Konoha's Mission Master

Their speed was like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, but unfortunately, speed was exactly what Yakumo excelled at.

With a burst of strength underfoot, the earth cracked.

Yakumo charged at the three with his sword, while Aoyama Reiko followed closely behind, swinging a baseball bat.

The clash between the blade and the gauntlet was like the collision of a comet and Mars, the tremendous sound spreading in all directions.

Yakumo quickly formed hand seals, and two shadow clones stood behind him, casually tossing out several azure water balls.

At the same time, Yakumo opened his mouth.

"Fog burial".

The thick fog spread, instantly suppressing the movement speed of the Cloud Ninja. The impact of the gauntlets and baseball bats produced a metallic clang. To Yakumo's surprise, the person who was knocked away was actually the leader of the Cloud Ninja.

"Superhuman strength..."

As Tsunade's best friend, Reiko Aoyama learned Tsunade's superhuman strength technique, gaining terrifying power capable of destroying mountains and leveling seas.

Although it was their first time fighting together, the two were perfectly in sync. Yakumo took the lead in the attack, while Aoyama Reiko provided support from the side, easily suppressing the three Cloud Ninja.

The blade, adorned with purple flames, shimmered with blinding white light, stirring up the surrounding thick fog. Invisible wind-attribute chakra swirled around it; for some reason, after perfecting the Hatake Secret Manual, he automatically mastered the nature transformation of wind-attribute chakra.

Lightning Release: Heavy Torrent Burst!

The three Cloud Ninja channeled their chakra into their right hands, then hurled the purple arcs of electricity into the thick fog. With three booming sounds, the surrounding dense fog seemed to be shattered by a sharp blade.

Chapter 64 Slaying

The dense fog was shattered by the explosive burst of air, giving the three Cloud Ninja a temporary respite. The three shadow clones of Yakumo stood in different positions, looking down at the enemy.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

The four stars fired in rapid succession, suppressing the reaction space of the three Cloud Ninjas like a machine gun. Yakumo calmly wore down the enemy's stamina with his sword.

Clang! The clash between the blade and the gauntlet made Yakumo even more certain of the enemy's weakness. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he increased his speed and advanced continuously, his short blade forming a purple net that seemed to cut everything in its path.

The leader of the Cloud Ninjas could only retreat in a sorry state. Just then, another Cloud Ninja swung his iron fist and desperately blocked Yakumo's attack.

"break!"

Yakumo gave a soft shout, and his speed increased again... A white light carrying purple flames flashed by.

The Cloud Ninja stumbled backward, a wound on his body spreading from his right shoulder to his left waist. The wound tore through his clothes, skin, muscles, and even bones—a potentially fatal injury.

Amidst the angry gazes of the other two Cloud Ninja, Yakumo once again swung his sword and severed the artery in his neck.

Blood splattered, staining the surrounding ground red.

Yakumo slowly adjusted his breathing, his face expressionless, without glancing at the fallen corpse. He was deeply moved by the spirit of his companion who had chosen to risk his life to save him, but that did not mean his sword would hesitate in the slightest.

When he decided to wield his sword to kill, he clearly understood that there was no room for hesitation when facing an enemy, whether the opponent was a man, a woman, or even a child.

"retreat!"

The leader of the Cloud Ninja suddenly gave the order to retreat, even though returning would bring him infamy, and even though he wished he could tear Yakumo to pieces at that moment.

But he had to order a retreat; he couldn't let his brothers die here. However, Yakumo had no intention of letting the enemy go. The thick fog spread again, and the purple blade light descended like the scythe of death.

The leading Cloud Ninja was once again entangled by Yakumo, while the other Cloud Ninja was restrained by Aoyama Reiko. In addition, three shadow clones that were shooting arrows from afar completely blocked all their chances of escape.

Clang! Sparks flew as the force of the colliding weapons transformed into a shockwave that radiated in all directions.

The ground beneath their feet cracked like a spiderweb, as if two prehistoric beasts were wrestling with each other.

The Cloud Ninja leader roared, blood seeping from his thick, dark arms, indicating that the capillaries in his arms had begun to break.

But he still couldn't change his fate of being gradually forced back; if things continued like this, he would surely perish.

"Heavy Storm!"

As the iron fist, surging with lightning chakra, slammed down, Yakumo immediately raised his short blade to block, easily deflecting the force by stepping back. At the same time, his shadow clone unleashed a four-star combo, forcing the Cloud Ninja leader to raise his hand to defend.

While defending, the Cloud Ninja leader threw out several kunai, a move that gave him a brief respite.

Yakumo exerted force with his feet to crash into the trajectory of the flying kunai, and in a very short time, he unleashed four consecutive slashes with purple fire in his hand. With the sound of metal clashing, the kunai was directly cut away.

With a series of rapid steps, he closed in on the enemy, while Yakumo continued to slash at the chest of the Cloud Ninja leader with his sword!

Almost instantly, the Cloud Ninja leader swung his iron fist at Yakumo's head, a desperate, life-or-death fighting style.

Yakumo easily dodged the heavy punch, and with his right hand, he controlled the short blade to change the direction of the attack. After a sharp and extremely fierce slash, he directly cut through the gauntlet made of fine iron, and at the same time, the right hand bone of the Cloud Ninja leader was also severed.

In excruciating pain, the leader of the Cloud Ninja was about to retreat when Yakumo's black hair suddenly grew wildly, like a spider spreading a large black web during a hunt, quickly closing in and wrapping around his legs.

In battle, life and death can be decided in the blink of an eye!

Yakumo took two steps forward, and suddenly pressed his other hand against the chest of the Cloud Ninja leader. The four water balls wrapped around his wrist slammed into the enemy's chest, firing at close range!

The four consecutive impacts temporarily rendered him unable to resist, and Yakumo easily beheaded the Cloud Ninja leader with a swing of his sword amidst the resentful look in his eyes.

The last Cloud Ninja was quickly dealt with by Yakumo and Reiko Aoyama.

Yakumo waved his hand, and the thick fog slowly dissipated.

With the deduction of one hundred gold coins, his aura, which was as deep as an abyss, gradually shrank, and he became an ordinary first-year student at the ninja academy again.

They grabbed the three corpses, piled them together, tore off their ninja tool pouches, poured in the corpse-dissolving liquid, and after a burst of foul-smelling smoke, the last trace of the Cloud Ninja Trio was completely erased.

Yakumo couldn't help but sigh that if everyone could eradicate problems like he did, leaving no future troubles, how could there have been such a powerful army of reanimated ninjas later on, overwhelming the ninja world?

If you oppose me, I'll scatter your ashes everywhere.

Yakumo looked up and found Aoyama Reiko staring at her strangely, even forgetting to treat her wounds.

How can you be so skilled?

"Isn't this common sense?" Yakumo retorted, getting up to take out the trace-removing powder and begin to clean up the traces. He had become quite skilled at using this stuff the more he used it.

"After the battle, you must... erase all traces and leave no future troubles. Only in this way can you live more safely in this world." Yakumo said to Aoyama Reiko without looking up, and then sealed the kunai that had been slashed away and the trio's weapons into a storage scroll.

Unfortunately... Yakumo doesn't know their names yet...

The two resumed their journey. Due to Aoyama Reiko's injury, their progress was much slower, but they still managed to reach Jihuo City before dark, avoiding spending the night in the wilderness.

At night, Yakumo picked up the Cloud Village leader's ninja tool bag and began to examine it. The first thing he saw was the silver from the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning on the outermost layer. These were all relatively large denominations of banknotes, which could be considered a decent amount of extra income.

He also discovered the ninja credentials of the three Cloud Ninjas: the leader of the Cloud Ninjas was named Mizukawa Katsu, and the other two were named Todo Ryosuke and Takagi Yosuke.

The inner layer of the ninja tool pouch contains kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags. This layer is designed to be easily pulled out and is specifically used to store weapons.

Further inside, there are hidden layers that often store the ninja's most cherished items. For example, Kakashi's beloved "Icha Icha Paradise" was kept in this layer after he grew up.

Yakumo opened the hidden compartment, and inside was only a photograph. It was a picture of Mizukawa Masaru holding a very cute girl, his face beaming with happiness.

This was supposed to be the VIP spot for the ninja tool pouch, but it didn't contain secret scrolls, treasures, or important intelligence; it only contained a photograph…

"Sigh." Yakumo sighed and casually took out the valuable items from the remaining two ninja tool pouches. As for the rest, he threw them into the brazier to burn... including the yellowed photograph.

The flames gradually engulfed the photograph until it disappeared completely. Yakumo felt a little heavy-hearted. The photograph seemed to constantly remind him that he had personally destroyed a happy family today.

"But I never regret it..."

Because of Aoyama Reiko's injury, the two decided after thinking it over to rest in Sekiho Castle for a while.

Chapter 65 Full Body Examination

October 21st, Thursday.

The two set off to return to Konoha, while an envoy from Kumogakure was also on his way to Konoha.

After returning to Konoha, Yakumo rushed home without stopping. He hadn't seen Naiqiu for over half a month... He missed Naiqiu very much, as well as the people who had taken care of Naiqiu for him.

As he reached the alley entrance, he suddenly froze, his expression gradually turning grim. Someone had brazenly trespassed into his private territory with a smile on their face.

Masako Mori, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara are bonds he is unwilling to sever... and also his Achilles' heel.

A young man in blue robes was standing at the entrance of his house. The moment he saw Yakumo, he immediately walked over with a smile.

Chenyu, the steward of Daming Prefecture.

"This is a gift from the lord." He seemed to have been waiting for a long time, his joints were a little stiff, and his gait was very strange, but his face was full of smiles.

Yakumo looked at the wooden box in front of him and suddenly smiled.

It's foolish not to take advantage of a good deal.

"Okay, I'll take it..."

"By the way, did you come to Konoha to give me this wooden box?" Yakumo asked.

"The Daimyo is currently in Konoha. This morning, someone reported that Lord Aoyama had returned to Konoha, so the Daimyo specifically ordered me to wait here," Chen Yu replied.

"oh…?"

Yakumo found it a little strange. He had just become a daimyo and was not consolidating his power in the Fire Capital. Why did he travel all the way to Konoha Village?

"Discuss increasing Konoha's annual military budget."

After Chenyu finished speaking, he bowed respectfully and left. Yakumo immediately realized that Shinichi had deliberately revealed those words to him.

We are currently in a time of peace, and the Daimyo has been cutting military spending on Konoha Village again and again over the years. However, Shinichi has just taken office and is planning to increase military spending.

Is he preparing for war, or is he going to initiate it?

Whether it was World War I or World War II, the Land of Fire was forced to participate in the war. Although it ultimately won the war, it also suffered heavy losses.

Could it be... that Shinichi intends to initiate World War III?

Did he use his power to kill the Land of Lightning's delegation because he was dissatisfied with the price they offered, or was he stockpiling food for wartime? After all, once a ninja war breaks out, food and weapons will be the most scarce and essential commodities.

Yakumo opened the box, and the wooden box's own fragrance wafted into her nostrils, as if opening a long-sealed era. Inside the box was a withered yellow parchment scroll.

"The Yin and Yang are sealed off."

It was that one sealing technique that truly interested Yakumo. When he was browsing the catalog, his gaze lingered on that sealing technique for a few extra seconds. He never expected that Shinichi would actually catch that detail.

There was also a letter inside the box. Yakumo quickly glanced at the bland greetings and expressions of concern at the beginning, then read at the end:

It was a pleasure working with you. Let's continue next time.

Signed: Shinichi-nii.

"Heh." Yakumo sneered, then crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into a roadside trash can. One day he would make Shinichi pay the price.