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The next day, just when everyone thought a big fight was about to break out, the deal between the Takigakure ninja and the merchants actually went down surprisingly smoothly.
During the transaction, the Taki-nin quickly checked the quality and quantity of the military ration pills, and then bought the whole batch at three times the market price they had agreed on beforehand. Black market prices were already high to begin with—especially during tense times like these. Without any fuss, the Taki-nin paid up, took the goods, and left in a hurry.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If a fight really had broken out during the trade, Danzo's squad wouldn't have stood much of a chance. Seeing the deal go through, Danzo quickly led the merchants and his team away from the meeting point and back to the inn where they were staying in the Takigakure village.
Inside the room, Danzo looked around at everyone and said, "I miscalculated this time. While they're still buying up military supplies, the Taki-nin won't try anything shady like robbing or scamming merchants outright. If they did, no one would ever want to trade with them again. But now that the deal's done and we're getting ready to leave the village, we've got no protection. We're fair game to them now. That money from selling those pills is enough to drive people insane. There's no way the Taki-nin are gonna just let it go."
Then he turned to Uchiha Kagami and said, "Kagami, go scout the road we came in on. See if there's anything suspicious. Stay in touch at all times."
Kagami nodded and left.
"Torifu," Danzo continued, "you guard those two merchants. Autumn and I will back you or Kagami up whenever necessary. The two of us will also take care of any Taki-nin who try to follow us. They probably won't know which way we're going, so their best move is to tail us after we leave the village and ambush us in the forest."With that, the team set off on their escape plan.
As the waterfall in the distance slowly came into view, Autumn turned to Danzo and said, "Captain, aren't we being a little too cautious? I mean, will the Taki-nin really attack us over some money?"
Danzo shot him a look and said, "You're from the Uchiha clan. Born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Of course you wouldn't understand what this money means to the Land of Waterfalls. A meal in that village costs no more than 500 ryo. A normal family of three only spends between 10,000 to 20,000 a month. One military ration pill usually sells for 1,000 ryo. And we just sold 7,000 of them—for three times that price. That's 21 million ryo. From what I've heard, that's close to the entire country's tax income over the past two months."
He continued, "Right now, every country is stockpiling military supplies. Ration pills are crucial on the battlefield—they can turn the tide of war. That's why everyone wants them. No one else has ever sold this many pills at once to merchants from the Land of Waterfalls. Now do you see why this is a big deal?"
Autumn nodded, then asked, "If ration pills are that important, then why would Lord Second let them be sold to Takigakure? Isn't that basically helping the enemy?"
Danzo explained, "The Land of Fire has the largest territory in the world—and the most resources. In our village, ration pills aren't considered essential gear for the ninja army. Konoha doesn't even encourage using them. Sure, they let you quickly recover chakra, but they've got a lot of nasty side effects too. It's complicated, but trust me—Konoha discourages their use. The fact that they're super expensive outside the Land of Fire is actually part of Konoha's strategy to hurt the enemy economically."
Danzo was about to say more when suddenly a water dragon shot out from his left. He dodged it with a substitution jutsu just in time. Autumn looked toward where the dragon had come from and spotted several Takigakure ninja standing atop some trees. One of them sneered, "Ran into an Uchiha scouting up ahead, and now we find you bringing up the rear. You're from Konoha, aren't you? Bold move, screwing us over at a time like this. You won't live to see next year."
Danzo glared at them. "You think you can kill us? That's not a sure thing."
He vanished mid-sentence and unleashed a jutsu—Wind Style: Gale Palm!Two sharp gusts of wind shot out of his hands like blades, slicing toward the enemy. As he led the Jonin away, he shouted to Autumn, "Make it quick! If you can't beat them, fall back! Don't get caught up—we'll be outnumbered fast!"
"Got it!" Autumn yelled.The Taki-nin split up, sending part of their group toward Autumn. Of the eight who came, one was likely a Jonin leading three Chunin. That group went after Danzo. The other four—one Chunin and three Genin—targeted Autumn.
Facing them head-on wasn't an option. Autumn thought, No way I can win against all four at once. I need to take them out one by one. That's my best shot.He activated his two-tomoe Sharingan and created three shadow clones. One clone threw out Manipulated Shuriken Technique, another launched Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu to get their attention, while the real Autumn dashed behind a tree and released Fire Style: Headshot Flame Jutsu, setting the trees around them ablaze. The smoke blinded the enemy.
One of the Taki Chunin chased a clone, stabbing it with a kunai, but the clone dodged and ran in the opposite direction. The Chunin gave chase. The remaining Genin took down the other two clones. Autumn closed in on one Genin and slashed with a short sword. The Genin blocked with a kunai and hurled some shuriken with his free hand. Autumn dodged, but another Genin appeared behind him and used Water Style: Syrup Capture Field to trap him. Autumn had to use body flicker to escape.
Perched on a tree, he saw the three Genin forming a triangular defense formation and thought, If I don't take them out before the Chunin realizes he was chasing a clone, I'll lose my chance.He attacked with Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, trying to split them up. One Genin countered with Water Style: Wild Water Wave, putting out the fireball and covering the area in thick steam. Autumn suddenly leapt out from the mist, stabbing the water-style user. That ninja tried to grab him, but Autumn's clone took the hit instead and disappeared in smoke.
Using that moment of confusion, Autumn flashed in, stabbed one Genin through the heart, then immediately launched at another who was still forming hand signs. That Genin tried to trade blows—he blocked the blade with a kunai and stabbed at Autumn. But Autumn's Sharingan whirled—he cast Narakumi Genjutsu, throwing the enemy into a nightmare. In that instant, Autumn grabbed the Genin's kunai and plunged it into his heart.
Just then, the third Genin appeared and stabbed Autumn in the chest with a kunai. Autumn caught the blade with his right hand—it pierced through, but he powered through the pain, yanked the Genin toward him, pulled out the kunai from the second Genin's heart, and stabbed it straight into the attacker's head.
In under a minute, Autumn had killed all three Genin.Sensing that the Chunin had just taken out his clone, Autumn quickly stopped the bleeding, scattered explosive tags around, climbed up a tree, and made another clone to lie in the middle of the trap, pretending to be unconscious.
The Chunin soon arrived, saw the bodies, and raged. He dashed straight at the "unconscious" Autumn. The clone jumped up and hurled shuriken. The Chunin deflected them and lunged with a kunai, just as Autumn detonated all the tags from above. Watching with his Sharingan, he saw the Chunin survive by using Water Style: Water Formation Wall—but before he could recover, Autumn unleashed Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu. A massive fire dragon shot from his mouth and slammed into the Chunin, who was still mid-air from the blast and couldn't react in time. The fire swallowed him whole.
Gasping for air, Autumn made sure the Chunin was dead, then ran toward Danzo's position.
Danzo specialized in Wind Style, so Water Style wasn't especially dangerous to him—but he was still outnumbered and on the defensive. When the enemy Jonin used Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave, Danzo dodged again with substitution, then countered with Wind Style: Pressure Damage, aiming to blow them away with a high-pressure wind ball. The Jonin dodged, but the blast snapped a thick tree clean in half behind him.
The Jonin sneered, "Hand over the money, and I'll let you die with some dignity."
Danzo chuckled coldly, "You really think that money's still on us? It was already smuggled into the Land of Fire by our ninja. You'll never get your hands on it—might as well give up."
That infuriated the Jonin. "Then you're dead!"He and the three Chunin all attacked at once: Water Style: Mouth of Evil, Turbulent Steam Wave, Water Corridor, Exploding Water Shockwave—four techniques rained down at once. With nowhere to dodge, Danzo had no choice but to use Wind Style: Tornado Hurricane to block. But wind isn't good for defense, and he was overwhelmed—slammed into the ground, injured.
Just as the Jonin stepped forward to finish him off, a voice yelled from behind—Partial Expansion Jutsu!A massive hand smashed into him. The Jonin couldn't dodge in time and was knocked out cold. Meanwhile, two of the Chunin were also ambushed—Kagami used body flicker to stab one through the heart, and Autumn showed up just in time to torch another with Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.
The last Chunin, seeing his whole squad wiped out in seconds, turned and fled.
Torifu was about to give chase when Danzo—being supported by Kagami—shouted, "Don't go after him! They already know we're from Konoha. We have to get out of here, now!"
Torifu nodded, then killed the unconscious Jonin and helped the exhausted Autumn up. The four of them vanished into the trees.
"....."