Sunny and cheerful Konoha Genin

"..."

The wooden floor of the hotel was once again lifted up.

Hearing the noise, Kimimaro and Karin looked over at the same time.

Darui, with a complicated expression, jumped out from inside, dragged by Ito Toru.

"Brother Ito! You guys are finally back!"

Karin, who had been waiting for a long time, cheered.

"how is the situation?"

"There are no suspicious people approaching here. It seems that we have not been exposed yet."

"That's good. Let's pack up first. We can't stay here any longer. We have to leave."

"Ah good!"

Although Karin was somewhat surprised to hear the news suddenly, she did not question it and instead took quick action.

The same is true for Kimimaro.

The two of them didn't bring much luggage this time, so they packed quickly.

"Darui, wake up."

While they were packing their luggage, Toru Ito also took the opportunity to awaken Darui's fighting spirit.

Darui is now in a state of disheartened.

Earlier, when I was on the run, I had a goal in mind, so I didn’t have time to think so much.

Now that he had relaxed a little, an indescribable feeling of exhaustion surged up like a shadow and overwhelmed him.

Although he looked fine on the outside, Darui felt almost broken on the inside.

"I'm fine..." He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a somewhat ugly smile.

"Just do as you say first."

"I feel...it's hard for others to escape alive."

"...Don't think too much about it now. Our current situation is not optimistic."

Ito Toru said in relief.

"Yes."

Darui lowered his head and took a deep breath.

At this moment, he suddenly became much more mature, or rather, much older.

"We've packed our things!"

Karin's voice came.

"Come on, Darui, I'll leave these two to you. I'll be in charge of paying the bill."

Ito Toru patted his shoulder.

"it is good."

Darui's eyes gradually regained some spirit.

He said that as a man with a strong sense of responsibility, now that he has been assigned the task, even if he is still in a depressed state, he will put this state aside temporarily and start thinking about how to complete the task.

This is why he is considered as a strong candidate for the next Raikage not only because of his strength, but also because of his thinking mode and absolutely calm emotions!

Different from every grumpy Raikage.

The road to the Hidden Cloud Village was smoother than expected.

"Most of the manpower should be put into the pursuit. Look, there are others who escaped besides us."

Ito Toru speculated so.

"Where's Omoi?"

Darui suddenly remembered the boy who came with the two of them.

"He should have gone out a long time ago. I have contacted him before."

"That's good."

It was not until they walked out of the Hidden Cloud Village that Darui's tense body finally relaxed slightly.

"Hello - hello -! I'm here!" Someone called from afar.

Ito Toru and Darui looked over there and saw Omoi waving at them.

"It looks like we are finally here."

Ito Toru said with a smile.

"Ah."

Darui felt slightly relieved.

No matter what, Omoi also followed them from the port to the Hidden Cloud Village, and now being able to go back with them is a kind of comfort.

This time when he returned to the Hidden Cloud Village, he really lost too much.

"I remember there is a hidden place up ahead where we can rest. Let's take a short break there."

Darui suggested.

"it is good."

Ito Toru nodded in agreement.

And just during the rest time, Toru Ito suddenly sensed something.

"I'll go check the surroundings. You guys take a rest first."

"Ah."

With Ito Toru out to investigate, Darui was relieved, but Omoi next to him looked at him very worriedly.

"How about I go with you?" Karin volunteered enthusiastically.

"No, I can do it alone. You all should rest now. It will be dangerous if everyone falls into a hypocritical state."

Ito Toru smiled and patted her head.

"All right……"

Karin felt a little disappointed, thinking that she was still being treated like a child, but she just behaved and didn't say anything.

And Toru Ito walked out and stopped in the dense forest.

"You've been following us all the way, isn't it time to come out?"

"..."

The forest was extremely silent, without even the sound of insects.

The next moment, a mass of black matter gathered from the ground to form a human figure.

It’s Black Zetsu!

There was a hint of vigilance and confusion in his eyes.

"You can actually detect my presence?"

This has never happened before.

Black Zetsu uses Yin Dun, which has a different chakra structure from all current ninjutsu, so ordinary ninjas cannot detect his presence at all.

And now, Toru Ito actually noticed that he was being followed!

This made Black Zetsu feel a little alert.

This is the confidence that allows him to cause trouble in the ninja world without restraint. It is because he uses Yin Dun, and among all the known ninjas, no one can do anything to him.

"I didn't notice your presence, but the environment here seems abnormal no matter how you look at it. I didn't expect anyone else to come except you."

Ito Toru shrugged.

"Is that right?"

Black Zetsu stared at Ito Toru's face thoughtfully, but still couldn't tell anything from it.

"My time is limited, so if you have anything to say, you'd better say it quickly," Toru Ito reminded.

"Why did you ruin my good thing by taking that person away?"

Black Zetsu didn't waste any time and asked directly.

"I had clearly set up a dragnet, but you just let him get out like that."

"Does he affect your plans much?"

"I want to completely control the Hidden Cloud Village. He may not be able to affect my plan, but he will make my plan imperfect."

"I see. But he's still useful to me, so a little imperfection won't affect anything, right?"

Ito Toru shrugged slightly: "Besides, with or without him? Can't you control it?"

"..."

Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice: "I remember you mentioned before that you wanted to help that little guy improve his strength. Why don't you take care of the Byakugan issue, but instead snatch him from me?"

"That matter cannot be rushed."

Ito Toru glanced at him with a half-smile: "Besides, why are you in such a hurry to help him improve his strength?"

"..."

Black Zetsu was speechless.

"whatever."

The next moment, his figure merged into the ground and disappeared.

Toru Ito stood in place, and the sound of insects in the surrounding environment slowly recovered.

It's like unmuting.

"Complete control of the Hidden Cloud Village?"

He looked at the towering mountain in the distance, his eyes thoughtful.

……

Yunyin Village.

"Pay attention, pay attention!"

A burst of noise broke the tranquility of the Hidden Cloud Village.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

"Everyone, look over here!"

In that direction, dozens of Cloud Ninjas were parading around a wooden cross with rollers underneath.

There was a man in front beating drums and gongs and shouting at the same time.

"All villagers of the Hidden Cloud Village, come and see, this is what happens when you go against the Raikage!"

On the wooden cross, Kirabi, who was beaten badly and bleeding from his mouth and nose, had his head hanging limply and his body was tied to it tightly!

Even his sunglasses were broken and hung lazily on his face.

"Oh my God!"

Waves of exclamations rang out again and again.

"Isn't that Lord Kirabi?"

"How could he be like this?!"

The villagers gathered around, and even those who were fighting stopped fighting!

"Because he betrayed Raikage-sama!"

The ninja who was beating the drums and gongs in front looked indignant.

"Although Lord Raikage feels bad about this, he can only sacrifice his own family for the sake of justice and let everyone see that this is the fate of a traitor!"

"Even if he is my adopted brother! Our Raikage-sama will never tolerate him!"

"Oh my god... is he still alive?"

The villagers' eyes were full of worry.

Although this ninja's words were convincing, Kirabi still had a good reputation in the village.

So they didn't believe what this ninja said at all, they were just worried about Killer Bee's condition.

Looking at him dying, it's like he has lost half his life.

Many people felt compassion.

"Hey little brother, can we..."

Finally someone couldn't help but step forward.

"no!"

The ninja in front of him glared and said, "You sympathize with the traitorous ninja, do you want to be hung up there like him?"

"No no no! Absolutely not!"

This time no one dared to step forward.

Kirabi continued to be paraded around.

Because the distance was too far, the villagers who came to watch could not hear his mumbling.

"Run...run away..."