Chapter 56 Young People

Chapter 56 Young People

The four members of Team Ao naturally had no idea, as just a while ago the village leaders were still discussing what they had done.

Mirukawa Kaito and the other two had just finished their tasks and immediately rushed home in a hurry.

There was no way. The continuous fighting and sea voyages in this mission were too exhausting, and everyone was looking forward to resting early.

Ao smiled and sent his three students away. He was about to go alone to hand over the collected evidence to Yagura, which meant that the mission was successfully completed.

Unexpectedly, two Anbu members suddenly appeared in front of Ao.

This appearance almost scared Ao into having a stress reaction.

Fortunately, after coming to his senses, he realized that he was in the Kirigakure Village, and not even far from the Mizukage Building. It was impossible for someone to pretend to be an ANBU and attack him here. Ao then let down his guard and looked at the two ANBU.

"Jōnin Ao, the Mizukage-sama wants to see you."

Another ANBU took one look at the two coffin-like ninja tools that Ao was carrying on his back and spoke.

"Also, the Mizukage-sama has ordered that these two prisoners be given to us."

Ao didn't hesitate at all when he heard that and put the coffin on the ground very happily.

The two Anbu silently carried the coffin on their backs, without even stopping, and left in an instant.

"Well, this is the style of the Anbu."

Ao nodded in a serious manner, but when he thought about the fact that the Mizukage had summoned him at this time and asked the Anbu to take away Baogui and Caique.

It must be related to the matter that Yagura entrusted him with.

However, Ao had nothing to be nervous about. After all, his team was only following the instructions of the Jōnin Commander to investigate.

As for whether Lord Mizukage had said that it was forbidden to investigate this matter as war was approaching, how could a newly promoted ordinary jonin like me know so many inside stories.

Thinking of this, Ao turned around and walked back to the Mizukage Building without hesitation.

"Dong~Dong~Dong~"

"Come in."

The old voice of the Elder Genji came from the Mizukage's office.

Ao pushed the door open and saw the back of the Third Mizukage looking out the window and the elder Genji who was working with his head down.

"Mizukage-sama, Elder Genji."

Elder Genji spends most of his time working here, and Ao doesn't find it strange. It is a good thing for him to have Elder Genji here.

After greeting everyone one by one, Ao stood still and waited for instructions.

Elder Genji looked at Ao gently and nodded.

"Ao, you did a great job this time. Now that the Land of Water has officially declared war on the Land of Fire, the information you brought back may help the village control some of the top leaders of other ninja villages."

"Thank you for the compliment, Elder."

There is nothing wrong with what Elder Genji said. After all, this time the smuggled ninja tools from the Takumi Village were not only sold to the Kirigakure Village. The five great ninja villages had more or less clans or organizations recorded in the account books of the Four Celestial Symbols Men Workshop.

If the Kirigakure Village had this evidence, whether through threats or deals, it might be possible to plant a few spies in other villages.

For example, a certain "Pot Shadow" recorded in the account book who does not want to reveal his name would not mind reaching some deals with the Land of Water.

Even if these people finally firmly reject the kindness of the Kirigakure Village, at least they can release evidence at a critical moment and cause some turmoil within other ninja villages.

However, Ao subconsciously touched the account book in his arms.

"Should I remind Elder Genji that I haven't submitted my evidence yet?"

Ao secretly cursed Yagura for being unreliable. He had only passed the detailed information of the mission to him through ninja owl.

Now it seems that the Mizukage and the Elder Genji know more about this mission than he does.

It couldn't be that his three students reported this matter to the village higher-ups.

Just when Ao was still struggling over whether or not to take out the account book quickly.

The Third Mizukage also turned around and looked at Ao calmly.

"Jōnin Ao, in view of your performance this time, the village has decided to appoint you as the vice captain of the Perception Unit. What do you think?" (Perception Unit = Sensor Division or Sensory Unit)

When Ao heard this, his heart skipped a beat and he spoke cautiously.

"Mizukage-sama, if I take on the role of Perception Unit Vice Captain, will my team need to be disbanded?"

"You seem to care about your teammates?"

Ao saw that although the Third Mizukage raised questions, he didn't seem angry, so Ao had to grit his teeth and continue speaking.

"The three members of my team are all very talented young people, but Terumi Mei is not qualified to be a chūnin captain for the time being, and Momochi Zabuza and Mirukawa Kaito have just become genin not long ago. I am worried that changing the team leader at this time will affect their future development."

For some reason, after hearing what Ao said, Elder Genji suddenly laughed out loud. Even the Third Mizukage, who had been expressionless before, had a slight smile on his face.

The Third Mizukage coughed twice and said to Ao.

"Okay, then you will continue to be the captain of these three young people." When saying this, the Mizukage also emphasized the word "young people".

"As for the work in the Perception Unit, you will need to balance your time. However, the village should send another group of Perception Ninjas to the front line in a while. Whether to take them to the battlefield will be up to you as the captain."

"Thank you, Mizukage-sama." Ao accepted the appointment with great gratitude.

"As for your three team members, each of them will be rewarded with a C-rank ninjutsu this time. When you have time, take them to the Merit Office to choose one."

After Elder Genji finished speaking, he signaled Ao that he could leave.

Ao didn't care much about the so-called C-rank ninjutsu, as he had mastered quite a few ninjutsu himself. He had already recognized the three little ones as his students, so he would naturally teach them some of this kind of basic ninjutsu.

Seeing Ao leave respectfully, the elder Genji nodded slightly to the Third Mizukage and started working again.

It seemed that because of the mention of war, the Third Mizukage also wanted to discuss the situation on the front line with the elder Genji again.

"What's Konohagakure's reaction now?"

Elder Genji replied without any hesitation.

"We haven't sent a large force to the Land of Fire border yet. The previous garrison personnel are still confronting us. However, the several attempts to spy on the front-line camp were dealt with by Suikazan Fuguki and his men."

"At present, Suikazan Fuguki and Kuriarare Kushimaru are still setting up a front-line camp at the old site of the Land of Whirlpool. Kurosuki Raiga and Chūkichi are leading a small force to the coastline of the Land of Fire to explore the terrain and get intelligence as planned." (Chūkichi is a character who got reanimated in the 4th war. He has the ability to become Invisible)

The Third Mizukage pondered for a moment.

At present, everything seems to be going according to plan, but what the Kirigakure Village did not expect was that Konoha's reaction would be so slow.

Logically speaking, the only village that is truly at war with Konohagakure Village right now is the Sunagakure Village, the Iwagakure Village is only in the early stages of contact and trial, and the Kumogakure Village has not even officially entered the battlefield yet. It is impossible for Konohagakure to be unable to mobilize troops to defend against Kirigakure Village.

It was as if they had determined that the Kirigakure Village would not impulsively invade the territory of the Land of Fire.

If they had known this would be the case, the Kirigakure Village might have established its frontline camp directly on the Land of Fire mainland.

"Let's proceed as planned. The Land of Whirlpool is close enough to the mainland, so there is some room for both defense and attack."

After thinking about it, the Third Mizukage did not make any changes to the plan.

After all, the Land of Water did not participate in the Second Great Ninja War.

Although we have never relaxed our efforts in obtaining intelligence on the Land of Fire, we still need to conduct more detailed inquiries before the war.

Moreover, the Third Mizukage did not want to launch a large-scale advance too early. Declaring war so early was more of a statement of attitude and a way to lure the other villages to send more troops to the Land of Fire.

However, if they really launched a large-scale attack on the Land of Fire at the beginning of the war and attracted Konohagakure to send more ninjas to defend against Kirigakure Village, in the end it would only allow the Kumogakure and Iwagakure to gain the upper hand.

"But if Konohagakure Village continues to maintain this attitude, then Suikazan Fuguki should not be polite to them either."

As he said this, there was a hint of cruelty in the eyes of the Third Mizukage.