Obito and Pain moved through the secret passages without difficulty, as if they were in their own backyard.
When they returned to the surface, they were in the heart of Kirigakure, not far from the Mizukage's office building, in front of a simple and elegant building.
"Where is this?" Pain asked.
"Elder Genji's residence," Obito replied.
Since Obito used his illusion to control Yagura, many of the policies he issued had been influenced by Genji to some extent.
If it had been anyone else, Obito would have killed them long ago. However, Elder Genji had been working in Kirigakure for many years, and his network of interests was deeply rooted, with close ties to Daimyo officials.
Killing him would cause unnecessary trouble, so Obito chose to deal with it slowly, gradually eroding Genji's power over the years.
"I respect him for his hard work, and I wanted him to die of old age naturally – don't look at me like that, I'm good to old people."
Obito walked to the courtyard door and gently pushed it open:
"It's just a pity that some people want to use Genji as a figurehead, to use his name to do things that will make a lot of people unhappy, and he chose to support them."
The door creaked open.
Obito's cold gaze swept over the four Kirigakure ninja guarding the elder behind the door.
"Then I can only cut off the 'back road' that this group of people is counting on."
"Stop!"
Two huge swords blocked Obito's path.
Hozuki Mangetsu's eyes fell on the black and red cloud robes of the two men: "Akatsuki people, what are you doing here?"
"Heh—"
Obito chuckled:
"People only ask questions they already know the answer to in two situations."
"The first is when they are sure of victory and want to put psychological pressure on the other party."
"The second is when they are afraid, and they hope for a different answer out of luck."
Obito stared at Hozuki Mangetsu with a spinning Sharingan:
"Hozuki, which one are you?"
Hozuki Mangetsu's hand holding the sword suddenly tightened, and he waved the twin swords, Hiramekarei, while shouting loudly:
"Enemy attack!"
…
The courtesan was a woman in her early twenties, with delicate features and a graceful figure.
In front of Linto and Gato, she casually put on a kimono, loosely tied the belt, and took out a lady's cigarette from her purse, clicked it on, and elegantly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Seeing the two men's eyes on her, the courtesan paused for half a second and asked, "Do you still need me to serve you, sirs? Or have you decided to kill me first and then talk business?"
Linto looked at the bodies of Gato's men on the ground and realized that the courtesan thought she would be killed to silence her. So she simply dropped the pretense, smoked a cigarette, and waited for death to come.
Compared to the courtesan's nonchalant attitude, Gato, who was collapsed on the ground, pale with fear, was as ugly as a wild boar in the mud.
Gato knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly:
"Don't kill me! I have money, I can pay you as much as you want! As long as you don't kill me, you can enjoy endless wealth and glory for the rest of your life!"
Gato was really scared.
He recognized who Linto was.
The madman who dared to kill Orochimaru and Danzo.
Gato was rich, but his political status was nothing compared to Danzo.
He had worked hard all his life to build his business empire, and it would be a great loss to be killed by a madman.
"Money is good, money is a good thing."
Linto crouched down and patted Gato on the shoulder: "But your money is too dirty, it needs to be washed before I dare to use it."
"Wash... launder money?"
"Yes."
Linto leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"With your blood."
White Snake appeared and punched through Gato's chest.
Blood flowed out, and Gato clutched his chest, his eyes full of resentment and hatred:
"The Daimyo... the Land of Water Daimyo will not forgive you... Linto, you will eventually die..."
White Snake spat, put one hand on his hip, leaned back, raised his chin, lifted the other hand high, and slapped Gato in the face, knocking out two gold teeth.
"You talk too much, why do you think we came to find you?"
Buzz – click.
Two discs popped out.
One was the memory disc.
The other, because Gato didn't have a body double/Ninjutsu, was a "mind" disc, which contained Gato's forty years of business wisdom.
Linto wasn't interested in Gato's business wisdom, so he threw the mind disc back in and kept only the memory disc.
Gato was a tycoon in the Land of Waves. With his amount of money, he wouldn't care about the Kirigakure graduation ceremony gamble. Coming all the way to the Land of Water was a considerable loss for him.
He would earn more by spending that time and energy running his business.
Linto thought the explanation was:
Gato came to the Land of Water for a new business deal.
He searched Gato's memories and quickly found it—
"... Reach an agreement with the Land of Water Daimyo to introduce D-grade drugs into the Land of Water and sell them nationwide, mixed in with salt."
"Citizens who use D-grade drugs will work harder, have much shorter lifespans, without old people wasting resources, and become addicted, increasing internal consumption in the Land of Water."
"Kirigakure's ninja will become bodyguards for the Gato's merchants."
Linto put down the memory disc. This was Gato and the Land of Water Daimyo's plan:
"These two beasts want to turn the people of a country into livestock."
Linto stood up, put away the disc. It was still early, and he planned to "chat" with the Land of Water Daimyo after the plan was over tomorrow.
He took a large sum of cash from Gato's body, thought for a while, took a stack, and left it on the table for the courtesan.
The courtesan exhaled a puff of smoke, extended a finger, pressed it on the banknote, her red nails and fair fingers, coupled with the slip of her clothes from her shoulder, revealing a large area of fair skin due to the movement.
"Sir, are you buying my silence?"
"No, you don't have to hide anything. If anyone asks you, just tell the truth."
"Then this money..."
Linto pointed to her body:
"You are a courtesan, I am a man, I just saw your body, and according to the rules, I have to pay... work, isn't it?"
The courtesan was stunned.
She stared blankly at Linto, his eyes were open and honest, without a trace of lust.
Linto nodded to her, turned and left.
Only after his back disappeared did the courtesan come to her senses. She stood up, lifted her skirt and chased after him, shouting loudly and expectantly through the window to Linto walking on the road:
"Sir, is it beautiful?"
Linto turned his head, smiled and nodded.
Seeing this answer, the courtesan's eyes lit up.
"My name is Iwamine Miyako! Sir, you can come find me anytime you want to see it!"
Linto smiled wryly, didn't respond, waved his hand, and was about to leave.
Suddenly, his smile faded.
The small airplane, which had been circling in the air, detected many breathing people running and moving, the direction of people gathering…
Linto turned his head and looked towards the heart of Kirigakure.
"Sure enough, plans will always be defeated by change."
Linto raised his hand, and the great Demolition Blade, tied below Aerosmith, fell from the sky. He caught it with one hand, spun the great sword, and put it on his back.
Linto ran towards the direction where the people were gathering.
---
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