"Has everything been verified?"
"Verified. According to intelligence from our agents planted on Yuexi Peninsula, seven days ago a messenger boat did indeed hit a reef and sink in the distant waters off Yuexi Peninsula. No survivors. Hidden Sand Village has already held a memorial service, and this person's name was among them."
"Mm, what about the other bodies?"
"They probably drifted to more distant waters with the current, or were eaten by sharks. This one was lucky—got caught on the reefs of East Yigeng Island, which is why the body remained intact."
"Then his luck was indeed quite good."
"Yes, ocean currents are unpredictable and irregular. This guy really was lucky."
"Was an autopsy performed?"
"Should be nearly finished."
"Let's go take a look."
Karatachi Yagura said to Ao, then looked back at Koharu Utatane and Jiraiya.
"If you three are interested, why don't you join us?"
Koharu Utatane and Jiraiya exchanged glances.
"I have no particular reservations."
Jiraiya said frankly.
"Neither do I."
Uchiha Fugaku said.
"Then let's all go see this lucky fellow."
Koharu Utatane also became interested.
With that, the group of five—Karatachi Yagura, Ao, Koharu Utatane, Jiraiya, and Uchiha Fugaku—moved to the autopsy room.
There lay a corpse, somewhat bloated from seawater, naked on the autopsy table with chest and abdominal cavities already opened.
On a nearby table were arranged various clothing and personal effects.
The five put on masks and gloves before entering the room. A hunched medical examiner bowed to Karatachi Yagura and Ao.
"Mizukage-sama, Ao-sama."
"No need for ceremony."
Karatachi Yagura gestured.
Ao introduced the Konoha trio: "This is our Hidden Mist Village's most senior medical examiner, Amin, with thirty years of forensic experience."
"Oh."
Jiraiya nodded.
"How's the situation?"
Ao asked Amin.
Amin's expression was dull, like a dead man himself.
"The autopsy is complete."
"Give us a rundown."
Amin looked warily at the three Konoha ninja but didn't speak.
Seeing this, Ao explained: "These three are all allies of our Hidden Mist Village. Speak freely."
Only then did Amin begin.
"This deceased individual was approximately twenty-eight to thirty-two years old, died ten days ago, cause of death was drowning."
"That's it?"
Jiraiya felt the information was too sparse. A medical examiner with thirty years of experience—this level? Any apprentice could say as much.
Amin glanced at Jiraiya impatiently but still didn't speak.
"Amin, just tell us everything. This person's information is very important to our Hidden Mist Village."
Karatachi Yagura said.
Seeing the Mizukage himself speak up, Amin no longer held back.
"This dead guy has some background."
"Oh!"
That one sentence immediately perked everyone up.
"The body itself has little reference value—been soaked in seawater for days. Aside from lungs full of seawater and bubbles, other things don't have much reference value. The only somewhat meaningful detail is those two porcelain teeth in his mouth, indicating this person came from a good background."
Amin slowly moved to the evidence table.
"The really valuable stuff is these things."
Everyone's eyes followed.
"This outfit is a standard Hidden Sand ninja combat uniform. Based on the insignia, this person was a chūnin."
Amin pointed to the hourglass symbols on the combat uniform's chest—two of them.
Hidden Sand Village rules: genin had one hourglass symbol on their chest, chūnin had two, jōnin had three.
"This is a white headwrap that Hidden Sand ninja like to wear, to prevent sandstorms and block sunlight from burning the neck. This headwrap is no ordinary thing—it's lambswool."
"What's special about lambswool?"
Jiraiya asked.
Amin gave Jiraiya a disdainful look.
"Ten lambs produce one tael of wool. This headwrap alone is worth at least thirty lambs. Shows this person was either wealthy or noble."
Without caring about Jiraiya's surprised expression, he continued.
"Hourglass Group-produced first-generation military waterproof watch, Steel Heart, and it's a limited edition. This one watch is worth 120,000 ryō.
Damascus tactical short blade, premium steel kunai, waterproof explosive tags, military chocolate...
And this..."
Amin picked up a black wallet.
"This is made from black lizard leather. I'd bet filling this wallet wouldn't cost as much as the wallet itself."
Amin carefully opened the wallet, taking out a stack of soggy cash and tossing it on the table without even looking—this stuff had the least intelligence value.
Jiraiya counted with interest.
"Really is a rich man—a full 5,400 ryō!"
Everyone looked at Jiraiya with disdain, saying nothing.
"Here, this is the dead guy's ninja certificate."
Everyone immediately crowded around.
Karatachi Yagura read: "Dōhei Saburō, chūnin, thirty-one years old, Type A blood... Ao, do we have this person in our intelligence files?"
Ao said with difficulty: "Our files at most record up to Hidden Sand jōnin level. Chūnin..."
But Amin spoke up: "Dōhei is a major surname in Hidden Sand Village, one of the ninja families that first followed the First Kazekage. Everyone in this clan, male and female, is extremely beautiful. Many prominent families in Hidden Sand Village are related to them by blood or marriage. Many Hidden Sand higher-ups are their in-laws."
"Is this clan still around?"
Ao asked.
"Of course they're still around, just no particular talents anymore. But they should still be very wealthy—considered Hidden Sand nobility."
Amin explained.
Below the ninja certificate was a photograph, which Amin carefully extracted with tweezers.
The photo showed a handsome man embracing a beautiful woman, both smiling brilliantly.
"Pretty girl, what a waste."
Jiraiya sighed.
"What's this?"
Uchiha Fugaku noticed some blue paper pulp in a compartment.
Amin carefully scraped it out bit by bit with tweezers.
"Soaked to pieces, but judging by the material, should be some kind of ticket."
Uchiha Fugaku thought: "People on Yuexi Peninsula love theater. Could it be theater tickets?"
"Possibly, but that's not my job, right, Chief Ao?"
Amin said.
"Yes, yes, continue."
Ao said.
Amin slowly picked up a leather pouch.
"This is what interests me most."
"What's this for?"
Koharu Utatane asked.
"Good question. This is what Hidden Sand ninja use to carry letters."
"Letters!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
Jiraiya, being the most impatient, reached for the pouch.
"Stop!"
Amin slapped Jiraiya's hand away.
"Do you want to die?!"
Amin scolded angrily.
"What?"
Jiraiya felt wronged.
"Hidden Sand ninja love installing trap explosives in letter pouches! Opening them requires special techniques, or everyone in this room would be blown sky-high!"
Hearing this, Jiraiya quickly pulled his hand back.
"Do you know the technique for opening letter pouches?"
Ao asked.
"I don't."
Amin answered very directly.
"But I have other methods."
Like a magician, Amin produced a thin blade, but his target wasn't the pouch's seal—it was the bottom.
He slowly cut the stitching at the bottom, soon opening a two-inch gap.
Then Amin took tweezers and carefully probed inside, extracting a piece of paper and setting it aside to air-dry.
"Look at this."
Amin held up the letter pouch. Through the opening, everyone could clearly see an explosive tag connected to a wire inside!
🔥 Want to read the next 60 chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 Join on -
patreon.com/DarkGolds