Anbu dormitory.
Aoba slowly opened his eyes. He lay on the iron bed and the corners of his mouth slightly curved up in a proud smile.
"Everything went well."
Aoba was very satisfied with his arrangements. The whole process was much smoother than expected.
In order to act well this time, he had made many emergency plans, but none of them were used.
The whole performance process.
All of them were completed by advanced paper clones.
Aoba's original body had never gone out at all. Even if there were an accident and were seen through by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he would only become a pile of waste paper if he suffered an attack that was difficult to resist.
It would not expose his appearance at all.
It could be said that this feat was accomplished entirely behind the scenes.
"The matter with Kirigakure has been resolved. Now, I can return to my normal life."
Aoba was in a very good mood.
In his memory, in the Third Ninja World War, only Iwagakure had not appeared.
After Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen were persuaded back by his scheme, something will definitely happen.
Aoba deliberately used Rentaro's identity to show the talent that made Kirigakure see hope in front of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; then, he would not be a person who could be easily sacrificed.
Now, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen cared about the overall situation and sent the Scroll of Water Release Ninjutsu they had in their hands back to Kirigakure's elder Gen.
But after that.
If they had not received any news about Rentaro.
Aoba was very sure.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen would still return to the Third Ninja World War battlefield to search for information about Rentaro and finally find Kumogakure.
There was one thing that Aoba had buried here.
It was a matter of saving Hari!
No matter what Hari ended up like.
Being trapped by Konohagakure until death, being killed by Danzo, or if Kumogakure saved him, all of this was possible. Moreover, with the strength of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, they could obtain relevant information.
But...
No matter what, it was impossible for them to obtain any information regarding Rentaro.
In other words.
There would not be any information about Rentaro in Hari's information.
Then...
The final information about Rentaro would be directed at Gasshi.
Gasshi was the same as Rentaro.
There would be no more information about them after that.
But these things.
For the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
They would only think that it was Kumogakure's doing and suspect all the questions to Kumogakure.
The reason was very simple...
They did not get any information about Rentaro and Gasshi dying at Konohagakure.
The last place where these two people appeared...
Both were outside of Konohagakure.
This way, it had nothing to do with Konohagakure.
"Gasshi will never appear again."
"Rentaro will also not appear."
"These two people will disappear from where they are."
"There will be no news of them in the ninja world."
"It will only leave behind a puzzling mystery."
"This mystery will always be between Kirigakure and Kumogakure..."
"It will never be solved!"
Aoba lay on the iron bed and stared at the ceiling with a smile. He had already done what he needed to do. The rest would be left to Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
What kind of understanding these Seven Ninja Swordsmen would have towards this matter and what kind of measures they would take in the end would all determine the relationship between Kirigakure and Kumogakure.
And...
The forces of the Third Ninja World War against each other and the direction of the final battle.
At the very least.
Aoba was certain of one thing.
During the Third Ninja World War, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would not attack Konohagakure again.
He gave the Seven Ninja Swordsmen a very deep concept. This concept had never been broken when he was showing off his skills.
That was, it's all about the big picture!
This might seem simple, but it would restrict a person's hands and feet, reduce their passion and fighting spirit, and cause them to become calm and rational. At the same time, it would create a great restriction.
Just like in the process of showing off his skills just now.
If the Seven Ninja Swordsmen did not take the so-called big picture seriously.
If they directly attacked Gasshi, there was still a chance of not getting the Scroll of Water Release Ninjutsu. It was these words that made the Seven Ninja Swordsmen think about it before doing something, and they became timid.
According to the concept instilled by Aoba, there was no battle to fight.
Because no matter who they deal with.
They were all offending people.
Kirigakure can't offend Konohagakure, nor can they offend Kumogakure, then it's fine...
However.
For the time being, Aoba was not sure if they would offend Kumogakure for the sake of Rentaro's disappearance.
At least it had nothing to do with Konohagakure.
"It's time to go to work."
Aoba felt very relaxed. He had dealt with a big problem. One had to know that he especially disliked trouble. In order to prevent trouble from finding him, he had to solve the problem first.
Aoba got up from the iron bed and washed up. Then, he changed into Anbu ninja clothes and put on the cat face mask.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
Just as Aoba was about to go out, there was a rapid and strong knock on his room door.
"Room Check! Room Check! Hurry up and open the door!"
An irritable voice came through the door and clearly entered Aoba's ears.
"They came quite quickly!"
The corners of Aoba's mouth curled up slightly. He deliberately let Gasshi pretend to be an Anbu ninja and ran out from the main entrance so that they would check the Anbu.
In this way, they would find the two people who had disappeared.
The two who had sneaked into Konoha's Anbu were Kirigakure's spies.
As for how Konohagakure would deal with them in the future, that was their business.
Aoba was just doing a good thing.
He just told everyone about this spy.
"Coming."
Aoba immediately responded. He quickly walked to the door and opened it then looked outside.
Then.
The scene in front of him shocked Aoba.
There were a total of five Anbu standing at the door. Four of them were wearing black cloaks, and the one standing at the front was wearing a white cloak, which made him look particularly prominent.
Anbu directly under Hokage!
As an Anbu, Aoba had some understanding of Anbu's different attire.
These people were different from the ordinary Anbu.
They were directly under the Third Hokage and only listened to him.
They did not listen to anyone except Hokage's orders and had the highest priority.
Among Konohagakure.
If there was a difference in opinion on what to do.
Among them, the Anbu directly under the Hokage would participate.
In the end, it was the Anbu directly under the Hokage who has as the final decision.
For example...
In the streets of Konohagakure, some ninjas invaded from the outside village. According to the standard administrative division, this was under the management of the Konoha Military Police Force.
However, when Konoha Military Police Force was catching people, the people directly under the Hokage came and said that this person deserved to die, should be killed, or should not be caught.
Although Konoha Military Police Force's opinion was to catch.
However, the final judgment would still be killed.
Aoba stood at the door and looked at the Hokage's Anbu. This was the first time since he came to Konohagakure that he had come into contact with the Hokage's Anbu.
"Only you?"
Among the five Hokage's Anbu, the ninja in the white cloak standing at the front asked.
Just from the difference in clothing.
One could see the difference in the identity of this person.
He was the captain of Hokage's Anbu.
"Yes, I am the only one." Aoba nodded. He took a step back and gave way so that they could see the inside of the room more clearly.
"I'll come in and take a look." The white-robed Anbu directly walked in. His tone was not a request, but a notice.
"Just look."
Aoba was very calm. He had not done anything wrong and was not afraid of investigation.
After all, those things were done by advanced paper clones.
It had nothing to do with him!
"Is your dormitory so clean?" The white-robed Anbu asked. His tone seemed very casual, but there was a hint of doubt. After all, being so clean was also a very abnormal thing.
"I'm very poor. I don't have the money to buy things. If there are fewer things, it will naturally be clean." Aoba replied with a smile.
"It's pretty good to be clean."
The white-robed Anbu nodded. He wore a mask on his face, so he couldn't tell who this person was, let alone his expression.
He flipped through Aoba's wardrobe and found that there were only two sets of casual clothes inside.
The entire room was empty.
There was nothing under the iron bed.
There were no clues at all, but this place was so clean that he felt that something was not quite right and that it was not very good.
"Did you go out in the morning?" The white robe Anbu looked at Aoba. His eyes looked through the mask's eyeholes and carefully sized up Aoba.
"No." Aoba shook his head and said, "I just woke up."
"Have you found anything out of the ordinary recently?" The white-robed Anbu asked.
"No." Aoba shook his head again.
"It's all right."
The white-robed Anbu waved his hand and walked out of Aoba's room. He vaguely felt that this room was not normal, but he could not find any problems.
It can't always be a problem for people to have less stuff.
Not at all.
The white-robed Anbu knew that he had come to investigate the identities of the two Anbu who had left the village.
Those two people were probably the people who had protected Gasshi during this period of time.
As long as they were still in Anbu.
Basically, the suspicion could be eliminated.
After all, the two Anbu had already left the village.
However...
He had to follow a strict principle.
The white-robed Anbu still wanted to investigate the Anbu as a whole.
After all, Anbu was not under Konoha Military Police Force's control. They were almost never investigated. No one knew if there were any other problems.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Aoba looked at the departure of the five Hokage's Anbu. He said this softly. He knew that the five people could hear him, but the five people completely ignored his words.
"It's getting late. It's time to go to work."
Aoba turned around and glanced at Anbu's dormitory. He was somewhat glad in his heart.
Fortunately, he had transferred the messy things to the secret base at that time.
Otherwise, it would be easy for something to happen.
According to the details of the white-robed Anbu examination just now...
Whether it was the two large boxes of books that Minato had given him, the Scroll of Water Release Ninjutsu that he had obtained, or the scrolls and paper tags that were piled up here, it was easy to expose his identity.
At that time.
His weak disguise would no longer be able to be concealed.
He couldn't just kill the direct subordinate of the Hokage, who had discovered these things.
No matter what he did.
At that time, it would be extremely troublesome.
Aoba closed the door and walked out in the direction of the Konohagakure Intelligence Division compartment along the dark corridor.
Just as he had taken a few steps.
In his ears, he could hear the white-robe Anbu knocking on the dormitory door.
If nothing unexpected happens...
The two disappeared Kirigakure ninjas would soon be found out.
At that time, the information that Satsuma Rentaro had left Konohagakure and never returned would also be transmitted to the ears of Kirigakure ninja through some unknown means.
...
A few minutes later.
Aoba entered Konohagakure Intelligence Division's compartment.
At this time.
There were two prisoners who had been tied up.
"Do you want to write a confession letter?"
When Aoba came in and saw the dull eyes of the two people, he immediately felt bored.
These two people were really...
They can't even move.
They were like dead people.
They don't know how to resist at all.
Although resistance had no effect at all, if the other side resisted, Aoba would feel better.
"Write!"
The two people tied to the wooden pillar immediately widened their eyes when they heard Aoba's words. Their originally dim eyes instantly reflected the light of hope.
"Well... you are quite obedient. You don't want to come again, do you?" Aoba asked with a deeper meaning. When he asked the two of them, he had already taken out two confession letters from the compartment's cabinet.
"I won't come, I won't come, I definitely won't come in the future, I won't come in this life, I will become a new person!" One of the prisoners shook his head repeatedly. He was already frightened by Aoba, and he had already developed a shadow over Konohagakure Intelligence Division's place.
"As long as I can get out of here alive, I won't do anything like stealing chickens and dogs in the future." Another prisoner also quickly expressed his opinion.
"Hahahaha, good, good attitude. Write a confession letter."
When Aoba saw the appearance of the two people, he could not help but smile. He handed the paper in his hand to the two people and untied the ropes on them.
In an instant.
Because the two of them were free, they felt an unprecedented sense of freedom.
They had never felt that freedom was so precious. Life was so difficult.
Suddenly.
The two of them took the pen Aoba handed over.
They began to write his own crimes on it, not daring to miss anything. They wrote everything they could think of clearly on it.
After they finished writing all of them.
Neither of them dared to speak.
He placed the confession letter not far away.
It was a signal that they were finished writing.
Aoba walked over and picked up the two people's confessions. He looked at them carefully and then nodded silently.
"Not bad. It was written very clearly. This can be used as a template for the confession letter."
Aoba's words.
They immediately gave the two of them hope.
The two of them had been staring at Aoba the entire time, and the desire in their eyes could no longer be suppressed.
That gaze seemed to be saying...
I beg you!
Hurry up and send us to prison!
I really don't want to continue staying in this place!
After all, the prison was a place where people could stay!
This was not a place where people could stay. This place was even more terrifying than a prison. This was basically hell!
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
Aoba felt that the two of them had a strange look in their eyes. The face behind the mask frowned slightly and then walked toward the two of them.
"Control yourself a little."
"Don't stare at me like that."
"I'm afraid."
Aoba's words caused the two of them to be speechless. This caused them to have a very strange feeling.
The word 'afraid'.
It came from the cat-faced demon.
It seemed to have changed a little.
Suddenly.
Under the gaze of the two.
Aoba walked up to them.
He picked up the rope on the ground and tied them up again.
"????"
The expression of the two prisoners instantly went out of control. The rope instantly extinguished the fire of hope that they had just raised.
"Are you not going to let us go?"
One of the prisoners couldn't help but ask in confusion.
The other prisoner also stared at Aoba with a puzzled expression. It was obvious that he had the same doubt.
"Let you go?"
"You are prisoners!"
"How can I let you go!"
"Didn't you just write a confession letter?"
Aoba shook his head. Then his eyes swept over the two people. Of course, he knew what these two people meant. But if he did not destroy their will, how could he guarantee that they would not forget the pain in the future?
"No, that's not what I meant. What I want to say is that we have already written the confession. Shouldn't we hand it over to the prison?" The prisoner continued to ask. He could still hold on here if he had not written the confession. Now that he had finished writing, he didn't want to stay at all.
"That's what it means. Can we go to prison now?" Another person hurriedly followed up.
"Who said that after writing the confession, you must be transferred to prison?"
Aoba asked the two of them. As soon as he said this, their mentality collapsed.
'Good fellow!'
'Why do you want us to write a confession so urgently if you won't send us to prison?'
'We have already written confession; why aren't you sending us to prison?'
'Are you really Konohagakure Intelligence Division?'
'No way...'
'This was clearly the Hell Division!'
The two of them were already on the verge of collapse. They had countless complaints in their hearts, but they did not dare to say a word for their own safety.
"I'll send you to jail when I get off work today."
The corners of Aoba's mouth curled up slightly. He had already redefined Konohagakure's Konohagakure Intelligence Division. That was a more terrible place than prison. It was a relief to be able to be sent to the prison smoothly.
Suddenly.
The eyes of the two instantly regained clarity.
After hearing that, Aoba promised that they could go to prison after working.
They immediately felt that life has returned to the light.
This seems to have dragged them up from hell.
However.
Right at this moment.
Aoba changed the topic.
He said a few words that made them collapse again.
"It wasn't easy for me to find two chickens... I have to use them for a day."
When the two of them heard Aoba's words, they all fainted. They knew very well what a day meant.
It turned out.
They hadn't gone out yet.
They were still in hell.