Konoha's Mission Master

Reiko Aoyama handed the prepared scroll to Yakumo from her ninja tool bag and gave him instructions.

"It's good to know about it for now. It's not too late to start training when your chakra reaches the level of a Jonin."

"Thank you... Sister Qingshan."

It was precisely because she had already prepared the scroll that she brought up the matter of chakra attributes. Although Aoyama Reiko appeared somewhat aloof, she already regarded Yakumo as her disciple.

The journey of this mission was just like the one her teacher had led her on for many years, teaching students through experience and passing on knowledge along the way.

The inn didn't keep the two waiting too long. A dozen minutes later, curry chicken chunks and seaweed rice balls were placed on the table. After quietly checking for any toxicity, Aoyama Reiko indicated to Yakumo that it was safe to eat.

As dusk fell, Yakumo sat at the desk in the guest room, completing his tasks for the day: recording his observations, reflections on his reading, and his daily diary entries.

In one of the corners, Yakumo's shadow clone was studying the nature transformation of lightning-attribute chakra, and white mist was emanating from its body...

In another corner, another shadow clone of Yakumo was controlling its own hair to fight each other, methodically practicing the Ninja Art: Needle Jizo.

"Dong dong dong."

A bright knock on the door broke the silence of the night. Yakumo reached for his ninja sword, while his shadow clone, studying the changes in lightning chakra, silently condensed four water spheres, which swirled around his right wrist.

Another shadow clone's black hair extended infinitely, forming eight spear-like strands, resembling spiders waiting to hunt.

"Who is it?" Yakumo asked. Before coming up, he had already told the boss not to let the staff disturb him that night.

“It’s me… Reiko Aoyama.”

"Bang." "Bang."

The two shadow clones disappeared one after another, and Yakumo got up to open the door for Aoyama Reiko.

"Sister Qingshan, what brings you here?"

She wore a light blue nightgown, her snow-white skin as smooth as silk. Perhaps because she had just taken a bath, she carried a faint fragrance. Her slightly damp, jet-black hair fell naturally, and her voluptuous figure seemed ready to burst forth.

"I was planning to go to sleep... but then I remembered I was going to teach you the Palm Technique, so I came over. I hope I didn't disturb you."

Reiko Aoyama spoke directly as always, and as she moved, the hem of her pajamas revealed her slender and long legs.

"Of course it's not a disturbance."

Yakumo smiled as he walked to the table and put away his half-finished diary. It seemed he would be staying up all night again tonight.

"The Palm Healing Technique is a medical ninjutsu that is extremely difficult to master. It requires near-perfect control over chakra..."

Chapter 40 Arrival

the next day.

Yakumo separated two shadow clones, allowing them to freely practice ninjutsu in the guest room, while his main body went to the hotel lobby for a meal. After a night of turmoil, Yakumo appeared somewhat listless.

After completing his instruction yesterday, Aoyama Reiko turned into white smoke in front of him... That's right, the one who came to teach him the Palm Immortal Technique was just a shadow clone.

"Good morning, Sister Qingshan."

"I didn't sleep well last night... It's my fault, I should have remembered to teach you the Palm Healing Technique sooner," Aoyama Reiko said apologetically.

"Sister Aoyama, you flatter me. I also want to learn the Palm Healing Technique as soon as possible," Yakumo explained with a smile.

After breakfast, the two carried their provisions and continued their journey towards the Land of Fire. The Land of Fire is characterized by its abundance of trees, so in order to reach the Land of Fire as soon as possible, they had to traverse through the mountains and forests. They encountered two groups of bandits, who were easily dealt with by Aoyama Reiko. They were no match for the Senbon, which was simply imbued with lightning-type chakra.

Finally, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the two stood in front of the gates of the City of Fire, which were even higher city walls. Guards were hidden in the fortifications on the walls, and two rows of people were queuing to enter the giant city.

Armored guards were collecting entrance fees to the city. Some people were traveling with their families in carriages laden with stacks of furniture, while others were caravans trading goods between different countries.

As the two approached, the city wall appeared even more majestic and imposing, and the red-painted city gate seemed incredibly sturdy and unshakeable.

"Pass..." the armored guard asked Aoyama Reiko, his eyes darting up and down.

"Here you go," said Reiko Aoyama.

What they presented was a Konoha ninja certificate.

"Please come in, Konoha Jonin!"

The guard immediately let them through, his expression filled with either obsequiousness or fear, after all, his eyes had been quite untrustworthy just now.

"It must be quite a shock."

The two stood on a wide street lined with all sorts of shops, such as ninja tool shops, pharmacies, charity shops, and even casinos and taverns. However, these shops were decorated in a modern and extravagant style, making Konoha seem more like a rural village in comparison.

"Ciba...ciba, handmade ciba~"

"It's alright." Yakumo withdrew his gaze, after all, he had memories of more prosperous and bustling cities, which were truly magnificent scenes.

"I was stunned for a long time when I first came here."

Aoyama Reiko's tone carried a hint of a smile, probably because she was thinking about her past experiences.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the Daimyo Mansion located halfway up the mountain. Standing in the square paved with whole marble blocks, they could overlook all the scenery of the Fire City. However, this was the private territory of the Daimyo Mansion, representing the sacred and inviolable nobility of the Daimyo clan. Apart from invited guests, anyone who tried to approach would be ruthlessly driven away or even killed.

In other words, this breathtaking panoramic view can only be seen by a very limited number of people, which is truly a pity.

"Ding dong."

Reiko Aoyama rang the doorbell next to the red-lacquered gate. Soon after, an elderly man dressed in black opened the side door and invited the two of them in.

"You are Lord Aoyama from Konoha..."

"it's me."

"This is my disciple, who can cooperate with me during the rescue."

"Then please come in."

Led by the old man in black, the two entered the courtyard through a side gate. The splendor inside far exceeded Yakumo's imagination. The garden was planted with many precious flowers, plants and trees, all of which proved that the owner of the courtyard was very rich.

"I'm the housekeeper here, just call me Takahashi."

Butler Takahashi led the way, while Aoyama and Yakumo followed in silence. Yakumo noticed that the old man's attitude towards them was not respectful, but rather showed a hint of contempt.

When they occasionally encountered servants on the road, they would immediately give up their seats and then greet Takahashi respectfully, clearly indicating that this unassuming old man held a very high position in the daimyo prefecture.

"How is the Daimyo doing?"

"I asked Aoyama Reiko."

"The daimyo is still asleep, and seems unchanged," Takahashi Butler replied immediately.

After passing through gardens, rockeries, and winding corridors with springs, the three finally arrived at the daimyo's bedroom. At the door, Yakumo sensed two chakra fluctuations, roughly equivalent to Jonin, who were the current members of the Twelve Guardian Warriors.

However, their expressions were not good. As the protective force guarding the daimyo, they had witnessed the daimyo falling into a deep sleep... They were now naturally guilty.

After Takahashi explained the situation to the two, and after checking Aoyama Reiko's ninja credentials, the two made way for the three to pass.

With a snap, Yakumo smelled the aroma of dozens of precious medicinal herbs, a scent that lingered in the bedroom for a long time.

An exceptionally luxurious bedroom was laid out before Yakumo. Anything in it could have lifted a poor and backward village out of its current predicament, yet it was piled up like garbage in the corner of the bedroom.

Yakumo took a few steps forward and saw the old man lying in the middle of the two-meter-wide bed. His face was covered with wrinkles and age spots, and he exuded an air of nobility befitting someone in a high position.

However, he now has many electrodes attached to his body, some even inserted under his skin, and various life support devices are keeping him alive.

"Mr. Takahashi, I'm going to start the treatment next. There should be an analytical laboratory for the experiment in the government office, right?"

"Some of them are right next door. After the Great Name fell into a deep sleep, the eldest son ordered people to build a toxicology analysis room within a day."

"That's good... You can wait over there first."

"Lord Aoyama, please feel free to give any instructions if needed." Butler Takahashi slowly retreated to the doorway, but his gaze remained fixed on Reiko Aoyama and Yakumo.

At the same time, two hidden gazes were also locked onto them, and if anything unexpected happened, they would be met with a thunderous attack.

"Yakumo, collect blood for the tests later."

Blue chakra balls emerged from Aoyama Reiko's hands and moved across the surface of the daimyo's body as she sensed the unusual chakra within him.

“Strange, there’s nothing unusual about it.”

Yakumo lifted the soft, thin blanket, took out a test tube and a blood-drawing needle from the scroll, and began to draw blood. It was then that he suddenly noticed that the daimyo's fingernails had a few thin purple strands.

On the other hand, Aoyama Reiko's examination still yielded no results. Yakumo put away the test tube, put on sterile soft rubber gloves, and used his hands to pry open the daimyo's tightly closed eyes, also discovering tiny purple threads on the surface of the eyeballs.

By this time, Yakumo had figured out the reason for the daimyo's coma. Fortunately, he had read many books in the past three months, and one of them contained information about a plant called the Sleeping Grass.

The poison of the Sleeping Grass is colorless and odorless. It can put the person who ingests into an unawakenable state of deep sleep, which will last for ten days. On the eleventh day, the poisoned person will become a completely breathing corpse, beyond the cure of any medicine.

Unfortunately, the book only recorded the properties of the Sleeping Grass poison, but not the methods to detoxify it. Most importantly, they only had seven days to find the antidote.

Chapter 41 Contacting Tsunade

Inside the laboratory.

Reiko Aoyama was dripping various reagents into the blood sample taken yesterday. This was a toxicology test. Certain specific toxins would react slightly with the reagents. As time went on, she kept shaking her head, and her face gradually turned pale. She had to admit that there were no toxins left in the Daimyo's blood.

She had been conducting toxicology tests all night, but still couldn't find the reason for Daimyo's coma, which left her feeling deeply frustrated.

"Sudden onset disease or hereditary disease?"

Reiko Aoyama plans to shift her focus from poisoning to some kind of sudden illness.

Incidentally, the room arranged for the two by the Daimyo Prefecture was right next to the laboratory. They were provided with three meals a day by a dedicated servant, and they were not allowed to go anywhere else, as if they were not guests... but suspects who caused the Daimyo to fall into a coma.

"You find their attitude strange, don't you...?"

The next morning at breakfast, Aoyama Reiko asked.

"That's right... I don't quite understand."

"Because the appointment of the Hokage is decided by the Daimyo, and the various expenses incurred by Konoha are also borne by the Daimyo's office, in other words, we are a group of hired ninjas, and they are the bosses who pay us," Aoyama Reiko explained in great detail.

Konoha Village possesses greater power than the Daimyo's, yet the Daimyo's truly dominant position is the one between the two. Yakumo doesn't quite understand this model, but it is the peace model established by Hashirama Senju.

"Aoyama-neechan, I think I know why Daimyo fell into a coma..." Yakumo suddenly whispered to Aoyama Reiko after the meal.

"You know... what it is?!" Aoyama Reiko's eyes were filled with suspicion and a hint of disbelief.

"When I was checking on the Daimyo just now, I noticed that there were more purple lines on his fingernails and in his eyes. Those are signs of being poisoned by the Sleeping Grass."

"Are you sure?" Aoyama Reiko asked, having never heard of the plant called Sleeping Grass.

“The poison of the Sleeping Grass affects the nerves in the brain, so testing only the blood is useless,” Yakumo added again.

"You noticed it yesterday?"