Forest
"Hey!!! Pervy Sage!!! There's no way anyone can learn it with just those two lines!!! You're tricking me, aren't you!!!" Naruto jumped up and down, yelling at Jiraiya.
"It's clearly because you're stupid!!! It's just those two lines!!!" Jiraiya yelled back at Naruto.
The Rasengan, as Jiraiya said, was all about practice. The method was just those two lines. So, after listening, Sakura quietly tried it herself.
"Is this it?" Sakura asked Jiraiya, holding a blue sphere of chakra in her hand.
"...Huh? Yes, that's it..." Jiraiya looked at the Rasengan in Sakura's hand. He wasn't too surprised; the better someone's chakra control, the easier this jutsu was. He'd expected Sakura to grasp it quickly, but this was a bit of a blow to Naruto's confidence.
"Sakura-chan... how did you do that? Teach me..." Naruto wasn't discouraged; instead, he clung to Sakura, asking her for tips. If it were Sasuke, he'd probably be really disheartened.
"Just like Jiraiya-sama said. Didn't he teach you?" Sakura smiled slightly at Naruto.
"....."
"Hahaha... Naruto, you need to practice hard. I didn't lie to you, did I?" Jiraiya gave Sakura a thumbs-up.
"Damn it..." Naruto extended a hand, trying hard to control his chakra to form the sphere, but he only managed to create a gust of wind.
"Oh...?" Jiraiya saw the wind generated by Naruto's hand and smiled with relief. It seemed he wasn't completely hopeless.
"Um, Jiraiya-sama, shouldn't we get going? I'm starving..." Sakura's stomach grumbled, protesting loudly.
"Haha, let's go. Naruto, you can practice while we walk. This isn't something you can learn in a day or two. The Fourth Hokage spent three years developing this jutsu," Jiraiya reassured Naruto.
But this reassurance didn't seem to have much effect; Naruto just pointed at Sakura, tears welling up in his eyes.
"No," Jiraiya shook his head, not joking this time. "Sakura has also trained hard for many years to learn this."
"Don't try to fool me, Pervy Sage! I clearly saw Sakura learn it in an instant!" Naruto yelled, jumping up when he heard Jiraiya blatantly lying.
"Jiraiya-sama isn't lying to you, Naruto," Sakura turned her head and said, hearing their conversation.
Naruto was completely bewildered, hearing even Sakura herself say this.
"I may have just encountered this ninjutsu today, but I've been diligently practicing my chakra fundamentals for many years," Sakura explained.
"What do you mean?" Naruto was confused.
"It means that as long as Sakura has the instructions for a ninjutsu, she can learn any jutsu very quickly," Jiraiya sighed, speaking from the side.
Jiraiya had learned a lot about Sakura from the Third Hokage and from the Chunin Exams. This girl had utilized her talent to the fullest, wasting nothing. Coming from a clan without a special inheritance, she'd managed to follow the correct path of training every step of the way. She was truly a prodigy.
With Tsunade's guidance, surpassing Tsunade in the future wasn't impossible. Tsunade had really struck gold.
Naruto was stunned by Jiraiya's words. He knew Sakura was a genius, but he hadn't realized she was this much of a genius. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.
"Don't be discouraged, Naruto. I don't think you're any less talented than Sakura. You have your own strengths..." Jiraiya comforted Naruto, seeing his dejected expression.
"Then, what are my strengths, Pervy Sage?!" Naruto's eyes lit up, and he chased after Jiraiya, asking.
"Uh... your strengths... um... let me think... hmm... your strengths..." Jiraiya thought for a moment, scratching his head awkwardly, stammering for a long time without saying anything...
"What are they...? What are they...?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya with anticipation.
"Haha, let's get going. We should find a place to eat a good meal. It's on me..." Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, quickly changing the subject.
"Damn it, Pervy Sage, you were just trying to comfort me!" Naruto finally realized what was going on. "I won't give up! I'll definitely master this jutsu, just you watch, Pervy Sage!"
With that, Naruto ran ahead.
Watching Naruto's back, Jiraiya paused for a moment before saying with relief, "Your strength is that you never give up on what you set your mind to." But Naruto was already out of earshot.
"Hey, Pervy Sage, Sakura-chan~~~~~ Hurry up~~~~~~" Naruto's voice drifted back from the distance.
The Sand ninja ambassadors had reached the most intense point of their negotiations with Danzo.
"Danzo-sama, the price you're asking is equivalent to the Sand Village's revenue for the next ten years. Isn't that a bit too high?"
The Sand delegation hadn't expected Konoha's price to be dozens of times higher than what Elder Chiyo had proposed. Furthermore, the Hokage wasn't present at the negotiations; instead, it was Danzo, the so-called Shadow of the Ninja World.
Facing this man, who had been famous in the ninja world for many years, Baki felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Elder Chiyo had sent Baki as the team leader partly to play the sympathy card, hoping to move the Hokage and prevent him from being too greedy in the matter of compensation.
But he hadn't expected the Hokage to completely abstain from the negotiations, leaving it to Danzo. This man wasn't like the Third Hokage; it seemed they'd truly angered Konoha.
"This incident was caused by the Sand Village breaking the alliance first. If you want to negotiate peace, you need to show the proper attitude. Konoha isn't a pushover," Danzo said calmly.
"But the greatest losses in this incident were suffered by our Sand Village. We lost the Fourth Kazekage," Baki argued.
"Hmph, overestimating your abilities and trying to scheme with a tiger. In my opinion, you got what you deserved!" Danzo remained unmoved, throwing a sarcastic jab at the Sand Village.
"Damn it, don't push us too far! Are you trying to provoke a war, Konoha?!" Satetsu couldn't hold back his anger at Danzo's mocking words and slammed his fist on the table.
"War? That's fine too. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's insistence on negotiating, we'd already be meeting on the battlefield! In my opinion, war is the only way to resolve this," Danzo wasn't intimidated by such threats.
He stood up and said to his two guards, "Let's go."
"I'm very sorry, Danzo-sama. We didn't mean it that way. War is something neither side wants. Please allow us to discuss this further," Baki immediately stood up, seeing that the negotiations were about to collapse.
Danzo, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped. He turned his head slightly to look at Baki and asked, "Is Chiyo in charge of the Sand Village now?"
"Yes," Baki replied.
"Give this to Chiyo," Danzo said, producing a scroll.
"What is this?" Baki went forward and took the scroll.
"My answer is written on this scroll. It's a one-time-use scroll. Give it to your Elder Chiyo, and she'll understand. Don't keep me waiting too long!" Danzo said, then walked out.
After Danzo left, only the Sand delegation remained in the room.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Otome asked.
Baki looked at the scroll in his hand, thought for a moment, and gritted his teeth.
"Return to the village!!!"
There was no point in staying here. Danzo clearly didn't want to negotiate, and the Hokage wasn't showing up. Judging from the scroll Danzo had produced, this was no longer something they could decide.
Baki's group rushed back to the Sand Village overnight. It was almost dawn, but Elder Chiyo and her brother were still in the Kazekage's office, dealing with the problems left behind by the previous Kazekage.
Knock, knock, knock
"Come in," Elder Chiyo said, putting down the scroll in her hand.
Baki pushed open the door and entered.
"It's Baki... You're back so soon. Did Konoha agree?" Elder Chiyo asked with a hint of anticipation.
"The Hokage of Konoha did not participate in the negotiations. Only Danzo was involved. He asked me to hand over this scroll to you," Baki said, presenting the scroll Danzo had given him.
"I see. You may go," Chiyo said, taking the scroll.
"Yes," Baki replied and left the room.
This is... a genjutsu scroll, Chiyo judged, looking at the scroll's appearance.
"Hehe, truly the Shadow of the Ninja World, he leaves no loose ends," Ebizo said from the side. "If I'm not mistaken, this scroll will self-destruct after it's opened, right?"
Chiyo's heart had already sunk to the bottom. Since Danzo was using this method to communicate, it definitely wasn't good news. She shook her head and opened the scroll. She didn't resist the genjutsu sealed within, and Chiyo was instantly caught in it.
The genjutsu displayed only a few lines of text, then disappeared. The genjutsu was dispelled, and the scroll in Chiyo's hand turned to dust.
But Chiyo's brow was furrowed, and she remained silent. Ebizo saw this and asked, "Sister, what did the scroll say?"
Chiyo finally spoke, "Truly worthy of being called the Shadow of the Ninja World. He played a hand of 'borrowing a knife to kill someone'. He wants us to assassinate Tsunade. If we do, he'll agree to the price we offered and even provide us with some supplies."
Although it wasn't stated what would happen if they refused, given Danzo's personality, the consequences probably wouldn't be good. Danzo was taking advantage of the fact that the Sand Village was currently leaderless and lacking capable individuals, essentially blackmailing them.
"Hmm? Why would he do that? If I remember correctly, Tsunade hasn't defected, has she?" Ebizo was greatly puzzled.
"I don't know. That's what I'm wondering about too," Chiyo said.
"Then what do we do? Sister, are we really going to assassinate Tsunade?" Ebizo asked.
"There must be a reason behind this. We'll agree to his conditions, but we won't do it ourselves. Otherwise, it goes against our original intentions," Chiyo said. "What a brilliant Danzo, what a brilliant, undeniable scheme. He's borrowing our knife to kill someone. Even if it's exposed, it can't be traced back to him. If we ally with Konoha, he can use this to threaten us. If we become enemies with Konoha, Konoha is even less likely to believe the words of an enemy."
Not a single shred of evidence remained. The scroll had turned to dust. No matter what, Danzo was the beneficiary. The Sand Village couldn't send their own people to do this. If they did, and it was exposed, the blame would fall squarely on the Sand Village.
"We need to choose the Fifth Kazekage as soon as possible," Chiyo finally said.
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