Mokgetsu instructed his disciples to investigate whether the giant eagle was disturbing the citizens and gather some public opinions about the Town Mayor, while he went directly to the Town Mayor's residence for his own investigation.
However, to prevent any unexpected incidents, Mokgetsu sent a Shadow Clone to protect his disciples secretly.
Although Mokgetsu hadn't asked where the Town Mayor's house was, he didn't need to, as he knew heading to the most luxurious estate wouldn't be wrong.
Before long, Mokgetsu found an estate visibly more opulent than the others, complete with flower beds and a pond. He quietly slipped in.
"Haha, I'm still the smart one, just spread the word, and someone will definitely help us deal with that strange bird."
A complacent middle-aged voice entered Mokgetsu's ear.
"Indeed, Town Mayor, you are truly wise and resourceful." Someone beside him flattered.
"Of course, otherwise why am I the Town Mayor?" The Town Mayor laughed out loud proudly.
"Can we really count on those peasants to hire a ninja to solve this strange bird? I think the person took the money and ran or died on the way; this world is quite chaotic."
"You are wise, Town Mayor, but since you know that peasant might not return, why not directly take those thirty thousand ryo to compensate for your loss or send someone to follow?" The person beside asked, puzzled.
"Foolish, getting them to pay for a service and simply robbing them are two different levels of resistance, and it's so dangerous now. The men I pay are not for protecting those peasants.
Thirty thousand ryo aren't important to me, making sure those peasants are without money is. There are still some fields in town that aren't mine, and the daughter of the Bota family isn't bad either."
Mokgetsu silently memorized the Town Mayor's fat, lecherous face, and after listening to their conversation, he roughly understood the situation.
Hamajiro indeed didn't tell the whole truth, and the two strongmen might even have been hired to act or were simply people from Kawakita Town to provoke the ninjas' sense of justice to deal with the Town Mayor.
Although Hamajiro didn't tell the whole truth, his accusations against the Mayor were mostly accurate; even during this short eavesdropping, Mokgetsu discovered the Mayor forced land appropriation and even intended to coerce others into selling their daughters.
"Is the intelligence on the strange bird's whereabouts collected? Those ninjas urged us this morning; what a bunch of peculiar people, doing jobs for free so diligently." The Town Mayor didn't understand the ninjas.
Mokgetsu could only think that different fields had different perspectives. Perhaps the Town Mayor was familiar with land appropriation, but it never crossed his mind to realize the value of a birdlike Summoning Beast to ninjas, since he didn't even know about the Summoning Technique and Summoning Beasts.
The Town Mayor's subordinate nodded, so the two of them, along with a few guards, prepared to head to the ninjas' temporary residence.
"How dare you beg here, don't you know our Town Mayor is famous for his compassion, unable to see suffering? Move along." The subordinate saw someone begging at the grand estate and scolded him.
The beggar, seeing so many fierce-looking guards, quickly bowed and apologized before moving elsewhere.
Mokgetsu swiftly followed.
"Honorable Ninjas, we have brought the intelligence on the strange bird's whereabouts. Its nest is on the mountain top." Speaking to the ninjas, the Town Mayor changed his tone, adopting a friendly smile.
"Then there's no problem, we'll deal with the strange bird later." A dark-skinned ninja with a sword on his back said indifferently.
"Let me wish you all success in eliminating this threat for the people." The Town Mayor spoke with righteous conviction.
"Hehe, since it's a public service, Town Mayor, surely you should show some appreciation?" A muscular, dark-skinned ninja smiled as he spoke.
"Didn't you say earlier there would be no compensation?" The subordinate asked, confused.
"How can you speak to the honorable ninjas like that? The matter of compensation can be discussed. As long as the strange bird is dealt with, I'm willing to provide fifty thousand ryo as a reward for your efforts." The Town Mayor smiled amiably.
In his heart, though, he was cursing furiously. If it weren't for witnessing the terrifying scene of ninjas combating the strange bird, he would have already turned hostile, as he had agreed not to pay, yet they went back on their word.
Those ninjas are practically human-shaped monsters; they can even discharge lightning, while the henchmen he had couldn't even match up.
"Haha, then it's a deal." The muscular dark-skinned ninja nodded with satisfaction.
A birdlike Summoning Beast capable of carrying a person, and earning some extra money along the way, this trip was indeed profitable.
Perhaps due to the loss of fifty thousand ryo, the Town Mayor soon left with no further pleasantries exchanged.
"Beroka, wouldn't this negatively affect the village?" After the Town Mayor and his people left, a tall and thin, dark-skinned ninja said.
"Hairo, you are too uptight. How could this have any impact? They didn't even post a commission in the village, so technically, they aren't our clients, and we're not even in the Land of Thunder. We didn't bring headbands." Beroka responded, showing indifference.
"Even if we brought them, it probably wouldn't matter. The people here might not even recognize the Hidden Cloud's headbands."
"Iroka, don't you agree?" Beroka looked towards the dark-skinned ninja with the sword on his back.
"Hairo's concern is not unfounded. If the war goes smoothly, the Hidden Cloud will be renowned throughout the Ninja World. More foreign commissions will come, and when that time comes, if word of this gets out, it could be troublesome. After capturing the Ninja Beast, we should just kill those people. A family capable of building such a grand estate should have quite a bit of money." Iroka said indifferently.
"You're ruthless." Beroka gave Iroka a thumbs-up.
He just wanted to squeeze more money out of them, but Iroka planned to completely confiscate the opposition's wealth.
"We can also leave behind a Sand Ninja headband." Iroka continued.
This was to mislead the local populace; they wouldn't understand much, and he didn't see the need to kill everyone. His target was just the wealthy Town Mayor.
During wartime, the death of such a minor figure wouldn't attract attention.
Iroka instructed the two to tidy up their equipment before heading up the mountain.
"With their complexion and skin tone, they must be from the Hidden Cloud." Mokgetsu confirmed the identity of the three.
Using the Identification Jutsu, he checked and found that only the ninja named Iroka from the Hidden Cloud was decent, with over four thousand Chakra points and two thousand proficient points in Lightning Attribute Chakra Nature Changes, while the other two from the Hidden Cloud had just over three thousand Chakra points and no powerful skills.
"Such abilities suit being Kakashi and the others' opponents." Mokgetsu thought to himself.
With this level of ability from the Hidden Cloud, he had no intention of intervening, feeling it could be used as practical combat training for his disciples.
Besides Kakashi, Obito, and Might Guy all lacked real combat experience.
Last time, because the opponent consisted of two Jonin, one being an Elite Jonin, Mokgetsu took swift action, but this time he decided to leave it to his disciples to resolve.
Mokgetsu then sent another Shadow Clone to follow the Hidden Cloud members, while his main body activated the Byakugan to scout around, ensuring no Hidden Cloud elites were lurking in the shadows.