Chapter 72: Are They For Me?

"Viper-sama, Number Five has been captured."

In a dark basement, a severely injured man was thrown to the ground. Two heavily armed assassins held his hands behind his back, the bones in his shoulders creaking loudly.

However, even in this humiliating position, the man didn't dare to resist. He just kept saying, "Viper-sama! Viper-sama! I swear I didn't leak any information! I took the scroll and went straight to headquarters..."

Viper touched his bald head, which was adorned with a poisonous insect tattoo, and sneered:

"In the Land of Hot Water, only the dealer and I knew about the Byakugan. And the secret scroll was delivered to headquarters by you."

"Viper-sama!" The man kowtowed repeatedly.

"I didn't know anything about the Byakugan. I always followed your orders and never opened the scroll!"

"Then tell me, who leaked the information? The dealer? Or me?"

"L-Lord, maybe it was someone at headquarters..."

"Shut up!" Viper kicked the man in the mouth.

"You really want to die, saying something like that!"

The man's mouth was bloodied, half of his teeth knocked out, and he could no longer speak clearly.

"Originally, I wanted to spare your life... Hold him down."

Viper coldly commanded. Ignoring the man's terrified eyes, he performed complex hand seals and pressed his hand on the subordinate's head.

This was a memory-manipulating technique. Though effective, Viper was far less skilled in this area than the Yamanaka clan of Konoha. Its use would leave irreparable mental trauma on the victim.

The man's screams gradually weakened, and finally, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Viper wearily rubbed his temples and sat back in his chair.

'Damn... It really wasn't him who leaked the information... But even if he had leaked the Byakugan's details, it wouldn't matter now.' Viper's heart chilled.

The day that the man calling himself "Aizen Sōsuke" left the bounty station, Viper immediately sent people to report the information to headquarters. The response came quickly: a brief "approve the transaction, but proceed with caution."

Viper was granted higher authority and could mobilize more resources from the bounty station.

Overjoyed, he met with "Aizen Sōsuke" again that very day. Besides conveying the headquarters' approval, they also discussed the specifics of trading the Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku.

Capturing a member of the Kaguya clan alive was a major task, and the bounty station needed time to accomplish it.

But unexpectedly, just as everything was progressing smoothly, a disaster struck.

Several children's songs containing deadly information suddenly spread wildly in the Land of Hot Water and its surroundings. This deal, which had angered both the Fire and Water countries, was exposed, making the bounty station's branch in the Land of Hot Water a prime target.

In just a few days, the bounty station's intelligence network reported catastrophic news: experts from the Kaguya clan in Kirigakure had entered the Land of Hot Water, Konoha shinobi had started raiding bounty station bases, and Kumogakure had also focused its attention here...

Although the bounty station claimed to be a "great nation without borders," it wasn't truly a powerful shinobi village. Otherwise, it would have already established its own "Bounty Nation."

With these continuous blows, the bounty station's branch in the Land of Hot Water was on the brink of collapse.

Who leaked the information was no longer important.

The key now was... how to survive!

Perhaps it was true that misfortunes never come singly. Just as Viper felt stifled, the secret room suddenly shook violently, the granite walls cracking like a spiderweb, and dust fell from the ceiling.

"Enemies!" Viper was shocked and slapped the side, attempting to escape through the underground passage. But as soon as the hidden door opened, hundreds of tons of water gushed in, sweeping Viper away.

"Damn it... This scale... It's Kirigakure's Water Release! They've flooded the underground!"

Viper cursed but was helpless.

The walls of the secret room couldn't withstand such a torrent, being blasted open with numerous holes, and the water level quickly rose to waist height.

Viper had no choice but to escape upwards with his subordinates.

The closer they got to the surface, the louder the sounds of fighting and screaming became, and Viper's heart sank further.

Suddenly, moonlight shone on his face.

He had reached the surface.

Everywhere he looked, he saw the corpses of bounty station members, many of them torn apart and crushed.

Viper's legs trembled, and he lost any will to resist.

If they truly went all out, any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages could annihilate the bounty station. Normally, they tolerated its existence because it facilitated the flow of money and helped ninjas handle shady business.

—As long as the bounty station didn't cross their bottom line.

Trading Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku, stealing the kekkei genkai of the shinobi villages, broke the rules!

Mice living comfortably in the dirt for too long had foolishly thought they could touch a tiger's tail.

Only rivers of blood could calm the beast's fury.

Among the piles of bodies, Morinosuke Kaguya turned around, the red mark on his forehead stabbing into Viper's eyes.

"Are you the head of this branch?"

'Kaguya clan Shinobi...' Viper swallowed hard and struggled to respond.

"Yes, sir."

"You've got some nerve." Morinosuke walked slowly over to Viper, "Planning to trade our clan members' bodies?"

"I-I-I..."

The moonlight was cold, but Viper felt as if he were in the summer heat, sweating profusely, completely lacking the courage to say "yes."

As they spoke, two groups of shinobi approached from the east and south.

Soon, the teams from Kirigakure, Konoha, and Kumogakure surrounded the remaining members of the bounty station, the three forces wary of each other but united in cutting off Viper's escape.

"Hah... Such grand efforts." Morinosuke chuckled, "Danzo Shimura from Konoha, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from Kumogakure, and me along with Fuguki Suikazan from Kirigakure..." He turned back, calmly saying, "You bounty station folks are quite something, claiming to be a 'great nation without borders.'"

"I-I-I..." Viper's teeth chattered, repeating the same words. Over two hundred elite shinobi and four famous experts had gathered. With such a lineup, crushing the bounty station's branch in the Land of Hot Water was a matter of moments.

"Don't be rash, Morinosuke Kaguya." At this moment, Danzo from Konoha spoke. His raspy voice sounded like an old demon mocking in the night.

"Let's put our past grievances aside... He might know the name or appearance of the dealer. Extracting information about the Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku would benefit both Konoha and Kirigakure."

"Hmph... Do you think I'm an idiot? Old man." Morinosuke Kaguya sneered, gripping Viper's throat, and a jagged bone spike emerged from his forearm, piercing Viper's fragile blood vessels.

"Speak. Tell me everything you know... What is the dealer's name?"

The fear of death enveloped Viper. He knew that if he resisted now, what awaited him would be far worse than death.

So, like a drowning man grasping for a lifeline, he opened his mouth.

"Aizen Sōsuke."

The voice wasn't Viper's.

Nearly two hundred elite shinobi and four renowned experts simultaneously turned to look at the source of the voice.

A man wearing an oni mask walked out of the darkness. His hands were behind his head, strolling leisurely as if in his own garden.

"Well, well, Viper." He spoke slowly, with a thick sense of mockery and nonchalance:

"Are these Kaguya clan members for me? How considerate of you."

(End of Chapter)