Chapter 232: Essence 10
Chapter 232: Essence 10
From the intelligence gathered by the Yamanaka clan, Ino analyzed many clues. After secretly going out to scout using the Spirilization Jutsu and gaining complete confidence, she used the pretense of leaving the village to find Tsunade and took thirty million Ryo to a Bounty Station located quite far from Konoha.
The Bounty Station had long been responsible for transactions within the underworld. They acted as a platform where anyone could submit a bounty. You could want the Hokage or the Raikage killed; the only prerequisite was that you had the money, and someone would take the mission once it was posted.
No one knew who the mastermind behind the Bounty Station was. Even with the Yamanaka clan's intelligence network, Ino hadn't been able to find out, only that the station had existed for many years. She suspected the situation was very complex, with powerful hidden figures potentially involved, such as the Daimyo of the Five Great Nations, those wealthy merchants who could rival a nation, Zetsu, or even individuals like Jigen.
Ino, dressed entirely in black – black hair, black robes, black shoes – looked like she'd stepped right out of a Detective Conan set as she walked into the Bounty Station.
In a hoarse voice, she spoke to the staff member: "Thirty million Ryo, a bounty for a ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village codenamed 'Terai'."
Terai was a member of Root, fiercely loyal to Danzo. His strength was comparable to Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame – Jonin level. On the surface, this Terai was a wealthy merchant active among various nations, buying and selling everything from weapons to people. He provided Root with a continuous stream of funds.
Following the procedure, the staff member quickly processed the bounty for Terai. Ino readily paid the thirty million Ryo reward. Even if no one took the mission, the money wouldn't be refunded; that was just how domineering the platform was.
"Is there any additional information you can provide?" the staff member asked in a businesslike manner.
Ino immediately put herself in the role of a victim and cried heartbrokenly, "Those ninjas... they rushed into our village the day before yesterday, killing everyone they saw. Then they used some kind of incredibly powerful ninjutsu. My whole family was killed by them! The leader was this Terai! Our village is located on the southern foothills of Mount Asama..."
The staff member recorded everything impassively. The time, place, people, including the story Ino had just made up – he wrote it all down. Whether it was true or not wasn't important; the person taking the mission would go and verify it.
Just one day later, the Akatsuki saw the mission. Thirty million Ryo was a big job even for them!
Nagato, who controlled Pain, listened to the story of the "Konoha ninja killing my family" and felt the malevolence in his heart surge. Zetsu drilled out of the mud like a plant, knowing the geography of Konoha, and indeed the entire Land of Fire, like the back of his hand. He stated sinisterly that there was a Root base near that village and, most likely, this Terai was the person in charge of that Root base. He also mentioned Terai's public identity as a wealthy merchant.
Kakuzu was overjoyed. If this Terai lived inside Konoha, he wouldn't dare to act rashly; after all, masters were as numerous as clouds in Konoha, and going in single-handedly would be seeking death. Since Terai was outside the village, it was much more convenient. What? He was a big merchant too? This job is incredibly profitable!
"I'll go kill this guy," he said straightforwardly.
The members of the Akatsuki knew his working style and weren't surprised. Itachi Uchiha said nothing either. Root ninjas were fundamentally not Konoha ninjas in his eyes; if they died by the roadside, he wouldn't spare them a second glance. He couldn't possibly risk passing on information for a Root ninja, so he remained silent.
Nagato decided to be cautious and sent Hidan and Kakuzu together. The two of them went to Mount Asama, investigated slightly, and found that it was indeed a Root branch base, with no traps or ambushes. Without a second word, they killed their way in.
The branch base was left with corpses strewn everywhere, the Root ninjas completely wiped out. Afterward, the two eliminated all traces and took Terai's corpse to the Bounty Station to complete the mission. Currently, the Akatsuki didn't want to directly confront Konoha, especially not a scheming old fox like Danzo who hid in the shadows. They didn't want to leave any traces, so they cleaned up the battlefield very cleanly.
However, life is full of disappointments. From Kakuzu's seventy years of ninja experience, the scene was cleaned up perfectly, absolutely guaranteeing that the attackers' true identities wouldn't be exposed. But he couldn't account for Ino, who had dressed up like Deidara in Akatsuki robes and wandered around the two nearby towns. Not many people had seen her, but not few either.
Danzo, having been foiled in his bid for Hokage, was unwilling to accept failure. Aside from being as steady as an old dog, this old man also possessed the resilience to become braver the more he was defeated. He found it difficult to act against Jiraiya directly and didn't dare to do anything too extreme. Some work he was responsible for, he still had to do. Back when the Uchiha clan was so ostracized, the work of the Konoha Military Police Force also didn't slacken. Were they stupid? No. If they didn't do the work, it would give others a pretext to criticize them. Danzo couldn't just lead his subordinates to eat their fill every day and idle away the time; he had to carry out some work in the dark.
He received the news of Terai's squad's complete annihilation three days later. He hurriedly rushed over to investigate. Hidan and Kakuzu had cleaned up the scene perfectly, not leaving a single trace. However, Danzo learned from the villagers in the surrounding towns that a person wearing black robes with red clouds had passed through. He immediately locked onto his target.
"The Akatsuki!" If Terai, who had Jonin-level strength, didn't even have time to send a signal, there was no doubt about it. It had to be that group of powerful S-rank rogue ninjas! The other Akatsuki members were hard to find, but Kakuzu, who frequently visited the Bounty Station, was easy to locate. Danzo found Kakuzu's subordinate(s), followed the clues, set up an ambush, and intended to capture Kakuzu to interrogate him for information.
He hit the mark by a fluke. Kakuzu didn't know why Danzo had found him so quickly, but he wouldn't be captured without a fight. The two sides immediately began to battle. Danzo damaged one of Kakuzu's hearts. Jiraiya knew about Hidan's abilities, but he hadn't told Danzo. As a result, Danzo suffered a big loss and had to use Izanagi to nullify the Curse Technique: Death Possession Blood. Both sides were mutually wary and retreated separately.
Danzo, as the injured party, didn't say anything, and the Akatsuki wouldn't publicize the matter everywhere. There was already a great feud between them regarding Yahiko, and now the hostility level was even higher.
Ino had created a major mess and successfully gained five 'trouble points'. She found a hidden mountain cave, sealed the entrance, and began adding points! Four trouble points transformed into an incomparably powerful force and were added to "Essence." "Essence" increased from 9 points to 10 points.
Her cells emitted jubilant signals. She felt as if every single cell in her body was cheering, celebrating gaining completely new strength. Streams flowed out from her 130 trillion cells, converging into an endless long river.
"Ugh! It hurts so much!" A massive feeling of swelling made her feel like her whole body was about to split open. Her body was filled with power, but even "Seal," which was already increased to 8 points, couldn't constrain such a vast amount of chakra.
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