Chapter 35: Secret Talk
Time goes back to morning.
Momochi Zabuza was the first to arrive at the training ground. When he saw Ao arrive, he immediately stepped forward.
"Ao-sensei, the Jōnin Yagura wants to talk to you about something."
Ao was a little stunned when Zabuza suddenly said this.
He should be considered as a neutral person on the side of Elder Genji, and he doesn't have much in common with Karatachi Yagura, the current leader of the civilian faction.
But they were usually acquaintances, so why did he need Zabuza to tell him when he wanted to talk to him?
Besides, Zabuza is his student now, so why did he come to invite him on behalf of Karatachi Yagura?
"What's the matter with Jōnin Yagura? Why didn't he come to me directly?"
Ao asked Zabuza with a somewhat dark face.
However, Zabuza was such a smart guy that he could not tell that Ao was in a bad mood at the moment, so he answered very straightforwardly.
"I'm not sure. It seems like he needs your help with something, but it's inconvenient for too many people to know, so he let me tell you."
Ao's expression improved a little after hearing this.
"When and Where shall we meet?"
"Now, I'll take you there."
Ao, whose mood had just calmed down a little, now had a completely dark face. He looked at his stupid student and suppressed the anger in his chest.
After Ao followed Zabuza all the way to another remote training ground, he was even more upset.
Does a secret meeting mean moving from one empty training ground to another empty training ground early in the morning?
For a moment, Ao even felt that the senior jōnin, Karatachi Yagura, was not so reliable.
But since he was already here, Ao decided to meet him first and hear what he wanted to say.
Just as Ao and Zabuza walked into the empty training ground, a ninja with green hair, a baby face and a huge hook on his back appeared in front of them in an instant.
This person who came was none other than Karatachi Yagura.
Ao was also secretly shocked. Although he did not use any perception ninjutsu, the other party was able to appear in front of him so silently. His strength was indeed far superior to his own.
"I'm so sorry to bother you to come here just to meet me."
Yagura remained humble in this situation and Ao did not care about him commanding his student privately.
"Tell me what's the urgent matter first."
Yagura also stated his purpose with a serious expression.
"It's . I suspect that the pirate mission your team carried out before was secretly done by a clan in the village. This is not a serious matter. Almost all ninja clans have some hidden power. But growing power by arresting civilians and smuggling weapons still violates the bottom line of the village."
"It's just that the Mizukage-sama seems to want to suppress this matter temporarily because of the war that is about to begin. But I think that it is precisely because of the war that such things that may undermine the stability of the village cannot be allowed to happen."
"Besides, if the Daimyo knew that someone in Kirigakure treated the people of Land of Water , he would most likely reduce his support for the village in the upcoming war."
Ao looked calmly at Yagura as he spoke righteously about the dangers of the matter.
Ao just doesn't know how much of what he said was for the Kirigakure Village and how much was for factional struggles.
However, although he belongs to the neutral faction, he is, after all, of common origin.
Moreover, kidnapping children is indeed against the ninja code, so Ao doesn't mind helping Yagura.
"How are you going to handle this?"
"I've read your mission report this time. The supplies and weapons of that pirate base were provided by a merchant from the Takumi Village. Based on my experience, this is 90% true."
"And since it's smuggling, it's definitely not just a small business of providing supplies and weapons to a few dozen small pirate groups. I will arrange for someone to issue a mission to the Takumi Village. I hope you can accept this mission and go to the Takumi Village to secretly investigate the situation and find out which clan is secretly trading with the other party."
After saying this, Yagura seemed to be afraid that Ao would not want to get involved in such troublesome matters, so he added.
"But don't worry, it doesn't matter even if you don't find anything. As long as you complete the surface mission, it won't affect your team. I will also investigate this matter from other aspects at the same time."
Ao was not surprised by the arrangement made by Yagura. This kind of open mission to cover up secret investigation was a common method used by ninjas.
But there were still some doubts in his mind. Ao did not hide it and asked directly.
"Why do you want my team to investigate this? There should be many people in the village who you trust more to carry out the mission."
Ao didn't tell him directly where his subordinates were. After all, Yagura was only the jōnin commander, which was a nominal position as the representative of all the jōnin. He didn't actually hold any position in the village, and he had no actual command power in non-wartime.
Most of his subordinates should be considered as defectors from the civilian faction.
"After all, my previous proposal for an investigation has been rejected by Mizukage-sama, and I am too big a target. Many clans in the village are watching my every move. If someone who is too close to me investigates, I am worried that it will alert the enemy."
Ao also accepted Yagura's reason.
"So if we find out which clan is responsible, what are you going to do?"
"This..." Yagura seemed a little hesitant, but thinking that he was going to ask Ao for help, he finally chose to tell the truth: "It depends on which clan it is. After all, if it really causes too much turmoil in the village..."
Ao saw the helpless look on Yagura's face and understood what he meant.
Just like the reason why the Mizukage suppressed the matter, if a large ninja clan was really divided because of something during the war, the harm caused to the Kirigakure Village would be immeasurable.
After all, the Kirigakure Village is not Konohagakure Village, so its tolerance for certain things is still higher.
"But no matter who is behind this, I will make him pay the price."
As if realizing that his hesitation just now was somewhat inappropriate, Yagura added another sentence.
He didn't know whether he was explaining to Ao or strengthening his own belief.
"Okay, I'll take this mission."
After some thought, Ao decided to take on the task, but more out of consideration for training his students.
The team has been reorganizing for some time, both through daily training and mission execution.
Ao can clearly know that his three students are rare geniuses.
He did not expect reforms to be implemented now like Yagura, but instead focused more on the future.
Ao believes that as long as these three people grow up, they will definitely bring different changes to the Kirigakure Village.
However, when Ao thought of this, he suddenly realized something and turned to look at Zabuza who had been listening to the conversation between him and Yagura from the beginning.
Looking at Zabuza's eyes that seemed to be half asleep and half awake, yet revealed a clear and foolish look, after he looked at him, he suddenly pretended to be resolute and cold.
Ao seemed to be worried about the future of the village again.