Chapter 52: Arriving at Konoha

Chapter 52 Return to Konoha
Naruto arranged everything at Sagi Mori's place. It had been more than two months, so it was time to go back and hand in the task to Danzo. Naruto returned to Konoha as an Anbu and went directly to Danzo's office in the Anbu to hand in the task to Danzo. Danzo was a little surprised to see Naruto, but Danzo's style had always been more calculating. He leaned on the cane in his hand, stood up and said, "Naruto, the news that the Daimyo of the Land of Earth was killed has spread throughout the Land of Earth. I also got the news a long time ago. You did a great job on this mission, and our deal is done."

Naruto said, "Don't you need me to explain the details of the mission?"

Danzo said: "No need, I don't think you will let me know all the details. You are not my subordinate. As long as you can achieve your goal, it's fine."

Naruto thought to himself, Danzo is indeed an old fox, he can guess other people's thoughts very well. Since he didn't have much to say to Danzo, Naruto left Danzo's office, changed into ANBU clothes, and went to see Tsunade.

Tsunade was in the office dealing with heavy work as Hokage. Naruto knocked on the door of the Hokage's office and it was Shizune who opened the door. Seeing Naruto, Shizune said, "Naruto, I haven't seen you for more than two months. What are you busy with?" Tsunade heard Shizune calling Naruto and said to Shizune, "You go out first. Naruto, you stay. I have something to ask you." Hearing Tsunade's serious voice, Shizune closed the door and went out. Naruto felt that Tsunade should know about the Land of Earth.

After Tsunade saw Shizune leave, she slammed the table and said, "Why didn't you accept this mission from Danzo without my consent? Do you know how dangerous this mission is? And if the identity of the Konoha ninja is exposed, Konoha and Iwagakure will go to war, and it may even be the Fourth Ninja World War. Have you considered all these things? Do you know how worried I was about you after I learned that you successfully assassinated the daimyo? It wasn't easy to escape from Iwagakure's wanted list. It took you so long to get back to Konoha."

Looking at Tsunade's expression, Naruto knew that Tsunade was very worried about Naruto's safety. Naruto knew that although Danzo could delegate tasks to the Anbu, the Hokage was the leader of the village and had the right to know. He just didn't expect Danzo to tell Tsunade so soon. So Naruto pretended to be calm and said to Tsunade with a smile: "I heard from Danzo that Iwagakure might be preparing a major operation against Konoha. Although negotiation is also a way to solve the problem, solving the problem fundamentally is the most advantageous way. Now the Land of Earth has fallen into a situation of internal turmoil and should not have the spare energy to deal with Konoha.

Tsunade slammed the table in front of her again, and the table broke in half. She shouted at Naruto, "Don't you realize the seriousness of the problem? Don't you take me seriously? I have already warned Danzo not to assign you any more tasks. Next, you should do some ordinary tasks and cultivate teamwork with the ninjas of your grade."

Naruto said, "Just assign me missions above A-rank. I don't have any motivation at all for those simple missions."

Tsunade said: "You have to know that you are just a Genin on the surface. If you don't perform some ordinary tasks, it will easily arouse suspicion." Without waiting for Naruto to speak, Tsunade directly called Shizune back to the office, and then summoned Hinata and Choji over.

Naruto hadn't seen Hinata for a long time. When she walked into the office, Naruto found that she was still so cute and gave Hinata a sunny smile. When Hinata saw Naruto in a white robe and his smile, she blushed and lowered her head shyly. Seeing her like this, Naruto took the initiative to run over and greet her. Hinata lowered her head even more, but Choji beside her also hurriedly greeted: "Naruto, I haven't seen you for a while."

Tsunade coughed, and the three of them looked at the broken desk at the same time. Shizune smiled awkwardly, and Tsunade pretended to be natural and explained the mission: "This time you will carry out an escort mission. Escort a caravan from the Land of Vegetables and ensure the safety of the caravan." Naruto was originally quite averse to this kind of escort mission, for fear of meeting some weird employer, but when he heard that it was a mission from the Land of Vegetables, he found it interesting. If nothing unexpected happened, he would meet some ninjas who thought they were very powerful. "With ninjas coming out to fight, and Hinata along, this mission shouldn't be too boring. The three of them took Tsunade's token, brought some necessities, and headed for the caravan. They soon found the caravan from Vegetable Country, but seeing the appearance of Naruto and the other two, these people were obviously a little defensive. Naruto said that he was a ninja from Konoha and introduced himself. Hinata and Choji also introduced themselves, and Hinata gave Tsunade's token. A little girl snatched the token from Hinata's hand, jumped onto the truck and opened it. Inside was actually clothes printed with Konoha Moving Center, and judging by the size, they were prepared for Naruto and the others.

A group of people laughed when they saw the clothes. It was obvious that Tsunade was playing a prank on Naruto and the others. After figuring out their identities, an uncle-like man began to introduce: "I am Kikusuke, the one next to me is Yuri Arata, and the little boy behind me is Shun." The little girl who had snatched the token from Hinata also introduced herself: "My name is Momiji." It was common for Konoha to send ninjas to take on missions. After a group of people got to know each other briefly, they set off for their destination, and Naruto and the other two had to help them carry things along the way.

However, as a man, Naruto would not let a little girl like Hinata do such a thing. He directly created several clones, which greatly improved the efficiency of moving things. The people in the caravan also felt magical, and the little girl named Hongye was even happier. Hinata knew that Naruto was taking care of her, and thanked Naruto in her heart, but she was shy and could not say anything particularly direct, and just blushed. After this little episode, the caravan continued to move forward. With the help of Naruto and Choji, the speed of travel was still acceptable.

However, by chance, Choji discovered that there was trouble. There was a tall column of smoke coming out of the faraway Vegetable Country, and it seemed that something was happening. Naruto also felt that someone was approaching the convoy, so he said to Choji: "In this situation, everyone's safety is more important. Tell everyone to be alert immediately. At the same time, we must not leave the convoy, which will help ensure everyone's safety."

Dingci thought for a moment and said, "Will this cause everyone to panic?"

Naruto said, "In order to ensure everyone's safety, it's better to panic a little than to be defenseless."

So according to Naruto's request, he told everyone the news. After hearing the news, everyone was indeed a little panicked, but since they were being targeted, they could only think of ways to deal with it actively. The one called Shun began to analyze the situation and proposed a method of dividing into two teams, with the elderly and children in one team to be protected by two people, and the others who walked fast in another team to be protected by one person, saying that this would help Naruto and the other two to distribute their strength reasonably. This plan seemed reasonable, but in fact it was to ensure his own safety, using the elderly and children as bait. Naruto would not expose him for the time being, and Choji and Hinata also thought the arrangement was reasonable.

So they were divided into two teams according to this plan.

(End of this chapter)