Naruto: Eating Kaido's Azure Dragon Devil Fruit-Chapter 259: Tacit Understanding

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Konoha and Iwagakure confrontation front line main camp.

Sora sat inside the independent tent assigned to him, his expression calm.

Over these two months, he first wore the Vermilion Bird mask and infiltrated deep into the Land of Earth’s territory. Under the name "Vermilion Bird", he swept through several fairly large exchange houses.

Relying on his formidable strength, he easily completed several high-bounty missions. Not only did he gain considerable money, but he once again made the name "Vermilion Bird" resound in the black market.

After finishing this, he quietly left the Land of Earth. Most of his time was spent at the secret underground laboratory on Ascension Island.

Recalling the scene he saw before leaving Ascension Island, a flash of amazement also appeared in Sora’s eyes.

In the specially made cultivation chambers deep within the base, several tissue prototypes cultivated from special cells were soaking in pale green nutrient fluid. They pulsed slightly, emitting faint signs of life.

Although they were still far from cloning a complete human body, this was indeed living tissue cultivated artificially, separated from a parent body.

When Kabuto told him this, his tone was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Sora brother, basic life maintenance and directional differentiation have been preliminarily achieved. Although stability still needs improvement and energy consumption is extremely high, this proves our direction is correct. Just give us a bit more time, Nonō sister and I will definitely be able to cultivate the ’clone body avatar’ most suitable for bearing power."

Thinking of the word "avatar," Sora’s gaze flickered slightly.

...

Withdrawing his thoughts, the scene from three days ago when he went to the Hokage’s office to report back surfaced in Sora’s mind.

He stood before Sarutobi Hiruzen, reporting in a hoarse voice.

"Hokage-sama, this subordinate infiltrated the Land of Earth for two months, conducted extensive inquiries, even risked contacting the black market and some Iwagakure nukenin. But regarding clues about Yumi and Ayumi, almost all trails have gone cold."

"Based on the last shred of evidence, it is inferred that they... they likely, not long after being captured, due to resistance or severe injuries, have already... been killed."

He took a deep breath, as if trying extremely hard to control his emotions.

"This subordinate requests transfer to the Iwagakure front line. If I do not avenge this hatred, I swear I am not human. Please grant this request, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, smoking his pipe at the time, looked at him quietly for a long time.

What Sarutobi Hiruzen was weighing in his heart, Sora understood perfectly clearly.

Was it believing his "grief and indignation" was genuine,

or suspecting this was his pretext to get close to Iwagakure for some other purpose,

or simply that he had orchestrated everything himself, and now was just finding a reasonable excuse to intervene in the Iwagakure conflict.

Whichever it was, for Sarutobi Hiruzen, placing a Kage-level combatant with powerful strength and bearing "hatred" toward Iwagakure on the front line offered more advantages than disadvantages.

Finally, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, a look of "empathy" and heaviness appearing on his face as he comforted him. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Sora, restrain your grief. As shinobi, sacrifice is unavoidable. They are heroes of Konoha. The village will not forget their contributions."

"Your request, I approve. Proceed to the Iwagakure front line. Obey Jiraiya’s command. Remember, hatred can become strength, but do not let hatred blind your eyes. Everything must prioritize the overall situation."

’Old fox, his words are truly beautiful.’

In truth, Sora also knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen and he had a kind of tacit understanding relationship.

Before, when Sora first entered the Anbu, Sarutobi Hiruzen could still use the pretext that Sora did not know about Root’s existence to cover up Danzo’s attempt to capture him.

But as Sora’s strength and experience continuously increased, Sora’s retaliation against Danzo was a matter of sooner or later. Sarutobi Hiruzen just did not expect Sora to grow so fast and so strong.

It made it so that he actually could not exert strong control over Sora.

This made Sarutobi Hiruzen involuntarily think of Hatake Sakumo, who committed suicide. If Hatake Sakumo were still here, he would not have to worry so much.

As for whether the two little girls, Yumi and Ayumi, were truly dead, Sarutobi Hiruzen also did not care. He even thought it was likely Sora, worried that Danzo would target people he cared about, transferred them in advance.

After all, several people from the orphanage were no longer in Konoha.

But Sora, after all, had not defected from Konoha. Moreover, he had performed great services for Konoha, completely deserving the title "war hero."

Added to that, now was a crucial moment in the Third Great Ninja War. Konoha needed Sora’s strength.

Therefore, to avoid the appearance of a second "Konoha’s White Fang," even if concrete evidence appeared before him, as long as Sora did not actively defect, Sarutobi Hiruzen could treat it as non-existent.

...

Just as Sora was recalling that tacitly understood conversation with Sarutobi Hiruzen, a respectful voice came from outside the tent.

"Azure Dragon-sama, there is urgent intelligence."

It was a Chunin specially assigned to him by the camp’s intelligence division, responsible for liaison with him.

"Enter."

An intelligence ninja wearing glasses, appearing very capable, quickly walked in. He presented a sealed scroll with both hands.

"Azure Dragon-sama, information just received from a scouting team. In the border region between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire, traces of Iwagakure high-level member Kitsuchi were discovered. He is suspected of conducting some kind of reconnaissance mission."

"Jiraiya-sama hopes you can depart immediately to verify the intelligence’s authenticity. Depending on the situation, decide whether to make contact or eliminate."

Kitsuchi?

Sora took the scroll and quickly glanced at it.

"Understood. I depart immediately."

He stood up. Beneath the Azure Dragon mask, the corner of his mouth curved into a slight arc.

Confirm Kitsuchi’s traces.

This is a good pretext indeed.

After all, he is now a Konoha elite who is "filled with hatred," eager to "avenge" his comrades.

...

Border region between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire.

Sora closed his eyes. His unique perception quietly spread out with him as the center.

In the air, under the soil, between leaves.

Some almost undetectable chakra and life force residues presented themselves like traces of spider silk within his "perception."

However, Sora’s brow wrinkled slightly. The aura of this area was far more complex than he anticipated.

Several strands of chakra with different natures intertwined together. Traces of wind, fire, lightning, and earth attributes were seemingly deliberately placed within this space, resembling a carefully designed maze.

This was too unusual. It was as if someone intentionally laid out a feint here, wanting to confuse the true tracking direction.

’Earth Release traces. The chakra is heavy and steady. Number of people, five to six. One strand is particularly strong. That should be Kitsuchi.’

Sora’s perception carefully combed through this mist of chakra, like searching for the true main thread within a tangle of threads.

After a moment of analysis, Sora opened his eyes and looked toward the Land of Fire direction.

’Hmph. Caught by me. But what is Kitsuchi doing deep inside the Land of Fire?’

Thinking about it, Sora deduced that Kitsuchi’s group most likely had gone deep into the rear again to carry out sabotage missions. He had encountered Kitsuchi once before.

Sora’s figure moved again. Following that faint chakra trace, he silently pursued.

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