Walking in the Darkness
Boom...
Amidst a deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth, the Triple Rashomon suddenly exploded. In an instant, the earth cracked, countless dust particles flew up, and billowing smoke rose from the ground. The shockwave generated by the explosion spread in all directions like a level ten hurricane.
A powerful shockwave swept over them. Before many ninjas close to the battlefield even realized what was happening, their chests felt like they had been hit by a speeding car. A tidal wave of power erupted, sending countless ninjas flying backward, the sky filled with flying figures.
On the other side, as expected of Blue B's full-force S-rank Ninjutsu attack, it possessed earth-shattering power, even the Triple Rashomon was unable to withstand it and was completely torn to pieces.
However, after being weakened by Rashomon, the power of the white light has been greatly reduced, and its blinding brightness has dimmed considerably. Nevertheless, the power that erupts during the tremors is still terrifying.
Seeing that the white light still possessed great power, Orochimaru quickly Hand Seals and slammed his hands down on the ground, summoning two dark yellow giant snakes, each tens of meters long.
Under Orochimaru's control, two giant snakes rushed out, their blood-red mouths wide open, their sharp teeth gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
Although the two giant snakes charged out fearlessly, opening their mouths to bite the white light, the star-like white light unleashed its last strength, shining brightly and shooting out dazzling bolts of lightning. In the blink of an eye, the two giant snakes were electrocuted into two piles of charred remains.
When everything came to a close, the surrounding ninjas were already stunned. This was a battle between strong individuals, with the power unleashed being earth-shattering. Compared to this, their battle was simply child's play.
The fierce battle continued until evening. The ninjas on both sides had been fighting all day and were exhausted. In the end Blue B and Orochimaru gave the order to retreat at the same time.
The battle ended, the earth was scorched, the river was crimson, and the dead people lay scattered in the orange-yellow sunset. Neither the Kumo Ninja nor the Konoha showed any excitement. They dragged their weary bodies and, in their grief, lifted the corpses of their comrades.
In today's battle, neither the Kumo Ninja nor the Konoha Ninja were winners; everyone lost. Hundreds of ninja from each side died on the battlefield. As for the wounded, that's another story—they accounted for 100%. Even Orochimaru was covered in wounds.
As night fell, both Konoha and Kumo Ninja had retreated. Darkness descended, and the bright moonlight, like a pair of gentle hands, caressed the weeping earth and the wandering souls on the desolate plains, guiding them into a world of peace and no more war.
Meanwhile, in the dense canopy of trees, Yemo sat cross-legged for an entire day, motionless, waiting for those who walked in the darkness to appear.
Darkness slowly descends, but life is not lacking in this desolate jungle. The predators of darkness awaken and begin their hunt.
Despite appearing motionless, Yemo Mo had already secretly activated his Mind's Eye, and this small jungle held no secrets whatsoever.
Time flowed slowly by, and no one knew how much time had passed. Finally, a sparse rustling sound came from the dense bushes beneath Yemo's feet. Yemo suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes and murmured to himself.
"It's finally here!"
Looking down, one could vaguely see a group of people moving slowly through the dense bushes.
In this remote forest, the presence of people is abnormal in itself, let alone an entire group of them, which is even more abnormal. Moreover, more than half of these people are holding weapons, such as long knives and sharp swords, which gleam faintly in the sunlight.
There were several dozen people in the group, and six carriages were in the middle of them. The people stood on both sides of the carriages, their expressions and movements full of vigilance, clearly protecting the contents of the carriages.
These are the people Yemo has been waiting for, the people who walk in the darkness; to put it simply, these people represent the underworld of Hokage.
The world has light and darkness, yin and yang. Many things are relative. For example, Konoha appears prosperous on the outside, like the green leaves fluttering in early spring, but in the shadows there are still decaying roots hidden deep in the darkness, doing things that the light cannot do.
The world we usually see is a world of light, but the people under Yemo's feet represent the dark world. They walk in the shadows, doing all sorts of shady things for huge profits, and this is what is known as the underworld.
For example, the group at his feet, if he wasn't mistaken, were probably engaged in the trade of goods between the two countries. As everyone knows, the Five Great Nations have different environmental resources, so the products they produce are naturally different.
The Five Great Nations have their own trade relations, but not everything can be traded. For example, some strategic or important materials cannot be exported.
But there's nothing in the world that money can't buy. As long as you pay a high enough price, someone will do it. They smuggle contraband into other countries through special channels and make huge profits from it.
The underworld is a brutal world where the strong prey on the weak. If you have money, you can buy anything there: contraband, intelligence, murder, even maids.
The underworld is a complex and intertwined world of various factions. It includes powerful figures from various countries, hidden forces, and ninja villages. They all conduct business in the underworld, since ninjas are the most powerful force in this world, and the underworld would never be complete without them.
For example, the bounties for many missing-nin are actually issued secretly by various ninja villages. There are also some strategic material transactions related to war that are handled behind the scenes by various ninja villages. Otherwise, ordinary merchants and nobles would not have the money to buy these things. Even if they had the money, they would not need these things, and they would not need to go to war with anyone.
Yemo looked at the carriages, all covered with black cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside. However, the goods must be very valuable. To be honest, if he weren't on a mission, Yemo would have liked to seize these things and resell them, making a fortune.
The group was led by two Chunin, who wore Kirigakure Forehead Protector, but with a cut on them—a sign of missing-nin.
However, this had nothing to do with Yemo. He simply wanted to secretly follow these guys across the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire.
When the entire convoy had passed halfway, Yemo Hand Seals and used Transformation Technique, turning into a small stone that fell directly onto the middle carriage.
The stone that Yemo transformed into landed on the black cloth, making a slight sound. Although the sound was very faint, the person sitting in the carriage still heard it. He quickly stood up alertly and looked at the black cloth.
"Hey, what's wrong?" his companion asked as he suddenly stood up.
The man carefully examined the black cloth but found nothing. He scratched his head and replied, "Oh, it's nothing. I probably misheard."
Upon hearing this, his companion laughed and said, "I think you're just too nervous. Relax. We've walked this road so many times and never had a problem."
The man sat down, looking rather worried, and said, "That's hard to say. Things are different now. The battlefield between Konoha and Kumogakure is not far away. If ninjas from both sides show up here, we're finished."
He chuckled, dismissing it as an overreaction, and said, "You're overthinking it. With the mountain stream ahead, neither Kumogakure nor Konoha believes anyone could cross this route. Why would they send ninjas here? Besides, it's the middle of the night; what ninja would be here?"
The mountain stream ahead was like a chasm, and no one believed that anyone could cross it, but for them, this was the best protection.
As the two were talking, the small stone beside Yemo rolled along the carriage due to the shaking, eventually falling into the carriage through the gap in the black cloth.