Chapter 589 A spontaneous trip

Land of Earth, Iwagakure.

Roshi was preparing dinner for himself at home, no different than usual.

He learned to cook when he was very young.

However, this wasn’t because Roshi was naturally sensible; it was because his parents died before he could remember, so cooking was a survival skill for him.

In fact, it was also somewhat related to his status as a Jinchuriki; as a Jinchuriki, Roshi was basically hated by everyone in Iwagakure.

Although it wasn’t to the extent of eating food with added ingredients, seeing those people all putting on sour faces, Roshi had no appetite.

So Roshi basically bought groceries and cooked for himself.

After all, when buying groceries, Roshi could pick his own vegetables and didn’t have to worry about buying bad ones.

However, Roshi, who had rich cooking experience, made many mistakes today; the fish was burnt, and the seasoning of the soup was a mess.

“Ōnoki, is this your choice?” Roshi ate the burnt fish with a complex expression and took a sip of the overly salty vegetable soup.

The Anbu had not disappeared; they had just been replaced with a new batch.

Thinking from a darker perspective, perhaps it was even stronger Anbu, to prevent him from truly escaping.

Roshi sighed deeply and began to clear the table.

“Should I go?” Roshi asked the Four-Tails in his mind.

Roshi was still hesitant in his heart.

He was not an indecisive person, but this was a major matter, a major matter for both him and Iwagakure.

Roshi was stubborn, not without the ability to think.

If he ran away at this time, it would be a considerable blow to Iwagakure.

A Jinchuriki is not just a top-tier combat force for a Ninja Village.

A Jinchuriki has an extraordinary suppressive force on Ninja troops.

A Tailed Beast Ball that can easily destroy mountains, a Jinchuriki with full Tailed Beast transformation capability can fire several in a row.

For a Ninja, even those famous top powerhouses in the Ninja World, there is no way to do this; the difference in Chakra between a human and a Tailed Beast is too great.

“Although I am inside you, your leaving means I am also leaving, but my suggestion is that you decide for yourself,” the Four-Tails replied.

From its own perspective, the Four-Tails was inclined to leave Iwagakure.

It was a Tailed Beast with self-awareness, and of course, it was unwilling to be imprisoned by Iwagakure and used as a weapon.

But the Four-Tails recognized Roshi, and it did not want to interfere with Roshi’s choice.

Otherwise, if Roshi regretted leaving in the future, the one who helped him decide would be a bit awkward.

“I can’t make up my own mind, that’s why I’m asking you,” Roshi said helplessly.

If he could make a decisive choice, he wouldn’t have asked the Four-Tails.

“You don’t have to be like this. Actually, there are only two options: one is to stay, and the other is to leave. If you want to stay, then stay. If you want to leave, then leave,” the Four-Tails advised.

Roshi fell into deep thought. Although the Four-Tails’ words seemed like nonsense, they did point out the core.

Perhaps he didn’t need to consider it so complexly: the impact on Iwagakure after leaving, whether he would be hunted down.

What he truly needed to consider was whether he wanted to stay or wanted to leave.

At this moment, many memories flooded Roshi’s mind.

He recalled himself diligently training when he was young.

Because of his status as a Jinchuriki, he was disliked by the Ninja and residents of Iwagakure.

So, at that time, Roshi thought, if he could control the power of the Tailed Beast, would everyone treat him as a normal person?

If he could control the power of the Tailed Beast, he wouldn’t lose control; in a sense, he was just a Ninja with more Chakra.

However, facts proved that effort does not necessarily lead to success; the attitude of the Iwagakure Ninja and residents towards him did not change because of it.

Of course, it wasn’t that it hadn’t changed at all; after he became stronger, not many people dared to openly show him a bad face.

It was just that the change Roshi wanted was not this kind of change.

Then Roshi recalled the recent war.

He followed Iwakura’s orders to enter full Tailed Beast transformation and use the Tailed Beast Ball to successfully break through with the Ninja troops.

Actually, Roshi never thought about getting any rewards from the beginning.

Although he successfully broke through with the troops, this method of breakthrough, even if he acted according to Iwakura’s orders, was still not something to be praised.

Because there was not only the blood of enemies on their retreat path but also the blood of comrades.

But he really didn’t expect to be monitored because of this, and even after he explained everything, the surveillance was not removed.

Roshi sometimes wondered, if he hadn’t listened to Iwakura’s orders in that battle, hadn’t undergone full Tailed Beast transformation, and hadn’t used the Tailed Beast Ball on the Ninja troops, perhaps he could have been called a war hero after his death.

Instead of successfully breaking through with the troops, he became a monster who massacred his comrades.

The conversation with Ōnoki in the office, the discussions heard on the street, the strange glances of others—all these memories appeared in Roshi’s mind.

The confusion on Roshi’s face dissipated. Since things had come to this, there was only one answer.

“I’m leaving,” Roshi said firmly to the Four-Tails.

After speaking, Roshi felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he felt much lighter.

After careful consideration, Roshi found that he didn’t need to look for reasons to leave; he had almost no reasons to stay.

Why would he stay?

For the Anbu who monitored him? For the Iwagakure Ninja and Iwagakure residents who didn’t treat him as a human? Or for Ōnoki, who wanted to train him into an emotionless Tailed Beast weapon?

“Haha, it seems you’ve completely understood in your heart,” the Four-Tails said with a relieved smile.

The Four-Tails knew everything Roshi had experienced; it had been silently watching inside Roshi’s body.

It had watched helplessly as a good young boy who strived upwards gradually turned into an isolated and stubborn adult.

In the Four-Tails’ view, Roshi owed Iwagakure nothing; on the contrary, Iwagakure owed Roshi.

Roshi becoming a Jinchuriki was not because he begged Ōnoki to be a Jinchuriki.

Moreover, Roshi had also carried out many missions for Iwagakure, and after the war began, he had often risked his life for Iwagakure.

In the Four-Tails’ eyes, Roshi and it were essentially no different; both were pitiful beings restricted by Iwagakure.

The only difference was that the Four-Tails was not born in Iwagakure, while Roshi was born in Iwagakure.

“Let that old man Ōnoki regret it,” Roshi said with a smile as he put away the washed dishes.

Today, he would let Ōnoki know that Roshi was a man of his word.

Then Roshi walked out of his room and quietly read a book in the yard.

He planned to leave when it was late.

Although he was leaving, Roshi had no intention of causing a big scene; those Iwagakure Ninja and villagers were annoying but not deserving of death.

His act of leaving the Village was already a big problem for Iwagakure; there was no need to create additional trouble.

As time passed, the Iwagakure ANBU monitoring Roshi felt a bit strange, because Roshi had been reading for too long this time; normally, Roshi wouldn’t read in the yard for so long.

However, this change was too subtle to be considered an anomaly, so the Iwagakure ANBU did not contact Ōnoki, merely recording it.

“It’s about time,” Roshi looked at the completely darkened surroundings, closed his book, and walked back into the house to put the book back on the bookshelf.

This was his home, after all; if he was going to leave, he shouldn’t leave it messy. Perhaps he would have a chance to come back and live here again someday.

After tidying up his home, Roshi walked directly towards the hidden location of the Iwagakure ANBU.

He was worried that there might be a sensory Ninja among the monitoring Anbu, and if he left directly using Earth Release, he might be discovered immediately.

“He actually found us?” The Anbu was slightly stunned when he saw Roshi walking towards them without any concealment.

He knew the reason for his replacement, but he didn’t expect Roshi’s anti-reconnaissance ability to be so strong, discovering them again so quickly.

“Roshi, what do you want to do? Attacking the Anbu is a serious crime,” the Anbu appeared and warned.

He wasn’t panicked; the previous batch of Anbu who were discovered didn’t fight with Roshi, so he believed Roshi wouldn’t lay a hand on the Anbu.

Roshi smiled. He was already preparing to leave Iwagakure, and they still wanted to scare him with that.

Whoosh!

Roshi didn’t say a word, unleashing a huge amount of Chakra within him and flashing behind the two Iwagakure ANBU, delivering heavy hand chops.

Thud! Thud!

The two Iwagakure ANBU fell to the ground.

After knocking out the Anbu, Roshi hid them, then quickly burrowed underground and sped towards the outskirts of Iwagakure.

Roshi didn’t have the skill to knock people out; he succeeded purely through brute force.

However, because Roshi didn’t want to kill, he deliberately controlled his strength, which meant Roshi didn’t know how long the two would remain unconscious.

To be safe, it was better to run away as soon as possible.

To help Roshi escape from Iwagakure, the Four-Tails wholeheartedly refined Chakra to aid Roshi, allowing Roshi’s strength to reach its peak.

The Four-Tails was quite excited now; after being caught and used as a charging station in Iwagakure for so many years, it was finally out.

After bursting out of Iwagakure, Roshi returned to the surface and looked back at his hometown, where he had lived for decades.

When he first had the idea of leaving the Village, his heart was filled with entanglement.

When he understood everything, there was still a hint of reluctance in his heart for Iwagakure.

But when he knocked out the Anbu, Roshi felt a burst of exhilaration in his heart.

Now that he was outside Iwagakure, Roshi felt immensely relieved, with no regrets in his heart.

“Ōnoki, I hope you don’t get constipated from anger, haha.”

Roshi laughed loudly while unleashing Chakra and continued to move forward at high speed.

There was no one he cared about in Iwagakure, nor anyone who cared about him. Upon reflection, it was indeed not worth reminiscing.

On the other side, the night shift members of the Iwagakure Barrier Squad noticed someone breaking out of Iwagakure from underground and immediately reported the information.

The knocked-out Iwagakure ANBU, upon waking, also quickly transmitted the information about Roshi’s attack on the Anbu.

“Sandaime-sama, something bad has happened!”

Hearing the Anbu’s voice, Ōnoki, who had been asleep, suddenly sat up.

“What happened?” Ōnoki quickly put on a robe and asked.

Something that warranted waking him up from sleep must be an extremely important matter.

“The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, knocked out the Anbu protecting him and broke out of the Village alone,” the Anbu reported quickly.

“How dare he!” Ōnoki’s eyes widened, and his fists clenched.

He didn’t expect Roshi to be so decisive; he had just said he would make him regret it during the day, and he escaped from Iwagakure at night.

However, Ōnoki knew that now was not the time to dwell on Roshi’s personality. He immediately commanded sharply:

“Immediately send out personnel to search discreetly, and also notify the border squads to search for Roshi together. We absolutely cannot let Roshi leave the Land of Earth!”

A Jinchuriki escaping is more troublesome than a Jinchuriki dying in battle.

If a Jinchuriki dies in battle, the Tailed Beast will revive itself after a period of time. Then, the Tailed Beast can be captured again and sealed into a suitable Ninja, creating a new Jinchuriki.

If a Jinchuriki escapes, the situation becomes complicated.

If the Jinchuriki hides in some corner and doesn’t come out, Iwagakure will permanently lose a Tailed Beast until the person dies.

If the Jinchuriki is abducted by another Ninja Village, that would be even worse.

These were all things Ōnoki could not tolerate.

“Gather all informed Ninja and instruct them to keep Roshi’s escape a secret. Other Ninja Villages must not know about this,” Ōnoki continued to command.

As long as Roshi had a bit of sense, he wouldn’t reveal his Jinchuriki identity outside.

Because that would be courting death.

Major Ninja Villages unaware of Roshi’s escape would think of taking the opportunity to eliminate Roshi, reducing Iwagakure’s Jinchuriki count.

Ninja Villages aware of Roshi’s escape might also covet the Tailed Beast within Roshi.

In short, as long as Roshi dared to expose his identity as the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, he would definitely not have a good outcome.

This gave Ōnoki an opportunity to feign ignorance.

Although Roshi had run away, he could pretend that Roshi hadn’t run away, and Iwagakure still had two Jinchuriki.

Jinchuriki are inherently super weapons that are not easily deployed.

As long as Roshi doesn’t show up outside, Iwagakure’s enemies will have to consider Roshi’s combat power when warring with Iwagakure.

“Yes!” The Anbu replied with his head lowered, quickly flashing away to carry out Ōnoki’s arrangements.

“He actually went to such lengths,” Ōnoki rubbed his brow with a headache.

He really didn’t expect Roshi to just run away. This was the Village that raised him, and he would just abandon it?

Did he not listen to the Ninja Academy’s Will of Stone lessons at all? Or was the teacher’s lecture too terrible?

“I should have taken this matter more seriously,” Ōnoki sighed.

He had some regrets; he shouldn’t have just replaced a batch of Anbu at that time.

Considering the current outcome, he should have either revoked the surveillance or significantly strengthened the surveillance force.

Given Ōnoki’s personality, he would lean towards the latter.

Roshi’s request today was not to be monitored; would there be other requests tomorrow?

Ōnoki didn’t want to compromise and eventually end up with an unruly Jinchuriki.

Since Roshi had already taken the action of defecting, he must have been thinking about it beforehand.

A Jinchuriki with thoughts of defection who also “accidentally killed” many comrades on the battlefield—Ōnoki believed monitoring was the correct choice.

However, even though Ōnoki didn’t want to think in a certain direction, a thought still flashed through his mind.

Perhaps, it wasn’t just Roshi who was stubborn; he himself was the same.

If only one of them hadn’t been so stubborn, the outcome might have been different.

Ōnoki quickly changed his clothes and rushed to the Tsuchikage Building.

Thinking about all those miscellaneous things was meaningless; Roshi had already defected, and no matter how one hypothesized, this fact would not change.

What he needed to consider most now was how to minimize the impact of this incident on Iwagakure.