Chapter 152: Escape
Danzo stared at Hiruzen. Half a minute later, he spoke.
"Hiruzen, only senior figures in the village can serve as negotiators; experience is crucial. What do you mean by sending someone barely in his teens to represent Konoha in negotiations?"
Hiruzen replied with a smile.
"Our current negotiators are either too soft or too harsh. While we usually find a middle ground, we often end up at a disadvantage."
Danzo sneered, accusing him.
"It's your fault for being too soft. Don't blame the rest of us."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"And your methods are too harsh; if we followed your approach, we would constantly be at war. Of course, I wouldn't send an inexperienced person to handle our final negotiations."
"He'd be one of the first-round negotiators. His job is to irritate the other party just enough to keep the negotiations going, giving us an advantage in subsequent talks."
Hiruzen's words and confidence greatly surprised Danzo. He wondered, "What exactly does Hiruzen see in that boy?"
Hiruzen looked at Danzo, thinking to himself, "On second thought, sending Kaito to Root would also be entertaining. Danzo always makes promises when recruiting. If Kaito really joined Root, I wonder how often he would pester Danzo for new jutsu."
Danzo was about to say something when Hiruzen interrupted him.
"Say no more; he's no longer up for discussion. His talent would be wasted in Root."
Seeing Hiruzen's stubborn attitude, Danzo nodded and left. If Kaito had known about this conversation, he would surely have sighed in relief and said, "Phew! That was close, I barely dodged that bullet!"
That being said, even if Hiruzen hadn't refused, Kaito wouldn't have joined Root.
Although Danzo led Root and was influential, he couldn't force anyone to join.
He would use patriotism, offer rewards, threaten loved ones, or manipulate people to recruit existing ninja into Root. However, none of these four strategies would work on Kaito.
As he left, Danzo thought, "Things didn't go as expected. I didn't think Hiruzen would be so stubborn about an orphan. It doesn't matter. I was only interested in him because of his potential in Wind Release. There's no need to waste any more energy on him."
Danzo left and stopped thinking about Kaito. Years later, he would hear of Kaito's achievements on the battlefield.
In a future battle, Kaito's reputation would spread rapidly throughout the shinobi world. That battle would make Danzo regret not trying harder to recruit him.
And his greatest regret would be dying at the hands of this orphan he had thought so little of!
Team Renjiro ran at full speed for about seven hours. The border of the Land of Hot Water was very close to their previous location.
Although Yugakure was far away, the town they were heading to was in the southern part of the Land of Hot Water. Therefore, it was closer to them.
After seven hours, they entered Niigata Town. Upon entering, Kaito said, "We entered another country and then their second-largest town, yet we didn't encounter a single ninja! Do they not have ninja, or are they too lazy to patrol?"
Renjiro chuckled and replied, "Only the Five Great Shinobi Villages maintain frequent patrols. Even among the Five Great Villages, the Hidden Mist and Hidden Sand don't patrol regularly due to their harsh terrain. In smaller villages, only important figures have good protection. If ordinary people encounter danger, they post missions to villages like ours."
Kaito thought for a moment, then said with a troubled expression, "I understand. But in that case, the lives of common people here are very fragile; they have no protection. Any rogue ninja could attack them and escape. If he hides well, they might not even get justice."
Renjiro looked at Kaito for a few seconds. He sighed and replied, "Unfortunately, this is the world we live in, and there's nothing we can do about it."
Kaito had a worried look and didn't reply. Renjiro thought to himself, "Although Kaito is ambitious, he has a kind heart."
Meanwhile, Kaito thought to himself, "I don't think I can learn any more jutsu from Renjiro. But maintaining a good image will still be beneficial. This might help if I need something from Tsunade in the future. After all, we're both Senju."
Mieko and Hodaka watched Kaito and Renjiro. They also began to ponder the difficult situation of smaller villages.
They started walking toward the town center. Renjiro said, "Well, there's no need to be discouraged. While there isn't much protection, major towns do have garrisons. Perhaps, in the future, every town will have a garrison, which would provide them with better protection."
Kaito nodded and said, "Yeah, that might be a good start."
They arrived at the town center. A mansion stood there.
Upon seeing them, a guard immediately invited them in, while his partner ran inside to inform someone.
The guard said, "Welcome, Lord Takeshita is already waiting for you."
Renjiro nodded and followed him into the mansion.
As soon as they entered, a tall man appeared before them! He was over 2.2 meters tall and very heavyset.
Seeing him, the same thought flashed through the minds of Kaito, Mieko, and Hodaka: "Did someone from the Akimichi Clan move here? Even by Akimichi standards, he's enormous!"
Behind him stood four other people.
Takeshita smiled. "Senju Renjiro, I've heard a lot about you."
Renjiro replied with a smile, "Takeshita-san, I've heard about you too."
Takeshita said, "We had hoped you would arrive sooner."
Renjiro replied, "We encountered some complications along the way, which caused the delay."
Takeshita nodded and looked at the kids behind Renjiro. He frowned, thinking, "This mission didn't mention any strict deadlines, so I can't press him further. But this mission focuses on the strength of the ninja. Renjiro is strong, but why bring children?"
Renjiro looked at him, understanding his thoughts. But he didn't comment. There was no need to explain the strength of the ninja undertaking the mission; completing the mission was what mattered most.
Takeshita knew Renjiro understood his concern. But since he offered no explanation, he didn't dwell on it, thinking, "My own squad should be enough to eliminate those rogue ninja. Unfortunately, the Daimyo was worried about our losses, so he issued a mission to Konoha. If they're too weak, they'll die."
Renjiro asked, "What are the details on those rogue ninja? And where are they now?"
Takeshita looked at his subordinate. One of them stepped forward and said, "So far, we've discovered thirteen rogue ninja. We estimate there are two more, and they're all ninja from the Land of Water. Among these thirteen ninja, there are three jonin and ten chunin."
"Their leader is a veteran jonin. The others under his command are also experienced. Some of them served under him during the Third Shinobi World War."
"We haven't found their base yet. But based on their movements, we estimate their hideout should be near the coastline to the southeast."
Renjiro analyzed the information and said, "Good, we don't need to waste time searching for them."
Takeshita said, "Renjiro, although we know their general location, we don't know their exact position."
Renjiro said, "Don't worry, leave it to us. We'll rest today and depart at 4 AM tomorrow. Have your squad ready."
Takeshita wanted to leave immediately. But he understood that they had traveled a long way. He nodded and said, "Alright, arrange rooms for them to rest."
His subordinate led them to the prepared rooms.
After he left, Kaito, Mieko, and Hodaka all stared at Renjiro. They wanted answers.
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