I fixed my gaze on the flower that only grew in the Suna Desert. A flower that needed very little water, was very rare, and had a use rarely seen in this world. With this flower, one could create adrenaline, or in a way, activate it in the human body.
But more than looking at the flower, I was looking at how this stall was able to keep it alive and fresh, since humidity could easily suffocate it, causing it to die.
"I see, it's quite a special seal," I commented to the shop owner, a woman in her fifties or sixties.
"Hehehe, in such humid places, it's necessary to have dry spots from time to time," she replied, covering her mouth with a ninja mask.
Raído, beside me, using a transformation jutsu, glanced sideways before looking away, keeping an eye out for any strange people approaching us.
"I can imagine; by the way, I wonder if you have the Flower of Life or the Flower of Blood," I asked out of curiosity.
"I thought we were past the days of alchemy, or are you trying to disable someone?" the woman said, her tone more calculating but still sounding like a grandmother.
"Believe it or not, I'm a botanist," I explained, pulling out a pen and paper to quickly jot down a recipe and hand it to her.
"This?" the woman asked, her eyes widening as she realized what had happened. "Are you sure about this?"
"I can assure you the recipe is completely valid," I said, smiling at her, since what she'd just experienced was the nurse's cure for dead skin, or, as it's called in my world, hepatitis C.
Thanks to my knowledge as a scientist in my previous life—some parts of which I'd forgotten, others not—I still remembered 80% of how to prepare the antidote.
Not many years ago, before the war, I'd found a ninja infected with the disease, and knowing what I remembered, I was able to create a cure, using both the Flower of Life and the Flower of Blood.
Basically, an alternative to the original compounds from my previous world.
"I see I have quite the scientist here, and I thought you were just some elite jonin, hehehe," the woman said, putting the recipe away. "I imagine you'll want something for this; that's how the black market works."
"I expected nothing less from you, madam."
Right now I'm using a transformation jutsu, since, being the Black Marked One, it's common to encounter people trying to hide or go unnoticed. However, I do display a chakra level strong enough to be identified as an elite jonin or higher, as this prevents some people from engaging me.
As much as the anime portrays them as commonplace, the reality is different. It's already rare to encounter a jonin and even rarer to encounter an elite one. Whether due to plot reasons or perhaps Naruto's bad luck, every time he looked under a rock, there was an elite jonin-rank ninja or kage ready to attack him.
The idea that the Shinobi Alliance had 80,000 shinobi, all of them Chunin-rank and above, excluding pre-teens and below, is mathematically impossible unless they recruited rogue ninja or bandits of that level. But knowing the number of Jonin or Chunin a single village has, it's illogical.
Konoha would have had to contribute at least 10,000 ninjas, and I, as Hokage, know that the Hidden Leaf Village doesn't have that many ninjas in total meeting those criteria.
Now, that scenario could have worked if my hypothesis that Iwa has a shinobi cloning machine were true, but that's a topic for another time.
...
After a pleasant conversation, the woman gave me directions to a nearby secret base belonging to a bandit group whose leader is rumored to be an elite jonin with a terrifying sword.
It's not known for certain if he's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, as he tends to leave no witnesses. Therefore, the information comes mostly from the bandits themselves, who speak of their leader. However, what can be confirmed is the destruction this leader causes in battle.
"I didn't think the information would be so easy to obtain," Raido commented, now in his non-transformation form.
"You have to know where to look and who to look for, something they don't teach in school, but I'm already reforming to fix that," I replied, also reverting to my non-transformation form.
Not far away, using my sensory abilities, I could sense a large number of people, one of whom possessed a high chakra reserve, at least a jonin-level ninja.
"How do we proceed?" Raido asked, ready for combat.
"You say we should act?" I asked, giving him a strange look.
"I hope you don't mean..." he said, sounding uneasy.
"Exactly, I see you defeat them all," he finished, sitting down and looking straight ahead, waiting for Raido to act.
"But I'm a tokubetsu jōnin; even though I'm an ANBU and the Fourth Hokage has honored me by making me his bodyguard, I don't have the skill to face an elite jōnin, especially if he happens to be a swordsman from the Mist," the baby complained.
"I see that being my student isn't one of the great achievements you mentioned." At that, Raido tensed immediately. "You'd better do as I say, or there's no pay. And don't worry, if I see you getting beaten up, I can't let just any old ninja kill one of my precious students."
After saying that, Raido simply swallowed hard and, with eyes already accepting his fate, leaped forward, obeying the order, facing the base of an elite home run alone, as it should be.
...
I stepped on Jinpachi Munashi's chest as he vomited blood, trying to avoid choking, and glared at me with fury and anger as if I had mutilated him and stolen his weapon. Ironically, that's exactly what had happened.
I looked around, completely destroyed by the massive explosions of the Shibuki sword, focusing specifically on Raido, who was lying face down in a pool of blood, still alive. This would be a good life lesson, and as the saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"I curse you, leader of the tree-huggers," Jinpachi cursed as he managed to spit out all the blood in his mouth.
"The weak don't have the right to have the last words," and with that, he slammed the Shibuki into his skull with tremendous force, shattering it.
Lifting the weapon to move it, removing the bits of brain matter that had stuck to it, I contemplated the weapon, realizing that I wasn't the first to create a seal capable of generating explosions by the dozen.
"This will be good study material before Kiri finds out I have the weapon and I have to return it," I remarked, walking over to face Raido.
I grabbed him by the neck, lifting him mercilessly, bringing us face-to-face, and checked him to make sure he was breathing. As soon as I saw he was, I lowered him to my hips; I'll drag him out of the base and back to ours.
...
Five days had passed since I sent my ninja on the intelligence-gathering mission, and not long ago, Kakashi and the others had returned from their journey.
I had given them an hour's rest before starting the meeting and beginning the final phase of the mission, which would be decided based on the information they brought back.
"Let's start with the mummy's team that arrived first," I ordered, looking at Danzo, who realized that the mummy was him.
Looking reluctantly, he stepped forward to provide the information.
"The situation in the capital is both good and bad; the good thing is that they're still basking in their glory of the Bloody Mist, and since this has happened in such a short time, there's still a great division, and at the same time, there have been several indications of a possible rebellion, but it's not certain yet. Given this situation, it wasn't too difficult for us to infiltrate and gather the requested information."
"Regarding the current Fourth Mizukage?" I asked curiously.
"What about the current Fourth Mizukage?" "The current Mizukage is Yagura, who is currently the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails, which gives him great power and influence over the decisions he makes," Danzo concluded.
(Note: From now on, I'll consider the anime filler as what it is, filler, and not as canon, since it's these things that complicate the continuity and progression of the story, because the mangaka decides one thing and the animation studio decides another.)
At this information, I could only shake my head, since I had arrived too late to capture the Three-Tails before Kiri did.
The idea was to find it in its natural state, seal it, and bring it to the village to keep it as a guardian or something like that, but I see that won't be possible.
"The idea of a guardian might not have worked anyway," I said aloud to myself.
"What did you say?" Danzo asked.
"I wasn't talking to you," I clarified, turning to Kakashi. "So, what did you find out?"
"About a year ago, the current Six-Tails jinchuriki deserted the village, so Kiri is searching for him to capture him and replace him with a ninja more loyal to the village," the cyclops replied with a bored expression.
"Do you know of a possible location for this jinchuriki?" I asked curiously.
At that moment, Shusui took a step forward.
"Not long ago, a dango shop owner received a customer who matches the description of the current Six-Tails jinchuriki, and apparently they're on their way to the farthest reaches of the Land of Water, in an archipelago north of here."
"I see. Mark the location of this archipelago," I instructed Shisui, who took a pencil and marked a spot between the waterway and the ancient Uzu.
My original plan was always to capture the Three-Tails, but seeing as the Six-Tails is in such an easy position to capture, why not take advantage of it? After all, the difference in power between a Tailed Beast Ball and a Six-Tails must be significant; that's precisely why the Tailed Beasts are so necessary.
"Alright, we'll go after him," he declared to everyone, only for Danzo to step forward.
"And why do you need a jinchuriki?" the mummy asked.
"Everything in its own time. It doesn't matter if you know the information now, before, or in the future; you'll find out anyway," I said, silencing him immediately. "Alright, let's leave immediately."
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Sorry if this chapter is shorter than usual, but I woke up feeling sick and don't have much energy to write. I had planned to finish this mission in this chapter, but I think I got a little carried away during the raid between Raido and Miyu.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter; see you next time.