270 Desperate Moji

Terumi Mansion

Yoshiro just came back from meeting Kakashi and now he was headed to the underground meeting room. Mei was following him and seeing her dad in such a hurry she asked "Father you seem worried about something. And why are we going to the underground meeting room? Do you need me to call an emergency meeting?"

Yoshiro was already in a hurry shook his head and said "No…I know something for sure but I can't tell them without any proof and I am sure they won't even believe me. Even I don't believe myself. This meeting with Kakashi turned out to be way bigger than I thought."

"Father, I think you are overreacting on this. I myself didn't find any of the things that he said to be something big. Yes, I do agree that he didn't prioritize the kid's life but I get it that the kid is just a civilian so there is a limit as to how much importance they can give his life." Mei said and by the time she finished talking, they had reached the underground meeting room.

As they opened the room door they saw all 4 Terumi siblings along with Elder Wu, Enko, and Ao standing to the side. Seeing Yoshiro and Mei walk in, Ao stepped ahead and asked "Lord Yoshiro I didn't know there was a meeting scheduled today. I and Elder Wu were explaining Santo and the others what they need to do on the day of the prisoner exchange."

"No there is no meeting planned. I needed a secure place to open these." Yoshiro said as he pulled out the 2 storage scrolls from his pocket.

Ao and the others were about to ask what was in the scroll when Mei decided to go to the group and explain everything that had happened in the past 15-20 mins. She just explained in a few sentences and by the time she finished, Yoshiro had poured out the contents of the first storage scroll. Instantly more than half of the room was filled with crates and crates of weapons. These were the same weapons that Yami had stolen from the middle-sized hidden stone base and then gave them to Kakashi.

"Oh my god…are these all weapons." Toru got excited when he saw so many weapons. It was surprising for everyone as all these weapons looked like top-grade ones. Ao went near one of the crates and opened it. He saw a box filled with Kunais and took one in hand to test its quality. After looking at it for a few seconds he turned toward Yoshiro and Mei and said "Lord Yoshiro, these don't seem like locally sourced weapons from one of the 5 great villages."

Yoshiro thought that either of these weapons would be from the hidden leaf. He took a kunai in his hand as well and said "You are right. These weapons are from the land of Iron."

"But I have heard that they are too expensive and villages use them only as their main fighting force." Enko said. He was looking at the other closed boxes.

"Father, do you think that Kakashi Hatake made a mistake by giving them to us? And you seem more panicked than before." Mei said. She thought that getting such good weapons would lighten her father's mood but it had gotten more intense.

"You told Kakashi Hatake that we would be attacking the Mizukage faction before the prisoner exchange is done but Kakashi didn't even stop you or talk to you about the kid's well-being. Does that surprise you?" Elder Wu asked. He understood what Yoshiro was thinking so he decided to be open about it.

"We can't leave that kid to die. We will be making an attempt to rescue him along with the hidden leaf shinobis, right?" Kana asked. She wasn't getting emotional like before, but worry could be clearly seen on her face.

"I told Mei to plan something like this with the hidden leaf shinobis but I don't think it is necessary now. The 5th Hokage sent us a letter about Hideki and the twins being captured but how did she know? As we all know, the other spies working under Hideki had no idea that Hideki was captured so how would they even call Kakashi and the others for help? This means…" Yoshiro was saying when Mei completed his sentence.

"This means that except for the spies we now know, there is someone who knows everything and is pulling the strings. But someone powerful and influential enough to stay in the shadows for such a long time and that the Hokage herself took action to his report?" Mei asked.

Yoshiro nodded and said "Yes…someone has been playing with all of us. At first, when Kakashi and the others arrived, I thought that the kid had some special identity like a big merchant's son or connection to the Fire daimyo but since the leaf shinobis have come here, they didn't mention anything about the kid."

"Are you saying that they no longer care about the kid?" Kana asked. She didn't want to see another sacrifice for the great villages.

Yoshiro shook his head and said "It's like they don't want to talk about the kid. I can't say anything for sure. AO and Enko I want you both to go to the other clan leader's mansions and ask them if they have gotten any information on the kid. As far as I know, the old man must have already started getting a background check on everyone who is involved in this." Ao and Enko knew how urgent this was so without asking anything, they just left.

Yoshiro then looked at Santo and said "Santo I want you and your siblings to document every kind of weapon in these crates and the ones in this other scroll as well. I am sure this is also full of weapons. Elder Wu kindly supervise them and let me know if anything stands out about these weapons."

Toru and Nana didn't know why things were so complicated but they decided to focus on the job that Yoshiro had just given them. They wanted to help out as much as they can. They knew that if they were brought up in one of the 5 great villages then they would definitely be stronger than they are now and would be included in the direct conflict. They could feel that some of the leaf genins who had come were equally strong as them or even stronger in some cases.

Elder Wu bowed slightly and said "Lord Yoshiro, I will make sure that everything is documented properly and not a single piece of metal gets misplaced."

Yoshiro nodded and said "I have a lot of thoughts running around in my head but I can't say anything until I am sure. For now double the preparations Mei, Kakashi has already indicated to us that the fight is going to be way tougher than we think and this isn't the first time he has implied something like this that means they know something we don't."

Mei nodded and said "Father we don't have time to find out what they know so we can only prepare for the worst. I am sure that the Mizukage faction has realized that they have lost half of the blood squad. They must be in an uproar right now." Mei smirked.

And just like Mei said, the Mizukage building was truly in an uproar right now.

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Mizukage building (same time)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN VANISHED?" Shouting was heard inside Moji's office.

"Lord Moji I don't know how to say it but I can't Hari or anyone else that went with him anywhere." A mist shinobi standing in front of Moji said.

"How can 16 strong people disappear like that from the face of the earth?" Moji asked. His eyes were wide in rage and he was scratching the wooden chair with his fingers making them crack a little. "Did you check the location of the meeting point I gave you?"

The shinobi nodded and said "Yes and we did go there a few minutes ago, it is completely dyed in blood but not even a single corpse."

"And you think that the blood belongs to the members of the blood squad members and Hari?" Moji asked.

"This is the only conclusion I can come up with. Or else how can I explain the disappearances of them all?" the man said with a little hesitation. Moji stood up suddenly and held the man by the collar. He pushed him back against the wall and said "You think they are as weak as you and your men? I want you to stop thinking and go scour the entire faction for them. I cannot afford to have him missing while we are heading for a conflict with the bloodline clans."

The shinobi nodded hurriedly and seeing this Moji pushed him away to the side and was about to scold more when the door to his office opened.

"I heard that some of your people went missing Lord Moji." Priest Ji entered the office smiling.

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