"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 107: Night in the Land of Rain
Appearing suddenly from behind, Feng Bai swung his sword sheath in a rather inelegant arc at the Rain ninja's head. As his target collapsed, Feng Bai pressed his knee against the man's neck, executing a textbook American police restraint hold.
"I can't breathe..."
The subdued Rain ninja flailed his arms desperately, but with his lungs starved of oxygen, he couldn't cry out for help. He could only watch helplessly as Obito approached.
As a genjutsu took hold of the unknown Rain ninja, his struggles for breath instantly ceased, leaving him motionless as if dead.
"He's not actually dead, is he? I barely used any force."
Standing up and removing his knee from the man's neck, Feng Bai looked questioningly at Obito.
"He's alive. The genjutsu worked perfectly—we can interrogate him freely now."
Obito adjusted his goggles with confidence.
Once they confirmed there were no issues, Feng Bai and the others brought their captive to a secluded location and began the interrogation.
"What's your name? Which division of Amegakure do you belong to?"
"My name is Keichi. I serve under Jōnin Inoshita's squad."
...
After roughly ten minutes of questioning, Feng Bai obtained the intelligence he sought, then signaled Kakashi with a glance that they could eliminate their captive.
Without hesitation, the cold flash of a kunai ended it all. The genin named Keichi had just earned his family a three-year tax exemption.
Staring into the man's now-lifeless eyes, Feng Bai frowned as he reviewed the intelligence they'd extracted.
Amegakure's ninja organization was extremely complex. There was no upper limit to how many subordinates a jōnin could command—it all depended on how much money Amegakure was willing to pay its genin.
For instance, Keichi's squad contained thirty genin alone. While the large numbers appeared intimidating, their actual combat effectiveness might not even match three ordinary Konoha genin.
For these bottom-tier cannon fodder, Amegakure's selection process was remarkably simple: hit any part of a target five meters away with a shuriken.
After all, under Hanzō's regime, these genin had extremely short lifespans—either killed in bandit ambushes or by explosive tag traps left throughout the Land of Rain since the Second Shinobi World War.
Unlike Konoha's comfortable mission environment, newly minted Rain genin didn't receive simple assignments like finding lost cats or dogs. Their easiest missions involved assassinating mid-level civilians who held some social status but weren't ninja themselves.
The squad Feng Bai's group had encountered wasn't even a patrol unit, but rather a group of unfortunates tasked with clearing leftover explosive tags.
Therefore, even if Feng Bai and the others eliminated them all, their jōnin leader would simply assume they'd triggered an explosive trap in some remote corner.
"It's hard to imagine that with squads like these, Hanzō could engage both Sunagakure and Konoha during the Second Shinobi World War without falling behind."
Rin Nohara, the academic star of their group, clearly couldn't fathom how ninja of such caliber had once inflicted significant losses on Konoha.
"That's precisely why Hanzō ultimately failed. The Land of Rain is just a small country—no powerful ninja clans, no deep reserves of jutsu knowledge. Hanzō's individual prowess alone could never truly contend with the Great Villages."
"Of course, we're quite far from the central tower here. Hanzō's capable elite forces are all concentrated there protecting his safety. Naturally, only this level of ninja remains stationed in the outer areas."
From Keichi's testimony, they learned that Hanzō hadn't appeared in public view for quite some time. Command decisions were being relayed through his two lieutenants, Hattori and Shinda.
As for the Iwa ninja forces within the Land of Rain, while they lacked detailed intelligence confirmation, according to Keichi, their superiors had ordered them not to interfere with these Iwa ninja. This proved that Hanzō was not only aware of but possibly even sanctioning their passage.
"Let's find somewhere to shelter from the rain and rest for the night. We'll continue tomorrow."
Looking up at the overcast sky, Feng Bai decided to rest nearby for the night. They'd already obtained intelligence about the Iwa ninja; what remained was locating the Akatsuki organization during its hopeful early days.
If Jiraiya and his disciples could establish contact sooner, it might prevent some tragic outcomes in the future.
At the very least, it could bring a small measure of good to this chaotic shinobi world.
...
When the late hours of night arrived, Feng Bai, who had volunteered for the second watch, relieved Obito and sat alone on a boulder at the cave entrance, gazing up at the sky.
Sensing a familiar presence approaching from behind, Feng Bai didn't turn around but asked curiously, "Wasn't it agreed that I'd take the late shift tonight?"
The person behind him didn't respond, instead moving to Feng Bai's side and settling onto the same boulder.
"How unusual—it's rare to see that kind of expression on your face."
Kakashi sat beside Feng Bai, his tone flat as he too looked up at the night sky.
"What kind of expression?"
Feng Bai touched his own face, unsure what expression he was currently wearing.
"Don't worry too much about Obito's words. That kid always says whatever comes to mind."
When Feng Bai asked his question, Kakashi simply gestured backward toward Obito, who was sleeping soundly with drool running down his chin, without directly answering.
"I don't care what that idiot says."
Despite his words, Feng Bai found himself once again recalling the morning's scene and the state of Amegakure revealed through their prisoner's testimony.
"Do you remember what you were like when you first arrived in Konoha?"
Glancing sideways at Feng Bai, whose words clearly didn't match his feelings, Kakashi shook his head slightly and returned his gaze to the sky.
When he first came to Konoha?
Ah, back then—he didn't have nearly so many thoughts. His mother had recently passed away, his father's reputation was in shambles, and the only person he could rely on was that so-called Konoha ANBU—Uncle Sakumo.
At that time, he only needed to consider one thing: how to survive. Not like now, having to think about missions while also trying to figure out how to save this person or that person.
"Actually, you've always been this type of person—going with the flow, occasionally using small cleverness to secure some benefit for yourself, but most of the time simply following paths others have set for you, without many additional thoughts."
Seeing Feng Bai remain silent, Kakashi continued speaking.
Kakashi's words left Feng Bai somewhat speechless.
From what he was saying, Feng Bai's life over the past few years could be simply summarized as carefree and thoughtless?
While that was indeed the truth, saying it directly to the person in question—thanks a lot, Kakashi.
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