Sasuke's attitude was extremely bad, but it couldn't be helped. He was consumed by the desire for revenge and didn't have time to waste here.
Moreover, selling information was a dangerous business, and this wasn't a Shinobi Village, just a regular small town. It was all the more dangerous. It was likely for this reason that the intelligence organization was hidden in a tavern. After all, places like this were full of all kinds of people, making it harder to detect.
Generally speaking, intelligence networks would only sell information to familiar customers or those introduced by trusted contacts. Someone like Sasuke, a stranger and a Shinobi, was definitely not the kind of customer the intelligence organization would welcome.
Sasuke knew this well, which is why he had to adopt a tough attitude to force out the real members of the organization.
Sure enough, when the bartender heard that Sasuke was about to make a move, his expression grew nervous, but he still managed to hold it in, trembling as he spoke, "Shinobi-sama, please don't make things difficult for our humble establishment. We really don't have any information. How about having a drink and leaving quietly?"
"Hmph! You think I'm here for a drink?"
Sasuke snorted coldly and was about to act.
Just then, a lazy voice interrupted Sasuke's actions.
"If you make a move, there really won't be any information."
As the voice finished, a bald man drinking at the table stood up. He waved at the bartender, saying, "Go and do your thing. I'll take care of this."
"Understood!"
The bartender nodded repeatedly and hurriedly left.
He really couldn't say much more, as saying anything else would have led to his own demise by the organization's hand.
Sasuke paid no attention to the bartender, his full focus now on the bald man, "You can provide information?"
'This bald man had a strong presence, at least on the level of a Jonin. In this small town's intelligence organization, he was likely the leader… or at the very least, someone in charge.'
The bald man flipped through some documents and said, "If I have any, I'll sell them to you. But I'm curious about one thing, how did you know this is an intelligence organization? Konoha's Missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. The fact that the man had recognized his identity meant this intelligence organization was no ordinary one.
"Give me the information. If I'm satisfied with the result, I'll tell you how I knew."
Sasuke spoke coldly, refusing to be manipulated into revealing more.
"You've got some guts."
The bald man stroked his shiny head and licked his lips, "Alright, tell me what you want to know?"
Sasuke paused for a moment, then said, "Everything about Uchiha Itachi."
"Uchiha Itachi? That guy's information is really hard to come by. What's your offer..."
Bang!
Before the bald man could finish his sentence, the black-robed figure slapped him on the head with one swift motion.
The bald man instantly began bleeding from all seven of his orifices and died on the spot.
"How could you kill him?"
Sasuke frowned, even more shocked by the black-robed figure's methods.
The speed of the strike was so fast that Sasuke couldn't follow it with his Sharingan. By the time he focused, the black-robed figure's hand was already on the bald man's head.
The man, a seasoned Jonin, hadn't even had a chance to resist and had died on the spot. What was even more surprising was that the black-robed figure didn't seem to have used their full strength.
It was as if they'd swatted a fly, easy and effortless. It was absurdly exaggerated.
The most troubling part was that despite the speed, the black-robed figure hadn't crushed the bald man's skull.
The man had bled from all seven orifices, but the skull wasn't deformed. The level of precision in that strike was something even Sasuke, with his Mangekyo Sharingan, couldn't replicate.
Upon closer inspection, Sasuke noticed the black-robed figure's hand was thin and delicate, but there were dark purple-black scales attached to it.
He couldn't tell whether they were naturally part of the black-robed figure or if they were some kind of scaled glove.
"No need to be so complicated."
The black-robed figure spoke lightly, then reached out, curling their hand into a claw and placing it on the bald man's head.
It wasn't simply that the fingers curled, but long, sharp spikes suddenly emerged from theblack-robed figure's fingertips.
The spikes pierced into the bald man's skull, and immediately, the entire hand, covered in dark purple-black scales, began to glow with a green light.
'Another green glow?'
Sasuke was momentarily stunned. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was yet another one of the black-robed figure's secret techniques.
When the green light faded, the black-robed figure withdrew their hand, and the spikes quickly retracted. By the time the hand was almost fully retracted into the black robe, the spikes had completely disappeared.
This left Sasuke even more bewildered.
'Could the black-robed figure is not human, but some kind of monster?'
Before he could think any further, the black-robed figure's words shifted his focus.
"This guy's brain has been collected. Once we analyze his memories, we'll have access to all the information he knows about Uchiha Itachi."
"Good!"
After a brief pause, Sasuke replied in a low voice.
He honestly didn't know what to say. The black-robed figure's methods were already beyond comprehension.
'To think that he could read memories… it was an unheard-of, god-like ability.'
Not even ten minutes passed before the black-robed figure spoke again, "The analysis is complete."
As the words left the black-robed figure's mouth, they vanished in a flash, like a ghost, disappearing through the tavern's back door.
Just as Sasuke was about to chase after him, the black-robed figure had already returned, holding several scrolls in his hand.
"These are all the intelligence this organization has on Itachi."
"Thank you!"
Sasuke took the scroll and looked through it. With his Mangekyo Sharingan, he could read ten lines at a glance. In just a few minutes, he had finished reading them all.
"These are garbage intel."
Sasuke couldn't help but complained.
Much of the content was about how powerful Itachi was and how one should not easily provoke him, but it offered no concrete details about his abilities.
Whether it was Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi, none of it was mentioned. It was essentially filler… useless fluff to make up space.
But he didn't blame the intelligence organization. After all, what could an intelligence organization from a small town possibly know of value out?
"I think this one is somewhat useful."
The black-robed figure said, pointing at a particular section of the scroll.
"Before Uchiha Itachi defected, he served in the Anbu, under the Root Division, which was led by Danzo."
Sasuke glanced at the content and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with this one?"
While Sasuke wasn't aware of the details, he knew this was old news. Itachi had defected from Konoha years ago. So he wondered how could this outdated information possibly be of any use.
The black-robed figure explained, "The impact that a Missing-nin has on a Shinobi Village is self-evident, but a Missing-nin like Itachi, who wiped out his own clan, is an even more important target for investigation. Itachi once served under Danzo in the Root, so Danzo might have more information. After all, Konoha is far more powerful than these small intelligence networks."
"Hiss!"
Sasuke couldn't help but gasp. The black-robed figure's words were like a wake-up call to him.
He hadn't expected that the black-robed figure would not only be powerful but also exceptionally intelligent. Sasuke couldn't help but feel fortunate to have met them.
However, the more Sasuke thought about it, the less he understood the black-robed figure's true motives.
'This person killed without hesitation, yet they were so friendly toward me. It seemed suspicious no matter how one looked at it.'
But after thinking for a while, Sasuke stopped dwelling on it. His goal was simple… find Itachi, kill him, and exact his revenge. That was all that mattered to him!
He had already decided. As long as the black-robed figure could help him get his revenge on Itachi, Sasuke would be willing to bear whatever came after.
"Then let's not waste any time. We should head to Konoha now..."