Chapter 207 Konohamaru Being Targeted
"Hmph, when did it become your place to speak here?" A glanced at Takagi Seijin with disdain and said.
"I was just stating a fact. Is the Raikage so domineering that he won't even let people speak?" Takagi Seijin retorted.
Takagi Seijin himself knew that compared to other properly appointed Kage, his position as the Fifth Mizukage was practically meaningless. He wouldn't have acted so arrogantly in front of the Tsuchikage or even the Kazekage.
However, their Southern Mist Village was already on the verge of a complete falling out with the Cloud Village, which was clearly supporting the Northern Mist Village. Therefore, he felt he didn't need to give A much face. After all, within Konoha's territory, his Hokage father would definitely protect him.
Sure enough, A's fiery temper couldn't tolerate a clown like Takagi Seijin jumping around in front of him. His entire body tensed instantly, like steel, and he prepared to teach Takagi Seijin a lesson.
Before he could make a move, Uchiha Touko calmly said from the side, "Hehe, Raikage and Mizukage, could you please give me some face and not argue here? After all, in a few days, all the daimyo from various countries will be here to watch the battle. If you two cause too much trouble, it won't look good for anyone."
Ai glanced at Uchiha Touko, snorted coldly, and sat back down, picking up a piece of fried chicken and eating it by herself.
Soon, the first opportunity to shrink the circle arrived, and the scattered teams gradually began to clash.
Most of them maintained restraint at this time, consciously leaving themselves an escape route when encountering other teams. Of course, during this process, a few teams performed particularly well.
For example, Shikamaru's team.
On the edge of the survival zone in the eastern part of the map, Shikamaru, under a large tree, used his Shadow Binding Technique to completely subdue three members of a Hidden Mist team who were just about to enter the safe zone. Ino provided support using mental interference, while Choji firmly protected the backs of the two who were immobilized by their clan's secret technique.
This Hidden Mist team was forcibly controlled for nearly a minute, just one step away from the safe zone, until their summoning jutsu on their bracelets was triggered, causing supplies to explode on the ground. Only then did Shikamaru and Ino dispel their techniques, and the three of them quickly retrieved the supplies.
"These guys have really got a lot of supplies," Ino remarked after taking stock of the loot. "We've only searched a few places along the way, and the supplies we've gathered aren't even enough for Choji to eat tonight. But with this, we don't have to worry about food tonight."
"Under these rules, unless you have absolute strength like Sasuke's team, time is the most important thing," Shikamaru explained to his teammates. "With all teams moving in roughly the same direction, every second spent outside the safe zone increases the chance of being ambushed."
"Heh, these team members are from the famous Ino-Shika-Cho clan of Konoha, aren't they?" Takagi said. "Although they're only genin, their trap setup and timing are impeccable. Even our old Chunin from Kirigakure don't match their ninja skills. That's the foundation of Konoha."
Although the team that had been eliminated by Shikamaru and his companions, trapped outside the circle, was from Kirigakure, Takagi Seiman didn't mind at all. Instead, he loudly praised Shikamaru.
This wasn't surprising, though. Takagi Seiman hadn't placed much expectation on his village's genin during his trip to Konoha. There were a few promising genin from Kirigakure this year, but Takagi Seiman kept them in the village, not letting them participate in the Chunin Exams. After
all, Takagi Seiman was worried that if his Kirigakure genin performed too well, Konoha would reduce their support. Without his adoptive father, Fugaku, he wouldn't be a match for Mei Terumi.
A's lips twitched slightly. Although he had already overestimated Takagi Seiman's shamelessness, Takagi Seiman always managed to redefine his understanding in various ways.
Not only him, but even Onoki was a little flustered at this moment. Looking at the Mizukage hat placed next to Takagi Seiman's seat, Onoki suddenly felt that being on the same level as this guy was a bit too embarrassing.
As dusk fell, the various teams in the arena temporarily set up camp, and everyone in the VIP room went back to rest.
After returning to his residence, A soon left a lightning clone in his room. After his main body made a simple disguise, he sneaked out of the hotel and went to a restaurant in the northwest corner of Konoha.
After exchanging the password, A was led by a waiter to a secret private room in the restaurant.
A waited for a while, and soon a slightly plump middle-aged man entered the room. Upon seeing A, he first bowed and said, "Lord Raikage."
"No need for formalities." A nodded, and then went straight to the point, "How is the investigation going?"
"Lord Raikage, we have been working on the things you arranged before, but the results are not very optimistic." The middle-aged man shook his head and said.
"Hmm?" The Raikage frowned.
"Lord Raikage, since Uchiha Touko came to power, the crackdown on spies within Konoha has been much more intense than during Hiruzen Sarutobi's rule. Many of our Kumogakure spies have fallen victim to their security forces. As a result, our remaining spies were forced to retreat for a period of time, only resuming operations three months ago after receiving your instructions. However, even with the sacrifice of several spies trained by the village over many years, the intelligence we have obtained is still very limited."
"Thank you for your hard work. As for the brothers who sacrificed their lives, the village will forever remember their contributions." A nodded. This situation was actually within his expectations. After all, compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who became increasingly useless with age, Uchiha Touko was definitely much more difficult to deal with. "Give me all the intelligence you have gathered during this period."
"Yes!" The head of the Kumogakure spies infiltrating Konoha nodded and began to dictate the intelligence they had painstakingly obtained over this period of time.
"The main branch of the Hyuga clan currently has nine members, including the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi. However, they are always heavily protected. Only Hinata Hyuga, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan head, and the current young clan head, Neji Hyuga, have no branch branch ninjas protecting them. However, Hinata Hyuga usually travels with Shisui Uchiha, an elite Jonin of the Uchiha clan. It's impossible for us to take her down quickly. As for Neji Hyuga..."
The head of the Kumogakure spy network gave a bitter smile when he mentioned Neji: "Although this kid has only graduated from the Ninja Academy a year ago, he already has the strength of a Jonin and is extremely sensitive to any disturbances around him. Many of our brothers have fallen to him before. If we attack him, it's no problem for him to hold out until Konoha's reinforcements arrive."
"If Hyuga isn't an option, what about Uzumaki?" Ai asked, his envy of Karin's sealing techniques during the match in the VIP room earlier that day.
"The Uzumaki clan..." The head of the Cloud Village's spies shook his head helplessly. "Although the Uzumaki clan leader is currently only a recently graduated genin, and the clan only consists of a mother and daughter, it's practically impossible to attack them."
"Why?" Ai asked, puzzled.
"Naruto Uzumaki, the current head of the Uzumaki clan, resides in the home of Kakashi Hatake, the captain of the Konoha Police Force. Given his status as a Jinchūriki, he was never short of protection from Konoha's elite troops when he was weak. Now, this kid has grown up. Although he rarely displays his strength, judging from the traces left by our spies in his daily training grounds, he's at least a Jonin."
"As for the other two, since there's no Uzumaki clan territory in Konoha right now, they're currently living in what used to be Senju clan territory. And they live right next to Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin."
Hearing this, A didn't intend to press further. Even he himself wasn't confident of victory against Tsunade, let alone snatching her away right under her nose.
"So, currently, we have no chance to seize any of Konoha's bloodline clans, is that right?" A gritted his teeth, somewhat unwilling. Their last plan against the Hyuga clan was a stroke of luck for Kumogakure. The Hyuga clan, having lived a comfortable life within the village for years, had lowered their guard considerably, and coupled with the encounter with a weak Hokage like Hiruzen Sarutobi, they had the opportunity to obtain the Byakugan. But even that opportunity was squandered due to their carelessness, with the Hyuga clan using a branch clan head as a substitute.
Now, under Uchiha Touko's management, Konoha was like an impenetrable wall. Despite losing so many spies, Kumogakure had only received intelligence that they couldn't find any opportunity to act.
As for the Uchiha clan, A didn't even ask. In Konoha now, any area could have a defensive weakness, but the Uchiha clan was the least likely.
"Well… that's not entirely true," the Kumogakure spy said hesitantly after a moment's hesitation.
"Hmm?" A perked up at this.
"We haven't found any opportunities with the major bloodline clans of Konoha yet, but we have a very good chance of kidnapping the young master of the Sarutobi clan."
"The Sarutobi clan?" A's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. Although the Sarutobi clan doesn't have any special bloodline, their physique has an extremely high affinity for chakra. They are born with significantly more chakra than ordinary people, and they learn ninjutsu much more easily. This clan's bloodline has the ability to consistently produce elite Jonin.
Therefore, if the Hyuga and other ninja clans don't offer any opportunities, kidnapping a member of the Sarutobi clan doesn't seem impossible.
"Tell me about the opportunity you're talking about," A said.
"Here's the thing, this young master of the Sarutobi clan is the grandson of the former Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He's currently attending the Ninja Academy, but every day after school, he goes to the Fire Country's imperial palace to play with the current Daimyo. Then, he returns to the Sarutobi clan's territory in the northeast of Konoha in the evening. During this time, this kid is only guarded by a tutor with the strength of a Special Jonin."
"Only one Special Jonin?" A's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Although Konoha's Special Jonin weren't exactly weak, compared to the guards surrounding the heirs of the major ninja clans, the guards surrounding this young master of the Sarutobi clan were practically nonexistent.
Therefore, after learning this, A immediately began to suspect that this might be a trap set by Konoha.
"We've confirmed repeatedly that the young master of the Sarutobi clan is indeed only protected by a special Jonin. The Sarutobi clan's protection of their juniors isn't particularly strong."
After some thought, A understood why this was the case. With the Hyuga and Uchiha clans in Konoha possessing bloodlines coveted by everyone in the ninja world, the chances of the Sarutobi clan being targeted were very low. Therefore, the security surrounding their juniors within the village was naturally not as extensive as that of the Hyuga clan.
"It's him. Make the arrangements. We'll act immediately after the Chunin Exams." A made the decision.
At that moment, Konohamaru, still red-faced from arguing with Minamoto no Yuuki about whether using chakra to raise crickets constituted cheating, was unaware that in such a short time, he had already been targeted by Kumogakure.
...
The next day, after dawn, the leaders of the various ninja villages once again arrived at the VIP room where the Chunin Exams were being watched.
At this moment, Sasuke and Kurotsuchi had already discussed the specific details of their cooperation and decided on the members of their respective villages' advancing teams, and began contacting their fellow villagers using their own methods.
After learning of the shrinking circle, Shikamaru and his two companions, who had just set up a new trap at the edge of the circle, had a small white snake crawl towards them. It then spat out a miniature scroll and disappeared.
"A message from Sasuke?" Shikamaru opened the scroll, somewhat puzzled. After reading its contents, his lips twitched, and he sighed. He then said to Ino and Choji, "Stop working, let's go. Sasuke needs our help."
"Eh?" Choji said incredulously, "Sasuke and the others are in trouble? But if it's a problem they can't solve with their strength, we won't be able to help much."
"It has nothing to do with strength. Sasuke plans to pull off a big surprise in this exam," Shikamaru said.
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