Chapter 151: 147: Project
The morning after the battle had concluded, within Iwagakure's camp, Ayane expressionlessly unsealed a scroll. From it, she retrieved twelve corpses dressed in Konoha's Anbu uniforms.
According to the pre-arranged price with Iwagakure, the bounty for the head of a Root ninja was five million ryo. With twelve corpses at hand, Ayane was promptly awarded 60 million ryo by Kitsuchi.
These corpses were in relatively good condition, and Ayane knew that Iwa's autopsy team could extract many Konoha secrets from them.
But Ayane herself was indifferent to such information; she doubted that the secretive Root members would reveal much even in death. For her, the real value lay in the 60 million ryo.
"Do you mind working together again, Hyuga Ayane? The reward will be worth your while." Kitsuchi asked with a strong desire to engage her services.
Hiring someone to remove the Konoha Root threat, given the resources available to Iwagakure, was undoubtedly a lucrative deal.
"No, I have other matters to attend to, so I think our cooperation should end for now. We can revisit the possibility in the future." Ayane replied.
Despite the enticing offer from Iwagakure, she recognized that her association with Konoha meant any future endeavors would be challenging and potentially fruitless.
Furthermore, the recent battle had left her injured and weary. Her physical condition demanded some rest, especially considering her opponent's formidable physique. She had suffered hand injuries and needed time to recover.
Fighting the Konoha ninjas took a heavy toll.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.
"What a shame."
After hearing Ayane's refusal, Kitsuchi didn't insist, and could only hope for future cooperation.
"By the way, a friendly reminder: if you ever encounter a Konoha ninja wearing green tights, be wary of their Taijutsu."
Before leaving, Ayane gave Kitsuchi such a piece of advice.
"Green tights... a Konoha ninja?"
Kitsuchi pondered, attempting to deduce which Konoha ninja Ayane might be referencing.
Among the elite Jonin he was familiar with, he couldn't recall anyone who consistently wore green tights. Was this a reference to a newly appointed Jonin?
"I'll be more careful." Kitsuchi said, understanding that Ayane wouldn't provide such a warning without reason.
"Goodbye for now. We'll meet again when the opportunity arises."
Ayane concluded, turned, and walked out of the Iwagakure camp.
As Ayane left, Kitsuchi thought about the warning Ayane had given him.
"Kitsuchi, should we have someone follow her?"
Gari asked as he approaching Kitsuchi discreetly.
"No, we'll have plenty of opportunities to work together in the future. Provoking a powerful ninja unnecessarily isn't wise."
Kitsuchi shook his head, and continued to speak in a calm tone.
"Besides, integrity is the most important thing in the underground black market. Only integrity can allow our village gain a foothold in the underground black market and attract those bounty hunters. If we break this agreement first, we will lose the credibility of the entire underground black market."
After all, training excellent ninjas consumes too much resources.
Adhering to agreements would enhance Iwa's reputation and attract bounty hunters to their cause. Breaching an agreement would undermine their credibility within the market.
After all, nurturing elite ninjas required huge resources, and funds were essential for Iwagakure's growth.
Recruiting skilled bounty hunters, who were familiar with the warfare activities in the underground black market, was more cost-effective than raising ninja from childhood to adulthood. Bounty hunters could use these remunerations as required. It was vital for Iwagakure to attract those experts.
Even though tens of millions of ryo may seem significant, they were a relatively minor investment when weighed against the resources spent on cultivating elite ninjas from infancy to adulthood.
"It's unfortunate that we couldn't contact Uchiha Ruri. Despite posting recruitment information on the underground black market, there's been no response. It appears she's not interested in cooperating with us."
Kitsuchi mentioned. As Ayane had saiid Uchiha Ruri had remained unresponsive to Iwagakure's actions.
It wasn't clear if she was disinterested or wasn't interested in rewards totaling tens of millions of ryo, or perhaps even hundreds of millions.
However, Kitsuchi was inclined to believe the former. It was difficult to imagine anyone being indifferent to such a significant bounty, especially for rogue ninjas who no longer had a stable living environment.
........
"How severe are Danzo's injuries?"
The fierce battle with Iwagakure had been strategically employed to create opportunities for Danzo's Root and prevent Iwagakure's ninjas and Hyuga Ayane from converging.
This whole process had been meticulously planned, but the outcome was beyond Jiraiya's expectations.
Deploying numerous elite Root members and even his own disciple, Minato, to confront Hyuga Ayane, a formidable defected ninja, had resulted in total failure.
To Jiraiya, this outcome was shocking.
Most of the Root operatives who participated had suffered significant injuries, and many did not return.
The leader of the Root, Danzo, remained in a comatose state and continued to receive treatment.
The water pots taken into his tent emerged stained with blood.
"Elder Danzo is no longer in immediate danger, but it's uncertain when he'll regain consciousness. Even if he does awaken, his combat abilities as a ninja in the future may be severely recuced."
Minato informed Jiraiya from outside Danzo's tent.
Two Anbu stood guard at the tent entrance, both bearing wounds from previous battles. They allowed only medical personnel to enter, ensuring Danzo's rest remained undisturbed.
"This is quite serious. What happened? How did our operation fail?" Jiraiya sought answers.
In his initial assessment, the annihilation battle had not been without risks, but he had estimated an 80% success rate.
Responding to Jiraiya's question, Minato gave a wry smile and replied.
"Well, I can only say that we underestimated the enemy's strength and misjudged the extent of their jutsu. Even if we had possessed more information, it might have been challenging to target the enemy accurately."
Prior to the battle, they had acquired some information about Hyuga Ayane and made estimates based on the battle time of the decoy team. Their assessment had been intentionally cautious, yet they had grossly underestimated the opponent's abilities.
The reality had been astonishingly different.
If this continued, his back might not hold up. Perhaps it was time to develop a drug for strengthening one's waist.
"For now, I'll let you go since there were no troubles this time. But don't take private action like this again, or I will wipe your *ss." Shiraishi admonished.
"Then... don't the other part need to be treated?" Ayane teased.
Shiraishi blushed, jumping out of his chair as if he couldn't bear the teasing any longer.
Seeing Shiraishi's intense anger and his helpless expression, Ayane smiled and said, "Alright, I was just joking, trying to lighten the mood. I brought you back a gift."
With that, Ayane produced a scroll and motioned to unseal it with a gesture.
To Shiraishi's astonishment, the scroll automatically unfurled, revealing an arm covered in bloody scabs, emerging in a cloud of white smoke.
"This is..."
"Danzo's severed arm. I wanted to kill him, but Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God jutsu was fast, and his speed was truly monstrous."
If it weren't for her arrogant attitude and the use of senjutsu chakra to enhance her physical abilities, that battle might not have been as easy.
Nevertheless, even in a fully liberated state, his nerve response speed could only match hers.
Ayane recognized Minato as a "superman" with innate quick reflexes, bound to become the center of attention in the ninja world, assuming he didn't meet an early death.
"That's why I sent Shadow Dancer to you. His incredible nerve response, combined with a convenient space-time jutsu like the Flying Thunder God , presents an incredible challenge. That Mount Myōboku guy genuinely handed me with a huge problem."
Having said this, Shiraishi snorted in frustration.
He had realized how challenging it would be for Minato to continuously improve his superhuman neural response combined with the elusive Flying Thunder God jutsu, based on the defection incident.
"Might Dai is even more powerful than you initially described. It's likely due to the influence of secret medicine, and Konoha probably invested heavily in his training."
"That information is from a few months ago, so discrepancies are expected. It makes sense for Konoha's higher-ups to identify a unique talent and invest significantly in their development. However, it's not a grave concern. The Ninja World War concerns the five major countries, and there's no need for us to participate."
Konoha may produce many elite ninjas, but so do other villages. Even if Konoha aimed for victory, they would exhaust their resources.
Shiraishi wasn't worried about any post-war reprisals from Konoha for the next seven or eight years. By then, he anticipated that he wouldn't fear Konoha's power.
Ruri and Ayane both had top-notch combat powers comparable to the five kages. Combining the combat power of himself and his several clones, it wasn't a lot of problem to deal with one of the five kages.
After seven or eight years, with the outstanding talents of the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Uzumaki, there would be more top combat power.
Therefore, Shiraishi wasn't very worried about Konoha. He was worried about something else at the moment —
Uchiha Madara and White Zetsu.
Shiraishi had no intention of confronting Uchiha Madara until he was thoroughly prepared, mindful of the deterrent effect the name held.
By severing White zetsu's influence, his intelligence network would crumble, preventing him from obtaining outside information and gradually pushing him into a dire situation.
The safest course of action was to cut ties with White zetsu. However, the execution of this plan depended on Madara's responses and his unique tactics.
"So, have those White zetsu been dealt with?"
Shiraishi asked about Ayane's work progress these days.
"Part of it has been dealt with, but many others have been missed. They are hiding deeper."
Ayane's answer didn't meet Shiraishi's expectations.
"Is that so? You showed your face without authorization this time, which disrupted the deployment here a bit. Just think about it from another angle, there is also a place for usability. And..."
"And what?"
"Uchiha Madara's purpose, if i guess correctly, it should be the tailed beasts. Currently, the tailed beasts are in the hands of Konoha and other Ninja Villages. The only one not in the hands of the Villages is the Seven Tails in Takigakure located at the Land Of Waterfalls. I have sent people into Takigakure Village to act as eyeliners. If there is a problem, we will respond."
"What about Uchiha Obito?"
"The old man has limited mobility. He really needs a spokesperson that fits his idealization. It could only be an idiot easy to control. Therefore, the next step is to deal with the white zetsu around Uchiha Obito. I want to see what sort of response Uchiha Madara will make if the white zetsu around his ideal puppet is dealt with."
"So, should I still deal with these rats once more?"
"No, there's no need to worry at the moment. This plan requires patience. We need to establish the right path while controlling the risks of any mid-process accidents. When dealing with individuals like these, who are deeply seasoned, one slip could lead to a trap. The same error won't be made twice by Uchiha Madara. For now, we can locate white zetsu, but not Madara himself."
Eliminating more white zetsu was meaningless as long as Madara's location remained unknown. The key was to pinpoint Madara's location through the white zetsu's connections.
Before that, Shiraishi needed to make extensive preparations, increasing his strength, and be ready for battle.
"It's a good time for you to return. I urgently need the assistance of your Byakugan."
"Assist with what?"
"Drawing a map."
"We need detailed topographical maps of every region in the Land Of Demons."
"Are you establishing a large lab?".
"No, it's something more important than a research lab. I intend to build a country within a country, somewhat like Roran. However, the country within my country is unique. From officials to civilians, it will consist of 'newborn humans' who have mastered natural energy. I'll call this project 'Nature Genesis' for now."
Shiraishi wasn't certain what would happen if the natural energy system suddenly flowed into the world. Hence, he wanted to create a dedicated "Nature Genesis." which would serve as an essential experimental area for understanding how humans using natural energy could establish a stable social system.
The Chakra system had caused abnormal development within the ninja world, neglecting the significance of civilians and exacerbating wealth disparities, thanks to the power held by ninja elites.
Natural energy had the potential to bridge this divide.
The experiment might unveil new life or lead to destruction as a world system. Therefore, the plan was crucial in reforming the world.
Picking the right location, investing in the inhabitants, ensuring "Nature Genesis" concealment, appointing protectors, and addressing numerous complex issues that hadn't yet surfaced were all part of the preparation process before the plan could officially launch. This preparation phase could span several years.
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