Ino analyzed many clues from the Yamanaka Clan's intelligence, then secretly went out to investigate using her Spirit Transformation Technique.
After gaining full confidence, she used the excuse of leaving the Village to find Tsunade and, with thirty million Ryo, went to a Gold Exchange quite far from Konoha Village.
The Gold Exchange had always been responsible for transactions in the underground world; they acted as a platform where anyone could submit bounties.
You could want to kill the Hokage or the Raikage, no problem, provided you had money and someone accepted the mission once it was posted.
No one knew who the Gold Exchange's boss behind the scenes was; even with the Yamanaka Clan's intelligence network, Ino couldn't find out, only knowing that the Gold Exchange had existed for many years.
She estimated that the situation was very complicated, and the Daimyo of the Five Great Nations, those incredibly wealthy merchants, Zetsu, and even individuals like Jigen were all suspects.
Ino, with black hair, a black robe, and black shoes, was entirely clad in black, looking as if she had stepped out of a Detective Conan set, as she walked into the Gold Exchange.
With a hoarse voice, she told the Gold Exchange's staff, "Thirty million Ryo, for a bounty on a Ninja from Konoha Village with the codename Terai."
Terai was a member of Root, fiercely loyal to Danzo, with strength comparable to Fu Yamanaka and Aburame Torune—all Jonin.
Ostensibly, this Terai was a wealthy merchant active between various nations, buying and selling everything from weapons to people, providing a continuous stream of funds for Root.
Following protocol, the staff quickly processed Terai's bounty, and Ino readily paid the thirty million Ryo reward.
Even if no one took the mission, the money was non-refundable; that was how domineering the platform was.
"Is there any other information you can provide?" the staff member asked in a businesslike manner.
Ino immediately put herself in the role of a victim, sobbing, "Those Ninja... two days ago, they stormed into our Village, killing everyone they saw, and then they used those incredibly powerful Ninjutsu.
My entire family was killed by them, and the leader was this Terai; our Village is located on the southern foot of Mount Asama..."
The staff member, expressionless, quickly took notes.
Time, place, people—he recorded everything, including the story Ino had just fabricated.
Whether it was true or not wasn't important; the person taking the mission would judge that.
Just one day later, the Akatsuki Organization saw this mission.
Thirty million Ryo was a big job even for them!
Nagato, controlling Pain, heard the story of "Konoha Ninja slaughtered my family," and the malevolence in his heart immediately flared up.
Zetsu emerged from the soil like a plant; he knew the geographical locations of Konoha, and even the entire Land of Fire, like the back of his hand.
He sinisterly indicated that there was a Root base near that Village, and, as expected, this Terai was the person in charge of the Root base, and he also mentioned Terai's ostensible identity as a wealthy merchant.
Kakuzu was overjoyed; if this Terai lived in Konoha Village, he wouldn't dare act rashly, as Konoha Village was full of experts, and him going in alone would be suicidal, wouldn't it?
Since Terai was outside the Village, it was convenient. What? He was also a big merchant? This job was a huge profit!
"I'll go kill this guy," he said straightforwardly.
The members of the Akatsuki Organization all knew his working style and weren't surprised.
Uchiha Itachi didn't say anything either; Root Ninja were not Konoha Ninja in his heart at all; he wouldn't even spare them a glance if they died by the roadside.
He couldn't risk transmitting intelligence for a Root Ninja, so he remained silent at this time.
Nagato was still cautious and sent Hidan and Kakuzu together.
The two arrived at Mount Asama, investigated briefly, and found that it was indeed a Root sub-base, with no traps or ambushes.
Then, without another word, the two stormed in.
The sub-base was left with corpses strewn everywhere, all Root Ninja were annihilated, and then the two eliminated all traces and took Terai's body to the Gold Exchange to complete the mission.
At this point, the Akatsuki Organization did not want to directly confront Konoha, especially not a shadowy old schemer like Danzo.
They didn't want to leave any traces, so the battlefield was cleaned up very thoroughly.
However, things rarely go as planned.
From Kakuzu's seventy years of Ninja experience, the scene was cleaned up very well, and the true identity of the attackers would definitely not be exposed.
But Ino, dressed in an Akatsuki robe and disguised as Deidara, had strolled around two nearby towns.
Not many people had seen her, but not a few either.
Danzo, having been outmaneuvered in the Hokage competition, was not reconciled to failure.
While as steady as an old dog, this old man also possessed the resilience to become stronger with each setback.
Jiraiya was difficult for him to deal with, and he didn't dare to do anything too extreme; he still had to do some of the work he was responsible for.
The Uchiha Clan was so ostracized back then, yet they didn't relax their work for the Konoha Military Police Force.
Were they foolish? No, if you didn't do these jobs, you would give others a handle.
Danzo couldn't just let his subordinates eat their fill and pass the time every day; he had to do some covert work.
He received the news of Terai's squad's annihilation three days later and immediately rushed over to investigate.
Hidan and Kakuzu had cleaned the scene very thoroughly, leaving no traces.
From the villagers in the surrounding towns, Danzo learned that someone wearing a black robe with red clouds had passed through, and he immediately locked onto the target.
"Akatsuki Organization!"
For Terai, who possessed Jonin-level strength, to not even have time to send a signal, there was no doubt—it had to be this group of powerful S-rank Rogue Ninja!
The other members of the Akatsuki Organization were hard to find, but Kakuzu, who frequently visited the Gold Exchange, was easy to find.
Danzo found Kakuzu's subordinates, followed the clues, set up an ambush, and intended to capture Kakuzu to interrogate him for information.
He hit the mark by accident; Kakuzu didn't know why Danzo found him so quickly, but he wouldn't just surrender, and the two sides immediately began to fight.
Danzo destroyed one of Kakuzu's hearts; Jiraiya knew about Hidan's information, but Jiraiya didn't tell Danzo, so he suffered a great loss and had to use Izanagi to exempt himself from the Death-Sealing Jutsu.
Both sides were wary of each other and retreated.
Danzo, as the aggrieved party, remained silent, and the Akatsuki Organization would not publicize the matter; there was already a great feud from Yahiko between them, and now the hatred had intensified.
Ino, having created a major mess, successfully earned five pot points.
She found a hidden cave, sealed the entrance, and began to allocate points!
Four pot points transformed into an immensely powerful force, adding to "Spirit," which increased from 9 to 10 points.
Her cells emitted joyful signals; she felt as if every cell in her body was cheering, celebrating its acquisition of new power, and streams flowed from 130 trillion cells, converging into an endless river.
"Ugh! It hurts so much!" A huge sensation of swelling made her feel as if her entire body was about to split open.
Her body was filled with power; even her "Seal," which had already reached 8 points, could not restrain such a vast amount of Chakra.
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