Naruto: My setting is above yours.

Chapter 78 Who Stole Whom

The fourth day of rest was ultimately not fully spent.

At 10 a.m., the Shuomao team assembled urgently.

Surprisingly, this time it happened in the Hokage's office.

"Xuanma, you already know about the bounty on your head, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, but did not directly state the mission details.

Xuanma nodded: "I've already heard about it, but this shouldn't affect the mission, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a soft "hmm" and then said, "This mission is somewhat related to this."

"Kumakushi Village claims that Konoha stole their Lightning Release technique, so they are questioning the village."

Genma looked completely innocent: "Uh, Lightning Release Secret Technique?"

"Is the Third Hokage referring to my Lightning Release: Body Flicker Technique?"

Yes, his technique is called Lightning Release: Body Flicker in the Sky, not Lightning Release: Chakra Mode.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "It's highly likely that Iwagakure sold your information to Kumogakure."

Yamashiro Aoba adjusted his sunglasses and said, "Third Hokage, you can't say that the Lightning Release technique is from Kumogakure, can you?"

"The Hidden Cloud Village also has Fire Release techniques, so their Fire Release techniques must have been stolen from our Leaf Village?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice: "Don't rush."

Sakumo Hatake pressed down on Aoba Yamashiro and said, "Let's hear what the Third Hokage has to say first!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Lightning Release is just an excuse, an excuse to start a war."

"It's also an excuse to gather intelligence."

"Your mission this time is to pick up the Cloud Village envoys and monitor them."

This surprised both Yamashiro Aoba and Shizune: "An envoy from Kumogakure?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "They want to come and confirm in person whether your Lightning Release technique is theirs."

Xuanma's expression was slightly strange: "Using lightning as an excuse to send an envoy, trying to take the opportunity to spy on us?"

"They're not going to threaten the village into handing me over, are they?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly replied, "Don't worry, the village won't agree to such an unreasonable request."

Genma immediately said, "Third Hokage, why don't we just start a war with Kumogakure? I'll be the vanguard!"

"Didn't the Hidden Cloud Village say I stole their Lightning Release technique? Let's just have a fight."

Sakumo Hatake quickly exclaimed, "Genma!"

Xuanma immediately shut up.

Sakumo Hatake apologized to Hiruzen Sarutobi, saying, "Please forgive him, Lord Hokage. Genma was young and impetuous."

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mind and said, "The village is not afraid of war, but we will not initiate war."

"For the village, the later it enters the war, the better."

"If the Hidden Cloud Village wants to spy on us, let them come. You just need to keep a close eye on them."

Sakumo Hatake nodded: "Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Xuanma and the other two nodded immediately.

As Genma left the Hokage Building, he couldn't help but frown.

Sakumo Hatake patted his disciple on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it, just complete the task as required."

If it were someone else, Xuanma might not have thought much of it; but when it was him, he couldn't help but overthink it.

"Teacher, I think that using the envoy to gather intelligence is probably only one of the purposes of the Hidden Cloud Village, isn't it?"

Xuanma was filled with doubt.

Jingyin asked with some worry, "What other purpose could there be?"

"They can't just attack you because they're in the village, can they?"

Yamashiro Aoba said, "That's impossible, isn't it? Even if we take action, we can't possibly succeed."

Xuanma snorted: "That's the problem!"

Leaving aside what hasn't happened yet, there's the example of Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who was kidnapped from Konoha.

This kind of thing has happened, which makes people wonder if it was deliberately arranged by Konoha to create an opportunity for Minato Namikaze.

Otherwise, if Konoha were to be taken away by a few Chunin from Kumogakure, who were the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and were under special protection, wouldn't they be a laughingstock?

If there's no conspiracy theory, then there's only one plausible possibility.

The Hidden Cloud Village sent an envoy to Konoha as a cover, intending to take the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki away.

Later, the Hidden Cloud Village did similar things.

When the delegation came to Konoha for peace talks, they wanted to take the opportunity to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.

So, is the Hidden Cloud Village planning to do something similar this time?

Sakumo Hatake was also thinking.

However, he doesn't have as much intelligence as Xuanma. Given the current situation, the most likely scenario for Yunyin Village is that they are just gathering intelligence.

"Xuanma, do you have any thoughts?"

"I asked Hatake Sakumo."

Xuanma pondered, "Gathering intelligence might be one aspect, but this intention is too obvious, and we will definitely be on guard."

"But what if this is just a test of our attitude towards war?"

Testing attitudes toward war?

Silent and the others couldn't help but wonder, what does that mean?

Xuanma gradually sorted out his thoughts: "If we're talking about pretexts for war, is a pretext for war even necessary at this time?"

“We did not sign a ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure during the last Shinobi World War.”

"Furthermore, the Hidden Cloud Village has always advocated war and invasion; do they need a pretext to launch a war?"

Xuanma sneered.

Sakumo Hatake said, "So, the village's show of weakness, or rather, its attitude of avoiding war, made Kumogakure feel that it had an opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"So, intelligence gathering may only be the most superficial purpose."

Yamashiro Aoba's expression turned solemn: "Is it really that complicated?"

"Are we overthinking it?"

Shizune chose to believe Genma's analysis and said in support, "In this kind of thing, it's only right to consider things more carefully, isn't it?"

"We should be more careful."

Sakumo Hatake said, "We definitely need to be more careful."

"However, Genma, what deeper motives do you think the Hidden Cloud Village might have?"

Xuanma said, "War blackmail!"

"To create some kind of incident and engage in war blackmail."

"Or, to threaten war to achieve certain objectives."

Sakumo Hatake nodded: "Although these are just guesses, they can serve as a reference for our mission. Everyone, stay alert and don't give Kumogakure any chance, no matter what their goal is!"

"set off!"

The team left the village and headed northeast.

Xuanma sensed something and discovered that there was another small team following behind, most likely an espionage team.

Such tasks, with one overt and one covert, are perfectly normal.

However, Genma remained cautious and informed his teacher, Hatake Sakumo.

They traveled in silence, and at 11 a.m. the following morning, the team arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Genma, who was in charge of sensing, spoke up: "They've arrived!"

The three who were resting, Hatake Sakumo and his companions, all got up.

After a moment, five figures came into view.

Xuanma glanced around, but didn't recognize anyone; there seemed to be no important figures among them.

"You're the Konoha ninja who came to pick us up?"

The Yunren stopped when they got close, and the blond middle-aged man at the head of the group asked rudely.

Genma narrowed his eyes slightly, and Hatake Sakumo stepped forward, calmly saying, "I am Hatake Sakumo, a Konoha Jonin, sent to receive the envoy from Kumogakure."

"May I ask if you are Mr. Onikiri?"

The five Yunren all paled upon hearing this.

Konoha White Fang!

So this guy...

The five members of Guiche all looked at Yufeng Xuanma again.

They had naturally never seen the Wind-Riding Black Horse, but among the remaining three, it was easy to identify who was Konoha's White Fang's disciple.

When Genma saw them looking over, he immediately grinned and said, "Everyone, I am Genma Mikazuki, the disciple of Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha."

"He's also the one Iwagakure mentioned who stole your Kumogakure's Lightning Release technique."

The five members of the Oni clan changed color again, not expecting this kid to be so blunt.