Chapter 222: The Woman Who Came Knocking at the Door
The Audi Trading Company, which had only moved in in recent years, was a strange establishment in the eyes of the locals.
It wasn't a large company, but all sorts of people frequented it, from high-ranking officials in luxurious clothes, to intimidating ninja, to the dregs of society and street thugs.
They had never seen a convoy of goods arrive, but people who came here could often be seen leaving satisfied with a cart full of cargo.
What was even stranger was that this very small trading company employed a large number of thugs, wandering samurai, and even rogue-nin.
Its excessive military force completely exceeded the needs of a trading company, to the point where some believed that this company alone had the ability to conquer a city in one fell swoop.
—Of course, Konoha village was an exception.
In short, the locals were all whispering in secret that there was probably something wrong with this trading company. It was just that they were angry but did not dare to speak out—this place was in a remote location. The only road leaving the small town was monitored and blocked by the company. Someone had once tried to escape to report the problem here, and then there had been no news of him, until one day someone found his remains in a wasteland in the wild.
From then on, the townspeople were as silent as cicadas in winter.
Fortunately, the company had not done anything to oppress the local people. Apart from the occasional trouble caused by the unruly rogue-nin passing through, life here was still relatively peaceful. In any case, since they were not oppressed to the point of being unable to live, everyone had no choice but to hold their noses and endure this kind of life.
Even in the peaceful Land of Fire, there would be dark corners where the sun did not shine, especially in such a remote place.
To some extent, the actions of the natives were extremely wise. They did not know that this so-called trading company even had a Jonin-level subordinate.
The defection of a Jonin was an extremely rare event.
After a ninja reached this level, they had already entered the elite class of a village. Their strength and prestige were recognized, enough to look down on more than ninety percent of the other ninja in the same village, and their political status was even higher. In Konoha, for a Hokage to take office, the first hurdle to pass was the vote of confidence from the Jonin. The status of the Jonin was evident from this.
However, the reason for the Jonin Uran's defection was almost child's play.
He had been doing well in the village, but one day he had suddenly come into contact with the "Akatsuki" organization. Under the temptation of the powerful secret techniques offered by the other party, he had been bewitched and had become their downline. Then, he had quickly exposed his tracks—in a routine review, he had been unable to answer the Anbu's review questions, and had injured the questioning Anbu before defecting.
No one could figure out why a promising young Jonin would go and contact a rogue-nin organization outside the village, and even agree to become their downline... Apart from his heart being clouded by lard and his brain being muddled, being deluded by greed, there was no other explanation.
In short, the once-promising Jonin Uran was now the rogue-nin Uran with no future. Without the protection of the village, and having lost his use-value, he had not obtained the so-called secret techniques from the "Akatsuki." He had been wandering around in a daze, and had finally been reduced to hiding in this small corner of a poor countryside, becoming a high-level thug for the so-called "trading company" which was in fact an "underground bounty station." His subordinates were a group of riff-raff, the strongest of whom was barely at the Chunin level. He could easily keep them in check while lying down.
It was just that after these few years of decline, the skills and spirit of the Jonin from back then had been greatly worn down. Even his vigilance had been reduced to an unrecognizable state.
So much so that until someone came knocking at his door, he still hadn't realized what was happening.
It was a gloomy and rainy day. Everyone was cooped up in the house, playing cards, drinking, gambling, and having fun. Uran had just won a round, and as he was laughing and collecting the bills on the table, he suddenly felt the wall outside the house being slammed by a heavy object, making a loud bang that startled everyone.
"What's all the noise! Are you looking for death!" a person who looked like a hooligan stood up and shouted at the door.
BANG! What answered him was an even heavier sound.
A wandering samurai immediately rushed out in a rage. "You're looking for death!"
As he was pulling his samurai sword out of its scabbard, he opened the door, intending to give the person making the noise outside a lesson they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
And then the people in the house heard a third loud bang—BANG!
This was the sound of the samurai with the sword being fiercely slammed to the ground by a heavy black shadow, inside the house.
"It's the thug from the outer house!" Uran looked intently and recognized the identity of the black shadow that had been thrown in. He immediately realized that the trading company was under attack.
Their hands reached for the handles of their weapons in unison. The crowd, some squatting and some standing, all turned their gazes to the door.
At this moment, after a few more consecutive sounds and shouts from outside, there was no more sound. It was clear that the thugs in the outer house had already been dealt with. Facing the crowd's gazes, which were either cold, indifferent, or angry, a figure wearing a conical hat stepped over the threshold and walked in.
Tap, tap.
The heels of the shoes on the ground made a crisp sound. The newcomer's steps were steady and precise, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the floor. Each step was as accurate as if it had been measured with a ruler.
Seemingly unconcerned by the covetous stares of the people in the room, the hatted person stopped directly in the middle of the room, looked up at the leading Uran. The hat covered the newcomer's face, making it impossible to see their details.
Uran jumped up. The faint chakra reaction from the newcomer made him a little uncertain. The other party seemed to be an active-duty ninja!
Could it be that Konoha has already discovered them?
He suppressed the thoughts in his heart, stared intently at the hatted person's figure, and asked in a deep voice, "Who goes there?"
The newcomer seemed to let out a light laugh and reached up to take off the hat that was covering their face—Uran noticed that the person's hands were exquisite and pale, their knuckles even and slender. It was clearly a woman, and her taijutsu was not strong. She should be a ninjutsu-type or genjutsu-type ninja—and then revealed her young face with a hint of childishness, and a pair of green eyes as cold as frost.
It was actually a pink-haired girl who was not very old.
"A Konoha ninja, here by order to arrest you," she said, looking at Uran and answering faintly, her clear and cold voice carrying a hint of sharpness.
Hmph, so they really were discovered by Konoha? Uran was awestruck.
Fortunately, Konoha was arrogant enough to send only such a little girl over...
"Get her!" He no longer wasted any words. With a single command, his subordinates, who had been unable to hold back any longer, drew their weapons and rushed forward.
However, these cannon-fodder-like thugs could only bully ordinary commoners. Against a real ninja, no matter how many there were, it was not enough.
The girl was calm and composed. Her eyes looked indifferently ahead. Faced with the enemy's bright and shiny sharp swords, she did not move, not even blinking an eye.
Only when the crowd had rushed in front of her did she suddenly strike. Her sharp fists and feet turned into a series of afterimages in their eyes.
Her every move was as fast as lightning, tricky and ruthless, far beyond the imagination of these low-level samurai and thugs. Not a single one of the attackers could take a single punch or kick from her!
One punch out, and there was a shrill scream and a figure falling to the ground. One kick out, and a figure was sent flying, hitting the wall with a dull thud.
In less than two seconds, she had cleanly and crisply knocked down the enemies attacking from the left.
The enemies attacking from the right were a different story.
The girl held the conical hat in her right hand. Facing the siege of the crowd, she blocked high and low, effortlessly stopping the attacks from the right side and knocking them back.
Their attacks had been so easily blocked. The thugs were stunned.
They then saw her flick her right wrist. The conical hat spun at high speed, flew up into the air, and turned into a boomerang. Its hard brim crashed against the heads of several attacking thugs, made a circle, and then flew back into the girl's hand.
After a few muffled thuds, the enemies on the girl's right had also all fallen to the ground.
In an instant, the only people still standing in the room, apart from her, were a few more cautious thugs and Uran.
The girl glanced at the thugs who were groaning on the ground, and then turned her indifferent gaze to Uran.
"Not bad taijutsu..."
Uran stared intently at the short figure before him and said coldly.
It had to be said that the other party was not as unskilled in taijutsu as he had imagined. Uran admitted that he had made a misjudgment...
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