Chapter 227:
"Sasuke, where's Sarada?"
Seeing Sasuke suddenly appear, Sakura's face lit up with joy as she spoke, but she also looked puzzled that Sarada hadn't returned with him.
With a grave expression on his face, Sasuke stared intently at the Sakura in front of him, then said in a cold tone, "Ah, Sarada and I are heading out of the village for a mission soon, so there's no need to prepare dinner."
Of course, there was no real urgency about leaving the village; they could've easily eaten before departing. What Sasuke was really wary of was the possibility that this Sakura in front of him was an imposter who might try to poison the food.
Ever since learning that a majority of the villagers might have already been replaced, Sasuke had felt uneasy just walking through the village. He constantly sensed the eyes of Konoha residents watching him with ill intent.
"Huh? What kind of mission is so urgent..."
Sakura just sounded a little disappointed.
"Well then, I'm heading out."
Sasuke turned and left.
At the gates of Konoha Village.
"Naruto, be careful."
Sasuke spoke to Naruto in a solemn tone. He knew full well that Naruto was someone with a soft heart. If the imposters took the form of people Naruto knew, he wouldn't be able to go all-out in a fight.
"Don't worry, Sasuke," Naruto replied while glancing at the four people behind Sasuke. "That goes for you all too—this mission is S-rank. Even though Sasuke is leading it, you must all be careful."
"Lord Hokage..."
Sarada looked toward Naruto with concern on her face. Even though they were just kids, none of them were naive. They all understood the dire situation Konoha was in. This mission could very well determine the village's future.
"Don't worry, Seventh Hokage."
Shinki nodded to Naruto as he spoke.
"Alright then, I'm counting on you all. But don't push yourselves too hard," Naruto said with narrowed eyes to the four children before turning to Sasuke with a serious expression. "I'll leave it to you, Sasuke."
"Yeah, I got it."
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Sasuke quietly led the four children out of Konoha Village.
Elsewhere.
In the temporary base of the clone Gray Wolf in charge of the liquid robot infiltration plan targeting Konoha—
"Hm?" As the clone Gray Wolf was simmering lamb soup, he heard the sound of a scientific ninja tool on the table. He wiped his hands and walked over. "So that's it… Looks like the Hokage of Konoha has caught on..."
"Gray Wolf, something happen?"
A figure resembling Red Wolf—actually Jiraiya—walked in. His expression was quite complicated.
"Oh, honey, you're out of the bedroom?"
The clone Gray Wolf fawned over Jiraiya, rushing to support him over to the couch and fanning him with a hand fan.
"Ah..." Of course, Jiraiya couldn't say that he hadn't been resting in the bedroom at all, but had actually been using Toad Summoning techniques to relay intelligence to Minato and Kushina. After mumbling vaguely for a moment, he glanced at the flashing scientific ninja tool on the table and said, "It's that thing—it's been making noise and disturbing my rest."
This lifestyle reminded him of his days back at the Wolf Castle on Green Grasslands, when he used to treat Red Wolf the same way.
The memories imprinted in the clone Gray Wolf's genes were influencing him.
In truth, Jiraiya was only putting up with all this to extract as much intel as possible.
After all, he had once been one of the Legendary Sannin, a man who had infiltrated the Rain Village—then under Akatsuki's control—alone. While he could be unserious at times, Jiraiya had ample experience in espionage and subterfuge. With just a few tricks, he had already gleaned information about the clone Gray Wolf's recovered memories and the existence of the Green Grasslands.
To continue gathering intel, Jiraiya had no choice but to pretend he'd regained some of his own memories too. Fortunately, the clone Gray Wolf hadn't done anything too extreme—at least not yet.
Thinking about that, Jiraiya subconsciously shuddered.
"Don't worry, honey. I'll modify the device later and turn the volume down. Oh, are you cold? Want me to get you a blanket?"
The clone Gray Wolf said this while fanning Jiraiya affectionately.
"No need. But, was some intel transmitted just now?"
"Yeah, nothing major. The Hokage of Konoha has returned to the village and found out about the liquid robot infiltration. He also sent Sasuke and four kids out of the village. We don't know exactly why, but as long as we stop those five, everything'll be fine."
The clone Gray Wolf said this while massaging Jiraiya's shoulders.
"Hmm... I see..."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and nodded, letting out a relaxed sigh. Strangely enough, having his shoulders massaged by the clone Gray Wolf gave him an unexpected sense of home.
"...Wait, something's off!"
Jiraiya suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Hm? What's wrong, honey? Did my massage technique get worse?"
Gray Wolf tilted his head and asked in confusion.
"No, I mean..." Jiraiya stopped mid-sentence and sniffed the air. Ever since getting Red Wolf's body, his sense of smell had grown sharper—especially for lamb. "What's that smell?"
The clone Gray Wolf sniffed as well, furrowing his brows in thought—then suddenly cried out, "My lamb soup!"
He rushed off in a panic.
Since coming to this world, the clone Gray Wolf had been enjoying a life with lamb in every meal. Now that Red Wolf had "regained memories," he felt like he could happily stay here forever. He just needed to prove to S.H.I.E.L.D. that he was stronger than the one who looked exactly like him but went by the name Orochimaru.
As he watched Gray Wolf joyfully humming while adding water to the pot, Jiraiya quietly formed a hand seal and synced his vision with an outside surveillance toad.
"Ribbit ribbit..."
Outside, Minato heard the frog in his arms croak and suddenly halted, pulling out the communication toad.
The little frog leapt from Minato's palm to the ground and began writing something.
"What is it, Minato?"
Seeing him stop, Kushina turned back to ask.
"Kushina, it's intel from Master Jiraiya..."
As he read the frog's writing on the ground, a grave expression spread across Minato's face.