Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan.

Chapter 140 Companions, and Darkness

At that moment, the Jonin of Kumogakure glanced at his subordinates who had already gone far away.

"When they approach Konoha, they'll change out of all clothing associated with Kumogakure and burn it. The explosive tags will detonate, you'll die, and who will know it was Kumogakure who did it?"

"Most likely, it would be the work of the remnants of Kagerou Village, right?"

The Cloud Village Jonin looked at the girl in his hands and said, "The Uchiha clan crest? In that case, we can start by collecting some interest from the Uchiha clan."

On the other side, Hyuga Tokuma's gaze was solemn, as if he had already made some kind of decision in his heart.

Uchiha Izumi cannot die in front of me.

Whether it's the kindness Yun owes to the Hyuga branch family, or the Uchiha clan's gradually regaining influence in Konoha, Izumi cannot die in front of him.

But the village...

"flower."

"Um."

"You and Rimaru split up and run back to the village as quickly as possible to bring back the information."

Inuzuka Hana was taken aback. As a member of a major Konoha clan, she understood the meaning behind Tokuma's words.

The fact that his own pills were scattered indicates that even if he added pills, it wouldn't have much effect.

Those who remained were almost certainly doomed.

Has it really come to this?

Must we risk our lives to slow down the other person?

But... it's still several hours away from the village. Even if I and Rimaru run separately, how much time will we get?

There's also a spring!

Should I abandon my teammates in my first assessment task right after graduation?

"rest assured."

Tokuma suddenly smiled under his serious gaze: "Hana, just run towards the village. Izumi, leave her to me!"

At this moment, in his line of sight, Yunyin's long sword was about to stab the unconscious Quan.

"Whoosh!"

With a sudden burst of speed, Dejian's eyes were surrounded by a surge of blue energy, and he used the all-seeing ability of his Byakugan to its fullest extent.

"Walk!!"

After a roar, the attack struck where the enemy was bound to defend, and Tokuma's gentle fist landed.

The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Originally, once they entered the domain, the moves that were unavoidable under the Byakugan's all-around vision were now ineffective.

But this was also not unexpected for Tokuma; attacking where the enemy would have to defend was merely to prevent the enemy's long sword from falling.

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, the enemy in Tokuma's sight vanished.

From behind, however, they suddenly spotted the other person.

That's too late!

Is the difference really that big?

"The art of four legs!"

"boom!"

The flower that suddenly appeared blocked the opponent's long sword, but it also missed its target.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Hana Inuzuka landed, panting heavily. Tokuma, standing beside her, looked at her with a wry smile and said, "The gap is indeed quite large. I was a bit arrogant just now."

Hana Inuzuka smiled: "Don't worry, Rimaru has already left. The Inuzuka family has never abandoned its comrades before."

Hyuga Tokuma's Byakugan stared intently at the Jonin who had returned: "Although it may be futile, since Toshimaru has returned, we will do our best to rescue Izumi. That is our next objective."

At that moment, a Jonin from Kumogakure walked over leisurely and said with a mocking laugh, "So you didn't escape and came back? Your presence here is just another corpse to be added to the list."

Inuzuka Hana, sprawled on the ground using her four-legged technique, glared angrily: "No matter what, Kumogakure's scheme will not succeed!"

"Yeah?"

With a sneer, Yunyin tossed Quan into the air with one hand and grabbed his neck with the other, gradually increasing the pressure.

"So, in that case, you'll definitely have to rush in to save her, right?"

This scene enraged Tokuma, who was about to rush forward when Inuzuka Hana stopped him.

"This is a trap! With your white eyes, there's no way you couldn't have missed the long knife in his other hand, waiting for us to rush in."

Tokuma glared at him angrily: "Release yourself!"

Inuzuka Hana hesitated for a moment but did not let go. Instead, she said to Kumogakure, "She is Uchiha Kumogakure's sister, Uchiha Izumi. If you kill her, Uchiha Kumogakure won't care about the evidence."

"With the power to kill the Fourth Raikage, can the Hidden Cloud Village really handle them now?! The Hidden Cloud Village should know about the Uchiha clan's character; once their loved ones are killed, they won't care about peace!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Yin's hand loosened its grip, as if he was considering the meaning of his words.

This relieved Hana, and she released her grip on Tokuma's hand.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, a figure swept down from the shadows behind and slowly walked over.

The noise made Yunyin turn to the right and look at the figure emerging from the jungle, asking, "Who's there?"

The person who emerged from the shadows, with the Leaf Village headband on their forehead, brought a surge of joy to Tokuma and Hana's hearts, but the next moment...

"Don't be nervous, this is the connector."

The newcomer threw something towards Yunyin, but Yunyin didn't catch it. Instead, he waited until it landed and he could see it clearly before picking it up.

After confirming his identity, the Jonin from Kumogakure asked, "Didn't my two companions encounter you?"

The newcomer nodded and took out a scroll: "I have been given the precise location of the explosive tags, but I heard there was a slight accident here, so I came."

As he spoke, the guy wearing the Konoha headband slowly approached Kumogakure and handed over the scroll.

Having confirmed his identity, Yunyin's vigilance had already decreased.

At that moment, Inuzuka Hana angrily retorted, "You're a spy from Kumogakure?!"

The newcomer turned around, smiled, and shrugged, saying, "There's no point in hiding anything from someone who's already destined to die; it's obvious."

The Cloud Village Jonin smiled and took the scroll. The scroll looked exactly like the one he had given to his subordinates before, which made him even more relaxed.

Next, and finally, open it.

"boom!"

An explosion suddenly rang out, followed by a flash of light.

"puff!"

Blood splattered from Yunyin's neck!

The spy wearing the Konoha headband actually took Uchiha Izumi from his hand and threw her at the two people who were already stunned.

Inuzuka Hana quickly helped Izumi up, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was alright.

At this moment, the fallen Yunyin gasped for breath, trying to inhale oxygen, but all his efforts were in vain.

"For... coo coo coo..."

The trachea was filled with bubbles of fresh blood, and it took a lot of effort to utter just one word.

The spy in front of him smiled and said, "Part of the unexpected thing is their appearance, but it's more about you... You killed Uchiha Kumo's sister, a mentally ill person known throughout the ninja world for the Uchiha clan. The plan will be subject to too many changes."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yunyin, who was standing at his feet, stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating.

At that moment, Tokuma looked at the other person and asked, "Are you a Konoha ninja or a Kumogakure spy?!"

The other person shook their head slightly: "Don't misunderstand, I have always been a spy for the Hidden Cloud Village."

? ? ! !

Tokuma was stunned for a moment: "Then why!?"

At this moment, he couldn't understand why, if he was a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village, he would kill his own companion and then rescue Izumi and return her to him and Hana.

"call……"

After letting out a breath, the other person smiled and said, "Many questions, right? It doesn't matter if I tell you now. As of now, the plan is no longer subject to change."

As he spoke, the other party calmly sat down, completely unguarded, seemingly not worried that Tokuma would suddenly kill him.

"Me... and those three from before. Oh right, I already killed the previous two."

"The four of us were destined to die in the plan. It is true that Kagerou Village planted explosive tags in Konoha nearly thirty years ago, but after nearly thirty years, it is not optimistic how many of the explosive tags are still capable of detonating."

"If we cannot destroy the entire Hidden Leaf Village in one fell swoop, then this information will be of no use to the Hidden Cloud Village, and may even bring trouble upon ourselves. With the Fourth Raikage killed, the Hidden Cloud Village is now weaker than ever before."

"In light of this, the village's higher-ups came up with another way to use this information: to inform Konoha."

The other person smiled and looked at the surprised Tokuma Yohana, asking, "Aren't you surprised? I'm just as surprised! You know... even during the war, I only acted once, passing on Kushina's sentry location to Kumogakure."

"But this time, the village has decided that I should be sacrificed..."

"At the cost of just three lives, plus the information I brought back, I too will die in Konoha."

"This will give the village leverage to negotiate reparations with Konoha four years later. If we can eliminate all remaining reparations, then our mission will be perfect."

These words left Tokuma and Hana completely stunned.

Tokuma asked incredulously, "Are we really going to sacrifice our own village's comrades just for those compensation payments?"

The other person shook his head slightly: "When the Fourth Raikage was still alive, he would never have made such a decision. But now... it was expected."

The other person smiled and said, "Actually, it's understandable. The huge compensation is already giving the village an even bigger headache. The cultivation of the new generation is inseparable from resources."

"With the lives of the four of us, one Jonin, one Special Jonin, and two Chunin, this is a very worthwhile deal."

Tokuma still couldn't believe it.

Hua, standing to the side, asked, "So, you're not worried about your life or death at all? You've already achieved your goal, so even if you die now, we'll still hand over this explosive tag distribution."

"The explosive tags in Konoha will also be removed one by one. In this way, Konoha can claim that the information given to them by Kumogakure is an undeniable fact."

"And it's also a fact that the four of you will die within the Land of Fire. Therefore, Konoha, being in the wrong, will have to give Kumogakure an explanation under the watchful eyes of the other ninja villages in the world, right?"

Hana's words made Tokuma understand, but how is this decision any different from the caged bird on the forehead of the Hyuga branch family?

In the name of righteousness, they coerced the village ninjas into willingly sacrificing themselves.

How similar is this behavior to the fear of losing a disapproving look?

"Clap clap clap..."

As applause rang out, the Cloud Village spy slowly stood up, looked at Inuzuka Hana and smiled, "As expected of a disciple of a major clan, you react to these things faster than the other member of the Hyuga branch family."

After standing up, he continued, "When I hand over this scroll containing the distribution of explosive tags to the higher-ups in Konoha, my brain will automatically turn to mush."

"Don't even think about killing me now. You still have to hand over the distribution map. Once my heart stops beating, my brain will no longer be able to be probed. And the same goes for those others."

Caught off guard, the other party casually headed towards Konoha.

Behind him, Tokuma and Inuzuka Hana looked at each other in bewilderment.

They've only just graduated, what kind of luck did they have to encounter this kind of international issue?!

"call……"

They both exhaled simultaneously.

Then, Hana looked at Tokuma and asked, "What should we do next?"

Tokuma shook his head slightly: "I don't know. No matter what, it seems like they can achieve their goal."

"Kumikage must have contacted the village's higher-ups beforehand. These people brought the distribution map to the village, so the higher-ups must have known about it."

Hua nodded and continued, "But the village leaders didn't expect that Yunyin's goal would be compensation. No, that's not right!"

After a moment of thought, Hua said, "The village must know that the Cloud Village sent the distribution map with the intention of paying compensation, but what the higher-ups did not expect was that the Cloud Village would also send a team of elite ninjas to the Land of Fire to seek their deaths."

Tokuma rubbed his head. No matter how you looked at it, this situation had many similarities to the Cloud Village's plan against the Hyuga Byakugan.

A calculated scheme.

There is no way to avoid it.

Tokuma thought for a moment and asked, "You tell me... if the village doesn't agree to reduce or waive the compensation, what can Kumogakure do in their current state?"

Hana Inuzuka shook her head slightly: "A reduction is certain, it's just a matter of how much. I didn't understand before, but I understand now."

"Politics is never a matter of constant strength or weakness. The five great nations and the five great ninja villages check and balance each other. If you don't have the power to wipe them out at will, many things must be done according to the rules."

"The ninja village's finances come from mission assignments, which require both military strength and credibility. No one would dare to entrust a village that kills its messengers with a mission."

As Hua finished speaking, Tokuma paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and understood.

Is this what politics is all about?

Tokuma thought of his own Hyuga clan, the main family and branch family, and the cursed seal of the caged bird.

If you're not strong enough to ignore the rules, you must learn to utilize them in order to achieve your goals.

While Yunyin was indeed despicable and shameless, they used both of their overt schemes very well.

If the Uchiha clan hadn't been on good terms with the Hokage, perhaps the outcome wouldn't have been a victory for Konoha.

With the Uchiha clan eyeing them covetously, even if the Fourth Hokage was unwilling, he might ultimately have no choice but to make the Hyuga clan sacrifice themselves.

"Hua, carry Quan on your back, let's go back to the village to find Yun."

Hua paused for a moment, then nodded: "With so many things happening, the assessment task is indeed no longer important. In any case, we must inform Yun about these things."

……

(End of this chapter)