Chapter 223: Who Did This
The Kyoto of the Land of Grass is very special, as it is the only Kyoto with a non-fixed location.
The Kyoto migrates every year along with the migration of the grasslands, making it more like a large moving camp area filled with tents.
After listening to Yuka Uzumaki’s intelligence summary, knowing that the target would leave here at dawn, Yoru looked at Yuka Uzumaki’s White Demon Mask and said:
“I’ll handle the next matters. You all just need to wait for me from afar.
Yuka, give me your mask. I’ll wear the Uzumaki Clan’s White Demon Mask to deliver the first strike against the Shimura Clan.”
Yuka Uzumaki removed her own mask and handed it to the Fox.
Kaicho Uzumaki noticed that the Fox Mask underneath also had a mask, making the face unclear.
After putting on the White Demon Mask, Yoru’s aura completely changed, becoming even more ferocious.
One hour later.
Shimura Tan, a Special Jonin of the Shimura Clan, left the Kyoto of the Land of Grass with two Chunin of the Shimura Clan and set off on the road back to the village.
“Brother Tan, after we get back, you’ll be promoted to Jonin. Our Shimura Clan will have one more Jonin!”
“Brother Tan, do you want to become a Jonin Guardian Ninja? I think being a Jonin Guardian Ninja is pretty prestigious; even the Daimyo has to listen to the Guardian Ninja.”
The two behind flattered the youthful prodigy Shimura Tan, who was striding ahead proudly.
Shimura Tan said: “Don’t guess randomly. What job I take after becoming a Jonin will be arranged by the Patriarch.
Actually, I’d quite like to join the Anbu or Root, but after the Anbu downsized, they’re not short on people.
Replacing one dead with another is too troublesome.”
The three walked quickly along the road, with the distant sun already rising above the horizon.
Shimura Tan’s peripheral vision was drawn to a light on the side.
There was a water stain in the grass by the roadside, and the rising sun reflected specks of light off the water stain.
The pasture here was lush, with abundant water, so the Kyoto of the Land of Grass wouldn’t move for months.
Just as the three passed that water stain, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly appeared!
Shimura Tan turned in terror and saw a person wearing a White Demon Mask and a black hooded robe suddenly appear with Body Flicker!
This person Body Flickered to his side, and a kunai pierced into his side abdomen!
What level of Body Flicker Technique was this?
Most of the kunai had sunk into Shimura Tan’s side abdomen; he was already severely injured.
After landing the strike, the White Demon jumped back and quickly formed hand seals in the air.
Shimura Tan was extremely surprised. That seal… wasn’t it the Sarutobi Clan’s signature ninjutsu, Fire Dragon Flame Bullet?
After seven seals, Yoru released the ninjutsu Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
A massive fire dragon sprayed out instantly.
Shimura Tan struggled to form hand seals and used Wind Release.
However, the high-temperature Fire Release disrupted the airflow, and their three Wind Releases were countered by the Fire Release.
Why did this person want to kill him?
One Fire Release against three Wind Releases, yet the Fire Release gained the upper hand.
Yoru continuously poured in chakra, turning the fire dragon from its initial orange-red to incandescent white, with increasing power.
The two Shimura Clan Chunin were first shocked that someone was assassinating them, then expectant.
Shimura Tan was about to become a Jonin; with Shimura Tan’s strength…
The two’s eyes instantly filled with terror.
Why was Shimura Tan’s Wind Release continuously losing ground against the assassin’s Fire Release?
Despair arose in the hearts of the two.
There had been rumors in the clan that Shimura Tan’s strength was completely insufficient for Jonin promotion, and the two hadn’t believed it at first.
The Hokage had approved Shimura Tan’s Jonin Promotion Exam; what problem could there be?
Unexpectedly, in front of a true expert, after Shimura Tan was severely wounded in the waist, he had no power to counterattack.
The flames dissipated, the high temperature cooled, and three charred corpses appeared on the grass.
Yoru shook his head repeatedly.
The Shimura Clan was too greedy.
Such a person completely lacked Jonin strength; among Special Jonin, he was only intermediate-advanced level, not even top-tier.
Water Style: Water Clone sneaked and severely injured, Fire Release suppressed; he encountered almost no resistance and killed him.
Talent didn’t match position; pushing such a person to a Jonin role would be a disaster for other Leaf Ninja.
Look, he first got his own clan’s two Chunin killed.
Yoru threw three kunai, shattering the three brittle heads.
So after being roasted in a big fire, human heads become brittle.
Two hours later, a herdsman riding a horse toward the Kyoto was suddenly startled by three black shadows by the roadside.
He stopped his horse to look and found what seemed like three oval black cocoons.
Wait!
Not black cocoons—burned people!
He hurriedly galloped toward the Kyoto and reported this news to the warriors of the Kyoto.
Soon, the Daimyo Guardian Ninja Captain of the Land of Grass, Shimura Kabi, arrived with several Guardian Ninja via Body Flicker beside the three charred corpses.
“Who did this! Who exactly did this!”
The three corpses at this time, judged by height, were clearly Shimura Tan’s group returning to the village.
Shimura Kabi quickly reconnoitered the scene. The most obvious battle traces were the three using Wind Release against the assassin’s Fire Release.
However, the assassin’s Fire Release was abnormally powerful, crushing their three Wind Releases.
The Ninja World’s Fire Release experts were almost all concentrated in Konoha.
Shimura Kabi immediately thought that it was certain people in the village retaliating against the Shimura Clan.
Exactly who!
Their Patriarch was the Hokage Advisor Danzo; who would dare to go mad and assassinate Shimura Clan members? And it was the Shimura Clan’s young elite, Shimura Tan, who was about to be promoted to Jonin.
Shimura Kabi sent several Guardian Ninja to gather information.
The Hyuga Clan Guardian Ninja, Hyuga Shin, checked the kunai in the charred corpses’ heads and thought the assassin was too cautious.
Burned like this, with brain matter turned to ash, was there still a need to destroy the heads?
Or had the killer killed so many that this was his habitual action?
Hyuga Shin thought that the name Shimura Tan was unlucky; look, he carbonized when he died.
Hyuga Shin said: “Kabi Jonin, the killer didn’t even leave a footprint. He’s an extremely cautious and ruthless person. Sorry, I can’t obtain effective intelligence.”
Shimura Kabi thought to himself, it must be the evil Uchiha; definitely the evil Uchiha!
He dispatched a subordinate to quickly send the news of Shimura Tan’s death back to the village for Clan Head Danzo to know.
Yuka Uzumaki and the others saw the Fox return.
Kaicho Uzumaki and Gencho Uzumaki were completely convinced of the Fox.
The Fox had really killed three Leaf Ninja.
They thought that even if the Fox was a spy, he was a Leaf Ninja and wouldn’t mercilessly kill his own village’s ninja.
Unexpectedly, the Fox so decisively killed three Shimura Clan ninja.
It had to be said that the Fox was truly ruthless against Konoha people.
If the Anbu were all ninja like the Fox, then the Uzumaki Clan really wouldn’t be a match for Konoha.
Fortunately, the Fox was one of their own, a Senju Clan spy in the Konoha Anbu.
In any case, the Uzumaki Clan’s revenge had finally begun.
“We can’t rest yet. I have more intelligence. The retaliation can’t stop.” Yoru said:
“A Sarutobi Clan Special Jonin is currently in the Hot Water Country Capital, helping their Sarutobi Clan Jonin secure the Guardian Ninja Captain position.
He’s also returning to Konoha next month for the Jonin exam.
Yuka, same as before. You three be careful. Once you confirm the Sarutobi Special Jonin’s whereabouts, reverse summon me, and I’ll make the move.”
“Got it, Fox.”
Yuka Uzumaki thought today was already good enough, but it could be even better.
The Fox had given another new target.
Yoru said: “Yuka, Brother Kaicho, Brother Gencho, let me tell you about the power distribution inside Konoha to help you understand the enemy.
In this post-war Jonin Meeting, Konoha’s Five Great Clans—the Five Great Clans is a name I gave to the high-ranking officials: Sarutobi, Shimura, and Ino-Shika-Cho—these five clans completely dominated.
After this round of Jonin exams, Konoha will have 220 Jonin.
Among them, the Five Great Clans, Anbu, and Mito Mon’en’s children, etc., total 77 Jonin, about one-third of all Jonin.
The other ninja clans, including the Senju Clan, Uchiha Clan, etc., total 39 Jonin.
The Senju Clan has only 9 Jonin, with influence at its lowest point.
Of the remaining 104 civilian Jonin, including Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and others, over 80 civilian ninja are vassals of the Third Hokage and the Five Great Clans.
Many of these civilian ninja can be won over; if someone else becomes Hokage, they would obey the new Hokage’s orders.”
Kaicho Uzumaki’s expression darkened; he hadn’t expected the Senju Clan’s situation in Konoha Village to be so dire.
Yoru continued: “At least one Anbu squad will be monitoring Princess Kushina Uzumaki. We can’t contact her for now; you must be patient.”
Yuka said: “We understand. Konoha is so vast; we can’t shake it in the slightest right now. We won’t act rashly or hope to contact Kushina Uzumaki at this time.”
Kaicho Uzumaki thought to himself, the Fox is an Anbu Squad Leader; if Princess Kushina Uzumaki has an Anbu Squad Leader-level Anbu by her side, give up contacting her for now.
Anbu Squad Leaders, whether in strength or mentality, were terrifying.
Yoru said: “I really like this White Demon Mask. I’ll use this mask for my future revenge.”
Yuka said: “Then give me the mask first. I think I can set up a few barriers on the mask to isolate reconnaissance, preventing anyone from seeing your face through the mask.”
“Good, I’ll take the mask back next time.”
Yoru stepped forward and hugged Yuka, gave her the mask, formed hand seals to notify Bai Ci to reverse summon him.
After the Fox left, Kaicho Uzumaki said: “I didn’t expect the Senju Clan to have a spy of such high rank in the Konoha Anbu.”
“The Fox is indeed very strong.” Yuka said:
“We are the three strongest in the Uzumaki Clan; only we three can be involved in this matter. The fewer people who know, the better.
Even if we die, we must protect the Fox’s secret and ensure the Fox continues to lurk in the Konoha Anbu.”
Kaicho Uzumaki and Gencho Uzumaki nodded repeatedly; they had this resolve.
The Hidden Whirlpool Village was destroyed, the Uzumaki Clan annihilated; they two had been imprisoned by Danzo for nearly a year, and no one hated Danzo and Konoha more than they did.
Back in Konoha, Yoru acted as if nothing had happened and went out to buy breakfast for himself and Qiao Yi.
Last night in the latter half of the night, the investigation of Qiao Yi had bordered on excessive enforcement; this morning she couldn’t get up.
Recently practicing taijutsu hard had good results, with obvious improvement. Investigation in the first half of the night, killing at dawn—nothing delayed.
He glanced toward the Shimura Clan direction, unsure when the Shimura Clan would learn of Shimura Tan’s death.
In the morning, arriving at the Anbu, Yoru reviewed his squad’s missions.
During this time, the squad’s missions focused on Nine-Tails Jinchuriki monitoring, with no village-leaving missions for now.
Four or five days later, still no movement.
Unsure if the other three squads had received missions to investigate Shimura Tan’s death.
If only he were the Anbu Vice Minister; he’d know all of Konoha’s secrets and could even assign himself to investigate himself.
Several more days later, Yoru noticed the Golden Eagle Captain suddenly return to the Anbu.
The Golden Eagle Squad Leader entered Kiiroinu’s office.
Soon, Danzo actually arrived at the Anbu.
Kiiroinu and Golden Eagle entered the Minister’s office together.
The Minister’s office was the largest area, mostly vacant.
Yoru thought to himself, probably Golden Eagle finished investigating and found nothing.
With Yoru using Water Clone to set traps in advance beforehand, killing whoever he wanted was easy.
As expected, Danzo left with a gloomy expression.
The Shimura Clan’s family junior about to be promoted to Jonin, Shimura Tan, died inexplicably in the Land of Grass.
Seeing no one looking for him, and Stone Panda not relaying Yuka’s call for help, Yoru knew the Golden Eagle Squad Leader and Danzo found nothing.
Danzo swallowed this loss, completely helpless.
Yoru relaxedly went to monitor the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Nothing happened to Kushina Uzumaki.
She went to school as usual, walked home from school with Minato Namikaze every day, then parted at some intersection; she returned to the Senju Clan, and Minato Namikaze went to the training ground.
In the training ground, Sakumo Hatake trained Minato and the young Kakashi together.
Time passed day by day.
Unsure how Yuka Uzumaki’s investigation in the Land of Hot Water was going, whether she had grasped the Sarutobi Clan Special Jonin’s whereabouts.
—
The full moon was like a silver plate.
Yoru waited for the full moon night once again.
He learned that the Jonin Promotion Exam was about to end, with only the last batch remaining.
On the third night after the full moon, at midnight, Yoru suddenly sensed contract chakra.
He first used Byakugan to check the surroundings, then infiltrated underground and entered the Underground Training Ground.
On the walls around the training ground hung vines engraved with Vine Earth Hidden Realm.
After summoning Bai Ci and Bai You, Yoru reverse summoned to the Land of Hot Water.
At the border of the Land of Hot Water.
Yuka Uzumaki saw the Fox and handed over the White Demon Mask:
“After the Shimura Clan Special Jonin was killed, they seem suspicious. The Sarutobi Clan Special Jonin moves at varying speeds, with erratic whereabouts.
We scouted that a Special Jonin named Hiruzen Sarutobi is hiding in that bathhouse tonight, planning to move after dawn tomorrow.”
Yoru put on the White Demon Mask, which was engraved with Sealing Jutsu; just like Danzo’s bandages isolating the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan’s detection, this mask had similar functionality.
He said: “Good, I’ll handle the rest. You all still stay far away.”
Yoru Body Flickered away, and Yuka Uzumaki and the others retreated outside the small town.
The Land of Hot Water had many hilly mountains and abundant hot spring mineral resources.
Yoru didn’t rashly enter the hot spring inn where Hiruzen Sarutobi was, instead observing the building layout from outside.
Soon, he found the water intake of this hot spring inn.
In the inn’s backyard, hot spring water was first collected into a water tower, then used the water tower’s height advantage to flow into each bath pool in front.
Yoru Body Flickered onto the water tower and quickly infiltrated the water tower.
The bathhouse was a good place, full of water—practically Yoru’s home turf.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, I’m here.
