Linto held up the bath water, poured in Ripple power, and threw it upwards.
Crack——Crack——
"Warm Izumi Water Ripple Rush!"
Faint golden light, like electricity, flashed and attached to the warm water. The water instantly became as sharp as metal and as hot as lava, stabbing at the spies on the roof like blades.
Slash!
The roof was torn off. The light from inside revealed someone who wasn't wearing a headband, but Linto had seen the coldness in their eyes many times.
A ninja from the Root organization!
"They came fast."
Takizo Sato jumped into the air, dodging the water.
Information about Linto was no longer a secret:
Terrible close combat power, excellent fighting smarts and judgment. The weakness: not good at fighting from far away. Just keep your distance to get away safely.
Following the information, Sato put Chakra into his eyes, guarding against Linto summoning the "Evil Spirit Giant," and quickly jumped in the air, ready to run.
Just then, he heard a "buzzing" sound coming from far away, and looked up –
"Birds?"
Ratatatatat.
The two machine guns of the Aviation Smith flashed fire, and a stream of bullets blocked Sato's escape.
Bang!
Sato turned into smoke and disappeared.
Shadow Clone Jutsu.
This was also part of the information.
Linto's front-line fighting power was too scary, with almost no room for mistakes. To survive, you had to use clones as much as possible to test the waters.
In the shadows a few yards away, a pair of eyes slowly opened.
Sato glanced at the sky, still frightened.
"Was that a ninja animal?"
Whether it was a ninja animal or Ninjutsu, it just proved that Linto had become stronger, more dangerous, in just two months.
"I must report this information to Lord Danzo."
Sato lurked in the shadows, quietly retreated, and kept Chakra in his eyes to stay alert.
Using the cover of night, he walked for nearly half an hour before Sato finally returned to the safe house there. When he closed the door, he let out a soft sigh.
"Good job."
"It's nothing, it's what I should do—"
Halfway through, Sato suddenly reacted, quickly turned around, and pulled out a kunai.
Click.
A desk lamp turned on.
Linto sat on the sofa, calmly watching him.
Sasuke stood beside him with his arms crossed, like a loyal bodyguard.
"You... how is this possible?!"
Sato was very confident in his stealth skills.
Even in the Root organization, full of sneakiness, his stealth and escape skills were among the best.
Now, he was like a stupid newbie, actually "leading" the enemy who was tracking him back to the safe house.
Sato admitted he couldn't beat Linto.
But being defeated in his most professional area made Sato feel confused. At the same time, he felt fear of Linto.
What kind of monster is this man?!
"Mind if we talk?" said Linto.
"Talk about what?" Sato spoke little.
Linto threw a stack of documents on the table.
Linto had found them in Sato's safe house. The contents were written in a special code used within the Root organization.
Linto couldn't understand it, but there were some photos attached. The men in the photos were holding all kinds of strange-looking knives, and looked like tough guys.
Considering Sato's position, this was a reconnaissance report.
Linto had already wiped out the fugitives and rogue ninja in the surrounding area.
He needed a new target.
"Help me translate this," said Linto.
Sato held the kunai tightly: "Why should I tell you? If I tell you, will you let me go?"
"Sure,"
Linto's frank answer made Sato stunned and speechless.
In fact, from Linto's point of view, killing someone from the Root organization was meaningless. It wouldn't increase his soul essence much. It was better to trade it for information.
Linto made a "please" gesture.
"If I tell you, you'll let me go?" Sato asked.
It wasn't that he was afraid of death.
This trip to the Land of Water wasn't just to track down Linto. Actually, Linto wasn't important enough to send a Jonin who specialized in intelligence reconnaissance.
The Land of Water, especially Kirigakure, had been doing strange things since the Third Ninja World War. Someone said the Fourth Mizukage – Yagura Karatachi, a grown man who was only four and a half feet tall – had gone crazy.
Over the years, Danzo had been trying to find out what was going on inside the Land of Water, and... to speed up the process.
The more chaotic the other countries were, the safer the Land of Fire would be.
You know, the previous Mizukage had taken a careful development path, refusing to participate in the Second Ninja World War, setting up ninja schools, and spending decades developing the weak Kirigakure.
This gave the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, something to spend.
From Danzo's point of view, he wished all the Kage of the great nations were like Yagura Karatachi.
Sato's mission to the Land of Water was to investigate Yagura Karatachi's actions, both on the surface and behind the scenes.
If possible, add fuel to the fire and make the burning, crumbling ship of the Land of Water burn even brighter.
The information above wasn't a secret.
The major countries were all infiltrating each other, sticking their hands into each other's pants. Everyone was grabbing and being grabbed. No one was clean.
Sato had to bring back the information he had gathered about the Fourth Mizukage alive.
This was more important than his life.
Linto said, "If you tell me, I'll let you go. I swear on my soul."
Sato stared at Linto, as if trying to tell if he was telling the truth.
After a moment, Sato put away the kunai.
He was, after all, an expert at infiltrating enemy countries to steal information. In Linto's previous life, he would have been like James Bond or Jason Bourne. He had some guts.
Sato pulled up a chair, sat down, and opened the intelligence on the table.
"I can't say many details."
He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.
With Chakra pumped in, black curse marks appeared at the root of his tongue.
Curse Seal of Tongue Restriction.
Standard equipment for Root organization members to prevent them from leaking information, planted personally by Danzo.
Linto nodded: "Just tell me what you can."
Sato began to speak in the most concise way possible.
As mentioned earlier, the Fourth Mizukage had done many strange things. Change means adjustment of interests, involving money.
"...The so-called war is fought with two things: money and manpower."
Sato said, "I found out that the Fourth Mizukage is collecting money through various channels. The money collected is secretly flowing in unknown directions.
I'm still investigating where it's going and who it's being given to, but I found a piece of information that says I saw the Fourth Mizukage talking to a masked man."
Masked man?
Linto and Sasuke looked at each other, thinking of the masked man who was with Itachi Uchiha on the night the Uchiha clan was wiped out.
Could it be the same person?
Or is it a coincidence?
Sato continued, "The truth of the information still needs to be judged, and this."
He pointed to the documents on the table.
"Is one of the ways the Fourth Mizukage is collecting money. Three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are in charge of this work."
Zabuza Momochi, owner of Kubikiribocho.
Suikazan Fuguki, owner of Samehada.
And Raiga Kurosuki, owner of the Thunder Blades.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Linto often heard their names during his time in the Land of Water. In his mind, they were local tough guys like the Avengers or the Calabash Brothers.
"That's all the information I can tell you."
He waited quietly for Linto's reaction.
The next second—
"Ora."
Star Platinum punched Sato in the forehead.
"You fu**ing..."
Sato's vision went black.
Linto picked him up with one hand.
"I said I'd let you go, but not now."
Linto was definitely going to go after hearing the information. Letting Sato go back now would just give Danzo time to set up an ambush for them.
Linto planned to throw Sato to Kanbara for a while. After everything was over, he would "deliver" him back to Konoha Village. That wouldn't be Linto breaking his promise.
"Are we leaving now?"
Excitement flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
It was boring to always bully small fry. Star Platinum would just solve the battles with one punch.
Sasuke had made some progress in Ripple Breathing these days, and wanted to hone himself through battle.
"We can't leave yet. We have to find someone."
"Who?"