Naruto: As a genin, I just want to live a normal life.

Page 157

Another young man standing beside the queen removed his mask, revealing the face of Morino Yuuki, who had defected from Konoha more than half a year ago:

"My Queen."

"With your strength, you don't seem to need our protection."

Sally crossed her arms and leaned back against the red cushion of the chair. "Then it seems like there's no point in me supporting you guys. How about you go work at the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Morino Yuzuki quickly waved her hand:

"No, no, no -"

"I'm not going to that place."

After saying that, Morino Yuzuki, who was clutching the mask, was somewhat moved:

"but."

"We are truly grateful to the Almighty and the Queen, because of them, Uncle Nikaido and I were able to find a peaceful place suitable for us to live in."

"Aren't you going to thank Mr. Immortal? When Nikaido killed the lord of Tanjō Town, he was wanted for 100 million taels of rice, which is equivalent to more than 30 million taels of fire coins in your Land of Fire."

At that time, Immortal was confident that he could win the two major deals worth 30 million each, and said he would take them down.

As a result, if Nikaido hadn't said before he died that he couldn't go to the ancient kingdom of Loulan to meet you, the Immortal Master would probably be carrying his head to collect the reward.

"Uh. Of course, I also thank Lord Immortal. It's just that Lord Immortal seems to prefer traveling alone, and he's not currently in the ancient kingdom of Loulan. I wonder where he's traveling off to..."

Hearing Morino Yuzuki's words, the Queen of Loulan sighed softly.

Not to mention the fourth seat, the Undying Emperor, even the first seat, the Dean, and the All-Round Minister have all returned to Konoha as junior ninjas.

I really don't know what our lovely Dean is thinking~~ It would have been enough for her to stay with me in the ancient kingdom of Loulan~~~

At this moment, the tenth seat Queen Sally, the fourth seat Immortal Horned King, the third seat Sand Spirit Garura, and the seventh seat Crushing Crimson Lotus all knew Shirahoshi's identity.

—After all, many things happened during their daily interactions. For example, when conducting human experiments on Karura, because she needed to remain completely naked for extended periods, they conducted multiple experiments over a period of about four months...

In short, in the end, Shirahoshi felt that Karura had gone from being gentle and kind at the beginning to becoming a somewhat perverted woman, even having the Sage's Seal engraved on her... and then their relationship escalated, so Shirahoshi thought it didn't matter anymore.

After all, it wouldn't benefit Karura personally in sharing his information with Konoha, nor would it pose any threat to her.

Shirahoshi's life as a genin was only because he had been a strong person for too long, and he occasionally went back to being a weak person to watch others show off in front of him.

In terms of strength, he can't find any equally matched opponent right now.

Even if you were to use the Edo Tensei technique on Madara Uchiha from the Fourth Shinobi World War, give Toneri Otsutsuki on the moon a pair of Byakugan, or have Kaguya Otsutsuki break free of her seal, Shirahoshi would still have to fight him in her current Jinchuriki form, where she has sealed her massive chakra into the form of a Tailed Beast to avoid being sensed and spied on.

That's how you feel like you're participating in a battle.

In general, the more things Shirahoshi develops and the stronger she becomes, the more she feels like Saitama: it's hard to find an opponent she can fight to her heart's content.

Currently, only Nawaki's stance is unstable, and he happens to be a Konoha ninja.

So Shirahoshi, who wanted to keep her ninja job, didn't dare tell him.

Furthermore, Shirahoshi is certain that the moment this guy learns the truth, he'll grab him by the neck and rattle off some random conditions, threatening to tell him the news to Mikoto, Nono, and Ryuun if he doesn't agree: though he certainly won't agree anyway.

Chapter 127 The Rot of 'Leaf'

The seventh day since the Minato Squad departed from Konoha Village.

Inside the Hokage Building, no relevant information has yet been received.

"Did it fail?"

The intelligence scroll sent back from the liaison point on the border of the Fire River stated that no trace of the Minato Squad had been found.

Border troops are primarily stationed within the national border and will not easily cross the border to conduct reconnaissance, in order to avoid causing misunderstandings.

Unlike the ancient Loulan Kingdom, they boldly ventured into the obscure region of the River Kingdom to harvest various stones and bricks, and transported them back to Loulan.

"White teeth".

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Before them, a white-haired man in a dark military uniform suddenly appeared in the center of the office, bowing and kneeling.

Actually,

Sakumo Hatake was also in a hurry, because his only son, Kakashi Hatake, was also in the previous mission team.

"Call Tsunade over here."

“I have a task for her.”

Originally, a year ago, not long after the surgeon appeared in the ancient kingdom of Loulan and announced that he had become an all-powerful minister, Tsunade proposed to go to Loulan the moment the news reached Konoha.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi refused.

The reason is that the situation of the ancient Loulan Kingdom is unclear, and the other country is located within the territory of the Wind Kingdom and is protected by the Wind Kingdom.

If Tsunade goes there, she will only cause trouble, and might even start a war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

Unexpectedly, Loulan's rapid development threatened the rule of the major powers. Before the Land of Wind could take action, the neighboring Land of Earth launched a war.

The subsequent outcome naturally shocked the entire ninja world, and the incident that day filled a certain issue of the Ninja World Daily.

It sold out immediately, and countless people came to know the all-around minister of the ancient Loulan Kingdom.

The names of surgeons from the past seem to have been forgotten.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi did not forget.

That person is very likely a backup plan for the deceased Lord Mito.

Lady Mito kept this backup plan a secret from even Tsunade and Nawaki, not revealing it even on her deathbed.

Or rather, the relevant tasks have already been assigned, such as the incident when Nawaki was attacked and captured.

We also collected information from various sources, including some suspicious records about the other party from the beginning.

For example, Mito-sama's intelligence scroll covering the future: the ANBU ninja explained that elite ninjas had appeared in the Senju clan's territory, bypassing their sight and observation.

The incident at the No. 1 base in the Land of Whirlpools: He launched the first attack with Fire Release, fought the Hidden Mist team from the Land of Water in a one-on-one battle within the Hidden Mist barrier, and displayed astonishing taijutsu power, no less than the forbidden technique developed by Might Dai—the Eight Gates.

Travel within the Land of Rain: On the chaotic battlefield of the Land of Rain, no ninjas discovered his presence. His clothes were clean and tidy, as if he were on vacation in a peaceful country.

The Fire Country Daimyo Incident: Using the abilities of chakra threads and chakra scalpels, he brutally massacred an elite squad from the Daimyo's forces.

The treatment at Konoha Hospital was suspected to be a unique experiment conducted on human subjects by a surgeon, but it didn't happen again, perhaps because it was abandoned or completed.

There were also many intelligence reports about the whereabouts of surgeons, which were recorded in the village's core archives and were all reviewed by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

among them,

The key time point of its emergence

A person's body has changed... Perhaps that person is related to a surgeon.

When Shirahoshi returned, Hiruzen Sarutobi had doubts about whether Shirahoshi was the person in question, given the somewhat coincidental appearance of Shirahoshi and the surgeon.

Unfortunately,

A few days ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi had the Hyuga clan's ninjas, who were specifically responsible for sensory perception, conduct a series of daily observations, perceptions, and discussions on Shirahoshi.

Ultimately, it turned out that the opponent's chakra reserves were indeed far beyond those of an ordinary genin.

However, their numbers are roughly the same as those of ordinary Jonin. Even if they are hiding something, their strength is only at the Jonin level.

Shirahoshi was aware of all of this, so during training, she displayed the normal training volume of a Chunin.

However, after this observation was made, another high-ranking member of Konoha, Elder Danzo, also received the news and requested that Shirahoshi be included in Konoha's newly launched Wood Release experiment plan.

but.

He was rejected by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The reason is that Shirahoshi is only a genin and is not suitable to be a test subject, and Hiruzen Sarutobi saw through Danzo's idea.

It is estimated that Danzo suspected that Shirahoshi had unknowingly become a test subject for the surgeon.

And it worked.

This allowed Shirahoshi, who originally had mediocre talent, to grow step by step from a young age, and to gain all five chakra attributes the moment the experiment succeeded.

Furthermore, judging from Shirahoshi's appearance, at the age of 25, she seems to have not aged at all... This is enough to suggest that there is a greater than 90% chance that Shirahoshi was once a surgical experiment subject!

Of course, Bai Xing was unaware of these speculations. Even if she had, she would have only pretended to act according to the higher-ups' guesses.

It is now March.

The next Chunin Exams are just around the corner.

Ever since returning from Loulan more than a month ago, Bai Xing felt as if something had changed.

Perhaps it's a change in strength, or perhaps it's the increase in age; people always fall into confusion at some point.

"what happened?"

"This isn't like you, Shirahoshi."

Shirahoshi stood on the observation deck above the Hokage Rock, not turning around, but one could still discern the identity of the person from their voice.

"Orochimaru-sensei."

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru smiled slightly and stepped forward, ostensibly to accompany Shirahoshi to admire the village scenery, but actually to observe the changes in Shirahoshi's appearance out of the corner of his eye.

Upon closer inspection, there was indeed no change whatsoever! It was exactly the same as before the trip, and even before I became an apprentice!!

Sbarasi——

The air was quiet for a while, and a gentle breeze from high above brushed against their faces.

Then, Shirahoshi grabbed a leaf that had been blown by the wind, lifted it up, and pointed it at the sky.

Coincidentally, a piece of the leaf suddenly broke in the middle. It looked like the leaf fibers had broken due to insects eating it, and the gap was caused by the wind.

Bai Xing picked up the leaf and held it to her right eye, peering out through the gap:

"Orochimaru-sensei."

"Is there something you need from me today?"

"Are you asking if I encountered anything related to the rope tree while traveling? Or...?"

"No." Orochimaru crossed his arms, shook his head slightly, and continued, "I've taken a liking to your talent, Shirahoshi."