"Hm?"
Lost in thought, Hii Kōri suddenly detected a faint presence in the distance—like spotting a dim candle flame in a pitch-black, empty room.
"So this is chakra sensing? What a novel experience... Ahh, there are so many research topics to explore. I'm almost looking forward to the days ahead~"
His tone lifted noticeably, sounding quite cheerful.
As someone Gojō Satoru had called a "techno-sexual deviant," Hii Kōri was well aware of his own abnormal mental state.
Ignoring ethics and morality, holding life cheap—if it meant验证 some technique or realizing some concept, he'd act without hesitation, completely indifferent to how much trouble he caused. Someone like him, in a manga, would typically get blown up by some trio of good citizens who could combine with their eyes closed.
"Can't do that. Can't let that show. I need to look sad~"
But recognizing the problem and suppressing his instinctive excitement were two different things.
Hii Kōri patted his cheeks, estimating the approaching party's speed while forcing himself to wipe the smile off his face. Then he grabbed a handful of charcoal dust and smeared it on his face, rubbed his eyes until they were red and teary.
His acting couldn't be called outstanding—it was more like completely worthless. Without some external help, he probably couldn't fool a ninja's perceptive eye.
...
The smell of blood.
As a ninja in her early thirties, Chiyo was at the absolute peak of her abilities. Equally outstanding in medical ninjutsu and the Puppet Technique, she frequently handled various poisons, and her sense of smell had long been honed to sharpness.
From a distance, she could already detect the faint scent of blood in the air.
For most people, this wasn't a happy omen—and for Chiyo at this moment, it was no different.
Frowning, she gazed toward the distant smithy, her heart sinking to the depths.
Sunagakure had long confirmed that the blacksmith family living there were members of the Uzumaki clan. Over the years, they'd expended considerable resources courting this family.
Helping them conceal their identities, commissioning large orders, senior management's overt and covert contacts and gestures of goodwill...
To be honest, while that couple were certainly stronger than average chūnin, they hadn't reached jōnin level. After so long without actual combat, it was questionable how much of their ability remained.
Normally, such "rogue ninja" wouldn't be worth one of the Five Great Villages going to such lengths to recruit. But the "Uzumaki clan" identity alone justified all of it.
To put it precisely: a rogue ninja might be worth 10 points, and an ordinary Uzumaki clan member at most 50.
But an Uzumaki ninja living outside the village? Probably worth 300 points.
Especially for Sunagakure.
Before the First Hokage established peace treaties between the great nations by distributing the tailed beasts, Sunagakure had already captured Shukaku, the One-Tail.
But it wasn't until the Second Kazekage, Shamon, assumed the position and dedicated himself to tailed beast militarization research that Shukaku was sealed within a jinchūriki.
Bunpuku, who became the One-Tail jinchūriki as a child, trained diligently and could skillfully ride Shukaku while maintaining a friendly relationship with it. But this "stability"—built on peaceful human–tailed beast communication—wasn't considered reliable by Sunagakure's leadership.
Later, to prevent the jinchūriki from running wild, Sand's leadership ordered Bunpuku imprisoned.
In a word: Sunagakure's research and foundation in sealing techniques were pathetically weak. So weak that they could barely maintain jinchūriki reliability through sealing alone.
And as everyone knew, the Uzumaki clan were the foremost experts in sealing techniques in the entire ninja world.
To say Sunagakure didn't covet Uzumaki sealing techniques would be impossible. However, the Country of Whirlpools—where the Uzumaki resided—was firmly shielded by the Country of Fire. Konoha and Uzushiogakure were the closest of allies. Under these circumstances, the difficulty of infiltrating the Country of Whirlpools to steal Uzumaki sealing techniques went without saying.
So when Sunagakure discovered Uzumaki clan members—ninja, no less—living as refugees in neighboring Rivers Country, how could they not be overjoyed?
It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but even techniques leaked by mere chūnin were superior to anything Sand possessed.
In fact, the couple had deliberately revealed their Uzumaki identity to Sunagakure.
Though they'd faked their deaths and hidden in Rivers Country to escape ninja life, they understood that the post-war peace wouldn't last long.
If it were just the two of them, they wouldn't care. But with a child born, they needed to secure their son's future in the gradually destabilizing situation.
As deserters who'd faked their deaths, they couldn't return to Konoha or Uzushio. Their best option was Sunagakure.
As one of the Five Great Villages with a desperate need for Uzumaki sealing techniques, these two factors combined meant Sand would certainly offer them quite generous treatment.
This couple weren't particularly skilled as ninja, nor could they claim much loyalty to any village. But their discernment was undeniably sharp, and their love for their child undeniably strong.
As for Sunagakure, after confirming their identities, of course they'd considered violent means.
Two ninja below jōnin level—killing or capturing them wouldn't be difficult for Sand. But preventing them from committing suicide? That would be far too hard.
In this "transaction," Sand wasn't exactly in an advantageous position. With no room for maneuver, they couldn't possibly resort to extreme measures.
What they needed were living, cooperative Uzumaki—especially the next generation they could influence through various channels to become true Sunagakure ninja.
So Sand chose, and had to choose, a conciliatory approach: continuous, generous commissions and promises of safety to negotiate with this couple.
Even though, years later, they still hadn't joined Sand—proving the couple were holding out for a better offer—Sand's leadership could see this but remained helpless.
Such was the cruel reality of a seller's market.
Look on the bright side: at least Sand had acquired some sealing technique notes from this couple. Not completely empty-handed, right?
Compared to the costs of gathering such knowledge elsewhere, these years' investment could hardly be called expensive.
But now, all that investment was probably about to go down the drain.
Sighing inwardly, Chiyo silently deployed an ordinary puppet, directing it to push open the half-closed door.