh?

Jiraiya followed their gaze and, upon seeing the prisoner's face, frowned, feeling that he looked somewhat familiar.

"You are... Kisame Hoshigaki from Kirigakure? The champion of the last Chunin Exams?"

He looked surprised, and finally remembered.

"Lord Jiraiya." Kisame nodded to Jiraiya.

"What's going on here?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled. Why were Kirigakure ninjas being escorted by Amegakure ninjas?

Kisame told his story again, offering an explanation.

Jiraiya found it strange, but he was too busy and it wasn't his place to deal with the affairs of other ninja villages, so he hurriedly took his leave.

They headed straight for Kusagakure.

Kisame watched Jiraiya's retreating figure disappear into the distance.