Sand's Darkness

Bang~

The team member had no time to dodge and slammed heavily into the Earth Wall.

Then, the pursuing puppet extended a hand, and the blade that rapidly shot from its palm pierced through the team member's heart along with the Earth Wall.

Hisashi Ryu watched the dead team member stare at him with eyes that refused to close. A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

A few seconds later, four Sunagakure ninja with white headscarves wrapped around their heads appeared before him.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with notably long eyebrows. With a slight twitch of the fingers of his right hand, the puppet swiftly returned to his side and stood guard like a loyal servant.

"I never expected the one awakening my memories this time to be you, Lord Ebizo."

Once Hisashi Ryu saw the true face of the middle-aged Puppet Master before him, he immediately retreated several steps and spoke fearfully.

"Hehe, don't be nervous. You're still useful, so I won't take your life—as long as you can bring me useful intelligence."

Ebizo gave a sinister smile and extended a hand toward Hisashi Ryu.

Hisashi Ryu tried to evade, only to discover that he could no longer move.

At some point, Ebizo had secretly bound him with the impossibly fine Chakra Threads in his hand, threads too thin to see with the naked eye.

"Tell me... what do you want me to do?"

Hisashi Ryu said despairingly.

He had once been captured by Sunagakure ninja. Unable to endure the torture, he surrendered to the enemy. Afterward, they planted a ninjutsu in him that could temporarily seal away a portion of his memories and was difficult to detect. It made him completely forget that he had been captured and defected, turning him into a Sunagakure spy hidden within Konoha.

The person who had planted that ninjutsu in him was none other than Ebizo, Sunagakure's greatest intelligence chief, who now stood before him.

Later, he had been awakened and sealed again many times, supplying Sunagakure with a great deal of valuable intelligence.

Because of that ninjutsu, he had no memory whatsoever of betraying Konoha or killing close comrades. Thus, every awakening was like undergoing a grueling form of psychological torture, and each time was more painful than the last.

"Don't make such an ugly face. This isn't the first or second time. You need to learn to get used to it. And don't worry—you'll soon forget these painful things and go back to happily being the Konoha ninja you're so proud to be, as long as you can bring me useful intelligence."

Ebizo said coldly, twitching his fingers slightly to tighten his restraints on Hisashi Ryu, making him reveal a pained expression.

Hisashi Ryu was ultimately spineless. After Ebizo gave him a slight warning, he surrendered once more and obediently revealed the latest Border Defense Map and the recent personnel movements along the border.

After obtaining the information he wanted, Ebizo used the Mind-Sand Manipulation Technique on Hisashi Ryu again, allowing this "clean" pawn to resume his infiltration.

Afterward, Hisashi Ryu, who had nearly been poisoned to death, was found by another patrol team and once again narrowly escaped the Shinigami.

A week later, deep beneath Konoha, in the Root headquarters, inside the Root Leader's office that resembled the Hokage's Office, Danzo received an urgent report. A gleam flashed through his eyes as he sneered. "I didn't expect that brat to be far more valuable than I imagined. He actually managed to lure in such a big fish."

The urgent report that had just arrived contained only five words: "Ebizo has gone missing."

He had spent a hefty sum to obtain this intelligence from the Intelligence Black Market. The seller was a Sunagakure higher-up who had conducted many transactions with him before, making it highly reliable.

Combining it with the recent incidents of Sunagakure ninja attacking patrol teams along the border, he instantly realized that Ebizo, Sunagakure's intelligence chief, had to be involved.

If nothing unexpected had happened, that Desert Fox had already left Sunagakure. His purpose was most likely to assassinate Kirito, the Konoha Magnet Release Ninja whom the Kazekage had come to regard as a thorn in his flesh.

"However, that man is extremely cautious. If the odds of a successful assassination aren't high, he probably won't make a move. And once he senses something is wrong, he may even flee immediately."

Danzo stroked his chin and pondered.

He and Ebizo were respectively the intelligence chiefs of Konoha and Sunagakure, old rivals who had each meticulously arranged assassination schemes for the other many times.

There had been several occasions when he had nearly fallen for one.

Therefore, he knew very well that Ebizo, like himself, was an exceedingly cautious man. He would never make mistakes lightly and would not act until he saw the bait.

"Someone."

Danzo called out loudly.

The next instant, a Root ninja appeared before Danzo and dropped to one knee. "Lord Danzo, your orders."

"Bring me the latest intelligence on Kirito."

Danzo ordered.

"Yes."

Upon receiving the order, the Root ninja immediately formed hand seals and vanished from the spot.

About a minute later, a thoroughly compiled intelligence report was delivered into Danzo's hands.

The report meticulously recorded everything Kirito had done over the past few days. It even included data tables that counted the frequency of his daily activities, and finally estimated Kirito's strength based on the ninjutsu he had revealed so far and some of his actual combat performances.

"Looks like that brat is quite troublesome."

After reading the report, Danzo, with the discerning eye of The Dark Side of Konoha, came to that conclusion.

From this report, he could see that Kirito was an exceptionally disciplined person. Ever since graduating, he had lived a routine life: going to Konoha Hospital for work, working diligently until the end of the day, then returning directly to the Senju Clan Compound.

His real body had never gone anywhere else in between.

What kind of place was the hospital? It was one of Konoha's key areas of concern. It appeared to have little security on the surface, but its defenses were actually stringent. No fewer than ten jonin guarded the place in secret, including Elite Jonin from the Hyuga Clan and the Yamanaka Clan.

It could be said that with Elite Jonin from those two clans stationed there, no suspicious person could possibly evade the hospital's guards.

Moreover, the hospital was filled with Barrier Seals and traps. Anyone unfamiliar with its interior would be discovered before long if they entered rashly.

As for the Senju Clan Compound, it was an even more terrifying place than Konoha Hospital.

The reason was simple: Konoha's strongest current ninja was stationed there. No demons or monsters could hope to cause trouble within.

Now, Kirito's real body stayed in only those two places each day, and numerous Anbu ninja secretly followed him during his travels between them. It would be strange if Sunagakure's spies could find a good opportunity.

Then there were the three Shadow Clones he created every day before heading to work. Two of them entered the Orphanage and a branch of Yakushi Gourmet House respectively, and never came back out.

Root personnel had secretly followed those two Shadow Clones to investigate. They could enter the Yakushi Gourmet House branch, but there were barriers inside that prevented them from tracking deeper. As for the Orphanage, they were completely blocked outside by its barriers and could not even enter.

The remaining clone simply wandered around the village every day, playing and buying all sorts of things to bring back to the Senju Clan Compound.

If nothing unexpected happened, that Shadow Clone was something Kirito used to fish for enemies and entertain himself.

Unfortunately, not a single fish had been caught so far.

"This won't do. That old man won't stay away from Sunagakure for long. I need to find an opportunity to lure him out."

Danzo tossed the report in his hand onto the table, and a sinister smile gradually appeared on his gloomy face.

It's hard for a new author to get noticed. I hope everyone will stop by often and help increase the follow-up rate. After reading, please vote for and invest in this book. Haruko would be endlessly grateful for some monthly tickets and tips as well. Being a new author with a new book is really difficult.