At the main gate of Kikyō Castle, two ninja served as "security guards."
They should be called genuine security guards, because these two had strength equivalent to genin... Ninja of this level have two extreme situations: either they can't protect anything, or they can protect everything.
Clearly, these two fell into the first category.
They had previously been subordinate ninja attached to the Akimichi Clan outside Reitō Castle, so having them handle security work here was making the best use of their talents.
After all, everyone knows security guards can only serve as window dressing—whether they can actually be useful in critical moments is "uncertain."
So when Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear entered Kikyō Castle through the main gate, he only underwent simple registration before being directly let through.
However, this didn't mean this person had successfully conducted a brazen infiltration—the reality was quite the opposite.
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear had previously scouted Kikyō Castle's general situation and thought up a reason for coming here, so he wanted to appear as above-board as possible... "I'm here to import weapons, I'm a guest here—what's there to worry about?"
After wandering around the city for a while, he immediately noticed some peculiarities. For example, the ninja here actually accepted missions issued by civilians, and seemed to have specifically established a department for taking on civilian tasks... Honestly, wasn't this concept a bit too advanced?
How much funding could you get from civilian missions?
But perhaps precisely because of such measures, the ordinary residents in this city actually got along very harmoniously with the ninja forces entrenched here—this was a rare phenomenon.
After all, no one could deny that ninja and civilians were really people from two different worlds.
Such strange and curious things aroused Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear's curiosity, but just as he wanted to continue observing the situation here, he was suddenly approached by two local ninja.
Before entering the city, his abnormal behavior had already been discovered. After entering Kikyō Castle, The Fireflies organization had originally wanted to secretly observe this person's purpose, but unexpectedly he started sightseeing.
To avoid exposing more intelligence, the organization could only approach directly... In fact, the moment he entered Kikyō Castle, Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear was already a turtle in a jar.
The Fireflies organization now was different from a year ago.
A year ago, to deal with a ninja like Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear, Yūshin had to give his all, but now?
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear was still a very capable and extremely threatening ninja, but he was no longer someone the organization needed to mobilize all its strength to handle.
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear was stopped by Nara Hideyuki and Akimichi Shinu. After the two invited him to the roadside, Nara Hideyuki asked:
"Friend, are you here to fight, or to buy goods?"
Unconsciously, Hideyuki was already standing in the same shadow as Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear—which meant he had suspended his blade at the other's throat.
To tell the truth, the Nara Clan's secret techniques were very suitable for ambushing people. Under normal circumstances, no one would think their own shadow could become a deadly killing move... Having Nara Clan ninja fight on the front lines was really too wasteful of their talents.
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear narrowed his eyes slightly. For some reason, he felt an enormous sense of threat from this ninja before him.
Instinct told him this person was at least a ninja of his same level, perhaps even with strength faintly surpassing his own.
A bit troublesome—the ninja entrenched here weren't country bumpkins after all... Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear felt he had kicked an iron plate.
But this was also within reason. If the ninja here had no real strength, how had they achieved unification of an entire region?
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear had originally harbored thoughts of causing trouble, but under the intimidation of a powerful ninja, he decided to temporarily change careers to become a small-scale procurement merchant.
"I heard this is a city controlled by the Fūma Clan, so I wanted to come purchase some practical ninja tools," Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear said in a hoarse voice.
Nara Hideyuki and Akimichi Shinu exchanged glances—he felt this person's explanation was somewhat too deliberate.
At the very beginning, The Fireflies organization had indeed hidden in the Fūma Clan's shadow, nominally operating under the Fūma Clan's name, but with continuous development, especially after absorbing the Akimichi Clan, the organization couldn't hide even if it wanted to.
Surrounding forces all knew the ninja force behind the Land of the River Source was a ninja alliance called "The Fireflies"—this was very easy intelligence to obtain.
The visitor only mentioned Fūma without mentioning Fireflies, which seemed somewhat deliberate—a bit like being too clever by half.
"The Fūma Clan is indeed here. Please follow me—I'll take you to the Fūma Clan's workshop."
Nara Hideyuki received this visitor normally, providing friendly two-on-one service. Since summer hadn't passed yet and the sunlight was quite harsh, the group moved continuously in the shadows cast by buildings—this was quite reasonable, right?
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear silently followed behind Nara Hideyuki. By this time he had already understood that he had been discovered by the other party long ago... Kikyō Castle's sensing ability was very strong and acute.
In other words, unless he could achieve a one-hit kill, he couldn't act rashly.
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear silently observed Nara Hideyuki's nape. Nara Hideyuki seemed completely unaware as he walked ahead, but no one noticed that the surrounding shadows seemed to be growing increasingly gloomy, as if they had come to life.
The journey seemed peaceful but was actually heart-stopping. In any case, the three soon arrived at the Fūma Clan's territory.
Fūma Gorō came out to receive Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear.
Nara Hideyuki continued watching the other party, while Akimichi Shinu quietly withdrew.
Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear looked at the Fūma ninja tools and seemed somewhat unsatisfied, so he tentatively asked: "Pretty ordinary. Are there any more valuable weapons?"
Fūma Gorō just took the other party for a ninja who had heard certain rumors. He looked toward Nara Hideyuki, and after seeing him nod slightly, only then said:
"There are indeed, but you need to exchange items of equal value."
After passing through the initial experimental phase, regarding transactions for the Cursed Grudge Fear secret technique, the organization naturally no longer accepted cash—only barter.
"I'm prepared."
"Please follow me."
The three entered the rear "VIP reception room." When Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear saw those tissue buds, he nearly popped his eyeballs out.
The secret technique had indeed leaked.
He hadn't expected Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear's end to be so miserable—not only had he died, but he had even been made into a "petri dish" by the enemy.
After he read through the booklet Fūma Gorō handed him, he was absolutely certain the ninja here had mastered the secret technique... not through cultivation methods, but through transplantation methods.
Honestly, in this situation he couldn't even blame the deceased Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear. The other party hadn't leaked the secret technique, but the secret technique had been stolen by the enemy through special means.
He took a deep breath and pulled out two scrolls from his chest, saying:
"Advanced medical ninjutsu from the Kuromoku Clan, earth release ninjutsu from the Ishikawa Clan—are these two items valuable enough?"
Fūma Gorō took the scrolls and, after jointly appraising them with Nara Hideyuki, immediately acknowledged the value of these two scrolls.
"Very fair—we can complete the transaction. If you want to transplant immediately, you also need to be aware that..."
"No need. Since we've completed the transaction, can I take this thing away directly?" Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear asked.
"Of course."
Fūma Gorō agreed without thinking. He felt the other party just wanted to take the tissue bud back for research—there was nothing wrong with that. Being able to research it clearly would be strange indeed.
Subsequently, Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear left with the tissue bud. Nara Hideyuki didn't continue following the other party, but Yamanaka Keiya kept monitoring him until he was far from Kikyō Castle's range.
After that person left, Nara Hideyuki suddenly spoke:
"This person had multiple heartbeat sounds. Although he disguised it well at first, when he saw the secret technique tissue bud, he still became distracted and revealed himself."
Fūma Gorō was just feeling satisfied about this transaction when he suddenly heard Hideyuki's words and nearly didn't react.
"Ah? You mean..."
"Yes, the Cursed Grudge Fear secret technique has to have some origin."
That's right—they had directly sold the pirated version to the legitimate copyright holder.
...
Yūshin temporarily didn't know his subordinates' business methods could be wild to that degree. He led his team across the plains of what would later become the Land of Rivers, traveling all the way to the great desert.
The Kojii Clan's village was easy to find—right in a small oasis at the desert's edge.
This definitely wasn't the location of future Sunagakure—Sunagakure should be in the desert's center.
Under the gaze of several Kojii Clan ninja, Yūshin and his party of four arrived at this village's entrance.
"Unfamiliar forehead protectors—who are you people?"
"We come from the Land of the River Source to the east, hoping to meet your Kojii Retto clan leader." Yūshin handed over a letter explaining their side's intentions.
Seeing this group had come for a formal visit, the guards here quickly reported the news upward. That letter soon reached Kojii Retto's hands.
After Retto finished reading the letter, he immediately said to someone beside him:
"Bring over the materials we've recently collected regarding the Land of the River Source and that Fireflies organization."
What Yūshin didn't know was that some far-sighted people were already paying attention to his organization.
Retto was no ordinary person—you should know he later became the First Kazekage.
After reading through the materials, Retto fell into contemplation. Even without considering the prospects of this ninja alliance, just the matters mentioned in the letter were enough to move him... If the organization's leader dared come here personally, it showed considerable courage and boldness.
He just didn't know what their strength was like.
"Let them come over... Come normally, and receive them well."
Yūshin's group was led into the Kojii Clan's village. This behavior was actually not much different from entering an enemy's den—needless to say, it carried considerable danger. If the upcoming talks didn't go smoothly, then Yūshin and the others would have no retreat.
But considering rationally, the probability of extreme situations was quite low. Even if this Kojii Retto was a very brutal person, as long as he had rationality, there wouldn't be major problems... because both sides' interests aligned, and communication and cooperation were built precisely on this alignment.
Of course, Yūshin wasn't without backup plans. Before coming here, he had stockpiled large amounts of chakra. If things became impossible, he was prepared to give this village a large-scale biochemical crisis.
Subsequently, Yūshin met Retto. His first impression was that the other party was a mature, steady, and deeply calculating person.
Yūshin walked at the front, Nara Hideyuki and Akimichi Mizuki followed behind him on the right side, Lan alone on the left... She carried that long sword horizontally across her back, occupying the space of three or four people by herself—quite domineering in a lateral sense.
Yūshin was just about to greet them when suddenly a conical "small mountain" made of iron sand rose into the air, then came crashing straight toward Yūshin's side.
Yes, Magnet Release... The founder of Sunagakure knowing Magnet Release seemed perfectly normal.
"Careful."
Before Yūshin could act, Lan had already instantly moved past his position. The long sword in her hand was already unsheathed, and extremely exaggerated high-frequency lightning release instantly dyed the blade deep blue, then that deep blue transformed into a blazing white.
What Lan held in her hand was no longer a sword, but light that could cut through everything.
An extremely crisp metallic collision sound rang out, then transformed into a sharp, prolonged cry.
High-frequency vibration sounds lingered in everyone's ears. Looking again at Retto's Magnet Release attack, it had already been vertically cleaved in two by Lan.
Such intense lightning release forced the middle portion of the unified iron blade that had been brought together by Magnet Release to return to iron sand.
Whether Lan understood physics or instinctively used lightning release, in any case, using electricity to demagnetize was correct.
Boom!
The iron blocks split in two crashed onto the floor.
Having his attack resolved through such forceful means, Retto showed a trace of surprise in his eyes, then immediately recovered his expression and didn't continue attacking.
"Sorry, just testing your strength—this is the foundation for our conversation."
"So Lord Retto, how was our performance?" Yūshin asked.
Retto noticed the steam currently swirling around Yūshin's body. He nodded and said: "Friends of The Fireflies organization, welcome to your arrival."
Yūshin patted Lan's shoulder, indicating she could sheathe her sword. Good thing he was quick—otherwise he felt she was about to charge up and start cutting people.
Magnet Release, huh... Yūshin thought to himself, no wonder Sasori of the Red Sand couldn't help but make that mistake—Magnet Release ninja really are top-quality life-sized figure materials.
"You're prepared to eliminate the enemies around the Land of Rivers?"
"Yes, as long as we can reach friendly relations with your side, we'll immediately launch military operations... The Kojii Clan's strategic direction is west, our Land of the River Source's strategic direction is east—both sides have no conflict of interest. On the contrary, we can become your assistance."
"Sounds like a good suggestion indeed, but how do you guarantee you won't extend your reach westward?"
"From a realistic perspective, we don't possess the strength to contend with the Kojii Clan. Cooperation is more in line with our interests than conflict."
"You can only say you temporarily don't possess such strength, but judging future prospects from development trajectory, your Fireflies organization's future is even much broader than our Kojii Clan's."
Contrary to Yūshin's expectations, Retto didn't look down on The Fireflies organization. On the contrary, this person's attention to and even wariness of The Fireflies organization far exceeded Yūshin's expectations.
This... was it necessary? Wasn't this being overly prepared for rainy days?
Only hearing Retto continue: "But that's future business—it won't affect our cooperation matters at this stage."
Yūshin thought to himself, why do you speak with such dramatic pauses?
Just now he was ready to have acid reflux—almost started large-scale "vomiting."
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