Sakumo nodded. "Okay, Hokage-sama. I'll be sure to observe the two kids' mental states during this time." Then he turned and left. The office was once again silent.
After walking around here and finding that there was nothing major, Torifu was ready to go home. There was no problem with handing over ordinary official business to his puppets. Just as Torifu was about to get up and leave, there was a rapid knock on the door. This startled Torifu, who was about to sneak away, but he quickly adjusted and sat back down in his chair.
"Come in." The office door was pushed open. Torifu saw that it was Katō Dan. The head of the Anbu had come to report in person, so there must have been something urgent.
Dan walked in and bowed to Torifu. "Reporting, Hokage-sama. We have intelligence from the black market."
"Oh? What intelligence?"
The so-called black market was a small intelligence organization made up of rogue ninjas from various villages. Although it was small, its intelligence was very well-informed. They could know the moment there was any trouble in the shinobi world. So, Konoha's intelligence organization and the Anbu often dealt with them. Katō Dan took out a small scroll from his pouch and handed it to Torifu.
Torifu took it and opened the scroll to read it. The slight smile that was on his face gradually disappeared as he read, and his brows furrowed.
"The Hidden Stone Village was also attacked?"
Dan nodded. "That's right. Last night, a little over ten masked people attacked the Hidden Stone Village. Many buildings were destroyed, and a large hole was blown in the gate." When he heard Dan's reply, Torifu was even more confused. These masked people first attacked the Hidden Sand Village and then the Hidden Stone Village. But they didn't steal any valuables, nor did they launch a deadly attack. It was like they were just having fun. Why was that?
"Is there any news from the Hidden Stone Village?"
Dan shook his head when he heard this. "No. The Hidden Stone Village should still be in a state of panic right now and has no time to care about the outside world."
What he said was right. They had just been attacked last night, so they must be busy stabilizing order and rebuilding. The key was, could the Hidden Stone Village's Mū and Ōnoki not even stop them when they worked together? Were the enemies really that strong?
Torifu put the scroll away and into his pocket. "Have someone continue to keep an eye on things and see if any new information comes out. Inform all villagers that they are not allowed to leave their homes after seven p.m. when it gets dark."
"Yes!" Dan immediately took action after he received Torifu's command. Torifu was also no longer in the mood to go back and rest. He had thought that the shinobi world would be peaceful for a while longer, but he didn't expect it to become chaotic so quickly.
Fortunately, he hadn't stopped training all these years. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to survive in one battle after another. Especially now that Torifu was a little unsure about the future direction of the shinobi world, he had to be more cautious. The attacks on these villages now might just be an appetizer. Only some buildings were affected, and the attackers all had Kage-level strength. That was not difficult to deal with. After all, there were simply too many Kage-level powerhouses in Konoha now. On average, each of the great clans had one or two Kage-level ninjas. If they really dared to come and attack Konoha, they might not be able to return.
However, as Torifu had just said, these were all just appetizers. It was still unclear who the real mastermind was, and it was also unclear whether the other party knew Konoha's information. The enemy was in the dark, and he was in the light, which was very difficult to deal with. A slight mistake could lead to bad consequences. With his experience with Rain back then, Torifu would not underestimate anyone now. He still remembered the losses he had suffered at Rain's hands back then.
"I have to see Kakuzu. The organization's people should be spread out in many villages and towns, and their intelligence should be very well-informed." After he said this, Torifu released his intelligent puppet to handle the official business, while he transformed into a cloud and floated back home. After he closed the door, Torifu lay on his bed and injected his thoughts into the mark.
In a cave in the Land of Rain, Kakuzu was looking at a map. The light rain outside the cave seemed to have never stopped, and even the fire was not burning very well because of the dampness. Suddenly, a warm feeling came from his arm. Kakuzu knew that the leader was here again. Sure enough, not long after, a white-robed, blonde puppet came out of the mark.
"It's been a long time, Kakuzu. How have you been recently?" Kakuzu put the map aside. "Thanks to you, I've been doing pretty well recently." When he smelled a musty scent in the air, and after he looked around, he found that there were small puddles everywhere in this cramped little cave. Only the place where Kakuzu was sitting was dry.
"What is this place? It's so damp." Kakuzu added a few pieces of firewood to the fire. "The Land of Rain. This should be your first time here, right?" Torifu was stunned when he heard this name. It had been so many years, and this was really his first time in the Land of Rain. He had heard in his previous life that it rained all year long in the Land of Rain and that it never stopped. He had thought that it was an exaggeration, but now it seemed to be true.
"It's in the middle of nowhere. What are you doing here?" Kakuzu gave Torifu a deep look and then sighed. "Sigh. What can I do? My leader is a busy person. After you became the Hokage, you completely washed your hands of the organization. I can only run around everywhere and recruit new blood for the organization."
Although there was no change in Kakuzu's expression, Torifu could hear the deep resentment in his words. Torifu could only chuckle at this. "Sigh. There's nothing I can do. It's impossible to find people with good talent in the shinobi world who don't belong to a village. And I'm the kind of person who would rather have nothing than settle for something bad. That's why the organization's development isn't going so well."
"That's why I came to this broken place to recruit people. There's a very talented ninja in this small shinobi village in the Land of Rain. If I can recruit him, the organization can go up to the next level."
The Land of Rain and "talented" were both fine words on their own, but when they were put together, it was a big problem. Who else could it be besides Hanzō? This was the time when Hanzō was at the height of his power. A year ago, Torifu had heard that a super genius had appeared in the Land of Rain. He had even thought about letting the Land of Rain replace the already silent Land of Lightning as the new fifth great shinobi village. This was the time when Hanzō should have been full of confidence and launching a war against other countries. However, perhaps it was because of Torifu's reputation and strength that he had not taken any action for a long time.
Torifu had thought that this attack should have been caused by the Hidden Rain Village, but if they had ten Kage-level ninjas, would they still be so timid? They could have just occupied the Land of Lightning.
"Speaking of which, the person you want to invite wouldn't be the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzō, would it?"