A few minutes later, this Takigakure Ninja, covered in blood, was hung from a tree trunk by silk threads.
His feet, dangling in the air, twitched from time to time; it seemed he wasn't dead yet.
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But his breath was gradually fading away.
"Hmm... As expected... The brain, the heart, the several major meridians in the body... The principle is overdrawing..."
"Not just the Chakra, but even the electromagnetic waves released by the brain are so obvious... It seems even his mental capacity has been enhanced along with the explosion of Chakra. Unfortunately, due to this person's limited ability, he couldn't bring out the true effect of the heros water..."
"For him, Mental Energy has also been strengthened, so what he can do is not just increase Chakra output, but improve the 'overall' efficiency of the technique..."
"Emotionally... there also seem to be signs of losing control."
In the mountain forest, Yubi's curious voice rang out.
As several birds were startled above the tree shade, they circled and flew away.
The Takigakure Ninja with the Secret Technique—his twitching legs finally went still.
He had completely lost his Life Qi.
"Hmm... The meridians in the heart are the key to generating Chakra. It seems this liquid is very stimulating to the heart. Kakuzu's Secret Technique, Earth Grudge Fear, is the same, as is Sasori's Human Puppet core. However, Kakuzu's Secret Technique is driven using himself as a vessel... making it relatively easier and more convenient to control. Whereas the creation and use of a puppet core are more delicate and difficult..."
"Is he dead? It would have been better if he could have held on a bit longer... so I could study him more thoroughly."
Yubi's regretful voice drifted out.
Then, there was a rustling sound; he seemed to be stitching something together.
After a while, Yubi, his black traveling clothes somewhat damaged, stepped out from the mountainous area littered with titmouse corpses, carrying two bodies.
He left quickly.
A Secret Technique Ninja from Takigakure Village—his corpse was bound to be very valuable.
There must be a financier willing to pay for it.
Although the corpse had been tampered with by him and was slightly damaged.
It should still fetch a decent price.
This was the reason Yubi's eyes had lit up.
As for... the heros water, he had known for a long time that Takigakure Village possessed it, but he had no designs on it.
While this resource could amplify Chakra, it also had significant side effects.
After actually studying a'sample,' the result was quite disappointing to him.
It wasn't what he wanted.
Of course, even if he couldn't use it, as a strategic reserve, the heros water was still very valuable to the Village.
"However, his Secret Technique is quite interesting. If I brought it back to the Village and gave it to specialized researchers, they might discover something... Unfortunately, I'm not skilled in Yin Release, otherwise, I could have collected this Secret Technique for the Village. Usually, hidden Villages protect such Secret Techniques to prevent leakage. This person's brain might have been placed under some kind of seal; if someone tried to peek into his memories or use mental control, he might die automatically... the remaining Ninjutsu information is limited."
"My current identity is a bit special. It's better... not to let the Village know about this."
"But... once the Village's new structure stabilizes in the future, I can find ways to scavenge Ninjutsu resources and talent from the Ninja World to enrich the Hidden Sand Village's combat configurations."
Yubi thought to himself on the way.
...
Spurring his horse on.
Yubi barely rested.
A few days later, he returned to the Land of Wind's Stronghold.
Exchange Shops are also located in the other four great nations, and some were closer, but for safety's sake, Yubi returned the way he came.
"..."
The old broker at the Exchange Shop didn't expect the man in black to return so soon, and with two corpses at once.
Such efficiency shocked the old man.
He secretly thought he had misjudged the man.
Judging by the time spent, just traveling... took that much, let alone the assassination.
This meant that as soon as the other party found the target, he struck immediately.
The entire process was very smooth.
But being able to bring back the corpse of a Takigakure Ninja meant the other party must have faced resistance from Takigakure.
After a moment of silence, the old man paid Yubi a chest of cash as per custom.
"The nobleman's corpse is fine... but this Takigakure Ninja's body has been stitched up. That was you, right?...Even though he possessed a Secret Technique, someone might not necessarily want it." The old man spoke, but his hands were not slow as he placed the two corpses in a secret room and began taking out tools to process them.
Yubi counted the money with some excitement, not even looking up as he said, "It's fine... no matter how much it sells for, I'll just take half."
"I'll try..."
"Good."
The communication between the two was very simple.
After confirming the reward amount was correct, Yubi immediately turned and left.
As the basement walls slowly closed, a thought occurred to the old man: "This person... couldn't be a Rogue Ninja from the Hidden Sand Village, could he?"
Someone with this level of skill could absolutely not be an ordinary fellow.
Yubi's next stop was the Land of Stone, located between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.
In this Ninja World War, the conflict between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth wasn't that intense, and the front-line battlefields mostly appeared near the Land of Birds. Thus, the flames of war between the two great nations didn't have much impact on this small country.
It's worth mentioning that the Daimyo of this small country had some skill; he mediated between the two great nations and prevented his country from becoming a strategic buffer zone because the nation had some connections with both the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth—his 'popularity' was quite good.
It was said that before the war broke out, the Daimyo of the Land of Stone often visited the Daimyos of the two great nations.
Clearly, the Daimyos of various countries had their own social circles.
This was the source of political complexity.
But... right now, Yubi was in desperate need of money.
So, even if the Land of Stone had diplomatic relations with the Land of Wind, it couldn't stop him from making his move.
Anyway, as long as he didn't expose his identity, it would be fine.
Nothing was more important than making money.
...
On the other side, in the Hidden Sand Village.
As Yubi had expected.
Rasa ultimately couldn't hold back... and took action.
Because the Daimyo's new funds were invested into the Village's military system, whether to put on a show for the Daimyo or to avoid the possibility of war breaking out again at any time—and combining the lessons learned from the failure of the Second Great Ninja War—under the Third Kazekage's arrangements, the Village began a combat-style military exercise.
The person in overall charge of the exercise was Rasa.
For this purpose, the Village specifically drew personnel from various departments, including Nohara Murashi and Fukushima Oka.
Sasori became an observer of this exercise, responsible for reporting the daily training results to the higher-ups in real-time.
As Jonin, Murashi and Fukushima Oka both became squad leaders on the exercise battlefield, but their performance left Rasa very unsatisfied... He even emphasized their flaws in executing missions several times in front of all the Sunagakure, making Murashi and Fukushima Oka lose Face.
There was already conflict between the three... and now, the tension grew even thicker.
However, no matter what, Rasa was a high-ranking official, as well as the overall person in charge and the exercise commander. Ninja discipline forced Murashi and Fukushima Oka to shut up and swallow the bitter pill.
After Yubi, who was away, received Sasori's message, he knew... the conflict was about to explode.
Because when Sasori reported to the high-ups, he also intentionally emphasized that the two—Murashi and his partner—were 'below standard.'
In reality, neither had any issues executing their missions... it was just that the standards Rasa demanded were too high; with their abilities, it was simply impossible.
And Rasa's explanation was also very interesting.
He hinted that Murashi and the other were the 'powerful Ninjas' of the Hidden Sand Village's future, deeply loved by the villagers, and mentioned them frequently.
Since that was the case, their performance naturally had to be even more outstanding... otherwise, they would be failing the villagers' expectations and wouldn't be worthy of such honor.
However, what Yubi cared about wasn't the conflict between the three, but another piece of content in the letter.
A piece of information that was public among the higher-ups.
The Daimyo had said that when necessary, he would reduce the Hidden Sand Village's military configuration.
To put it bluntly, it meant reducing the number of Ninjas in the Village.
This was also why the Third Kazekage and others were under immense pressure.
Yubi really didn't know whether to call the Land of Wind's Daimyo stupid or willful.
The Hidden Sand Village and the Land of Wind are one entity; if the Village's military capability declines, the safety of the Land of Wind naturally cannot be guaranteed... Who doesn't understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'?
But as it happened, the future Daimyo of the Land of Wind actually did exactly that...
Of course, there was also a possibility that the Land of Wind's Daimyo simply didn't have much money left.
If that were the case, it would be understandable.
"If it's simply because he's disappointed with the Village's performance and is intentionally making a show of punishment... then that's truly idiotic."
After destroying the letter, Yubi said softly, "Having such a character who knows nothing about war barking orders from above... it's indeed uncomfortable. After the Village's reshuffling, it seems I'll have to find a way to deal with this Daimyo."