Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 78: The Conspiracy Begins to Surface

The Land of Waves somewhat resembled Okinawa from Ino's previous life, with its subtropical climate and a network of rivers crisscrossing the country. Along the riverbanks grew plant communities that the locals called mangrove forests.

The residents wore bamboo-woven hats, and the town was filled with a heavy, humid atmosphere.

Ino kept glancing around as she walked.

The town was simply too small. If anything happened in any household, the entire town would know within five minutes. There was really no room for any mischief, and she didn't see the white-haired brother in women's clothing coming out to buy medicine either.

Since she didn't see him, she decided to head back.

Carrying bags of goods and holding four fish, Ino used a sensory ninjutsu before leaving and unexpectedly made a small discovery.

A faint chakra reaction appeared within her sensory range. The source was moving rapidly about five kilometers north of the town.

In the entire world, the number of people capable of using chakra was very small. In a tiny place like the Land of Waves, the number of such individuals could be counted on one hand.

Was it Haku? But he seemed weaker than she had anticipated.

Ino quickly left the market.

She didn't recklessly rush to intercept the source. Instead, she enhanced her sensory abilities and projected them onto a hawk, using the bird's eyes to scout the area she had detected.

"Huh? Who is this guy?"

No eyebrow-less figure, no cross-dressing individual appeared. In the hawk's vision, there was only a thin man wearing wide robes, with a katana at his waist.

Afraid she might have made a mistake, Ino sensed again. No, it was definitely this guy who had used chakra while running.

Was he a samurai from some country?

Chakra was mostly used by ninjas, but it wasn't exclusive to them. It was just that ninjas monopolized the knowledge of it. Some ancient priestesses and samurai could also use chakra.

The ninja world was actually an extremely closed circle. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, the five great ninja villages combined with the samurai of the Land of Iron only managed to gather an army of 80,000, and even that number was inflated.

Throughout history, whether in the East or the West, it was common to exaggerate numbers 10,000 became 30,000, 100,000 became 200,000, and 200,000 became 800,000.

The Allied Shinobi Forces weren't that inflated, but judging by Ino's ninja registration number, 012604, even if you included all the ninjas from the most populous and powerful village, Konoha counting those from ninja clans outside the academy, from 8-year-olds to 80-year-olds it was unlikely they could muster 20,000 ninjas.

The Sand Village and the Mist Village were even worse off. The former was vast but sparsely populated, while the latter had been tearing itself apart. How many ninjas could they possibly have left?

This so-called army of 80,000 probably included every ninja in the entire world. At least, Ino remembered that old ninja Raishī, who had publicly revealed that the Cloud Village had sent Gold and Silver Brothers to capture the Nine-Tails before Madara Uchiha, was among those 80,000.

Gengetsu was indeed 90 years old, but he didn't have to go to the battlefield. How old was Raishī? 81! Two years older than the Third Tsuchikage. An 81-year-old man shouting about fighting to the death what a scene that must have been!

Among those 80,000 Allied Shinobi Forces, there were also quite a few samurai. The total population of the ninja world was probably around 60,000 to 70,000. How many people were there in the entire world? Over a billion! The ninja world's population was less than one-thousandth of the global population.

Ninjutsu and the use of chakra were skills mastered by an elite few within a very small circle.

Now, to casually encounter a samurai using chakra the odds were incredibly low.

As the thin samurai entered a heavily guarded farmhouse, Ino waited. About fifteen minutes later, the samurai emerged again.

Should she intervene? Just as Ino was pondering this, two more men walked out behind the thin samurai.

One was a tall, black-haired man with prayer beads around his neck. She didn't recognize him, but his lavish clothing suggested he was a noble from the Land of Water.

The other was a fat man with a cheerful smile. She had seen him before, at least in photos. This man was a close aide to Danwa, the chief financial officer of the Land of Fire.

Danwa controlled the finances of the Land of Fire and reported directly to the Fire Daimyō, making him second only to the Daimyō in power. Why would his trusted subordinate appear in a tiny place like the Land of Waves? And why was he negotiating with someone who seemed to be from the Land of Water?

Could it be that they were responding to the Third Hokage's call to improve bilateral relations in the Land of Waves ahead of time?

That was impossible!

Ino wasn't enthusiastic about forming an alliance with the Mist Village. In three years, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki would return. What good would an alliance do now? But she was in no position to voice her opinions, let alone warn the Third Hokage about the schemes of Madara Uchiha or Obito Uchiha.

She couldn't stop the alliance between the two villages, but she could at least try to gain some advantage from the situation.

Now, it seemed that two nations were secretly plotting something? She felt she couldn't just stand by. At the very least, she needed to know what they were up to.

Danwa's fat subordinate and the lavishly dressed noble from the Land of Water left the farmhouse one after the other. Ino didn't interfere with them. Instead, she looked in the direction the thin samurai had gone, released her control over the hawk, and pursued him herself.

"Who's there?"

The thin samurai, galloping on his horse, reacted swiftly. Sensing a gust of wind behind him, he didn't hesitate. Standing up in the stirrups, he prepared to leap to the side, his right hand gripping the hilt of his katana as he twisted his body, assuming an iaijutsu stance.

He was fast, but Ino, who had boosted her speed to level 6, was faster.

A kunai stabbed deeply into the samurai's back, and with a swift motion, Ino slashed downward. The samurai had just begun to jump, but the wound on his back disrupted his movement. His right foot got caught in the stirrup, and with a loud thud, he fell face-first to the ground, dragged over a hundred meters by the galloping horse.

Ino waited for a moment, ensuring the samurai had no means of escape. She then threw a kunai, cutting the stirrup's rope.

Worried that the man might not tell the truth, she didn't bother questioning him. Instead, she knocked him out with a punch, dragged him to a secluded spot, and began reading his mind.

"Huh, so you're a samurai serving the Daimyō of the Land of Water, negotiating with the Land of Fire? And this 'Daikokuten Zen'... a noble from the Land of Water?"

Ino carefully sifted through the man's recent memories.

On the surface, it appeared to be a private meeting between nobles from the Land of Water and the Land of Fire, with no substantial discussions taking place.

The core of the matter wasn't particularly surprising. Ninjas, who made up less than one-thousandth of the world's population, possessed 99% of its military power. The so-called ninja wars were essentially skirmishes between a few villages, but the high-level ninjutsu of the elite could easily destroy entire villages or level mountains.

The people who controlled 99% of the world's wealth grew dissatisfied, feeling increasingly insecure. In a world where their lives could be upended at any moment, what use were power and wealth?

They believed that since ninjas relied on them for food, clothing, and resources, they should have more control. These individuals had banded together, attempting to seize more military power.

The conspiracy involved quite a few people, including the shadows of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.

Ino shook her head inwardly. She really wanted to ask those two, "Daimyō, why are you plotting rebellion?"

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