Chương 117: At least not in the village

That night, Chikamatsu took action, leaving behind a puppet that transformed into himself to cooperate with Chiyo, creating the illusion that he was still there, while he himself left unnoticed, sneaking out of the village.

Sitting on the rooftop railing, Jieluo looked down at the village with a smile on his face.

It's only the first day, and you can't wait any longer?

"What are you looking at?" Mito asked. Kagura scanned the entire village repeatedly with her keen eyes and said, "A little mouse just sneaked out."

When they met during the day, Mito remembered Chikamatsu's chakra, which was equivalent to being right under Mito's nose.

Jie Luo tossed the wine bottle aside, a preserved plum in his mouth, and mumbled, "The old man gave me this task, I'll go."

"Okay." Mito asked, "Will you be coming back to sleep tonight?"

"That depends on how diligent he is," Jieluo said, getting up and walking towards the void.

"Take care on your journey." Mito watched Yura's figure gradually disappear into the misty white fog under the moonlight.

Walking in mid-air, beneath your feet is a hair-web-like path erected by Jieluo. From Jieluo's perspective, the original four-story bunker is now shrouded in a huge black hair-web nest, which grows halfway up the mountain and is level with the giant Yama statue on the mountain.

The seemingly endless strands of hair shot from the black nest into the thick white mist in mid-air. Above the village, the crisscrossing strands of hair formed a complex network. Jieluo walked through the network, went straight out of the village, and silently hung ten meters behind Jinsong.

He remained silent throughout, maintaining the same pace as Jin Song.

An hour later, Chikamatsu arrived at a bustling town near Kirigakure. Although it was not the main city of the Land of Water, he could not let the opportunity to gather information slip by.

First, he inquired in ordinary taverns, searching for traces of ninjas. After much trouble, Chikamatsu found a hidden ninja who did not belong to Kirigakure.

With the establishment of the ninja village system, the situation in each village was similar. These remnants of the old ninja from the anti-ninja village era had their own intelligence network.

Realizing he was being watched by Chikamatsu, the ninja cautiously moved away immediately. He had originally come to gather intelligence on Kirigakure and was hiding and stationed in a nearby town. After repeated searches by Kirigakure, a ninja who could stay at this distance must have considerable skill, but Chikamatsu still managed to find his trail.

The two sides collided in a narrow alley, and the battle broke out in an instant, and ended in an instant as well.

The ninja struggled and fell to the ground.

"My poison, tastes good, doesn't it?" Chikamatsu said, squatting down and lightly, insultingly, patting the ninja's purplish-blue face.

The ninja felt his entire body go numb and weak, growing increasingly powerless. He struggled to speak, "You're not a ninja from Kirigakure, why are you looking for me?"

"I have a question for you," Chikamatsu said.

"Have you seen this person before?" Chikamatsu took out a portrait, unfolded it, and placed it in front of the ninja.

Jie Luo squatted down, leaned forward, and examined the portrait.

An unremarkable woman with braided pigtails, a somewhat rustic look, and very ordinary appearance.

The ninja tried hard to recall, and after much thought, shook his head and said, "My lord, I have never seen her before."

"It's possible she's just changed her appearance," Chikamatsu said.

"Her nickname is 'The Hundred-Faced Rampager.' Although she's skilled in puppetry, she's also a master assassination ninja who has never failed."

"My lord..." the ninja probed, "You mean...?"

"My poison, without an antidote, will take effect every three days. When it does, the excruciating pain is like a thousand ants gnawing at the heart. After three attacks, the heart will rupture and the person will die," Chikamatsu explained.

"Activate the organization behind you and help me find the person. Without information, you can die."

The sound of the nearby pine tree was as cold as ice.

After explaining the matter and leaving a meeting place, he got up and left the alley.

Yura followed Chikamatsu like a ghost, gazing thoughtfully at Chikamatsu's back.

A medical ninja?

A chaotic mess of a hundred faces?

Puppet Master?

Assassin?

Jielu thought for a moment and thought of the later era of the Hundred Legs, the puppeteer and rogue ninja of Sunagakure who changed his name and traveled through time to infiltrate Loulan, transforming the entire Loulan into a massive puppet mechanical city.

Is there a connection between the two?

That night, Chikamatsu continued his arduous journey, but he did not find a second ninja in the town.

Chikamatsu couldn't help but show doubt in his eyes. Was Kirigakure's control and dominance over the surrounding area really that strong?

Jielu shook his head. If a ninja wasn't running away now, Jielu could only say that he was one of them.

Immediately, Chikamatsu left the town and headed to the next town. In the same way, he found the ninja's trail, cornered him, beat him up, and then posted a missing person notice.

After a flurry of activity that lasted until dawn the next day with no sign of ending, Chikamatsu hurried on to the next town.

During this time, Chikamatsu found an underground gold exchange and went inside to post the same task.

Three days later, the first batch of intelligence gradually reached Jin Song's hands.

The group of ninjas, all suffering from deadly poison, gathered at the agreed location and reported on the progress of their mission.

Chikamatsu delivered the antidote as promised and said, "Let's investigate further."

This time, Chikamatsu returned directly to Kirigakure.

Jieluo followed her back to the village, and while resting, the first person she saw was Mito sitting in the living room.

In the entire Hidden Mist Village, only Mito was able to detect Yura's whereabouts and corner him.

"How is it?" Mito asked.

"He's looking for someone," Yura said.

"It's a mission to hunt down rogue ninja from Sunagakure."

"I thought it was a conspiracy against the village," Mito said.

"So that's what it is. That rogue ninja must be of great value, which is why Sunagakure is taking this so seriously."

Jieluo nodded and said, "Your judgment is correct."

"So, are you going to intercept us halfway?" Mito asked.

"We'll have to see if it's worth it," Jieluo said.

"How have you been lately?"

"We're reorganizing things step by step," Mito explained.

"The clansmen have all been settled. Some have joined the Second Division to form the basic framework, while others have been incorporated into the Kirigakure's regular ninja ranks. Byakuren talked to me and asked me to first establish a barrier sealing team within the Second Division to set up a large-scale barrier for defense and reconnaissance in the village."

The barrier needs to be established with emphasis.

"So, have the training classes started yet?" Jieluo asked.

"Training courses in sealing techniques, barrier techniques, ninjutsu, and swordsmanship can be started now," Mito said.

Jieluo nodded and asked, "How is Yukihime doing?"

Nothing in the village can be kept from Mizuto; you can just ask her.

"They've started some proper security patrols. There are quite a few members of the Snow Clan, and the ordinary villagers are all very supportive, saying they feel much safer now," Mito said.

"Since yesterday, the number of fights and brawls in the village has dropped dramatically."

After thinking for a moment, Jie Luo said, "Everyone probably takes taxis outside the village."

"Yes." Mito nodded.

"At least it's not in the village."

Also.

"Yukihime is pretty quick at doing things." Yura glanced in Yukihime's direction, sensing her mood.

In the police station office, a mountain of documents lay before her, detailing various security incidents and neighborhood disputes. Yuki lay back in her chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, her dark circles more pronounced than a ghost's.

It looks like it's about to die.