novel-bin Chapter 144 Exposure
Chapter 144 Exposure
As a spy from the Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning who had been in the Land of Iron for over a decade, the shopkeeper naturally knew why this group of Cloud Village ninjas was so vigilant.
After overcoming numerous hardships and incurring enormous costs, Kumogakure finally managed to open a sizable shop in the Land of Iron and successfully recruited the renowned blacksmith, Yoshino, to work there, forging ninja swords exclusively for Kumogakure. However, they must not allow the Land of Iron to notice anything amiss because of these people, or they risk being expelled from the Land of Iron.
After all, a considerable number of ninjas in Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) excel in close combat, and a superior ninja tool could greatly enhance their strength. Unfortunately, only two countries in the ninja world possess the ability to manufacture high-quality ninja tools: the Land of Craftsmen and the Land of Iron. The Land of Craftsmen has always been highly regarded by all the major ninja villages; it can be said that most of the ninja tools used by other villages originate there. Whenever a special weapon is forged in the Land of Craftsmen, all the other ninja villages will quickly learn of it, thus becoming wary of other villages.
Furthermore, in terms of ninja sword forging techniques alone, the Land of Craftsmen is far inferior to the Land of Iron, a family with a long-standing samurai tradition.
All the major ninja villages harbored the same dream: to transform the Land of Iron into a vassal state like the Land of Craftsmen, submitting to their rule. However, the Land of Iron was no ordinary small territory; like the Land of Rain, it possessed exceptionally powerful and influential leaders. Without the united efforts of these powerful nations, how easy would it be to shake the Land of Iron? Moreover, investing too many resources and manpower into such a barren land was clearly not worthwhile. Left with no other choice, the Hidden Cloud Village resorted to espionage—secretly establishing a foundry within the Land of Iron to forge various ninja tools for the Hidden Cloud Village.
This shopkeeper is a seasoned spy who has long been infiltrated into the Land of Iron. He rarely visits this intelligence exchange point and would never show himself unless he obtains crucial information. His sudden visit today truly surprised the Cloud Village leader in charge of security in the area. He must have some important intelligence that urgently needs to be transmitted back to the village, hence his hurried arrival.
After entering the room and confirming its safety, the shopkeeper finally had no more worries and immediately told the intelligence messenger everything he had seen and heard that day, hoping to get the information back to the village as quickly as possible so that the village could make a decision quickly.
The information was actually quite concise and clear: when the shopkeeper first saw Hyuga Kanan in the shop, he immediately noticed her extremely conspicuous Byakugan. It's worth noting that the shopkeeper had witnessed the power of the Byakugan firsthand during a mission—his companions all perished, and he was the only one who survived. Since then, he had devoted himself to studying the Byakugan, and through extensive research into relevant information and materials leaking from Konoha, he gradually gained a deeper understanding of the Hyuga clan.
It turns out that the Hyuga clan, which possesses the Byakugan, is divided into the main family and the branch family. Due to the restriction of the "Caged Bird Seal," the Hyuga clan ninjas of the branch family cannot provide other villages with the opportunity to obtain the Byakugan. Almost all the Hyuga clan ninjas active in the ninja world are members of the branch family; there has never been any information about members of the main family of the Hyuga clan appearing alone in other places.
And just today, in this very shop, the shopkeeper witnessed a young man dressed in white come to patronize the store! Even more astonishingly, this young man was not wearing a ninja headband, but his smooth, unmarked forehead clearly indicated that he was very likely a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan!
This was an extremely rare occurrence—no one had ever seen a member of the Hyuga clan's main branch leave the village before, let alone show their face in public. This unexpected encounter undoubtedly presented the Hidden Cloud Village, which had always coveted the Byakugan, a powerful bloodline limit coveted by the entire ninja world, with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
The strategic significance of the Byakugan is self-evident; it has been demonstrated flawlessly in countless missions and wars. Regardless of the mission or the scale of the war, Konoha Village always manages to seize the initiative thanks to its unique advantages, all thanks to the Hyuga clan.
Such exceptional reconnaissance skills left a deep and indelible impression on every village in the ninja world. It was precisely for this reason that the shopkeeper dared to risk being discovered and proceed directly to the Cloud Village's contact point in broad daylight. He was extremely anxious, hoping to quickly send the intelligence back to the village so that they could swiftly deploy resources and dispatch suitable personnel to hunt down the main branch member of the Hyuga clan.
Based on prior intelligence, if Hyuga clan ninjas were spotted, other Konoha ninjas would inevitably follow them closely. Typically, in the event of battle, Konoha ninjas would prioritize escorting Hyuga clan members away from the battlefield, sometimes even at the cost of their own lives, to ensure their safe retreat. It's important to note that this preferential treatment only applies to branch members of the Hyuga clan. The one now appearing in the Land of Iron is a legitimate member of the Hyuga clan's main branch! Undoubtedly, he is surrounded by numerous highly skilled and formidable Konoha ninjas, tasked with protecting him.
Given this situation, our Hidden Cloud Village must dispatch a powerful elite ninja force to the scene to ensure the success of this operation. After all, such a rare opportunity to capture the Byakugan outside of Konoha is extremely rare and fleeting, allowing no room for error; we must ensure absolute success!
The liaison officer also showed excitement. If this mission was successfully completed, their contact point would likely be exposed to the Land of Iron, and they would definitely be allowed to return to their village. They had been away from their families for many years, and after this mission, they could finally reunite with their families and live together again.
After quickly recording the intelligence, he immediately used a unique sealing technique to firmly seal this important information into an exquisite scroll. Then, he rushed like the wind to a place filled with mysterious and complex runes.
Standing before the strange runes, he gently placed the scroll in his hand without hesitation. Immediately afterwards, his hands began to form a series of intricate hand seals with astonishing speed. At the same time, he mobilized the surging chakra within his body and poured it continuously into this mysterious place.
As the final hand seal was completed and the chakra was fully integrated, the previously dormant runes suddenly shone with dazzling light. "Heavenly Gift Technique!" Accompanied by a low shout, a blindingly intense light suddenly erupted.
As the dazzling light gradually faded and dissipated, the scroll that had been placed inside vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. And everything around returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.
The liaison officer, having completed this crucial task, breathed a slight sigh of relief and exhaled softly. He then turned and returned to the room, smiling and nodding at the anxiously waiting shopkeeper, indicating that the intelligence scroll had been successfully delivered to the village, and all that remained was to patiently await the village chief's instructions.
The two men sat anxiously in the room, their faces filled with worry, awaiting instructions from the village. The liaison officer knew perfectly well that he would never use such a special method reserved for transmitting urgent intelligence unless it was something extremely important and urgent. He was convinced that as soon as the village's higher-ups saw this intelligence, they would immediately respond and issue the appropriate orders.
This is the Byakugan bloodline limit, coveted by the entire ninja world! Every ninja village except Konoha is eyeing it covetously. Given Kumogakure's consistently tough stance, how could they possibly give up so easily just because of Konoha? In fact, the situation unfolded exactly as the liaison officer had predicted. When the person receiving the intelligence saw the scroll transmitted back to the village via the "Heavenly Delivery Technique," their face also showed extreme surprise. After all, the ninja world had largely returned to peace, and large-scale wars were almost nonexistent. However, the fact that such an urgent intelligence transmission method was used during such a calm time meant that the intelligence must be extremely important and urgent.
He hurriedly took out the scroll, quickly broke the seal on it, and began to examine its contents. After reading the gist of it, he immediately showed excitement and rushed towards the Raikage's office. He needed to inform the Raikage of the information and issue the mission orders as soon as possible.
His figure moved swiftly through the Raikage Building in Kumogakure, ignoring any collisions with other people as he sped toward the Raikage's office.
He quickly arrived at the door of Raikage's office, disregarding all etiquette, and forcefully pushed open the office door, looking at the secretary who was reviewing documents.
The receiver wasn't surprised by this situation. Given the Raikage's impatient nature, expecting him to sit quietly and carefully review and handle the affairs of Kumogakure was practically asking too much of him. Therefore, the receiver usually acted as his secretary, reviewing the documents for him, providing a brief explanation before issuing orders and deciding how to proceed.
The receiver went directly to the secretary's desk, handed the newly received intelligence to the recipient, and gestured for the recipient to review the intelligence first.