------------------ Konoha -----------------
Following Hirata's departure on the mission, the third Hokage, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu had a meeting. Danzo took out a scroll and passed it to the third Hokage. The third Hokage looked at it and was surprised. Seeing the change in the expression of the third Hokage, Homura, and Koharu were also surprised and asked him, "what is it Hiruzen, anything serious?"
The third Hokage didn't say anything and simply passed the scroll to them. Looking at the scroll Homura and Koharu looked at each other and chuckled. Both turned towards Danzo and said, "you are not exaggerating about your student. He is indeed capable of bearing your hopes since he is capable of escaping Anbu's trace."
Danzo was extremely happy to see his rivals and friends praising his student. His happy face becomes serious and he looks at them, "we received information about terrorist activity in the land of fire. It seems they were planning something to disturb the government."
Third Hokage, "I heard there is a political imbalance in the daimyo court. Court members are forming groups to gain more power. They requested us to support them."
Koharu, "We ninja villages were the military power of the nation. We don't need to be involved in such politics, right?"
Danzo, "yes but protecting the peace of the nation is also our duty. I heard they want to use mass to put pressure on daimyo to weaken others."
Homura, "like?"
Danzo said, "To put pressure on the daimyo, they were using terrorists to terrorize people and control them. We can't interfere in national politics but we have full authority to erase terrorist activities under the name of national security."
Everyone nodded and the third Hokage said, "Recent information shows us Kisaragi village is their first target, and the village head is also part of this attack. Danzo, shouldn't you at least warn your student if you don't cancel this mission?"
Danzo shook his head, "I sent enough Anbu to erase the root cause of this problem, and facing unexpected scenarios under that pressure will teach him a lot."
Homura said, "Good... good… nature him well. He has the qualifications to lead an entire generation if natured him well."
While Danzo snorted and said, "I know." Others laughed at him and moved on to the next topic in their meeting.
------------- Unknown place -----------------
In a dark room built of rock bricks, a round table with six chairs is placed at an even distance from each other. Each chair is marked with a number as a symbol starting with 1 and ending with 6. At the center of the table, a large crystal lamp was glowing, illuminating more than two-thirds of the room. Six people entered the room one by one and sat down.
"Higher-ups are asking for the progress of Toitsu. One person sitting in chair number 1 started speaking.
The person sitting in chair number 5 speaks, "do we need to follow higher-ups? Those damn geezers simply sit and pass orders while we are working our ass here."
The person sitting in chair number 3 says, "number 5, don't talk nonsense. We are working on mutual benefits. Don't forget what our organization aims to accomplish. Why our organization persisted through millennia…"
"Stop it number 3". A loud sound resounds throughout the room. Everyone except number 1 looked toward the voice. Then the same voice continued, "All numbers must focus on their mission. Regarding dealing with higher-ups, I will take care of that. If you don't like my arrangement, then speak up, but not with your mouth, but with your strength."
Numbers replied, "Yes number 1".
Looking at the remaining numbers number "1" nodded and said, "Good". Afterward, he turned to number 2 and asked, "How long would it take you to complete your mission?"
"We are already well ahead of schedule. But I need at least one month at least to produce our desired results."
"We don't have that much time now. Konoha has already sniffed our tail. Execute the mission by the end of the week. Remember you have only one week to complete; there is no option for failure."
Number 2 nodded, "yes, number 1".
------------------ Kisaragi village ----------------
I am currently hiding behind a large tree and observing the Kisaragi village entrance. Behind me, four more people were hiding and observing the surroundings along with me. They were my clones in transformation.
My clones and I disguised ourselves as a merchant group. One clone named Sawamura is acting as a merchant and I (real body) am head of a mercenary group protecting merchant Sawamura. I (real body) took a dummy name Bashira and three clones will be members of a mercenary group named Aoki, Asuga, and Hinata.
Sawamura is middle-aged with a bald head and a fat body. Bashira and others were tall, slim, and fit wearing ninja gear following Sawamura from behind.
We reached the main gate. There are more than ten people with carts on the waiting list at the main gate. While I put the mercenary group in the queue, Sawamura and I headed to the guard. Looking at us coming towards them the guard is alerted and signs at us to return back to the queue. But we went anyway.
Sawamura reached out with a small pouch of coins and gave it to the guard, who was shaking his hand. When the pouch landed in his hand, the irritation on his face turned into a smile. He shocks the pouch a few times and the smile on his face becomes wider with every shake. Then he told us, "you merchants are sincere and you have not crossed any rules. So, you can enter through the other door specialized for people like you."
We proceeded through the door he pointed at and entered the village. While I saw the village from the outside, looking at it closely from the inside made me disgusted with the village head. Compared to Konoha, Kisaragi is no better than a slum.
While walking through the village, I noticed every person and every nook and cranny. Almost all the people were malnourished, but not to the point where their bones were visible. After wandering around for an hour I found the most appropriate place to gather information regarding my mission.
I walked to a bar that is popular with the general public. Most people go to this bar because of the cheap prices. I saw a large hall full of round tables arranged with chairs. This is an ideal place to hear most people's discussions.
Several types of people come to this type of bar; some are like me or for information, some are for talking nonsense or spreading rumors, some are for showing off, some are for free beer, etc. After half an hour of hearing all sorts of rumors from all people in the hall, I find the people that came here to talk about rumors, create rumors, and spread them all around the village.
Even though I can't enhance my hearing ability like a ninja specializing in hearing, I can enhance it to an extent. As time moves on, night approaches and it's during this period that bars are flooded with people.
As soon as the two people entered, the entire bar fell silent and stared at them. One man is carrying Kusarigama, a metal chain with one end tied to the Kama and the other end with a heavy iron weight, on his waist. The other man appears to be carrying no weapons, but if you look closely, his buckle belt is different. If I am correct, his buckle belt is a chain sword. Everyone stared at them with fear in their eyes. They looked around and walked towards a particular table. Looking at them I am sure they were mercenaries.
As they walked towards a table, the people sitting at that table emptied it and left. Both men sat in a chair, and the man with the buckle belt put both legs on top of the table. A server came with two large beer mugs and put them on the table, and then left. During this period, it is so quiet that only foot and glass sounds can be heard. Everyone resumed drinking and talking after they started drinking, but not as before. It's like a noisy class becomes silent in the presence of a teacher.
We are sitting with two more people who are freeloading. Sawamura asked them silently, "Brother, who are they? Why does everyone fear them?"
"Shhh…" He put his finger on his lips, gesturing for us to keep silent. He reached towards Sawamura and said, "Brother don't let them see you. You are new to the area, so you don't know about them. They work for the village head and they can do whatever they want. Even the village head won't question them and they are very strong. No one in the village can defeat them."
Another freeloader says, "I heard they were known as "Twin reapers" outside the village. I also heard they were very bloodthirsty and killed anyone who irritated them." He bends even more and comes closer to Sawamura's ear, "I was told they had a lot of bounty on them."
Now I remember them; while I was in training camp, we had a special session about bounty collectors. Bounty is still another source of income for the village. Despite its small size, it can still do wonders for the village's reputation. Hunting for bounty is part of Anbu's duties, and a portion of the bounty will be given to the team that hunts such people.
For now, I can leave them alone since the mission has not reached that stage. As a result, I have already added them to my list of targets for assassination.
Suddenly, a loud female cry was heard, and everyone turned to look at it. One of the two reapers is holding the wrist of the female waiter who came to serve them. He is pulling her hand to make her sit on his lap while she is begging and resisting.
Then the owner came running and kneeled in front of him and begged him to let go of his daughter. A few people left in a hurry to save money, while others left in a hurry to avoid trouble when they saw the owner's struggle.
Two of our tablemates looked at us and said, "Sir it's better to leave quickly; any later we also have to face troubles."
Sawamura looked at them, "why? Isn't it a crime? Why were these people enjoying themselves?
One man sighed and said, "Sir, at first even though their actions were extreme, they were not considered crimes. As time passed, they began committing more crimes. Some people tried to report the village head, but they never returned. From then on, we started living in hell. I heard recently women started to disappear; it was them. Though there is no definite proof everyone knows it was them."
As he spoke tears started to roll and his voice became more and more quavering. I and Sawamura looked at each other then Sawamura said, "You both leave this place quickly. This isn't good for you both."
The other man told Sawamura, "It would be better if you went with us." Then he told his crying friend. The crying man looked at Sawamura. Sawamura smiled, "Don't worry about us. You should leave immediately and thank you for keeping us company." And then both of them left.
The majority of people left the show while the remainder stayed to watch and enjoy it. The one with a buckled belt looked at her and said, "I will give you options; either surrender and save your father and your business or I will force myself upon you."
The owner's daughter stared at her crying father and stopped resisting. Her face was pale white. Father clutched the legs of the man wearing a buckled belt while pleading with him to leave his daughter. The man with a buckle belt kicked him. Father was sent flying and lost consciousness after hitting the wall.
The owner's daughter was about to run toward her father but was stopped by a man with a buckled belt. A man with a buckled belt with lust held her to the ground and said, "Since you didn't make a choice, I will help you make a choice."