Jiraiya felt pretty awkward when he heard that.
Just a moment ago, he was boiling with rage; seeing Danzo lying there looking like everything was fine made him want to plant a Rasengan right in the guy's face.
He dispersed the Rasengan and locked eyes with Danzo, looking serious. "Danzo, what on earth happened here?"
Danzo just snorted. "Watch how you speak to me. I'm the Hokage's advisor—you can't just talk to me like that."
Before Danzo could say anything else, Hiruzen Sarutobi chimed in, "Jiraiya, you're not a rookie anymore. Try acting your age."
He said that because Jiraiya had just formed an even bigger Rasengan, looking like he was about to deck Danzo for real.
However, once Jiraiya heard Hiruzen, he managed to calm down. Killing Danzo wouldn't actually fix anything right now; the real priority was finding out what had happened to Naruto and how to get him back.
Turning back to Danzo, Hiruzen pressed, "Danzo, can you tell us what really went down tonight? Who was that masked ninja?"
Danzo obviously had no intention of answering, and his reply was enough to make both Hiruzen and Jiraiya want to strangle him on the spot.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I had nothing to do with whatever happened tonight. On the other hand, that inherently evil little Uchiha brat seemed like he was plotting something against me. Since my old Root division is now under Orochimaru's control, it's the village's job to keep me safe."
Hiruzen and Jiraiya practically gnashed their teeth in anger. Not only had Danzo teamed up with an outsider, resulting in Naruto's capture, but now he was twisting things around, saying Sasuke wanted to harm him and the village was obligated to protect him.
Furious, Hiruzen said, "Danzo, this is too far! Naruto is our Jinchuriki—nothing can happen to him. It's a huge deal, so tell us everything you know!"
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "I've been wanting to knock you flat ever since you bad mouthed Orochimaru way back when. Better spill it."
But Danzo was so used to threats that it was like water off a duck's back. Lying there in bed, he casually glanced at them both and said, "I don't know a single thing."
"Danzo!" Hiruzen practically exploded. As far as he was concerned, losing their Jinchuriki was more disastrous than losing a billion ryō.
Seeing Hiruzen so outraged, Danzo sneered, "Hmph. Do you really think you can kill me, Hiruzen?"
That line made both Hiruzen and Jiraiya even angrier, but Hiruzen couldn't actually kill Danzo. Plus, Danzo probably had the most intel on Naruto's whereabouts.
Getting rid of him now would only make rescuing Naruto harder, and besides, Danzo had that "Senshi insurance," so it wasn't even an option.
Hiruzen could only grit his teeth and order the Anbu to keep the hospital under close surveillance. Then he and Jiraiya went back to speak with Sasuke about what had happened.
After getting medical treatment, Sasuke was feeling a lot better physically, but he was consumed by guilt.
He felt directly responsible for Naruto's kidnapping, since they'd gone after Danzo in secret with no backup. Nobody else in the village had even known until it was too late.
Sasuke silently vowed, "Naruto, I'm going to bring you back no matter what."
[One couldn't help thinking that if Hinata were there begging, "Sasuke-kun, please bring Naruto-kun back!" it'd fit the drama perfectly… but that's another story.]
While Konoha was in complete turmoil, Iwagakure was in just as much chaos. In the old days, black-market shinobi used to be envious of Iwa-nin, since it was so easy to pick up well-paying jobs straight from the village.
Now the tables had turned: if Iwa's ninja didn't want to starve, they had to go to the black market themselves… and they weren't even guaranteed to find anything there.
Recently, every job that used to trickle into Iwagakure's assignment center or various black markets was instead being funneled straight into the black market managed by Iwasa.
Meanwhile, Senshi and his mercenary group were so ridiculously efficient at handling missions that no matter how many came in, they got them all done.
With the constant inflow of "employment points," Senshi was on cloud nine, and his mercenaries were even happier, thanks to all the scratch cards they were racking up.
Iwasa, the black-market manager, was thrilled too—he'd never seen profits this high. And the employers putting out jobs were overjoyed at getting far better service for the usual price. In short, that black market was full of cheerful vibes.
But Iwagakure's leadership and its ninja couldn't share that enthusiasm.
In the Tsuchikage's office, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, looked like a schemer whose calculations just kept failing.
He'd been sitting behind his desk, brooding forever, and still had no solutions. Finally, he sighed and asked Akatsuchi, "Any update from Kurotsuchi?"
Akatsuchi nodded. "Yeah, but it's basically no update. She still hasn't found Deidara."
Onoki paused for a moment, thinking that information was as good as useless. He wasn't sure whether he should personally track down that brat Deidara or try approaching Senshi.
On paper, letting outside shinobi handle jobs in the Land of Earth was okay, since it benefitted local employers.
But with Senshi so absurdly skilled—and bringing along a full mercenary squad—it had basically become a monopoly.
Now pretty much all missions in and around the Land of Earth went exclusively to them, leaving Iwa's own ninja out of work and on the brink of starvation.
You could almost imagine Danzo chiming in, "Those Iwa-nin are just too weak. As for me? I can't go without a job!"
Outside Iwasa's black market, Kurotsuchi had been staking it out and finally spotted Deidara on top of his giant clay bird. She jumped up, waving, "Deidara-nii, over here! I'm right here!"
Standing on his clay bird, Deidara was happily counting his money until he heard that familiar voice, which made his expression shift.
He knew instantly it was Kurotsuchi. He'd cut ties and joined the Akatsuki without telling his master, so he'd been dreading something like this.
If Onoki showed up too, it'd be a nightmare. Thankfully, it was only Kurotsuchi, so he relaxed.
"That's manageable." He guided his bird down in front of her.
He gave Kurotsuchi a once-over and said, "Not bad, you've grown some."
Kurotsuchi blinked. "Huh? You can already see how much stronger I've gotten, Deidara-nii?"
He shook his head. "No, I mean you're literally taller than last time."
"Anyway, cut the small talk—I need to earn more money to fund my art. What's up?"
Kurotsuchi nodded. "There is something I need to talk to you about. But, honestly, I think your art is already perfect, Deidara-nii."
Of course, she was just being strategic. As the future Tsuchikage, she knew the best way to keep her big brother figure from vanishing on her was to start by talking about what he loved most: his art.
Sure enough, Deidara stopped short. Ever since he'd lost to Kakuzu and been forced into the Akatsuki, his artistic ego had taken a beating, especially since the other members were all super-talented.
Kurotsuchi might've been the only person lately who had praised his art.
He nodded seriously. "You really get it, sis. You truly appreciate and understand art."
Inwardly, Kurotsuchi was chuckling—she never really bought into the idea that his clay explosives were genuine "art." But she wasn't about to show it. Instead, she casually pried, "I thought you joined the Akatsuki. Why're you back in the Land of Earth all of a sudden?"
"Oh, that…" Deidara paused. He was actually here to help Senshi-nii capture the Tailed Beast lurking in the Land of Earth, but he couldn't let that slip. Otherwise he'd spend his nights dreaming of Onoki blasting him with Dust Release. So he just said, "I'm here because I need to refine my art. That means making money so I can keep getting better."
It wasn't exactly a lie—his ultimate goal really was to perfect his art.
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes a bit. "Yeah, but you guys have been hogging all the missions at Iwasa-san's black market. It's causing real problems for the village."
Deidara was unmoved. "And? If the village has a problem, what does that have to do with me?" He gestured to the forehead protector, now slashed, marking him as a missing-nin.
Kurotsuchi ignored that. "Our mission center is literally running dry. Nobody's bringing jobs to the village anymore. But if you haven't actually done anything that hurts the village, Grandpa would probably forgive you. And if you promise not to run any terrorist campaigns here or in the Land of Earth, he might even let you back—"
Deidara turned her down flat. "No thanks. Going back would just hold me back from achieving the pinnacle of my art. As for the village's mission center being empty, can't those ninja just come to the black market? There're jobs coming in from everywhere. Iwa-nin can get in on that too, you know?"
Kurotsuchi just stood there, momentarily speechless. Telling Iwa-nin to go to the local black market to find work wasn't exactly a good solution. After a second, she tried a different angle.
"How long are you all staying here, then? There should be more missions in the Land of Fire's black market, so why not go there?"
She was basically hoping they'd move on to Konoha and leave Iwa alone, but Deidara shook his head. "No clue. I just follow whatever Senshi-nii wants to do."
Kurotsuchi felt helpless. Deidara was tough enough on his own, but Senshi was the real beast they couldn't handle.
Meanwhile, Senshi's mercenary group was vacuuming up every job in the region, devastating Iwa's income. It was only a matter of time before the village budget collapsed.
That's when Kurotsuchi noticed the scratch cards in Deidara's hand and asked curiously, "Deidara-nii, what are those things?"
Deidara grinned. "This is art—Senshi-nii's art."
Kurotsuchi looked utterly confused. "Huh? This is art too?"
Because she had just been buttering him up about his own art, Deidara was happy to elaborate. He scratched one of the cards right in front of her.
[Chakra: 1/2 Card!]
As soon as he finished, the card disappeared. Kurotsuchi started to say something like "So, it's the 'vanishing card' art—" when she suddenly froze, eyes going wide as she felt a surge of new chakra radiating from Deidara. She realized his overall chakra level had just leapt upward—instantly.
Her jaw dropped. She knew ninjas don't just boost their chakra out of nowhere; it's always a slow, gradual climb. But there he was, proving otherwise.
Deidara looked smug as he scratched a second card.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!]
That card vanished as well, and suddenly Deidara knew Water Dragon Bullet. Right in front of Kurotsuchi, he ran through the 44 hand signs at lightning speed and unleashed it:
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A water dragon sprang up out of nowhere and slammed into a big tree in the distance, snapping it in half with a loud crash.
Kurotsuchi reflexively slapped her own cheek, as if to jolt herself awake. Learning a new jutsu in literally one second? Getting a chakra boost in one second? How could that be real?
Seeing her do that, Deidara said hurriedly, "Calm down, sis. Sure, Senshi-nii's art is insanely powerful, but I'm still convinced my art will be the ultimate."
Kurotsuchi had already guessed these incredible scratch cards came from Senshi, so she pressed him further. "So, Deidara-nii, what do these cards have to do with Lord Senshi exactly?"
Deidara shrugged. "If you join Senshi-nii's mercenary group, you automatically earn one of these cards for every two million ryō you make in commissions. Then whatever you scratch off, you get—be it jutsu, chakra, items, whatever."
He demonstrated by scratching another card.
[Chain Reaction Exploding Tag Scroll*1!]
The scratch card disappeared, leaving Deidara holding a scroll. With a small grin, he casually tossed it over to Kurotsuchi.
"Chain Reaction Exploding Tag Scroll—pretty neat, but not as neat as my art, so it's yours. Now, I'm gonna get back to mission hunting."
Waving goodbye, Deidara flew off on his clay bird, leaving Kurotsuchi standing there holding the scroll, totally stunned.
Now she understood why Senshi's mercenaries were so enthusiastic about taking on every mission—who wouldn't be, if you could learn jutsu in seconds and multiply your chakra?
Kurotsuchi wasted no time returning to Iwagakure. She went straight to the Tsuchikage's office to report what she'd learned to her grandfather and Akatsuchi.
She arrived, and Onoki immediately asked, "So, did you run into that brat Deidara?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes."
He followed up, "Get any useful intel out of him?"
She both nodded and shook her head.
Onoki: (O_O)???
Akatsuchi: (O_O)???
They had no idea what that meant. Kurotsuchi explained in detail what had happened. She'd barely started when Akatsuchi blurted out excitedly, "Wow, that's Deidara all right—he can spot how much stronger you've gotten in one glance?"
Onoki silently stared at the ceiling, wondering if the "Will of Stone" was making everyone around him dumber. Obviously, Deidara had only meant Kurotsuchi had physically grown. Still, the Tsuchikage didn't expect it to be a big topic.
Embarrassed, Kurotsuchi said, "Yeah, at first I thought so too… turned out it was just a misunderstanding."
Onoki nearly had an aneurysm. Great, the village was done for, and now we have two morons in the Tsuchikage's office.
But then she got to the main points:
1. Nobody knew how long Senshi would stay in the Land of Earth. Terrible news for Iwa.
2. Senshi's mercenaries had these insane scratch cards, which granted them instant jutsu and chakra boosts.
Both Onoki and Akatsuchi were shocked. Scratching his head, Akatsuchi said, "Is that even possible? Learning a jutsu in one second?"
Onoki frowned. "What's even more unbelievable is the sudden chakra increase. Once a ninja reaches a certain level, their total chakra hardly changes anymore. I've hardly added anything since my own prime. In fact, it only gets harder to refine."
Kurotsuchi then showed them the scroll Deidara had given her. "Grandpa, here's the Chain Reaction Exploding Tag Scroll Deidara-nii got. He said it's okay but not as good as his own art, and he just gave it to me."
Onoki and Akatsuchi both raised their eyebrows. Akatsuchi glanced over at Onoki and asked, "Sensei, weren't these chain-reaction tags developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju?"
Onoki nodded, then took the scroll from Kurotsuchi. "Kurotsuchi, this is too advanced for you. Let's hand it over to the Iwagakure ninja-tools lab to study it."
"Wait, what?" Kurotsuchi was a bit peeved. That was a gift from Deidara, after all. And how complicated could it be? They're just beefed-up explosive tags, right?
But she didn't get to brood because Onoki went on. "We can't keep letting them dominate everything. We need to find a way to talk to Senshi directly and figure out his real objective in coming here. Then we'll try working with him. If Deidara was allowed into his group, presumably other Iwa-nin can do the same."
"If we join Senshi's mercenaries, we can rack up a ton of missions and keep earning those scratch cards—which means we can keep getting stronger. Essentially, joining up might give our ninjas a shot at becoming top-tier fighters!"
~~~
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