However, among these two, Sōsetsu Kazahana is a Daimyo of a country, and Dotō Kazahana is also royalty, and a rather ambitious one who won't stay put.
To recruit these two to be research laborers, some clever tactics would be needed.
Qingshui didn't hide his gaze, which quickly attracted Dotō Kazahana's attention.
"Who is that...?"
"That's Lord Qingshui, and beside him is Jonin Pakura. Prince Dotō, the river you just saw was planned by Lord Qingshui himself and dug by his people. The Chakra Energy Vehicle was also invented by him and Sasori together."
A Sand Hidden Chunin from the escort team smiled and said to Dotō Kazahana.
"Sounds like a very impressive person."
"He certainly is. He's openly recognized in the village as a grandmaster of Puppetry, on par with Monzaemon, the founder of the Puppet Master art, and he's the strongest candidate with the best chance of becoming the next Kazekage!"
Another Sand Hidden Chunin said with pride.
Qingshui currently enjoys a considerable reputation within the Sand Village, and among Puppet Masters, there are even signs that he's surpassing Chiyo.
After all, Puppet Masters already consider him a pioneering grandmaster of Puppetry.
"Ahem, Chunin Kawakui, as you know, I'm just a nobleman from a small place, with limited experience. Could you tell me just how powerful this Lord Qingshui truly is?"
Dotō Kazahana put his arm around Chunin Kawakui's shoulder, feigning humility.
His ambition was great, so as soon as he left the Land of Snow, he was eager to learn about the outside world.
In his opinion, Qingshui was an excellent entry point.
Although he didn't look very old, if he was considered the strongest candidate for Kazekage, he should represent the top-tier combat power of the Five Great Nations, right?
The conversation on Qingshui's side was also still ongoing.
"Iwahiru? An S-rank rogue ninja from the Stone Village?"
Qingshui looked strangely at a scroll Sasori was carrying.
The corpse of that S-rank rogue ninja was sealed inside the scroll by Sasori.
"Yes, an elder from the Stone Hidden who failed in a political struggle with Onoki. He was very strong, I was no match for him, but luckily Sasori's new Puppet, Silver Ox, is powerful. It used Steel Release to block him, which gave us a chance to poison him to death."
Jianye said to Qingshui, looking still a bit shaken.
Qingshui took out a thick little booklet from his pocket and flipped to a page.
Name: Iwahiru; Former elder of Stone Hidden, now S-rank rogue ninja, Bounty: 30 million Ryo.
Below it was a picture of the old man's face.
This was, after all, a real world; everyone was a living, utterly real person.
Just like Pakura, Qingshui thought she looked even better than in the anime.
And the photo of Iwahiru, the old man, looked somewhat familiar at first glance, but it was hard to remember who he was.
But now, linking him to Sasori, Qingshui knew who this person was.
In the original timeline, this person probably also died at Sasori's hands and eventually became Hiruko.
Legend has it that Master Sasori usually hid inside Hiruko and pedaled a trishaw to activate this Puppet.
To be made into Sasori's main combat Puppet in the future, after his Puppetry reached mastery, it was foreseeable that his strength in life was definitely not weak.
A bounty of 30 million Ryo, in the original work, was only slightly lower than Asuma's and on par with Chiriku, the head priest of the Fire Temple.
Considering that the current timeline is still more than twenty years away from Chiriku's death in the original timeline, and accounting for inflation, the evaluation might even be slightly higher.
The fact that he could become an elder of the Stone Village, hold a high position, escape alive from the Stone Hidden controlled by Onoki, and even survive for several years under Stone Hidden's pursuit.
This S-rank rogue ninja's strength in life was at least that of an Elite Jonin, and his basic physical abilities were definitely not poor.
And Qingshui was very clear about Jianye's level of strength.
Two years ago, Jianye had already become a Jonin. After two years, his strength had improved, but it was ultimately limited.
He wasn't much worse than some capable veteran Jonin, but to be called an elite among Jonin, he probably needed another three to five years of training.
As for Sasori...
If he were just an ordinary newly promoted Jonin, it would have been quite good for the two of them to lead their group to escape Iwahiru unscathed. The fact that they achieved such a result this time was most likely due to Silver Ox, which had already been made into a Human Puppet.
Steel Release is a good Kekkei Genkai. Although Silver Ox died after fewer than ten moves under Qingshui, it was still an Elite Jonin. After being made into a Human Puppet, it could retain seventy percent of its strength from when it was alive. With Sasori and Jianye, and proper tactical planning, they did have a chance.
"Although he didn't have a Kekkei Genkai, Iwahiru's strength was still very powerful, making him an excellent Human Puppet material. But he was also a former elder of the Stone Village, and he might have some important intelligence in his mind. So, after Sasori and I simply treated Iwahiru's body with some potions, we sealed him and quickly transported him back."
Qingshui nodded slightly.
"In that case, Jianye, you take the people from the Land of Snow to see the Third Generation. I'll handle Iwahiru's body."
The Shallow Brain Manipulation technique was previously only known by Chiyo. Now that Qingshui's subtle perception, Chakra control, and Sealing Jutsu skills had improved, he could also perform this Ninjutsu, and its effect might not be worse than Chiyo's.
Qingshui then leaned in and whispered a few words to Jianye about Dotō Kazahana, before heading to the Intelligence Department with Sasori and Pakura.
"Stone Hidden S-rank rogue ninja, Iwahiru..."
In the secret room, Ebizo stood with his hands behind his back, looking with Sasori and Pakura at a fresh corpse lying on a bed in the glass enclosure.
The corpse had multiple puncture wounds, and a large area around the heart was suffused with an ominous purple, indicating severe poisoning.
Chiyo and Ebizo, a brother and sister, are the elders with the most power in the Sand Village, second only to the Third Kazekage, and both hold multiple positions.
Chiyo is the head of the Puppet Force, and also oversees the Sealing Squad and the Medical Squad. Ebizo is the head of the Anbu, and also the head of the Intelligence Department, responsible for intelligence gathering, espionage, counter-espionage, and certain darker matters that cannot be openly discussed.
For the past few decades, he has also been the Third Kazekage's most trusted strategist.
However, the person best at extracting information in the Sand Village is currently not in the Intelligence Department.
The Shallow Brain Manipulation technique, aside from being exceedingly difficult, is almost on par with the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Reading technique in terms of actual performance. In cases involving truly tricky enemies whose minds are sealed or who are already dead, Chiyo used to be the one to step in.
Now, Qingshui needs to be added to that list.
Sealing Jutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, Puppetry, Wind Release, and others.
Most of what Chiyo knows, Qingshui also knows.
Since last year, Chiyo has intentionally assigned some of her responsibilities to Qingshui, aiming to cultivate his ability to handle affairs.
Including the Puppet Force and the Medical Squad, Qingshui can almost be considered a semi-responsible party.
Fortunately, the Avatars in the other worlds all have their own factions and industries, and their scale is quite substantial. Although they largely rely on AI for management now, Qingshui's own management experience is not insignificant.
After someone provides a basic introduction to the situation, Qingshui can quickly get started and handle every task.
Of course, Chiyo still handles most of the affairs.
In Chiyo's opinion, Qingshui is still in the golden age for a ninja's power growth. Although he is already very strong, he still has the opportunity to advance further, and sufficient time must be allocated for Qingshui's training.
Naturally, Chiyo and Ebizo would also, from time to time, have Qingshui make appearances in important departments like the Intelligence Department and the Medical Squad, to establish his presence and interact with the ninjas in those departments, building his reputation.
...
Inside the private room, Qingshui, fully dressed, took out several long needles from a box beside him that appeared even finer than hair. Without looking closely with the naked eye, they could easily be overlooked even from a slight distance.
These needles, accompanying Qingshui's slow and deliberate movements, were inserted little by little into Iwahiru's head.
These needles were all made of Chakra metal, so slender that they felt weightless in hand, weighing less than a gram each.
Qingshui had melted down the ones Chiyo used in the past and, using more advanced Puppet instruments and his own perception, reforged them to be much finer than before.
Yin Release Chakra rapidly diffused into Iwahiru's brain along the needles, intricately deciphering the seals placed within and permeating every cell.
Prefrontal cortex, diencephalon, amygdala, hippocampus...
The residual mental fluctuations synchronized with the Yin Release Chakra, rapidly reading the neural signals in the neural network.
Every memory-related area was meticulously searched by Qingshui.
"Iwahiru, year 37 of the Stone Hidden Village, eastern border of Mining Cloud City, specific defenses are as follows..."
"Four secret bases located in the Land of Grass..."
"Stone Hidden's pre-planned wartime transport and supply routes..."
Qingshui rapidly spoke sentence after sentence. Several prepared Intelligence Department ninjas on the opposite side quickly recorded the information with paper and pens.
"Stone Hidden's fourth combat plan against Sand Hidden and Rain Hidden is... known list of external spies..."
"The deceased still had secret channels within Stone Hidden before his death, possessing leverage over the following mid-to-high-level individuals..."
"Land of Iron... Land of Snow..."
Qingshui stood there, speaking for over two hours, before he had nearly finished relaying the relatively high-value intelligence.
No matter what, for a person who has died, a portion of the memories in their mind will be lost, and even the order of memories may be jumbled.
Even if the corpse is preserved in the best possible way after death, these things are unavoidable.
However, the more important the information, the deeper the memory will be in the brain, which is why Qingshui was able to recount all the important intelligence within two hours.
Otherwise, the memories in an old man's mind would be massive; there's no way he could have finished so quickly. It would have meant reviewing decades of memories all at once, which Qingshui simply couldn't have gotten through.
Iwahiru's memories were ultimately stopped by Qingshui when he reached the point where Iwahiru encountered Sasori and Jianye in the Land of Snow.
There was no need to read any further.
Qingshui's hands left the Chakra metal needles. He shook them out, then rubbed his head, which felt a bit swollen.
On the other side, the Intelligence Department ninjas seated at the table also stopped writing.
At their feet, several thick stacks of record papers had accumulated.
Sasori walked in naturally and collected Iwahiru's body back into a Sealing Scroll.
Turning this guy into a Human Puppet, his quality wouldn't be much worse than Silver Ox, which would be enough for him for a long time. Even if he grew to Kage-level in the future, these two Puppets could still be excellent combat forces in his hands.
"After these intel reports are reorganized, I will filter and submit them to the Kazekage, then they will be categorized and archived."
Ebizo, with his hands behind his back, instructed the Intelligence ninjas who had been writing for over two hours.
"Yes!"
However, Qingshui stood motionless, recalling a portion of the memories he had just seen from Iwahiru.
"Qingshui, is there any other intelligence you need to convey? If it's inconvenient, we can have those of lower rank step out first."
Ebizo looked at Qingshui's thoughtful expression and spoke.
"There is one more piece of intelligence, but it's not inconvenient at all."
Qingshui shook his head.
"This is information that secretly leaked from the underground bounty network, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. It's also why Iwahiru was drawn to the Land of Snow."
"Oh?" Ebizo glanced sideways.
"With the village's intelligence capabilities, we should receive this information in a few more days. Iwahiru just passed through the Land of Snow; his true destination is the Land of Iron. There are rumors that the legendary Kusanagi Sword has appeared there, and possibly more than one."
"The Kusanagi Sword, huh..." Ebizo twitched his long eyebrow, knowing that Qingshui wanted a Kusanagi Sword.
Before Qingshui introduced Breathing Style and restructured Sand Village's Swordplay system, Sand Village wasn't known for its Swordplay. While they had many well-crafted ninja tools, aside from the Three-Star Fan, which the First Kazekage had spent a fortune and great effort to create, none of their other ninja tools were considered top-tier.
Now, with the chance to acquire more than one Kusanagi Sword, it was impossible for Qingshui, a top-tier swordsman in the Ninja World, not to be tempted.
The Kusanagi Sword is rarely seen in the Ninja World; its exact number is unknown, but it can definitely be counted on one hand. It has occasionally appeared over the past thousand years, possessing Chakra conductivity no less than weapons made from pure Chakra metal.
Legend says it's a divine weapon that existed even before the Sage of Six Paths' era, almost indestructible.
At least, there's no record of a Kusanagi Sword ever being damaged in the Ninja World's history.
The value of each Kusanagi Sword is immeasurable, subtly surpassing the Seven Ninja Swords of Mist Hidden, Konoha's White Fang Short Sword, and the Sword of the Thunder God.
"The Intelligence Department has indeed noticed a group of people from the underworld gathering towards the Land of Iron recently. We've already sent people to investigate, but since the Land of Iron is quite far from us, the intelligence hasn't come back yet," Ebizo said.
"Sasori, how long did it take you to return?" Qingshui turned to Sasori and asked.
"Even with the sealing jutsu applied, we started traveling at full speed immediately after the mission to ensure as much information as possible from his brain was preserved. It's been five and a half days since then."
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