Three months ago, to purge the corrupt within Aokumon (Blue Direction Gate), an internal cleansing was indeed carried out. Anyone who continued acting in Shigeo's name was eliminated. Because of this, Granny Li was terrified—afraid she would become the next casualty.
"Enough. I won't kill you. Honglin, restart Aokumon. No need for open operations. Take missions under the name of the Dark Division. Remember, nothing below A-rank. Quality over quantity. Now, who's got the highest bounty in the black market? If we act there, maybe we can open some doors for work."
Hearing this, Honglin's palms broke into a cold sweat. He glanced up at Shigeo and muttered under his breath.
Shigeo frowned. "What are you mumbling for? Speak up!"
"Yes, Shishō. The one with the highest bounty in the black market… is you. Worth thirty billion. Classified as a Special-Special-Rank wanted criminal."
The room went silent. Everyone lowered their heads, as if they themselves were the ones being shamed.
Shigeo stood up. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have killed all those impostors pretending to be me. Could've grabbed one that looked like me, traded him in for the bounty, and solved a huge financial problem."
"Shishō," Honglin replied carefully, "those impostors were easy for the black-market agents to identify. A bunch of fakes already died trying that trick. That's why your price keeps going higher."
Shigeo exhaled deeply and nodded. "Fine. Start the full activation. Hane, investigate the black market. Ganfū, assist Honglin. Everyone follows his command. The rest of you go to the capitals and contact the local bases. All intel flows back here. From now on, this place is the central hub. My only requirement—find a way for us to survive. Build a foundation for Nanmo Village's influence across the ninja world. I'll return in three months to inspect the results. Here's your startup fund. Keep your heads down. Once you compile the black-market data, send it to me through Umihawk."
"Yes!"
Shigeo left behind a chest of jewels, then departed from the Land of Rivers' capital.
Granny Li's face was radiant. Who would have thought that her tiny, dark little shop would become the main headquarters of Aokumon? From now on, she could sit outside and bask in the sun, no longer worrying about her next meal.
After leaving the Land of Rivers, Shigeo quickly received documents delivered by Umihawk. The black market held many with bounties. Aside from himself, the highest-priced were members of the Guardian Twelve of the Land of Fire, the late Hanzō of the Salamander's right-hand man "Ame-Neri," several missing-nin from the Five Great Villages, and others put up for private vendettas.
The black market cared nothing for morality, justice, or righteousness. It lived by one eternal law—money.
Sitting on a grassy hilltop, Shigeo flipped through the stack of dossiers and gazed toward the horizon.
The black market had no ethics. Should he?
Right or wrong, good or evil—in others' eyes, he probably didn't distinguish between them anymore.
He was already the thorn in the side of every great village, the villain in many hearts. Should he simply embrace that role? Forget morals and kill everyone on this list for money?
But… a man must have a bottom line. Though he didn't care if people called him a monster or a freak, he would still keep the minimal boundary of being human.
With that thought, he opened the list. His eyes swept across each name. Some he crossed out, some he kept. After writing a line at the bottom, he handed the document to Umihawk to bring back to headquarters.
Those whose names were crossed out were off-limits for Aokumon operatives. Those left were valid targets—agents could pick whom to hunt based on ability and deliver the corpses to the black market for payment.
It was a blood-licking trade, one most ninja villages scorned. But Nanmo's ninja had no choice. To eat, to live, to secure a foothold in the shinobi world, sacrifice was required.
"Aside from those crossed out, the names marked in red are my personal targets."
That was the line Shigeo had written.
Inside the Aokumon headquarters in the Land of Rivers' slums, Honglin, after receiving the report, quickly understood and compiled the new target lists, dispatching unique sets to each base. Each operative had different assignments.
Of the five targets marked personally by Shigeo, four were easy to locate. Within one month, he had already slain four of them. But the fifth target stalled everything.
Ame-Neri: bounty 20 million, age 28. Former left-hand man of Hanzō of the Salamander. Cautious, ruthless, and an expert in stealth and assassination.
According to Aokumon's covert investigation, he was believed to be hiding near the northern region of the Land of Rain, bordering the south of the Land of Earth.
Since Hanzō's death at the hands of Akatsuki, Ame-Neri had fled Amegakure and erased all traces of his whereabouts.
Among his followers was a renowned sensory-type ninja named Fujitsu. His sensory range was said to extend thirty ri—able to detect any ninja's presence within that radius.
Ame-Neri was extraordinarily cautious. The moment a ninja entered his area, he would vanish.
All these years, neither Akatsuki nor bounty hunters had ever caught him.
Shigeo had entered that region several times, yet found nothing.
With no better choice, he decided to take a detour—somewhat humiliating, but if it secured the fifth target, it would be worth it.
…
The Land of Rain—a mysterious country where drizzle fell endlessly.
Bordered by three great nations, it held crucial strategic value. Once, it was a perpetual battlefield until the Third Shinobi War's end finally brought it peace.
Light rain fell softly.
Shigeo blended in among a caravan of grain merchants, heading north toward the Land of Earth. The traders had been arranged by Cheng-da's contacts, who claimed the young man was an orphan traveling with them to earn a little for survival.
He went to such lengths to disguise himself as a commoner crossing the Land of Rain because he needed to slip past Ame-Neri's sensory ninja undetected—and that required perfect deceit.
(End of Chapter)
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