Chapter 347: One Scapegoat Isn't Enough
Darui's delegation finally arrived at Konoha Village.
This diplomatic mission carried enormous weight—it would determine whether Lightning Country could preserve its war spoils. Consequently, the delegation's composition reflected its importance.
"Before we enter, let me emphasize one more time—we're not here to declare war. Keep your attitudes restrained. Don't swagger around like usual."
"This new Hokage differs completely from the Third. He's a hardliner through and through. If negotiations turn sour, he might resort to violence without hesitation."
"Many of you witnessed his complete Susanoo. That thing isn't something we can handle."
"If possible, use political pressure to constrain him. That's our best option."
The delegation bowed quickly. "Understood, Lord Darui."
After verifying their identities at the village gates, they were escorted inside.
After more than a month of intensive construction, Konoha Village had finally regained some of its former grandeur. All the buildings and facilities expected of a major shinobi village now stood completed.
Running water flowed. Electrical lines hummed. Hospitals, academies, roads, parks, drainage systems—every public facility had been established.
Those were the visible changes. But the invisible transformations proved even more dramatic.
Darui wore his usual lazy expression as he ambled along behind their guide, but his sharp eyes absorbed every detail within his field of vision.
He'd visited Konoha before. Now at a glance, he recognized that the entire village structure had been redesigned.
The Hokage building occupied a different location. Many other areas had been completely rearranged as well.
Yet the bustling atmosphere remained unchanged. Konoha's streets teemed with crowds and carriages—a picture of thriving prosperity.
That's wrong.
Darui's brow furrowed subtly.
Villages don't recover this quickly after war—especially not after defeat. Losing wars severely damages merchant confidence. Missions dry up in huge numbers.
Cloud Village had been defeated in all three previous Great Ninja Wars. Each time required an extended period of economic depression, slowly rebuilding trust through careful management.
But judging from the endless stream of carriages filling these streets, he could identify emblems from numerous merchant associations.
Konoha had been completely dissolved. A defeat of that magnitude should have shattered merchant confidence entirely. Why were these associations still placing such obvious trust in the village, still commissioning missions?
Was this the legendary foundation of the shinobi world's greatest village?
And another thing... there are way too many Edo Tensei bodies in this village!
Just along the route they'd walked, Darui had spotted at least a dozen reanimated corpses from various clans.
Some patrolled. Some directed traffic. Others worked in shops using jutsu to perform labor. The proportion seemed absurdly high.
Had Konoha's population losses become so severe that they needed Edo Tensei to maintain appearances?
If that were true, this was excellent news!
Darui's spirits lifted. He observed even more carefully.
To avoid alerting Konoha's personnel, however, he refrained from asking any questions. He simply followed patiently behind the guide to the inn where visiting delegations were housed.
"Yo, Darui! You made it too!"
The moment Darui entered, he encountered a familiar face.
"Oh, Yashamaru!"
Darui lazily raised one hand in greeting.
He waved at his subordinates, signaling them to handle check-in procedures, then walked toward Yashamaru. Gathering intelligence from Sand Village first seemed prudent.
This kind of information exchange was perfectly legitimate. Even if Konoha ANBU were watching, it didn't matter.
The two men walked arm-in-arm to a quieter corner.
Darui pulled out a cigarette and offered it. "You arrived early, Yashamaru. Any intelligence worth sharing?"
"Oh, plenty."
Yashamaru accepted the cigarette, lit it, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a smoke ring before speaking leisurely:
"Current Konoha's like a sieve—accepting anyone and everyone. I guarantee those Konoha ninja on the streets include numerous spies from other villages."
"But their new Hokage doesn't seem to care. He shows no interest in screening applicants. Anyone who pledges loyalty gets accepted immediately."
"Really?"
"Then those people obviously won't be trusted, right?"
"Surely the village only trusts original Konoha ninja?"
"Heh..." Yashamaru smirked coldly. "Can you be certain those 'original Konoha ninja' aren't secretly working for other villages now?"
"I know for a fact that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans fled to Cloud Village. They didn't return this time."
"Your people secretly recruiting some ninja and sending them back as spies wouldn't be impossible, would it?"
"Well, well..." Darui scratched his head with an innocent grin. "How would I know about such things? Lord Raikage handles those arrangements. Maybe we did, maybe we didn't. Who can say?"
Yashamaru didn't press the point. He changed subjects with a sigh:
"Right now the village is drowning in intelligence reports—truth mixed with fiction flying everywhere. Hard to know what's actually real."
"Like what?"
"Like how Cloud Village secretly dispatched a squad disguised as bandits to plunder Fire Country, specifically targeting major merchant warehouses. Whatever they steal gets shipped back to Cloud Village if possible, or buried on-site. Sometimes they just burn everything—the goal being to slow Konoha's recovery."
"Look at all those merchant associations constantly posting missions at the Hokage building. That's why they're here."
"Huh?" Darui's composure shattered. His mouth gaped wide, and the cigarette fell from his lips. "Where did that false intelligence come from?"
"Cloud Village would never do something so shameless!"
"Really?" Yashamaru's eyes narrowed skeptically.
"Of course it's true!" Darui protested firmly, though doubt gnawed at his confidence. His village definitely would do something like that.
But Yashamaru suddenly chuckled and waved dismissively.
"Don't get so worked up. This rumor has multiple versions. Not just Cloud Village—Sand Village has one too."
"Actually, all four major nations have their own version. The content's essentially identical. Only the names change."
"From what I can tell, there probably is some squad disrupting Konoha's recovery. The robbed merchants are real enough. We just don't know which country's responsible."
"I see!" Darui wiped sweat from his forehead, still protesting stubbornly. "Well, it definitely wasn't Cloud Village."
Yet when their eyes met, both understood the more likely truth—all the nations had probably sent teams. They just didn't know about each other's operations.