The Land of Waterfalls

Konoha's interrogation rooms were beneath the Hokage Building.

Tap, tap, tap.

Two sets of footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Liu Yun followed Hiruzen Sarutobi, taking in his surroundings.

The empty corridor was dimly lit, with puddles on the floor and numerous rooms sealed behind locked iron doors on either side.

Every so often, a few screams drifted out, sending a chill down his spine.

This place is downright sinister, Liu Yun thought. You could tell me it was Danzo's Root Base and I'd believe you.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression remained calm. "Most of the people in here are spies sent to Konoha by other hidden villages."

Liu Yun nodded.

Intelligence work had always been like dancing on a knife's edge. In the Shinobi World, it was an exceptionally dangerous occupation.

After all, supernatural abilities really existed here.

No matter how convincing their disguises or how cautious they were, they could never get past Mito Uzumaki's Malice Perception.

Once spies from other hidden villages were exposed, there was no need to torture them for information.

The Yamanaka Clan specialized in this. They could read memories straight from a target's mind.

In Konoha, this method was called efficient.

For some reason, he thought of Yakushi Nonō. How exactly had the Wandering Miko managed to infiltrate other hidden villages time and again, gather intelligence, and still escape unscathed?

Before long, they reached the end of the corridor, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped.

He pushed the door open and walked in, with Liu Yun right behind him.

The room was small. An iron bed resembling an operating table stood in the center, with a man firmly strapped to it.

It was the merchant.

Beside him stood a blond man with his hair tied in a ponytail. A strange device connected to several cables sat on his head, and one of his hands rested on the merchant's head.

An Anbu Ninja wearing a mask stood in a corner of the room.

"Lord Hokage."

Yamanaka Makoto opened his eyes, removed his hand from the merchant's head, and gave a slight nod.

His gaze paused briefly when it passed over Liu Yun.

He had heard that Tsunade had recently taken on a disciple. If he was right, this must be the boy.

The fact that he could accompany the Hokage to an interrogation classified as top secret...

Yamanaka Makoto's thoughts stirred. It seemed this boy held considerable importance in the Hokage's eyes.

Ino-Shika-Cho had always stood together and could be considered part of the Hokage's inner circle. They would naturally need to pay more attention to a rising genius in the Hokage Faction.

He smiled faintly and offered a greeting.

"Sir," Liu Yun greeted him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand and went straight to the point. "Makoto, is the information about the chakra metal lode genuine?"

Yamanaka Makoto grew serious. "We can't be certain yet, but it's highly likely."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked surprised. "You can't be certain?"

The Yamanaka Clan's memory-reading techniques were among the best in the Shinobi World. They could even read memories from a corpse, provided its head was properly preserved.

This was merely an ordinary merchant, and they had even used a specialized device to amplify their mind-reading abilities. Could they really not obtain accurate information?

Yamanaka Makoto explained, "Lord Hokage, I've read his memories in full. There's no information about a chakra metal mine in them. Here's what happened..."

As Liu Yun listened to Yamanaka Makoto's account, he gradually understood the whole story.

The merchant's name was Tanaka Ichirō. He owned a trade caravan and regularly traveled between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

Not long ago, while setting out from the Land of Grass, he had encountered a gravely wounded, dying ninja wearing a Takigakure forehead protector.

Tanaka Ichirō had found a roughly drawn map, a stone, and some ninja tools on him.

After arriving in Konoha, he had inquired at a ninja tool shop in the village and learned that the stone was actually valuable chakra metal ore.

That single stone was worth more than half his fortune.

As it happened, a location had been marked on the roughly drawn map...

Tanaka Ichirō had his suspicions. Faced with the prospect of immense profit, he had left his caravan behind and chosen to search for it alone.

But since that ninja had been gravely wounded by someone, he had decided to post an escort mission.

He had wanted to use the strength of Konoha Ninja to deter any danger lurking in the shadows.

Liu Yun's team had accepted the commission, only to bring him back to Konoha just before they reached the Land of Grass's border...

Liu Yun was dumbfounded.

He really did just stumble across it?

Chakra metal ore and a map with a location marked on it-what kind of absurd luck was that?

Why couldn't something like that happen to me?

"Lord Hokage, here's the map."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the map Yamanaka Makoto offered him.

Liu Yun leaned closer for a look. The lines were crooked, but he could just make out the marked location. It appeared to lie within the Land of Waterfalls, near its border with the Land of Grass.

"The Land of Waterfalls? Takigakure?"

Yamanaka Makoto nodded. "If there is a chakra metal lode, it should be at this marked location."

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help frowning.

It would have been fine if it were in the Land of Grass.

Kusagakure was weak. If a chakra metal lode really existed there, Konoha was confident it could take control of it.

But it had to be the Land of Waterfalls. Takigakure was somewhat stronger than Kusagakure.

It was still weaker than Konoha, but there was one troublesome issue: Takigakure possessed a tailed beast, as well as the Hero Water, which had rather peculiar properties.

Precisely because of this, Takigakure held a relatively privileged position in the Shinobi World. Unless necessary, the five great hidden villages generally avoided provoking it.

There was nothing to gain from fighting it.

The Land of Waterfalls had complex terrain and few resources.

Even if they won, there would be little to plunder, and they might end up taking a couple of Tailed Beast Bombs along the way.

After considering it carefully, Yamanaka Makoto said, "Lord Hokage, if Takigakure were mining a chakra metal lode, it would be impossible to keep the operation quiet. That's why I believe Takigakure might not know about this."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked thoughtful, then turned to Liu Yun.

"The people you encountered were missing-nin from Takigakure? Were they hunting this merchant?"

Liu Yun thought for a moment and nodded. "That's right. Their forehead protectors had a line scratched through them. When they encountered us, one of them confirmed the merchant's appearance before attacking."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sounded puzzled. "Takigakure, missing-nin..."

After a moment's reflection, he addressed the ANBU operative in the corner. "Have Sakumo come here."

Whatever the case, he couldn't ignore a chakra metal lode that very likely existed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

In truth, Danzo was the best person to handle this sort of intelligence gathering.

Unfortunately, the plan Danzo had proposed recently had been far too bold. He had wanted to use the Second Hokage's tactics to launch a war against Kumogakure.

If Danzo learned that there might be a chakra metal lode in Takigakure...

Hiruzen genuinely feared that Danzo might impulsively declare war on Takigakure.

"Thank you for your work, Makoto. Go get some rest."

Yamanaka Makoto bowed slightly and asked, "Lord Hokage, what should we do with this man?"

"Besides misrepresenting the mission's rank, has he broken any other Konoha rules?"

"He originally made his fortune by trafficking children. Over the past year, his traded goods have been involved in five recorded violations."

Liu Yun narrowed his eyes. He deserves to die!

Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Liu Yun's gaze. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "Kill him."

"Yes, sir."

After leaving the Hokage Building.

Liu Yun let out a long breath. So much evil lay hidden in the Shinobi World.

Gato, a character from the original story, had been a shipping magnate on the surface while committing countless crimes behind the scenes. Tanaka Ichirō was no different.

After pondering for a moment, he pushed those thoughts aside and began considering whether he might have a chance to get involved.

"Takigakure, the Hero Water..."