Escape From Konoha

It took less than three days to return to the Kingdom of Ghosts and set off from the Kingdom of Tea by sea.

As a well-known bounty hunter, Kakuzu has been a bounty hunter for more than forty years in order to hunt down high-value bounty targets on the bounty list. He has traveled around the ninja world more than once, going to I have traveled to many countries, learned about local customs and customs, and also had a detailed understanding of the ancient culture of the ninja world.

Because sometimes when you want to get close to a target, you cannot rely on pure violence, but you have to blend in with the target and blend into the target's environment. Therefore, Kakuzu has done this more than once by pretending to be a traveler.

The basis of disguise is to have a thorough understanding of the situation in each country and a thorough understanding of ancient and modern history, so that the disguise will appear handy.

Among the countries in the ninja world, the Demon Country is undoubtedly an extremely special country.

Just like the Iron Kingdom.

One represents the pure witch culture, and the other represents the pure samurai culture.

In the era when Kakuzu was born, the culture of shrine maidens and samurai was actually spreading around the world. During the Warring States Period, we could often see shrine maidens traveling around the world, hanging pots to help the world, and we could also see shrine maidens who wanted to hone their will and sword skills. Samurai embark on a road of life-or-death struggle.

In that era, although ninjas were the mainstream, there were still places for shrine maidens and samurai, and even monks. There were also a large number of ascetics who traveled around the world to spread their beliefs and attract people to join the religion.

With the pacification of the Warring States Period, the power of ninjas reached its peak, and with the establishment of the one-country-one-village system, the culture of shrine maidens, samurai, and monks gradually shrank.

In the past, the Fire Country was an extremely large country that believed in monks. As a result, with the rise of ninjas, even the Fire Temple, which was loyal to the daimyo, lost its former majesty. Their ideas could only be spread within a small area. The monks The traditional culture was gradually replaced by ninja culture.

The same is true for the miko of the Kingdom of Oni. In the era when ninjas dominated the ninja world, the miko culture should be exported to the outside world. Under the protection of the main line of miko, the scope of miko's activities gradually shrank within the country.

Compared with the huge number of ninja groups that have become a symbol of a country's military power, the interests belonging to shrine maidens, samurai and monks will naturally be occupied by ninjas.

Moreover, most of the shrine maidens in the Kingdom of Ghosts are ordinary women, and there are only a very small number of shrine maidens with special abilities.

An independent miko system, no matter how powerful the ninjas are, cannot affect the status of miko in this country.

She is obviously the leader of a country and a shrine maiden who can make her voice known internationally, but in the underground black market, there is no bounty on her head.

You know, even the names of the five major countries are on the list. The same is true for the famous names of other small and neutral countries. Their names appear on the bounty list. It is just a question of how much the bounty is.

Kakuzu has been in the underground black market for decades, but he has never seen a miko from the Kingdom of Ghosts appear on the reward list.

A special country, a special miko system, a mystery that is not corroded by the ninja system.

For Kakuzu, except for special periods when monsters cause chaos, the Kingdom of Demons is the most stable country in the ninja world.

In the same way, there is no underground black market running rampant in the Kingdom of Ghosts. Otherwise, he would not have had to go to other countries to exchange for Hanzo's bounty a while ago, but would have exchanged it directly in the Kingdom of Ghosts.

With the outbreak of the Third Ninja World War, the center of the Ninja World is concentrated on big countries such as the Land of Fire. On the contrary, the Kingdom of Oni, a border neutral country far away from the center of the continent, is an inconspicuous one.

But Kakuzu is different, because he maintains financial cooperation with the official pharmaceutical company of the Kingdom of Ghosts. When others are paying attention to the five major countries, he is the only one who can jump out of the framework of the five major nations and see the essence of the matter.

The Kingdom of Ghosts undergoes some kind of transformation every year.

This transformation is unknown to outsiders.

A well-developed road system attracted businessmen.

The arrival of businessmen drove the economic development of the Ghost Country.

Economic acceleration has promoted the military integration of ninjas and ordinary soldiers in the Kingdom of Ghosts, setting up multiple military regions, and turning the entire Kingdom of Ghosts into an iron barrel.

Not only that, the complete roads shorten the distance between all towns and villages in the Kingdom of Ghosts, making it easier for the top leaders of the Kingdom of Ghosts to issue decrees and highly centralize power.

New education and medical reforms were implemented.

Every reform requires massive funds, manpower and material resources.

Although he didn't know the purpose of the top leaders of the Ghost Country in promoting this, it could be proved everywhere that the power of the Ghost Country was getting stronger day by day.

And these actions were all covered up by the ninja war between the great powers.

After all, the great powers are the protagonists of the ninja world.

But Kakuzu knows that the various wealth accumulated by the small ghost country may not be weaker than that of any big country.

The reason why it is still unable to compare with big countries is purely due to the lack of territory and population.

Kakuzu can only have one idea about the current Demon Country - ambitious.

What will you do next?

Kakuzu was thinking about this question before meeting the so-called mysterious leader from Insect Man.

He had a strong premonition that the Kingdom of Ghosts would never remain content internationally in the next few years.

As for what level of commotion there will be, Kakudo can't predict it. In short, it will cause great headaches for the daimyos of the five major countries.

The First Military Region of Ziyuan City, the capital city, is separated from the commercial street by a wall, dividing the outside world and the inside world into two worlds.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the commercial street, the First Military District, which was established with Ziyuan City as its back, was officially named. The atmosphere inside was undoubtedly serious and solemn, completely in contrast to the hustle and bustle outside.

The wall that separates the commercial area from the First Military District is also very tall, just like the outer wall that surrounds Konoha Village, but it is much stronger than the wall that surrounds the entire Konoha.

Although the interior has undergone a second expansion space, it is still not comparable to the size of Ninja Village.

This is natural. After all, the Ninja Village is managed by the ninjas and the people living together, but the Demon Country is separated from the people and the ninjas who represent military power and are managed separately.

The ninja team that can be seen in Shion Castle is only a security team used to maintain law and order.

Entering the administrative area, except for the necessary guards, there was no breath or sound at the position where manpower could be hidden, which proved that the guards hiding in the dark had excellent concealment abilities.

After quietly creating so many powerful ninjas, Kakuzu became more and more interested in what the Demon Country would do in the future.

There is organization, there is power, there is money, there is planning...the only thing left that is not sure is what the purpose is.

It can't just be done casually for fun.

Moreover, a forty-year work contract is nothing more than a short life experience for him.

Just like his career as a bounty hunter for more than 40 years, now he just has a different taste of life.

This is probably the margin of a long-lived person, and there is no need to worry about lifespan at all.

Maybe this is a very novel life journey.

"Um?"

The person responsible for leading Kakuzu in was not the insect man, but another military staff member.

The person who passed him was a man with black hair and a handsome face.

Wearing formal black clothing embroidered with asters, but on the left and right shoulders, there is another symbol.

It can be called a thunderous fan mark.

That is the family crest of Konoha's wealthy Uchiha clan.

Is this man with a strange face a ninja from the Uchiha clan?

A messenger sent from Konoha?

No, not to mention that this place will not be open to outsiders. Just the fact that this Uchiha ninja is wearing official uniform with an aster flower mark is extremely intriguing.

It can only explain one thing, this is not an Uchiha ninja affiliated with Konoha, but working in the military organization of the Kingdom of Demons.

The lower-level staff member who led him in also bowed slightly to the Uchiha ninja. He seemed to be of a higher rank and had a familiar look on his face.

Interesting...Kakuzu remained calm.

Although this incident surprised him, it only aroused some interest in him.

Just as he guessed, the military organization of the Kingdom of Ghosts was not simple.

Judging from the way he walks and the posture with no weaknesses, this Uchiha ninja is at least a jounin-level ninja. Even with only one heart, he may not be his opponent.

Kakuzu knew this.

"Mr. Kakuzu, we have arrived."

The staff member who was leading the way stopped in front of a door. He knocked on the door first and heard the voice of "Please come in" from inside. Then he turned the handle for Kakuzu and led him into the office.

The office environment is simple, neither luxurious nor cheap, but somewhere in between.

There are green plants growing in the flower pots placed in the window. Near the wall, there are glass cabinets storing various books, documents and information. A thick pile has been accumulated.

A man in his twenties was sitting at his desk. On the desk were the documents he was working on, arranged in an orderly manner, and a half-drunk cup of tea.

After bringing Kakuzu in, the staff quietly walked out of the office, leaving space for Kakuzu and Shiraishi.

"I have long admired you, Mr. Immortal Kakuzu. Please take a seat."

Shiraishi stood up from his position and made a gesture of invitation.

Kakuzu followed Shiraishi's request and sat on a loose chair not far in front of the prepared desk.

"As for the work contract, I have already drawn it up. Mr. Kakuzu can take it back and look at it first, and then sign it and bring it to me. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, you can sit down and discuss it slowly."

Shiraishi took out a contract document from the drawer and placed it on the edge of the table near Kakuzu.

Kakuzu didn't go to get it, but stared at Shiraishi with strange and relieved eyes.

"Are you a member of Konoha's former White Fang team's medical ninja team?"

His tone seemed to be questioning, but his tone was actually quite sure of his answer.

After all, there is a reward of 45 million taels on the underground black market. For Jiaodu, who knows money and people, this is a name that he cannot allow to be forgotten.

At the same time, he also understood what the three leaders the insect man called were.

Because except for the captain White Fang Hatake Sakumo, all three members of the former White Fang team betrayed Konoha and became internationally famous S-class defector ninjas.

Especially Hyuga Ayane, who has Byakugan, has a bounty of nearly 100 million ryo.

With such a net worth in his early twenties, it would be easy to surpass Hanzo and his teacher Sakumo Hatake in the future.

"That's right. At the same time, I am also the direct superior of the Xuan Yuan Zhong led by Chong Man. The Xuan Yuan Zhong is considered a mysterious force on the military side that engages in special work."

Shiraishi admitted this generously.

After all, we will have forty years of cooperation with Kakuzu, and it may even be more than forty years, so it would be better to be honest with each other.

Kakuzu nodded in understanding.

The larger the organization, the more it needs something shady.

After all, some things are really not suitable for international explanation.

Such as stealing important intelligence from other countries, assassinating important officials of other countries, sneaking into investigations and other dangerous tasks.

Obviously, Xuan Yuanzhong is the team that handles these secretive work that cannot be revealed to others.

There was nothing to talk about next, and Kakuzu was not the kind of person to talk too much. He took the work contract handed over by Shiraishi and left the office where Shiraishi was.

In the end, he didn't ask Shiraishi what his purpose was behind promoting the development of the Kingdom of Ghosts.

He had only joined for less than a day, so these questions were not appropriate to ask.

After a while, the other party will take the initiative to explain.

It doesn't matter even if he doesn't explain it clearly. Kakuzu believes that with his own eyesight, as long as he pays careful attention to the internal trends in the Kingdom of Demons, he can roughly guess what the next goal of the Kingdom of Demons is.

Watching Kakuzu leave, Shiraishi fell into deep thought.

Recruiting Kakuzu was not an impulsive move, but rather something that was well prepared.

The war in the Kingdom of Rain was just an accidental opportunity.

After all, the military really lacks top-notch ninjas.

To train one, not to mention the financial and material costs, the time cost alone is a problem. Not to mention, you have to worry about accidents that may happen if you die on the way.

Generally speaking, the addition of Kakuzu has made up for the lack of top combat capabilities of the Demon Country's military.

Before this, Shiraishi also asked people to collect various information about Kakuzu.

Great respect for money and work contracts.

At the same time, Shiraishi prefers not to attack ordinary people.

Kakuzu kills ordinary people not out of good intentions, nor because he is worried that his conscience will be condemned, but because of the nature of his work. He is only interested in special groups and targets with high bounties.

Killing ordinary people not only does not get paid, but also causes a lot of unnecessary trouble. The investment and benefits are completely disproportionate.

As for excessive killing, it is only a matter of benevolence and wisdom. Anyway, it is normal for ninjas to kill each other.

On the contrary, Kakuzu, who pays attention to interests and the spirit of contract, is more trustworthy than most ninjas.

At least those targeted by Kakuzu cannot be ordinary people. They are either nobles from various countries, officials from various countries, or groups with special powers such as ninjas.

Lost on the road of killing and money, only the last trace of personality is left.

He knows very well how he wants to survive in this world.

From this point of view, it is indeed a bounty hunter that can be trusted.

Shiraishi hopes that he can maintain this spirit in the future and not violate his last principle as a human being.

The bounty hunter who betrayed his homeland and country could only be recognized for his integrity in his work.

If this is violated, Kakuzu will find it difficult to move forward in this world.

Without Shiraishi taking action himself, the first people who wanted Kakuzu dead were his employers.

A bounty hunter who loses his integrity and betrays his trust will only die.

◎

Debt collector.

That's the job title Kakuzu has at the moment.

Conducted debt collection work for the Aster Florist Guild.

The scope of companies covered by the Ziyuan Flower Chamber of Commerce is very broad. The internationally renowned Ziyuan Flower Pharmaceutical Company is a cross-international company under its umbrella.

At the same time, the Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce also has a department dedicated to providing loans, and there are debtors of the Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce in various countries.

There are two types of debtors. One is an honest debtor who can pay back the money in time and maintain credibility within the Ziyuan Flower Merchant Association. Next time you take out a loan, you can enjoy the discounted interest rate.

The other type is a dishonest debtor who borrows money and fails to repay it, thus losing credibility.

To deal with such dishonest people, we need some special power to make them pay back the overdue money as soon as possible.

When necessary, some unconventional means can be used.

It is the job of the debt collector to get the money back from the untrustworthy debtor.

The Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce officially established this cross-international debt collection department with the promotion of the Ghost Country's military.

Debt collectors are divided into four grades: gold, silver, copper and iron.

Iron debt collectors have the lowest level, and gold debt collectors have the highest level. The debtors in charge are all businessmen and celebrities, even at the national level.

So far, among all the debt collectors under the Aster Flower Merchant Guild, there is no gold medal debt collector of the highest level.

Even the silver debt collectors only have three people.

Mainly bronze and iron debt collectors.

Not only that, the higher the level of debt collectors, the higher the fixed monthly salary.

The highest gold medal debt collector has a monthly salary of 300,000 taels, a large commission at the end of the year, and the best social security.

Kakuzu looked at the various welfare clauses in the contract, his eyes shining green.

The fixed monthly salary of 300,000 taels is nothing. What matters is the commission and social security. That is the real big deal.

In Kakuzu's hand, he held an extremely exquisite round iron plate with the symbol of an aster flower engraved on it.

This means that Kakuzu has now become a low-level iron debt collector.

But no matter what job you do, you must be at the forefront of the industry.

Whether he is a bounty hunter or a debt collector, Jiao has always been so demanding on himself and has become a benchmark in the industry.

Therefore, set a small goal first and become the chief gold medal debt collector of the chamber of commerce!

◎

Konoha 46, early February.

While it was still snowing, Yanyin and Yunyin suddenly reached an agreement on an armistice.

Yan Yin returned the body of the third generation of Raikage, and Yun Yin also compensated Yan Yin.

At this point, the battle between Yan Yin and Yun Yin ended, but the third ninja world war did not end because of this.

A few days after the truce with Yunyin, Yan Yin immediately recruited 3,000 ninjas, went to the country of grass, and set up a battle to compete with Konoha.

In the case of lack of supplies, Yanyin decided to put all his eggs in one basket and make a complete break with Konoha and make a quick decision.

Kumogakure also reinforced the country of Yu. Thousands of ninjas who had previously been used to deal with Iwagakure were mobilized in the country of Yu, led by the Fourth Raikage himself, to invade the country of fire.

The Konoha troops led by Akimichi Tofaze were retreating steadily. With the reinforcements of a large number of elite ninjas from the Uchiha and other ninja clans, they could barely resist Kumogakure's further offensive, but they also suffered heavy losses.

Compared to the decline of Konoha in Yuno Country, the Kumogakure ninjas were very powerful, especially the leader, the Fourth Raikage, went to the battlefield in person, which greatly increased the morale of Kumogakure and put considerable pressure on Konoha.

When the outside world is in chaos and war, a dark corner of Konoha is full of peace.

In the dark and bright yellow laboratory, there are various experimental equipment.

In front of the experimental table, a figure stood with an expressionless face holding a scalpel. His skin was pale and his pupils were vertical snake pupils. He was dissecting the animal carcasses on the experimental table.

After a while, he looked at the door of the laboratory, and a person walked in without knocking.

His body was filled with a gloomy and cold aura.

The right half of his face was wrapped in a bandage, and the wrinkles on his face were much wider than before. It seemed that the other party hadn't been doing very well recently.

"You're not in the root base, what are you doing here? Did you come here to watch me make a fool of yourself, Danzo?"

Orochimaru put down the scalpel in his hand and wiped the blood on his hand with a white handkerchief. He stared at Danzo with his snake eyes and his voice was magnetic and hoarse.

"The frontline troops fighting between Konoha and Kumogakure were defeated. At the high-level meeting just now, many jounin recommended you to go to the Kumogakure battlefield. Congratulations, Orochimaru."

This seemingly congratulatory speech was full of harshness to Da Shewan's ears.

He laughed evilly and licked his tongue.

"Don't make me laugh, Danzo. You should know that the more they support me, the more Sarutobi-sensei is afraid of my existence. The older people are, the more afraid they are of being forgotten by the world. Sarutobi-sensei doesn't want to abdicate."

Although it was time to abdicate, some people in the village were dissatisfied with Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's soft policy a long time ago.

Therefore, after this war, his teacher Hiruza Sarutobi had to abdicate if he did not.

But he couldn't rest assured about the power in his hands, and he couldn't let go of Konoha. He always believed that his own balancing policy could bring stability to Konoha. Therefore, he needed a Fourth Hokage who could listen to him.

It doesn't matter if you are disobedient, the Fourth Hokage, who has no real power but only fame, can do the same.

The worst part is that Orochimaru himself is not among them.

As a Sannin, he not only has prestige, but also his own team.

The power that became Hokage lacked, leaving only the ANBU without control.

The power of the Anbu had already been infiltrated by the Sarutobi clan. The most powerful ministers and deputy ministers were all ninjas from the Sarutobi clan, making them the dominant family.

Based on this situation, the more people who support him in high-level meetings, the more they will force Sarutobi Hiruzen to give up on him as a disciple.

Orochimaru could predict that the position of the Fourth Hokage was getting further and further away from him.

"Orochimaru, aren't you angry?"

Danzo asked.

"Angry?" Orochimaru sneered: "It's just a boring political struggle. I, Orochimaru, will get what I want by myself, and will not rely on others' charity. Even if that person is my mentor."

Hiruzen Sarutobi did teach him a lot. He was able to achieve such high achievements in ninjutsu, and it was inseparable from the elite education of his teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But this does not mean that he will finish his life according to Sarutobi Hiruzen's arrangements.

"Even if you want to fight for the position of Hokage on your own, the other two Sannin will probably not support you. Especially Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya? He has been accustomed to having his life arranged by Mr. Sarutobi since he was a child. Especially when it comes to major matters, he has never opposed Mr. Sarutobi's ideas. Rather than living his own life, he is not living his own life. Others have arranged a life for him. Although he is my friend, this is precisely what I look down on about him the most."

"Then how about you support me in becoming Hokage?"

Danzo's eyes were blazing, revealing his blazing ambition.

"Support you?"

Orochimaru's face was stunned.

Looking at Danzo's wrinkled face, he shook his head.

"Ten years ago you still had a chance to compete, but now... you are too old."

Turn around and continue your research work.

"Putting aside the matter of Naruto, I would like you to assist me in completing a research."

Danzo was not angry and instead invited Orochimaru. He admired Orochimaru's mind and top research ability.

"What research?"

"Wood Release."

The word came out of Danzo's mouth.

Orochimaru paused in his movements and turned his head to take a deep look at Danzo.

"The Wood Release Project has been banned by Sarutobi-sensei for many years. You should know what will happen to you if your private research on Wood Release is exposed."

"I know Hiruzen better than you. Even if things are exposed, he will not take action against me. Moreover, I have arranged an important chess piece beside him that is absolutely unexpected."

Danzo said confidently.

Orochimaru pondered for a moment and said to Danzo: "I understand, I can research Wood Release for you, but I want a copy of Hashirama Cells as a reward for the research."

Danzo frowned, but finally nodded and agreed to take out a copy of Hashirama's cells as a reward for Orochimaru to study Wood Release for him.

Compared to the finished Wood Release, a portion of Hashirama Cells is nothing.

When Orochimaru succeeded in studying Wood Release... Danzo smiled coldly in his heart.

The most respected disciple is involved in taboo research that is expressly prohibited by the village. If this matter is exposed, how can you step down? Hiruzen?

Danzo was somewhat looking forward to seeing the pained and regretful expression on his face.

Since he didn't want to give up his position as Hokage, he could only force him to give up his position as Hokage.

From this moment on, the only thing Danzo has to do is to use his own methods to save Konoha and completely correct the outdated ideas of Konoha's conservatives.