Chapter 522: Searching for the Sky Ninja
The Konoha Intelligence Department, led by Ino, received a major mission proposed by the council, reviewed by the staff, and decreed by the Hokage.
The Sky Ninja had attacked Konoha without provocation. Regardless of their reasons or hardships, this debt had to be settled.
This time, Nagato had not used his large-scale Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, and many ninja had perished in the battle against the Sky Ninja and Pain. Someone had to be held accountable for this blood debt. If the Sky Ninja dared to attack Konoha, they had to be prepared to face severe retaliation.
The mission given to the Intelligence Department was to find the Sky Ninja's whereabouts and then repay them in kind, an eye for an eye.
The Sky Ninja were a nomadic group with no fixed territory, relying on an ancient flying fortress to conduct guerilla warfare. They would typically hide in remote ravines, and with the current level of technology in the world, they were genuinely difficult to track.
Ino deployed all her forces—the incorporated Root ninja, the Yamanaka clan's ninja, and the Intelligence Department's operatives—with a strict order: they must find these people.
Sai scouted the skies for dozens of miles on his ink bird. Fu Yamanaka was on the left, and Torune Aburame, a new addition to the Intelligence Department, was on the right. They were surrounded by a group of grim-faced ninja. Ino felt that if she were to don a black robe and wrap her eyes and arms in bandages, the scene would be perfectly fitting.
Aside from the absence of one old comrade, in all other aspects, it was no different from the old Root. The people were the same, and the tasks were still the same—killing and arson...
Ino sat like a bandit chief on a large boulder, eating instant noodles.
Subordinate ninja continuously reported intelligence to her.
She would nod from time to time.
The Sky Ninja hadn't just appeared out of thin air. Root had had some clandestine dealings with them in the past. Now, following the clues, it wasn't difficult to find some leads.
"Clan head, we've found a Sky Ninja squad," Fu Yamanaka reported calmly.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Ino threw down her instant noodles and wiped her mouth in a very unladylike manner. "After them! Find their hideout."
"Yes, ma'am."
Ino led a force of over six hundred ninja toward the Sky Ninja's main base. Throughout the process, no one saw any issue. When processing the intelligence, Fu Yamanaka didn't consult his good friend Torune Aburame, and Torune, being ignored, felt it was perfectly normal. He was used to it.
Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame were standard elite jonin. Sai, if placed among the Konoha 12, would be in the upper-middle tier. And Ino, their leader, was on another level entirely. Dealing with a group of mercenary-like Sky Ninja who fought for money was not difficult at all.
Many of the former Root ninja, now part of the Yamanaka clan, had been fitted with "Subdermal Armor" at Arasaka.
The raw material for the "Subdermal Armor" was taken from Kidomaru of the former Sound Four. Fu Yamanaka had personally captured him and brought him back to Arasaka.
Kidomaru could spit out a metallic spider silk. After Ino's research, she found that injecting this silk under the skin, when mixed with a ninja's own chakra during battle, could provide a decent level of defense.
This device was extremely effective against blunt force damage. Even against piercing damage, after the top layer of skin was penetrated, the "Subdermal Armor" in the dermis, with its many elastic and collagen fibers, could block most of the damage.
The defensive effect of the "Subdermal Armor" was immediate, and there were no mental side effects. However, the production of the raw spider silk was currently low, relying on Kidomaru, who was imprisoned deep underground at Arasaka Corporation, to slowly convert it in his body and then spit it out. Mass production was not yet possible, so Ino prioritized arming her own subordinates.
After two days of tracking, the group discovered the Sky Ninja's flying fortress, and Ino gave the order to attack.
"Die!" A "Yamanaka clan" ninja with an extremely indifferent expression thrust a kunai at the throat of a Sky Ninja. His opponent was also a ruthless man and, intending to trade his life for another's, thrust back with his own kunai.
"Pfft!" The Sky Ninja's throat was pierced. The kunai in his hand, however, only managed to break the skin of the "Yamanaka" ninja before being stopped by the "Subdermal Armor." He pushed again but couldn't break through, and then his strength failed him.
Fu Yamanaka, having returned to serve his clan, was eager to prove his worth. Wielding a short sword, he fought until he was covered in blood. Torune Aburame followed his good friend; wherever Fu went, he went.
The two coordinated with extreme tacit agreement. As Danzo's trusted right and left hands, slaughtering a group of fodder-like Sky Ninja was like breaking through bamboo. The Sky Ninja couldn't withstand their joint attack at all.
"Hahahaha—Isn't this a Root ninja? You dare to challenge me?" A square-faced old man with white hair and a white beard looked down on them from above.
"Clan head, that's the leader of the Sky Ninja, Shinnō," Fu Yamanaka whispered, afraid that Ino wouldn't recognize the enemy.
Shinnō? Why such a name? Ino had no impression of him. She looked up.
"Hmm? This old man's life force is quite strong. The rest of you, continue clearing out the enemies. I'll capture this old man and take him back to the village."
The interior of the flying fortress had a complex layout. Ino used her Rasengan to clear the path as she chased him from the first floor to the third. Shinnō, who had been standing arrogantly on the third floor just moments ago, had vanished.
"Trying to lure me into an ambush? Not a bad plan."
Ino's use of Sage Mode was becoming more and more proficient. It used to take her a minute and a half to enter Sage Mode; now, she had compressed it to under a minute.
Since the enemy had set an ambush up ahead, she certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to rush in. She closed her eyes to harmonize her senjutsu chakra, deciding to enter Sage Mode first.
On the other side, Shinnō recognized Ino and knew of her glorious achievements.
During the previous Great Ninja War, Ino and Minato Namikaze had impersonated each other. One day she would disguise herself as him, the next day he would pose as her. When Minato stood on the public stage once more, everyone had a sudden realization: So you weren't dead!
The Fourth Raikage had also guessed it. It wasn't just Ino Yamanaka he had fought back then. It was said he now spent his days at home cursing them for their "lack of martial virtue"!
The general consensus in the ninja world was that Ino was on the same level as Minato Namikaze; they could share the moniker "Yellow Flash."
Now, Shinnō certainly couldn't treat Ino as a common grunt. His expression turned ferocious as he continuously released the numerous limiters in his body, granting himself more chakra, greater strength, and faster speed!
"Gate of Opening, open!"
"Gate of Healing, open!"
"Gate of Life, open!"
"Gate of Pain, open!"
"Gate of Limit, open!"
"Gate of View, open!"
"Gate of Wonder, open!"
Shinnō gritted his teeth, pushing his self-created "Cell Activation Technique" to its absolute limit. His face became half white, half black. A massive amount of chakra gathered in his pathways, rushing toward the final gate of the Eight Inner Gates.
"Gate of Death, OPEN!!"
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