Chapter 87: The Two Factions of Kumogakure
"Lord Minato, I am truly sorry. Here is five million ryo. Thank you for your escort!"
Masahiko watched the little old man President leave, bowing and apologizing profusely. Looking at the five million ryo in bills in his hand, Masahiko gave a wry smile.
"As expected, it's not that easy..."
Yesterday evening, after escorting the caravan to the Land of Lightning, the President had arranged for Masahiko to stay at a hot spring inn. He told Masahiko he would come find him the next day. In reality, this was to prevent Masahiko from seeing what the cargo actually was.
Having successfully infiltrated the Land of Lightning, Masahiko wasn't actually interested in the cargo anymore. He had originally thought he would be able to meet Kinkaku and Ginkaku directly, get close to them, and then quietly "deal with" them. Unexpectedly... he was shut out.
Early this morning, the little old man hurried over, apologizing repeatedly. In short, the message was: "Lord Kinkaku and Lord Ginkaku refuse to see you!"
"Based on the strength I displayed, I should be close to S-rank. Yet they still won't see me? Is it because of my identity as a wandering ninja?"
Masahiko paced back and forth in the room. "The caravan returns in two days. Should I try to find them and attack directly? That might be troublesome inside Kumogakure..."
After all, Masahiko didn't yet have the godlike strength of Hashirama or Madara. With Sage Mode and the Eight Inner Gates, he could quickly finish off Kinkaku and Ginkaku, but getting surrounded afterward would be a headache.
After thinking about it for a long time without finding a suitable solution, Masahiko took off his clothes and slumped into the hot spring inside the inn.
It wasn't until noon that Masahiko finally climbed out of the water.
"I've soaked in more hot springs these past few days than in my entire previous life combined..." Masahiko got dressed. "I feel a bit decadent. Life without Hashirama to tease is so boring..."
"Forget it. I'll go walk around Kumogakure. Maybe grab a bite to eat. Who knows, I might find some unexpected gains."
Masahiko walked out of the inn and looked around. The sky was filled with clouds and mist. Most of the pedestrians had dark skin, and the architecture was mostly cylindrical, quite different from Konoha.
"Good thing I had the foresight to transform into a dark-skinned person, otherwise it would be a bit awkward..." Masahiko muttered as he walked into a place that looked like a restaurant.
"What is this stuff? Did I walk into the wrong shop... is this a barbecue place?" Masahiko looked at the menu in his hand, his mouth twitching.
Kumogakure's dietary habits were vastly different from Konoha's. No matter what it was, they liked to deep-fry it and then grill it. Some things were okay, but... deep-fried grilled bananas? How do you even eat that?
After struggling for a long time, Masahiko ordered a grilled fish and a few slices of toasted bread, which seemed relatively normal.
After eating and drinking his fill, he actually gained some unexpected information.
He learned some intelligence—or rather, secrets that weren't really secrets in Kumogakure.
Most ninjas in Kumogakure knew that the village's upper echelon was currently divided into two factions: the Martial Faction (Hawks) and the Conservative Faction (Doves).
The Conservative Faction was a group of ninjas led by the Second Raikage and "B" (whom Masahiko had met before). Even at this point in time, they were unwilling to initiate attacks and wanted to establish alliances with other nations.
The Martial Faction was led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku. They advocated immediate attacks on other nations. Since Hashirama's death, they had been loudly advocating for an invasion of the Land of Fire.
"I didn't expect that..." Masahiko murmured. "It's rare for a rugged man like that to be a conservative. And isn't Kumogakure a militant village?"
"Furthermore, I'm not surprised Kinkaku and Ginkaku are Hawks. However, later on, Tobirama had an alliance ceremony with the Second Raikage, so does that mean the Hawks lost? Is that why those two assassinated the Second Raikage?"
Masahiko gradually sorted out the timeline and suddenly felt that Kinkaku and Ginkaku seemed quite stupid. As the Martial Faction in such a restless and chaotic ninja world, they eventually lost to the Conservatives...
The meal wasn't wasted. Masahiko paid the bill, patted his butt, and walked out of the restaurant.
"If Kinkaku and Ginkaku are this stupid, did I come here for nothing..." Masahiko murmured. "How did such stupid ninjas end up mutually destroying each other with Tobirama? Is Tobirama actually stupid too?"
Since he was already here, Masahiko wasn't in the mood to regret it. He decided to find a way to stay in the Land of Lightning first.
"Eh? That mustached guy's chakra?" While wandering idly, Masahiko had slightly activated his sensory ability. Passing a cylindrical building, he sensed a somewhat familiar chakra.
"This is... a foundry, right?" Masahiko looked left and right, feeling the heat washing over his face, and thought to himself.
"So, they just transported some iron and other metals?" Masahiko murmured. "No, if it were just that, they wouldn't need such secrecy, and 'B' wouldn't have attacked personally. It's probably something rare. I wonder if there's any chakra-conducting metal..."
Masahiko had an idea but didn't act immediately. As long as he found a way to stay in Kumogakure, he felt these things would eventually be his...
"Oh? This is..." Masahiko found another interesting place: "Kumogakure Casino." He grinned mischievously, thinking about scamming the Kumogakure ninjas out of a few hundred million.
Walking inside, he found a farce playing out.
A person who was clearly a civilian had been cheated by several ninjas and was making a noise about it.
The ninjas exchanged glances and dragged him out, one of them saying, "Don't you look at where you are? This casino is run by Lord Kinkaku and Lord Ginkaku! How dare you cause trouble here!"
The civilian whimpered and dared not make another sound.
"Kinkaku and Ginkaku's casino... In that case, I might be able to..."
Meanwhile.
Inside the Raikage Building, a file lay before the Second Raikage.
Name: Namikaze Minato
Alias: Masayi
Age: Unknown (approx. 25)
Strength: Suspected S-Rank, specializes in Lightning Release, wielder of Black Lightning.
Origin: Unknown
History: First appeared in the Land of Hot Water, later disguised as a samurai to join Kinkaku and Ginkaku's caravan. Fought evenly with 'B' outside the Land of Lightning.
"Evenly matched?" The Second Raikage looked up, frowning at B who stood before him. "B, I heard you were held back by those ten children... why does the file say this?"
"I requested it," B replied. "When fighting me, that guy seemed relaxed the whole time. He might have hidden strength. If not for that, even with the ten children there, I wouldn't have let Kinkaku and Ginkaku get their hands on that thing!"
"Kinkaku, Ginkaku..." The Second Raikage sighed. "Actually, manufacturing that thing could improve the village's strength, but if they control it... The Great Ninja War is about to break out, and now a 'Namikaze Minato' has come out of nowhere. Troubled times indeed... Are you sure he wasn't using a transformation regarding his appearance?"
B shook his head. "No transformation."
The Second Raikage nodded. "Have the Anbu watch him first. The caravan can only stay for two days. If he is still in the village by then, well..."
B nodded, and the Raikage Building fell silent.
☆☆☆
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