After all, what stood behind this was the village's interests, so Tsunade naturally wouldn't budge.
The village was something her grandfather had wanted to protect for his entire life. As his granddaughter, there was no way Tsunade would sit by and watch Konoha decline.
The more benefits they could secure now, the easier it would be for Konoha to recover.
Kiyohara, meanwhile, stayed silent most of the time, only offering suggestions when the discussion turned to concrete details of cooperation.
Every now and then, his gaze drifted toward the corner of the meeting room, where Sunagakure's guard ninja were standing. Every one of them looked a little worn down.
It seemed Pakura's disappearance had left them uneasy.
They just didn't know where she had gone, or whether she was even still alive.
After all, Pakura had lost a lot of blood out there in the desert.
Rasa sat in the main seat, with dark fatigue under his eyes.
"Did Kazekage-sama not sleep well last night?"
Kiyohara asked casually.
"I was handling documents late into the night."
Rasa smiled.
Naturally, he wasn't going to reveal anything to Konoha's ninja.
Kiyohara smiled too.
He was smiling because Rasa's act was pretty convincing.
Three days later, the delegation set out to return to Konoha.
…
After leaving the borders of the Land of Wind and entering the hilly region of the Land of Rivers, Tsunade suddenly ordered the group to stop.
"You all head on first."
She waved a hand, signaling for the clerical ninja and guards to continue east.
"Kiyohara and I have something else to do."
"Tsunade-sama, this…"
One of the ninja looked troubled.
"That's an order."
Tsunade arched a brow, and the pressure of one of the Three Sannin naturally rolled off her.
"What, am I not even allowed this much freedom?"
"…No, of course not."
Helpless, the group continued eastward, quickly disappearing around the hills.
After all, Tsunade was the last princess of the Senju clan and also one of the legendary Sannin. She had a bit of special privilege.
Only once they were all gone did she turn back with a sly smile.
"Let's go, Kiyohara."
She patted him on the shoulder.
"I've been thinking about the biggest casino in the Land of Fire for ages."
Kiyohara sighed.
He knew it.
…
Tanzaku Town was one of the most prosperous towns in the Land of Rivers. Because it sat at the border of the Land of Fire, Wind, and Earth, merchant caravans passed through constantly, and the place was packed with casinos, taverns, inns, and every kind of shady figure imaginable.
The moment Tsunade entered the casino, it was like she had come home. She exchanged her money for chips with practiced ease, then squeezed her way to the busiest dice table.
Kiyohara, meanwhile, booked two rooms at the inn across the street from the casino, then made a quick survey of the surrounding terrain.
When he returned toward the casino, he stopped at the entrance to a narrow alley.
From inside came the sound of muffled sobbing, mixed with harsh shouting.
"…You little brat, cry again and I'll cut your tongue out!"
"Let me go… Mama… Mama…"
Kiyohara turned into the alley.
Three men in rough cloth clothes were dragging a little girl, no older than seven or eight, toward the deeper shadows. Her clothes had been torn, and there was a clear handprint across her face.
"Hey."
Kiyohara's voice was calm.
All three men turned at once. Seeing that it was only a young man who looked barely in his teens, impatience immediately showed on their faces.
"Get lost and mind your own—"
Before the sentence could finish, crimson Sharingan lit up in the darkness.
The expressions on all three men froze instantly. Their eyes went vacant, and they stiffened in place like puppets with their strings cut.
Kiyohara walked up to the little girl, crouched down, and used a chakra scalpel to cut the rope binding her wrists.
"Can you walk?"
The girl stared at him blankly, nodded, then shook her head, tears spilling down in large drops.
Kiyohara didn't ask more. He picked her up with one arm and pressed his other hand against one of the men's foreheads.
Genjutsu: Sharingan.
He interrogated him directly.
He hadn't expected to run into something this disgusting here.
Still, dealing with these people was hardly any trouble.
Kiyohara had intended to gather some information first, then take the girl to the nearest magistrate's office—the local security authority.
Those offices were organizations under the daimyo's rule, responsible for keeping order among civilians.
Very quickly, Kiyohara learned of a trafficking ring, a hidden base, transport routes, and their contact person.
Then his brow lifted slightly.
There was an unexpected bonus.
According to the information he pulled from them with genjutsu, there was a heavily guarded warehouse hidden in the mountain region near the border of the Land of Rivers.
In addition to taking people there, they were also involved in handling human organs.
Kiyohara immediately understood.
So this was where the human experimentation was taking place.
Orochimaru's?
He was curious.
He tied the three men together with rope after leaving them limp on the ground, dragged them along, and took them together with the little girl to the magistrate's office at the end of the street. After giving a simple explanation, he turned and left.
…
The so-called warehouse in the mountains was actually a large stone building built against the slope, with a simple barrier and patrolling ninja stationed outside.
Kiyohara stood on a distant cliff, his Sharingan piercing the darkness as he observed the chakra flows inside.
The fact that ninja were guarding it meant this place was anything but ordinary.
Roughly twenty people. Five of them were jonin-level, the rest chunin.
That was an unusually strong guard force—far too much for a mere trafficking base.
He put on a black mask he had prepared earlier and drew a dark cloak over himself, blending into the night.
The first security line consisted of two chunin hiding in the treetops.
Kiyohara didn't even bother approaching. He simply raised a hand, and two shuriken wrapped in Lightning Release chakra flew soundlessly out.
Thud.
The bodies dropped from the tree, only to be caught by gold dust rising from below, then slowly pulled into the ground—leaving not even a bloodstain behind.
The second line was the barrier nodes.
Using sealing techniques he had learned from Karine Uzumaki, Kiyohara directly slipped through.
He infiltrated layer by layer, like a fish gliding into the deep sea.
Until he reached the interior.
As he had suspected, this was no warehouse.
It was a laboratory.
Along the way, Kiyohara had also interrogated one of the guards with genjutsu and learned that this place belonged to Danzo Shimura.
Under the harsh white lights, row after row of glass containers were lined up neatly. Inside them floated human organs, severed limbs, even intact corpses staring blankly with empty eyes.
The air reeked of formaldehyde mixed with blood.
Several researchers in white coats were recording data, completely unaware of the slaughter already unfolding outside.
Kiyohara's gaze swept over the glass containers, then stopped on the innermost row.
Inside them were eyes.
One after another, crimson eyes marked with tomoe.
Sharingan.
At least two pairs.
His pupils narrowed slightly.
And at that exact moment, the laboratory door flew open. A shinobi wearing an animal mask came in—and froze the instant he saw Kiyohara.
"Enemy attack!!"
The scream had barely begun when Kiyohara vanished.
He reappeared behind the shinobi, drew his blade, and a crescent of steel flashed.
The head flew up.
Blood splattered across the ceiling like a bursting red firework.
Only then did the researchers finally realize what was happening, screaming as they scattered in all directions.
Too late.
Kiyohara's figure flickered through the laboratory, and every time he appeared, another spray of blood followed.
A blade slit throats, kunai punched through foreheads, Lightning Release pierced hearts…
By the end, Kiyohara was the only one left standing.
The white coats lay sprawled in pools of blood, some still frozen in the positions they had died in while trying to run.
Kiyohara flicked the blood from his sword and walked to the row of glass tanks holding the Sharingan.
He opened the containers and carefully sealed away two pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan using a special storage scroll.
Then he walked to the main control desk and removed all the data drives from the experiment records, sealing those away too.
Once he had done all that, he looked around and formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique."
Blazing white fire burst from his mouth.
The intense heat carbonized flesh, melted metal, and destroyed every trace of those crimes.
Within the flames, Kiyohara slowly stepped backward until he disappeared into the shadows at the corner of the room.
When he appeared again on the cliffside, the building behind him had already turned into a towering torch, painting half the night sky orange.
The night wind lifted the hem of his cloak, revealing the small sealing scroll in his hand.
Inside it were two pairs of Sharingan—and enough experimental data to make Danzo suffer for years.
Kiyohara lowered his eyes to his right hand. The curse mark patterns on the back of it slowly receded.
"Time to head back."
A trace of delight stirred in his chest.
He had gone out on a whim and ended up making a nice profit.
"Danzo really is an old goat worth shearing."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Two pairs of Sharingan—four eyes altogether—were enough for his purposes.
And the experimental data was valuable too. It would greatly accelerate his progress on researching bloodline transplantation.
Kiyohara planned to hand a copy of that part to Nono Yakushi as well.
…
Outside the casino in Tanzaku Town.
Tsunade came out looking annoyed, the purse in her hand as flat as a frog that had been stepped on.
"Lost again?"
Kiyohara stepped out of the shadow of the inn across the street, already back in his usual clothes.
"It was only the last three rounds! Just a little more and I would've had it!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth.
"That dealer was definitely cheating. I clearly saw the dice were—"
"Sensei."
Kiyohara cut off her muttering.
"Want to go to the hot springs? I heard there's a good one nearby."
Tsunade's eyes lit up, then narrowed suspiciously.
"Why are you suddenly being so nice? You're not making fun of me, are you?"
"I just figured you need to relax."
Kiyohara said with a straight face.
He was hardly going to mention that he'd just casually wiped out a Root base and was in a particularly good mood.
"Hmph… at least you've got some conscience."
Tsunade rubbed her shoulders.
"Fine, let's go. I'm exhausted. But just so you know, you're paying."
"Yeah, yeah."
…
The hot spring inn was tucked away in a bamboo grove behind Tanzaku Town, the whole place quiet and wreathed in drifting steam.
Kiyohara and Tsunade reserved the entire place, with high walls separating it from the other unused sections.
All the other customers had been cleared out.
The only things they could hear were the sound of water flowing and the rustle of wind through bamboo leaves.
Tsunade stripped off her outer clothes and slipped into the spring with only a towel around herself, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Ah… I'm alive again…"
Kiyohara sat at the edge of the pool, his lower body submerged while his upper back rested against the rocks.
Steam rose thickly, blurring their outlines.
"Kiyohara."
Tsunade suddenly spoke, her voice slightly blurred, like she was half asleep.
"Yeah?"
"Have you been hiding something from me lately?"
Kiyohara turned his head.
Tsunade was leaning back against the side of the spring, her wet blonde hair stuck to her cheeks and neck. The towel floated loosely in the water, exposing her smooth shoulders and collarbone.
Drops of water ran along her skin and slipped down into the deeper curves below.
Her eyes were closed, tiny beads of water clinging to her lashes.
"What makes you ask that?"
Kiyohara looked away and up toward the night sky.
Mixed bathing really was a beautiful custom.
Something worth promoting.
After reserving the whole place, it was only him and Tsunade.
Kiyohara was getting a taste of what corrupt money could buy.
"Intuition."
Tsunade said lazily.
"You've always been like this. The more important something is, the more you like to bottle it up on your own. First it was training, then the battlefield, and now… who knows what you're scheming."
She paused, her voice dropping lower.
"I'm just saying, if there's anything you need help with, remember to come to me."
Steam drifted between them, softening the air.
Kiyohara fell silent for a moment.
So even his slight changes in mood had been noticed by Tsunade.
Still, this was purely a good thing.
Even if Danzo found out, there was no way he could ever stand up and admit those inhuman experiments were his.
"Thank you, Sensei."
Tsunade didn't say anything after that. She seemed to drift off.
Kiyohara closed his eyes too, letting the warm water wrap around his body.
…
Deep inside a Root base.
Danzo Shimura sat on a stone chair, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest guard.
Lately, his mood had actually been quite good.
The war was nearing its end. Kirigakure had pulled back. Sunagakure wanted peace. Even Iwagakure had begun sitting on the fence.
That meant Konoha would finally be able to shift more of its resources inward.
And Orochimaru's desire for the Hokage's seat had become more and more obvious. That scientific madman needed Danzo's support, and he was willing to pay a fitting price for it.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Danzo had even begun imagining the day Orochimaru would sit in the Hokage's seat—only for Danzo to gradually hollow him out from the shadows until, in the end, the hat itself passed into his own hands.
The last time he had come this close to becoming Hokage had been years ago, when he stayed behind as Tobirama's rearguard.
Back then, he had thought he would die.
But he had survived.
So what about this time?
Shimura Danzo would make Konoha great again.
"Danzo-sama!"
Hurried footsteps shattered his thoughts.
A Root operative stumbled into the chamber, breath ragged behind his mask.
Danzo frowned.
"What is the meaning of this panic? You are Root, and yet you can't even manage basic composure?"
"F-forgive me…"
The operative dropped to one knee, trying to steady himself, though his voice still shook.
"Speak."
"The Land of Rivers… base…"
The operative swallowed.
"It was attacked."
Danzo's tapping finger stopped.
"Details."
Danzo asked coldly.
"Wiped out… Everyone inside. Personnel, test subjects, guards… all dead. The experiment data was destroyed, and the core samples are missing. The attacker set the place on fire before leaving. The entire base has been burned to the ground."
The hall fell into dead silence.
Only the crackle of the torches on the wall remained, together with the ninja's strained breathing.
After a long pause, Danzo finally spoke.
"The losses?"
"…Preliminary estimate: roughly eighty million ryo in buildings and equipment. The data… impossible to value. And…"
The operative's voice grew weaker and weaker.
"Speak."
"…All finished samples from the Sharingan transplantation project are missing."
Crack.
The armrest shattered in Danzo's grip.
Pieces from it crumbled between his fingers and rattled to the floor.
His face was hidden in shadow, unreadable, but the entire hall seemed to grow heavier, the air itself pressing down.
"Who did it?"
Danzo forced down the rage in his chest.
"W-we're still investigating… There were no useful clues left at the scene. The attacker cleaned everything too thoroughly. The only thing we know for sure is that they were extremely powerful. Five jonin-level guards were wiped out before they could even raise an alarm…"
"Useless."
Danzo cut him off.
Eighty million ryo.
Two pairs of Sharingan.
Years' worth of accumulated research data.
The numbers rolled over and over in his mind.
My money…!
Danzo suddenly remembered how one of his other bases had been wiped out by Kiyohara not that long ago.
And now it had happened again.
Damn it, why did every disaster like this seem to land on him?
"Investigate."
Danzo rose to his feet, his lone eye shining coldly in the dark.
"Use every covert line. Every informant. Find out who dared touch Root's property."
"Yes!"
The ninja retreated in panic.
Silence returned to the hall.
Danzo remained standing there for a long time, unmoving.
Torchlight cast his shadow long and twisted across the stone wall, like a beast crouched in wait.
He slowly raised his hand and looked at the stone dust crumbling from his palm.
Root's underground base would never know rain.
And yet at that moment, even this colorless world seemed to be mourning in silence—for those eighty million ryo, and for those two pairs of Sharingan.
…
At the hot spring inn.
Kiyohara rose from the bath, water running along the firm lines of his muscles.
He changed into a clean yukata, tied the sash, glanced once at Tsunade still asleep in the water, and walked into the inner room.
On the table was the inn's complimentary tea and snacks.
There was also a small slip of paper that had somehow been pushed through the door earlier.
Kiyohara picked it up. In neat handwriting, it read:
"Top-class young beauties and mature ladies, guaranteed quality from the Land of Fire, hot spring massage, full service, address: Tanzaku back alley, third floor, reservations contact…"
So this was how they tested me?
Kiyohara's brows didn't even move.
A tiny flame rose at his fingertip, and he burned the note to ash.
Just as the ashes drifted into the tray, Tsunade came in rubbing her eyes.
"What are you reading?"
"Nothing."
Kiyohara calmly pushed a cup of tea toward her.
With Tsunade right here, why would he bother looking for anyone else?
As Kiyohara's vision improved more and more, he could now see details he would have missed in the past.
On ordinary women, all kinds of flaws now stood out to him far more than before.
Of course, someone like Kurenai, who had chakra and took care of herself properly, showed no flaws at all.
And Tsunade was on an even higher level.
With the Yin Seal on her, she was maintained to perfection, her skin smooth enough to seem almost breakable.
And no matter how much time passed, she would probably remain just as firm and youthful.
That was the power of the Yin Seal. It came with a built-in eternal youth buff.
"It was just a flyer from the inn. Want a massage, Sensei? I could do it."
Kiyohara said.
He didn't mind giving Tsunade a full spa session himself.
"A massage?"
Tsunade's eyes lit up, then narrowed suspiciously.
"You're not trying to mess with me, are you?"
"Of course not."
Kiyohara took a sip of tea.
"I just thought you might need to relax after losing today."
"Hmph… at least you've got some conscience."
Tsunade sat down with the tea, then suddenly seemed to think of something and leaned in to inspect him.
"Now that I think about it, you really have gotten taller lately. And your muscles are a lot more solid too…"
Her eyes swept over the line of his collarbone and chest visible through the neckline of his yukata, then paused before she casually looked away.
"Looks like your training hasn't been slipping."
"Thanks to you, Sensei."
Kiyohara set his cup down.
He had Tsunade lie on the bed, then stood behind her and started kneading her shoulders and working at her back.
And from the side, Kiyohara was treated to a very striking view.
~~~
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