In the blink of an eye, it was the afternoon of the next day.
Sora was speeding through the mountain forests. The Eight Gates Released Formation had long been deactivated. He only maintained a relatively fast speed, desperately fleeing towards Konoha's direction.
As for the ashes of the four Iwa-nin, Sora had used his flight ability during the journey to find a hidden location to scatter them.
Sora's breathing was somewhat ragged now. His muscles also transmitted waves of tearing soreness.
'Opening the Gate of Pain three times in a row really takes its toll... Thankfully, the recovery power of the Azure Dragon Fruit is propping me up. Otherwise, I'd probably be paralyzed by now.'
Casually swallowing a few soldier pills, Sora gritted his teeth and persisted, while carefully sensing his surroundings.
His condition was extremely poor now. His chakra was bottoming out, and his stamina was massively depleted. If he encountered patrols from other ninja villages or rogue ninjas now, he would be in big trouble.
'If only I had a god-tier sensing ability like Karin's now, or even the Byakugan or Sharingan would do...'
Sora couldn't help but lament internally.
In the original work, Karin's super large-range precise sensing would simply be a divine skill at a time like this.
Also, the Byakugan's x-ray vision and telescopic vision, and the Sharingan's perceptive insight and ability to see through genjutsu, were all top-tier abilities for survival and combat.
In comparison, the night vision enhancement brought by the Azure Dragon Fruit was really of limited use during daytime travel like this.
'It's a shame. You can't choose multiple Devil Fruit abilities...'
Sora shook his head, dismissing these unrealistic thoughts, and focused on traveling.
He only wanted to return to Konoha, to a relatively safe place, as quickly as possible now.
The journey was nerve-wracking but ultimately uneventful. Perhaps because this area was already near the border of the Land of Fire, Konoha's patrols were intensified, making ninjas from other countries dare not approach easily.
Finally, as the sun set in the west, Sora saw from afar the towering walls of Konoha and the faintly visible Hokage Monument.
Sora stopped not far from Konoha's sensing barrier and looked at his arms and body.
The minor cuts and bruises from the earlier battle had already mostly healed under the powerful recovery of the Azure Dragon Fruit, without even leaving a scar.
'This recovery power is good, but it's a bit troublesome right now...'
Sora frowned.
His "perfectly fine" appearance did not look like someone who had experienced a fierce battle and desperately escaped back.
After all, he had "witnessed" the "fight to the death" between the Root and the Iwa-nin, and then "fled in panic".
Having not a single injury on his body was too hard to justify.
'Need to add some drama myself...'
Sora sighed. He was really making things difficult for himself.
He carefully checked his surroundings. After confirming no one was there, his right hand slightly dragonified, the fingertips becoming sharp.
Then, gritting his teeth, he made several not-too-deep but rather ferocious-looking cuts on his left arm, chest, and thigh.
Next, Sora took out a few shuriken and made several tears on his back.
Finally, he condensed a small mouthful of Dragon Breath, controlled the temperature, and singed the edges of his clothes and the remaining bandages, creating traces of being grazed by a fire release ninjutsu.
After doing all this, Sora was already grimacing in pain.
Although the recovery power of the Azure Dragon Fruit was already slowly healing the wounds, the psychological pressure of cutting oneself was still significant.
'That should be enough... Looks sufficiently miserable.'
Sora took a deep breath, mobilized his nearly depleted chakra again, and stumbled towards the Konoha gate, dragging his "battered and wounded" body.
"Halt! Who goes there?!"
The guard ninjas at the Konoha gate noticed him immediately and shouted loudly.
But when they saw the tattered Green Snake mask on his face and the Anbu uniform, their tone softened a bit.
"An Anbu person? What happened?"
Gasping for breath, Sora took off the mask and said in a hoarse voice,
"I am Green Snake from Anbu Team C Five. I have urgent intelligence... I must see the Hokage immediately!"
The guard who looked like Kotetsu recognized Sora. Seeing him in such a wretched state, he was shocked and did not dare to delay, immediately granting passage and sending someone to the Hokage Building to inform them.
Sora proceeded unimpeded all the way directly to the door of the Hokage's office.
Knocking and opening the door, Sarutobi Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk, brows slightly furrowed as if dealing with documents.
Seeing Sora enter covered in wounds and with a weak aura, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes, but he quickly returned to calmness.
"Sora? Weren't you out on a mission? How did you end up like this?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen put down the pen in his hand, his tone carrying a trace of concern.
Sora took a deep breath, forcing an expression mixing lingering fear and anger onto his face, and began to report the prepared account in his mind:
"Hokage-sama! The mission... the mission was a trap!"
"After I met the contact person codenamed 'Dandelion' in the Land of Grass valley, he suddenly launched a sneak attack on me! Using a highly skilled genjutsu at that!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand holding the pipe paused slightly, his gaze turning grave:
"Oh? 'Dandelion' attacked you? Continue."
"I barely broke the genjutsu and discovered three more masked ninjas suddenly appearing around me. They seemed somewhat like Anbu! They joined forces to surround and attack me, wanting to capture me alive!"
"I was forced to open the Fourth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation to counterattack. Only by pushing myself to severe injury did I barely manage to kill one of them in return..."
Sora said urgently, but he deliberately omitted the specific process, only emphasizing the opponents' identities and his own "ferocity".
As for why not mention "Root" — he had been in the Anbu for six months but had never once heard even a whisper about this department.
Moreover, Sora remembered in the original work, after Sarutobi Hiruzen's death, when Danzo, this "Root" leader, wanted to compete for the Hokage position, many present didn't even recognize him.
Clearly, "Root" was an existence more secretive and less known than the Anbu.
"Just as I was about to be unable to hold on, a team of Iwagakure ninjas suddenly appeared! They seemed to have come tracking 'Dandelion'! Both sides immediately erupted into battle!"
At this point, Sora timely showed a face of lingering fear:
"The battle was very intense. I took advantage of their melee, forcibly squeezed out my chakra, and opened the Gate of Pain again to barely escape by chance..."
Sora lowered his head, his voice low:
"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. The mission failed. The intelligence couldn't be brought back either..."
A brief silence fell in the office, only the slight crackling of tobacco burning in Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe.
Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly exhaled a smoke ring, looking at Sora with a profound gaze.
'Danzo... As expected, you couldn't resist making a move.' He sighed internally, a surge of anger and helplessness welling up.
The anger was because Danzo actually reached into the Anbu and used such underhanded means against a child, undoubtedly touching his bottom line.
The helplessness was because he understood Danzo's personality. For the so-called "village security," Danzo was capable of anything.
Moreover, the potential Sora displayed and his identity as an orphan from outside would indeed make Danzo feel "uneasy" and "desirous of control."
Even... deep in his own heart, Sarutobi Hiruzen might not have a shred of similar concern.
Only he was more inclined towards bonds and guidance, rather than the Root's forced brainwashing.
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