They got here fast!
"Old man, the Anbu are on official business. Out of the way!"
Hoshino curled his lip and strode up to the old man in black robes, barking at him.
"Hoshino, don't go too far!"
The old man didn't budge, his eyes sinister as he stared at the boy in the fearsome mask before him.
The Night Sand Clan's influence in Sunagakure was deeply rooted. Since when had anyone dared show them such disrespect?
He had sealed two shops in a row.
Did he really think a mere Anbu could act so brazenly?
"Heh!" Hoshino scoffed. "What Hoshino? There's only Spirit Puppet of Anbu Team Six here."
"We received an anonymous tip that the puppets your Night Sand Clan makes pass inferior goods off as quality ones. We hope you'll cooperate! Otherwise, I have reasonable grounds to suspect you had a hand in this too, and I'll take you to the Anbu for questioning."
The two sides are practically ready to tear off all pretense anyway, and I'm supposed to be afraid of your warning?
What a joke!
Today, he had to make the Night Sand Clan bleed and give the other shinobi clans cause to weigh the consequences.
"Hoshino, don't forget that my Night Sand Clan is a prominent family in the village too," the old man said.
Hoshino sneered. "Elder Night Sand, the Anbu answer only to the village. If someone harms the village's interests, no matter who he is, we'll investigate to the very end."
Elder Night Sand said, "Are you sure you want to go to war with my Night Sand Clan? The consequences are more than you can bear!"
Hoshino refused to back down. "Elder Night Sand, can I take that to mean you're threatening the Anbu?"
"You're courting death!" Elder Night Sand said through clenched teeth. "Don't go too far and think Chiyo can protect you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the several shinobi behind Elder Night Sand stepped forward.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense, like drawn swords and strung bows.
Fox Shadow and Faceless quickly moved to Hoshino's side as well.
"Elder Night Sand, I'll say it again. If you think there's a problem with our Anbu operation, you can complain to Lord Kazekage."
"But until then, we're still sealing this shop."
With that, Hoshino waved his hand, and Fox Shadow and Faceless immediately got to work.
Fox Shadow brought out a sealing scroll again and sealed away all the puppets and parts in the storeroom, while Faceless drove everyone out of the shop.
As for the shop being sealed,
Elder Night Sand paid it no further attention. Instead, he stared darkly at Hoshino, his hand tightening around his cane.
"Very good, Hoshino. You're really something! It seems we've been too merciful to you, giving you the illusion that you can stand against us."
The other party actually dared to act so provocatively. He was slapping the Night Sand Clan in the face.
If they didn't crush his arrogance, how could they get by in Sunagakure or speak to the other shinobi clans in the future?
Did he really think he could act without restraint by relying on a few of the Kazekage's children and Elder Chiyo?
Sunagakure was famous for its Puppet Technique, so the puppet clans represented the village.
Even Kazekage Rasa didn't dare act so arrogantly toward them, much less an adopted outsider.
"Enough big talk, Elder Night Sand. If you want a war, then let's have one. I'll be waiting anytime."
Hoshino personally pasted the seal on the shop door, then turned and left.
Tch!
Hoshino didn't take these childish threats to heart at all.
Now that he had the Spirit Control Beads, he feared no one in Sunagakure.
In the Shinobi World, strength had the final say.
Kage Level combat power stood at the absolute peak, even in a great shinobi village.
Not to mention he could also imitate Magnet Release.
That Kekkei held the same status in Sunagakure as Wood Release did in Konoha.
Whoever possessed Magnet Release was a candidate to become the next Kazekage.
If the puppet clans hadn't been so deeply entangled with Sunagakure, he would have thrown martial virtue aside and wiped out those parasites long ago.
Over the next few hours,
Hoshino led Fox Shadow and Faceless to seal several more Night Sand Clan shops.
They encountered no resistance whatsoever along the way.
The only pity was that the clan had acted quickly. The storerooms of the later shops had been practically emptied, with little left inside.
Meanwhile,
Captain Shaji's orders arrived, telling them to know when to stop.
Seeing there was nothing more to gain, Hoshino settled down and led the other two back to the Kazekage Building, where he submitted the completed mission scroll.
As for the puppets and parts confiscated from the shops, Team Six divided them up, and everyone got a share.
Captain Shaji took the lion's share, followed by the three who had gone on the mission. The two who hadn't come got a little soup.
"Sure enough, raiding homes is the fastest way to get rich."
Hoshino hefted the sealing scroll in his hand, packed full of puppet parts and rare materials, and couldn't help smiling.
They'd only raided a few large shops, and already they had this much.
Truly, murder and arson earned a golden belt; raid a home and wipe out a clan, and one haul made you fat.
That one trip alone had replenished the materials he'd used to refine the Spirit Control Beads, with plenty left over.
If he could take down the entire Night Sand Clan, he didn't even dare imagine the haul.
And besides the Night Sand Clan, there were other puppet clans.
For example, there were shinobi clans of similar size, such as Red Sand, Sand Throat, Bone Eater, and Black Scorpion.
Next, he would have to deal with the Night Sand Clan's full retaliation.
But this was inside the village, so they couldn't very well fight openly. Even if they resorted to assassination, they would do it in secret and definitely wouldn't bring it into the open.
Most likely, they would exert political pressure or join forces with the other puppet clans to deal with him.
Sure enough,
The next day, Hoshino had just reported to the Anbu when a shinobi brought word for him to go to the Kazekage's Office.
He could count on one hand the number of times he'd been there, and he'd had limited contact with Rasa.
Hoshino wasn't sure what to expect and couldn't tell what Rasa's attitude was, but at worst he would be transferred out of the Anbu. It was no big deal.
When he hadn't been strong enough before, the Anbu had been a good place to take shelter, but now...
Five minutes at Kage Level was still Kage Level!
Knock, knock, knock-
Hoshino stood outside the Kazekage's Office and raised a hand to knock gently on the door.
"Come in."
Hoshino pushed open the door and entered the office.
The room was simply furnished, with Sunagakure's emblem hanging on the wall.
Rasa sat behind the desk with a scroll in his hand, his brow slightly furrowed as though he were pondering something.
"Lord Kazekage, you wanted to see me?" Hoshino stopped and asked calmly.
Rasa looked up at Hoshino and said mildly, "Hoshino, you've been making quite a stir lately."
The Anbu were an organization directly under the Kazekage.
Though his position as Kazekage didn't quite live up to its name, and the Anbu's dozen or so teams all had moles from other factions,
It was also common for them to strike at one another from the shadows.
But Hoshino was the first to retaliate so openly against a hostile faction, without even bothering to find an excuse.
If Rasa didn't rein him in, he really would reach for the heavens.
"Hmph!"
Rasa tossed the scroll in his hand onto the desk and continued, "See for yourself. More than five shinobi clans in the village have jointly lodged a complaint against you, demanding that you be expelled from the Anbu."