Dada's Weakness

The Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors' move wasn't particularly clever, but it was indeed effective.

According to earlier reports, Kumogakure had been frequently contacting a small Kekkei Genkai Family in the Land of Birds. Though the reason had been unclear at the time, Konohagakure had sent people to interfere, following the principle of: Whatever you want, I'll make sure to obstruct it.

Danzo had been in charge of the matter. He had originally planned to send a team disguised as Cloud Ninja to attack that Kekkei Genkai Family. That way, even without knowing Kumogakure's true purpose, they could still ruin their plans.

Unexpectedly, their luck was terrible. The disguised ninja ran straight into actual Cloud Ninja. The real deal met the fake, and both sides immediately started fighting. After a clash with no clear victor, that small Kekkei Genkai Family packed up and fled with Kumogakure the very next day.

Only after Konohagakure conducted extensive local inquiries did they learn that this little-known Kekkei Genkai Family, which had never caught the attention of Konohagakure's higher-ups, possessed a bloodline said to completely counter the Byakugan. The locals called it the Red Eye.

Although the family had produced fewer and fewer ninja in recent years, to the point that their ninja inheritance was nearly cut off, their Kekkei Genkai was unquestionably real.

Hiruzen had nearly been angered into cursing.

As the Shinobi World's foremost strategic Kekkei Genkai, the importance of the Byakugan to Konohagakure went without saying. Yet Kumogakure had acquired a Kekkei Genkai Family that could completely counter it. How could Hiruzen Sarutobi not be frustrated?

If the Hyuga clan found out about this, several members of the Main Family would probably be angered to death!

This matter drew the full attention of Konohagakure's higher-ups. They quickly reviewed everything, and afterward, the intelligence division followed scattered bits of information to infer quite a few things.

For instance, that Red Eye Kekkei Genkai Family might not have been the first one Kumogakure had absorbed in recent years. They seemed to have achieved results before this.

For instance, Kumogakure also appeared to be searching for remnants of the Uzumaki clan. Kushina Uzumaki, Konohagakure's reserve Jinchuriki, had nearly been found first and taken to Kumogakure.

And Kumogakure was secretly collecting all kinds of ninjutsu materials scattered throughout the Shinobi World and the underworld, placing particular importance on Fuinjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu.

All the major ninja villages were actually doing this, but Kumogakure had been unusually focused in recent years. When it came to Fuinjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, they would rather kill the wrong target than let one slip away. Compared to the usual practices of the other ninja villages, they were far too enthusiastic.

These could hardly be considered intelligence, and some were more speculation than evidence. But when combined, they left Hiruzen Sarutobi no choice but to take them seriously.

Most importantly, Kumogakure could send out the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors, and Konohagakure could imitate them by sending out the Guardian Shinobi Twelve.

But while Kumogakure could aggressively absorb Kekkei Genkai Families, Konohagakure could not simply follow suit.

Because the various ninja clans would never agree...

Hiruzen Sarutobi had the feeling that Kumogakure was building up strength for a major breakthrough... yet he still could not see through their movements clearly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a drag from his pipe.

Konohagakure was flourishing under his leadership...

During the First Shinobi World War, Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure had all lost their Kage. Because the losses from the war had been too severe, the various ninja villages had temporarily made peace. At this stage, everyone was competing to develop their villages. He naturally could not compare to the First and Second Hokage in combat, but when it came to governing a village, he was a master. Hiruzen Sarutobi firmly believed this.

He believed that as long as there was no war and they focused solely on development, Konohagakure would soon become the strongest ninja village by far under his capable leadership and the assistance of his friends.

Still, while developing himself, he also needed to trip up others from time to time.

After pondering for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped on the table.

"Go and call Torifu over."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Dada had been making time every day recently to visit the Orphanage. With intelligence far beyond that of a child and overwhelming financial resources, he had quickly become the leader among the children.

Spending this time with the children of the Orphanage and playing childish games he could barely understand had somewhat made up for the regret of never having played with children his own age before.

According to incomplete statistics, every boy at the Orphanage wanted to become Dada's brother, while every girl wanted to marry him.

Dada found that being popular really did let you do whatever you wanted.

All of this was reported in full by the maid Meizi to the clan elders and the Third Raikage.

Morita Keiko had also performed exceptionally well and had not disappointed Dada. She showed exactly what an Orphanage director should be like. Not only did she manage everything in perfect order, she also displayed a mother's warmth and quickly won over the children.

Morita Keiko had already brought her daughter over. It spared her the trouble of traveling between the Orphanage and home every day, gave her daughter many more companions her own age, and even allowed her late husband's house to be rented out for extra income. It was a win in three ways.

The Orphanage reform plan had begun to show results. Not only were the children properly cared for, they had gradually come to sincerely accept Kumogakure. Even if the plan ended here, Dada could proudly say that he had accomplished a great deed. But this was only the beginning.

There was still much to do in the future.

However, Dada returned home early today because his older brother, Yotsuki Ki, had returned from a mission. Their mother had sent someone to tell him to come home early for dinner.

Yotsuki Ki had grown quickly and perfectly inherited the Third Raikage's talent. He was outstanding in both ninja aptitude and secret technique inheritance. At thirteen years old, Yotsuki Ki was already an elite Chunin and had begun leading teams on missions by himself.

Of course, as the Third Raikage's Eldest Son, an Jonin had been placed within the team led by this Chunin...

However, it was said that this Jonin would only display Chunin-level strength. It was clear that the Third Raikage had gone to great lengths to train Yotsuki Ki.

But to Dada, the most important thing was that every time Yotsuki Ki returned from a mission, he brought Dada a gift. Sometimes it was a specialty from another country, and sometimes it was some strange object found during a mission. Many of the books in his room had been brought back by Yotsuki Ki.

"Qi is back? Where is he?"

"Ambush!" A figure darted out, trying to lift Dada from behind. But unfortunately, Dada was no longer a three-year-old child. His extraordinary reflexes allowed him to dodge swiftly.

"Too naive, Qi. It won't be that easy to ambush m—" Dada said smugly.

"You fell for it. Another ambush!" Unexpectedly, another Yotsuki Ki sprang out from behind and lifted Dada into the air.

Twelve-year-old Yotsuki Ki was already over 1.7 meters tall, with muscles all over his body. He looked like a sturdy adult who was merely a little short.

Well, looking old was also an important reason.

The first Yotsuki Ki to appear vanished with a bang, leaving behind a small flicker of lightning.

So the first one had been Yotsuki Ki's Lightning Clone...

Dada's mood instantly soured as he dangled in the air.

Ninja techniques really were incredible. Without Chakra, he could not distinguish Yotsuki Ki's clone at all. Even the real body that appeared afterward might have been hiding somewhere from the start using Transformation Jutsu, yet he had failed to notice.

Even if Dada's physical abilities became ten times stronger in the future, he still would not be able to see through clones or transformations, or dispel genjutsu... and higher-level barriers and seals were even less worth mentioning.

He would probably get completely toyed with...

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to cry.

He wondered when he would finally be able to fill his football field.

Seeing Dada puff out his cheeks, Yotsuki Ki stopped teasing him and set him back on the ground.

"Did you bring back anything good this time?" Dada asked as he patted down his clothes.

"Not this time. But I have something important, and it concerns you."

Yotsuki Ki kept him in suspense. Instead of going straight to dinner, he took Dada to the Raikage Building, telling their mother Satomi to wait a little longer before they ate together.