Chapter 139: Activating Sealed Tsukuyomi, Remote Control
The next day.
Menma lazily lay on a recliner in the courtyard outside the newly built council hall of the Land of Stars, flipping through a scroll of information and an intelligence scroll on Yakushi Kabuto, or rather ‘Kumamoto Kabuto’, with a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
This information on Yakushi Kabuto was done so seamlessly it could be called flawless.
Kumamoto Castle was the second largest city in the Land of Stars, with a population of over eighty thousand, and more than a hundred orphans alone.
Before Menma took control of the Land of Stars, these orphans mostly formed gangs, roaming the city and surviving by begging and theft.
When the Land of Stars officials gathered these orphans, they only did some simple investigations, asking about their birthplaces and whether they remembered their parents.
Most orphans knew nothing, so they could only report truthfully, making it easy to implant an orphan identity.
Because a year ago in the Land of Stars, there were far too many such children.
In this way, eleven-year-old Yakushi Kabuto gained a legal identity in the Land of Stars. After the ninja academy opened, if he showed some talent as a medical ninja, he would surely be noticed, then specially trained, entering the sight of the Land of Stars ninja army high-level officials, thus obtaining more intelligence.
“Since Kabuto has appeared in the Land of Stars, there’s no need for him to leave.” Menma pondered how to bring both Kabuto and Nono Yakushi under his command.
The autumn afternoon sunlight filtered through the treetops, speckling warmly on him, yet it did nothing to diminish his inclination to “stir things up.”
“What’s this, you know that kid?” Uchiha Hikari walked into the courtyard from outside, her blue coat still bearing some wrinkles and dust.
Uchiha Hikari was now the jonin squad leader of the Land of Stars ninja army. Usually, besides commanding the Land of Stars’ military defenses, she trained those jonin, including Natsuhi, Hotaru, Uzumaki Kushina, Gōta, and others; even Kimimaro Kaguya and Haku were training targets.
As the strongest ninja under Menma, Uchiha Hikari had rich combat experience and was a super Kage level strong practitioner. Having her train these jonin was a rare opportunity for them, and they all cherished it greatly.
As for Kakuzu, he was now the Anbu captain and warden of the Land of Stars ninja army, specially handling dirty work and guarding captured spies and ninjas from various countries.
Moreover, Kakuzu’s fighting style was too bizarre, with strong first-strike kills, so he wasn’t willing to be a sparring partner for others; or during training, he might lose control and strike heavily.
“Sort of my little partner.” Menma placed the scroll on the tea table and poured Uchiha Hikari a cup of water.
“So what do you plan to do?” Uchiha Hikari sat on the opposite recliner, sweat-drenched, her breathing gradually steadying.
Menma hummed, his fingers lightly tapping the scroll: “The ‘Engraved Tsukuyomi’ previously implanted in the Explosion Release ninja Kari in the Stone Village can be activated now. Have him inquire about Nono Yakushi’s movements in the Stone Village.”
“I’ll try.” Uchiha Hikari’s voice was as cold as ever, her black pupils turning scarlet, the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern emerging.
She closed her eyes, her mental power like invisible tendrils, crossing vast distances to precisely capture Kari’s chakra far away in the Stone Village, thousands of miles distant.
A year ago, the team led by Kari tried to infiltrate the Land of Stars for reconnaissance, was captured by Uchiha Hikari and Uzumaki Kushina, then implanted with Engraved Tsukuyomi. Kari was released back, and a traitor in Hoshigakure was controlled to stage a pursuit, allowing Kari to pass the observation period quickly upon returning to the Stone Village.
Normally, after entering dreams, Kari’s spirit would be controlled, unconsciously leaving intelligence on the Stone Village in Uchiha Hikari’s Tsukuyomi space, becoming an important pawn for Menma in the Stone Village.
This pawn had been embedded for over half a year, now formally activated for the first time.
The control of Engraved Tsukuyomi was already very close to Infinite Tsukuyomi, ignoring distance and buildings, remotely manipulating targets with the engraving, and capable of controlling many people simultaneously.
At this moment, Kari in the distant Stone Village was, as usual, guiding a new batch of ninjas on the training ground.
His frame was somewhat lean, his face gaunt, with spiky hair, wearing the classic Stone Village jonin uniform—sleeveless on the right arm, bound with the Stone Village headband.
The instant Uchiha Hikari activated the engraving, her Mangekyo engraving appeared on the back of his hand, and his body suddenly stiffened.
Kari’s consciousness plunged into darkness, as if a cold flood instantly shattered his mental defenses.
As an elite jonin of the Stone Village, Kari couldn’t even mount the slightest resistance.
His pupils instantly dilated, losing focus, replaced by a hollow blankness, while his own spirit fell into slumber.
Uchiha Hikari, far in the Land of Stars, ignoring the thousands of kilometers, issued a command, and Kari’s body automatically activated.
Like a precise puppet, he instantly returned to ‘normal’ in a flash, continuing his previous actions, even guiding the three genin before him.
The surrounding Stone Ninjas noticed no abnormality.
Next, controlled by Uchiha Hikari, Kari began actively probing for news of Nono Yakushi in the Stone Village.
He would occasionally drink a few cups with old friends in the izakaya, seemingly casually chatting about village affairs, or ask acquaintances in the medical department about treatments for “tricky ailments,” actually extracting intelligence covertly.
Soon, he gathered information on a female ninja who might be using Nono Yakushi’s alias.
‘Suzuhara Ai’, a wandering ninja who joined the Stone Village a year ago, skilled in medical ninjutsu, who had wandered various places in the Land of Earth before being recruited to the Stone Village.
Wandering ninjas like this were recruited by villages everywhere. Most were from small ninja clans of the former ninja clan era, who for various reasons didn’t join other ninja villages, or defected from some, or were commoner ninjas who by chance developed chakra refinement.
Most were genin level, a few had chunin strength, only a very few possessed jonin level strength.
Each ninja village naturally favored recruiting such talent. Ninjas were mercenaries to begin with; sending one’s own risked losses, and they needed rest or leave when tired or injured. In comparison, recruited wandering ninjas were far more convenient.
Many wandering ninjas, to survive in this already unpeaceful world, would actively seek to join a ninja village as backing, naturally paying a price to integrate.
“Hey, Yoshikawa, have you seen that woman ‘Suzuhara Ai’ lately? The medicine she prescribed me is almost gone.” In the izakaya, Kari took a shallow sip from his cup, casually asking the familiar ninja beside him.
“Oh, you mean that chunin Suzuhara Ai from the medical department?” The ninja called Yoshikawa laughed, scratching his head: “Seems like she was sent to support the borderline near the Land of Rain. Recently, the ninjas from the Land of Rain don’t know what’s gotten into them, stirring up disputes at the border. Quite a few ninjas got poisoned, so the medical department sent several medical teams.”
“Tch, Lord Tsuchikage really knows how to use people, assigning such tough jobs to newcomers.” Kari tsked twice.
And deep in his heart, this information was already transmitted through Engraved Tsukuyomi to the distant Land of Stars thousands of miles away.
Uchiha Hikari soon relayed this intelligence to Menma.
