Kambara Hayato was soaking comfortably in the warm Izumi.
These days following Linto around, he had made a lot of money, but he was also so tired his head was spinning.
Tonight, he had an appointment with a girl from Land of Thunder, said to be skilled in dual cultivation: Lightning Release Ninjutsu. Kambara Hayato needed to relax.
"Soaking in warm Izumi, then eating girls, even the Daimyo isn't as good as me."
Kambara Hayato hummed softly, very pleased with the poem he wrote, the more he read it, the more rhythmic he felt it was.
Kambara Hayato brushed his hair back, revealing a face that was still handsome, but with a look that was too sleazy. Wrapped in a bath towel, he swayed and opened the curtain.
"Beauty, I'm here—"
He raised his voice, suddenly opened his bath towel, hoping to hear the unique gentle moan of the Land of Thunder girl.
Silence.
There was no girl in front of him.
Linto and Sasuke were sitting on the sofa, one on each side.
Linto didn't want to see the gross scene and turned his head away. Sasuke used his thumb and index finger to make a gesture that would anger Koreans.
"Seriously… how come you two are always haunting me?!"
Kambara Hayato was really angry.
Didn't we agree to take a break?
"Sorry, the more I thought about it, the only person I could turn to was you."
Linto pulled the unconscious Sato out from behind the door, then took out the previous coded information and handed it to Kambara Hayato, and repeated what had happened.
"Please help me verify if it's real or fake," Linto said.
The lust in Kambara Hayato's eyes faded, replaced by helplessness. He sighed softly, "I feel like you have some kind of magic power, always attracting these weird things."
Linto didn't know how to answer Kambara's question, so he remained silent.
Kambara Hayato shook his head, wrapped the towel properly, took out paper and pen, and went into work mode.
He flipped through it several times, wrote and drew, and spent a whole night before giving the answer.
"Each intelligence organization will use special codes. Codes need to be combined with the organization's 'core text' to be interpreted, and they are changed and adjusted regularly.
Logically speaking, even if this document was given to me, I wouldn't be able to understand it, but based on the information they leaked, it's much easier to decode it in reverse."
Kambara Hayato picked up the document and patted it, "He didn't lie to you, but he withheld some information—not only the Root organization has investigated this line, but others are watching it as well.
The city recorded in the information is Mirage City. The city is now a mix of good and bad people. Once you go there, you may attract sieges from many forces, which will be very dangerous."
Kambara Hayato knew Linto's way of doing things too well, like a spear, heading straight for the target, tearing apart all the enemies in front of him.
Going forward without hesitation is naturally very cool.
But…
Who can remain undefeated?
Too much strength can break easily. Always moving forward, forward, will eventually encounter unimaginable setbacks.
"I advise you not to go."
Linto asked, "Is this the professional advice of an information dealer?"
"No."
Kambara Hayato said seriously, "This is a friend's advice."
Linto smiled.
If he could, he wouldn't want to take risks either.
Who doesn't like a life of pleasure, like Kambara Hayato, enjoying girls of different styles every day. What more could one ask for in life?
But he can't.
Hokage is a passionate shonen manga. Although Linto hasn't read it, he can still roughly imagine the plot.
It's nothing more than the protagonist constantly becoming stronger, the enemies becoming more powerful, and the battles growing from small local fights to national and worldwide struggles.
The "JOJO" series of comics is an example against this.
Each part of the "JOJO" series is a different protagonist.
Why do they do this?
It's to give the protagonist enough room to grow, enough to draw a complete character arc.
But Linto had heard of the name Hokage when he was very young, and he didn't hear about it ending until more than ten years later, and Hokage only has one protagonist—
Uzumaki Naruto.
To attract readers, the world will become more dangerous, and the struggles will become more terrifying.
The highest combat power now may be the "Kage" of each village, but in the future… that's hard to say.
Danzo wants to kill him.
Uchiha Itachi wants to kill him.
Now Root's ninja has already touched him. If Linto is complacent because he drew a new five-star Stand and stops moving forward, next time, he might be the one knocked unconscious on the ground.
"When you can make a choice, don't let yourself regret it."
Linto cherishes his current right to choose.
"Let's go."
Linto patted Kambara Hayato's shoulder and stood up. Sasuke followed his steps.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"
Kambara Hayato shouted at Linto.
Responding to him were two backs, one big and one small, waving at him.
…
Land of Water is not big to begin with, and the two of them have mastered Ripple Breathing, so as they sped along, only two black shadows could be seen passing by.
Along the way, Aerosmith hovered overhead, scanning below, helping Linto find the way forward.
The next afternoon, Linto arrived in Mirage City.
Mirage City is next to the ocean. By noon, the water vapor rises, and the city is shrouded in mist and clouds. The sunlight reflects and is as dreamlike as a fairy-tale city that only exists in fantasy.
Once you get closer and push aside the mist, you can see the mottled, broken city walls.
The air is fishy and salty, and the voices of people are mixed. The port is crowded.
After entering the city, Linto saw thieves cutting open pedestrian's backpacks more than once.
And when unlucky thieves were caught, their hands were chopped off on the spot, and the blood splattered, making Sasuke's eyelids twitch.
The chaos, gloom, and repression hidden beneath the dreamy exterior were Linto's first impressions of Mirage City.
Linto first found a hotel to stay in.
It wasn't suitable to move around during the day, so he rested and practiced breathing in the hotel.
When it was late at night, the window on the second floor of the hotel opened, and Linto and Sasuke jumped out lightly and disappeared into the night.
Dark clouds filled the night sky, and the moonlight was faint. Except for the entertainment venues in the center of the city, which were brightly lit, other areas were dark.
There were not many pedestrians on the road. Occasionally, one or two people just got off work, but they were also in a hurry, with one hand reaching into their chest.
Local people know that the hand hidden in the chest is holding a knife.
The daytime belongs to the thieves, and the nighttime belongs to the robbers.
Listening to the screams and angry curses coming from the streets and alleys, Linto couldn't tell for a moment whether he had come to the Hokage world or was in the morally simple Gotham City.
"It's here."
Linto and his partner hid on the top of a building, staring at a processing plant a hundred meters away.
A rusted sign hung at the entrance of the processing plant:
"Murata Sausage"
Everyone knows that the so-called processing plant is just a front.
On the way, Linto made an action plan.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen are official ninja belonging to Kirigakure. Once they fight them, they probably won't be able to stay in Land of Water.
Linto's idea was to first see what kind of business they were doing. Being secretive like that, it must be a shady deal.
He would use this as a starting point to create chaos in Mirage City and draw out the people hidden in the city.
The more chaos, the more opportunities for Linto.
As long as he defeats a few strong people, this trip won't be in vain.
"Aerosmith!"
Linto pointed forward, and Aerosmith took off and flew into the processing plant.
"Start reconnaissance."
The carbon dioxide sensing device was activated.
Suddenly, dense red dots appeared in Linto's field of vision.
Linto's first thought was:
Is it really a meat processing plant?
Because looking at the size of the red dots, they were about the size of a pig.
But Linto reacted immediately.
Why would a sausage processing plant raise pigs themselves?
Even if they did raise pigs, how come the pigs… live on upper and lower levels?
People!
They were all people!
Linto increased the fineness of Aerosmith, and the scanning range became clear. He saw—
Individuals were locked in cages.
The cages were very small, about one meter and three high and less than one meter wide.
This was a very uncomfortable height.
If you don't want to sit all the time, you have to lower your head and hunch your back to stand up.
Only a few "lucky ones" could stand up straight.
But there aren't many adults who are one meter and three tall.
Those who can stand up straight are children.
Aerosmith scanned around, and there were about four hundred red dots.
That's more than four hundred people locked in cages like animals!
"Is Land of Water… Yagura, doing a human trafficking business?!"
While Aerosmith was exploring, Linto noticed a person.
She was sitting with her knees bent, and the carbon dioxide she exhaled outlined her face.
"Momo-chan?"
Linto couldn't imagine seeing her in this kind of place.
Didn't Momo-chan come to Land of Water with her mother to visit relatives? Why is she visiting in a cage?
Where is her mother?
What kind of ghost place is this processing plant?
Countless questions emerged.
However, now is not the time to explore questions.
Whether the truth is true or not is not important. What is important is…
What are they going to do?
Linto and Sasuke looked at each other and saw the answer in each other's eyes.
Save people.
Without careful consideration, without extra layout planning.
Tonight.
Aerosmith circled in the air, marking all the locations of the guards inside and outside the factory.
Linto and his partner were like ghosts in the night, taking out the sentries along the way and sneaking into the processing plant without a sound.
Guards are usually on a patrol system, and there will be an overall commander above who rotates every once in a while to check the personnel situation to avoid mistakes.
Linto doesn't have much time.
He must rescue Momo-chan and leave the factory within ten minutes.
Otherwise, he cannot avoid a head on battle.
Linto is confident in his strength, but he will not underestimate the enemy either.
In the information provided by Kambara Hayato, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are masters among masters. Each of them is an A-rank or even S-rank powerhouse, and there are three of them, as well as a group of Kirigakure ninja.
Even if he has to fight, it is best to wait for the other party to separate and fight one-on-one.
They moved quickly through the factory and found a secret door based on Aerosmith's guidance.
Linto pushed open the door.
The air became murky.
This is a smell that is hard to describe in words.
The smell of sweat, the smell of blood, the stink of pus, and the smell of urine. These many complex smells are mixed together and fermented over time.
Sasuke instinctively wanted to cover his mouth and nose, but when he saw what was in front of him, his movements froze.
Although Linto had mentioned it to him, the scene described by words and what the naked eye actually saw were completely different shocking feelings.
Hundreds of people locked in cages, unable to even straighten their backs, were like pieces of paint in a painting, smearing this terrible world.
Human dignity, under the pressure of the cage, was bent along with their hunched spines.
Linto found Momo-chan in a cage.
Her eyes were gray and lifeless, and she held a withered, rotten orange in her hands.
On the orange, there was also a twisted smiley face drawn.