Escape From Konoha

The next day, as usual, he came to the Hokage Building and Tenzo made a written report.

Although the disappearance incident was blocked by the upper management, there is no airtight wall in the world. All the ANBU and the security forces can do is to try their best to buy time to resolve the matter smoothly and give a perfect explanation to the people in the village.

After all, so many people were missing, enough to cause panic in the village.

"Still no results?"

Tsunade didn't open Tenzo's report, but asked directly.

"It's like this. Things are a bit difficult to handle. Although we have captured some important information, it is too scattered. If you want to connect all this information together and find out the flaws, I am afraid it will take some time to prepare."

Tianzang scratched his head and smiled helplessly.

Although the disappearance left a lot of information, in Tianzang's view, this information was not only scattered, but also illogical.

"How to say?"

Tsunade seemed to be interested in what Tenzo said.

Before the ANBU minister was determined, Tenzo was the second-in-command in the ANBU besides her.

Whether it's qualifications, abilities, or the strength that a ninja possesses, Tenzou has no shortage of them.

In terms of Jonin's qualities, he is considered a very good type of Jonin.

Tianzang suppressed his smile, thought for a moment, quickly organized his words, and said: "To be honest, when the martial law in the village is so high, so many people suddenly disappeared, I feel very strange. Especially when it involves To civilians other than ninjas. And the missing civilians happen to be family members of ninjas, which makes it even more strange."

Tsunade nodded. She understood all these things and motioned for Tenzo to continue.

"Judging from the traces at the scene, some of the missing persons had fights at their homes, while others had no fights and just disappeared suddenly, and no witnesses were found in all of them. Not only that, there were no traces of rummaging in the homes. There was no damage to property, neither was there a search for anything at the missing person’s home, nor was it money.”

"Do you think it's a vendetta? The bodies of the missing people have been destroyed and their traces have been wiped out?"

"No, we can't be so arbitrary. These people usually don't have deep friendships with each other. According to my investigation, they have never had a huge quarrel with anyone. It is impossible for people from other villages to sneak in to take revenge. It is even more nonsense."

Tenzo said.

Tsunade also kept her breath and tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table, making a thumping sound.

As Tianzang said, the investigation process of the disappearance was very strange, and the information collected was also very scattered, making it impossible to piece together a complete clue.

"Other than that, the only thing they have in common is their fondness for Haruno Yakiniku Restaurant. I asked the owner of Haruno Yakiniku Restaurant, who is Sakura's father, Haruno Zhao... who was the Chuunin of Doda who disappeared in the first place? I’m a vegetarian, but I occasionally eat at the kebab shop and look like I’m waiting for someone.”

Tianzang told this information.

"Waiting for someone?"

"Yes, I'm waiting for you. The owner of Haruno's shop also felt that the behavior of Chuunin Doda was rather strange, so he took note of it."

"..."

Vegan, kebab shop, etc.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

Tsunade pulled out the drawer, took out Doda's chuunin information, and looked through it again.

Tenzo made no move to disturb Tsunade and stood quietly in front waiting.

"How's it going? Did you find anything?"

Tenzo asked after a moment, after Tsunade put down Doda's chuunin information.

Tsunade shook her head.

The profile of this Chuunin Doda was really ordinary.

Just like most Konoha chuunin, he works peacefully and does not do anything extraordinary.

Except for being a vegetarian but acting like he's waiting for someone at a barbecue restaurant.

"In addition to the above, is there anything else you would like to add?"

"Yes, I think part of the information collected before is false. It is false information deliberately used by the people behind the scenes to mislead us."

After Tianzang said this, his eyes became sharp.

Similar situations often occurred in past missions.

For example, the client deliberately concealed the true information and used false information to mislead the ninjas performing the mission, causing the ninjas' actions to completely deviate from the original mission objectives.

If it is the same this time, then what the people behind the scenes want is to use this true and false information to mislead their investigation actions and lead their thinking into a strange misunderstanding, getting further and further away from the truth. .

"So there is a suspicion formation?"

This possibility raised by Tenzo was one that Tsunade had always ignored before.

"For now, I think that's the most likely possibility."

Unfortunately, although he understood this, Tenzo could not judge which part of the information collected was true and which part was false, deliberately misleading the Anbu's investigation direction.

Then, Tianzang raised three fingers and said: "The current general direction of the Anbu investigation is: who are the attackers? Why attack these people? Where did the missing people go? If there is misdirection here, then, a certain direction of investigation , or in other words, all the directions of investigation are wrong. From the beginning, these are things created by the people behind the scenes for us."

And if you investigate something that essentially does not exist, you will not get any results even if you investigate it for a hundred years.

"So, where do you plan to start next?"

Tsunade continued.

"As long as there are people related to this incident, all their information will be collected, and then eliminated one by one, and integrated into a complete clue. That way, the investigation will be much easier."

Tenzo replied.

Tsunade also knew that this was the best way, so she nodded.

"I'll give you five days, and there must be a result on this matter."

"yes!"

◎

Although Tsunade gave five days of investigation time, Tenzo did not dare to be careless at all.

Anbu was dispatched as soon as possible to collect information on all the people involved in the disappearance. No matter whether they were neighbors, passers-by, or even a passing dog, no one could be missed.

And such work cannot be completed in a day or two.

In other words, the review only lasts about three days.

"It's really troublesome."

Tenzo looked at the busy ANBU subordinates and sighed with great melancholy.

There is so much to deal with right now.

The most important thing is that the battle situation on the front line is unclear, and it is not clear how the parties plan to negotiate.

However, no matter how they negotiate, except for the Kingdom of Ghosts, the other major countries are not in a good situation.

Although it was grand in scale, this war lasted very short and ended in less than a month. Will it still be defined as the Fourth Ninja War?

Tenzo was thinking wildly as he walked towards the ANBU's data room.

Leaving the ANBU's workplace, it was already dark outside.

Before I knew it, another day passed.

I was so busy that I even forgot the time to eat.

It was boring to eat alone, so Tenzo thought of Naruto and others. Speaking of which, he hadn't contacted anyone from Team 7 for a while.

It just so happens that I can squeeze out some time now to take care of my subordinates in Class 7.

As for the execution of the mission, I am afraid that the war must be over before it can be carried out smoothly.

"I remember it was this direction..."

Tenzo headed towards the northeast of Konoha Village, where Naruto was training at the training ground.

We arrived at the training ground ten minutes later.

In addition to Naruto, Tenzo also saw Sakura and Sai.

"Hey, good evening, everyone. Well, it turns out you are all here, which just saves me the time of searching."

Sai, who was accompanying Naruto in the actual battle, heard this voice, tilted his head, glanced at Tenzo who appeared on the scene, stopped his attack, and put down the scroll and brush.

"Captain Yamato?"

Naruto and Sakura looked at the person in surprise, not expecting that the other person would appear at this moment.

"It's me. You guys are really hardworking. You are still practicing at this time."

Tenzo looked at the dirty dust on Naruto's body and knew what kind of training he had done here.

"No, we'll be done soon."

Sai said with narrowed eyes and a smile.

"Really? It happens to be dinner time soon. How about we have a big meal together? I'll treat you."

Tenzo continued to smile.

"Really? That makes me feel hungry."

Hearing what Tenzo said, Naruto's face showed joy and he was not embarrassed at all.

"Well, since we haven't seen each other for a while, I just have time now, so I just want to keep in touch."

Tenzo nodded.

Sakura looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, Captain Yamato, I have something to do here."

"matter?"

Tenzo turned his head and looked at Sakura, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened recently. One of the waiters at my family's barbecue restaurant took a leave of absence. Now I have to go home to help at night... It's almost time now."

Sakura sighed and reluctantly answered.

"Well, that's a pity, then this time it's just the three of us."

Since Sakura has something to do, Tenzo can't force her, which is a pity.

Watching Sakura leave in the night, Tenzou looked at Naruto and Sai.

Sakai looked indifferent at this time, and didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about the next feast.

But Naruto was mumbling happily about what kind of meal he would like to eat next.

This made Tenzo couldn't help but sigh, Naruto is really an optimist. It seems that he has completely recovered from the blow of the destruction of Mt. Myoboku and does not need special comfort.

◎

Time flies by against the clock.

After having a feast with Naruto and Sai to learn about their recent lives, Tenzo once again focused his attention on the investigation of the disappearance.

Seeing that almost half of the five days given by Tsunade had passed, Tenzo couldn't help but feel irritable.

The information collected by the ANBU is not only huge, but also very messy, involving information on thousands of people. Everyone who has been in contact with these missing persons in the past or has recently been in contact needs to collect their information without leaving out any information.

Although he knew that the answer to the truth was hidden in these, Tian Zang felt dizzy looking at the mountains of documents in front of him.

However, even if he had a headache, Tianzang had to look through them one by one, extract important information, and connect the clues together.

This is no easy task.

In the next two days, he might have to spend time in the ANBU's data room.

I didn't read it at a glance, but I just read it carefully word for word, for fear of missing something important.

The rest of the ANBU personnel were also looking through the pages. In the reference room, there was only the sound of turning books.

The sky darkened again, and a new night arrived again.

The Anbu people in the data room are still working hard.

A sign of spring, the buds of spring are blowing.

Tianzang found the information about Haruno and his wife. Those missing ninjas were keen to come to Haruno Barbecue Restaurant to eat barbecue. As the couple who opened the restaurant, they were naturally under investigation.

The history of the Haruno family's fortune is quite interesting. As a ninja, Haruno Zhao did not have any outstanding talents. After being introduced, he came to work in a barbecue restaurant. Due to his excellent work attitude, he was entrusted with an important task by the owner of the barbecue restaurant and became a senior executive of the barbecue restaurant.

Then the boss went to other places for development, and the barbecue restaurant was handed over to Haruno Zhao. As the business became more and more prosperous, Haruno Zhao accumulated a large sum of money, so he bought the barbecue restaurant and officially changed it to Haruno Barbecue Restaurant.

From being an ordinary chuunin to opening a shop and having a good reputation in the village, Tenzou also felt that this person was not a ninja material and would be better in business.

As for Haruno Meabuki, there is something worth mentioning... Due to congenital poor health, she encountered dystocia when she gave birth, so the medical ninja responsible for delivering the baby could only save one child.

Fortunately, a highly skilled medical ninja happened to be passing by at that time. Not only did he save Haruno Meabuki, but he also protected Sakura. In the end, mother and son were safe.

And the passing medical ninja... Tenzo also saw a familiar name - Asami Masumi!

"So Vice President Asami still has this kind of connection with the Haruno family?"

Tenzo muttered.

"Did you find anything, Deputy Minister?"

An ANBU who was reviewing heard Tenzo's muttering and raised his head and asked.

"No, it's nothing, I was just talking to myself."

Tenzo shook his head.

It was just a common medical incident, nothing worth exploring.

Just when Tianzang was about to look through other people's information, suddenly the door of the data room was violently pushed open, and an ANBU appeared at the door. Before Tianzang could ask questions, he shouted urgently:

"Oops, the first team of the third detachment has lost contact and seems to have encountered an accident!"

Tianzang was stunned.

"The first team of the third detachment, I remember that the tasks they were responsible for were..."

——Surveillance on Asami Masumi!

◎

"Sorry, you guys will just sleep here for a while. What happens after that has nothing to do with you."

In the dark corner, four ANBU ninjas fell on the floor or in the corner.

Asami Masumi held an empty syringe in her hand, threw it aside and rolled it on the ground.

The medicine has been injected into the bodies of the four Anbu. Within the next twelve hours, the four people will fall into a deep sleep and cannot wake up.

"Vice Dean Qian, Qianmei... you... are you really..."

After an ANBU was injected with the medicine, he did not fall asleep immediately. Instead, he raised his upper body with difficulty, and a pair of eyes under the mask stared with disbelief.

They followed the Hokage's orders to monitor each other, but they just suspected that the other party was a mole. As long as they didn't do anything unusual, they could basically get through the cleaning operation safely.

However, Asami Masumi suddenly attacked them, which undoubtedly showed the fact that there was a problem with the other party.

The possibility of being a mole increases rapidly.

"Yeah, I'm almost tired of playing the Will of Fire game like a family. The surveillance these days has been really hard on you."

In response to this ANBU's question, Asami Masumi just raised her lips slightly and showed a smile without any emotion.

Then he used the middle finger of his right hand to push up the thick-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose, reflecting a cold arc of light.

After saying that, he crossed over Anbu's body and walked towards the depths of darkness until the white coat on his body merged with the darkness and disappeared.

And this ANBU persisted to the limit. Sleepiness came over him, his eyes closed, and his head fell heavily, making contact with the cold ground.

As he was dying of consciousness, he seemed to hear the shouts of his companions not far away.

Support the troops? With this thought, Anbu fell into a coma.

◎

"Really, the store is too busy. And why doesn't mom come over at this time? Did she oversleep at home?"

Sakura, who was busy with the rest of the staff in the store, kept wiping the hot sweat on her forehead and complained by the way. She felt that working in the store was more tiring than practicing alone.

"Boss, is it okay here yet? Hurry up!"

Over there, there were shouts from the guests, who seemed to be impatient to wait.

"Come right away." He responded to the other side, Haruno Zhao looked at Sakura with a pleading look, and smiled: "Please, it's table nine, don't make a mistake."

"knew."

Sakura put the prepared ingredients and sent them to table nine.

After coming back, I heard Haruno Zhao continue to say: "Speaking of which, Sakura, I forgot to tell you something. I happen to be free now, so come over here."

"What's the matter, Dad?"

Although Sakura was confused about what her father, Haruno Zhao, was going to say to her next, she followed Haruno Zhao's footsteps very obediently and walked to a secluded, uninhabited corner.

Sakura stood still here and looked at Haruno Zhao with doubtful eyes, wanting to know what the other party wanted to say to her.

Haruno Zhao turned around, with a smile that was no different from usual on his face.

But Sakura felt that there was something different in her father Haruno Zhao's smile at this moment.

But what exactly it was, Sakura was still at a loss.

"That's it for now, Dad, there are still things to do outside."

"That's not busy. I just thought that we, father and daughter, haven't had a heart-to-heart talk for a long time."

Haruno Zhao waved his hand and smiled.

"You're not going to talk to me at a time like this, are you, Dad?"

Sakura was speechless.

"How should I put it? It is possible."

Haruno Zhao did not deny it.

"You're so weird, Dad. If you have any questions, just tell me."

"Then let me tell you that your mother had an accident when she gave birth to you. If it hadn't been for the help of a passing medical ninja, you probably wouldn't have been born into this world."

Haruno Zhao suddenly brought up this topic.

"Uh...is this happening?"

This was the first time Sakura heard this. Her parents had never told her about it before.

"And you also know that medical ninja, his name is Asami Masumi."

"Vice Principal Asami?"

Sakura was surprised.

She is naturally familiar with this name.

After all, she is the leading medical ninja in Konoha, and her master, Tsunade, has praised her excellent medical ninjutsu many times.

Nowadays, many younger generation of medical ninjas are targeting this vice president.

She didn't expect that her family had such a fate with the other party.

"Yes, the situation was critical at that time, and there was no time to escape... Fortunately, you and your son were safe in the end, but because of this, I agreed to a deal from the other party."

Haruno Zhao smiled bitterly.

"Deal? What deal?"

Sakura blinked, and her intuition told her that the content of this transaction was not simple.

Haruno Zhao took a step forward and suddenly hugged Sakura into his arms.

"dad?"

Sakura opened her eyes innocently, not understanding what her father was doing when he hugged her.

Just listen to the voice in my ears:

"The content of that transaction is——"

A burst of coldness poured into his abdomen.

Sakura looked down and saw a syringe inserted into her abdominal body, and the medicine inside was also injected.

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at her father Haruno Zhao in disbelief, her eyes full of confusion and confusion.

"Dad...Dad...you..."

Before she could finish the whole sentence, Sakura felt her eyes darken, her body became weak and she fell into Haruno Zhao's arms. She closed her eyes and breathed evenly.

Haruno Zhao helped Sakura out of the corner.

"Boss, Sakura, this is..."

The staff passing by looked at Sakura in surprise.

Haruno Zhao said distressedly: "Maybe she is too tired. She has been busy recently. She suddenly fainted just now, which shocked me. Next, I have to send her home. I will leave it to you for now. I will soon return."

"Oh, okay, just leave it to us."

The staff nodded in agreement.

Haruno Zhao helped Xiao Sakura leave the barbecue restaurant and set off in the direction of Haruno's house.

◎

"Natural energy...natural energy...concentrate...calm your mind...let everything go...don't think about anything..."

Sitting alone in the forest at night, Naruto murmured the key to channeling natural energy while clasping his hands, sitting cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes, sensing the natural energy in the forest.

Soon, Naruto entered a state of 'tranquility', and the thoughts in his brain gradually became empty.

The forest is particularly quiet at night. This environment is conducive to Naruto channeling natural energy.

Recently, Naruto has been particularly interested in practicing natural energy-related exercises at night.

As long as you master the natural energy, the next step is to integrate the senjutsu chakra. The last step is to control the sage mode and completely integrate the senjutsu into your own ninjutsu.

Just when he was in trance and channeling natural energy, he suddenly noticed something. He was released from the trance state, opened his eyes, and swept towards a dark place in the forest.

"who?"

Naruto stood up and looked warily into the darkness of the forest, his eyes fixed on it.

After the sound of footsteps, a white figure walked out of the darkness.

She is a woman wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a white coat, which is very conspicuous in the dark.

"Who are you……"

Naruto felt that the person in front of him was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

However, seeing the Konoha ninja forehead protector on the opponent, he became less vigilant.

"Hello, are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

the visitor asked.

"Ah? Yes, I am Uzumaki Naruto, what can I do?"

Although they were not acquaintances, Naruto's attitude was considered friendly considering that the other party was a Konoha ninja.

"My name is Asami Masumi. Here's the thing. A girl named Haruno Sakura asked me to deliver a letter to you. It seems that she has something urgent to ask you."

With that said, Asami Masumi took out a letter signed by 'Haruno Sakura' and walked towards Naruto.

"Sakura? What happened to her?"

If something happens, just come to him directly.

But if you ask someone to carry the letter, you may be in trouble.

Naruto thought as he stepped forward.

The moment I received the letter.

A voice suddenly sounded in my ears——

--careful!

This sound did not come from outside, it seemed to come from within my own body.

Naruto's body froze, and his palms paused in the air.

Asami Masumi also stopped for a moment, and then her eyes flashed with a cold light. The hand holding the letter suddenly separated from the air and swung it towards Naruto's chest.

Naruto was startled and stepped back quickly. He saw the palm passing by his chest with a slight gap, which made his heart jump to his throat.

There was a tear in the clothes on the chest, and a trace of blood seeped out from the gap in the clothes.

The letter split in two fell from the air and landed on the ground.

Asami Masumi looked at Naruto in surprise, not expecting that the other party could avoid her attack.

I have already restrained my murderous aura to the point of 'none', so I shouldn't be noticed by the other party.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why did you attack me?"

Naruto, who retreated to a safe area, took a breath and pointed his finger at Asami Masumi, showing a dissatisfied look.

Anyone who encounters a person who sneak attacks on him will not be in a good mood.

"Me? I just want to borrow the nine-tails chakra in your body. Don't worry, I will return it to you soon after I use it."

A faint blue light like running water bloomed on her right hand, forming the physical form of the blade - a chakra scalpel.

Asami Masumi slowly approached Naruto with a warm smile on her lips.

This woman is strong! Naruto stared at the other person's figure without blinking, fearing that if he blinked, the other person's figure would suddenly disappear from his eyes.

Feeling the cold and steady aura on the opponent's body gave him the feeling that it was much more dangerous than facing an ordinary jounin.

"That's really unfortunate. I won't lend out this stinky fox's chakra!"

Naruto smiled softly.

Although he didn't know what the other party's purpose was in asking for the Nine-Tails chakra, he knew one thing and couldn't let her succeed.

"This is not your personal decision!"

Disappeared from Naruto's eyes.

Naruto immediately took out the kunai from his ninja bag, turned around and waved it.

Ding!

An unusually clear metallic sound resounded in the forest.

It is obvious that chakra is only attached to the flesh palm, but the chakra scalpel is as hard as steel. Even the kunai attached to the superior chakra cannot break through and hurt the opponent's fingers.

Naruto looked at the opponent's chakra scalpel in surprise. It was too hard.

He also felt a very familiar energy in the other party's chakra.

Seeing Naruto blocking his teleportation attack, Asami Masumi's smile grew thicker.

Her chakra scalpel could cut even hard steel in half, but Naruto blocked it with a kunai attached to the wind attribute chakra, which surprised her.

"Having the ability to fight head-on with Jonin so quickly, and also mastering natural energy... That guy made a major mistake by not including you as a key observation target. Guys like you with abnormal growth should be eliminated as soon as possible. Just drop it. But it has nothing to do with me."

"That rascal?"

Naruto looked startled.

Asami Masumi did not answer, but increased the strength in her hands.

There was only a clicking sound, and cracks visible to the naked eye appeared on the kunai attached to the wind attribute chakra.

Naruto's pupils shrank and he jumped back without thinking, intending to keep a safe distance from the other party.

Seeing Naruto jump back, Asami Masumi kicked forward with light and quick movements, caught up with Naruto in the blink of an eye, swung down the chakra scalpel in her hand, and slashed at Naruto's chest mercilessly.

"Wood Release·Wood Spindle Wall!"

A curved wooden wall formed in front of Naruto, immediately blocking Asami Masumi's vision.

The cold chakra scalpel drew a beautiful arc in front.

boom!

The wooden wall shattered with the sound, and a large number of hard pieces of wood flew everywhere. Naruto's figure disappeared from behind the wooden wall, retreated five or six meters behind, and looked at her with lingering fear.

Asami Masumi stopped and glanced around. Dozens of Anbu were scattered around at some point, completely surrounding the place.

The leader was none other than Tenzo.

He was staring at Asami Masumi with a serious face at this moment, and there was a coldness in his eyes.

"Captain Yamato?"

Naruto was surprised.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

Tenzo looked at Naruto and subconsciously moved his body closer to him so that he could protect Naruto at any time.

Judging from Asami Masumi's current actions, the other party intends to be detrimental to Naruto.

"Don't worry, Captain Yamato, I'm fine here. However, I don't understand why the other party attacked me? I don't know her at all."

Naruto looked confused, not understanding what the other party's motive was for attacking him.

"I also want to know what the so-called motive is. Can you tell me about it, Masumi?"

A cold voice came from the other direction.

A figure slowly walked out of the shadows, stood not far from Asami Masumi, and looked at her with complicated eyes.

It was Tsunade.