The Eve of the Storm

Ingetsu's brow furrowed, and he couldn't help but sigh, Could this mission get any more ridiculous?

He scoffed inwardly. ✊👊   Taiwan Novel Network, Tωkαn.ƈσм, super practical

He said honestly.

"Get everyone on the ground into the carts and let's keep moving!"

Ingetsu said, jumping down from the cart and picking up two drivers, casually tossing them into the second cart.

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Seeing this scene.

Kurenai Yuhi and Nonō were the first to act, and Izumi and Mikoto also pitched in to help.

Tamao didn't freeze either; he quickly hoisted the woman he'd carried back, preparing to dump her by the roadside and bury her.

Burying a body was just a matter of Earth Style jutsu.

Since his older brother said to bury her, he naturally couldn't let her body be left exposed in the wilderness.

"..."

Hotaru sat weakly in the cart, her gem-like eyes watching the Uchiha helping her clansmen, her heart suddenly conflicted.

These Uchiha didn't seem as bad as she'd imagined.

Especially that S-Rank Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Ingetsu; with a single word from him, he could have ignored her clansmen.

Since most of the merchant caravan members were lying in the carts, the Uchiha tossed the drivers onto the carts and, as Ingetsu requested, tied all the horse-drawn carriages together with ropes, easily completing the task.

Everyone boarded the carts one after another.

In the first carriage, Tamao scrambled to be the driver, snatching the reins from the Uchiha who knew how to drive.

"Giddy up—"

It was Tamao's first time driving, and he was extremely excited. He got into the cart, sat down, and gave the two horses a hard whip across their hindquarters.

Crack—

"Neigh— Neigh— Neigh—"

The two black horses were startled, whinnying, and after rearing up on their front hooves, they bolted forward.

The people in the cart bounced and trembled.

From the rear of the caravan, Nanfeng's shouts could be heard:

"I haven't gotten on the cart yet!!"

"I haven't gotten on the cart yet!"

The wind howled, and the scenery rushed backward.

"Woohoo—" Tamao felt the sense of freedom and couldn't help but let out a yell.

He didn't care about Nanfeng; as long as his older brother was sitting in the cart, it was fine, even if his older brother had a dark expression at the moment.

As the first carriage sped off.

The entire caravan's speed increased, trailing billowing dust behind it, like a connected steam train, galloping freely across the land.

"..."

Kurenai Yuhi and Izumi, sitting to Ingetsu's left and right, occasionally pressed against him.

Izumi accidentally leaned into Ingetsu's embrace, then simply stayed there, lying down, immediately gaining a great sense of security, and earning Kurenai's disdain.

"Give me the reins!"

It wasn't until Nanfeng teleported onto the carriage and snatched the reins from Tamao that the caravan's speed gradually normalized.

"The whip too!"

Nanfeng angrily reached out to Tamao for the whip, but seeing Tamao's face darken, his childishness flared up. He held the whip high, with a clear "I'm not giving it to you" expression.

This made Nanfeng's face turn ashen.

He could only turn to Ingetsu.

Inside the carriage.

Ingetsu patted Izumi, who was lying in his arms and still seemed to be enjoying herself. She blushed, lowered her head, and got up.

Everyone else looked at Ingetsu in unison.

They all wanted to know.

How Ingetsu would punish Tamao.

The Uchiha truly had no way with this younger, "mentally unstable" companion; only Ingetsu in the group could handle him.

Tamao sensed the change in atmosphere. He suddenly grinned, revealing a standard, brilliant smile.

Enhanced by his baby face, he looked like a harmless child.

Before his older brother could speak, Tamao immediately pulled out a "Konoha Daily Bulletin" from his embrace and handed it over with both hands:

"Hey, big brother, this is some reading material I found on those caravan members when I was moving them. You should like it!"

Nanfeng's expression darkened further, thinking, This guy will do anything to curry favor with the captain.

Now, Captain Ingetsu definitely wouldn't blame Tamio, but Tamio did quiet down.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the newspaper in unison.

Ingetsu's expression remained unchanged, his attention fixed on the newspaper's contents. He reached out and took it.

In truth, he hadn't intended to punish Tamio; the kid's nature needed to be let loose.

Opening the newspaper with both hands, Ingetsu used the torches around the carriage for light to read.

The people in the cart gathered around, Mikoto also came to Ingetsu's side, and Izumi thoughtfully held up a torch to illuminate the area for everyone.

They were desperately in need of information from the outside world.

"Captain Ingetsu... S-Rank Rogue Ninja, bounty of 50 million Ryo!!"

Izumi was the first to notice Ingetsu's photo, and immediately her brow furrowed, and she looked at her captain with a hint of worry.

"Huh? We have bounties? Read them quickly, what are everyone's bounties?"

Tamio grinned, tossed his horsewhip to Nanfeng, turned around, and watched the crowd.

The Uchiha in the other carriages also grew interested, all wanting to know how their former ninja village would value them after they became rogue ninja.

Captain Ingetsu's bounty of 50 million Ryo made the Uchiha sigh with emotion. Most of them felt it was unreasonable because it was too low!

"Uchiha Nanpu, bounty 10 million Ryo..."

Izumi loudly read out everyone's bounties. Towards the end, she realized that Tamio and her own bounty were at the bottom, so she awkwardly read, "Uchiha Tamio, bounty 1.5 million Ryo... Uchiha Izumi, bounty 1 million Ryo."

Upon hearing this, Tamio was furious:

"What? Izumi, did you read that wrong? Why are we all Three Tomoe, but Nanpu is worth 10 million Ryo and I'm only worth 1.5 million Ryo? Is it because I look harmless and am a psycho?"

Izumi found it both amusing and exasperating.

"Hahahaha!"

Nanfeng, on the other hand, burst into laughter.

Soon, he drew a group of Uchiha's scornful glances, and they secretly decided to keep their distance from Nanfeng from now on.

Everyone inwardly grumbled:

"Captain Nanfeng, why are you laughing? Your bounty clearly doesn't match your strength! It's dangerous to be around you!"

Ingetsu's expression gradually grew serious. He ignored his teammates' bickering, his mind solely focused on extracting the hidden information behind the newspaper.

Konoha had suppressed the news of the Uchiha clan's extermination and Danzo's involvement. Konoha's control over its villagers would be extremely strict recently, and the major ninja villages in the Ninja World would not know about these two major events in the short term.

Therefore...

To prevent the news of the Uchiha clan's extermination from spreading too quickly throughout the Ninja World.

Even if Ingetsu hadn't killed Asuma, Sarutobi Hiruzen would likely find a way to use Konoha's strongest forces to eliminate their Uchiha rogue ninja squad at the border.

The current tranquility was the prelude to a storm.

He was looking forward to it.

For their sake.

How much of Konoha's, Sarutobi Hiruzen's, limited power would he be willing to deploy?

After reading the key information in the newspaper, Ingetsu handed it to Izumi beside him, asking her to take it to the Uchiha in the other carriages.

"Konoha isn't after me?"

Mikoto looked at Ingetsu, a flicker of guilt in her eyes, seeking confirmation.

"Mhm. They aren't after you either," Ingetsu said calmly to Hong.

Hong nodded, indicating she understood. She didn't care; apart from some ideals entrusted to her by her father, she had no ties in Konoha and could go anywhere.

Ingetsu could roughly guess that Mikoto wasn't classified as a rogue ninja because Itachi remained in Konoha.

As for Hong, it was because Konoha hadn't clarified the matter of Asuma's death.

"After leaving the Earth Spider Clan Land, be prepared to continue fighting. Konoha will absolutely not let us escape into the Valley of the Death God, so they will most likely launch a full-scale attack on us next..."

Ingetsu spoke calmly.

These words, however, were like thunder from a clear sky, causing the Uchiha, who were still arguing about the unreasonable bounties, to fall into complete silence.

The convoy had now arrived at the entrance of the Earth Spider Clan Land.