For someone of his stature, as long as there's money involved, surely there would be ninjas willing to risk their lives for him.
"Tsk, is that a peculiar hobby of the wealthy?"
Hakushi had gained new insights into the special hobbies of wealthy individuals.
Viewing ninjas as slaves, entertainment for fighting, truly a disgusting idea only those people could come up with.
"I don't have such distasteful interests, oh little Hakushi."
Miyako glanced at Hakushi with slight discontent.
"I'm not referring to you, Mother-in-law. Speaking of which, in the past, Mother-in-law once had me take in a Kekkeigenkai Ninja of unclear origin, could it be that..."
Hakushi recalled something.
"Yes, it was from that place that I bought from an old friend. This friend has certain ties with our Uchiha Clan, and I suppose that friend has a peculiar kind of goodwill."
Miyako commented this way.
"Oh?"
"Oyashiro En, you should have heard of his name."
Miyako revealed his identity.
"Merchant of Death? I've indeed heard of his reputation, but I didn't know about his ties to the Uchiha Clan."
Oyashiro En had a notable reputation in the business world.
He was the Ninja Realm's foremost weapons provider, known as the 'Merchant of Death.' As long as you paid, no matter who, he would sell weapons.
He simply hadn't expected Miyako to have such deep ties with this dangerous merchant.
Building a stable business channel with Miyako, providing talented or Kekkeigenkai ninjas to the military of the Land of Demons; these connections weren't something easily explained.
"Not only you, even Ruri doesn't know about it. The roots of this may trace back before Konoha was established. But I didn't come today to share history, I'll send more detailed information later. Now that the matter is settled, I'll leave it to you, little Hakushi. Fighting is not my forte."
Miyako stood from the sofa, preparing to leave.
"Please wait a moment."
Hakushi called out to Miyako.
"Is there anything else?"
"I intend to send someone to that isolated island to gather some intel, I'm curious about the source of that drug. Mother-in-law, can Oyashiro En conceal their identities to act freely there?"
Hakushi inquired.
Miyako pondered and said, "No problem, I'll ask the Oyashiro family to assist. But ensure your people don't cause trouble there, many countries have vested interests tied to that place. Acting rashly internationally could create many adversarial nations against the Land of Demons. The merchants and officials there are notable figures in the Ninja Realm."
Miyako feared Hakushi might stir chaos there.
If it were anyone else, she might not think this way.
But Hakushi had even overcome the Land of Wind, Miyako couldn't think of anything in the Ninja Realm that could deter Hakushi from acting.
The connections and resources on that isolated island are vast, yet still inferior to a major nation like the Land of Wind.
It's simply unnecessary to create more enemies for the Land of Demons internationally.
Such lawless zones are also difficult to eradicate completely.
Most importantly, removing such a place would only incite more enemies rather than reap any benefits.
"Rest assured, as long as they don't act out first, I won't act out of turn. I like adhering to rules; I'm solely interested in the origin of these drugs, with no interest in that island itself."
Hakushi assured.
Miyako was momentarily speechless but had nothing more to say; she hoped Hakushi would remain calm, as too many eyes were focused on the Land of Demons recently.
The previous war with the Land of Wind had left her on edge. Had they lost, the foundation for the Uchiha Clan's final rise would be lost too, forcing them into a life of anonymity and perilous escape.
◎
The reinforcements arrived faster than Ichihime had imagined.
A total of sixty fully armed ninjas bypassed the pirate forces in the waters of the Land of Waves, secretly infiltrating and hiding on the cruise ship at the port.
The number might seem few, but in peacetime, a force of dozens of fully armed ninjas is already considerable.
Moreover, Ichihime's intention here wasn't to start a war with Konoha but to request reinforcements from the Land of Demons headquarters, simply as a precaution.
Additionally, there was a handwritten letter from Hakushi addressed to her.
The investigations regarding some matters had made progress.
Two issues were mentioned.
The captive sent to the Land of Demons indeed had an unusual chakra closely linked to Tailed Beasts, though the mastermind was unknown. His memories before acquiring the drug had been maliciously erased.
The other issue related to her grandmother Miyako, concerned an unnamed drugs trafficking on an island at sea. Using Tailed Beast Chakra as raw materials, a maliciously abused forbidden strengthening drug linked to the Land of Fire was being produced.
Hence, the likelihood that the illegal drugs allowing access to Tailed Beast Chakra originated from the Root and Danzo was higher.
Accessing Tailed Beasts within the Land of Fire could easily narrow down the suspects.
Among them, Danzo was the prime suspect.
But, without concrete evidence, it's hard to affirm this.
After reading the letter, Ichihime hadn't anticipated such vast entanglements behind these matters.