Konoha Drunkard

"Ah, Danzo and Homura are here guarding against Sunagakure. Kagami and Torifu are elsewhere guarding against Kumogakure. Brother Kima is stationed in Amegakure and Iwagakure with the Senju clan."

"Hahaha! You've finally arrived!" Tu Zang laughed loudly as he led Liang Ren out.

Shanks looked at Danzo, and had to admit that Danzo was indeed a formidable rival to Hiruzen Sarutobi in the fight for Hokage. Aside from his superior strength, Danzo was evenly matched with Hiruzen Sarutobi in every other aspect.

Danzo is still a model young man devoted to his village. So cheerful, so sunny. The new X-shaped scar on his chin doesn't detract from his appearance; on the contrary, it makes him look even more imposing.

It has to be said that power is truly a harmful thing. It can force an ambitious and exemplary young person into becoming a cunning and scheming friend of a villain.

"Hey, Danzo's getting more and more imposing. How did you get that X-shaped scar? It's even more imposing than my right eye," Shanks teased.

"Haha! I was ambushed by several Jonin from Sunagakure last night. If it weren't for Homura finding me early, I'd have more than just this scar." Danzo didn't care about the ambush at all; instead, he was proud of the scar. There's a saying, "Scars are a warrior's highest honor!"

After the four entered the camp, Shanks and Hatake went to rest. After all, they had just killed someone and were so exhausted that they vomited, and then they had been traveling for three days straight. Shanks and Hatake went into their tents to rest without saying a word, and fell asleep as soon as they lay down on their beds.

"Well, did the master ask you to bring any intelligence?" Sarutobi and Danzo entered the command camp. Monho asked Sarutobi Hiruzen.

“Yesterday, my teacher informed me that our spy sent word that a small team from Sunagakure will be transporting a batch of grain tomorrow, and the route is with me. However, my teacher said that this spy might be useless now, and it would be best to confirm whether it's a trap before taking action.” After saying this, Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the scroll to Homura.

After looking at the map, Danzo and Menyan fell into deep thought. After a long while, Menyan spoke up, "Even if it's true, there's not much point in us ambushing them. Chiyo from Sunagakure is a master of poison. We can't be sure if the supplies we have are poisoned. If it's fake, we'll be even more passive."

"By the way, what mission do you have with Sakumo Hatake and Shanks?" Danzo asked.

"Our teacher heard that the Jinchuriki seal in Sunagakure has run into some trouble again, so he asked me to take these two with me to investigate. Ideally, we should lure the Jinchuriki out and create some chaos for their village." Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't hide anything from his two teammates.

"Isn't this a bit dangerous? Sakumo Hatake and Shanks are both geniuses of Konoha. If they fail, they will be in danger," Danzo asked.

"There's no way around it. Even geniuses don't get special treatment in the face of war. Besides, they're young and inexperienced, so it's easy for them to infiltrate Sunagakure. Don't underestimate those two. Shanks has a lot of tricks up his sleeve," Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed.

.......

The next day, Hiruzen Sarutobi found Shanks and Sakumo Hatake.

"Your mission this time is to infiltrate Sunagakure to investigate the situation of the Jinchuriki, and then come out and notify me. I will be waiting for you near the entrance of Sunagakure. I will leave some coded signals near the entrance."

"Uncle really thinks highly of us, letting two little brats like us, who are only eight years old, investigate Jinchuriki..." Shanks pouted.

"It's precisely because no one expected Konoha to send two children to infiltrate Sunagakure, not even the Sunagakure themselves, that your chances of infiltrating and gathering intelligence are so high," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.

"My second uncle is really cunning and treacherous," Shanks complained.

"..." Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent in response to this statement.

"How should we enter Sunagakure?" Hatake Sakumo asked, focusing on the key point. Both of them were novices in genjutsu. Hatake Sakumo hadn't had time to practice, and Shanks, because he possessed Observation Haki, could block genjutsu, so he hadn't practiced either.

"This is our spy in Sunagakure. He'll be on duty at the village entrance. When the time comes, use your transformation jutsu to get to the village entrance and give him the code. He'll then lead you in," Hiruzen Sarutobi showed the two the spy's information.

"I must say, this guy is quite handsome. It's such a waste that the village only has him guarding the gate," Shanks said with a smile, looking at the photo.

"Ahem! Let's get down to business. Be extremely careful when you infiltrate Sunagakure to gather intelligence. It's best not to arouse suspicion about Konoha," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a serious expression.

"OK! Understood!" Shanks straightened his expression.

"Let's go."

The three set off immediately and entered the Land of Wind after half a month.

"You are the wind, I am the sand! Pshaw!" Shanks sang, looking around. For three days, they had been traveling through the Land of Wind, encountering only sandstorms.

"Shanks, stop singing and let's hurry up. We're almost at the Narrow Pass," Sakumo Hatake said with a hint of exasperation. Shanks continued singing his strange song the whole way.

"Young men, you've reached the Narrow Pass. I'll be waiting for you near it. You're here to gather intelligence, so if you can avoid fighting, please don't." Hiruzen Sarutobi warned.

"I know, you haven't reached menopause yet, Uncle Hiruzen!" Shanks said.

"...That brat!" Hiruzen Sarutobi vanished in an instant.

Shanks and his companion immediately used the Transformation Technique.

Shanks becomes a handsome blond boy, while Sakumo Hatake becomes a kind-hearted black-haired boy.

"Stop! Kids, what do you want?" Just as they reached the village entrance, a handsome young man with dark skin walked over and asked.

"Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger," the young man whispered.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi is 1.5 meters tall." Shanks gave the coded message.

"We are refugees from the Land of Wind. Our families were killed by bandits, and we had no choice but to flee here," Shanks answered loudly.

"Register them, I'll go report to Lord Kazekage." The handsome young man said to the other Sand Ninja guard behind him, glanced at Shanks and the other two, and then went to report.

Shanks is registered as Deidara, and Sakumo Hatake is registered as Iwate. They are commoners from the Land of Wind. After a group of bandits came to their village, the two escaped and came to Sunagakure. After waiting for a while, the handsome young man returned. "You can go in now. Someone in the village will take you to find some work and then take you to your lodgings."

Currently, most villages are newly established and have small populations, so they all take in many refugees to increase their numbers. Compared to Konoha, Sunagakure takes in the most refugees and orphans. Living conditions in the Land of Wind are too poor, and many who cannot survive become bandits or outlaws. Therefore, the Land of Wind has a large number of refugees and orphans.

The Sand Village of today is not like it was later when the Daimyo stopped funding it, there were fewer missions, and the Kazekage had to rely on gold mining to make a living. The current Daimyo of the Land of Wind is still very supportive of the Sand Village, providing a large sum of money and provisions every year.

16. Uncle, I want to ask Aunt Chiyo for "flowers" and "favorites".

The architectural style of Sunagakure is completely different from that of Konoha. Both are built with sand and concrete, making them unique.

After Shanks and his companion entered Sunagakure, they arrived at an inn.

"I'm not coming back for another mission to the Land of Wind, even if it kills me! Let whoever wants to come!" Shanks grumbled. His lips were practically cracked, and his throat was burning.

"Stop complaining, what do we do now? Jinchuriki is a top secret in every village, it's not easy to find out," Sakumo Hatake asked.

"It's said that the current Kazekage of Sunagakure consulted his aunt about sealing techniques during the first Five Kage Summit. Chiyo is the wife of the First Kazekage, so if there's a problem with the Jinchuriki sealing, she's definitely in charge. As long as we find her, there won't be any problems," Shanks said.

"How do we find them? We've never seen what they look like," Hatake Sakumo asked.

"This... let me think about it." Shanks suddenly remembered that Chiyo wasn't the old woman who appeared in the anime yet. Even though her husband had died, she was still the most beautiful woman in the ninja world.

“I’ve got it. The matter of Jinchuriki is definitely not a small matter. I estimate that most of the high-level combatants in Sunagakure are around the sealing site. It’s impossible for no one in the village to know about something this big. We can go and investigate tomorrow,” said Sakumo Hatake.

“Alright, let’s go out for a walk. There are a few eyes watching us. It’s impossible for refugees who have just arrived in Sunagakure not to be curious.” Shanks sensed with his Observation Haki that there were several Chunin watching them.

This is the standard procedure in every village; they only leave after monitoring for a few days and finding no problems.

"Let's go see what Sunagakure has to eat. We've been eating soldier rations for the past few days, and our mouths are getting so bland," Shanks complained.

"Um, did you bring any money?" Sakumo Hatake asked.

"Don't talk to me about money, it hurts our feelings!" Shanks said, acting like a tycoon. He pulled out his money pouch and rummaged through a pile of bills printed with the heads of the two Hokage.

Sakumo Hatake covered his forehead. "But we're in Sunagakure now, and we're refugees from the Land of Wind. How are you going to use a bunch of money from the Land of Fire?"

"There's such a thing?" Shanks was stunned.

"Of course, didn't you know that the school's national economics curriculum covered it?" Hatake Sakumo gave him a look that suggested he was a slacker.

"Damn, ninja academies teach this stuff?" Shanks said, indicating he had never heard of it before.

"...The school will explain the general situation of each country for future missions," Hatake Sakumo said proudly.

"You're a top student, you're amazing. Did you bring it?" Shanks rolled his eyes at Sakumo Hatake.

"I brought some, but not much because I didn't know I was coming to the Land of Wind."

"After those surveillance personnel leave in a few days, let's see if there are any merchants we can exchange for some money from the Land of Wind," Shanks said.

"Let's go out for a walk," said Sakumo Hatake.

The two walked into a barbecue restaurant. "Boss, four servings of barbecue," Shanks called out.

"Can you finish it?" Sakumo Hatake asked.

"Heh heh, when it comes to eating, everyone here is a nobody," Shanks said smugly. If it weren't for the wealth of the Senju clan in Konoha, they really couldn't afford to feed a glutton like Shanks. After all, it's the physical rules of the pirate world; the larger the physique, the more calories the body needs. Shanks usually eats a whole wild boar in one meal. Lately, he's been eating only soldier rations, and Shanks is really suffering.

"Have you heard? Lately, we've been hearing strange noises in the village at night, and the ninjas are frequently going out to investigate."

"Yes, my house is over there. Every night, many ninjas rush past my house. I heard that the strange noises are coming from the cave behind the village."

Shanks and Sakumo Hatake had just sat down when they overheard two villagers at the next table talking. The two exchanged a glance.

Shanks walked over and said, "Hello, gentlemen. I just arrived in the village today. Didn't I hear that the village is the safest place in our Land of Wind? Why are there strange noises at night? Could it be a monster?" Shanks looked scared.

"You just fled here today, didn't you?" one of the villagers said.

"Yes, our village was wiped out by bandits. I barely managed to escape. I heard that Sunagakure is full of ninjas, so it's safe here," Shanks explained.

"It's safe, but lately there have been strange noises coming from the back mountain at night. The ninja has already blocked the road to the back mountain. I heard the Kazekage is there too, so it should be fine. Just don't go to the back mountain," the villager said.

"Okay, I got it, thank you, sir. Boss, bring these two gentlemen a pot of wine, it's on me," Shanks called out to the shopkeeper at the end.

"Haha, I can't accept that," the villager said somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's alright, I should thank you, uncle. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know when I wandered over there."

Shanks returned to his seat and exchanged a glance with Sakumo Hatake. After finishing their barbecue, the two returned to their lodgings.

"So, what did that kid say to the villagers just now?" The Chunin monitoring Shanks had just seen Shanks talking to two villagers. One of the Chunin went over to eavesdrop.

"Oh, it's nothing. Two villagers were just discussing the strange noises coming from the back mountain. The kid was worried there might be some kind of monster, so he went to ask. Kids are always curious about these things." The Chunin who returned was clearly a parent.

"That's good." The leading Chunin didn't take it seriously. After all, many people in the village knew about the strange cries from the back mountain, they just didn't know it was about a Jinchuriki.

"It seems that the tailed beasts have caused quite a stir in Sunagakure. Even the villagers know about it, but they just don't know that it's a tailed beast."

"Shall we go back and report to Lord Hiruzen now?"

"No need for now. If we keep reporting back and forth, the ninjas monitoring us will inevitably find out. Let's go to the back mountain in a few days after they leave. They shouldn't be able to complete the enhanced seal in a short time," Shanks said after thinking for a moment.

"Alright, we'll resume our normal activities for the next few days."

...

For the past three days, the two of them have been going out for walks as usual, seemingly quite curious about the village. The ninjas monitoring them have also withdrawn; the recent clashes with Konoha have been intense, and they have other missions to complete, so they can't keep monitoring the two of them all the time.

"They've left. We'll go check out the back hill tonight," Shanks said.

"Aren't you going to report the situation to Lord Hiruzen?" Sakumo Hatake asked.

"It's probably too late. Haven't you noticed the tailed beasts' voices getting fainter these past few days? I reckon they'll finish reinforcing the seal tonight."

"Then what do we do? There are only two of us." Sakumo Hatake was at a loss.

"Let's go check it out tonight. If it doesn't work, then forget it. There's nothing we can do about it," Shanks said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders.

By evening, the tailed beasts' cries were indeed much weaker than the day before. "Let's go, it looks like they'll finish tonight, let's hurry over," Shanks said anxiously.

After the two arrived at the back mountain, they saw many ninjas on guard around the perimeter, and strange cries could be heard coming from the caves in the distance.

"There are too many people, this is difficult." Shanks was at a loss. These ninjas were at least Special Jonin, and the Second Kazekage, Shamon, was probably in the cave too. One drop of saliva from each of them could drown them.

"Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work out, we'll go back." Hatake Sakumo calmly looked at the cave.