All three children's expressions changed. They couldn't help wondering whether someone in Kumogakure also carried a tailed beast inside them, and whether that person might suddenly turn into a monstrous creature like the Seven-Tails.
Seeing the fear on their faces, Chiba Shun said, "Jinchuriki are the village's heroes. They helped suppress the tailed beasts, turning them from enemies of the village into weapons that could be used against its foes."
The three children did not fully understand, but they still nodded.
Kakuzu's appearance thoroughly cooled the overconfidence that had been swelling inside Chiba Shun ever since his strength improved. He no longer dared move around openly as a ninja. Instead, he disguised himself as an ordinary traveler and mixed in with a caravan headed toward the central region of the Land of Grass.
According to the intelligence gathered by Kumogakure, a red-haired person had appeared somewhere near Kusagakure. Based on what he remembered from the original story, Chiba Shun guessed that this person was most likely an elder from Karin Uzumaki's line.
Still, Karin would not be born for a long time yet. Which meant that elder was probably still just a boy… or perhaps a girl.
Chiba Shun asked around near Kusagakure for a long time, but he still failed to uncover any trace of that person. Left with no other choice, he decided to contact the intelligence ninja Kumogakure had planted in the Land of Grass.
Although Kumogakure was one of the Five Great Villages, its ninja academy had only been founded recently, and its manpower remained limited. The Land of Grass was a small country, far from home and with no tailed beast worth fixating on. Because of that, Kumogakure had not sent many people there.
Chiba Shun only knew the identity of one intelligence ninja, and the information about Uzumaki Maki had also been passed back through that person.
Using the code and contact method given to him by the Third Raikage, Chiba Shun found a merchant who frequently did business with Kusagakure. After confirming each other's identities through gestures and code phrases, he asked, "Have you heard anything about Kakuzu, the S-rank missing-nin from Takigakure?"
At that, the intelligence ninja gave him a strange look. Then he said, "I heard Kakuzu fought a major battle against Takigakure's Jinchuriki. The Jinchuriki was badly wounded. It will probably be a long time before Takigakure can replace him."
Chiba Shun had not heard this before. Interest flared in him at once, and he asked, "Takigakure actually dared to entrust the village's future to Konoha?"
The intelligence ninja shook his head. "Perhaps Kakuzu killed too many of them. Their losses were severe."
Chiba Shun nodded, then asked again, "Does Kakuzu ever come to Kusagakure?"
The intelligence ninja replied, "Lord Shun, you can rest assured. There is no such information."
Chiba Shun felt a little embarrassed. The other man clearly knew there was a ten-million-ryo bounty on his head in the underground market, and had probably already guessed that Kakuzu had taken an interest in it.
After that, the intelligence ninja finally gave him precise information about the Uzumaki orphan.
Just as Chiba Shun was about to leave, a thought struck him. He hesitated briefly, then asked, "By the way, have you ever heard of someone named Shennong? On the surface, he works as a physician."
The intelligence ninja frowned, thinking. A moment later, he said, "I haven't heard of him. Do you want us to investigate?"
Chiba Shun waved his hand at once. "No, no. I don't have the authority to assign you work, senpai."
That intelligence ninja was only a Chunin, but he belonged to the intelligence branch. Chiba Shun only had the authority to seek help, not to give orders.
After parting ways with him, Chiba Shun located the Uzumaki woman.
She was being imprisoned by a grass ninja.
It was obvious that the man was either treating her like a human blood bag, or coveting the Uzumaki bloodline and planning to force her to bear children. When Chiba Shun found the place, the grass ninja was not home. He was likely still inside Kusagakure.
At present, the only person who knew of this Uzumaki orphan's special constitution was probably that one grass ninja.
Chiba Shun had no intention of simply taking the woman and fleeing. That grass ninja had to die.
Otherwise, the other party might call on other grass ninja to pursue them. He was traveling with three children. There was no way he could outrun a proper pursuit.
After settling the children in a safe place, Chiba Shun remained alone near the grass ninja's house. He waited through the entire night. Only at dawn did the man finally return.
The grass ninja carried food in his hands and moved cautiously toward his house. Just as he was about to enter the range of the trap Chiba Shun had laid down, he suddenly stopped.
He dropped the food and immediately drew his weapon.
Seeing that, Chiba Shun no longer hid. He charged out of his hiding place.
So what if he'd been discovered? This was the other man's turf. It was only natural for him to spot something strange.
Once exposed, all that remained was to kill him.
Chiba Shun opened with an A-rank jutsu without hesitation.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
This grass ninja was also a Jonin. Otherwise, he would never have noticed Chiba Shun lying in wait.
The moment he saw Chiba Shun flashing through hand seals, he sensed danger. Instead of closing the distance, he tried to pull away.
But he had not expected Chiba Shun's hand seals to be so fast, nor had he expected such a wide-range jutsu to be used right from the start.
He failed to escape the reach of the Swamp of the Underworld. His feet sank in almost instantly.
At that point, he no longer thought about fighting back. His first instinct was to call for help.
He pulled out a scroll, intending to launch a signal flare into the sky.
Naturally, Chiba Shun did not allow that.
"Earth Release: Earth Dome Wall!"
A far larger earth-style wall than usual rose up and completely enclosed the grass ninja. Through the thick earthen shell, Chiba Shun heard a dull boom followed by a scream.
Clearly, the man's signal flare had been intercepted inside the confined space and blown up in his own face.
Rather than stupidly dismantling the wall, Chiba Shun directly thrust several earthen spears through it.
Once he was done, he checked again with his sensory jutsu. Only after confirming that the other man had stopped breathing did he turn and enter the house to rescue the bound woman.
She was older than Chiba Shun had expected, likely close to twenty, and looked incredibly frail.
He could not tell whether this meant she had given birth to Karin unusually late, or whether this woman was not Karin's mother at all.
But there was no time to worry about that now.
There was no doubt she was from the Uzumaki clan. Her red hair was far too distinctive.
Chiba Shun grabbed her and ran toward the place where the three children were waiting.
The woman remained dazed for a while after being rescued. Sudden freedom had left her completely at a loss.
Even though she belonged to the Uzumaki clan, she barely had any chakra left. She probably did not even measure up to a Genin anymore.
After she had been running beside him for quite some time, she finally remembered to ask, "Who are you?"
Chiba Shun did not have time to explain. Who knew whether anyone in Kusagakure had heard the commotion? If pursuers came now, things would get ugly fast.
He simply said, "I'm here to save you. We'll talk later."
The woman stopped asking questions. While running, she forcibly extracted some chakra to increase her speed.
That surprised Chiba Shun.
It seemed she had once been much stronger. She was only this weak because she had been drained dry over a long period of time.
Or perhaps that grass Jonin had deliberately kept her underfed so she would never recover enough to gather chakra.
Together, they reached the place where the three children were hiding, and the group of five quickly fled from the vicinity of Kusagakure.
Fortunately, no one chased them. Most likely, the grass Jonin's death had not yet been discovered.
Several days later, the five of them arrived at the small town where they had rested before. Chiba Shun had already instructed the Uzumaki woman to cover her hair.
Watching her devour food like a starving beast, Chiba Shun, who had wanted to question her immediately, could only give up for the time being.
The three little ones ate too, but they kept sneaking glances at her, their eyes full of curiosity.
They had never imagined anyone could eat so much.
Chiba Shun himself already had a monstrous appetite. When his training was at its most intense, he could put away ten servings of grilled meat in one sitting.
Yet this woman ate at least five times that amount.
And every dish Chiba Shun ordered was the kind of high-energy food that could quickly restore a ninja's stamina and chakra. Each serving cost a full hundred ryo.
Which meant that in a single meal, she devoured five thousand ryo of his money.
And she ate at least five meals a day.
Chiba Shun had originally wanted to remind her not to stuff herself to the point of getting sick, but when he remembered that she was from the Uzumaki clan, he gave up.
There was probably no need.
The five of them rested there for a full five days.
Every day, the woman ate and ate, then ate some more. Once she was done, she ignored Chiba Shun completely and went straight back to her room to sleep.
In just five days, Chiba Shun had spent around one hundred and fifty thousand ryo.
Watching his wallet shrink day after day made his heart ache.
He could not help grumbling inwardly. After the Warring States period ended, all the major ninja clans grouped together to found ninja villages. Only the Uzumaki clan established a village entirely on its own.
Was it because the Uzumaki clan ate too much, and no one else wanted to partner with them?
Fortunately, the woman did not ignore him forever.
On the fifth day, she finally spoke.
"My name is Uzumaki Maki. Which of the great ninja villages are you from?"
Just as Chiba Shun was about to answer, Uzumaki Maki continued on her own.
"After leaving Kusagakure, you didn't go south or west. That means you're not from Konoha or Sunagakure."
"So you're either from Iwagakure or Kumogakure."
"Judging from your appearance, you should be a cloud ninja. But your chakra nature is earth, which also makes you seem like an Iwa ninja."
"It's hard to tell."
Chiba Shun narrowed his eyes.
This Uzumaki Maki was no fool.
She clearly was not someone simple and impulsive like Kushina Uzumaki… let alone Naruto.
Chiba Shun said, "I'm a ninja from Kumogakure. I came here specifically to find you. I'd like to invite you to join Kumogakure."
Uzumaki Maki looked surprised. "A cloud ninja who's skilled in Earth Release?"
Then she let out a cold laugh. "Kumo ninja? Uzushiogakure was destroyed because of people like you."
Chiba Shun replied, "There's no meaning in dwelling on old grudges."
"If we're talking about the Second Shinobi World War, then it was your Uzushiogakure that chose to help Konoha first. Many of our cloud ninja died at your hands."
"Most importantly, if you hadn't intervened, Konoha might have already fallen."
"Uzushiogakure ruined the four great ninja villages' best chance to crush Konoha."
"And if we go back even further, it becomes even more meaningless. During the Warring States period, the clans all slaughtered one another. At that point, right and wrong, grudge and resentment—none of it can be cleanly separated."