"Boom!!!"
The Anbu squad leader was growing impatient.
He waved his hand, throwing a kunai to the side.
With a thunderous explosion, the explosive tag detonated.
"I'll ask again, are you going to give it up or not?"
At this moment, the Anbu squad leader looked like a complete madman.
His voice was filled with menace, and although his face was hidden behind a mask, you could tell he was furious—savage even!
Rolling up his sleeves, he held a long string in his hand, which had a row of kunai attached to it.
Each kunai was rigged with an explosive tag!
This was just... outrageous!
In Uru's mind, he could only think of one phrase: "What the hell?"
Was this really the Anbu?
Ridiculous!
The Anbu always had a reputation for being serious, cold, and somewhat mysterious.
They were the assassins of the shadows.
They were like ghosts!
But this guy in front of him, where the hell did he come from?
He acted like a rabid dog.
Whose cage did he escape from?
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
A large number of Cloud Shinobi began to arrive for support.
"What now? Calling for backup?"
The squad leader sneered and waved his hand. "Men, are you afraid?"
"No!" the sixteen Anbu members roared.
The squad leader shouted again, "Do you hate the Cloud Shinobi?"
"Yes!"
"They've humiliated us. What should we do?"
"Fight them to the death!"
This fierce and unified roar left the Cloud Shinobi in shock.
Where had they ever seen something like this before?
At the same time, they were furious.
These mere Leaf shinobi dared to provoke them at the gates of the Cloud village?
"Lord Uru!"
The Cloud Shinobi urged Uru.
They wanted to eliminate these Leaf Anbu.
They already had the numbers advantage, and they were right at their village's entrance.
How could they let themselves be bullied by a mere dozen Leaf Anbu at their own doorstep?
But Uru ignored them completely.
Could they fight?
No, they couldn't!
The explosions in the village were getting louder and more frequent. Who knew what was going on inside?
At this moment, to attack the Leaf Anbu and start a battle with an Anbu squad was just plain stupid!
The Cloud and Leaf villages were two superpowers, after all.
Even though the Cloud village looked down on the Leaf village, they were still wary of its strength.
Moreover!
The matter with the previous Leaf Anbu squad hadn't been resolved yet, and now they were about to kill another squad?
How many Anbu squads did the Leaf even have?
Were they really not worried about pushing the Hokage to his breaking point?
Also!
Most importantly, if these lunatics fought like the last squad—reckless and suicidal, even going so far as to blow themselves up—how much would they have to sacrifice just to take out a dozen Anbu?
"I'll pay you!" Uru gritted his teeth and said coldly. "Just wait!"
"Hurry up! You're so slow. I could've had two kids by now!" the squad leader snapped.
Uru clenched his fists in frustration.
Just wait!
Once the Cloud village resolves everything, I will take your lives.
Money?
Hmph, hold onto it for now.
However much you take in, you'll give back, sooner or later.
"Eleven million ryo, is that enough?" Uru asked casually.
"Are you kidding me?" The squad leader exploded in anger. "We came all the way here, delivered the money, and you messed with us! You added only one million ryo as compensation? Is that how you treat people?"
At this moment, Uru surprisingly grew calm.
He stared at the Leaf Anbu squad leader and slowly asked, "Then how much do you think is fair?"
"Fifty million ryo!"
"Fine!"
Ignoring the commotion from the Cloud Shinobi, Uru ordered several Jonin to return to the village to get the money.
"Lord Uru!" a group of Cloud Shinobi couldn't help but exclaim.
Fifty million ryo!
That could almost buy a tailed beast with a weak point.
But Uru simply waved his hand, his expression calm.
...
"Heh heh!"
Yugao forced a stiff smile and muttered, "Aren't you worried?"
"Worried about what?"
Itsuki was puzzled.
Yugao pointed at the captain of the Anbu squad and said, "Anyone familiar with you would instantly notice that this person looks just like you—no, exactly like you."
Itsuki shrugged and said, "They won't have a chance to find out. This squad of Anbu will never return to Konoha."
Yugao couldn't hold back and said, "Aren't you afraid of provoking the Hidden Cloud? What if they start a fight?"
"Whether they fight or not doesn't matter. If they do, I'll just have the Anbu squad storm into the Hidden Cloud Village and blow themselves up. It's only a matter of time anyway."
"Blow themselves up?"
"Why do you think the Hidden Cloud hasn't attacked yet?" Itsuki replied with a sly grin. "Because they sensed it. Each Anbu member is carrying at least a few hundred explosive tags. If those go off inside the village… well, you can imagine."
Yugao smirked as well and said, "Sensed it? Or did you deliberately expose it?"
"Haha!"
Itsuki chuckled, staring at the Hidden Cloud Village in silence.
His plan was already in motion.
There were two things inside the Hidden Cloud Village that he wanted.
One was a Tailed Beast.
He had his eyes on Matatabi, the Two-Tails.
A blue-flame-burning cat—perfect for him!
The Uchiha clan's favorite element was fire.
The Two-Tails might be considered one of the weaker Tailed Beasts, but it depends on how it's used.
The second thing was part of Itsuki's "collection."
The Hidden Cloud Village had a pair of famous black-and-white roses from the ninja world.
If he didn't pick them, it would be a wasted life.
"Oh, right!"
Yugao asked curiously, "Where did you find so many people to cause chaos inside the Hidden Cloud? This is quite a disturbance."
"Rogue ninjas, wandering samurai, bandits…"
As Itsuki listed them off, Yugao's eyes widened more and more.
"You… you're something else… You managed to gather all these people and sneak them into the Hidden Cloud Village."
…
Inside the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Ahhhh!!!"
With a roar, a massive hand slammed down hard.
"Boom!!!"
Another table shattered into pieces.
It was the fifth one that day.
The Raikage's face twisted with rage, steam puffing from his nostrils. He gritted his teeth and said, "The explosions are still happening? When will it stop?"
Beside him, Mabui, the beautiful dark-skinned woman, sighed helplessly and said, "The intruders are mostly ordinary people, so they're hard to detect. Besides, they're targeting unimportant areas, and Hidden Cloud is so big… our people can't respond quickly enough."
The Raikage panted heavily, furious.
Is this still my Hidden Cloud Village?
There are fireworks everywhere.
"Why is this happening?!"
He roared.
Mabui calmly pulled out a report and said, "Caravans. From the captives we interrogated, we learned that most of them are bandits and wandering samurai. They disguised themselves as merchants and snuck into the village."
"Haha!"
The Raikage laughed bitterly and clenched his teeth. "So my Hidden Cloud Village is so easy to infiltrate? Even bandits and samurai can get in? Did you all forget to close the main gate?"
Mabui's voice remained calm as she said, "We only realized this after the incident. We've been too focused on ninjas in the past and neglected ordinary people."
"As for these explosions, you don't need to worry. They've only hit unimportant places, like garbage dumps, toilets, the slums, and some low-traffic commercial streets…"
"So, while it seems chaotic on the surface, the actual damage to the Hidden Cloud is very limited."
The Raikage coldly replied, "Should I be happy about that?"
Mabui shrugged.
She was genuinely curious about the mastermind behind all this chaos.
This person was clearly a genius—every move was designed to exploit the Hidden Cloud's weaknesses.
(End of chapter)