Drop Some power stones! If you like the chapter! It helps to keep me motivated to upload more!đź’Žđź’Žđź’ŽÂ
------
"Lord Minato, I truly apologize! Here's five million ryo—thank you so much for escorting us!"
Akio watched the apologetic company president, a tiny old man, depart, then looked down at the five-million-ryo banknote in his hand and let out a wry smile.
"As expected... it's not that simple, huh..."
Last evening, after the caravan arrived in the Land of Lightning, the little old president arranged for Akio to stay in a hot spring inn, telling him he'd come find him the next day. It was obvious he didn't want Akio to see what exactly they were transporting.
Now that he had slipped into the Land of Lightning, Akio found himself losing interest in the cargo itself. Originally, he had planned to meet Kinkaku and Ginkaku directly, get close to them, and then quietly "deal" with them. But reality had not been so kind—he was refused an audience.
Early this morning, the little president rushed over again, showering him with apologies, but the message remained clear:
"Lord Kinkaku and Lord Ginkaku refuse to meet you!"
"Judging by the strength I showed, I should be close to S-rank already. And even then, they refused to meet me... Is it because I'm just a wandering ninja?"
Akio paced back and forth in his room.
"The caravan will be returning in two days. Should I use the opportunity to find them and make a move? But inside Kumogakure, that would be troublesome..."
Akio still didn't have the power of Hashirama or Madara. Sage Mode and the Eight Gates could allow him to quickly take down Kinkaku and Ginkaku, but afterward, being besieged would become a real problem.
No matter how much he thought it over, he couldn't come up with a good solution. Sighing, he undressed and collapsed into the hot spring.
It wasn't until noon that Akio finally emerged from the bath.
"In these few days, I've soaked in more hot springs than I did in my entire past life..." Akio muttered as he got dressed. "Without Hashirama around to tease, life's gotten so boring..."
"Whatever, might as well stroll around Kumogakure. Grab some food. Maybe I'll stumble onto something interesting."
Stepping out of the inn, he glanced around. The air was thick with misty clouds; most of the pedestrians had dark skin, and the buildings were mostly round in shape—a sharp contrast to Konoha.
"Good thing I had the foresight to transform myself into someone with darker skin. Otherwise, it would've been pretty awkward..." Akio murmured and wandered into what seemed like a restaurant.
"...What the heck is this menu? Did I walk into the wrong place...? It's a barbecue joint, right?"
Akio's mouth twitched as he stared at the menu in his hand.
The eating habits of Kumogakure were vastly different from Konoha's. Regardless of what food it was, it seemed the norm here was to deep-fry first and grill later. Some dishes were okay... but things like deep-fried, grilled bananas?
How was anyone supposed to eat that?
After much internal struggle, Akio finally ordered a grilled fish and a few slices of grilled bread—at least they were relatively normal.
After a full meal, he unexpectedly picked up some valuable information.
He learned of a situation that was no longer much of a secret within Kumogakure.
The village's upper ranks were now split into two factions: the Martial Faction and the Conservative Faction.
The Conservative Faction, led by B and the Second Raikage, consisted of those who, even in these turbulent times, preferred to seek alliances rather than proactively initiate attacks.
The Martial Faction, led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, advocated for launching immediate assaults on other nations. Especially after Hashirama's death, they had been pushing hard for an invasion of the Land of Fire.
"I didn't expect that..." Akio muttered. "That burly guy actually belongs to the conservative side? That's rare. Isn't Kumogakure known as a 'militaristic village'?"
"Then again, it's not surprising that Kinkaku and Ginkaku are on the warmongering side. But later, there was that alliance ceremony between Tobirama and the Second Raikage, right? Which means... the Martial Faction lost? So that's why those two ended up assassinating the Second Raikage?"
Akio gradually pieced everything together and suddenly realized how foolish Kinkaku and Ginkaku seemed.
To think that in such a chaotic and restless world, the Martial Faction still lost out to the Conservatives...
Chuckling to himself, Akio paid the bill and left the restaurant.
"Kinkaku and Ginkaku are that dumb? Did I come here for nothing...?" he muttered under his breath. "How did ninjas this stupid manage to take down Tobirama too? Maybe Tobirama wasn't as smart as I thought."
But since he was already here, there was no point regretting it. Akio decided to focus on finding a way to stay longer in the Land of Lightning.
"Huh? That chakra...?"
While idly strolling, Akio slightly activated his sensory perception. As he passed by a cylindrical building, he sensed a somewhat familiar chakra signature.
"This place... is a foundry," he thought, feeling the waves of heat radiating from inside.
"So the shipment was just iron and other metals...?" Akio muttered. "No... If it were only that, there wouldn't be so much secrecy. Plus, B personally attacked... Maybe there's something rare inside, like chakra-conductive metal?"
Akio's mind began to churn, but he didn't act immediately.
As long as he found a way to stay in Kumogakure, these treasures would eventually fall into his hands.
"Oh? What's this...?"
He soon stumbled across another interesting place: Kumogakure's Casino.
A mischievous smile appeared on Akio's face. Maybe he could fleece the local ninjas and win a few hundred million.
However, upon entering, he witnessed a farcical scene.
A plain-looking civilian had just been scammed by a group of ninjas and was now loudly protesting.
The ninjas exchanged glances, forcibly dragged the man out, and one of them barked,
"Do you even know whose place this is? This casino belongs to Lord Kinkaku and Lord Ginkaku! How dare you cause trouble here!"
The civilian flinched and immediately fell silent.
"A casino run by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, huh... this might be an opportunity..." Akio mused.
Meanwhile, inside the Raikage Building—
A file sat on the desk in front of the Second Raikage.
Name: Namikaze Minato
Alias: Akio
Age: Unknown (Approx. 25)
Strength: Suspected S-rank. Proficient in Lightning Release. Wielder of Black Lightning.
Background: Unknown.
Record: First appeared in the Land of Hot Water. Later disguised himself as a samurai and joined Kinkaku and Ginkaku's merchant convoy. Engaged in battle with B outside the Land of Lightning, fought evenly.
"Fought evenly?" The Second Raikage lifted his head and frowned at B.
"I heard you were dragging around ten kids when you fought him. Why does the report make it sound like you were equals?"
"I requested that wording," B replied earnestly.
"When I fought him, that guy seemed completely relaxed the whole time. He might be hiding even more strength. Otherwise, even with ten kids around, I wouldn't have allowed Kinkaku and Ginkaku to cause such a mess."
"Kinkaku, Ginkaku..." The Second Raikage sighed.
"If that weapon they made could've been properly controlled, it might have strengthened the village. But in their hands... and now with the Great Ninja War on the horizon, and a mysterious Namikaze Minato popping up... Trouble is brewing."
"Are we sure he's not using a disguise?" he asked.
B shook his head. "No signs of disguise."
The Second Raikage nodded.
"Have ANBU monitor him closely. The caravan can only stay for two more days. If he's still in the village after that... then we'll act."
B nodded silently as the Raikage Building sank into a heavy quiet.
---
For early access to advanced chapters visit my P@treon:
P@treon/ Dexy3
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!