Naruto: IHCS Ch. 134

"Summon the Rainbow Dragon and take us away from here."

Shiratori looked at Suguru as he spoke.

Suguru, worthy of being someone raised in modern society, stood almost a full head taller than Minato, who had grown up in the shinobi world.

Nutrition really was better in modern times!

For the sake of his own future height, he decided he'd have to eat a balanced diet from now on.

Suguru smiled at him and said, "Do we really have to take these monkeys with us too? I'm worried the Rainbow Dragon might get tainted with their stench, and if that happens, it might throw a tantrum..."

Shiratori fixed his gaze on Suguru and answered firmly, "The Rainbow Dragon won't get angry."

The only one who would get angry was Suguru himself, this man suffering from a severe case of monkey-phobia.

The Iwa ninjas halted their assault, their wary eyes turning toward the suddenly appearing figure of Suguru.

"When did that man show up?"

"Is he also a Konoha ninja?"

"Could it be some kind of space-time ninjutsu?"

"No, he doesn't look like a Konoha ninja!"

Hearing their mutterings, Suguru frowned with disgust.

He turned to glance at the dense mass of Iwa ninjas and shook his head resolutely. No! There was no way he could stay surrounded by so many monkeys.

The stench of monkeys here was way over the limit.

He sighed helplessly, as though troubled by some nuisance.

If he absolutely had to stay with monkeys, he'd rather choose to be around fewer of them.

"No helping it then..."

He slowly raised a hand, fingers spread wide.

A massive surge of cursed energy burst forth from within him.

The power was chilling, sinister, completely different from chakra, and carried nothing but pure negative energy.

"Come forth, Rainbow Dragon."

His voice was quiet.

The next instant, an earth-shaking dragon's roar reverberated across the entire plain.

A colossal being appeared out of thin air behind him.

Its body shone with pure white and blue, entirely unlike something born of curses. Its massive frame coiled and wound majestically in the sky.

"W-what is that thing?!"

"A summoned beast, it must be!"

"They're trying to escape!"

"Attack! Attack the monster too!"

The Iwa ninjas shouted in frenzy.

"Don't let them get away! Attack!"

Ninjutsu, shuriken, and explosive tags rained down like a storm upon the dragon and Suguru.

The Rainbow Dragon unleashed a thunderous roar. Its massive tail lashed out with terrifying force.

The earth that had been pressing toward Shiratori and his companions was smashed back against the Iwa ninjas.

Boom!

The hardened ground instantly collapsed downward, crushing toward the Iwa forces.

Debris rained like a violent storm.

The Iwa ninjas scrambled in disarray to avoid it.

"Don't get too tangled up with this pack of monkeys. The smell of monkeys everywhere. I don't want to get tainted by it."

Suguru brushed off his spotless monk's robe with disdain and instructed the Rainbow Dragon.

Minato and the others looked on blankly at the unfolding scene.

Their eyes shifted back and forth between Shiratori and Suguru, trying to guess what kind of relationship existed between them.

Nagato gazed at the dragon soaring through the air, strange light flickering in his eyes.

"Grab onto its body," Suguru ordered, pointing at a section of the dragon's hanging torso. His tone brooked no refusal.

"Or you'll get flung off and turned into pulp. I won't be responsible."

"No..." he added with a shift in tone, "actually, I would look forward to seeing you turn into monkey-pulp. How disgusting!"

His words dripped with malice as he spoke to Minato and his companions.

"..."

This man's mind was filled with nothing but monkeys.

The Rainbow Dragon lowered itself, its sheer size exuding suffocating pressure.

Minato exchanged a quick glance with Fugaku and Nanami.

They didn't trust this man, but they did trust the two children.

"Let's go!" Minato decided instantly.

He scooped Shiratori into his arms and leaped onto the dragon's cold back.

Nanami and Fugaku followed closely behind.

Nanami quickly pulled a dazed Nagato into her arms. Sitting on the dragon's body, Nagato couldn't help reaching out to touch the massive creature beneath him.

Suguru lightly leaped onto the dragon's head and sat down slowly, deliberately keeping his distance from Minato behind him.

"Stay away from me, monkeys."

Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm not a monkey..."

"If I say you are, then you are."

No cursed energy? That made them monkeys in his eyes.

Looking down at the Iwa forces surging once again, their dazzling array of jutsu flooding upward, Suguru's lips curled in mockery.

"Let's go."

At his command, the dragon released a long, resonant roar.

Its immense body coiled and surged upward, carrying Shiratori and the others skyward at an incredible speed.

Hurricane winds lashed against them, nearly forcing their eyes shut.

The grasslands below, the Iwa ninjas tiny as ants, their jutsu, the ruins, the countless weapons...

All shrank rapidly from view.

"Damn it! Stop them!"

The furious roars of the Iwa ninjas rose faintly from below, but were soon drowned out by the roaring winds.

The Rainbow Dragon soared beneath the vast blue sky. Below stretched endless grasslands and forests of the Land of Grass.

Minato, Fugaku, and Nanami sat tense and wary, eyes fixed on the man at the dragon's head. Everything had happened far too quickly, too far beyond imagination.

Clutching the Rainbow Dragon, Shiratori looked down at the rapidly retreating scenery.

Like a windowless airplane, pretty good! The view was fantastic.

Suguru turned, his wide robe sleeves snapping in the wind. He glanced disdainfully at the people behind him.

"You know, we still don't even know your name..."

Minato tried to speak politely. "I'm Namikaze Minato, a ninja of Konoha. Thank you for saving us today."

Suguru glared at him. "I don't talk to monkeys."

"..."

This man, who called them monkeys with every other word, was completely impossible to communicate with.

"Oh right, I haven't asked your names yet," Minato said, turning slightly toward Shiratori and Nagato.

"I'm Shiratori, and he's Nagato," he answered with a smile.

"Shiratori!"

Minato's pupils shrank.

When Nagato, Nanami, and Fugaku heard this name, their reaction was exactly the same as Minato's.

They stared at Shiratori in shock.

The same name?

Impossible.

They recalled what he had said before. He had told them they came from the Land of Rain.

Student of Hanzō, Shiratori.

That name had spread throughout the shinobi world with the end of the Land of Rain's war.

Although he wasn't as renowned as Konoha's White Fang, he stood out for his unique ability. Anyone who had seen his information remembered him deeply.

How could Minato have imagined that the one with such a special identity in the Land of Rain would appear on the Land of Grass battlefield and even save them?

"Why are you in the Land of Grass?"

The wind roared. He almost had to shout hoarsely to force his own voice out.

"I already said, I came to end this war in the Land of Grass, so the people and ninjas won't have to keep suffering."

Shiratori smiled at Minato as he said this.

Minato froze.

How admirable!

A warm smile gradually rose on his face. To think that someone so young would do something so courageous and noble!

"Then... does your teacher, Hanzō, know about this?" Minato couldn't help asking.

For a student to come to such a dangerous battlefield, his teacher must be extremely worried.

"Of course he doesn't."

Shiratori shook his head.

If Hanzō knew, how could this be possible? Hanzō probably still thought he was diligently driving out foreign ninjas and samurai from the Land of Rain.

"..."

As a teacher, he naturally wouldn't want his student to risk himself on the battlefield.

"Sounds unrealistic, like daydreaming." Fugaku said coldly.

Nagato immediately turned to him.

"Shiratori can do it! As long as he says he will, he will do it!"

The wild wind whipped his red hair, exposing those unforgettable eyes.

Fugaku's pupils shrank, staring hard at him.

Nanami was startled as well.

"This child... those eyes!"

Her chest tightened as she looked at them, and she quickly turned away.

How could such eyes exist?

Fugaku slowly lowered his gaze.

Those eyes... The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, according to legend!

These two children... were far too shocking.

One carried an unheard-of cursed power, the other bore the Sage's eyes. No wonder they entered the war-torn Land of Grass.

"I believe he can do it."

It was Minato who said this.

Clenching his fists, encouragement shining in his eyes, he looked at Shiratori seriously:

"I believe you can do it!"

[Affection detected: Minato +2000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 53.1%]

"Today, it's all thanks to you. Thank you for saving us!" Nanami smiled sincerely at him.

[Gratitude detected: Nanami +3000 points]
[Curse Growth - Gratitude: 28.3%]

Fugaku crossed his arms, his black eyes scanning over him, then cleared his throat.

"Thank you. I will remember your lifesaving grace."

[Gratitude detected: Fugaku +3000 points]
[Curse Growth - Gratitude: 28.6%]

He glanced at Fugaku. Looking at his dark, stern face, he couldn't help wondering if Fugaku would mistake him for an enemy instead.

The dragon soared over the skies of the Land of Grass, flying into the clouds.

"Drop us at the canyon ahead," Minato called out to the robed man leading them.

Suguru frowned, guiding the rainbow dragon to descend.

Once they reached a safe distance, he urged impatiently: "Get off."

"..."

Minato was already used to this man's personality. He leaped down from the dragon's back.

Nanami and Fugaku landed at his side.

Looking at Shiratori still riding the dragon, they suddenly felt reluctant to part.

Minato sighed inwardly. If only he belonged to Konoha.

"If you get the chance, come visit Konoha!" he extended the invitation.

Nanami and Fugaku looked at him in surprise.

Never mind that this was wartime, even if it wasn't, as ordinary ninjas they couldn't casually invite a foreign ninja into Konoha.

"Mm!"

Whether Minato meant it sincerely or not, he would definitely go since he'd been invited.

"Then we'll be going!"

He waved to them: "We'll definitely meet again someday!"

Suguru controlled the dragon, soaring into the sky.

Minato watched its figure vanish into the clouds. Taking a deep breath, he silently vowed: He would master the Flying Thunder God Technique perfectly.

"I never imagined Shiratori was this kind of person." Nanami sighed.

Minato glanced at her.

She shrugged. "The intel painted him as terrifying..."

Thinking of those reports, her expression grew complicated. "According to intel, he was practically described as a natural-born psychopath."

Minato rubbed his chin, speculating, "That man just now, could he be his curse?"

"That was clearly a person." Nanami said.

"Didn't the intel mention he had a humanoid curse?" Fugaku added.

"Calling humans monkeys, definitely a curse."

Minato let out a sigh, then asked seriously, "Do we really look like monkeys?"

Nanami said, "Don't lump us in. That's you."

Fugaku nodded. "Agreed."