131 Chapter 131

"How are things?"

"Everything's not bad, Kaito."

Shisui might look travel-worn, but he's in high spirits right now. As he speaks, he hands over a scroll to Kaito.

Although this trip took quite some time, he learned many things which are essential for their future development.

Kaito took the scroll, hesitating momentarily because after reaching an agreement with Nara Shikaku, there were some things that didn't require Shisui to take personal action.

But since Shisui was so proactive, Kaito couldn't dampen his enthusiasm. Thus, Kaito bowed his head and began to seriously peruse the information Shisui submitted.

"It's just as well, I can also verify the accuracy of the information provided by Nara Shikaku."

Kaito murmured inwardly, then started examining the document in earnest.

Shisui's report was divided into two parts. The primary purpose of this trip was to undertake war tasks and look for forces wanting to purchase weapons.

He carried out thorough investigations on both counts, and the places he found were very interesting. The first one was the Bear Country.

Bear Country is a somewhat unfortunate nation, located at the intersection of four countries, with the worst part being that two of the countries are Wind Country and Earth Country.

As you can imagine, the internal dynamics of this country are incredibly chaotic, especially with these two major nations constantly augmenting their own forces within it.

However, Bear Country's geographical environment is also unique. It has dense forests and a hazardous valley filled with poisonous gas, these serve as natural defense measures.

Therefore, whether it's the forces supported by the Hidden Stone or Hidden Sand Village, they've all established their own villages relying on these natural defenses.

Apart from the forces of these two major ninja villages, Bear Country also has an interesting force, a force that Kaito is quite familiar with.

"Hoshigakure (Star Ninja Village)?"

Seeing the name of this village, Kaito's first reaction was of the beautiful woman called Natsuhi and the Peacock Mystic Method that pushed chakra activity transformation to the extreme.

This village is indeed quite fascinating. It seems that a meteorite fell there one or two hundred years ago, and they relied on this meteorite to cultivate their secret method.

However, this meteorite seems to have strong radioactive elements, those who forced themselves to cultivate ended up having grave consequences.

This made Kaito wonder if the energy released by the meteorite was something like nuclear fusion?

In addition to that, their current Third Head Ninja believed that he had reached the heavens by cultivating this Peacock Mystic Method, and began acting as if he were a Kage.

One must know that there are only five Kage in the entire ninja continent. Kaito thought this guy was really getting too inflated, but that's not the point.

The key point is that this village seems to be very interested in hiring war ninjas. After all, their current situation is not good at all.

Moreover, since they are a local force and are attempting to resist the control of the two major ninja villages over Bear Country, they have been jointly blockaded by these two villages.

They can forget about weapon supplies. Normal arms merchants wouldn't dare to directly offend two major countries.

Also, because the two major ninja villages occupy most of the land in Bear Country, the number of ninjas in Hoshigakure is not large, thus they hope to hire war ninjas.

"It seems that Nara Shikaku's intelligence was quite accurate; it matches closely with what Shisui brought back."

Kaito rubbed his chin. Shisui's report did not mention whether Hoshigakure had the financial means, but it was covered in the information provided by Nara Shikaku.

After all, how could a village that had existed for many years and survived until Naruto's era not have some reserves?

Even though their involvement with the Hidden Stone and Hidden Sand had cost them a lot, they were not so poor as to not be able to pay.

Their biggest problem right now is probably having money but nowhere to spend it!

As for other targets, there's a church in the Land of Hot Water wanting to buy weapons, and forces in the Land of Grass wanting to drive out the Leaf and Stone villages, among others.

In short, aside from the Five Great Nations, there is no peace to speak of in the rest of the ninja world.

"The information is comprehensive; it seems you've put in a lot of effort, and we can directly make some choices from it."

Kaito nodded at Shisui with a smile after reading it, but he was also a little puzzled.

"However, it seems I haven't seen any intelligence on Jiraiya. Didn't you manage to gather any information on him?"

"Jiraiya-sama's whereabouts are very unstable. Although I heard where he might appear, it was really too difficult to find him."

Faced with Kaito's question, Shisui sighed deeply. Jiraiya's whereabouts really could not be described as elusive anymore.

He deliberately stayed in the Land of Hot Water for some time. As everyone knows, the Land of Hot Water has the most hot springs and customs houses.

There was a high probability of running into Jiraiya in such places, but unfortunately, he found no trace of Jiraiya.

This indeed troubled him greatly, as he had other tasks to carry out. So in the end, he had to leave when he couldn't find him.

Upon hearing this, Kaito could only nod. He knew that Jiraiya was hard to find. If he couldn't be found, then so be it.

After all, his attention is now on other matters. Especially after combining the intelligence from Nara Shikaku and Shisui, he made a decision.

"Alright, let's put Jiraiya's matter aside for now. Based on the information, Hoshigakure seems to be an excellent choice."

Kaito held the document in his hand. The chakra inside him began to slightly vibrate, and the next moment, the document ignited.

Kaito watched the flames grow; he had essentially memorized the information. Naturally, he wouldn't leave any traces behind.

"That place is chaotic enough, and there are two major ninja villages playing power games inside. I think it's best if we go there."

"Hoshigakure?"

Upon hearing Kaito's words, Shisui couldn't help but furrow his brow, before he responded.

"Hoshigakure is indeed a good choice, but their village leader seems unreliable to me.

The past leaders were alright, but this one calls himself 'Star Shadow'.

Also, he is of considerable age, and it seems like he is about to be overshadowed by his subordinates.

This implies that we might not be sure who we'll meet."

The internal division in Hoshigakure is quite severe. From the original context, Kaito already has some information.

For instance, the beautiful widow named Natsuhi guards their so-called 'Star Shadow', and naturally, they face those who have eliminated Hoshigakure's ninjas.

Shisui indeed raises a realistic concern. Such a complex village can be a headache, but Kaito is quite content with this situation.

"Actually, the chaos is beneficial; after all, the more chaotic it is, the less likely they'll know who we are!"

Kaito displayed a smile, lightly flicking off the ashes from the document in his hand, before continuing with a grin.

"If they refuse to recognize us, I can find a way to get what I want from them. So, I think our target should be Hoshigakure.

However, since you're worried, we don't need to transport the supplies there right away. We can go there as war ninjas and test the waters.

Only by understanding their specific circumstances can we make better judgments, right?"

Kaito knew about Shisui's concerns, so he suggested stepping back and observing the situation there first.

Only after understanding the specific circumstances of those people, could Kaito make a better decision.

After all, transporting a large amount of supplies, even using sealing scrolls, is not easy.

Otherwise, during the Third Great Ninja War, when Minato Namikaze led a team to blow up the Kannabi Bridge and cut off Iwagakure's supply line, Iwagakure wouldn't have chosen to surrender.

Although many factors influenced this situation, one cannot deny the value of Minato's mission.

Kaito did not want to avoid trouble by bringing supplies into the village, only for internal problems to occur.

Then the waste would not just be Kaito's time and money, but the interest of many people.

"That's the only way."

Shisui nodded, but it seemed he quickly noticed a problem in Kaito's statement. He looked at Kaito with surprise and asked, slightly bewildered.

"Kaito, are you going too?"

"Yes, to be precise, you and I are going."

Kaito nodded seriously and then spoke.

"It's best for me to go and check things out the first time. Only in this way can I be more assured of many subsequent operations, after all, the beginning is always the hardest."

What Kaito didn't tell Shisui was that Bear Country involved the state of Iwagakure.

Onoki is someone who has hired the Akatsuki to solve his problems, and he is curious if he might encounter any Akatsuki members.

There is not a single Akatsuki member who is easy to deal with, something Kaito is only too aware of.

Even powerhouses like Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui, who possess the Mangekyou Sharingan, are not without chances of failing without proper intel.

Intelligence is the most important aspect within the ninja system. Kaito knows this, but there are certain things he can't just blabber about.

So, he plans to go in person this time, believing that if he does encounter them, he can handle some troublesome issues.

Ensuring safety is Kaito's only demand for such a situation.

Only if the first mission can be completed safely, then many subsequent things can become easier.

After all, Kaito has never thought of saving a department by relying on his personal strength.

Regardless of whether it's feasible or not, the fact that Kaito doesn't want to serve this department like a workhorse alone reveals his mindset.

At most, he would craft a rough strategic direction and then complete the initial work successfully. After that, he could stay behind the scenes and patiently wait for the fruits of his labor.

Of course, these are all objective factors. Kaito also has his own subjective reasons.

He's been in Konoha for so long, working tirelessly to solve one problem—the survival of the Uchiha.

Now that this problem is temporarily solved, he naturally doesn't want to continue in this manner.

Once, as a mission ninja, he traveled far and wide. Now, staying only within Konoha, he finds it somewhat dull.

However, he also understands that he can't just leave ostentatiously as a deterrent force. But with the existence of Shadow Clones, his thoughts can be realized.

Therefore, he naturally doesn't want to miss the chance to leave Konoha temporarily!

//

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