A few days later, at the gates of the iron,the gates of the largest samurai village in the elemental nations, the stronghold and pride of all samurai in the ninja world, two people could be seen walking through.
Both of them were wearing black regular cloaks, their faces hidden under the cloaks hood as they moved through the dozens of civillians and samurai walking next to them.
This was Kazuo and Yahiko who had already arrived at the samurai village after a mere four days of travel, they could have arrived earlier however the mission wasn't urgent. It was infact another recruitment mission.
A missing ninja from the hidden mist village had been seen roaming around these parts, and the rumurs had quickly landed in the hands of the Akatsuki, the missing ninja had been a part of the seven swordsmen of the hidden mist, the one carrying kubikiribocho ( Executioner Blade ).
The name of the man they were searching for was Juzo Biwa.
'Itachi's first real partner in the Akatsuki.' Kazuo thought to himself as he and Yahiko weaved through the dozens of people and swiftly arrived inside the village.
Looking around, Kazuo could clearly hear the sounds of metal working and the bumble and bluster of the dozens of civillians as they roamed around. Even in this frigid cold, the samurai village was as lively if not more than usual, the forging of blades never stopping for even a moment.
'They really are like the dwarves of this world aren't they.' Kazuo thought to himself as he slowly shook his head with a chuckle.
A few minutes later, Kazuo and Yahiko arrived at an Inn and walked inside, directly heading towards the bar counter and sitting before it.
"What can I offer ya young lads?" A Old man with a gray long beard and a stocky body asked as he was cleaning a beer glass.
"Just some regular rice sake." Kazuo replied with a nod of his head before turning his gaze towards Yahiko who gave a nod of his own.
"I'll have the same." Yahiko spoke before turning to face Kazuo.
"So, you have any idea on how we could do this?" Yahiko questioned, his words barely being heard over the hustle and noise of the bar.
"The Bar tender should have some information, these places are usually the ones that hold the most rumors and gossip afterall and for each rumor, theres a sliver of truth." Kazuo replied casually, as if the matter was already dealt with.
"And how are we going to do that without causing a commotion or others knowing… what if he spreads it around that 'he' is being targeted by a group and if it reaches 'his' ears then we could potentially lose our target.' Yahiko said as his brows furrowed in confusion as he gazed at Kazuo.
He knew Kazuo, decently well if he did say so himself, or atleast it felt that way most of the time to Yahiko, but there was one thing that Yahiko was absolutely certain of, Kazuo never spoke in an illogical matter unless it was a distraction tactic from some other plan that he had already devised. So if Kazuo had said they would gain information from the bartender, then Yahiko already knew that he had some way to do it.
"He's a genin rank ninja at best, atleast in terms of relative strength, taking information from him is as easy as taking candy from a baby, Yahiko. There's no need for torture methods at all." Kazuo replied with a soft amused chuckle before he pointed to the bartender with his thumb finger.
"Afterall, he's already become my puppet." Kazuo said finally as his smile widened even further whilst Yahiko who had been staring intently at him instantly widened his own eyes in pure shock before his head swerved around to stare at the old man.
And there it was, he saw it instantly, on the old mans neck, a small sheet of paper was glowing slightly as it was attached to the mans skin.
'When… when did he manage to do that?' Yahiko wondered, as the hairs on his arms stood on end, he hadn't noticed anything at all, no movement, no twitch, nothing at all, it was as if the paper had simply woven itself into existence right on the mans neck from nothing and with no interference from anyone.
'Looking at your expression… your probably wondering how I managed… sadly I can't tell you dear Yahiko… its not like you would understand aftearll… stopping time using a dojutsu really isnt something believable.' Kazuo thought to himself in his mind as he finally turned his full attention towards the old man once more.
"Speak." Kazuo said in a colder tone, seriousness enveloping his expression.
The old man who was already under a continuous self regenerating genjutsu didnt hesitate for a moment as he opened his mouth and started giving every detail he knew about Juzo Biwa without holding anything back, ofcourse the information was scattered and more than likely most of it was false, however that didnt mean that it didnt give them clues.
Kazuo at the same time had made sure that the old man wouldn't say anything that would make it look like they were talking about Juzo even if the man itself was right next to them and listening into the conversation.
The very name Juzo Biwa had been turned into a phobia in an instant from the genjutsu, making sure that the old man would subconsciously fear even mentioning it whilst at the same time, Kazuo had implanted small suggestions into the mans mind, directly into his subconscious so that the words he used were detailed enough however also vague and mysterious enough that if one didn't know the exact theme of their conversation, they would end up utterly lost.
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