Chapter 3: See the Real World The next day, when Konan found Shiba Kiyokawa, the latter was practicing hard in the only training ground in the Akatsuki base. Over the past few months, the instinct for survival has motivated Shiba Kiyokawa's self-discipline and diligence to the maximum extent. Ever since he received the system's first reward and became a real ninja, Shiba Qinghe has never relaxed his training for a single day. When he had no missions, he would often spend the entire day at the training ground in the base. There is no other way. For him, cultivation may be very hard, but if he doesn't practice, he will really die... Hard work pays off. In the past few months, he has made rapid progress. Not only has he quickly mastered the basic physical and sword skills rewarded by the system, he has also learned several water and lightning ninjutsu through exchanges and discussions within the organization. At this moment, looking at Shiba Kiyokawa, who was moving steadily, swinging his sword, retreating and roaming more and more freely, Konan couldn't help feeling complicated. "You've made progress again, Qinghe." She praised sincerely. Why can't such hard-working, motivated, intelligent and capable members understand our ideals? She couldn't help sighing in her heart.
"Thank you, Sister Xiaonan, what can I do for you?" Shiba Kiyokawa estimated that he should be about the same age as Konan, but since they were both orphans and neither of them knew their specific birthdays, they couldn't determine the exact relationship between them. Since Shiba Kiyokawa was willing to call her sister, Xiaonan did not refuse. "Qinghe, Yahiko has arranged other tasks for your team members. I will be your partner in the missions for the next few days." Shiba Kiyokawa laughed immediately. "Is it your turn to be my lobbyist, Sister Xiaonan?" "..." Xiaonan, whose purpose was seen through at a glance, turned his head away in embarrassment, and subconsciously reached behind his ear with one hand to touch the paper flower on his temple. This action performed by the fourteen-year-old Xiaonan looks very cute and lovely, with a unique charm. Shiba Qinghe deliberately paused for a moment, admiring Konan's slightly blushing profile for a while, before continuing. "Tell me, what is the next task you plan to assign to me?" Xiaonan tilted his head and said, "Aren't you angry, Qinghe? Your team was transferred away so suddenly." What's there to be angry about? You are much more valuable than them! You don't understand your own importance at all, Sister Xiaonan! Not only was Shiba Kiyokawa not angry, but he was very satisfied with Yahiko's arrangements. Because he knew very well that whether he planned to change the Akatsuki organization or usurp the throne of the Akatsuki organization in the future, breaking up the iron triangle combination of Yahiko, Konan and Nagato would be a crucial step! The others are just extras. If fate follows the predetermined trajectory, all members of the early Akatsuki organization will die in the purge conspired by Hanzo and Danzo in the future. Only Konan and Nagato have amazing potential and can survive and grow step by step into powerful Kage-level warriors! You thought you were here to convince me, but you are my real prey. Sister Xiaonan, I have long been planning how to take you to see the adult world! "It's an honor to be on a mission with you, Sister Xiaonan." "...There's no need to flatter me so much, let's talk about the mission first." After Konan's explanation, Shiba Kiyokawa roughly understood it.
Their main purpose of this trip was to investigate a Rain Country businessman named Ando. Anduo was doing business in a small town not far from the Akatsuki base. Not long ago, Akatsuki repelled the wandering ninjas that came to plunder the town and protected the town. But for some reason, Anduo did not appreciate the Akatsuki's kindness, but secretly used his power to steal supplies from Akatsuki several times. Recently, some residents of the town even came to report that Anduo secretly hired ninjas from outside to do something bad. After explaining the mission, Xiaonan sighed and said, "Qinghe, you know, Yahiko has never been good at dealing with this kind of situation that will cause rifts with nearby neighbors, and the residents who came to report this time have no solid evidence, so we have to rely on your wisdom again. But please promise me that you won't use extreme methods to solve it this time, okay?" Shiba Qinghe smiled and said, "I will take this task seriously." Just said it would be taken seriously, but didn't give any guarantees. Xiaonan opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing. Even though she has a gentle and tough heart, she is not very good at talking. Not to mention that she is now facing Shiba Kiyokawa, whose mental age far exceeds his physical age! Afterwards, Shiba Kiyokawa did as he promised and took the task very seriously. That afternoon he set out for the town first, visited everywhere, collected samples, collected evidence, and investigated the details. By the evening, Shiba Kiyokawa had actually already had a basic understanding of the whole incident. If it was just to complete the mission, he could have started to close the net by now. But he obviously wanted more than that! Taking advantage of this excellent opportunity, he planned to let Xiaonan open his eyes and take a good look at the truth of this world! So he deliberately concealed the results of his investigation, and in the following days he continued to take Xiaonan around, pretending to search. Give the mission target enough time to let go of himself. In order not to waste time while acting, and also to distract Konan and prevent the girl from noticing anything unusual, Shiba Qinghe has been looking for opportunities to ask Konan questions about ninjutsu in the past few days. "Sister Konan, how do you distribute chakra when you use the clone technique? Do you use paper clones? It doesn't matter, even if I can't learn your bloodline, I can still refer to your operating techniques." "Sister Xiaonan, do you have any special techniques for throwing paper shuriken? Hiding explosive charms? That's a good idea, why don't you let me learn it? Too insidious? No, I think it's great, what an artistic technique." "Sister Xiaonan, how do you control the airflow when you fly?" Just like that, three days passed in a flash. Konan never found a chance to convince Shiba Kiyokawa to believe in their dream, not even once... Instead, she found that the distance between herself and Shiba Kiyokawa was getting closer and closer. She had become more and more accustomed to working with Shiba Kiyokawa, accustomed to his diligence, accustomed to his consultations, accustomed to his well-organized analysis during the tasks and his calm thinking. No one can tell who won over whom in this process, and who quietly changed the initial impression of whom. Until this day, Shiba Kiyokawa confirmed through his own secret line that the restless target of the mission finally lived up to everyone's expectations and successfully connected with the Iwagakure ninja. In a sense, this behavior can be regarded as a betrayal of the Rain Kingdom! The moment he confirmed the news, Shiba Kiyokawa couldn't help but curl his lips. The time of friendship and bonding is over.
Next, it’s time to let the naive Xiaonan feel the reality of this ninja world. (End of this chapter)