When Hyuga Soushu returned to Hakone Prefecture's headquarters after his visit to the Land of Rain, the first message he received was a terrible one.
More precisely, it was a string of attack reports coming from the ten central districts within the Occupied Territories of the Land of Lightning.
After a series of severe mining accidents at the collective mines located across the ten central districts of the Land of Lightning, the ninja assigned to security finally realized something was amiss—even though mining accidents were not uncommon. Normally, as long as the overseeing ninja managed to get production back on track without missing their output targets, the Hyuga Clan wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.
The key problem, however, was how alarmingly frequent these mining disasters had become, each time resulting in near-total casualties.
Forced by sharply declining production, the ninja overseeing the mining operations launched a thorough investigation.
And the moment they started investigating further, everything suddenly became overwhelming!
Under nearly every excavation site where serious mining accidents had occurred, investigators discovered highly concealed traces of underground tunnels. Although cleverly hidden, after thorough investigation by the Hyuga ninja, these backfilled tunnels eventually gave away subtle traces of their existence.
Judging from their depth, these tunnels had clearly been dug upward from an even deeper underground space. The saboteurs who caused the mining accidents had then entered the mining zones and used some unknown method to create small-scale earthquakes, effectively fabricating the illusion of cave-ins.
As their reconnaissance intensified, the Hyuga ninja also uncovered several mangled miner corpses whose bodies had clearly been torn apart.
All these victims shared one common characteristic: they had been killed by having their throats slit using an extremely sharp, razor-thin tanto blade.
This evidence undeniably confirmed that there were unseen hands orchestrating these attacks from the shadows.
Therefore, the overseeing ninja, seeing this as a way out, quickly compiled reports and sent them urgently to Hakone Prefecture, formally requesting tactical guidance.
Yet in Hyuga Soushu's eyes, all these actions essentially felt no different than deliberately rubbing salt into his wounds!
As a high-ranking official shouldering multiple critical duties, he had been tireless in serving the Ninja World—the world of shinobi—even burning the midnight oil late into the night more than once! Now barely back from the Land of Rain, he was already being dragged into dealing with this mess? Frankly speaking, every single one of his underlings deserved a piece of his mind!
"Come on now, don't get mad, Soushu-kun~"
Fortunately, Mahiru Uchiha was right there beside him. Her fingertips gently traced over his skin, slowly calming his rising temper.
But that wasn't enough.
Giving him a teasing look tinged with mild disapproval, Mahiru Uchiha swept her hair over her shoulder before gracefully lowering herself to her knees beside Soushu, her hands gently resting on his waist.
"Ahhh…"
Hyuga Soushu couldn't help but sharply inhale, sincerely appreciating Mahiru-chan's devotion and effort.
"How about we move to the bedroom first?"
"No need. Right here in the living room is fine."
Mahiru Uchiha lifted her head and casually brushed away a stray curl that had strayed toward the corner of her mouth, saying, "The sofa is more convenient."
Once the heat had died down a little, Hyuga Soushu managed to calm Mahiru Uchiha—who was still stubbornly trying to force herself into battle—before heading back to the Administrative Hall to handle the next wave of tasks.
Although deeply dissatisfied with the capabilities of those insects, he couldn't deny that these individuals were still valuable.
Especially the supervising ninja in charge of various mines and farms. Most of them were elite talents cultivated during the tax-lease era, though generally they possessed only modest strength, lacked courage, and had no powerful backing—in short, full of flaws.
On the other hand, precisely because they were so shamelessly ruthless, they all excelled at extracting every ounce of productivity at the cost of long-term ruin—true champions of unsustainable exploitation.
Plus, after the explosive growth of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, competent managerial personnel were desperately needed to manage such an enormous enterprise. Therefore, instead of imposing harsh punishment, Soushu raged furiously at them before immediately dispatching capable agents to comb through the ten central districts from top to bottom.
As for blaming this mess on Kumo? Hyuga Soushu dismissed the idea outright.
Therefore, he had already silently pinpointed a few suspects.
"Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, White Zetsu..."
In the Ninja World, only those shadowy parasites could possibly have both the capability and motive to orchestrate such a scheme.
Still, going after those abominations was no simple task.
Even though the historical trajectory of the Ninja World had been completely disrupted, Soushu had yet to encounter any of these abnormalities.
Neither White Zetsu nor Black Zetsu had appeared before him whispering promises of world domination, nor had any talking toads emerged to advise him to return to history's rightful course.
And that spoke volumes.
Those who approached him were malicious outsiders; those who didn't were equally sinister, differing only in whether they deserved immediate execution upon capture—or total annihilation until not even bones remained. Beyond that, there was hardly any difference.
To seize this opportunity and hunt for any traceable clues, Soushu went all out.
Half of the Standing Ninja Army stationed in Herb Country was urgently recalled to the city, while nearly all combat-ready ninja from the direct-command Instructor Corps, aside from a few trainers, were dispatched to investigate across the ten central districts. Additionally, thirty Hyuga ninja were assigned to support the operation.
Meanwhile, back at the headquarters in Hakone Prefecture City, the Shinsengumi—handpicked by Soushu himself—took overall command, mobilizing reserve Genin, patrol units, and even Border Forces for a full-scale purge.
This time, Soushu was determined to tear through Hakone Prefecture City from end to end if he had to—no stone would be left unturned until he found something solid.
"I had just gone to Mount Myoboku on Great Sage's orders when you fools caused such a massive mess!"
Jiraiya, returning in haste from Mount Myoboku to the underground secret base, burned with fury upon learning what the Ninja Frogs had secretly provoked behind his back.
"Kurenai!"
Loyalty must stay within the clan — don't let it wander too far!
Red-skinned Ninja Frog Honglang jumped up, croaking loudly, "Don't you realize how many Ninja Frogs we've already lost silently?
"Our fellow frogs held themselves back from resisting even when captured or facing death while conducting reconnaissance near that pale-eyed brat's mansion — enduring like mindless Thunder Frogs staring blankly with their mouths open waiting to die!"
"Otherwise, do you really believe those intelligence reports just fell from the sky? Without communication frogs deploying and retrieving the intelligence frogs, how could you possibly have all this chaotic information?"
After becoming enraged, Red-skinned Ninja Frog Honglang even started hopping around furiously, kicking over the intelligence cabinet to show his dissatisfaction. "I'm sick of these dark, underhanded places! If you're not satisfied, send me back to Mount Myoboku — I'd be more than happy to go!"
"I-"
Jiraiya tried to calm him down.
"You dare not talk back to me!"
The red-skinned ninja frog continued shouting to vent his frustration. "At first we agreed on three months, but then another three months followed, and after barely surviving that, several more sets of three months came along!"
"Honorable Jiraiya, please have mercy on me! I want to go back to Mount Myoboku and feast on real insects again! I can't stand eating earthworms for every meal anymore!"
Thinking about these sad circumstances, the red-skinned ninja frog couldn't hold back his pent-up grievance anymore and began wailing loudly.
Jiraiya was beside himself with a pounding headache, unsure how to handle this stubborn, unruly frog.
"Enough! I bear the very Cursed Seal of the Ninja Frogs granted by the Great Sage. If you continue causing trouble, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
With no other choice, Jiraiya had to brandish the cursed seal as a show of authority.
The red-skinned ninja frog, who had been rolling on the ground crying, immediately stood up respectfully, hands folded, barely daring to breathe.
Although no one could understand why the Senior Toad Sage would grant Jiraiya such authority through the very Cursed Seal — determining life or death for the ninja frogs of Mount Myoboku — the red-skinned ninja frog still felt genuine fear and submission toward it from the bottom of his heart. Unsurprisingly, any schemes he had been plotting instantly vanished the moment the cursed seal appeared.
"Gather the Ninja Frogs hiding outside quickly," Jiraiya made the decision helplessly. "First make them all hide, absolutely no traces must be left behind at this crucial moment."
"Honorable Jiraiya and I are of exactly the same opinion!"
The red-skinned ninja frog flattered immediately, "Before you returned, I had already ordered all the ninja frogs outside to retreat deeper into the underground tunnels and hide. I left behind only certain unique ninja tools from Kumo as false evidence, but otherwise there won't be even the smallest trace remaining! Not in a million years will they find us unless those ninjas can penetrate hundreds of meters of solid earth!"
"That's good enough,"
Jiraiya thought this arrangement was actually quite reasonable.
Though he disliked taking such drastic action, since the aftermath had already been cleaned up so thoroughly, he decided not to escalate the issue unnecessarily.
After all, making a big scene wouldn't benefit anyone.
"We can guarantee absolutely no involvement in the attacks on farms across the central territories!"
"When facing the Hyuga envoy sent to question him, although the Third Raikage was deeply displeased by this disrespectful act, he still had to swallow his pride and swear an oath of innocence."
"Besides, our food supplies come from the ten central districts. We would never sabotage our own source of sustenance!"
The Kumo Elders continued to defend themselves: "Even if we were responsible, Kumo's strength ensures that no trace would be left behind. This must be someone else trying to frame us!"
"Whether you're being framed or not remains unclear. However, at the site of the mining accident, items discarded by Kumo ninja and abandoned hideouts have been discovered."
Although the Hyuga envoy himself doubted whether Kumogakure truly stood behind the mining incident, he wasted no time using this opportunity to pressure these once-defiant Kumo leaders. "All evidence currently points directly toward Kumo. I hope you don't believe a simple verbal assurance will clear your name?"
"It really wasn't us!"
The Kumo Elders groaned in frustration.
"Therefore, Kumo must prove its innocence."
The Hyuga envoy laid out his demand.
"How exactly do you expect us to prove ourselves?"
The Kumo Elders hurriedly asked.
Meanwhile, the Third Raikage remained silent, tacitly allowing these elders to handle the negotiations on his behalf.
"Just allow us to participate in the investigation," proposed the Hyuga envoy immediately.
"Agreed!"
The Kumo Elders felt as though they'd hit the jackpot.
Never mind whether this joint investigation would uncover anything significant—the real advantage lay in the possibility of Kumo ninjas returning to the long-lost central and southern fifteen districts.
Even if it didn't yield any major findings, at least firsthand intelligence about the current situation in the central and southern fifteen districts could be gathered to fill existing information gaps.
"In that case, please dispatch five hundred Chunin from Kumo, with all participants under the age of twenty-five."
The Hyuga envoy immediately set restrictive conditions.
"Huh!"
The Kumo Elders were momentarily dumbfounded.
Chunin under the age of twenty-five were the backbone forces of every Hidden Village. Losing five hundred at once would cut Kumo to the bone, especially considering it was still recovering from recent hardships.
Worse yet, limiting requirements solely to Chunin implied command authority wouldn't remain with Kumo!
These so-called cooperative investigators might even become pawns in the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation's expansion strategy!
The Third Raikage frowned tightly. The assembled Kumo Elders exchanged anxious glances, hesitant to make a decision.
"A maximum of three hundred people."
After prolonged silence, the Third Raikage finally made a painful decision.
"Agreed!"
The Hyuga envoy readily accepted.
After all, at the start of this mission, Hyuga Soushu had specifically instructed to recruit only two hundred Chunin from Kumo. Exceeding expectations already counted as tremendous success.
"Trapped," thought the Third Raikage upon hearing the Hyuga Envoy's immediate agreement — he had walked straight into a trap.
But he had no choice but to accept it, since the condition had been his own doing. In the following recruitment of chūnin, he quietly rigged the selection process, trying to assign all those useless, low-ranking chūnin into this temporary Ninja Force destined to be used as nothing more than cannon fodder, hoping to protect the younger chūnin who showed even moderate promise.
The Hyuga Envoy chose to turn a blind eye to this, ignoring Kumo's increasingly obvious act of inflating their numbers.
After all, according to Soushu Hyuga's plan, regardless of whether they could uncover anything or not, the blame would ultimately fall on the Bloodline faction of the Crimson Mist — that offshore hidden village.
The members of the Crimson Mist's Bloodline faction were all clearly mentally unstable, and lacked any real path for development within the Mainland — making them the most convenient and perfect scapegoats imaginable.
Furthermore, those Kumo ninja dispatched under the guise of aiding the investigation would serve as the first wave of cannon fodder in the Land of Water's meat grinder, once the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation launched a retaliatory campaign.
Therefore, there was no need to be overly demanding.
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