Chapter 446: Granny Chiyo Wants a Vacation
"Wait!"
"What can I say!"
Granny Chiyo hurriedly interrupted their discussion.
"Who gave you people the right to decide where this old woman should go? Shouldn't I be the one making that choice?!"
Granny Chiyo quickly seized back the initiative.
There was no way she wanted to be sent to Kumogakure to experience the 'Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chiyo Dance.'
"That's true."
"So then, Chiyo, where do you plan to go? Don't tell us you're thinking of returning to Sunagakure."
"Actually, that could work too. We could figure out a way to lure Madara away."
"Kirigakure."
"Huh?"
"Kirigakure."
Granny Chiyo repeated herself.
"...What?"
Hozuki Gengetsu was completely dumbfounded.
Out of everyone present, he was the only one who hadn't actively tried to recruit Chiyo. So why him?
"I heard Kirigakure has been developing quite well lately. They even started a seaside tourism industry. I bought a swimsuit before, but never had the chance to wear it. This is the perfect opportunity to enjoy some sunshine and sandy beaches."
Granny Chiyo smiled shyly.
"A swimsuit...?"
After hearing her reason, everyone present instinctively imagined Granny Chiyo in a swimsuit.
A collective shiver ran through the group.
Too horrifying.
"Well, uh... isn't the Land of Wind coastal too? Why don't you just stay on the beach in your Land of Wind instead of going back to Sunagakure? It's all the same anyway."
Hozuki Gengetsu hurriedly tried every possible way to reject her.
Forget escorting her all the way to Kirigakure—even if he didn't have to escort her, this was still a massive problem.
Kirigakure's tourism industry had only just started taking off, and visitor numbers were already low enough as it was. If Granny Chiyo went and lay on the beach there, she'd attract everyone's attention while simultaneously inflicting mental trauma on the entire crowd.
If word of that spread, how was Kirigakure's tourism industry supposed to survive?
"You're right."
After hearing Gengetsu's argument, Granny Chiyo paused, thought for a moment, then nodded seriously.
"Haaah—"
Gengetsu let out a sigh of relief.
"How did I not think of this? The Land of Wind could develop tourism too! That means I need to go to the Land of Water even more now. I should see how you people do things there. I can enjoy myself while taking notes and figuring out what we can learn from."
Granny Chiyo suddenly felt the burden on her shoulders grow heavier.
She truly had sacrificed everything for Sunagakure.
To devote herself wholly until death.
For the village's development, she was willing to endure the blazing sun, the rough sand, and the freezing seawater.
At her age, she even had to eat seafood that could easily aggravate her gout.
Sigh. Truly noble.
"..."
"Then we'll leave it to you, Second Mizukage."
"Granny Chiyo is in your care."
"You two stay here and don't move around. We'll go bring over the Flying Thunder Formation squad to send you back to Kirigakure. You shouldn't return yourselves in case Uchiha Madara notices something strange."
One after another, they finalized the arrangements.
Gengetsu opened his mouth, wanting to object, but he no longer had any reason to refuse. In the end, he could only accept his fate helplessly.
Thus, Jiraiya and Hozuki Gengetsu stayed behind.
Roshi and Sarutobi Hiruzen were tasked with returning to bring the others over.
Jiraiya remained because the group still couldn't fully trust Gengetsu.
After all, Gengetsu had shown very little enthusiasm toward stopping Uchiha Madara's scheme earlier.
Leaving one more person behind was a precaution, just in case.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen and Roshi arrived at the Flying Thunder Formation squad's location, Uchiha Madara and Onoki had just finished talking with Obito and also appeared there.
The encounter between the two groups instantly made the atmosphere awkward.
Onoki intended to bring Uchiha Madara back to Amegakure to meet the First Hokage, explain the situation clearly, stop Uchiha Obito's actions, and at the same time keep Madara's own schemes under control.
"Onoki, I knew an old bastard like you couldn't be trusted! Where are you trying to take... Madara?!"
"I knew it! You old freak have no standards at all. Since you couldn't win Granny Chiyo over, now you're planning to run away together with Uchiha Madara, huh?!"
"How could you betray us like this? How could you betray the First Hokage's trust?!"
"You short little gremlin! Useless dwarf! Mud-playing midget!"
Roshi unleashed a torrent of insults at Onoki.
"Roshi, stop talking nonsense."
"Someone used genjutsu on Madara earlier and extracted a lot of confidential information from him."
"The ninja world is in danger right now. I need to take him to see the First Hokage and head to Amegakure to tell them what happened here..."
Faced with Roshi's accusations and insults, Onoki suppressed his irritation and patiently explained.
"Someone used genjutsu on Madara?"
Roshi and Sarutobi Hiruzen exchanged suspicious glances.
"Onoki, could it be that you used genjutsu on Madara, learned something important, and then conveniently pretended to release him so you could play the good guy?"
"If this were any other day, you'd have cursed me out already after I insulted you this much. The fact that you're holding back so calmly just proves you've got a guilty conscience, doesn't it?"
Roshi asked in a mocking tone.
"...Roshi, I've tolerated you for long enough! Fine then, let me ask you something—where's Granny Chiyo?! What happened to the Granny Chiyo Danzo kidnapped?!"
"Did you people secretly keep her for yourselves, or did you fail to catch up at all? Why are you back empty-handed? And why did the Third Hokage suddenly appear here? Where are the others?"
"Could it be that you betrayed Iwagakure, colluded with Konoha, and joined forces with that old monkey, the Third Hokage, along with Danzo to sell out Granny Chiyo and the Second Mizukage?!"
Onoki finally snapped. Floating into the air, he pointed at Roshi's nose and started cursing back.
Hearing this, Uchiha Madara's eyes also shifted toward Roshi.
Stopping Obito was currently his top priority, but no matter what, Granny Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation was still the best method for reviving himself. He had to make sure nobody else snatched her away first.
Imagine working so hard to stop Obito, only to turn around and discover Granny Chiyo had already given her one and only "first time" to someone else—with One's Own Life Reincarnation.
Roshi was instantly stunned speechless.
Mainly because, when they came over, they hadn't actually thought through how to explain "Danzo kidnapping Chiyo" in front of Madara.
After all, they had never expected to coincidentally run into Madara here.
"Roshi, why aren't you cursing back at me? Feeling guilty now, huh?!"
Seeing Roshi stunned silent, Onoki immediately pressed the attack, throwing Roshi's earlier words right back at him.
"Third Tsuchikage, calm down. As for Danzo, I have already personally dealt with that traitor. Granny Chiyo was rescued as well, but..."
While the two argued, Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind raced, quickly coming up with an excuse.
"But during the battle, Granny Chiyo suffered severe emotional shock and unfortunately lost her memory. We were planning to bring Granny Chiyo to a resort in the Land of Water so she could recover peacefully on the gentle beaches and hopefully regain her memories."
(End of this chapter)