At this moment, the warehouse fell silent, with only the faint hum of the machinery in operation.
The Third Elder sneered, " Yamada, you're treating the Council of Elders like a fool now, aren't you?"
He slowly stood up, his wooden cane tapping the floor with a dull thud.
"I can accept this price, but you also need to add a weapon module; the quality can't be worse than the civilian grade."
Chief Yamada's forehead was beaded with cold sweat. He chuckled dryly and said, "Third Elder, you're joking! Weapon modules are strictly controlled; how could I possibly obtain one?"
The Third Elder tapped his cane lightly on the ground, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Really? But I heard that the Logistics Department recently 'scrapped' a batch of training weapon modules, which happened to be of civilian grade or higher."
Upon hearing this, Yamada's face turned deathly pale.
He handled this matter very cleanly, even managing to hide it from the routine inspection by the Inspection Department.
How could the Council of Elders have known?
Yamada forced a smile and said, "Third Elder, you are well-informed, but this batch of goods has indeed been destroyed..."
"Smack!"
The Third Elder slammed his cane down on the wooden crate, causing the mechanical arm to rattle and clang.
" Yamada, do you think the Council of Elders ' intelligence network is just for show?"
Yamada's throat bobbed, realizing he was completely outmaneuvered.
He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Fine, I can find a way to get another batch of weapon modules, but the price will have to be increased by another million taels."
The Third Elder narrowed his eyes and said, "Five hundred thousand taels."
"Make a deal!"
The chamber of commerce representatives exchanged glances; though they felt the pinch, they dared not object.
After all, the trade in prosthetics is very popular on the black market, especially high-end items like these, which can be resold for double the price – a sure-fire way to make a profit.
It was just a ploy to drive down the price.
As for the whereabouts of the prosthetic body, that's not their concern.
But just as they were preparing to make the deal...
boom--
The roof of the warehouse suddenly exploded, and yellow sand poured down like a waterfall!
Gaara descended from the sky, and sand instantly entangled several merchant representatives, slamming them to the ground.
" The Inspection Department?" Yamada took two steps back in alarm, almost falling to the ground.
The Third Elder's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he slammed his cane into the ground.
Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!
Several stone pillars rose from the ground, cutting off the cascading sand flow.
At this moment, Yashamaru and Uchiha Inabi had already broken in from both sides, Kunai and Shuriken rained down on the Council of Elders's guards.
"Leave no one alive!" Gaara coldly ordered.
The warehouse instantly descended into chaos.
The Third Elder snorted coldly, and a jet-black scroll slid out from his sleeve, which he then unfurled.
"Bang!"
As the smoke cleared, five puppets covered in black armor appeared before him, their joints still shimmering with the faint light of Chakra Crystal.
Although the members of the Council of Elders disdain self-improvement, it doesn't mean they are incapable of studying these things.
In particular, the existence of advanced techniques such as Human Puppet Technique, prosthetic bodies, and Chakra Crystal provided them with significant inspiration.
These puppets are one of their achievements.
Each one is comparable to Jonin, and five of them combined are enough to threaten Elite Jonin, or even Kage Level.
Moreover, it doesn't require Chakra Threads to control it, can automatically release Ninjutsu, and has a very high hardness, making it an extremely ferocious killing machine.
The only drawback is that it is too expensive to build and cannot be too far from the operator.
With these five puppets, the Third Elder was extremely confident.
" Gaara, this is the Council of Elders ' territory. Your Reform Society has overstepped its bounds and has no right to arrest people here."
"Third Elder, you jest!" Gaara said coldly, "You colluded with members of the Reform Society to sell vital supplies. If this matter were to reach the Lord Kazekage, I would be in the right."
"Are you talking about that ungrateful traitor?" The Third Elder sneered, completely disregarding Rasa.
Not only the village, but even the outside world knows that the Kazekage system in Sunagakure is now defunct.
Now only two major forces remain: the Reform Society and the Council of Elders.
As for some scattered or emerging forces, they have no influence on the overall situation and can only survive by relying on one of the two.
In terms of military strength, the Reform Society is stronger than the Council of Elders.
However, in terms of the proportion of resources, the Council of Elders far exceeds that of the Reform Society.
After all, the Reform Society doesn't have much support from nobles, and it's currently in a standoff between the Three Great Shinobi Villages.
This is also the reason why the two forces have not yet gone to war.
At most, they'll just cause trouble for each other like today, trip each other up, and maybe arrest a few people along the way.
" Gaara, go back now, and I can hand over these cybernetic bodies and that Yamada to you. We'll pretend this never happened."
The Third Elder took the initiative to speak, indicating his willingness to back down first.
"No need! The cybernetic body will be retrieved by our Inspection Department. Yamada will also be arrested by the Inspection Department. What you need to do now is to give up resistance and come with us."
Gaara immediately rejected their offer of peace.
The Inspection Department is bound by its responsibilities and will not accept any leniency; otherwise, he might as well not be the minister.
As they were talking.
A tense atmosphere permeated the warehouse, the dim yellow light flickering with the fluctuations of Chakra.
Several business representatives trapped in the sand were being dragged to a corner by Uchiha ninjas.
One of the portly businessmen struggled to shout, "We're just doing business!"
But a single glance from Inabi silenced them.
Yamada's face turned deathly pale. He staggered and hid behind the Third Elder, his uniform collar already soaked with cold sweat.
The Third Elder gave him a disgusted look and slammed his cane heavily on the ground.
"Waste!"
Not far away, seven or eight Council of Elders' guards stood back to back in a circle, their Kunai glowing with a ghostly blue poisonous light.
Yashamaru's right prosthetic arm made a 'click-click' sound as it deformed, and the forearm armor plate slid open, revealing a dark gun muzzle.
"Final warning: surrender or face deadly force."
The air inside the warehouse seemed to freeze.
Several avatars of the Inspection Department emerged from the shadows, the energy indicator lights on the muzzles of their guns turning from blue to red, indicating that charging was about to be completed.
The Third Elder's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the guns in the men's hands.
According to the hard-won intelligence, these weapons innovations are the latest Chakra guns developed by the Weapons Reform Society, and are definitely military-grade.
It is specifically designed to counter Chakra defenses, and even Earth Release: Hardening Technique is difficult to withstand it.
The Council of Elders previously tried to acquire it, but unfortunately, they couldn't find a way to do so.
"Looks like there's no room for negotiation. Did you think you were the only ones prepared?"
The Third Elder suddenly grinned maliciously and stomped his cane heavily on the ground.
The five puppets simultaneously raised their heads, and the armor plates on their chests slid open, revealing the rotating Chakra Crystal arrays inside.
The data on Yashamaru's prosthetic eye was frantically reorganized.
[Warning! High concentration of Chakra detected. Expected reaction in 3 seconds...]
"Fire!"
Both sides gave their orders almost simultaneously.
The Chakra weapon of the Inspection Department emitted a piercing shriek, and a blue energy beam ripped through the darkness.
The Chakra Crystal on the puppet's chest burst forth with a blinding red light, and dense wind blades and fireballs roared out.
Boom boom boom--
The successive explosions shattered the remaining glass in the warehouse, and fragments of metal rained down on everything.
Yamada covered his head and lay on the ground, letting out a bloodcurdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.