Exposed

Led by the village chief, the group saw patients and pharmacists almost everywhere.

Kakashi frowned and asked Chief Xiongjing, "Since the epidemic is already this severe, why haven't you sought help from some major countries or great ninja villages?"

Kakashi was curious. Under normal circumstances, when something like this happened, they should have sought help.

That way, they could resolve the matter as quickly as possible and get the village back on track.

Chief Xiongjing sighed and said, "It's not that we don't want to ask for help. It's that it's completely useless!"

"Useless?"

Now it was Mirai's turn to be puzzled.

"This epidemic is extremely strange. I sought help from several large villages, but they said it couldn't be cured completely. In the end, the matter was simply left unresolved!"

"An epidemic that can't be completely cured?"

Kakashi's expression suddenly turned grave.

An epidemic that couldn't be completely cured—this was a serious problem.

"You can ask for Konoha's medical ninjas! They can cure any illness!"

At that moment, Naruto, who had remained silent until then, suddenly became agitated.

Clearly, the miserable state of the village had stirred his compassion.

Kakashi did not stop him, clearly tacitly approving of Naruto's suggestion.

After all, seeing the village in such a state left even him feeling heavy-hearted.

"Perhaps."

Chief Xiongjing's tone was somewhat sorrowful. Clearly, he did not quite believe Naruto.

And even if Konoha's medical ninjas could treat them, if he went to ask for help, would Konoha truly send people here to save them?

Everything was unknown.

At last, Chief Xiongjing led everyone into an inn and helped settle them in.

"Thank you, Chief."

Kakashi said gratefully.

"Then I won't disturb you any longer. Feel free to do as you please. I'll take my leave first!"

After saying that, Chief Xiongjing left directly, leaving Kakashi's group inside the inn.

"Mirai, come investigate with me. Naruto, you all stay at the inn for now. Don't wander around!"

After giving Naruto a few instructions, Kakashi left the inn with Mirai.

The one Kakashi worried about most was Naruto.

There was no helping it—Naruto always managed to get himself into trouble.

"Mirai, you check that side, and I'll check this one. We'll investigate separately!"

After deciding on their directions, Kakashi left.

Mirai leisurely headed toward the area he was assigned to investigate.

"What's this?"

While investigating, Mirai suddenly spotted someone sneaking around the medical team's medicine chests, secretly doing something to them.

Mirai made no sound. Instead, he quietly found a place to hide.

"What is he doing?"

The sneaky person felt around the medicine in the chests. He did not steal anything; he merely touched them furtively.

This strange behavior left Mirai deeply puzzled.

When the person subsequently left, Mirai quietly followed him.

After arriving at a secluded place, the figure slipped into a house.

Mirai lightly jumped onto the roof of the house and silently pried open a wooden roof plank.

Yet after entering the house, Mirai did not see the person from before.

"Where did he go?"

Just as Mirai was wondering about this, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. Someone was clearly about to enter.

Seeing this, Mirai found a place to hide.

With a creak, the door opened.

The person who entered was none other than Chief Xiongjing.

Leaning on his cane, Xiongjing entered the house and then closed the door behind him.

Xiongjing walked expertly to the stairs and began turning the handrail.

With a series of clicking sounds, an opening appeared in the floor beside him, with a ladder set beneath it.

Yuuji climbed down the ladder.

"This village chief really is suspicious!"

A smile tugged at Mirai's lips. With a flash, he followed Yuuji into the entrance.

After descending a ladder roughly two stories tall, the two arrived underground.

It was an extremely spacious passageway, with candles burning along both sides.

Leaning on his cane, Yuuji walked down the passage.

At the end of the passage was a vast chamber.

In the middle of the chamber stood an enormous stone bed, surrounded by six cages.

"How is the plan progressing?"

Yuuji looked at the man in front of the stone bed and asked in a low voice.

The man turned around and gave a sinister smile. "There's progress!"

Mirai was stunned when he saw the man. This person was Konoha's rogue ninja, Ishikawa Kazuo.

Why was he here?

What was his relationship with Yuuji, the village chief?

As Mirai looked on in confusion, a faint blaze of anger rose within him.

On the stone bed in the center lay a young girl whose limbs had been restrained.

The girl's eyes were tightly shut, her face pale. There was a cut on each of her wrists, and blood was still flowing from them.

"Konoha's people have arrived. Be careful lately. Don't let yourself get caught."

Yuuji was overjoyed when he heard Ishikawa Kazuo say that the plan was making progress.

At the same time, he informed him of Konoha's ninjas arriving.

"What are you afraid of? Once my human experiments are complete, every villager in this entire village will become your slave."

"And they'll be powerful slaves. Konoha, the Hokage—all of them will be destroyed beneath our humanoid weapons!"

"Look, just look at them. Aren't our humanoid weapons wonderful...?"

Ishikawa Kazuo's mad voice echoed through the underground chamber.

Along with the echoes, numerous clawed arms suddenly stretched out from the cages.

They were utterly eerie and terrifying, filling the air with dread.

Yuuji seemed long accustomed to Ishikawa Kazuo's madness and did not think much of it.

"As for the poisoning, suspend it for the next few days. Try not to let your poison people go out to spread poison. Don't let Konoha's people catch them, or the truth may be exposed!"

Hearing Yuuji say this, Ishikawa Kazuo stopped his mad rambling. He frowned and said, "Got it! You can leave!"

Yuuji did not get angry. He simply turned around and left, leaning on his cane.

To avoid being discovered, Mirai had already left before Yuuji did.

After leaving, Mirai returned to the inn.

This was what Kakashi had agreed upon with him before they set out.

Whether they found any information or not, they had to return to the inn.

The moment he entered, Mirai saw Kakashi sitting alone, deep in thought.

Seeing Mirai return, Kakashi asked, "How was it? Did you find any clues?"

"What about you?"

Mirai did not answer. He wanted to know whether Kakashi had discovered anything.

"I found that there's something strange about this village, and this epidemic also feels very suspicious!"

"I also spotted someone acting mysteriously. I wanted to follow him, but he got away!"

After hearing this, Mirai could not help but admire Kakashi. He had uncovered so much in such a short time.

If Mirai had not been lucky enough to spot that suspicious person and follow him, he probably would have come back empty-handed as well.