The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

This is one of the biggest reasons why Menma chose Takigakure Village.

"Please wait here for a moment, our leader Lord Shibuki will be here shortly to meet with you."

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for outsiders to easily meet the village leader. Takigakure is one of the top villages after the Five Great Ninja Villages, and it has about a thousand ninjas under its command. Such a status is considered 'extremely noble' in the ninja world.

In other words, Menma is an envoy from the Land of Fire, under the command of high-ranking officials.

This is the only way to directly meet the village chief.

"Ah."

Menma smiled and nodded, then sat down directly. Karin, who had been expressionless the whole time, followed Menma to sit down as well. This was as agreed beforehand; Karin only needed to maintain a "keep away" attitude, and Menma would handle all the conversation.

Otherwise, Menma is worried that Karin might make a mistake on her own.

Of course, Menma had also prepared an extra measure to prevent his identity from being exposed. Transformation techniques are actually very mysterious, and it's hard to say how easily they can be seen through. Top ninjas who are very skilled in illusion techniques, ninjas with super strong sensory abilities, and some ninjas with special eye techniques can indeed do it, but it's very difficult for ordinary ninjas to see through it. Menma didn't think that his journey would definitely be smooth sailing. He came with a try-it-out attitude, and if he failed, it wouldn't be a big deal.

It all depends on whether there's a suitable opportunity.

Mianma took a small sip of the tea that the waiter had just brought over, and thought to himself.

The wait was short, just ten minutes later, footsteps could be heard from the main entrance of the reception hall.

Menma had sensed the approaching chakra long beforehand.

As I turned my head.

At the head of the group, a young figure came into view.

Behind them was a man with a fierce-looking face, his head wrapped in a turban.

A slightly chilling aura emanated from him.

This is enough to prove the man's strength.

"Ah, I apologize for keeping you two distinguished guests waiting."

The young leader of Takigakure Village greeted Menma and Menma with a smile the moment he saw them.

His demeanor and posture don't look like those of a ninja village leader at all.

On the contrary, he has the demeanor of a friendly older brother next door.

Karin, who was standing to the side, maintained a cold expression on the surface, but in her heart she was already complaining like crazy.

Menma was used to it; this young leader of Takigakure Village had always been like this in the original work, appearing harmless.

Menma even doubted that this guy had ever managed to seize power in the ninja village.

Otherwise, why would he need the Seventh Squad's guards to return to the village from outside in the original story? Where were his own guards?

Then came the attack from the rogue ninja.

The struggle for the Hero's Water, and so on.

Menma has ample reason to believe that there must be a power struggle within Takigakure, as this is the only way to perfectly explain everything.

"No, please forgive our uninvited visit and for taking up your time, Your Excellency."

Menma and Karin stood up at the same time as Shibuki entered. Menma, with a smile on her face, bowed slightly in response.

"How can this be considered presumptuous? To have gained the favor of the Left Minister of the Land of Fire is an honor for our Takigakure Village."

Even though she looks like a gentle and weak person, Shibuki is quite adept at handling necessary public situations.

Moreover, after a brief inquiry, Shibuki was about 60-70% certain that the visitor was indeed a member of the Fire Country's ministerial staff. Naturally, he was much more polite. For a ninja village like theirs, receiving a mission from the Fire Country was a rare privilege, let alone a mission from a high-ranking official or noble.

Because those are usually directly distributed to the ninja villages within their own country.

"You two don't need to be so polite, just call me by my name, Shibuki. This gentleman next to me is Mizuki, the strongest Jonin in Takigakure right now. If it's appropriate, we'll entrust the missions you issue to Mizuki. Oh, right, I'm so sorry, I don't know how to address you two."

Shibuki took his seat at the head of the table, and while gesturing for Menma and the other person to sit down, he said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 146 The Bait for Testing

In most cases, big clients should be treated with utmost courtesy. Even if there are some suspicious or problematic aspects to their identity, as long as the mission is real and the potential benefits are visible and attainable, there should be no hesitation. This attitude would be the same for any small or medium-sized ninja village in the ninja world, not just Takigakure.

The only one who had initially followed closely beside Shibuki and later sat opposite Menma and the other man was the one wearing a headscarf. He looked at Menma and the other man with a scrutinizing and wary gaze the entire time, as if Menma were his enemy.

This caused Mianma's brows to furrow slightly.

However, after hearing Shibuki's introduction of this Jonin, Menma remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he suddenly understood.

'So it was this guy!'

After all, he was just a minor villain in a small part of the story, so Menma couldn't possibly remember what he looked like very clearly. But as soon as Shibuki mentioned his name, Menma could immediately make the connection. Wasn't this the guy who later betrayed Takigakure in the original story and led outsiders like Amegakure or Yugakure to invade his own ninja village again?

Judging from this, this guy isn't dissatisfied with them, but rather with this young leader.

Menma thought to himself, but on the surface he still smiled and said, "Haha, you are too kind, Chief. I am Accelerator, and this is Misaka Mikoto. We are both serving under Lord Tsuchimikata. We have come to your village because the Minister, no, to be more precise, the Daimyo has a mission to give to your village. The initial assessment is A-rank, but it could also be S-rank."

Although it was expected that this would be a 'large shipment' task.

But upon hearing it from Menma's mouth...

Shibuki couldn't help but get excited.

This is not just a matter of mission quotas; it also involves establishing connections with high-ranking officials in the Land of Fire!

For the ninja village

A stable and consistent share of tasks is the most important thing.

What's the point of doing one or two tasks?

What ninja villages need is a long-term supply of resources. The Land of Waterfall will certainly support its own ninja villages, but that support is limited. If the Hidden Takigakure Village needs further development, or more accurately, to return to its former glory, it must have comprehensive resource support.

Moreover, for Shibuki, he has only recently taken over as leader and needs some achievements to prove himself. If he can connect with high-ranking officials, nobles, and even daimyo of the Land of Fire to secure a fixed share of missions for his village, wouldn't that be something to celebrate?

At that moment, Shuiyan, who was standing to the side, raised an eyebrow and her eyes became slightly dangerous.

"Could you please tell me what the mission is, Mr. Yifang?"

Suppressing his excitement, Shibuki looked at Menma calmly and asked.

"Hehe, of course. This is a search mission. The targets are the following people. It doesn't mean that you have to find them all, but the more people your village finds, the higher the completion rate will be."

As Menma spoke, he pulled a scroll from his pocket and threw it directly at Shibuki, who was sitting opposite him.

Shibuki showed no sign of being on guard, or rather, he simply didn't believe that anyone within their Takigakure village would dare to directly plot against him, their leader.

He caught it with his backhand and opened it up to take a look.

As the search request for the person at the very front came into view.

The leader of Takigakure Village narrowed his eyes.

"this?"

That subconscious hint of hesitation.

"What? Is your village unable to implement this?"

Menma smiled calmly, still looking at Shibuki with a calm expression, and asked.

"No, of course not. Our Takigakure Village can carry out this mission, but we can't guarantee its completion. After all, so many years have passed. May I ask if there is a time limit?"

After pausing, Shibuki handed the scroll to the water pipe in the seat below, and then looked at Menma with a very serious expression and asked.

"If this matter hadn't been long ago, why would we have entrusted it to you? As for the time limit, well, neither His Highness the Daimyo nor the Minister has explicitly stated it, but it's definitely the shorter the better. We don't need to say too much, but at least within three months, we should have some results to make it acceptable. Don't you agree, Chief?"

Mianma remained calm and composed, then raised three fingers of his right hand and said in a nonchalant tone.

"Half of the reward can be paid first according to the A-level standard, and the remaining reward will be paid in installments according to the progress. The reward standard can be increased at any time. Moreover, Your Excellency, this is only the first time. You should understand what I mean."

The meaning conveyed between the lines.

Even the inexperienced Shibuki could clearly hear it, let alone the water pipe next to him.

This is clearly bait that's been thrown out directly.

Mianma is getting more and more skilled at this kind of empty-handed, no-nonsense stuff, since he doesn't have to worry about being exposed, right?

If someone sees through me, I can just run away.

Mianma knew perfectly well that this was a classic case of fishing with a straight hook, waiting for the willing to take the bait. Mianma was confident that the other party would do as he wanted.

as predicted.

As Menma finished speaking.

Shibuki was visibly excited. Having only recently taken over as chief, he desperately needed a significant achievement to solidify his position and better control the village, thus living up to the trust placed in him by the previous chief. After all, he hadn't achieved anything particularly remarkable in the past to qualify as chief. One reason was that he was the grandson of the chief before him, and another was that he was well-liked in the village.

Apart from that, in terms of strength, he could barely be considered a special Jonin, and in terms of prestige...

Ugh.

It's not that it doesn't exist at all, but rather that it's almost non-existent.

Therefore, his position as leader was very unstable. Even those Takigakure ninja who obeyed the orders of the previous leader and were willing to support Shibuki still held a skeptical attitude.

"Then we'll..."

In his excitement, Shibuki decided to reveal his trump card.

And it was at this very moment.

"This task is not impossible, but I have some questions. Would you be willing to answer them, Mr. Fang?"

The person in the opposite seat, after glancing at the contents of the scroll, narrowed their eyes and stared intently at the person in the opposite seat, asking in a slightly low voice.

She didn't care at all that her actions had interrupted Shibuki's words.

Shemu's expression changed, but he managed to control himself well. As simple as he was, he knew that family scandals should not be aired in public.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 147 The Initial Intentions Were Achieved Relatively Smoothly (Third Update)

"Oh? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, Shuiyan-san."

Menma was not surprised at all by Suiyan's sudden question. He looked at Suiyan calmly and said in a steady tone.