The Land of Fire, Shizuoka Prefecture.
In the evening, Tsunade emerged from the casino, satisfied, even though she had just wagered thirty million yen and then lost it all...
But does it matter? No, it doesn't matter.
The entire casino belongs to her; no matter how much she loses, it's just money flowing from one pocket to another, and she doesn't have to pay taxes! According to the tax rate of the Land of Fire, if she wins 30 million, she would have to pay at least 6 million in taxes. Rounding up, that means she made 6 million out of thin air!
Can we still say she lost money? Obviously not!
As Tsunade was thinking about where to go for a drink that evening, Naoki Senju caught a glimpse of a passerby at the street corner. After noticing that he was being watched, the passerby didn't hesitate to walk into the next corner to avoid any risk of being exposed.
Little did he know that in Naoki Senju's eyes, this disguise was nothing more than a clumsy performance.
" Sister Tsunade, the fish from Konoha has taken the bait."
Without a doubt, the passerby from earlier was one of Konoha's intelligence ninjas. After Naoki Senju and the others left the Daimyo's residence, they stopped actively concealing their whereabouts, and it was only a matter of time before they were found by Konoha's Anbu.
Tsunade slowed her pace slightly. Her excellent ninja discipline prevented her from looking around. She simply leaned close to Naoki Senju's ear and whispered:
"You really weren't afraid of killing Asuma back then? That level of injury, even if it heals, would leave lasting effects, maybe even permanent damage..."
Naoki blinked. He also felt he had gone too far, but he hadn't expected Asuma to survive so stubbornly... Maybe it was the anesthetic pollen from the World of Flowering Trees that had some analgesic and pain-relieving effects... Naoki Senju thought uncertainly.
"Only challenging cases like this are worthy of Sister Tsunade's strength. But the fish from Konoha have already taken the bait, Sister Tsunade, you won't have many days left to play around."
"That's right!" Tsunade suddenly realized, then turned around and walked back to the casino without hesitation, not even bothering to eat, while muttering to herself, "Life is precious, how can I waste time! Let me go back and gamble three hundred more rounds."
That night, the casino dealer was filled with mixed emotions. Who could have imagined that the new boss would lose several small fortunes in one night? And to make matters worse, this was all casino funds; no revenue meant no bonuses... His work ethic was completely extinguished...
Konoha's Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force
A bead of sweat rolled down Inoichi Yamanaka's forehead, and his facial muscles twitched slightly, making him look extremely strained.
Kakashi, who was standing idly to the side, became somewhat curious. He had never seen Inoichi Yamanaka struggle like this before. Usually, when he tried to find out a prisoner's memories, it was either incredibly easy or he was completely unable to do so due to restrictions and Sealing Jutsu.
Only Inoichi Yamanaka himself knew how difficult it actually was. Exploring the consciousness and memories of the Chiriku was far more difficult than he had imagined. He had never seen an ordinary person with such solid spiritual energy. Clearly, only the Yamanaka Clan had mastered the cultivation of spiritual energy, and there was also the Uchiha Clan Yamanaka Clan clan without any cultivation.
If the density of spiritual energy of ordinary people, or even most ninjas, is like air, Inoichi Yamanaka needs to 'fly' across, then Chiriku's spiritual energy is like water, Inoichi Yamanaka needs to 'swim' across, directly raising the difficulty level several levels.
Fortunately, this was the specialty and strength of the Yamanaka Clan, so this difficulty was not a problem for him.
Looking at the brain-shaped collection of memories before him, even the arduous Inoichi Yamanaka couldn't help but reveal his excitement, placing one hand on his brain.
"Ninja Mind Reading Technique."
Chiriku's past memories unfolded before Inoichi Yamanaka like a book. The first memories that appeared were Chiriku's most vivid ones, such as happy or sad ones... Inoichi Yamanaka chose to skip them and instead looked at his most recent memories.
More than an hour later, Inoichi Yamanaka, whose hair was completely soaked with sweat, finally opened his eyes under Kakashi's worried gaze.
"How's the situation? Have they found the real killer?"
Aside from the nobles and high-ranking officials of the Land of Fire who knew nothing about ninjas, those in the know from Konoha did not believe that a mere wandering ninja Kazuma could annihilate the Twelve Guardian Ninja, knock out Chiriku, and severely injure Asuma. Therefore, there must be a real mastermind behind this!
But Inoichi Yamanaka seemed somewhat dazed, and after a moment of hesitation, he said:
"A powerful Genjutsu seal remains in Chiriku's memories. Kazuma is just a scapegoat; the real culprits are a group of mysterious ninjas dressed in black cloud-patterned robes."
Black cloud-patterned robes... Kakashi was completely bewildered. When did such a group of ninjas appear in the Shinobi World? How could they possibly wreak havoc in the Daimyo's mansion and annihilate the Twelve Guardian Ninja?
But a look of seriousness and vigilance appeared in the Third Hokage's cloudy eyes. The black cloud-patterned robe... it was definitely the Akatsuki, but why would they attack the Daimyo of the Land of Fire? There was absolutely no reason...
Neither of them doubted the accuracy of Inoichi Yamanaka's intelligence readings. The Yamanaka Clan's abilities and loyalty were beyond question, far surpassing those of the Uchiha.
"You've worked hard, Inoichi. Go back and get some rest. Kakashi and I will take care of things here."
"No, Lord Hokage, I shall take my leave now."
"Hmm." Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly. Inoichi Yamanaka, feeling his heart pounding rapidly, used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly leave the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force.
Lying in front of the Lord Hokage is a bit too much...
After unlocking Chiriku's memories, Inoichi Yamanaka witnessed the true truth—it was a ninja suspected to be from the Senju Clan who used powerful Wood Release to annihilate the Twelve Guardian Ninja. If it's not surprising, the massacre in the Daimyo's mansion was also caused by him.
However, these are not the truths that Inoichi Yamanaka is willing to lie to cover up. At the end of the memory, Princess Tsunade of Konoha Sannin, appears. She performs simple life-saving measures for Asuma to prevent Asuma from dying prematurely.
He also left behind a warning message, which Inoichi Yamanaka knew very well. It wasn't addressed to Chiriku, but rather to the Yamanaka Clan, who possessed the ability to read the memories of their enemies.
"Sometimes silence is more valuable than honesty. If someone wants to know the murderer, then the murderer is a group of mysterious ninjas dressed in black robes with auspicious cloud patterns."
This was a warning, and Inoichi Yamanaka chose to heed it. If nothing unexpected happens, even if the Third Hokage summoned other members of the Yamanaka Clan, they would make the same choice after seeing this memory.
This is a political struggle between the Third Hokage and Konoha Sannin, Princess Tsunade. To put it bluntly, the Third Hokage was already halfway to his death, while the Legendary Konoha Sannin were in their prime, at the peak of their ninja strength, experience, and prestige...
The best outcome for a large clan to be involved in such a political struggle is to remain neutral and gravitate slightly towards the side with the advantage. This is the way for the Uchiha Clan.
After Inoichi Yamanaka left, Kakashi rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought. His former senior, now colleague, seemed to be acting strangely...
" Kakashi, come with me to see Asuma."
The Third Hokage's summons interrupted Kakashi's thoughts, and he could only hastily reply:
"Yes, Lord Hokage."