"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."
Just as Aoba and Kaze had returned to their positions, Akira, who was in charge of this place, immediately cleared his throat and pulled everyone's attention back to him.
"Right now, I have something very important to tell you all!"
Akira's voice rang out, clearly entering everyone's ears. Instantly, all of the ninja present movements stopped.
At this critical juncture.
No matter how anxious they were, they wouldn't be short of time. It was more important to listen to important things first.
At this time, they all knew that they could not miss anything. Any information could determine whether they would be promoted in the end.
"Now that each of your teams has chosen a corpse, this corpse can be said to decide your fate!"
Akira's voice slowly rang out. His bright eyes looked at the many Yamanaka clan ninjas present. There was a meaningful look in his eyes.
Of course.
He did not look at Aoba and Kaze.
"Your group will be responsible for digging into the memories of the corpses you have chosen until you find useful information!"
"But... I will also provide you with the opportunity to exchange!"
"If you feel that you have almost dug out the memories of this corpse in your hands and there is no way you can get any more useful information. Then you can exchange the corpse in your hands to other groups!"
"The premise of exchanging the corpse is that it is the same for the other group!"
"You can exchange countless times until you find important information!"
"But..."
"I have to emphasize it!"
"The exchange of corpses is based on the willingness of both parties. If one party is unwilling to exchange, then the exchange can not be done!"
"Let's begin now!"
Akira announced the rules of the exchanging of corpses and caused everyone to nod in agreement.
This rule was not something he had thought of.
It was something that Danzo had come up with.
This matter was still very important to Danzo. He did not wish to hand the fate of a corpse to a single team.
After all, the corpses of these ninjas were unrecognizable.
Perhaps.
After exchanging the corpses.
It could be of a better effect!
Only then did he come up with such a method. It could allow every group to dig deep into the memories of the corpses in their hands, and it could also provide them with other opportunities.
In this way.
Killing more birds with one stone!
After Akira finished announcing the rules, everyone in each group began to read memories.
...
"Would anyone want our corpse?"
Yamanaka Kaze pointed at the charred corpse with disgust in his eyes.
If he wasn't wearing a mask.
One could see the twisted expression on his face.
"I'm going to read its memories first."
Aoba did not pay attention to Kaze's ridicule at all. Instead, he said that he should go first.
He had already seen from Kaze's eyes that this person was not only a good-for-nothing with weak ability but also a good-for-nothing with his own small character.
There was no other way...
If he was not afraid of being dirty or tired.
Perhaps there was still hope.
There was nothing he could do now.
Aoba could almost foresee that in the near future, Yamanaka Kaze would most likely be eliminated.
Most importantly...
Being trash wasn't the scary thing!
But he still thinks that others are even more trash than him...
That was the scary part!
Aoba lowered his head and looked at the corpse's bones. Now that he carefully observed them, he could already discover that these bones belonged to the same person.
Two arm bones.
Two leg bones.
There was also a skull.
The rest of the bones were not there.
He didn't know if it were deliberately not displayed here or couldn't find it.
At least the bones that were placed on this iron shelf now were all bones that belonged to this person.
From the degree of this bone carbonization, it was already obvious.
It should be a person that was closer to the explosion zone.
Moreover, the bones were very thin.
It could be seen that this person was not that strong.
"This..."
A strange thought suddenly appeared in Aoba's mind, 'Could this person be one of the staff officers in Kumogakure's envoy group?'
At that time, when he attacked Kumogakure's outpost using his advanced paper clone, the Kumogakure envoy group had already arrived. He paid special attention to it. There were a total of three staff officers in the envoy group, which could be seen from their clothes.
'Good fellow!'
He won the prize as soon as he arrived!
Aoba originally thought that all three staff officers had been put away by Danzo, but he did not expect that he would directly meet one of them.
Of course.
In Aoba's current knowledge, the Kumogakure envoy group had three staff officers "alive".
As for the rest of the matters.
His information had not been refreshed in time.
Then.
Aoba calmed himself down, raised his right hand, and grabbed at the charred head or to be precise, a charred skull.
Hum!
Just as Aoba's palm touched the head. His hand trembled slightly, and then a crisp electronic prompt sounded in his mind.
"Ding Dong! Memory Reading Succesful! Obtained: Spiritual Energy Increase!"
Aoba did not even need to check the memories. Just from the electronic prompt, he could tell that the person who died was a staff officer.
Unexpectedly!
He actually won the prize right from the start!
Aoba felt that Danzo's goal was to find these staff officers and read the memories in their heads.
However, because this person had been burned so severely, Danzo's men directly discarded the corpse and did not take it seriously.
Only then did it fall into Aoba's hand.
...
Aoba could clearly feel the memory fragments being loaded into his mind.
However, he didn't check it now.
He was going to use the Yamanaka clan secret technique to try and see how far he could use it in this kind of not-so-decent corpse.
He immediately mobilized the chakra in his body and attached it to his hands. Then he stretched out his left hand and placed it on the charred skull with his right hand.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
Aoba immediately used the mind-reading secret technique to control the chakra within his body and immersed it into the latter brain!
Then.
Aoba used chakra to explore the brain of this person. This was a little bit in the scope of medical ninjutsu, but it was not for treatment but for inspection.
'The brain was already burnt!'
'The brain had been destroyed because of a hot temperature!'
At this moment.
Aoba seemed to see the appearance of this person before he died.
'When the explosive tags exploded, the scorching flames directly engulfed his entire body, instantly turning his eyes into water vapor in the billowing flame.'
'Because of this.'
'This skull felt like a kettle that had been burnt.'
"There is no way to read this thing's memory at all. No wonder they didn't choose; I'll leave it to you!"
Aoba directly withdrew his hand. His fingers were still stained with black charcoal, but he didn't care about this. He just clapped his hands and took a few steps back, giving this place to Yamanaka Kaze.
"Ah?!"
After hearing Aoba's words, Kaze was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Aoba to be so fast. He just got up as soon as he crouched down.
"You can't read it?"
Kaze took a step forward. He looked at the copse with trembling eyes. He had never encountered something like this that needed to be read. It was a little difficult to get through.
"We are not teammates."
Aoba did not say anything more. Instead, he sat on the ground and took a resting posture. Then, he slowly closed his eyes and began to check the memories of this staff officer.
At this time.
The other groups were carefully digging out the memories of their corpses.
It was just the beginning.
No one would give up the corpse in their hands at this time and choose to exchange it for the other corpses.
Of course.
No one would come to exchange corpses with Aoba's group.
In this way.
Aoba was also happy and idle.
He didn't need to care too much about it. He could just wait quietly in this anxious and tense room for the mission to end.
He was very clear.
Even if the people here had exchanged all the corpses, they would not come over to exchange for the charred corpse in Aoba's hand. After all, it was a charred corpse that was hard to read and retrieve memories.
After Aoba sat down.
Not far away, Akira glanced into Aoba's area with eyes full of dislike.
He had no hope for these two people at all.
Even if the corpse in their hand was not so easy to read, they should at least try a little.
But they did not even want to fight for a chance to get promoted at all!
...
After Aoba closed his eyes, his mind began to check the memories he had just obtained.
Scenes after scenes played in Aoba's consciousness.
"This is..."
Aoba's heart suddenly beat fiercely. At this time, he had a feeling that he had won the lottery.
'Good fellow!'
'This person is...'
'The Kumogakure Advisor!'
'It was not Kumogakure's staff officer, nor the Country of Lightning's staff officer, but a higher position, almost equal to Hari's status.'
One had to know that an advisor's position corresponded to the current Koharu and Homura, and when Uzumaki Naruto became the Hokage, then it was Nara Shikaku.
This was a person who had the core information in his mind!
Aoba never expected that they would directly send the Kumogakure Advisor skull to him without even choosing. The key was that other than him, no one else could successfully read this corpse's memory.
'Interesting!'
Aoba suddenly felt that this trip was not in vain!
'It seemed that...'
'Choosing corpses was really a matter of fate!'
'Wasn't this fate?'
With so many teams choosing first, no one chose this charred corpse.
Just like this, it fell on his hand by accident.
Instantly.
Aoba began to look through Kumogakure Advisor's perspective to see what happened recently.
The memory time went back to two days ago.
Aoba was not in a hurry to look at Kumogakure Advisor's mission. Because the mission had failed, it was useless to be anxious. What he wanted to know first was what happened to them after he attacked them and left.
In a split second.
Aoba was directly brought into Kumogakure Advisor's perspective.
The Kumogakure Advisor led the envoy group toward Kumogakure's outpost in the Country of Fire.
There were eight people in Kumogakure's envoy group, including the Kumogakure Advisor.
The other three staff officers were all Country of Lightning's staff officers. They did not belong to Kumogakure but to the Country of Lightning.
The remaining four people were guards.
The eight people from Kumogakure's envoy group arrived at the outpost early in the morning. They had just settled down and were ready to rest for a while.
However.
At this time.
The ground of the outpost started to shake.
From Kumogakure Advisor's perspective, everything had happened so suddenly that there was no time for them to react.
Aoba could see the fear in the eyes of the other three staff officers in this memory.
When the ground shook at this level.
Normally, it would not cause too much panic.
However.
Country of Lightning was located in the mountainous region.
The overall terrain was relatively high.
Whether it was Kumogakure or other villages, they were either built at the foot of the mountain or at the top of the mountain. Only a small number of them were built between the mountainside.
Most of the time, they would travel using suspension bridges and hanging cables.
It was a region with a more severe terrain.
Because of this.
The Country of Lightning was more afraid of earthquakes than the other countries.
Once an earthquake occurs.
Even if it were just an earthquake of a low degree.
It may cause the collapse of the mountain and the destruction of the village.
The village built at the top of the mountain might slide down the foot of the mountain along with the gravel.
The village built at the foot of the mountain might be buried by the rocks falling from the sky.
As long as it was an earthquake.
It would add a very strong sense of fear to them.
As Konohagakure's ground shook, the Kumogakure's envoy group and ninjas all felt a strong discomfort.
However.
This was not the end!
Just as they were feeling fearful, a tsunami-like flood flooded them.
This part of the memory was very exciting.
Aoba could clearly see that the world in front of him had instantly turned into an ocean, and Kumogakure Advisor was drifting along in this ocean current.
Because the impact of the water flow was too sudden.
As a result, Kumogakure Advisor drank a lot of water in big mouthfuls.
In addition, they had been traveling for a long time.
It made his body feel extremely uncomfortable.
Just like this.
He soaked in the water for a long time.
From his memory, it was only a few minutes. But for Kumogakure Advisor, it was like a few centuries of time.
This kind of extremely sad feeling.
It was deeply engraved into his bone marrow.
Then.
Accompanied by a vague roar.
The water disappeared.
In Kumogakure Advisor's memory, Aoba could clearly feel that this person did not hear the voice outside clearly.
This should be related to strength!
Aoba felt that the leader of Kumogakure's outpost, Brei, still heard the self-reported identity he played as Gasshi and the Satsuma Rentaro he played as the ninja of Kirigakure.
As the water flowed away.
Kumogakure Advisor had been drenched like a drowned rat. There was not a single place on his body that was dry.
After this.
The Kumogakure Advisor and Country of Lightning's three staff officers barely managed to set up a grill beside them.
Those wet logs.
It was extremely difficult to light them up and took a lot of effort. Only then did they light a fire and dry their clothes while they wrapped themself with a towel.
But Brei didn't even wait for him to rest for a while.
"Advisor-sama!"
Brei quickly ran in front of Kumogakure Advisor, his tone full of respect. From the details of his actions, Aoba could feel that this Kumogakure Advisor's status was very high.
"We found two Konohagakure Anbu hanging on the trees near the outpost..."
The next memory.
It was Brei who reported to Kumogakure Advisor that he found the two Root ninjas.
Aoba was looking at this memory while thinking quickly.
'This feeling is very magical.'
When Aoba was arranging these things, he was completely standing in his own perspective. He had no idea what kind of reaction the other party would make when they saw it and what kind of result it would bring.
Now that he had read this Kumogakure Advisor's memories, he was looking at these things from another angle. This was a completely different feeling.
This reminded him of the time when he was watching the live broadcast of a computer game competition.
At that time, he was an audience. Standing in God's perspective, he could see everyone's actions, thus discovering the different rhythm and tactics of each team.
But if he was in it.
The area of view was blocked by the black fog.
He had no idea what the other party was doing when he was planning. After seeing the trap he had designed, what kind of reaction would they have?
Right now, he was flipping through the Kumogakure Advisor's memories.
It was like watching the replay after the match from the other party's perspective.
It was a completely different feeling.
"Wait..."
Aoba silently thought in his heart.
In addition to Kumogakure Advisor's memory, he also read the Third Kazekage's memory. He didn't have time to look at this memory. When there was time, he would also check it out.
Of course.
There was also Hari's memory.
Aoba suddenly found that he could read other people's memories and understand their history, as well as their responses when they encountered such a scheme, so as to find the problem of his own layout.
This was the switch between a hunter and prey.
It could completely allow him to show a more perfect state in this kind of matter.
All of a sudden.
A feeling of joy rose in Aoba's heart.
Then.
He then immersed himself in the Kumogakure Advisor's memories.
He continued to flip through the pages.
They made a decision to cut down the trunk where the two Root ninjas were and bring it to Konohagakure.
It was this decision.
It helped Aoba see the operation of taking the bomb away.
Gradually.
It was nighttime.
The scenes in his memory became dim.
This Kumogakure Advisor's body had been deeply occupied by fatigue. However, this temporary base was not particularly comfortable to rest in. The clothes on his body were not completely dry, which made him very uncomfortable.
After the Kumogakure Advisor comforted all the staff officers who had followed him, he returned to the tent and fell asleep.
He did not know how long he had slept.
Suddenly.
There was a sudden explosion in the forest.
Immediately after.
A thick fog appeared, blocking his vision. It could be said that he could not see a single person.
"What's going on?!"
This Advisor widened his eyes. He had not fully woken up yet. The feeling of exhaustion kept eroding his body, which made him extremely confused.
However.
There wasn't much time left for him to react.
A sound of metal clashing against metal and continuous screams can be heard; even if he hadn't experienced many battles, he knew they were being attacked.
'Enemy attack!'
This word immediately appeared in Kumogakure Advisor's mind.
Swish!
Right at this moment.
A tall and sturdy figure instantly appeared in front of Kumogakure Advisor, protecting him.
"Advisor-sama, are you alright?"
This person was the leader of Kumogakure's outpost, Brei. The moment he encountered danger, he chose to save this Advisor who was the most important to Kumogakure.
"Ah... yes..." Kumogakure Advisor was already dumbfounded.
"Advisor-sama, I will take you out first and then come back to save them. Believe in me; it will definitely be fine!" Brei said in a deep voice.
Brei said in a deep voice.
After he finished speaking.
Brei picked up the Kumogakure Advisor and suddenly charged out of Kumogakure's outpost, directly running into the forest nearby.
Brei was very fast.
He forcefully carried this Kumogakure Advisor out of the range of the fog.
"Advisor-sama!"
"The opponent is Kirigakure Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
"I will try my best to restrain them in the next period of time. I won't let them approach."
"If I die..."
"Remember to tell Third Raikage about this matter and let him take revenge for me!"
Brei said to Kumogakure Advisor. After he said this, he wrapped his whole body with lightning chakra and rushed toward the place shrouded in fog.
At this point.
Kumogakure Advisor left the core area of the battle.
In addition, he was on a branch.
For the time being, there was not in danger.
"Hu..."
Kumogakure Advisor gasped for breath, showing a state of shock. The successive changes were too sudden for him, making him deeply aware of the dangers of the Ninja World.
...
After seeing this memory, Aoba could not help but slowly nodded his head.
"So that's how it is!"
Aoba immediately had an answer in his heart. He still didn't know why Kumogakure had come so late. It turned out that they had been attacked.
He hadn't expected it at all.
The Kumogakure's envoy group was actually attacked.
And...
The attacker...
It was actually the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Mist!