Chapter 482: Secretly Contacting Danzō
During his time in Konoha, besides discussing major world affairs with the Uchiha clan's elite jonin at night, Kajiyama Ri spent his days wrangling with Konoha's high command.
However, the frequency of his meetings with the leadership was not high; he always found various excuses to delay the talks.
Whenever he had free time, Kajiyama Ri would wander through Konoha's various districts.
His wandering, of course, was not without purpose. He was fishing, waiting for someone willing to take the bait to approach him.
During the day, Konoha's high command would dispatch several Anbu squads to guard Kajiyama Ri. They would intercept any Uchiha who tried to get close. But while they could stop the Uchiha, they couldn't stop Danzō's people.
In fact, Danzō didn't even need to force his way through. He just needed to wait until one of his own men was on the Anbu surveillance team, and then he could easily coordinate from within to approach Kajiyama Ri without anyone knowing.
However, considering that several pairs of Byakugan were watching from the shadows, Danzō did not go himself.
He still dispatched his trusted subordinate, Kinoe.
This Kinoe—who knew which number he was in the line of succession—after exhausting his chakra, changed his appearance and approached Kajiyama Ri in a small izakaya.
Seeing Kinoe, a triumphant smile appeared in Kajiyama Ri's heart.
He did not refuse contact with Danzō. On the contrary, his third mission in Konoha was to secretly contact him.
Before coming, Kajiyama Ri had questioned one of Ishiro's catchphrases: Teacher Ishiro, why do you always say Danzō is our ally?
He remembered Ishiro's answer at the time: Without Danzō, Iwagakure would never have risen. As long as Danzō is alive, Konoha can never challenge our position as hegemon.
Kajiyama Ri had never understood what that meant.
Pulling his thoughts back to the present, he glanced at "Kinoe," who was speaking to him softly with ventriloquism. He felt he was close to finding the truth. Danzō really had a lot of tricks up his sleeve when dealing with his own people.
However, Kajiyama Ri didn't answer, because he couldn't use ventriloquism. If he opened his mouth, the Byakugan would spot him. This wasn't like their inn, which had been set up with seals to block the Byakugan's sight. There, he and the other Iwa ninja could speak freely, but not here.
Even that brief glance at Kinoe had been done under the guise of looking around the room.
Just as Kinoe finished what he had to say and was about to leave, he paused.
He noticed Kajiyama Ri's hand moving inside his sleeve. After a moment, a piece of paper appeared at the cuff, on which was written what Kajiyama Ri wanted to say.
Kinoe understood. Kajiyama Ri's clothes must have a seal that blocks the Byakugan. This way, he can avoid the prying eyes of the Hyuga.
The two of them continued their discussion for a while using this special method.
Danzō's meaning was clear: Iwagakure must abandon its support for the Uchiha clan.
And Kajiyama Ri's response was even simpler: We can stop supporting the Uchiha, but in exchange, Iwagakure wants a few Uchiha children.
Of course Danzō wouldn't agree to such a demand. One Uchiha Sōkai ending up in Iwagakure was already the absolute limit of his tolerance. Iwagakure wanting more Uchiha was out of the question.
Kajiyama Ri thought to himself: Teacher Ishiro told me to gauge the extent of Konoha's infiltration of the Uchiha clan. It seems that, at the very least, Danzō doesn't yet know that many Uchiha children have already been swapped out and brought to our village.
He continued to probe: "We want all of the Sharingan's genjutsu."
This time, Kinoe didn't immediately refuse, stating that he needed to report back to Danzō.
This left Kajiyama Ri unable to determine if Danzō knew that Fugaku Uchiha had already given all the genjutsu to Ishiro.
He tried to gather more intel, but Kinoe was tight-lipped, and he learned nothing else of use.
Still, having established contact with Danzō was a good start.
After that, every time a Root member was on the surveillance team, Kajiyama Ri would see Kinoe. As they communicated more, the exchanges between Kajiyama Ri and Danzō became more practical.
For example, in their most recent meeting, the two sides reached an agreement: "During the next public meeting with Konoha's high command, Kajiyama Ri will make some unreasonable demands, and Danzō will righteously and sternly refute them."
In exchange, Kajiyama Ri's subordinates would get a brief opportunity to slip away from Konoha's surveillance.
Kajiyama Ri didn't particularly care about the opportunity, but formally cooperating with Danzō this once was also a good thing.
Thus, Kajiyama Ri had initially established contact with both the Uchiha clan and Danzō.
Neither Kajiyama Ri's trip to Konoha nor the arrangements with Orochimaru could affect the formation of Ishiro's Squad 7.
Squad 7 was perhaps the most talented team, overall, that Ishiro had ever taught.
There was no need to say more about the Ice Release genius, Haku.
If it weren't for the mutation in her Fire Release, Fujii Kaoru would also be a genius. And even with the mutation, it didn't affect the speed at which she learned fire jutsu. It was only the power of her jutsu that was weak; in other aspects, she was still a genius.
And Kamizuru Tsuruhime was also a ninja with her own ideas. Her current strength was not high, but that was because her bees had not inherited the abilities of her clan's predecessors. Tsuruhime's own innate talent was quite good.
Therefore, Ishiro's method of guiding these three was somewhat different from the past.
He didn't spend too much time on fundamentals, simply giving them a basic training plan and leaving them to it.
He began guiding them directly based on their specific talents.
For Haku Mizunashi, Ishiro's teaching focus was on ideology.
On the second day after accepting them, Ishiro took the three of them and bought all the past issues of the Iwagakure Bi-Weekly Report.
"Haku, Kaoru, Tsuruhime, you are the disciples of me, the Tsuchikage. Your status is special. Therefore, you cannot be ignorant of the village's affairs," Ishiro said.
"From now on, you must read every issue of the Bi-Weekly Report to understand the direction of the village's major policies and the changing situation in the shinobi world."
"Come, I will teach you how to read this newspaper."
The three of them opened a paper as Ishiro instructed.
Ishiro pointed to a line. "Look at this sentence: 'Village Advisor Megumi and Konoha's Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara exchanged opinions.'"
"What does this mean? It means they both stated their respective positions, neither side budged, and in the end, nothing was accomplished."
The three looked baffled. Haku was more familiar with Ishiro, having heard his name countless times from Riori and Sōkai.
He asked, "Teacher Ishiro, is that really what it means? Then what would it say if they reached an agreement?"
Ishiro smiled. "If they reached an agreement, you would see the result directly. You should ask what it would say if there was a possibility of an agreement."
"In that case, the paper would say the two sides held 'cordial and friendly talks.' That's a truly substantive exchange. For example..."
Ishiro flipped through the paper and found a line. "For example, this one: 'Our village's Advisor Ikura and Kirigakure's Advisor Ning Mizunashi held cordial and friendly talks.'"
"Then, if you look at the next issue, you'll see we reached an agreement with Kiri. From now on, when we need each other's help, we will submit it in the form of a mission."
"Oh!" the three exclaimed in unison, a look of dawning realization on their faces.
Ishiro raised an eyebrow. It was strange; Haku didn't seem to have any reaction at all to the name 'Ning Mizunashi'.
At that moment, Kamizuru Tsuruhime pointed to a sentence. "Then Teacher Ishiro, what does it mean here where it says we 'deeply exchanged opinions' with Kumo?"
Ishiro said, "Exchanged opinions means each side stated their case. 'Deeply exchanged opinions' means both sides argued fiercely."
"That was the description of my negotiation with the Raikage at sea. We were discussing the post-war relationship between our two countries and villages."
"We did argue quite fiercely at the time; we almost came to blows. The Raikage even activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
The three children's mouths formed an "O". So that's how you were supposed to read the paper?
Ishiro took the most recent issues. "Everyone, look at these. The paper says we have become the hegemon of the shinobi world and have sent envoys to visit the other villages. What do you make of this?"
Fujii Kaoru thought for a moment. "Teacher Ishiro, does it mean we are interfering in the internal affairs of these countries?"
"Haha, very clever, Kaoru. You're right. Since we've become the hegemon, we naturally have to interfere in the affairs of the other villages, using that interference to seize benefits and strengthen ourselves."
"Between nations, there is no room for high-sounding principles. If you can grab an extra bit of profit, you don't give up an inch."
"Even between allies. For example, when we were discussing trade with our ally Kirigakure, our representatives were arguing so much they almost started a fight."
"In the end, we sent five Kage-level fighters to the negotiations and overwhelmed them with our presence. Only then did Kirigakure concede."
The three of them smiled, clearly amused by Ishiro's "joke."
But Ishiro was becoming more and more confused. What's going on? Why does it seem like Haku has no sense of belonging to Kirigakure at all?
Afterward, Ishiro conducted many more tests, but the results were the same. It was as if, deep down, Haku considered himself a member of the Land of Earth and a ninja of Iwagakure.
It wasn't until that evening, when he questioned Kitsuchi in detail, that he understood.
When Ishiro had brought him over, Haku was just an infant, with no memories. He had no feelings for Kirigakure or the Mizunashi clan.
Afterward, Ōnoki and Kitsuchi had never explicitly told him his origins. Their family had raised Sōkai, Haku, and Neji as their own children. In their home, the three of them had the same status as Kurotsuchi. And because of Haku's personality, he was even more popular with Ōnoki's family.
This was a good thing. If Haku identified as an Iwa-nin from the start, at least Ishiro wouldn't have to worry about changing his mindset.
But there was a hidden danger. Ishiro had to find a way to eliminate it. He couldn't let Haku find out the truth later and think that Iwagakure had plotted against him, or that they were the reason he was separated from his family.
He still had to find a way to tell him the truth.
Ishiro thought for a moment, then said to Kitsuchi, "Captain Kitsuchi, I will tell Haku about his past. But don't worry, I will be careful with my words."
Kitsuchi nodded, then hesitated. "If he can't accept it, I hope you will respect his choice. The old man, your Captain Shiden, and I all think so."
Kitsuchi genuinely saw Haku as a son. When Sōkai and Neji had been brought to Iwa, they were old enough to understand things. But when Haku arrived, he was no different from the newborn Kurotsuchi.
Ishiro nodded. "Don't worry. I will."
A few days later, at Ishiro's prompting, the new issue of the Iwagakure Bi-Weekly Report published a vague piece of good news: Iwagakure and Kirigakure had officially completed their first joint mission.
As per Ishiro's instructions, the three members of Squad 7 bought three copies of the paper first thing in the morning.
As they read, they analyzed the news articles one by one, just as Ishiro had taught them.
In the end, all three focused on the joint mission between Iwa and Kiri. They were very curious about what it was. So, during their afternoon training, they asked him.
Ishiro smiled. "It's not exactly a secret that can't be told, but the information can't be made public for now. I can tell you, but you mustn't tell anyone else."
"In the final battle of the Fifth Great Shinobi War, an Uchiha with space-time ninjutsu invaded our village and was driven off."
"Because our village's own mastery of space-time ninjutsu is not low, although we couldn't capture him, he couldn't cause any random destruction either."
"But Kirigakure is different. They have no ninja who can use space-time jutsu. After that Uchiha failed in our village, he went to Kiri."
"As a result, he slaughtered many of Kirigakure's great clans. The Ice Release Mizunashi clan, the Terumī clan, the Hōzuki clan—they were all wiped out by him."
"He killed all the adults who remained in the clan compounds and kidnapped all their children. Now, all that's left of these great clans are the few ninja who were fighting on the front lines."
"Kirigakure couldn't find the kidnapped children, so they commissioned us to help."
"We are Iwagakure, the hegemon of the shinobi world, the strongest village. A mission like this is no problem for us. In about a month, we found the Uchiha's hiding place."
"However, Kirigakure hasn't made their move yet, so we can't publicly announce this."
The three kids nodded in unison, their faces alight with the excitement of knowing a village secret.
Seeing this, Ishiro felt a bit strange.
Three disciples. Two girls, one boy. This was his standard configuration. It wasn't odd.
But this time, it seemed different. The only boy of the three looked more like a girl than the girls did. At first glance, you'd think he had taken on three female disciples.
Shaking off the thought, Ishiro said to Haku, "Haku, you are now an official ninja. From now on, you can use all of your abilities."
Haku nodded. "Okay, Teacher Ishiro."
He then, in front of his two teammates, began to use Ice Release.
Ishiro watched from the side.
Haku was truly a genius. To the astonished gasps of his teammates, he demonstrated many C-rank Ice Release ninjutsu, and even one B-rank.
Hiss~ Ishiro's face was calm, but he sucked in a cold breath internally.
A B-rank Ice Release jutsu. By the general rule that Kekkei Genkai jutsu are one rank higher, a B-rank Ice Release was comparable in power to an A-rank five-element ninjutsu.
An A-rank jutsu. Ishiro himself had only become a Quasi-Jonin after experiencing Shiden's A-rank wide-area attack up close.
And Haku, a freshly graduated genin, already knew a jutsu of this level! No, he must have known it while he was still in the academy!
It was truly enviable to awaken a Kekkei Genkai so early. Or rather, Kekkei Genkai users were truly enviable in their early stages. In the beginning, they could easily crush their peers.
But in the later stages, the advantage wasn't as great. Kage-level ninja, for example, often had their own ultimate techniques that were no weaker than a Kekkei Genkai. The Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, for instance, allowed him to steadily overpower a Kekkei Genkai user like Pakura.
This made Ishiro feel a bit cheated. He was someone who had no Kekkei Genkai early on, but gained them later. He had perfectly missed the period when a Kekkei Genkai was most helpful to a ninja.
At that moment, Fujii Kaoru suddenly said, "Haku, that's Ice Release, isn't it? Is your Ice Release the same as the Mizunashi clan's Ice Release from Kirigakure?"
Ishiro's eyes narrowed. Here it comes.
Haku shook his head. "I don't know."
He looked at Ishiro, then said to his teammates, "Mama said Teacher Ishiro brought me back from the outside."
The "Mama" Haku referred to was Shiden. Because he had been raised in Kitsuchi's family since he was an infant, Haku used the same titles for the family as Kurotsuchi did. Sōkai and Neji were different; they both had some memory of their own parents, especially Neji, who had a very deep impression of his father, Hizashi Hyuga.
Fujii Kaoru and Kamizuru Tsuruhime both looked at Ishiro, surprised. So Haku and Ishiro had this kind of relationship?
Seeing all three of them looking at him, Ishiro hesitated for a moment, then said, "Haku, you are indeed from the Mizunashi clan of Kirigakure."
"Back when I infiltrated Kirigakure, Orochimaru was also there causing destruction. During the chaos, I stole a child from the Mizunashi clan."
"That child was you. You were just an infant then, only this big."
As he spoke, Ishiro used his hands to show Haku's size at the time.
Haku was astonished. His mouth had been wide open since Ishiro had spoken the first sentence.
Fujii Kaoru and Kamizuru Tsuruhime listened to Ishiro's story, then looked at Haku with worry.
They were afraid that after learning his past, Haku would resent the village. Even if he didn't resent it, a rift between them would be bad.
After spending these few days together, they had grown quite fond of the boy who was even prettier than they were.
Neither of them wanted to lose this teammate, nor did they want any distance to grow between them.
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