Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

After half an hour.

Yamanaka Ryo came out again, holding a small booklet in his hand.

"Young Master, all the intelligence is on here."

Gengetsu Shimura took it and slowly looked at it.

Kiku, whose real name is Matsumoto Kiku.

Seeing this name startled Shimura Gengetsu, but thankfully it was missing a character, so he didn't have to worry about being shot by the sharpshooter.

Matsumoto Kiku is a native of Kirigakure in the Land of Water. She does not have the talent to become a ninja, but her outstanding appearance still caught the eye of Kirigakure's intelligence department.

Her existence is similar to that of a transit point; she is not responsible for any missions, but simply receives intelligence through specific codes from Kirigakure and passes it on to her superiors, so she is relatively safe.

She had been lurking in the Land of Fire for several years, moving from place to place, and was indeed sold to Wildfire Town by a merchant half a year ago.

But it was all arranged by Kirigakure to make it easier for her to receive intelligence from Sunagakure.

After learning about Matsumoto Kiku's background and information, Shimura Gengetsu continued flipping through the pages. Much of the information was outdated, so he only skimmed through it.

The rest was mostly information about Sunagakure, which had little to do with him.

Shimura Gengetsu's hand paused when he saw the last message.

[The Sand Village wishes to reconcile with our village and has made concessions. Their prepared sincerity will be revealed at the Water Country Grand Canyon on the fifteenth of next month.]

Long-buried memories suddenly resurfaced.

Although most of the storyline in this world revolves around Konoha, there are also some introductions to ninjas from other villages, and many of them left an impression on Shimura Gengetsu.

One of them could very well be the sincerity that Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village) is referring to.

The user of the Scorching Release Bloodline—Yakura!

........

Thank you to all our new and old readers for your support. Some people have asked what the "old book" is; my other author account is "The Road to Awakening," you can check it out if you're interested.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Shimura Gengetsu's Interception Plan, Yekura, I'm Going to Have You!

Blazing Release: Leaf Village, a war hero of Sunagakure.

He made great contributions to the village during the Third Shinobi World War and his prestige in Sunagakure was second only to the Fourth Kazekage. He was also a powerful Kage-level shinobi.

Well, calling him an elite Jonin wouldn't be a problem.

After all, she can be considered a Kage-level ninja purely because of the powerful destructive force of her Scorch Release; in other aspects, Pakura can only be considered an ordinary elite Jonin.

Even so, he would be an extremely valuable fighting force in any village, a figure like Kagesa.

But the ninja world has few other things to offer, but it's full of weirdos who've lost their minds.

Not only Konoha has them, but other countries also have them, and there are just as many of them.

The Sand Village has been completely destroyed by years of war, and the Daimyo also needs to cut spending and reduce the number of ninjas and missions issued.

In order to reconcile with Kirigakure and fully counter the threat from Iwagakure, Pakura's life was their way of showing their sincerity.

Nominally, they sent Yekura on a secret mission, but then they sold her to Kirigakure, where she was ambushed and killed from behind by countless kunai and shuriken.

It's a pity about that perfect back... cough cough, no, it's a pity about such a strong ninja.

A thought arose in Shimura Gengetsu's mind: now that the mission time and location were known, could he intercept it?

Although it is difficult, it is not without room for maneuver, as there are simply too many resources that can be mobilized at the root level.

“Ryo, can you alter Matsumoto Kiku’s memories?” Shimura Gengetsu suddenly asked.

Yamanaka Ryo paused for a moment, but quickly lowered his head and replied, "It can be done. The other party is an ordinary person, so it's not difficult."

"What if we can keep it from Yamanaka Inoichi?" Shimura Gengetsu glanced at him.

“This…” Yamanaka Ryo looked troubled. “Clan Chief Inoichi is the clan’s strongest intelligence expert. His control over his mind is beyond my reach. It’s impossible to hide anything from him.”

"Never mind then." Xuan Yue waved her hand. "Go and erase the information about the reconciliation between Sunagakure and Kirigakure from his mind. It doesn't matter if he finds out. Let him go to the old man."

"As long as this memory isn't restored, it's fine."

With Tuanzang protecting him from above, even if he were discovered, it wouldn't be a big deal, since it wouldn't concern him anyway.

"Yes." Yamanaka Ryo did not ask why he was doing this, and turned to go into the room to begin erasing Matsumoto Kiku's memories.

.....

The next day, having completed all their tasks, the Hizashi squad set off to return to Konoha Village.

Matsumoto Kiku was carried on Hyuga Hizashi's back in a daze, completely unaware of what had happened the night before, and Hizashi and the others were also oblivious.

Three days later, the group returned to the village.

Seeing the fatigue on Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai's faces, Hyuga Hizashi kindly told them to go home and rest first, and that he would take care of reporting the mission.

After watching the three leave, Hyuga Hizashi first took Matsumoto Kiku to the intelligence interrogation office, and then waited outside the Hokage's office for the Third Hokage to summon him for a report.

However, what Hizashi didn't know was that after the three of them parted ways, they met up again at Ichiraku Ramen, which was not far away.

After eating three bowls of ramen, Gengetsu Shimura sighed contentedly, then said to Kurenai Yuhi:

"Red, while Hizashi-sensei is still out, go to the Hyuga clan and tell the clan head about his glorious deeds."

Kurenai Yuhi turned her head in surprise, "Didn't you promise Hizashi-sensei not to tell the Hyuga clan head?"

"I didn't say that," Xuan Yue said, puffing out her chest confidently. "Didn't I tell you to go?"

"Cough cough!"

Uzuki Yugao, who was drinking tea, choked on her own saliva by this shameless answer and looked at Gengetsu in disbelief.

Kids these days are so cunning!

Kurenai Yuhi, always eager for a good show, teased, "This is a huge risk. Unless you call me 'sister,' I won't help you do anything bad."

"Sister Kurenai!" Gengetsu Shimura didn't hesitate to act cute, making Kurenai giggle.

"Let's go, I'm afraid Mr. Hizashi will be back if we stay any longer."

After generously placing the money on the table, Kurenai Yuhi hurriedly left.

Uzuki Yugao silently mourned for Hyuga Hizashi for two seconds, but felt no remorse whatsoever.

She also felt that Hyuga Hizashi's behavior needed to be taught a lesson. Although he was already a hopeless scumbag, what if he corrupted little Gengetsu?

........

the other side.

Hyuga Hizashi was unaware that someone had come to set a trap for him. He sat outside the Hokage's office for about half an hour when a Jonin from the Nara clan came out.

"Shika is also a Jonin."

"It's Jonin Hizashi. Has he returned from a mission?"

"Yes, we're waiting to report to the Hokage."

"Haha, me too. When are you free to grab a drink?" Nara Shika asked with a smile.

"I recently became a Jonin leading a team, so things are relatively relaxed. I'll contact you later."

"Okay, I'll leave first."

After a few brief pleasantries, Nara Shika left, and soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice came from inside the door.

This time, the Hokage's office did not have the other two elders, only Hiruzen Sarutobi and a tall white-haired man with bright red face paint.

Hyuga Hizashi greeted respectfully, "Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya let out a hearty laugh, walked over to Hizashi, and put his arm around his neck. "Hizashi, we're all old acquaintances, no need to be so polite."

Hyuga Hizashi smiled as well, "I'm just so happy to see Jiraiya-sama."

He had once traveled to the battlefield between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, where Jiraiya was the frontline commander, and the two were quite familiar with each other.

"Let's catch up after we're done with work."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in hand, slowly exhaled a smoke ring. "Tell me in detail about what happened on this trip. How did the children behave?"

The moment Shimura Gengetsu and his companions returned to the village, the Anbu notified Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Jiraiya was also specifically summoned.

"It's like this..." Hyuga Hizashi began to explain...

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Even the most wicked person will not bring darkness to their family.

Hyuga Hizashi knew perfectly well that although Sarutobi Hiruzen had just asked about the 'children's' performance, his true goal was only one thing.

Therefore, Hyuga Hizashi tells the entire story of this trip out of the village almost entirely from Shimura Gengetsu's first-person perspective.

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened very carefully and did not interrupt Hizashi Hyuga's description at all.

Until Hizashi mentioned Shimura Gengetsu's performance during the assassination mission.

"What kind of things has Danzo been teaching all this time?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a headache. "He's a seven-year-old kid who's always trying to kill everyone to silence them. Where does he get such a bloodthirsty mind?"