The Value of That Kill Keeps Rising

Though he had spoken boldly in front of Yahiko before leaving, Shiba Seika had not dared relax in the slightest over the following days.

One had to remain confident strategically, but cautious at all times tactically!

Besides training, whenever he had free time these past few days, he went with Tama to Cat Country, using the Uchiha connection to keep constant watch on Konoha's attitude toward this incident.

After a week, not only Uchiha Shisui but many Uchiha clan members knew that Cat Country had gained a new contractor from the Land of Rain.

Moreover, this Lord Aizen had a gentle temperament and treated others politely. Even the proudest and most ill-tempered Uchiha were willing to chat with him for a while.

At least Shiba Seika had not disgraced the alias he had made up for himself.

Sure enough, diligence paid off. That day, Uchiha Shisui sought him out again, bringing the long-awaited good news.

"Lord Aizen, has anything major happened in the Land of Rain recently?"

"Why do you ask?"

"This ordinarily shouldn't be told to someone outside the village, but I think it should be fine if it's Lord Aizen—

The Clan Head said that Elder Danzo has been acting very strangely lately. The day before yesterday, he even had a huge argument with a subordinate of the Frontline Commander, Orochimaru.

The Clan Head suspects he may be concealing something, so he wants to gather more intelligence from all the areas around the village.

Has Lord Aizen noticed anything?"

At that moment, Shiba Seika smiled gently.

He had finally confirmed what he wanted to know—just as expected, Danzo had ultimately chosen to conceal Yūno Ryōma's death rather than report it to the village!

Perhaps he felt it was too embarrassing?

Or perhaps sending Yūno Ryōma to the Land of Rain had been Danzo's own unauthorized, rule-breaking decision from the start.

The weight on Shiba Seika's heart immediately eased considerably.

As long as Danzo did not drag all of Konoha into this and instead intervened in the Land of Rain alone according to the original plot, Shiba Seika had nothing to fear from him!

What was more, Uchiha Shisui's information came with an unexpected bonus.

"Why did your Elder Danzo argue with the Frontline Commander? Ah, sorry. You don't have to answer if it involves Konoha secrets."

He put on an apologetic expression, but Uchiha Shisui did not mind at all.

Thanks to Shiba Seika's excellent disguise, Uchiha Shisui was now very willing to trust this wise Lord Aizen before him.

"I think it's fine if Lord Aizen knows. Apparently, Elder Danzo and Lord Orochimaru had a dispute over personnel deployment."

After giving it some thought, Shiba Seika quickly understood.

So that was it. No wonder the infiltration pressure had been so low in the days before Yūno Ryōma came to the Land of Rain, as if he had been slacking off. He must have been forcibly transferred from Orochimaru's side, right?

Orochimaru was probably demanding his man back from Danzo now.

But Danzo had concealed the news of his death and could not produce anyone to return to Orochimaru, which was why the two had fallen out.

To Shiba Seika, this was nothing short of a gift from heaven!

Who would have thought such a good thing could happen?

The value of that kill just kept rising!

Hearing how miserable Danzo was at the moment instantly put him in a much better mood.

So you have a day like this too, Lord Pot Kage!

Then, in order to properly play the role of an ordinary Rain Ninja, he returned the favor and casually revealed a small piece of information to Uchiha Shisui.

"Now that you mention it, I do recall something. Some time ago, our leader Hanzō received a letter. He didn't tell us what it said, but afterward he warned us to be careful in case Konoha went mad.

I heard some colleagues discussing it in private. It seemed that a Konoha elder had deployed people without authorization and acted on his own, causing several subordinates to die near the Land of Rain. It made our leader quite nervous."

With just a few offhand remarks, Shiba Seika completely changed the nature of the incident.

Originally, the Rain Ninja had deliberately ambushed Root ninja, and Akatsuki had been the side to strike first.

But after he blurred the details, it became Konoha's fault instead: someone incompetent and foolish had privately deployed personnel, resulting in the deaths of the village's ninja.

Uchiha Shisui's eyes lit up, as though he was moved by finally obtaining useful intelligence.

"Thank you, Lord Aizen. Your information is very important. I'll go tell the Clan Head right away!"

Shiba Seika nodded with a smile.

That was precisely his goal.

As for how Fugaku Uchiha would act after receiving the information—whether he would publicly impeach Danzo forcefully or secretly spread the news to ruin Danzo's reputation—Shiba Seika could not be bothered to care.

He had already handed them the sword. As for what bloody blossoms the Uchiha could carve out with it, that was up to their own fortune.

What did any of it have to do with the kind and approachable Lord Aizen of the Land of Rain?

Having received good news, Shiba Seika left Cat Country in high spirits.

He would still secretly keep watch over Konoha's movements afterward, but there was no longer any need to be as anxious as before.

Now that he finally had a little free time, he began working on an idea he had long had in mind—

Self-Created Ninjutsu!

He had already gained quite a few insights into ninjutsu—Fire Release, Wind Release, and Earth Release among them.

Combined with the Lightning Release and Water Release he had learned on his own without relying on the system, Shiba Seika had now confirmed that this body possessed all five elemental natures!

As long as he got himself a pair of Sharingan, he could become a Copy Ninja too.

With such outstanding innate talent, yet born in a minor country where he could not learn ninjutsu—it was truly regrettable.

Since that was the case, relying on others was worse than relying on himself!

He decided to develop his own ninjutsu!

After integrating the many sets of insights provided by the system, he had gained a broad, high-level understanding of ninjutsu. Wind Release in particular—those two sets of insights had covered nearly every aspect of it.

Developing ninjutsu no longer seemed so out of reach.

"First, I need to clarify my needs—my current main combat method is to start with Genjutsu deception, then close in and suppress the enemy with Kenjutsu. Any ninjutsu I develop should reinforce this sequence as much as possible, or at the very least not conflict with my existing combat system."

He muttered quietly as he used a branch to write and draw on the ground.

"Based on that need, large-scale storm-summoning techniques are useless to me. On the other hand, the cutting property within Chakra nature transformation is highly valuable."

When Chakra test paper showed a wind affinity, it would be sliced apart.

This proved that cutting was one of Wind Release's core properties!

And it was precisely the property Shiba Seika needed.

"With the core need established, next come the secondary needs—the newly developed ninjutsu cannot interfere with my Kenjutsu.

"So single-shot offensive ninjutsu would not mean much to me. Rather than waste time on that, I might as well rush in and slash twice.

"A controllable ninjutsu like Pakura's Scorch Release, where you form seals once and can use it repeatedly afterward, would better suit my needs."

Pakura's Scorch Release only required her to form seals once at the start to summon Fireballs. After that, she could fight with Kunai in both hands throughout the battle while controlling the Fireballs with her mind to attack the enemy.

Shiba Seika was extremely envious of that style.

Because his Kenjutsu was no longer inferior to Pakura's Kunai fighting style!

"Finally, the extended requirement: it would be best if it needed no hand seals, though that isn't mandatory. Great if I can do it; if not, so be it."

Having summarized his needs, Shiba Seika was finally about to get to work!

This might also become his first real step toward becoming one of the shinobi world's strongest!