The next morning, just as Hibari had speculated, there was no commotion in Kumogakure, which proved that they still hadn't discovered the intrusion into the Raikage's office.
In front of a house on a street in Kumogakure, Hibari handed some banknotes to an elderly man with difficulty walking, while receiving keys and property deeds from him. After seeing the old man off, Hibari said, "This mission was unbelievably smooth. I'm tempted to check out other Hidden Villages. Maybe there are unexpected gains? I think Iwagakure's various Earth Release secret techniques are quite good..."
Kagami also held a set of keys, which belonged to the house next to the one Hibari had bought. That's right, they had used public funds to each buy a house in Kumogakure...
"Don't overthink it. We were lucky this time, and the people of Kumogakure are generally a bit careless and not meticulous enough, which is why you succeeded. Didn't you say they were doing some kind of exercise? They might change things in a couple of days," Kagami said with a smile.
"Well, maybe. Anyway, I was just saying..." Hibari said casually, then pocketed the keys and continued, "Anything else to buy? If not, let's just grab some fruit and get out of here..."
Kagami looked hesitant, then said, "I think this is enough, right? We'll be in big trouble if the Hokage finds out when we get back..."
"What are you afraid of? I'll take responsibility if anything happens," Hibari said dismissively.
However, since Kagami had put it that way, Hibari couldn't shamelessly buy more private goods for himself. So, he nodded and said again, "Since there's nothing else to buy, let's get ready and go..."
Just as Hibari finished speaking, the next second, an explosion suddenly occurred on a mountain in Kumogakure. Black smoke mixed with fire shot up, and a shockwave swept over Hibari and the others.
Seeing this, Hibari was greatly surprised and momentarily stunned, thinking that war had instantly broken out.
Then, both he and Kagami heard the panicked shouts of the people who were previously shopping on the street, yelling, "It's happening again!" and "The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki is rampaging!"
However, it seemed this kind of thing wasn't new in Kumogakure. Although the crowd seemed panicked, they didn't lose order. Many villagers quickly left the street and rushed toward a certain direction. If nothing went wrong, that should be the shelter.
In the blink of an eye, before Hibari could even recover from the explosion, the street was almost empty. Only a few people with limited mobility and a couple of children hadn't managed to evacuate.
"Let's go quickly, this Kumogakure is too damn bizarre..." Hibari quickly said, then prepared to leave with Kagami.
Just then, a stream of dark ink, moving at extreme speed and high pressure, sliced through the air and splattered towards the area where Hibari and Kagami were. Judging by its power, if left unchecked, the street would be devastated.
Hibari and Kagami, being swift, naturally didn't care about this. They were ready to leave the street at once, but as soon as Hibari lifted his foot, he hesitated. Damn it, the two houses he had just bought with a huge sum of money were right here. If they were destroyed, he didn't know how it would be accounted for... a complete loss.
In that moment of hesitation, Hibari also saw a little girl, who seemed to have gotten separated from her family, crying in terror not far from him.
"Damn it, you really can't get too smug. Just a moment ago, I thought everything was going incredibly smoothly, and now disaster strikes..." Hibari grumbled, feeling vexed.
Then he snarled, "Kagami, go get ready for extraction. I'll be right behind you."
After saying that, ignoring any words from Kagami, Hibari immediately stopped, his hands quickly forming hand seals.
"Consider this me paying back the huge favor I gained from your Kumogakure. I'm truly kind-hearted!" Hibari murmured to himself in a low voice.
Because there wasn't enough time, Hibari couldn't use any powerful defensive ninjutsu. After his hand seals landed, he grabbed the ground and roared, "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
The next second, he exerted force with his hand, forcefully pulling up a giant earth slab from the ground to block in front of him. Then, he pushed off with his foot, scooping up the crying little girl nearby at an extremely high speed, and rolled back behind the slab.
Just as this action was completed, a large amount of ink rained down from the sky, destroying several houses around Hibari and crushing some people with limited mobility. With a casual glance, Hibari saw that the old man who had sold him the two houses, and hadn't gone too far, was also swept away, likely not surviving.
'What a terrible karma... the Jinchūriki goes berserk,' Hibari thought with some emotion.
Perhaps it was because he had done a good deed, but the ink just happened, by sheer coincidence, not to destroy the two houses he had just bought.
After being thoroughly washed by the powerful ink, the earth slab Hibari created seemed to be unable to withstand the pressure, showing cracks. Seeing this, Hibari didn't hesitate. Holding the little girl, he pushed off the ground again, disappearing from the ill-fated street at an incredible speed.
Passing through a safe area, Hibari placed the little girl by the roadside. Without any sentimental goodbyes or unnecessary words, he simply vanished with a Body Flicker Technique.
Soon, Hibari reunited with Kagami, who had prepared for extraction. Seeing that Kagami had already abandoned some miscellaneous items, Hibari didn't say much. It seemed buying those fruits was no longer an option.
"What were you doing?" Kagami asked as he followed Hibari towards Kumogakure's main gate.
"Doing good deeds and accumulating virtue. As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Maybe one day after I die, I'll get VIP treatment..." Hibari said with a smile.
Not long after, the two arrived at the village gate of Kumogakure. At this time, many foreigners had gathered there, anxiously preparing to leave this 'volatile' village.
"How do we handle this? Do we queue up?" Kagami asked, looking at the scene.
"Did you bring all the passes and documents?" Hibari asked, extending his hand.
"Isn't that obvious?" Kagami smiled and handed the items to Hibari.
Just then, a small Tailed Beast Ball exploded on the mountain again. After the immense sound wave passed, a glance revealed that the mountain, beneath the smoke, had shrunk by a segment. Simultaneously, two figures imbued with lightning occasionally flashed through the smoke, presumably indicating that Kumogakure had begun to take action.
Seeing this, Hibari didn't hesitate. Holding the passes, he and Kagami used some clever force to quickly push through the crowd and reach the guards at the gate.
"Esteemed shinobi-sama, we are itinerant merchants from out of town. We have elderly family members who need care, and we absolutely cannot lose our lives here; otherwise, our entire family will starve to death. I have a small token of appreciation here, please take it to buy some gifts for yourselves. We hope you will continue to look after us when we visit next time..." Hibari said, speaking while handing the young shinobi their passes along with some banknotes.
The shinobi glanced at Hibari's anxious face and the equally 'distressed' Kagami behind him. He didn't think much of it and simply said, "This incident was just an accident. We guarantee you won't be startled again next time you visit. Go on, quickly..."
With that, he granted Hibari and Kagami passage. Neither Hibari nor Kagami said anything more; they swiftly left the area.
The commotion in Kumogakure quickly subsided. It seemed they were indeed accustomed to such incidents, possessing a complete set of emergency protocols.
In the street where Hibari had bought the house, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were now looking at the remnants of Hibari's 'Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall' technique, contemplating something.
Not long after, a Kumogakure shinobi came up behind the two brothers and said, "Report, Kin-sama and Gin-sama, according to our investigation, no registered shinobi has used Earth Release ninjutsu here. Moreover, a survivor said they saw a young boy use this ninjutsu, then save a little girl, and both vanished together."
Upon hearing this, Gin's face broke into a playful smile. He said, "Hehehe, Kinkaku, what do you think it is?"
"A little mouse has snuck in. Probably an intelligence agent from some faction, right?" Kinkaku mused.
Then Kinkaku continued, "This morning, I was ordered by Raikage-sama to form a pursuit squad. If someone has infiltrated this village, I naturally need to take it seriously. Go, investigate. Is the person who acted here still in this village?"
"Yes, Kin-sama!" The shinobi quickly replied, then immediately went to carry out Kin's orders.
However, this incident ultimately didn't affect Hibari or Kagami. The moment Hibari had acted, he had already anticipated such a possibility, which was why he left Kumogakure without hesitation. By the time Kumogakure figured out the identities of the two 'itinerant merchants,' they would have long since vanished, making them impossible to find. In short, it would become a cold case.
Five days later, on a main road near Konohagakure, Hibari and Kagami, who had bought a carriage from who knows where, were leisurely heading towards Konohagakure.
"Oh, something just occurred to me. What if Kumogakure finds out that our two 'itinerant merchants' bought two houses there... will they confiscate them?" Kagami suddenly asked.
"Don't worry, they won't find out. I considered these things before buying. I specifically found a single old man to buy them, just to avoid too many people knowing and causing trouble. It turned out that old man had trouble walking and was directly killed by the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki; I saw it with my own eyes. Plus, buying the houses was a spontaneous decision by us, so there's simply no third person who knows about it. They won't find out," Hibari said dismissively.
Just as he finished speaking, two figures descended from the sky, landing on either side of the carriage, and said respectfully, "Both sirs, the Commander and Hokage-sama are waiting..."
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