I like to express my gratitude to "Talal Baqren" for his support and becoming a patron on my .
------------------------------------
Chapter 97 Hiruzen! I am
Within the borders of The Land of Hot Water.
None of the eight people wore the Kirigakure Village forehead protectors, and their attire was just that of ordinary samurai.
These three little young warriors looked a little weird.
Zabuza was constantly adjusting the short sword hanging on his waist. He always felt a little awkward without the weapon on his back.
"Ao-sensei, the town ahead should be where the mission contact person mentioned in the intelligence is located."
Kaito looked around vigilantly and spoke to Ao to confirm.
After landing on the coastline of the Land of Hot Water, several people rushed all the way here, and unexpectedly encountered ninjas from the Kumogakure Village twice along the way.
Fortunately, with Ao's advance perception, they were able to avoid the opponent safely. However, everyone still decided to change into samurai costumes prepared in advance.
Although the eight-man samurai team was somewhat conspicuous, the daimyo of each Country would often send their own samurai out to do business, which would ultimately reduce some trouble.
Kumogakure Village is now dispersed, they must be gathering some information. They heard from some townspeople that the importance they attach to a group of samurai passing by and a group of ninjas passing by must be different.
"Let's talk about it first, there seem to be some Kumogakure ninjas in the town."
Ao still maintained his perception ninjutsu. Although Ao's perception ninjutsu could not specifically distinguish too detailed information, it had the advantage of having a very large perception range.
But they must enter the town, so they can only act carefully at this time.
"The people of Kumogakure are really arrogant. They conduct investigations so blatantly in other countries." Hozuki Shingetsu commented, baring his fangs.
Kaito looked at his sharp teeth and really wanted to say "Shut up", for fear that others would not know that you are from the Land of Water, right?
Fortunately, he didn't need to say anything more, as Ken smashed Hozuki Shingetsu's head with another punch.
"Shingetsu! Shut up! Or you can learn from Momochi Zabuza and wear a mask!"
After Shingetsu's mind recovered, he smiled awkwardly and stopped talking.
"I'm so sorry, Jōnin Ao."
After punishing his own team members, Ken still pressed Shingetsu's head and bowed to Ao to apologize.
Ao didn't care about these and still answered the other party's previous questions.
"There is a huge difference in status between the five great ninja countries and these small countries. What surprises me now is that Konohagakure, which is at war with the Kumogakure Village, actually ignores the other side's tricks behind the battlefield."
"Indeed, the commander of Konohagakure in the territory of the Land of Hot waters is 'The Darkness of the Shinobi', right? As a representative of the Konoha hawk faction, he doesn't seem like the type who would tolerate such a thing." Ken also raised his own doubts.
"That's something we need to investigate."
When Ao approached the town, he raised his hand to signal everyone to shut up and stop the topic.
However, after listening to the thoughts of the two senior ninjas, Kaito had some guesses.
'Danzo is not just a hawkish radical. He may do something that ordinary people cannot understand in order to relieve the pressure on Konoha's front battlefield. After all, with the strength of the AB combination, plus two or three hundred ninjas deployed together on a battlefield, it is really possible to directly determine the outcome of a war.'
After they walked into the town, they immediately saw a team of Kumogakure ninjas coming towards them.
However, the other party just glanced at the appearance of everyone, and walked out of the town without any follow-up action.
Several people looked at each other and couldn't help but doubt their previous guesses.
Are the Kumogakure ninjas really here to search for something? Why do they look so casual?
However, the most important thing is to meet up with the intelligence personnel in the Land of Hot Water, so the few of them did not go into details.
Everyone stopped in front of an ordinary sushi restaurant in the town.
If the shabby decoration and the bleak appearance of this store with few customers are considered rare, then perhaps this place is not so ordinary.
After the group walked into the store, the slovenly middle-aged boss behind the counter half leaned on the countertop, showing none of the fear and avoidance that ordinary civilians would have when seeing a samurai, and spoke in a bored tone.
"We're out of ingredients. You should go somewhere else. There is a restaurant called Oono's sushi restaurant two hundred meters to the left, which has fresh and delicious ingredients."
Ao looked at the man hesitantly, but still took out a special small scroll from his arms and threw it to the other party.
Who would have thought that the middle-aged man, who had already lowered his head and continued to lie down, would be hit on the head by the scroll without any reaction.
"Hey, what are you doing? I told you there's no ingredients."
The sloppy middle-aged man stood up cursing, but his expression immediately turned serious when he saw the thing that hit him.
With one hand, he easily climbed over the counter and rushed to the door of the store.
He was clearly just an ordinary person without any chakra, and he didn't even react to the scroll that was thrown at his head.
But now he was very agile and flexible, and his speed even impressed several ninjas present.
The man rushed to the door of the store and looked around. His expression was still cold and his movements were still agile, but his mouth made a very discordant, casual and lazy sound.
"SIGH~ This nice weather is still suitable for sleeping~ Guests please go back~ Close the shop~ Close the shop~"
It was not until the store door was closed that the man came respectfully towards them and bowed politely.
"Ninja-sama, are you here because of the matter of the Kumogakure Village? We will talk about it later."
After coming to their senses, everyone followed the man's guidance and entered the backyard of the shop.
Kaito couldn't help but sigh.
'This ordinary intelligence officer is more like a ninja than any ninja present.'
Just as several people met with the intelligence personnel to understand the situation.
On the other side, in the command tent at the front camp of the Konohagakure Village troops.
A ninja wearing a Konoha Anbu mask knelt on one knee respectfully, holding up a scroll in both hands and said.
"Danzo-sama, this is the information sent back by the bait team."
Shimura Danzo, with his hands behind his back, slowly turned around, took the intelligence scroll and opened it to check.
"Three dead? But as long as the bait is still alive, there's no problem."
"Pass on my order, tell them to hold on. They are not allowed to leave the southern part of the Land of Hot Water before receiving orders."
A Jōnin from the Nara clan nearby spoke hesitantly.
"Danzo-sama, should we launch the general attack early? Otherwise I'm afraid"
Shimura Danzo simply waved his hand to interrupt the other party's words.
"Everything is going according to plan. I believe they can hold on. This is all for Konoha!"
At this time, another Anbu Jōnin also gritted his teeth and tried to dissuade him.
"Danzo-sama, the Third Hokage-sama has sent two letters hoping to terminate the plan. Do you think it's okay?"
Danzo, who was already a little impatient at this moment, slammed the table in front of him hard, shocking all the ninjas present and making them quiet down temporarily.
Danzo stared at the ANBU ninja who had just spoken with his one intact eye, and spoke word by word.
"Then tell Hiruzen! I am the commander of the front line!"