Chapter 237: Exposed
Orochimaru surprisingly asked Yoru for his opinion on the investigation of Buruubi, and his emphasis caught Yoru off guard.
Yoru immediately corrected his position and said:
“Lord Orochimaru, you are the Third Lord’s direct disciple.
Lord Kiiroinu once told me that Anbu now belongs to the Third Lord, but it will ultimately be yours in the future.
In this mission, I will resolutely carry out your orders!”
Regardless of whether Kiiroinu wanted to become the Fourth Hokage or not, at least for now, Kiiroinu was far behind Orochimaru.
Kiiroinu was a key figure among the village high-ranking officials, but no one in the village even knew of his existence.
If he wanted to become the Fourth Hokage, he was probably following Danzo’s path, transitioning from Anbu Minister or Vice Minister to Hokage Advisor.
From the position of Hokage Advisor, he would gain prestige and then compete for Hokage.
With this little flattery, wouldn’t Orochimaru have to say a few good words about himself in front of Kiiroinu?
Orochimaru chuckled twice, not expecting the Fox to be so sensible. Orochimaru said:
“Fox, in this mission, you are responsible for holding back the Third Raikage.”
Yoru was stunned.
Who?
Me?
Ah?
Is this your lineage? When there’s trouble, the subordinate steps up; if the subordinate doesn’t, force the subordinate to step up?
Yoru nodded with difficulty: “Understood, Lord Orochimaru.”
Agree first, and if it doesn’t work, protect Orochimaru behind him at that time.
If Orochimaru doesn’t cooperate, then protect Prop first; if I can’t deal with Orochimaru, surely I can deal with you.
Not using you as a meat shield would make me seem out of place.
Prop didn’t understand why the Fox was looking at him; the Fox’s gaze was strange.
The Fox wouldn’t want him to speak up for him, would he?
Impossible!
Orochimaru was Root’s Armor; how could he, a mere Root Ninja, refuse his decision?
But Prop was very surprised in his heart; did Orochimaru really think the Fox could hold back the Third Raikage?
Last time while traveling with Sakumo Hatake, Sakumo Hatake considered the strength of Special Jonin like Shirakumo Hayama and didn’t run at full speed.
Orochimaru had none of those bad habits and sped along at his own pace the whole way.
Yoru saw Orochimaru’s swinging arms while running, which was far more reasonable than swinging both hands behind.
Yoru could keep up, though it was a bit taxing.
Prop was in bad shape, panting heavily, legs trembling; Yoru was afraid his muscles would suffer rhabdomyolysis.
The journey took only 13 days to reach deep into the Land of Lightning.
The mountaintop of the mountain range 30 kilometers ahead was the Hidden Cloud Village.
Going any deeper would easily be detected by Cloud Ninja.
Orochimaru said: “Prop, find your Root spies and send out the intelligence.”
Prop left in response.
His legs were weak, but he forced himself to climb toward the mountaintop.
Orochimaru and Yoru hid in a valley.
Being with Orochimaru brought some pressure.
Yoru was worried in his heart, not knowing what intelligence Yuka and the others had gathered from their investigation in the Land of Iron.
He hadn’t received any contract chakra notification yet.
He didn’t know if things were going smoothly for Yuka.
Even if Yuka notified him, with Orochimaru by his side, could he go deal with Root’s Ji and Geng?
—
The full moon was like a silver plate.
Yoru waited until the new full moon night.
Half a month this month had been spent traveling, another month wasted on Anbu.
Two days after the full moon, Prop finally returned.
Orochimaru asked: “What intelligence did Yakushi Nonou give?”
Yoru was stunned; Orochimaru actually knew that the spy Prop was going to find was Yakushi Nonou.
Yakushi Nonou was Root’s ace spy; in the most critical missions, she was the most trusted.
“Lord Orochimaru! It’s not intelligence on the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki; it’s that the killer who assassinated Ding and Wu has appeared!”
Yoru was stunned; weren’t they here to investigate Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Buruubi? How did it jump to the killer who assassinated Ding and Wu?
Besides, the killer who assassinated Ding and Wu had appeared long ago and had traveled half a month with you.
I wonder if your back feels cold.
Prop hurriedly said: “Ji and the others set up a trap and found three ninja wearing Ogre Masks!
Lord Orochimaru, according to the plan, you should go over now and execute the killers!”
Yoru’s pupils contracted.
The three killers wearing Ogre Masks weren’t they Yuka and her two companions?
“Oh?” Orochimaru said:
“This is interesting. Someone dares to strike at Root repeatedly; I’m very interested. Where are they?”
“Ninja Hawk relayed the message: the three killers are extremely strong and were chased by four Root Ninja—Ji and others—from the Land of Iron into the bay between the Land of Iron and the Land of Lightning!”
Yoru calculated in his mind: Ninja Hawk was faster than ninja, but from the Land of Iron to the bay, it would take at least two days.
That meant Yuka and her two companions had encountered danger two days ago.
Orochimaru said: “Lead the way. Let’s go meet these people who dare to assassinate Root Ninja.”
Yoru hurriedly said: “Lord Orochimaru! Our mission is to investigate Buruubi. Changing the mission rashly—won’t it affect our task?”
Orochimaru said: “Fox, don’t be bound by Anbu missions. There are many things in this world far more important than missions.
For example, these three killers who dare to assassinate Root Ninja—I wonder if they even know who Danzo is.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such brave people; I must go meet them.”
Yoru felt uneasy in his heart; Orochimaru was the supreme commander, and him explaining himself was already giving him face. There was no way to refute.
The three quickly headed toward the bay.
Between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Iron, there was only a narrow bay strait; for ninja, they could simply run across the water on the strait into the Land of Lightning.
This time, Yoru’s speed was very fast, occasionally half a step ahead of Orochimaru.
Orochimaru saw the Fox moving so quickly and assumed he was worried about failing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki mission, so he also sped up considerably.
The stone mountain range of the Land of Lightning was not easy to traverse.
Prop was out of luck; without the strength of an Elite Jonin, under the lead of Orochimaru and the Fox, he ran with a flushed face and sweat pouring like rain.
The surrounding air was growing increasingly humid, with traces of rain from the past few days on the ground, proving they were getting closer to the coastline.
Yoru thought to himself that Yuka Uzumaki had many summoning beasts inherited from the Uzumaki Clan, but she couldn’t use them directly.
If she used flying summoning beasts—Yatagarasu, Long Spear Egret, or giant Owl—it would confirm the killers were Uzumaki Remnants, exposing the intelligence on the Uzumaki Remnants.
After crossing a high mountain, Yoru saw Yuka wearing the Kappa Demon Mask and Kaicho Uzumaki wearing the Oni Mask.
Gencho Uzumaki was nowhere to be seen.
Behind Yuka Uzumaki, there were four Root Ninja.
Three were chasing on the ground: Ji, Geng, and Xin.
Ren was flying in the sky, sitting on Super Beast Imitation Drawing: Bird Amidst Clouds.
Yoru glanced at Orochimaru to the side and pondered how exactly to save Yuka Uzumaki.
Yoru continuously scanned everyone, gathering intelligence.
Ren mastered the Super Beast Imitation Drawing secret jutsu from the original story’s Sai; he was Sai’s elder.
His Super Beast Imitation Drawing: Bird Amidst Clouds was very fast.
A cloud of insects surrounded Ji.
The Yamanaka Clan and Aburame Clan—these two ninja clans, whether willingly or forced, had contributed many talents to Danzo.
The remaining Geng and Xin were simply pursuing; no abilities were apparent yet.
Yoru noticed that Yuka indeed hadn’t used any summoning beasts, afraid that her Uzumaki Clan identity would attract attention from Danzo and Root.
If only using taijutsu and ninjutsu, Yuka Uzumaki and her two companions were at a disadvantage against Root’s four elites.
If Danzo knew the Uzumaki Clan’s remnants possessed such great strength, to eliminate them forever, he would fully cleanse the Uzumaki Clan remnants.
Danzo was extremely skilled at cutting the grass at the root.
Prop saw the two ninja wearing ghost face masks and immediately rushed forward.
Orochimaru and Yoru stayed in place.
Orochimaru thought he could watch a bit more—it was quite interesting—so he didn’t join.
Yoru wanted even more to gather intelligence.
