novelnext Chapter 78 Who Stole Whom
Chapter 78 Who Stole Whom
Chapter 78 Who Stole Whom
The fourth day of rest was ultimately not fully spent.
At 10 a.m., the Shuomao team assembled urgently.
Surprisingly, this time it happened in the Hokage's office.
"Xuanma, you already know about the bounty on your head, right?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, but did not directly state the mission details.
Xuanma nodded: "I've already heard about it, but that shouldn't affect the mission, right?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a soft "hmm," and then said, "This mission is somewhat related to this."
"The Hidden Cloud Village claims that the Leaf Village stole their Lightning Release technique, so they are questioning the village."
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Genma looked completely innocent: "Uh, Lightning Release Secret Technique?"
"Is the Third Hokage referring to my Lightning Release: Body Flicker Technique?"
Yes, his technique is called Lightning Release: Body Flicker in the Sky, not Lightning Release: Chakra Mode.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "It's highly likely that Iwagakure sold your information to Kumogakure."
Yamashiro Aoba adjusted his sunglasses and said, "Third Hokage, you can't say that the Lightning Release technique is from Kumogakure, can you?"
"The Hidden Cloud Village also has Fire Release techniques, so their Fire Release techniques must have been stolen from our Leaf Village?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice: "Don't rush."
Sakumo Hatake pressed down on Aoba Yamashiro and said, "Let's hear what the Third Hokage has to say first!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Lightning Release is just an excuse, an excuse to start a war."
"It's also an excuse to gather intelligence."
"Your mission this time is to pick up the Cloud Village envoys and monitor them."
This surprised both Yamashiro Aoba and Shizune: "An envoy from Kumogakure?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "They want to come and confirm in person whether your Lightning Release technique is theirs."
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Genma's expression was slightly strange: "Using lightning release as an excuse to send an envoy, trying to take the opportunity to gather intelligence?"
"They're not going to threaten the village into handing me over, are they?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly replied, "Don't worry, the village won't agree to such an unreasonable request."
Genma immediately said, "Third Hokage, why don't we just start a war with Kumogakure? I'll be the vanguard!"
"Didn't the Hidden Cloud Village say I stole their Lightning Release technique? Let's just have a fight."
Sakumo Hatake quickly exclaimed, "Genma!"
Xuanma immediately shut up.
Sakumo Hatake apologized to Hiruzen Sarutobi, saying, "Please forgive him, Hokage-sama. Genma was young and impetuous."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mind and said, "The village is not afraid of war, but we will not initiate war."
"For the village, the later it enters the war, the better."
"If the Hidden Cloud Village wants to spy on us, let them come. Your job is to keep a close eye on them."
Sakumo Hatake nodded: "Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Xuanma and the other two nodded immediately.
As Genma left the Hokage Building, he couldn't help but frown.
Sakumo Hatake patted his disciple on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it, just complete the task as required."
If it were someone else, Xuanma might not have thought much of it; but when it was him, he couldn't help but overthink it.
"Teacher, I think that using the envoy to gather intelligence is probably only one of the purposes of the Hidden Cloud Village, isn't it?"
Xuanma was filled with doubt.
Silent asked with some worry, "What other purpose could there be?"
"They can't just attack you because they're in the village, can they?"
Yamashiro Aoba said, "That's impossible, isn't it? Even if we tried, we couldn't possibly succeed."
Xuanma scoffed, "That's the real problem!"
Leaving aside what hasn't happened yet, there's the example of Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who was kidnapped from Konoha.
This kind of thing has happened, which makes people wonder if Konoha deliberately arranged it to create an opportunity for Minato Namikaze.
Otherwise, if Konoha were to be taken away by a few Chunin from Kumogakure, who were the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and were under special protection, wouldn't they be a laughingstock?
If there's no conspiracy theory, then there's only one plausible possibility.
The Hidden Cloud Village sent an envoy to Konoha as a cover, intending to take the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki away.
Later, the Hidden Cloud Village did similar things.
When the delegation came to Konoha for peace talks, they wanted to take the opportunity to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.
So, is the Hidden Cloud Village planning to do something similar this time?
Sakumo Hatake was also thinking.
However, he doesn't have as much intelligence as Xuanma. Given the current situation, the most likely scenario for Yunyin Village is that they are just gathering intelligence.
"Genma, what are your thoughts?"
"I asked Hatake Sakumo."
Xuanma pondered, "Gathering intelligence might be one aspect, but this intention is too obvious, and we will definitely be on guard."
"But what if this is just a test of our attitude towards war?"
Testing attitudes toward war?
Silent and the others couldn't help but wonder, what does that mean?
Xuanma gradually sorted out his thoughts: "If we're talking about pretexts for war, are pretexts for war even necessary at a time like this?"
"We didn't sign a ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure during the last Shinobi World War."
"Furthermore, Kumogakure has always advocated war and invasion; do they need a pretext to wage war?"
Xuanma sneered.
Sakumo Hatake said, "So, the village's show of weakness, or rather, its attitude of avoiding war, made Kumogakure feel that there was an opportunity to take advantage of them."
"Then, gathering intelligence may only be the most superficial objective."
Yamashiro Aoba's expression turned grave: "It's really that complicated?"
"Are we overthinking it?"
Shizune chose to trust Genma's analysis, supporting him by saying, "In things like this, it's only right to consider things thoroughly, isn't it?"
"We should be more careful."
Sakumo Hatake said, "We definitely need to be more careful."
"However, Genma, what deeper motives do you think the Hidden Cloud Village might have?"
Xuanma said, "War blackmail!"
"To create an incident and engage in war blackmail."
"Or rather, threatening to wage war to achieve certain objectives."
Sakumo Hatake nodded: "Although these are just guesses, they can serve as a reference for our mission. Everyone, stay alert and don't give Kumogakure any chance, no matter what their goals are!"
"Set off!"
The team left the village and headed northeast.
Xuanma sensed something and discovered that there was another small team following behind, most likely an espionage team.
Such tasks, with one overt and one covert, are perfectly normal.
However, Genma remained cautious and informed his teacher, Hatake Sakumo.
They traveled in silence, and at 11 a.m. the following morning, the team arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.
One o'clock in the afternoon.
Genma, responsible for sensing, spoke up: "They've arrived!"
The three who were resting, Hatake Sakumo and his companions, all got up.
After a moment, five figures came into view.
Xuanma glanced around, but didn't recognize anyone; there seemed to be no important figures among them.
"So you're the Konoha ninja who came to pick us up?"
The Yunren stopped when they got close, and the blond middle-aged man at the head of the group asked rudely.
Genma narrowed his eyes slightly, and Hatake Sakumo stepped forward, calmly saying, "I am Hatake Sakumo, a Konoha Jonin, sent to receive the envoy from Kumogakure."
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Onikiri?"
The five Yunren all paled upon hearing this.
Konoha White Fang!
So this guy—
The five members of Guiche all looked at Yufeng Xuanma again.
They had naturally never seen the Wind-Riding Black Horse, but among the remaining three, it was easy to identify who was Konoha's White Fang's disciple.
When Genma saw them looking over, he immediately grinned and said, "Everyone, I am Genma Mikazuki, the disciple of Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha."
"He's also the one Iwagakure mentioned who stole your Kumogakure's Lightning Release secret technique."
The five members of the Ghost Carver group changed color again, not expecting this kid to be so blunt.
Moreover, is this a provocation against them?
This doesn't seem quite right, does it?
Didn't Konoha not want to start a war?
Shouldn't we adopt a softer and more accommodating attitude?
Seeing Genma's attitude, Kitetsu suppressed his fear of Konoha's White Fang and sneered, "You're Genma? I heard you're only 10 years old?"
"At this age, to have developed a Lightning Release technique comparable to the exclusive Lightning Release technique of our Cloud Village Raikage?"
Xuanma nodded: "What you said makes a lot of sense. I didn't develop the technique."
"But the technique was developed by my great-great-great-grandfather."
"I've heard that your Hidden Cloud Village has a history of stealing and robbing other people's secret techniques. Could it be that your Raikage's exclusive Lightning Release technique was stolen from my Kaze clan?"
Upon hearing this, the Yun Ren all paled, then flew into a rage.
Kitetsu roared, "You bastard, how dare you insult our Raikage?"
Xuanma chuckled lightly: "Do you have any evidence to prove you didn't steal it?"
"If you can produce evidence, I will apologize to Raikage immediately."
"If you can't produce it, then it means it was stolen. In that case, the Raikage should apologize to the Yufeng family."
Silent wanted to laugh, so she quickly covered her mouth.
Yamashiro Aoba gritted her teeth and kept a straight face.
Sakumo Hatake did not stop his disciple's unreasonable demands, as long as he did not resort to violence.
"Damn it, they've played us for a fool!"
Enraged and sensing something amiss, Onikiri immediately broke free from the opponent's rhythm and shouted, "It seems Konoha has no sincerity whatsoever. Let's start the war!"
"Go to war?"
Genma grinned: "Okay!"
"That's wonderful!"
Boom!
Click!
Genma's chakra erupted, the ground cracked, and a fierce wind arose.
The five members of the Ghost Carver group covered their faces, staring at the Wind-Riding Ma in utter shock.
Such powerful chakra!
Is this guy going to take action directly?
Should we run away?
Just then, Sakumo Hatake reached out and pressed Genma's shoulder.
In an instant, the powerful chakra vanished without a trace.
Sakumo Hatake said to the five members of the group, "I apologize. Genma is a bit agitated because he has been slandered. Please forgive him."
"It's all a misunderstanding. Please come to Konoha to clear things up."
Upon hearing this, Guiche immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, they didn't actually fight.
It seems like they're deliberately trying to intimidate us.
Kitetsu felt he had seen through Konoha's intentions and snorted, "Mr. Sakumo, we don't need to. Konoha has no sincerity whatsoever."
"Let's go!"
Guiche immediately turned around.
Genma flashed in front of Kitetsu, blocking his way: "Konoha isn't a place you can just come and go as you please."
"You have three choices today."
"One of you, behave yourselves and let us escort you to Konoha."
"Or, I'll take you to Konoha and then send you back to Kumogakure."
"Or, I can send your corpses back to the Land of Lightning, and then we can immediately go to war."
Gui Che's face turned ugly: This brat is threatening me again!
However, he also sensed the murderous intent.
Genma looked at the gloomy-faced Kitetsu and chuckled softly, "You don't want to disappoint the Raikage, do you?"
"Remember the mission the Raikage gave you? How can you give up halfway?"
Onikiri's pupils contracted sharply.
The other four Cloud Ninjas tensed up and reached for their weapons.
But Kitetsu reacted quickly, coldly stating, "Our mission is to ascertain Konoha's sincerity and confirm whether the Lightning Release technique has truly been stolen!"
Having said that, he ignored Genma Mikazuki and turned to Sakumo Hatake, saying, "Please lead the way, sir!"
Hatake Sakumo nodded, pretending that his disciple hadn't done anything at all, and casually led the way.
Genma and his two companions followed behind the Cloud Ninja, while Yamashiro Aoba secretly gave Genma a thumbs up.
Judging from the Cloud Ninja's reaction just now, he believes that these guys are indeed likely carrying out other missions.
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