Chapter 120:
"It looks like we arrived just in time."
Dozens of Konoha shinobi landed on the tree branches. Sai, leading the group, scanned the area. After confirming that Boruto, Sarada, and Shuyu were relatively unharmed, he turned his attention to Mitsuki and the beast in the distance.
Upon receiving Mitsuki's intel on the ability beast, Naruto had immediately dispatched Sai to provide reinforcements.
"Evil Ginseng Beast, retreat."
Seeing the Konoha reinforcements arrive, Mitsuki gave the order.
"Hey! You from S.H.I.E.L.D.—"
Yoru looked unwilling to give up, but with three Konoha shinobi watching him closely, he didn't dare make a move.
"Mitsuki!"
"Boruto." Sai stopped Boruto, who wanted to rush after Mitsuki, and quietly watched the latter's retreating figure.
He was aware that Mitsuki had been acting as a double agent inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
In fact, even now, the village wasn't fully prepared to accept Mitsuki back.
"Uncle Sai!"
Sai shook his head and said to Boruto, "Let's head back. This mission seems to involve both that bandit gang and S.H.I.E.L.D."
Konoha Village, Hokage's Office
Having just finished an interrogation with the Konoha Police Force, Sai entered the Hokage's office.
"Sai, finished with the interrogation?"
"Yeah. It was thanks to Shuyu's genjutsu that we wrapped up so quickly."
"Haha, I see. As expected of a genius from the Uchiha clan." Naruto chuckled, then his expression turned serious. "So, what's the result of the interrogation?"
"The bandit gang is called Mujina. Their leader is someone named Shojoji, who specializes in a jutsu called Corpse Clone. It allows him to kill someone and completely take their place. Recently, he was approached by a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative named Gray Wolf."
"Orochimaru, huh…" Naruto muttered, motioning for Sai to continue.
"Although they claim it's a cooperative relationship, it's actually just S.H.I.E.L.D. using the Mujina gang. They seem to be searching for five items called Light and Shadow Stones. As for the ability beast, the gang's second-in-command didn't know much either—only that it had been rented at great expense under duress."
"Hmm… What about that guy Yoru who came with them?" Naruto asked after thinking for a moment.
"He's just a regular member of the Mujina gang. He stole a large sum from them, which is why they were hunting him down. In order to protect himself, he had no choice but to lie to Konoha and claim he was their second-in-command. The money he took has been found and confiscated."
"In that case, let him go." Naruto decided after a moment of thought.
An Abandoned Western-style House in the Countryside of the Land of Grass
"Looks like you had it pretty easy in prison, Shojoji."
A werewolf reclined on a worn-out sofa, speaking to the trembling Yoru in front of him.
Yoru's thin frame suddenly morphed into a chubby man with a head of grass-green hair. With great respect, he said, "Lord Gray Wolf…"
Back when S.H.I.E.L.D. had first approached him about a collaboration, Shojoji had scoffed. He wasn't about to accept just because they said so. His Mujina gang was a ranked criminal force even among the Five Great Nations. To make matters worse, they'd only sent a weird little creature not even half his height to negotiate.
Naturally, Shojoji had turned them down. If not for the fact that they were all part of the underworld, he wouldn't have even agreed to a meeting.
But after witnessing Orochimaru's power, Shojoji had quickly chosen to submit.
Water flows downhill; people seek higher ground.
His gang might've made a name for itself, but at best they were thugs—no match for true terrorists.
"You've been avoiding me, haven't you?"
Gray Wolf smiled, licking the corner of his mouth.
Orochimaru had wanted to do the licking himself, but unfortunately, his tongue wasn't long enough.
"O-of course not, Lord Gray Wolf!"
People value their lives, and Shojoji was no exception.
"No need for excuses. Just make sure you find the Light and Shadow Stones quickly."
"But I don't have a single lead…"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. already lent you an ability beast—that is your lead." Gray Wolf leaned back on the sofa. "Ability beasts are drawn to Light and Shadow Stones. Where they appear, the stones will follow."
As Gray Wolf finished speaking, the Evil Ginseng Beast had already walked up beside Shojoji.
Shojoji glanced at the creature, his body instinctively trembling beneath layers of fat.
"Please rest assured, Lord Gray Wolf. I'll definitely find the Light and Shadow Stones."
He bowed his head low in submission.
S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't the only one interested in the Light and Shadow Stones.
Hokage's Office
"What! You're saying an ability beast appeared?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" The Jar Merchant was visibly agitated.
"What's wrong, Jar Merchant? Is there something unusual about ability beasts?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Of course there is!"
With no other choice, the Jar Merchant once again recounted his absurd version of ninja world history to Naruto.
"Are you sure this is true?" Shikamaru, ever the strategist, instinctively questioned him.
"Shikamaru, don't tell me you don't believe the Jar's story!"
"No, no, not at all," Shikamaru quickly waved his hands. At the very least, they still needed the Jar Merchant's intel to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"There's one more thing. We must find all five Light and Shadow Stones if we want any chance of repelling the cosmic dark force OG. Have there been any recent sightings of ability beasts?"
Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged glances.
They had intel, but disclosing it to someone outside the upper ranks of Konoha went against protocol. Even if Naruto held absolute authority in the village now, the two advisors left behind by the Third Hokage were still alive.
"What's the matter?"
"It's just… sharing this kind of intel with outsiders goes against policy," Naruto explained awkwardly.
"Then how about this," Shikamaru suggested. "Jar Merchant, how would you feel about becoming a Special Consultant for Konoha's anti-S.H.I.E.L.D. operations?"
"I'm open to it. What kind of pay and benefits are we talking about? I want a nine-to-five schedule, weekends off, no overtime—unless it's paid at triple, no, quintuple the usual rate. I want a year-end bonus too—"
"Alright, alright, that's enough—we'll agree to all that," Shikamaru cut him off, seeing that the Jar Merchant wasn't done negotiating.
"Good, then let's hear the intel."
"In the past month, the Mujina gang has been moving from one remote area to another in various countries, wreaking havoc with ability beasts."
"It's obvious—they're trying to lure out the Light and Shadow Armor," the Jar Merchant interrupted Shikamaru. "I hope you understand—this enemy is even more terrifying than the Ōtsutsuki. We cannot afford to lose a single one of the five Light and Shadow Armors."
"Also, while the ability beast was active in the Land of Water, it got into a fight with the Hulk," Shikamaru added grimly.
They'd known about Hulk sightings in the Land of Water for some time, but their investigation had met with resistance. Since then, Shikamaru had already suspected that the Land of Water was secretly purchasing the Hulk's services from S.H.I.E.L.D.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)