Chapter 284: Who’s Really Enjoying This?
The letter said that Danzo personally came to the orphanage today, requiring Yakushi Nonou to continue gathering intelligence for Root.
Yakushi Nonou had no choice but to set off immediately, with no time to say goodbye to Fox.
If Danzo showed mercy once, by the time Yakushi Nonou returned to Konoha next time, it might be by the end of Konoha
Yoru lowered his gaze.
The blow to Root still wasn’t enough.
He thought Root had suffered a loss and learned its lesson, but Root had only grown weaker, not better.
The next morning, Yoru entered Kiiroinu’s office.
“Minister, why can Root obtain so much intelligence? Although we Anbu can use that intelligence, we cannot verify its authenticity,” Yoru said.
“I’m preparing to carry out assassinations according to the manual’s list, but thinking that the intelligence is provided by others makes me uneasy.
What if the intelligence given is wrong?”
Kiiroinu understood Fox’s concerns, and he said:
“The intelligence system and spy system—this is a very complex legacy issue.
When Third Lord had just succeeded as Hokage, he let Danzo Minister take over Second Hokage’s intelligence system.
Danzo Minister secretly selects spies every year, sending them to other ninja villages, other countries, and other organizations.
This spy system has extremely high secrecy, so no one except Danzo Minister can take it over.
Even if Third Hokage changes the Anbu Minister, those spies who have been lurking for five or ten years will not trust the new recruit.”
Besides Yakushi Nonou, Danzo had quite a few ace spies in hand.
Having operated the spy system for over a decade, these spies formed one of the foundations of Danzo’s power, consolidating Danzo’s irreplaceability.
Kiiroinu said: “Even now, I don’t know how Danzo Minister communicates information with spy leaders from other ninja villages.
Fox, if you’re interested, you can try to investigate, but you must not cause the spies to be exposed.
Those spies are precious wealth to Konoha, heroes who have made huge sacrifices for Konoha.
I greatly admire those spies; lurking in enemy villages for five or ten years without exposure—the hardships involved are indescribable.
Even just sending back intelligence like enemy village price levels is a great help to Konoha.”
“I understand.”
In the Yamanaka Clan compound.
Yamanaka Riko sat in the courtyard, sewing clothes for a child.
A gentle smile occasionally appeared on her fair face.
Yoru leaned behind a wooden pillar in the distance, watching Yamanaka Riko from afar.
He wanted to keep lying low forever, always hiding in the darkness.
However, he could not remain alone forever.
A large net slowly appeared around him, and on this large net were many people he was growing increasingly familiar with.
These people together formed the current him; he was no longer a stranger from a different world who had transmigrated.
He had his lover Qiao Yi, his mistress, his third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and familiar subordinates like Aries, Hanashika, and others.
Now with more bonds, he had to be even more careful and cautious.
Yoru left using the Mayfly Technique.
In the courtyard, Yamanaka Riko suddenly looked up, discovering nothing.
She had a sense in her heart, as if someone had glanced at her.
Yoru brought Flower Deer Squad to the village entrance, threw a kunai to nail a village exit permit to the gate, and left the village.
The gate guards went to pull out the kunai.
The gate was pitted and pockmarked with countless holes chiseled by kunai.
“Who were those people just now? They were too fast; I didn’t even see them. These ninja with urgent missions are really annoying; this gate will eventually be chiseled to pieces by them.”
“The one leading the team just now was an Anbu squad leader! Haven’t you seen a squad leader’s cloak? It’s not a low-key black cloak anymore; it’s become a conspicuous white cloak.”
“A squad leader, huh? No wonder he’s not afraid of being discovered.”
Yoru and Flower Deer Squad quickly headed north.
Intelligence from Root indicated that Cloud Ninja jonin Takami, skilled in Lightning Release, had left Cloud Village to carry out a mission in Land of Moon.
Takami was an A-rank target in the Assassination Manual, promoted to jonin for five or six years, with considerable strength.
Western Land of Moon.
Samurai were escorting a group of civilians toward the mines.
A great noble of Land of Moon, Kinzan Shin, had detected coal in his territory and forcibly conscripted many civilians to go into the mountains to mine.
The ragged civilians were tied together with ropes, twenty per group, heading into the deep mountains.
A civilian young boy named Da Kong walked barefoot on the stones, his clothes tattered all over, quietly comforting the companion behind him:
“We escaped once, so we can definitely escape a second time!”
Half a month ago, a mining disaster occurred in great noble Kinzan Shin’s coal mine, killing over 50 people.
The miners refused to mine coal with chisels in mine shafts without any safety measures, leading to a riot.
The riot killed over 100 miners, and more than 200 escaped the deep mountains.
They reached as far as the coast of Land of Moon, with Land of Iron across the bay; as long as they entered neutral Land of Iron, they could survive.
Land of Moon nobles could not enter Land of Iron to pursue the escaped miners.
However, the appearance of Cloud Ninja shattered all their illusions.
Cloud Ninja jonin Takami accepted the commission from great noble Kinzan Shin, rushed to the seaside, killed the rebel leader, and stopped the remaining miners.
Takami stood on the hillside, frowning at the long line of bound miners on the mountain path.
“Why are these miners walking so slowly?”
A squad team member said: “Captain, these miners are starving and can’t walk fast. They betrayed Lord Kinzan Shin; that noble wants them to go hungry for a few days to teach them a lesson.”
Takami felt annoyed inside.
Every time he left Cloud Village, Takami felt surrounded by an intangible sense of danger.
This time, the feeling of leaving the village was even stronger.
Everywhere except Cloud Village was too dangerous.
This place was too close to Land of Hot Water, where he could encounter ferocious Konoha ninja at any time.
Many in the village criticized Third Raikage, saying Raikage’s policy was too soft.
Konoha had made two moves on jinchuriki, but in the end only caused a two-month conflict on the border, gaining nothing and hastily ending it.
If they could take Land of Hot Water, Takami’s mission this time would be much safer.
Takami was not one of those foolish martial faction; he understood that even as a jonin, he could die at any moment.
After thinking, Takami said: “Go to the end of the line and kill those sick and injured miners. The noble isn’t giving grain, and they can’t be allowed to delay our time.”
The Cloud Ninja team member nodded and quickly went to the rear of the line.
He drew his ninja sword and hacked to death three miners with leg injuries.
“Get the fuck moving! Don’t delay our mission!”
Seeing this, the miners behind pushed and shoved, squeezing forward.
Panic spread among the miners.
Starving, with most of their soles worn through, and fearing the ninja would kill them, they quickened their pace forward.
Yoru put down the telescope.
The ninja world was truly a strange place.
Ninja who wield superpowers live in darkness.
Daimyo and nobles who hold secular power are in constant danger of being assassinated by ninja.
As for civilians, they endure exploitation by nobles and worry about being killed by passing ninja.
Everyone lives miserably—who exactly is enjoying it?
These miners are the great livestock of great noble Kinzan Shin.
Only great nobles have the money to hire ninja; in front of ninja, civilian miners have no ability to resist.
