Chapter 187: Who Said I'm Here to Rescue the Daimyo?
Capital of the Land of Lightning
The news of the Daimyo's disappearance gradually spread from the castle. Without anyone to control it, the speed at which such a bombshell traveled was terrifying. The only difference was that those closer to the court heard it sooner.
A sense of unease gradually spread from the castle to the great nobles of the capital.
But the one person who had the power to calm their fears, the chief minister, Jun'en Furuya, was just working in his own residence, refusing all visitors.
For a time, the Daimyo's sons were all starting to get ideas, using the excuse of "understanding the situation" and "being concerned for their father" to snoop around the city.
After a night of fermenting, the entire castle was in a state of panic. The rumor in the servant grapevine was that the Daimyo had been kidnapped.
And the new mercenaries, who had only been here for a few days, were also starting to make some strange moves.
Natsu, following Dana's advice, had stayed in her room with Momo, passing the time with training and Hanafuda.
Suddenly, she heard a noise outside. She peeked through a crack in the window.
A large number of Cloud ninja were pouring into the castle.
Many of them were leaping across the rooftops, shouting, "The Hidden Cloud is maintaining order! Please stay in your rooms and do not move about!"
The servants, as always, were obedient. For them, following orders was simple. But with no one to take charge, they had been in a panic.
She could vaguely hear the sound of fighting, but it was always short.
In the capital, there were also a number of Cloud ninja moving about. For the much larger city, they did not need to maintain order. They just had to jump around with their forehead protectors, show their faces, and it would be enough to quell any funny ideas. The city's samurai, though they had no orders, saw that their superiors were not stopping them, and so they tacitly accepted the Cloud's actions. In the end, they also needed someone to take charge.
In just one day, the Cloud, which had been driven away, had returned in a different capacity, and everyone thought it was perfectly natural.
Except for a few. They could only regretfully hide their fangs again. Because they were afraid of having them broken.
Dana was fast. Or rather, he had always been fast.
There were many kinds of fast. Minato's reaction speed was one kind. The Third Raikage's movement speed was another. And Sakumo's action speed was another.
And Dana was all of them.
So, in the twilight, he was like an afterimage.
The capital was not very close to the coast. Even for a ninja, it would take half a day. But he had only taken a little over an hour. He had set out at dusk, and the sky was not yet completely dark.
Leaving the land, the sea was no problem for a ninja. In fact, it was even faster. Because on the sea, you could run in a straight line.
A short while later, the small island known as Qin Island appeared before him.
Ninety percent of the island was rugged mountain terrain, with no development value, and it was not large. If it weren't so close to the coast, it wouldn't even have a name.
Without hesitation, he leaped, a splash of water, and he was on the top of the low mountain on the island. His "pulse" vision had already marked their location.
The black-haired swordsman and the sallow-faced ninja were waiting there. It seemed they had not yet realized that their identities had been exposed, or they were still hoping to use their disguises for one last deception.
His arrival was much faster than they had expected. To be honest, a few minutes earlier, they had not even been ready themselves.
So, when he appeared on the sea, they were both a little grim.
Even for a ruthless man who had performed human experiments, kidnapping a Daimyo was crossing a certain line. It was a subconscious feeling that most ninja had. In their view, kidnapping a Daimyo, especially one of the five great nations, was a much more serious crime than human experiments, sending children to war, or killing civilians.
But without the support of their village, acting on their own, they did not have many options to rescue Tsunade.
But they had still maintained their disguises, as a final cover for their outrageous act, hoping to minimize the fallout.
The black-haired swordsman looked up at him. Though he had secretly spied on him many times, he was still surprised. It was a surprise that came from the fact that it had not been that long, but the little kid was now almost as tall as him.
He was only thirty, in the prime of a ninja's life. But every time he saw Yotsuki Dana, he felt old.
This feeling, of being washed ashore by the next wave before he had even had a chance to bloom, was a hard one to swallow.
But the thought of Tsunade, still a prisoner in the Cloud, brought him back to his senses.
"The famous Yotsuki Dana," the sallow-faced ninja said. "You're fast."
"I'm curious to hear what you have to say," he said, not bothering to correct their disguises.
"The Daimyo is in our hands," the sallow-faced ninja said, licking his lips. "So we're here to negotiate."
"I advise you not to be reckless," the black-haired swordsman said. "The life of a Daimyo should be enough to make you calm down. Yotsuki Dana, bring Tsunade here, unharmed, in three days. Someone has offered a high price for a Senju descendant. And then we can return the Daimyo to you. And a reminder, these are just Shadow Clones. The Daimyo is not here."
Though the specific mention of "Tsunade" would have made anyone suspect Konoha, he had still fabricated a plausible reason, a final fig leaf. Otherwise, whether they succeeded or failed, it would bring great trouble to the village.
Dana held up three fingers, interrupting them.
"You have made three mistakes."
Orochimaru and Jiraiya were taken aback.
"First, I was genuinely curious to hear what you had to say. Because in a little while, we may not have a chance to talk like this. Though, after hearing you, I feel very disappointed. Second, how big do you think my sensory range is?"
The black-haired swordsman and the sallow-faced ninja were shocked.
They had subconsciously chosen such a remote area, an uninhabited island, for the sake of concealment.
But what they didn't know was that this had also saved him from the dilemma of having a thousand little figures in his "pulse" vision, unable to distinguish them.
"I advise you not to act rashly," the black-haired swordsman threatened. "Otherwise, you may only get a dead Daimyo."
Dana smiled, and with one last glance at the two Shadow Clones, he turned and sped off in a certain direction.
He had come so fast that he had almost arrived before them, so fast that he had exceeded their expectations, and they had almost not been ready.
So, while he was still on the sea, he had clearly sensed the direction they had come from.
And on the sea, a ninja runs in a straight line.
The two Shadow Clones were horrified. The direction he was heading was the right one.
They didn't have time to hesitate. They immediately gave chase. The traps they had set on the island were now useless.
The last rays of the setting sun glinted off Dana as he cut through the calm sea like a silver pair of scissors, with the black-haired swordsman and the sallow-faced ninja in hot pursuit.
But they soon discovered that they couldn't catch up.
Even though they were no longer worried about their chakra consumption.
Even though they were pushing themselves to the point of physical damage, to the point where their Shadow Clones were about to dissipate.
They were still far slower than him.
Until his figure disappeared from sight, the two Shadow Clones stood on the sea, at a loss.
"Dammit! What do we do?!"
"Dispel the clones and inform the real bodies."
"I hope it's not too late!"
Because they knew that they were not far from their real bodies.
As he moved, a short while later, another island appeared in his "pulse" vision's range.
There were only three people on the island.
In the blink of an eye, he had charged into a cave on the coast.
"Third," he said, looking at the two of them, who were in the middle of trying to move and had been caught red-handed, "who said I'm here to rescue the Daimyo?"