"For the sake of collecting funds, and monopolizing the Shinobi missions, we must spread Akatsuki's name to the whole world, making sure that even the smaller nations are aware that a powerful mercenary organization has been founded."
"However, we need to be cautious not to draw unnecessary attention from the Five Great Shinobi Countries especially in this first phase. Those of you who are missing-nin should hide your identity as much as possible."
Jūzō Biwa found Pain's request a hassle. It would be one thing if he earned money by killing people, but Pain just had to make it more difficult.
"What a pain," Jūzō complained.
"I think it makes sense. Although I don't know you Shinobi that well, I at least know that the Shinobi from the Five Great Shinobi Countries are powerful. Attracting their attention could be dangerous," Musashi said casually.
"The Shinobi from the Five Great Shinobi Countries are indeed strong, so strong that the Shinobi from small villages was like children before them. However, I don't think our organization is to be underestimated. After boldly recruiting so many S-rank missing-nin, I don't think our leader is afraid of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. There may be other reasons," Jūzō Biwa speculated.
"Maybe, but it's none of our concern. We can always run if things get tough," Musashi said nonchalantly. He had no intentions of risking his life for Akatsuki. If there was something in it for him, sure, but he wasn't willing to go all out for them.
"Are you really a samurai? I heard samurai thought highly of loyalty," Jūzō Biwa looked at Musashi with a skeptical gaze.
He sensed Musashi's indifference towards Akatsuki, as if he would immediately bolt as soon as things went south.
"Of course, I'm a genuine samurai. Have you ever seen me use Ninjutsu?" Musashi gripped the hilt of his sword
"That's true, but are there many samurai like you in the Land of Iron?" Jūzō Biwa asked curiously
The Land of Iron made a pact with Shinobi countries to leave each other alone. Therefore, Shinobi wouldn't go to the Land of Iron, and samurai from the Land of Iron wouldn't go to Shinobi Countries.
Jūzō Biwa was genuinely curious about the land of samurai. He felt Musashi was probably one of the strongest samurais. After all, if all samurai were as powerful as him, they wouldn't be replaced by Shinobi.
"A samurai like me..." Musashi pondered for a moment, unsure of how to answer.
"It's hard to say. I've left for quite a while, and I haven't challenged those seniors since then, so I don't know the specifics," he continued.
"Our target this time is in the north of the Land of Rice Fields, close to the Land of Iron. Do you want to go back to the Land of Iron?" Jūzō Biwa asked.
After some consideration, Musashi shook his head. At the moment, he was in a tricky situation—wanted by Kirigakure and involved with the dangerous organization Akatsuki. Going back to the Land of Iron might bring trouble, so he decided to wait until things settled before visiting.
It had only been three years, and he believed his sensei was as healthy as ever. Aside from his sensei, there was hardly anyone in the Land of Iron that he cared about.
"You better lead the way quickly. Let's have a good match after we complete the mission," Musashi said tauntingly.
Jūzō Biwa twisted his neck, making some cracking sound as a result before replying, "I've been getting used to your moves lately."
"Then I look forward to it," Musashi said challengingly.
Shortly after, the two picked up their pace, making their way to the northern part of the Land of Rice Fields fairly quickly.
The Land of Rice Fields was a country without a Shinobi village, and their high-brass was corrupt. Hence, it became one of the key targets for Akatsuki!
The absence of a shinobi village implied weak military strength, and in times of war, they had to hire Shinobi from other countries to defend their country, and having a corrupt government meant the country was perfect to be manipulated.
The two of them took on a mission to assassinate the recently appointed Land of Rice Fields' minister. The one who issued the task was the country's Daimyo!
It seemed that the newly appointed minister didn't appreciate the Land of Iron's customs, and planned to make some changes, which didn't sit well with the Daimyo.
Of course, this information wasn't provided by the Daimyo who hired them. In reality, they shouldn't even know the name of the person issuing the mission. But with Zetsu around, no information could be concealed from them.
Akatsuki did not only know the reason behind the commission but also various informations regarding their client.
So, Pain planned to kill the minister to complete the commission and collect the money. After that, he'd threaten to spread the information about the fact that the Daimyo was the one who placed a bounty on the minister's head if he didn't cooperate with him. The cooperation was mainly to exclusively hiring Akatsuki for shinobi missions.
However, in return, Akatsuki would give the Land of Rice Fields a discount. Pain believed that even if this was a form of extortion, the Daimyo would accept it because Akatsuki's service was cheaper, allowing him to save more money.
Pain intended to use this method to gradually ingrained Akatsuki's roots on smaller nations before moving on to bigger nations.
Thanks to Musashi and Jūzō Biwa's exceptional physical strength, they managed to reach their destination quickly.
They arrived at the capital of the Land of Rice Fields in the northern area, which was significantly different from the villages they had passed on their way. It was much more prosperous, with tall buildings, shops selling various goods on the streets, and even specialties from other countries.
"Juzo, you should be more experienced with assassinations than I am. What should we do next?" Musashi asked as they found a dark alley.
"If it were me, I'd probably investigate the target's habits in advance, then lurk on the route my target will pass at night and take him out," Juzo pondered and replied.
"After all, this is a small country without a shinobi village, and its military strength is weak. Hadn't it been for our organization's weird order, we could simply break into the palace and kill the target ourselves."
"Then let's go with your plan. Investigate the target's habits first, and then find the opportunity to eliminate him," Musashi nodded.
After all, he was just a samurai, and he preferred head-on fight. The information provided by Zetsu was quite detailed, including a detailed map of the Land of Rice Fields and the location of the minister's residence. This highlighted the importance of information.
Without Zetsu's information, just finding the minister could have taken a considerable effort. With the exact location, they wouldn't need to waste much time planning and could directly wait for the minister at his residence.
Because they arrived in the afternoon, Musashi and Juzo, who were hiding in the minister's house, quickly spotted the minister returning home for dinner.
The minister was a somewhat thin middle-aged man. As he approached his doorstep, his expression wasn't very pleasant. He seemed to be slightly sad.
Apart from the minister himself, there were also two samurai accompanying him. However, according to Musashi's Color of Observation Haki, the two samurai were not particularly strong, around Chuunin-level Shinobi. He could have taken those two samurai at once even prior to encountering his pops.
"If they keep messing around, the Land of Rice Fields is in imminent danger." The minister sighed upon thinking about his corrupt colleagues.
Due to advocating for reform, he gained the support of many citizens and like-minded individuals. That was how he became the minister. He knew full well that he managed to become a minister because the Daimyo wanted to use him to balance the political power.
However, the minister didn't care. This worked out to his favour as he could do more things now that he was a minister.
However, the minister underestimated how corrupt his colleagues were. Due to the Daimyo's threat and temptation, many of his supporters shifted their allegiance to the Daimyo, opposing his reform.
Fortunately, the minister didn't attain this position by fluke. He was more cunning than corrupt officials. He established a new department on the pretence that the country needed a stronger force to eliminate internal issues.
So, even though, the Daimyo's power hadn't diminished on the surface, in reality, a portion of it had been taken away. While the ultimate goal had been achieved, the minister felt the situation was challenging.
This time, he managed to pull a fast one on the Daimyo thanks to the accurate information that he got. Next time, the Daimyo would likely be better prepared, and success wasn't guaranteed.
"Sir, those insects are not worth your concern," the slightly shorter samurai on the right said angrily.
Hearing the samurai referring to those people as insects, the minister smiled and then said, "I actually wish they were actual insects. It would make dealing with them much easier. Unfortunately, they are cunning, but instead of using their wits to govern this country, they use it fill their own pockets."
"In addition, I'll have to trouble you with leading a punitive team to eliminate the mountain bandits, Takasugi. We really need to deal with the bandits in the country, or else caravans won't even think about entering the Land of Rice Fields," the minister said with seriously.
"Mere bandits are no match to me. Just leave it to me, sir!" Takasugi responded confidently,.
"I believe in you." The minister patted Takasugi's shoulder with a smile and then entered the house.
"The samurai guarding outside are pretty easy prey. We can strike now," Juzo said after glancing at the two samurai.
After waiting for two minutes and realizing that Musashi had not responded, Juzo looked at him and found Musashi lost in thought.
"Musashi!" Juzo furrowed his brow slightly and directly called Musashi's name.
Although Musashi was powerful, he wasn't a Shinobi and getting distracted during a mission was a big mistake.
Juzo felt it might be necessary to teach Musashi some Shinobi knowledge when they returned.
"Hmm?" Musashi, upon hearing his name, snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Juzo.
"I said the samurai are easy prey. Now is a good time to strike. Shall we?" Juzo asked.
Although most people would realize that the perpetrator was the Daimyo if the minister died now, Juzo was confident that they would not leave any traces. Therefore, no one could track the cooperation between Akatsuki and the Daimyo.
"Strike now..." Musashi's face was filled with doubts.
Originally, he didn't care, but if he remembered correctly, Gaucho's family died at the hands of mountain bandits. Without their pops, Gaucho might have also perished at the hands of bandits, even though that incident occurred in the Land of Grass. After he overheard that the idea minister planned to eliminate bandits in the Land of Rice Fields on top of the information from Zetsu, Musashi felt like this minister might unexpectedly be a good person.
The problem now was that Musashi didn't want to kill good people. In general, he avoided taking lives. Back when he infiltrated Kirigakure and fought skilled Shinobi there, he defeated them all without killing anyone. Musashi believed that trespassing Kirigakure was already wrong as it was, and killing Kirigakure's Shinobi would be even worse.
In this situation, even if he didn't make any move, Musashi couldn't guarantee that Juzo wouldn't either, nor could he tell what the Daimyo would do next.
"Alright, let's move now. You use Transformation Technique to disguise yourself as the minister to divert their attention, and I'll take the minister to a secluded place and kill him," Musashi said after thinking for a moment.
"Okay," Juzo agreed after considering it.
The two of them moved at the same time. Musashi silently appeared behind the minister and knocked him unconscious. Then, Juzo quickly made hand seals and disguised himself as the minister.
With Musashi's exceptional speed, he effortlessly avoided everyone, bringing the minister to the outskirts of the Land of Rice Fields.
Musashi found a secluded alley, placed the minister on the ground, and used Chakra to stimulate him. The minister felt a sudden stinging pain in his body and woke up.
Realizing he wasn't at home but lying on a dark street with an unfamiliar person in front of him, the minister was surprised for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
"What do you want?" The minister asked calmly.
Since this person didn't kill him immediately, he must've needed something from him.
Musashi didn't waste any second and informed the minister about the Daimyo's plot to assassinate him. However, during this process, Musashi concealed any of Akatsuki's involvement and only mentioned that he belonged to some organization.
Seeing that the minister seemed to be a kind person, Musashi couldn't bring himself to harm him. Instead, he chose to reveal the truth.
"That guy is really crazy! He would even go this far," the minister frowned.
It seemed that he had underestimated the Daimyo. If the evidence regarding this assassination attempt was found, even a Daimyo wouldn't get out unscathed.
"You should find a way to get out of this country. I saved you this time, but the next person might not be as lenient as I am. For your own good, you should leave the Land of Rice Fields," Musashi advised.
After thinking for a moment, the minister nodded. The fact that the general hired a Shinobi to kill him showed that the general didn't want to fight fair and square. He could take advantage of this opportunity and lay low while gathering support.
Seeing the minister agreed, Musashi felt relieved. The next step was to find the Daimyo.