Ryūran's cooperation saved Karin a lot of trouble, so she was happy to take it easy and delegate the leader's authority to him.
Thanks to his reputation, Ryūran soon took control of Kusagakure and promoted the key members of the Grass Flower faction across the board.
As a result,
Misawa and the others from the Grass Fruit faction felt increasingly suppressed in the village.
Misawa had already been unhappy with Karin handing the leader's seat over to Ryūran, so he secretly gathered the Grass Fruit faction's ninja.
In a crude underground chamber,
Misawa shouted to the group of Grass ninja below, "Those people from the Grass Flower faction have no intention of letting us live in peace. If we keep yielding, they'll only push us further! We have to fight back and reclaim the power that belongs to us!"
The crowd immediately erupted in an uproar.
Had Karin been there, she would have recognized that most of the people below had once been part of her intelligence network. Even the noodle shop owner was among them.
After rousing the crowd, Misawa sent everyone away and kept the noodle shop owner behind.
The noodle shop owner said, "Misawa, you're already an Elder. Why risk holding a gathering like this? If Ryūran and the others go too far, we can report them to the leader!"
Misawa's face twisted. "Hmph. You think she cares what happens to people like us?"
The noodle shop owner paused, then said, "But the leader is one of us, from the Grass Fruit faction!"
"She's probably wanted to betray the Grass Fruit faction for a long time!"
"Surely not!" The noodle shop owner hesitated, then continued, "I heard Ryūran's standing in the village has been rising lately. If the leader doesn't rely on us, isn't she worried Ryūran