"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 194: You're Too Soft, Feng Bai
Although Feng Bai was allowed through, all the Root members behind him were stopped. Only Asuma and Yamato could follow Feng Bai to stand before Jiraiya.
"Asuma, why haven't you gone home yet?"
Seeing Asuma's figure, Jiraiya felt a massive headache coming on.
His teacher had indeed been dedicated and thorough in educating his disciples, but when it came to family matters, it really wasn't worth praising.
"Go home? You people want to destroy the Root that sensei painstakingly built—how could I possibly be in the mood to go home!"
Seeing this peeping tom leading ANBU to raid Root, Asuma was furious, his tone extremely agitated.
"What do you mean destroy? The Fourth Hokage sent us to reorganize Root. Actually, it won't even be called Root anymore—just the ANBU Training Division."
Jiraiya casually brushed the matter aside.
"I see, I understand now."
Feng Bai nodded, raising his hand to stop Asuma from continuing to argue.
Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the irrational Asuma, Feng Bai was clearly more reasonable.
As long as he didn't openly oppose this, even if the Root members were dissatisfied, they wouldn't take any substantial action.
Just as Jiraiya had imagined, seeing Feng Bai tacitly accept their actions, the Root members in the distance all suppressed their dissatisfaction and silently stood aside, no longer making any moves.
But this infuriated Asuma.
"You're too soft, Feng Bai!"
Angrily swatting away Feng Bai's restraining hand, Asuma distanced himself from him, his fury no longer containable.
Jiraiya felt mentally exhausted. Fine, Asuma was indeed a problem.
"Asuma!"
Just as Jiraiya was worrying about how to escort this dissatisfied young master home, an angry shout instantly drew everyone's attention.
Hearing the voice, Jiraiya's face lit up with joy as he inwardly sighed with relief.
Finally, someone who could control this young master.
The speaker was Sarutobi Hiruzen in full battle gear, with Danzo following behind him, his outer garment clearly damaged.
Though the two were dressed differently, both had varying degrees of swelling on their faces.
"Reorganizing the ANBU Training Division is an order from the higher-ups. Asuma, you're just a jōnin—you have no right to interfere here!"
Hiruzen's words were full of authority, but they failed to intimidate Asuma.
"Konoha belongs to everyone. Everyone has the right to challenge unreasonable orders!"
Asuma stiffened his neck, arguing with his father.
"Enough, Asuma! You're a shinobi—a shinobi's duty is to obey orders!"
Hiruzen's voice rose several octaves, and the pressure unique to a ninja of his level burst forth from his body.
Such powerful pressure.
Even though he wasn't the target, Feng Bai still felt intense oppression.
Even so, Asuma showed no signs of submission, struggling to straighten his body to face his father directly.
"Enough, Asuma. Obey the order."
Danzo, feeling his face hurt less, spoke up in time, stopping this father-son confrontation.
"Sensei..."
Hearing Danzo's voice, Asuma finally gave up resistance. His once-proud head drooped, unwilling to believe that all this was actually happening.
"Such a rotten Konoha isn't worth staying in!"
After a long silence with his head down, Asuma spoke through gritted teeth, no longer wanting to remain in Konoha.
"Asuma..."
Feng Bai hurried forward, grabbing his hand.
But Asuma remained unmoved, only giving his friend a cold glance before forcefully pulling his hand free and leaving the Root base without looking back.
When passing Hiruzen, the father and son didn't even exchange glances, like complete strangers.
"You can go handle your own business. I'll keep watch here."
Danzo "considerately" whispered.
"No need. He'll understand someday."
Hiruzen had no intention of moving, not even turning around.
"Speaking of which, your Wind Release mastery has declined compared to before. I suppose age is catching up?"
Touching the wound on his face, Hiruzen, with his back to Danzo, questioned his old friend's abilities.
"Hmph, as if your Fire Release hasn't regressed."
Seeing Hiruzen unwilling to continue the topic, Danzo tactfully picked up the conversation.
Though their confrontation ended in a draw, Danzo hadn't fought with full strength, and Hiruzen hadn't summoned Enma.
Rather than calling it a fight, it was more accurate to describe it as a brawl.
It seemed everything was perfectly resolved. Since his old man could appear here, it proved Sakumo hadn't been ruthless, so he didn't need to worry about being purged and could go back to his bath.
Feng Bai didn't want to get involved in these matters anymore. Seeing both Danzo and Hiruzen present, his anxious heart finally settled. As for Asuma, he'd have to try persuading him tomorrow.
With this thought, Feng Bai took Yamato's hand again, preparing to take him home.
"Oh right, Feng Bai, the Hokage has a mission for you."
"Huh?"
...
According to Shikaku's thinking, the shinobi accompanying him to Hidden Grass Village must have powerful strength and a resounding reputation to maximally intimidate the Grass shinobi and prevent them from acting rashly.
This would also lay a good foundation for subsequent negotiations.
Sakumo's first thought was to send one of the Sannin.
However, Orochimaru was absorbed in research affairs, Tsunade was supervising reconstruction at the Medical Corps headquarters, and Jiraiya—
Well, Jiraiya already had too much on his plate and couldn't spare the time.
With the Sannin unavailable, those who met the criteria seemed to be only Feng Bai and Minato.
The Yellow Flash and the White Reaper—hmm, the White Reaper's reputation was more intimidating.
And so, Feng Bai, having fallen from his position as Root's young master to an "ordinary jōnin," was ordered by Sakumo to lead several shinobi in escorting Shikaku to Hidden Grass Village for negotiations.
An Uzumaki clan member in Hidden Grass Village—definitely not Karin. Given her age was similar to Naruto's, it was probably her mother.
Wouldn't that make this a buy-one-get-two-free operation?
"Didn't expect we'd meet again, Captain Feng Bai."
A familiar voice rang in his ears as Tokokan looked at Feng Bai with delight.
"What happened to the promised elite shinobi? Why is there a genin in our squad?"
Not bothering to look at Tokokan's broad face, Feng Bai glared at Shikaku with a head full of black lines.
"One elite shinobi like you is enough. The other jōnin need to maintain high-frequency missions to dispel other nations' covetous thoughts."
Shikaku's calculations were crystal clear. Against a small hidden village like Hidden Grass Village, bringing Feng Bai alone was sufficient. Moreover, he knew the Flying Thunder God Technique—even if there was danger, he could lead everyone to safety.
A perfect workhorse physique!
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