Schemes and Mind Games

Shuichi three stayed quietly inside. He could clearly sense that someone was watching him, but these guys probably didn't know how well-rounded he was. Even if his reconnaissance ability were ranked separately, he was confident that he could rank among the top five in the Shinobi World.

"Senior Brother, are we just going to wait for you to gather intelligence like this? There's nothing else to do..." Anko said, somewhat bored.

They'll be staying here for another two months. The key issue is that they discovered this morning that the people from the Land of Glass aren't very reliable, which means they have to be extra careful during their cultivation and patrols.

"To be precise, it was me and Shisui who went." Shuichi found it easy to get addicted to teasing Anko, especially when it came to Shisui's Shisui. "Since we've taken the money, we naturally have to do our job. I expect they'll be meeting frequently these next few days. Just in case, we need to find out what Land of Glass Village is planning first, and then I'll make some arrangements..."

Unbeknownst to the ninjas of Land of Glass Village hiding around the house, a large number of small, jet-black animals emerged from the shadows, nimbly disappearing into various places.

However, even the village's three rare Sensory Ninja made a mistake. When they were sensing the chakra of the Konoha side at close range, they were easily caught during their shift break. Shuichi waited until they were exhausted before taking action.

In just a few breaths, he first used Shadow Clone, then activated Flying Thunder God Technique to leave. When the other party sensed him again, they found that there were still four sources of chakra in the room, and there was nothing unusual at all.

"Third Uncle, what should we do now?" In Underground Chamber somewhere in the Land of Glass, Koizumi Kenzō asked somewhat irritably.

He knew he had made a mistake that morning. If he had decisively agreed to Shuichi's request, he could have taken some remedial measures and avoided this difficult situation.

Now that things had come to this, Koizumi Seiji did not mention the young master's mistakes again. Although the crisis in the Land of Glass was also caused by his lack of caution in black market transactions, the other party was now the heir of the main family, and as his assistant, he could only do his best to offer some advice.

"The original plan is definitely not going to work. If we secretly operate under the name of Purple Aurora, he'll probably find out soon enough," Koizumi Seiji calmly analyzed. "He could simply terminate the employment relationship first, or even turn around and swallow all our savings."

Koizumi Kenzō listened with a worried expression, while his uncle continued, "However, during the mission, as long as we don't break the agreement, the Konoha Ninja will definitely keep their word. Therefore, we can only do this by giving up some benefits..."

This time, Koizumi Kenzō displayed the composure of a head of household. Knowing that excessive greed could cost him his life, he gritted his teeth and agreed, "Alright, after we sell, we'll leave as soon as possible. What a pity to waste the foundation we've built over so many years!"

Starting from the second day after Shuichi's squad arrived, they discovered that ordinary people were still prohibited from leaving the city, but many agile individuals were constantly entering and leaving the Land of Glass.

In the following days, even more people came from outside the area. Of course, all of these activities took place at night, and overall, the atmosphere remained quiet and peaceful.

Shuichi's team has started patrolling irregularly, but so far no intruders have appeared.

"Shisui, tell me about the information from your side."

Inside the house, the four members of Konoha gathered together to discuss the situation. The enemies of Land of Glass wouldn't be foolish enough to launch a daytime attack, and even if they did, they would provide timely support.

"Yes, I secretly intercepted several people entering and leaving at night, and after interrogating them using Genjutsu, I discovered that the key to the problem was this." As he spoke, Shisui took out a piece of silvery-white metal from his person. "They all came from different factions and entered Land of Glass Village to trade rare metals, not just the kind I have, but it seems there are other types as well."

Shuichi even further, pulling out three small cubes of different colors. "Indeed, even what I have here is just a small part of the edge. It seems the Koizumi clan has accumulated considerable wealth. If such transactions can continue for two months, their assets could easily buy several small countries. No wonder they've attracted attention."

Yūhi Kurenai and Anko gasped. This amount of money was enormous; it would definitely make countless people envious. "Wouldn't that mean a battle would break out very soon? Our mission is to protect this country from invasion; we'll have to face far too many enemies!"

"That's very likely!" Shisui said calmly. "According to those people's descriptions, the Koizumi clan sent people to spread rumors in the black market that they possess an astonishing amount of rare metals."

"Starting two days ago, anyone who brings cash and some valuable items to Land of Glass Village can buy things at 80% of the lowest market price, and perhaps the price will go even lower later."

Shuichi stroked his chin, his mind processing all the information. "We can now estimate that the Koizumi clan, who have been based here for over a decade, discovered a large number of mineral veins. Land of Glass is surrounded by mountains on two sides, so they must have been mining nearby and were extremely lucky to find a huge amount."

"But given their strength, selling it will become a major problem. This transaction can only proceed slowly and in the long term. Not to mention being discovered to possess a large amount of ore, even a little money would easily attract attention."

This is the tragedy of having no power in a chaotic world. Caught between Sunagakure and Konoha, with the even more chaotic Land of Rain to the north, and the Land of Rivers also constantly in conflict, they hold a large amount of resources but dare not make a move, and can only pretend to barely make a living.

"Now that they've actually leaked this information, it seems they've been exposed by accident." Shuichi easily analyzed the cause and effect. "Initially, they probably planned to move all the goods, and unsurprisingly, they would have used my name."

"Once I eliminate this wave of invaders, everyone outside will probably know that I'm protecting the Land of Glass. Although I don't know the specifics of the Koizumi clan's operation, it's nothing more than a trick of borrowing power and secretly plotting."

"Now that this path is no longer feasible, they've changed their strategy. They're using the two-month 'safe period' while we're on guard duty to quickly sell off large quantities of rare metals at discounted prices, exchanging them for easily portable assets like paper money. Perhaps they're also secretly making evacuation arrangements, planning for their entire clan to leave the Land of Glass before the two months expire!"

After hearing this, Anko said angrily, "These people are too cunning! They're taking advantage of Konoha's good reputation for missions to set a trap. Senior Brother, how about we sneakily..."

Shuichi chuckled, never expecting that Anko had also become a little money-grubber, even going so far as to plot a double-cross.

However, the other party trusted the Konoha Ninja too much. This was all the Third Hokage's fault. He used every means to compete for mission quotas, and his good image caused some trouble.

"To be honest, if three of our team members were proficient in Genjutsu, we'd have a much better chance of taking them down..." Shuichi, seeing Shisui and Kurenai's righteous expressions, hesitated to continue. It seemed only Orochimaru's lineage possessed the "wild" Genes.

"However, doing this is very risky. The Koizumi clan isn't stupid; they've managed to hide for so many years. If they've colluded with Iwagakure, Sunagakure, or Cloud beforehand, and something goes wrong and they expose the matter to the Shinobi World, then the credibility that Konoha has built up over the years will be damaged."

Shuichi gestured for Anko to calm down. "Although I can mess up the crime scene and even find a suitable excuse, I'll inevitably get into trouble. The Third Hokage old men will definitely scold me to death, and they might even demolish my Villa as a warning to the whole village."

"So we need to find a way to outsmart them!" He grinned confidently. The person who can truly exploit him hasn't been born yet. "It's only been a few days. Those envious of the Koizumi Family's arrogance won't last long. Their attacks to probe Land of Glass Village's strength will likely come soon. We can..."