Things have to be done one at a time. Although they are burdened with the weight of changing history, they first have to complete the task at hand.
Uzumaki Naruto looked at Kakashi and Obito, reminiscing about his time with Sasuke. Their team was indeed very similar, though Sakura wasn't as gentle as Nohara Rin.
After the three left, Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato soon fell asleep.
Early the next morning, everyone began their efforts.
Kakashi and the others continued to investigate An Lushan, while Naruto and Yamato searched for Mukade's traces, and Mokgetsu sought the help of the Queen of Loulan.
"Have you discovered anything?" The Queen of Loulan first inquired about Mokgetsu's progress on the mission.
Mokgetsu didn't directly answer the Queen of Loulan's question but instead asked her a question as well.
"Minister An Lushan is a ninja, correct?" Mokgetsu asked.
The Queen of Loulan hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
Although Loulan doesn't have many ninjas, the Queen of Loulan wasn't completely ignorant of the term "ninja".
"I did find out some things. An Lushan's strength as a ninja far exceeds the scope of a B-Class Mission," Mokgetsu said calmly.
Even though he didn't investigate, and Kakashi and Obito didn't uncover anything, for Mokgetsu, who was familiar with the plot, bluffing some information was not an issue.
The Queen of Loulan was a very astute person. She instantly understood what Mokgetsu meant—she had given the wrong mission information, leading to an incorrect mission level. In such a situation, the ninjas executing the mission could leave directly.
"Sorry, that was my oversight. I don't really understand your ninja affairs, nor do I know what rank he holds among ninjas," the Queen of Loulan immediately apologized.
"I can add more to the commission fund," the Queen of Loulan promptly proposed a solution.
Seeing that he had successfully bluffed the Queen of Loulan, Mokgetsu continued without changing his expression, "Besides the commission, there's another issue. Queen, surely there's more information about An Lushan that you haven't shared with us?"
The Queen's expression didn't change as she replied, "No, if I knew that much, I wouldn't have asked you to help investigate."
She had indeed concealed a piece of information, but she couldn't divulge it because it concerned the safety of Loulan and was also the secret behind Loulan's rapid development in the past two years.
The latter was actually irrelevant; the former was what mattered most.
Mokgetsu quietly looked at the Queen, and after three minutes, he spoke, "An Lushan is a ninja from The Hidden Sand Village skilled in puppetry. I've discovered that he's secretly stockpiling many puppets for combat, though I'm unsure of his intentions."
"Puppets for combat?" The Queen's expression changed.
The information she had hidden was indeed her past cooperation with An Lushan.
Beneath Loulan lies a massive energy source called the Dragon Vein, but this massive energy was not uncontrollable. The Loulan Royal Family had a chance to awaken the ability to control the Dragon Vein, and the Queen was one of those awakened, which is why she became queen.
It's essentially because of this ability that there is a Loulan Royal Family, rather than because the royal family has this ability.
Because An Lushan demonstrated exceptional abilities, the Queen initially agreed to cooperate with him to harness the Dragon Vein's energy to promote Loulan's development.
Although An Lushan always acted cautiously, he was ultimately an unruly traitorous ninja. The meticulous Queen of Loulan noticed something was off and directly terminated their cooperation.
During this time, the Queen of Loulan continued to observe An Lushan, but he never showed any unusual behavior, as if he was truly just a minister of Loulan focused on development and caring for the people.
But the Queen trusted her judgment, so she eventually issued a mission to the Ninja Village to investigate An Lushan.
The efficiency of the ninjas was beyond her expectations; within just one day, they made such substantial discoveries.
"Additionally, I need your help with one more thing, Queen. Yesterday, I encountered another team of Konoha companions who accepted a mission to capture a traitorous ninja of The Hidden Sand Village. They found that the suspect reportedly arrived in Loulan two years ago, so they came to Loulan to investigate and seek relevant information," Mokgetsu continued.
After hearing Mokgetsu's words, the Queen's face changed again.
According to Mokgetsu's investigation, An Lushan was a ninja from The Hidden Sand Village, and he happened to arrive in Loulan two years ago.
With this connection, the Queen immediately suspected that An Lushan was Mukade, the traitorous ninja of The Hidden Sand Village.
If it were someone else, the Queen might have doubted it first. However, Mokgetsu was a ninja she hired, and Mokgetsu had no reason to harm her. Otherwise, the reputation of Konoha would be ruined, and she was, after all, a Queen.
"I suspect An Lushan is Mukade, the traitorous ninja of The Hidden Sand Village," Mokgetsu directly voiced the Queen's suspicion.
"There aren't many traitorous ninjas from The Hidden Sand, and even fewer are proficient in puppetry. The likelihood of An Lushan being Mukade is very high."
"I have a perception secret technique with which I can sense a strong underground energy in Loulan. Perhaps An Lushan is plotting for that immense energy, which is why he remains in Loulan," Mokgetsu reasoned.
The Queen could no longer remain calm, her expression drastically changing as she looked at Mokgetsu in shock.
Even though Mokgetsu had only been investigating for a day, it seemed he knew more than she did.
Combining what Mokgetsu had previously said, the Queen realized that her secret might have already been uncovered by Mokgetsu. He simply didn't mention it out of consideration for her dignity.