The Mystery of Sunagakure

Because of the Earth Dragon, Ye Liang and the others had narrowly avoided the collapsed mountainside!

"Was it man-made?"

Ye Liang realized it instantly.

The two sand mountains were enormous. Though natural forces meant they were already at risk of collapsing, for them to cave in so quickly was rather strange.

Ye Liang clearly sensed a trace of Chakra above the sand mountains.

He controlled the Earth Dragon to slowly lower everyone to the ground, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Teacher Ye Liang, let's go into the village first. Maybe it wasn't Sunagakure's ninja," Kakashi said.

Things had already reached this point, so there was no need to dwell on it further. If Sunagakure truly had tried to assassinate them, then they would have to provide an explanation.

"Mm."

The group nodded and entered the village.

Sunagakure was still a considerable distance from the sand mountains, which meant the people here had no idea that their village entrance had been blocked off.

Ye Liang looked around the village. Stalls made from iron frames stood everywhere, carrying a rather exotic feel.

But wasn't this place a little too poor?

Konoha had already entered the age of proper houses, while Sunagakure still had little street stalls and mud huts.

Although there were some stone-built earthen houses in the central area farther ahead, Ye Liang still looked down on the place considerably.

"Good thing I didn't transmigrate to Sunagakure."

Ye Liang muttered to himself as he headed toward the center amid the others' company.

"Teacher Ye Liang, I want that one! That tanuki hair ornament is so cute!" Rin Nohara eagerly tugged on Ye Liang's hand, utterly unable to move on.

Women really were troublesome!

"Rin, stop bothering Teacher. I'll buy it for you!" Obito puffed out his chest beside her.

"Pah! Who wants you to buy it? I want Teacher to buy it for me!"

"..."

Ye Liang's face darkened. So she had really decided to take advantage of him.

Still, he had plenty of money now. It was only a hair ornament, after all.

He walked straight over.

It was a hair ornament modeled after Shukaku.

He looked at the shopkeeper, a square-faced middle-aged man. The man's waist was somewhat bent, and he was wrapped in bandages, looking as if he could barely stand.

"Boss, how much?"

"Three hundred."

"How much?!" Ye Liang was shocked!

Three hundred ryo was enough to cover his food for several days. This hair ornament was only made of stone, yet it cost three hundred ryo. That was far too expensive.

"Didn't you hear me? Three hundred!"

"Damn! Are you robbing me?"

Ye Liang was speechless. Asking him to spend three hundred on a stone hair ornament—did the man really take him for a fool?!

He immediately wanted to turn around and leave!

But then he saw Rin Nohara staring at him with those large, watery eyes. Her pitiful little expression was enough to make anyone's heart ache.

"That's three hundred!" Ye Liang felt a sharp pang of pain.

But in the end, he still bought the hair ornament.

As the group cursed the unscrupulous shopkeeper while walking away, the stall owner suddenly stood up.

He unwound the bandages around his body and straightened up. A massive Shuriken dropped from behind his back.

"Looks like they have nothing to do with the assassination world. But we can't be sure yet. We'll keep watching," he muttered, while the surrounding vendors all nodded at him.

Just then.

Ye Liang and his group followed the secretary who had come to receive them toward the Kazekage's Office.

"The Kazekage is currently meeting with the elders. Our guests will have to wait outside for now," the female secretary said before turning and leaving.

After confirming that no one was around, Kakashi suddenly turned toward Ye Liang.

"Teacher, I feel like something is wrong here. What do you think?"

They were guests, yet the secretary had simply left them here. That immediately aroused Kakashi's suspicions!

"I don't know what's going on, but something has definitely happened in Sunagakure! Back on the road, those pedestrians were clearly wary of us. We're guests—they shouldn't have acted that way!"

Ye Liang analyzed.

"Mm, that's true!"

Rin Nohara added.

"So, I deliberately pestered Teacher to buy me that hair ornament earlier because I wanted to see whether those vendors really were vendors! Luckily, Teacher's acting was so good that none of them noticed!"

"That was what you meant earlier?"

"???" Ye Liang was dumbfounded.

He could guarantee that Rin Nohara had said that against her conscience.

She could make up such a huge lie without batting an eye. Didn't her chest hurt at all?

Ye Liang couldn't understand it!

But Obito Uchiha beside them instantly came to a realization!

"No wonder you didn't want me to buy it for you. So you were acting!"

"You scared me to death! I thought you liked Teacher!" He was still shaken, but Rin Nohara instinctively blushed.

Ye Liang had a headache.

The most important thing now was not uncovering the truth about Sunagakure, but figuring out how to dispel their hostility!

At the vendor's stall earlier, Ye Liang had clearly sensed a trace of killing intent.

That's right!

Ye Liang had already noticed that something was off about those vendors, but they were in Sunagakure after all, so he could not expose them openly. If the other side decided to throw caution to the wind, things would become troublesome.

Not long afterward, a plainly dressed old woman suddenly entered from outside.

She smiled at Ye Liang, but when her gaze swept over Kakashi, a flash of viciousness flickered through her eyes.

"You must be Konoha's envoys. Our Fourth Hokage is far too busy, so this old woman has been sent to speak on his behalf. If you do not mind, let us begin."

"The Fourth Hokage isn't coming?"

Talks between two villages were extremely important, and the Fourth Hokage had always intended to improve relations between the villages of Wind and Fire. Under such circumstances, he actually would not come?

Ye Liang found it strange, but he did not say so aloud.

The old woman then began explaining Sunagakure's position.

Ye Liang pretended to agree with her.

By evening, they parted outside the office.

The mission had gone smoothly, and the two villages had ultimately signed a peace agreement amicably!

"Teacher, is it really over just like that?" Kakashi still found it hard to believe.

By then, they had arrived at an inn.

Having just sampled Sunagakure's cuisine, they planned to spend a few days having fun there.

"Of course it isn't over. There's definitely something wrong here."

Ye Liang replied before settling everyone in.

They had encountered many things that day. First, they had faced danger at the village entrance. Then, they had run into Sunagakure ninja disguised as vendors. Finally, there was the person who had conducted the talks that day.

That old woman!

Ye Liang might have been cowardly as hell, but he was better than anyone at sensing killing intent!

When that old woman looked at Kakashi, she had clearly carried an unprecedented amount of killing intent. Though she had promptly looked away, Ye Liang could not possibly have been mistaken.

"Looks like I need to investigate this properly!"

After settling everyone in, Ye Liang quietly left the room.

The night was deep and still.

There was no one around at midnight!

The old woman in her sixties had just removed her undergarments when a strong man's hand settled on her neck.

"Who's there?!"