The Rope Tree Is Joining?

"Rope Tree was assigned to the Third's direct disciple, Orochimaru's team?"

Senju Tokuma set down his teacup and asked in a grave voice.

Across from him, Senju Kenji, who was in charge of intelligence, immediately nodded. "Yes, Lord Tokuma. But it was only natural. Jiraiya already has a disciple, and the only one Tsunade trusts is Orochimaru."

"They're forcing our hand." Senju Ryosuke, seated beside Tokuma, scoffed. He had a short temper and made no effort to hide his displeasure. "If a future daimyo with the First's bloodline grows into an elite jonin, then our position—no, the young lord we support—will have no chance at all."

"If he becomes Hokage on top of that, won't the daimyo's position become meaningless? We ministers might as well all go die."

Tokuma drew a deep breath and waved a hand, signaling for him to calm down. "We all know the reasons. There's no need to repeat them. What we need to discuss now is how to deal with this problem."

His gaze swept over the two men. "Now that he's joined Orochimaru's team, we need to consider the people around him."

Kenji immediately picked up the thread. "He has two teammates. One is an orphan of the Uzumaki Clan named Uzumaki Kushina. The other is Sawada Hiroki, who's been the subject of rumors in the village lately."

"Uzumaki Kushina..." Ryosuke curled his lip in disdain. "An outsider from the Land of Whirlpools. Other than her eye-catching hair, what does she have going for her? She's loud and obnoxious all day long, and barely at Genin level. She's just there to fill a spot. No need to worry about her."

They were from a branch of the Senju Clan. They weren't ninja, but their family's deep roots had helped them build influence in the Land of Fire's political circles over many years, and they had their own standards for judging people.

In their eyes, ninja without impressive backgrounds or overwhelming strength were nothing more than expendable pawns on a game board.

Kenji looked a little more serious as he added, "Lord Tokuma, I've heard some unusual rumors about Sawada Hiroki. Apparently, during the Kumogakure kidnapping incident some time ago, he single-handedly..."

"Just rumors." Ryosuke cut him off brusquely, his voice full of contempt. "Kenji, since when did you start believing the stories villages make up to create heroes? A kid fresh out of the Ninja Academy single-handedly taking out a Cloud Village squad, including a jonin? That might fool civilians, but that's all."

"Think about it. How could a Cloud Ninja jonin squad cross Konoha's barrier and enter the village just to abduct two completely ordinary children?"

"That's a joke!"

Tokuma nodded, evidently agreeing with Ryosuke's assessment.

They weren't ninja, and didn't understand how quickly things could change on a battlefield, but they had brains. They weren't idiots.

Konoha was one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, after all. Was it really some rinky-dink outfit that would let Kumogakure invade whenever it pleased? Wouldn't that mean Konoha had been infiltrated until it was full of holes?

In their eyes, those so-called rumors were nothing more than achievements that could be dressed up however one liked.

It was a trick they themselves were particularly good at: publicizing how clever some child of the daimyo was, when in reality the child might just be a complete fool.

But so what? What did it matter if people saw through it?

As long as the public believed it, that was all that mattered.

"Ryosuke has a point." Tokuma delivered his final judgment. "Even if Sawada Hiroki has some cleverness, he's still just a child, a Genin. In the face of absolute strength, luck won't help him. We've had only one target from the beginning: Rope Tree."

He paused, a glint of ruthless calculation in his eyes.

"Orochimaru may be their instructor, but he can't stay by the three Genin every moment of every day. Sooner or later, they'll have to take missions on their own. That's our chance. If necessary, we'll find a way to draw Orochimaru away!"

Kenji frowned. "But Rope Tree is the First's grandson, and his talent can't be underestimated. It won't be easy to arrange an 'accident' with no chance of failure."

"What's so difficult about it?" Ryosuke gave a mocking laugh, as if he'd heard the most ridiculous joke. "Kenji, you've been in a ninja village too long. You're overthinking this. We're not ninja, and we don't have to get our hands dirty. We have money."

"Having money means we can hire ninja from other villages. Besides, things have been unsettled lately. What can he do to pursue the matter if someone dies?"

He held up three fingers, his face displaying an arrogant disdain for all others.

"If one jonin isn't enough, we'll hire two."

"If two aren't enough, we'll hire three! Add a few Chunin to keep the two extra teammates busy. Three elite jonin, along with ninja in the village who support us to act from within—we'll lay an inescapable net along the route they'll have to take on their mission. Tell me, how could Rope Tree, with no real combat experience, survive that?"

"That's true, but we can't underestimate Rope Tree's two teammates too much." Kenji drew a deep breath. He accepted the other man's reasoning. No matter how strong a child was, even with all those rumors, how strong could he really be?

"What if the rumors are true?"

At most, they'd only be Genin.

It wasn't as though these men had never trained in chakra and ninjutsu. They knew all too well how difficult ninjutsu was to learn.

"Then it's settled! We'll hire one more jonin. Four jonin in all! That's enough ninja to topple a small country. What kind of trouble could they possibly cause?"

With four jonin against them, Sawada Hiroki and Uzumaki Kushina would be no different from pebbles on the roadside.

Kenji slowly nodded, a satisfied look on his face.

"Looks like you agree, too! Then, Kenji, your task is to find out the exact details of their team's first C-rank mission outside the village: the route, the time, the target. I want everything."

"Ryosuke," he said, turning to his other confidant, "go to the Underground Exchange and use gold bars to contact the very best bounty hunters. Tell them the target is the future of the Senju Clan. As for the payment... let them name their price. Once it's done, I want every trace wiped away."

"Leave it to me, Lord Tokuma." Ryosuke smiled confidently. "In the face of absolute wealth and strength, every genius is a joke. As for those two teammates... perhaps they'll be glad to die quickly, before they have to watch their comrade get torn apart in despair."

The three of them exchanged glances and laughed.

After all, they were just three Genin. It wasn't as if they could turn the world upside down.