Chapter 263: Clouds Gather, Winds Rise (Part 4)
"Kid, this is the original clan ground of the Gold and Silver Brothers. Most of the buildings have been demolished, leaving only this ancestral hall."
To thank Nagato for his full support—generously demonstrating Chibaku Tensei multiple times for the Cloud without holding back—the Third Raikage took time out of his busy schedule to answer Nagato's questions. For some reason, no one else accompanied them; just two muscular men, one big and one small.
The Third Raikage led Nagato into a bustling alley market. In this alley, there were no other residential buildings, only a single standalone two-story structure.
Ironically, right next to this supposed ancestral hall of the legendary Gold and Silver Brothers was a bustling Yakiniku (barbecue) restaurant separated by a single wall. The back door of the restaurant faced the main gate of the ancestral hall, where several trash cans emitting indescribable odors were piled up.
On the other side was a massage parlor—a legitimate one, popular among Cloud ninja for relaxing muscles after training.
The clan that once stirred up a storm in Kumogakure was left with only this tiny plot of land.
This was hard for Nagato to accept, as he expected to unravel the earth-shattering secret of his own origins here.
"Raikage-Oissan (Uncle)... I thought it would be a lonely temple standing in some dark, dense forest..."
The Third Raikage laughed. "Even before the expansion, land in the Old Cloud Village was worth its weight in gold. especially after the Gold and Silver Brothers' clan was annihilated, their land was reclaimed by the village long ago. Why would we leave such a prime location abandoned for decades? If this ancestral hall wasn't a bit special, it would have been leveled too."
Nagato watched numbly as the Third Raikage fished out a key and opened the oil-stained lock on the gate, greasy from the barbecue smoke.
"I've heard of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Those should be their names, right? Did they not have a surname?"
The Third Raikage tossed the lock aside with two fingers. "No harm in telling you. The Gold and Silver Brothers' family was an extremely special ninja clan. Few in number but elite. And indeed, they had no surname. They always claimed to be direct descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, but for some reason, they didn't dare use the Sage's surname. So, they always had names but no family name."
"What was the Sage of Six Paths' surname?"
"I don't know either."
Inside was pitch black. Nagato's Rinnegan could see clearly, but the Third Raikage lit a candle anyway.
The ancestral hall wasn't large. After a few steps up, there was a space of about a hundred square meters. In the center stood a half-human-height bronze statue. Whether due to age or poor craftsmanship, one could only vaguely make out a figure with horns on their forehead sitting cross-legged.
However, the murals on the four walls were much clearer.
The protagonist of the murals was a sage with two horns on his head, wearing white robes. It seemed to record relevant legends. In each painting, the Sage of Six Paths was using a different ninja tool—waving a rope, fanning a fan, or holding a gourd.
There were no enemies in these images; perhaps there were none, or maybe the purpose was just to display the magic of these tools.
And in the eye sockets of every image of the Sage...
Were a pair of bizarre purple eyes.
"Kid, weren't you curious how I recognized your eyes? It came from here. The Gold and Silver Brothers' family probably really was of the Sage's bloodline. They grew horns on their heads, and their chakra characteristics were different from ordinary people. The items in these paintings really exist too, but I can't show them to you."
Nagato took off his sunglasses, revealing eyes identical to those in the mural.
Finally, one mystery was solved. He knew what the eyes in his sockets were. But it seemed he had gained even more questions.
The Third Raikage glanced sideways at Nagato. It was hard not to notice those eyes.
"Kid, stay in Kumogakure."
Nagato rolled his eyes. "Raikage-Oissan, that direct?"
"Just that direct."
"Then I refuse."
"That direct?"
"Yes, just that direct."
"Alright then."
"If you say 'that direct?' one more time, I'll punch you."
The winds of the ninja world were changing. Half a month had passed since the Cloud's sudden massive mobilization, where the Heavenly Transfer Technique lit up half the sky.
Spies from every village were probing cautiously. Suspicion had been high that Yotsuki Dana, the next generation leader of the Cloud, had encountered danger, prompting the grand rescue. The fact that Dana hadn't been heard from in half a month made this suspicion increasingly credible to the other villages.
Moreover, the villages fell into mutual suspicion. They instinctively felt only a Great Ninja Village had the capability and motive to do this, suspecting their rivals were responsible.
Iwa, Suna, and Konoha exchanged envoys, subtly inquiring about the matter, but everyone was clueless.
Regarding Dana's coma, although there was a strict gag order in the village, sometimes news passed through walls. With so many forces investigating, major ninja villages even posted bounties in the underground exchange for any eyewitnesses of the battle that day.
They even offered bounties for evidence of Dana appearing in public—even just eating breakfast would count.
Because of this, more and more Cloud ninja realized that Dana-sama really hadn't shown his face in a long time.
While the Cloud Village was slightly unsettled, changes were also occurring in the Land of Lightning's Capital.
The Lands of Wind, Earth, and Fire, along with some small southern countries that had nothing to do with the Land of Lightning, simultaneously dispatched their own princes, accompanied by servants and ninja guards. They traveled openly and high-profiledly to the Land of Lightning's capital.
The excuse was to celebrate the birthday of the Thunder Daimyo.
Princes from the Land of Birds, Land of Rivers... many people in the Land of Lightning hadn't even heard of these places.
Great Nations brought ninja from Great Villages; small nations brought mercenary ninja. Servants varied in number, plus porters carrying gifts and treasures. All together, there were hundreds of people.
This abnormal behavior naturally attracted the Cloud's attention, and they vaguely guessed what these people were up to.
Upon entering the Land of Lightning's capital, these ten princes unanimously chose to high-profiledly refuse any registration or inspection. Ignoring the reality that the capital was under high-pressure control by the Cloud, they played the "I am a noble, I am from a Daimyo's court, I only follow the Daimyo's rules" card.
And the Daimyo's rule was: Ninja cannot inspect us.
The most arrogant was the Prince of the Land of Wind, who directly ordered his Suna guards to force their way into the capital.
Of course, the Suna guards didn't actually attack in the end, but it resulted in a standoff for half a day, ending very unpleasantly.
Princes from various countries, flying the flags of their respective Daimyos, came to celebrate Raihara Yukihiro's birthday. But Yukihiro was effectively under house arrest.
By now, how could the Cloud's high command not understand the calculations of the other Daimyo courts?
They were trying to express dissatisfaction with the Cloud's house arrest of the Daimyo in a way that was reasonable and hard to criticize.
These ten princes went out with entourages and cleared the streets of commoners wherever they went. If the Cloud obstructed them in any way, they protested and threw tantrums, following the behavioral rules of nobility.
Was it illegal? Not really.
But these people caused trouble everywhere in the capital every day.
Even the nobles of the Land of Lightning's capital were annoyed by these guys. They also guessed what these foreign nobles wanted to do.
The Cloud Village finally subdued that crazy Daimyo, and we haven't even celebrated surviving yet. Now a bunch of idiots come trying to help that lunatic get free?
But reality was just that absurd. These princes might know exactly what kind of trash Raihara Yukihiro was.
But for their own interests or missions, they were racking their brains to support him.
Yukihiro himself didn't know where all these supporters came from.
At this point, whether Yukihiro was crazy didn't matter. Even if he was just an actor, it would be fine.
Thus, a bizarre scene emerged: a guy who made his own countrymen miserable was vigorously supported by foreigners.
"We princes from various countries came to celebrate the Daimyo's birthday. Staying in Asuka Castle is normal, right? What right does the Cloud have to stop us? Asuka Castle is the Daimyo's private property! I protest!"
"We traveled a thousand miles, yet the Daimyo won't see us? What is the Cloud trying to do? Are you keeping the Daimyo under house arrest? I protest!"
"According to custom, the Daimyo's birthday naturally requires a grand banquet. Is the Cloud interfering, preventing the banquet from starting?"
"Why are Cloud ninja following me? Have you forgotten the rule that Daimyo convoys are not subject to inspection or surveillance?"
Meanwhile, the Third Raikage also received letters from the Daimyos of various countries.
The letters almost all questioned why their princes were restricted everywhere in the Cloud's territory and why they heard the Cloud had sealed off Asuka Castle and placed the Thunder Daimyo under house arrest.
The letters from the Great Nations were stricter; the letters from small nations were politer.
Interestingly, other small countries within the Cloud's sphere of influence, like the Land of Hot Water and Land of Rice Fields, didn't wade into this muddy water. Not a peep from them.
Already irritable, the Third Raikage tore the letters to shreds.
"These idiots... The Land of Lightning was almost destroyed by Raihara Yukihiro. After Dana put that madman under house arrest, the country finally started to recover. These fools only care about re-establishing noble authority."
"They don't care about the lives of ordinary people below. They only feel the Cloud threatens the Daimyo's status and the Ninja Village-Daimyo system, so they collude to be disgusting. Raikage-sama, should we kick them all out?"
The Third Raikage sighed helplessly. "If we could kick them out, I wouldn't have let them in. This is just the first probe from the various Daimyo courts—a soft nail. If you kick them out today, they won't give up; they'll just switch to more drastic methods. On this matter, all Daimyo courts naturally stand together."
The Raikage's secretary didn't know how to respond.
In the end, the implicit condemnation from half the ninja world, while not involving a single soldier, was still pressure on the Cloud.
"Ultimately, it's because Raihara Yukihiro is too stupid. I don't know how Asuka Castle selected such an idiot back then... I remember Dana... I mean, before going to the capital, he mentioned that among the previous Daimyo's children, two or three were still alive, right?"
Even in the Raikage's office, the secretary lowered his voice instinctively. "Yes, sir. During the previous upheavals, many of the late Daimyo's children died. Now only two remain..."
"Truly..."
After pondering for a long time, the Third Raikage didn't know what to say.
Over the years, the Third Raikage's attitude toward the Daimyo's court had changed, but in the end, he still had scruples. Some thoughts remained unspoken.
The secretary opened his mouth, but they looked at each other in silence.
Suddenly, the Third Raikage slapped the table. "If that brat Dana were here, he'd definitely laugh at us for daring to think but not daring to say. He loves doing this kind of thing the most."
The secretary smiled bitterly. "Dana-sama would indeed laugh. He would definitely dare to think, dare to say... and dare to do."
"This year was supposed to be Dana's wedding... yet so many things happened... And Dana is still..."
Thinking of his wife secretly wiping away tears every day, the Third Raikage said irritably, "If they want a banquet, let them have it. But we must control every entrance and exit of the capital. They can't stay there forever."
A banquet where everyone harbored ulterior motives began in Asuka Castle.
Raihara Yukihiro ended his half-month of house arrest and met a group of supporters he didn't know at all to celebrate his birthday.
The princes brought a large number of ninja into the banquet hall, but only the banquet hall.
The Cloud also watched this so-called banquet closely. Numerous Cloud ninja were stationed all over Asuka Castle, watching coldly from the sidelines.
Their numbers were no less than the guards of the various princes, seemingly forming a deliberate suppression.
Raihara Yukihiro was quite a character. After living in fear for so long, suddenly throwing a baffling banquet, he was actually like a fish in water.
After three rounds of drinks, he started putting his arms around the princes' shoulders like old buddies.
Whether the princes looked down on him internally was unknown, but on the surface, it was lively. The entire banquet hall was filled with an atmosphere of revelry.
Minato Namikaze leaned against a window, toying with a special kunai, observing these debauched nobles, lost in thought.
On the roof opposite the window, a Cloud ninja openly monitored the banquet hall—and Minato.
"Konoha's Yellow Flash? Didn't expect you to be on guard duty."
Minato didn't turn his head. "Ninja execute missions without asking reasons."
"Hope you don't do anything stupid, like these nobles."
Minato ignored the childish provocation, continuing to play with the kunai that was longer than normal.
The Cloud ninja was about to say more when his expression suddenly changed, as if receiving a signal.
Immediately, one-third of the Cloud ninja surrounding Asuka Castle withdrew, heading toward a specific location in the city.
Minato looked in that direction and saw flashes of fire. It seemed a fire had broken out.
Being on someone else's turf, Minato didn't move.
The next day, speaking with Prince Shohei, he learned the truth.
Two residences in the capital had caught fire. The two remaining children of the previous Daimyo—the only heirs besides the current one—had burned to death.
"Yoshitoki-Oissan, that big sister Miroku tried so hard to make you stay. Why didn't you?"
Kira, who was a shade darker and a size rounder, clasped his hands behind his head, his teasing tone obvious to anyone.
Yoshitoki rubbed his nose. "Although it looks like only a twenty-year difference, in reality, we are seventy years apart... How could I delay her life? Coincidentally, we received notice that Dana is in some trouble. Let's return to the village early."
Mamoru Anzai chimed in, "Ultimately, it's because Sensei is too charming. Even without hair, you're still in high demand."
Yoshitoki sighed helplessly. "Let's travel faster. I hope Dana is okay."