After the two of them were silent for a while, the impatient Delta couldn't hold back anymore.
"I don't care anymore. I'm going in first to take a look. If it works, I'll just grab the vessel and leave!"
As Delta's words fell, everything below her calves split in two, and flames sprayed out from the split!
"Hiss!!"
Riding that upward thrust, Delta hovered in midair!
Kashin Koji pressed his forehead: "Do you have any idea that Konoha has a chakra sensing system?"
"Your chakra isn't registered in their system. The moment you go in, you'll be detected. Before you even reach Konoha's main gate, dozens of chakra cannons will blast you out of the sky! ┐(´-｀)┌"
Hovering in the air, Delta looked completely annoyed. "Then tell me what I'm supposed to do!"
Koji: "You wait outside for me. I'll go in and scout things out… if it looks good, I'll call you in."
Delta: "Didn't you just say Konoha has a unique chakra sensing system? Why can you—"
Before Delta could finish asking, Kashin Koji's body had already disappeared!
Delta: "That jerk! (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"
...
Hokage's office.
While thinking about how to realize his dream of snacks, Shinju's expression changed. He frowned and muttered, "Jiraiya-sensei's chakra…"
Shikamaru, working beside him, looked up. "What is it?"
Shinju shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that Jiraiya-sensei told me two days ago he was going to travel for a while, but now I'm sensing his chakra in the village again…"
Shikamaru didn't take it seriously at all.
"Maybe he just happened to swing by to look around."
...
Elsewhere, after entering Konoha, Kashin Koji searched all over the village but still didn't see any sign of the vessel.
Limited by the environment, he didn't dare use any other chakra tech and could only search slowly.
...
Outside Konoha, Delta angrily punched a tree!
With a "Bang!", a towering tree was smashed cleanly in half by her punch!
"What the hell is that guy Koji doing? He left without saying a word and just dumped me here to wait! (′д｀σ)σ"
"A man with zero sense of responsibility!"
Just like that, another ten-plus minutes passed!
Delta's expression visibly twisted!
"No, I seriously can't hold back anymore!" Delta muttered, then bent down. Because she was wearing a backless outfit, her fair, smooth back was completely exposed.
The next moment—
From her back came a high-frequency vibrating sound!
Right after that, "Whoosh!"—a purple-red triangular drone flew out of her back!
Delta grinned, pleased with her own genius.
"Konoha's detection system can only sense chakra. But my drone doesn't have chakra in it at all. Once it finds the vessel, I'll head over! ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )"
With that, sharing the drone's vision, Delta controlled it to fly over Konoha at high altitude, overlooking the entire village!
Very quickly, from its vantage point, the drone spotted Shinju and Ichiyo training somewhere outside Konoha!
Seeing this, Delta was thrilled. "Finally found them! ୧⍢⃝୨"
"Those two idiots aren't even inside Konoha—perfect chance for me to make a move!"
...
Outskirts.
"Bang!"
In his Kāma state, Ichiyo was once again punched flying by Shinju's clone!
Ichiyo scrambled up, waving his hands. "No more, no more, I can't take it!"
"At this rate, the Kāma's power won't awaken—I'll drop dead first… (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
Across from him, Shinju smiled. "It's fine. My medical ninjutsu is decent. I can heal your injuries right away…"
Saying that, Shinju was about to treat Ichiyo, but Ichiyo hurriedly waved his hands.
"No need to rush that much—how about we rest a bit first? ㅍ_ㅍ"
Shinju nodded.
Just like that, the two of them casually sat down on the ground.
In the silence, Shinju asked, "Was life really rough back when you were in Kara?"
Ichiyo looked up at the sky, eyes complicated.
"I wouldn't say rough. It's just… there was no sense of belonging. I couldn't stand the way they looked at me—like I was an object. Like I was something they could throw away whenever they wanted. So before they threw me away, I ran off on my own…"
Shinju nodded at that.
He had already seen all of this in Ichiyo's memories long ago.
Asking out loud was just to find a topic—letting the kid feel that people in Konoha were far better than those in Kara…
Next to him, seeing Shinju fall silent, Ichiyo took the initiative to look for a topic.
"So… why does everyone in the village worship the Hokage?"
Shinju thought for a moment, then answered, "Because the Hokage is the one who leads the whole village—the one who protects everyone in it…"
Before he could finish explaining, Shinju, who was looking up at something in the sky, suddenly had his pupils shake. (≖╻≖;)
"Why is there a human-shaped giant bird up there?!"
No sooner had he spoken than that human-shaped bird suddenly accelerated!
"Hiss—!!"
In just a few seconds, that dark mass rushed to hover over Shinju and Ichiyo!
Seeing its shape clearly, Shinju froze!
"(⊙o⊙)"
"I recognize you. You're the Sixth Hokage of Konoha!"
Looking down from above, Delta stared at Shinju arrogantly.
"I'm officially notifying you now—I'm taking the vessel beside you!"
With that—
"Hiss—!!"
The thrusters under Delta's feet flared, and she shot straight toward Shinju, ready to snatch Ichiyo!
But there was no way Shinju would just let her have her way!
"Whoosh!"
With a sweep of his hand, he instantly formed a forty-meter-long chakra greatsword, cleaving across Delta's path!
Rushing forward, Delta saw the massive chakra blade appear, yet her expression didn't flinch at all!
The next moment, she lightly blinked her right eye—and Shinju's chakra greatsword shrank by half!
With the obstruction gone, Delta lunged straight for Ichiyo!
Just as she was about to succeed, Shinju flew in and kicked her square in the chest!
"Boom!!!"
Delta's body turned into a cannonball, blasting through dozens of trees and tumbling backward for hundreds of meters!
On the other side, saved by Shinju, Ichiyo said, "Careful—she's Delta from Kara, and she's a cyborg…"
Shinju stepped forward to stand in front of Ichiyo.
"I know. I didn't expect she'd also have chakra-absorption abilities."
Frowning, Ichiyo asked, "The Inner members of Kara are all really strong. Do you need my help?"
Shinju waved a hand. "No problem. I'll play with her for a bit—good chance to see what other hidden tech Kara is packing. ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )"
Just as he finished speaking, a brilliant purple light reflected in Shinju's pupils!
"Buzz—!!"
Two purple lasers skimmed past Shinju's face!
----------------
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