Inside the mine tunnel, it was cold and dimly lit. As one went deeper, the light gradually disappeared, but the temperature rose slightly.
Makoto pulled a lighting tool out of his ninja pouch and followed the chaotic footprints all the way down, quickly heading deeper underground.
At first, after entering the passage, he could still feel a gentle breeze, but before long, the air gradually became stifling.
Beneath this entire low mountain region where the Sakama mine was located was essentially a labyrinth of passages, highly complex, with poor air circulation. It gave people the feeling of running an underground dungeon instance in the shinobi world.
Once lost down below, it was hard to find the exit by relying on the wind direction. If a cave-in occurred, even a ninja would have trouble escaping and could only end up trapped alive inside.
Perception ninjutsu was heavily obstructed by the thick mountain body and the earth, making it very limited, but Makoto was not worried about that at all, because he knew space-time ninjutsu.
The tunnel twisted and turned. Along the way, there were no telling how many forks. On the cave walls outside each fork, one could see markings left behind by the illegal miners after coming down here to keep themselves from getting lost.
They were different every time, making it easier to identify the way back. After accumulating for who knew how many years, they had formed a patch of disorderly abstract patterns in certain places, like rock paintings left in caves by some ancient primitive humans.
Makoto paid no attention to any of that. He was not here to do archaeology. He focused solely on following the fresh footprints on the ground to track down the Konoha ninja who had been forced inside.
After high-speed pursuit for quite a while, Makoto heard a series of continuous explosions coming from the passage ahead. Fighting had already broken out inside.
Putting away his lighting tool, Makoto quickly approached in the direction of the sound, and soon sensed quite a few chakra fluctuations.
After rounding a bend, he saw that at the end of the narrow passage there was a cave chamber somewhat larger in both area and height, connected to several passages, like a temporary underground transit station.
At that moment, portable lights hung from the cave walls. Nine Kumogakure ninja and one young man dressed like a rogue ninja were currently working like brick-hauling laborers, clearing away the rocks blocking one of the passage entrances inside.
They were moving very quickly. At that level of efficiency, it would have been a waste of talent for them not to go work at a construction site.
Makoto guessed that passage had probably collapsed in the recent explosion, and even the cave structure had been affected by it. Quite a few stones had fallen onto the ground, and it still had not stopped. Dust and ore were still occasionally falling from above.
That was also why the Kumogakure ninja could only move the debris by hand and did not dare use ninjutsu or explosive tags to clear the collapsed tunnel entrance. They were afraid of causing too much disturbance and making the whole place collapse completely, burying everyone together.
It seemed the Konoha ninja were inside that collapsed passage.
After seeing the situation clearly, Makoto understood that he had to deal with the enemies in front of him as fast as possible. He could not give them time to fight back. It was not that he could not beat them, but that he feared someone might use ninjutsu to damage the underground tunnel structure and drag everyone down with them.
He could escape, but the Konoha ninja inside might not be so lucky.
With that thought in mind, Makoto did not hesitate. He pulled out eight kunai bearing Flying Thunder God marks from his ninja pouch, raised both hands, and threw them at the enemies inside.
Clink...!
The kunai did not hit their targets, instead stabbing into the rocky ground beside the enemies.
Although the sound of the kunai cutting through the air had been partly masked by the noise in the cave, the sound of them piercing the ground still alerted the Kumogakure ninja. When they saw the kunai by their feet, they seemed to think of something terrifying, and their expressions changed drastically.
But it was already too late.
Makoto's figure flashed to one person's side, and with one slash he cut open the man's throat. Then, with several consecutive flickers, he dealt with all the enemies.
The speed was unbelievably fast.
Why had Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato become someone feared by everyone in the shinobi world? This was the reason. Against ninja whose reactions were not fast enough, there was simply no ability to resist.
Now, Makoto could do the same thing.
His original neural reaction speed had already been excellent after being transformed by white natural energy. Ever since entering constant Sage Mode, his body's affinity with space had risen dramatically, and he was now fully capable of integrating the Flying Thunder God Technique into his own combat system.
There had been ten enemies. He had only killed eight. The remaining two had received the wheelchair package.
One was a Kumo ninja, and the other was the fellow dressed like a rogue ninja.
After the surviving Kumogakure ninja fell to the ground, he cried out in terror, "Yellow Flash, it's Yellow Flash!"
Makoto crouched in front of him and looked into his eyes. "Sorry, you've got the wrong person."
Makoto, who had been left behind alone to hold the northern front, was using the identity of an ordinary Konoha ninja. After the Kumo ninja saw his face, he immediately understood what awaited him. "Damn it, so it's you, you devil."
"Though an enemy's insults are praise to me, I still have to say this: this is a mine under Konoha's administration, not Kumogakure's. You're the invaders here, aren't you? The Fourth Raikage is the real devil. The shinobi world is already at peace, yet he still sent you here to die. He really doesn't treat the lives of his subordinates as worth much."
"You're not allowed to slander Raikage-sama. Enough nonsense. Just kill me already."
"But I can already see the hesitation in your eyes."
"That's nonsense."
"You know what happens after being hit by my ninjutsu, don't you? Now, you'll become just like those paralyzed comrades of yours. For the rest of your life, you'll only ever be able to sit in a wheelchair.
But actually, this can be cured."
The Kumo ninja prisoner's eyes lit up. "Really? You're lying to me, aren't you?"
No one wanted to become a cripple. And as the number of paralyzed people kept increasing, it had already caused terrible morale problems and a heavy logistical burden inside Kumogakure.
"Of course it's true. The question is, is your Fourth Raikage willing to pay even a tiny price for cripples like you?"
"He definitely is. We people of Kumogakure would never abandon our comrades."
"Is that so? Then let's wait and see. For now, you'd better answer my questions honestly."
He had left this prisoner alive not merely to drive a wedge into Kumogakure from within, but also to interrogate him for information about this place.
...
According to the Kumo ninja's confession under genjutsu, the two Konoha teams had realized they were no match for them. After briefly holding them off, they retreated into the passage and blew up the tunnel entrance.
While blocking the enemy, they also sealed themselves inside.
Fortunately, the underground passage was narrow, so Kumogakure had no way to surround them. Otherwise, the two Konoha teams would not even have had a chance to flee.
This passage was a dead end, and also the place where the chakra metal had been discovered. That was why the Kumo ninja had tried to clear the blockage.
People die for wealth.
Makoto got confirmation of this information from the rogue-ninja-looking man as well. He was the illegal miner who had dealings with Kumogakure.
Now the question was how to rescue the Konoha people. Was he supposed to turn into a civil engineering grunt like the Kumogakure people and haul bricks?
Of course not. How could ninjutsu be such an inconvenient thing!
What was the difference between soil and rock? In theory, not that much. After rock weathered, it became the parent material of soil, and under the effects of climate, living organisms, and time, soil was formed.
The Kumogakure ninja had no way to deal with it because what they excelled at was Lightning Release, followed by Water Release and Fire Release. There were very few people among them who worked with Earth Release or Wind Release, just like how people in Sunagakure who used Water Release were a rare species.
But Makoto was different. He was very skilled in the nature transformation of the earth attribute.
Under the effect of earth-attribute chakra, his body rapidly sank into the ground, then emerged from the other side of the collapsed passage.
This passage was not long. Makoto quickly found the seven people hiding at the end, and they also discovered him at the same time.
One man demanded in a heavy voice, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Konoha ninja Higashino Makoto."
The two sides then exchanged code phrases and confirmed each other's identities.
"Huh, is it Makoto-sama?"
"Makoto-sama came to save us."
Someone lit up a portable lighting tool. After seeing Higashino Makoto's appearance and forehead protector, they were overjoyed. "It really is Makoto-sama. We're saved."
Makoto took a look. There were two Konoha squads here. One was an adult ninja team, while the other was younger, looking to be around sixteen or seventeen years old.
Makoto recognized them. "So it's you three."
The young ninja leading them gave a foolish grin. "I didn't expect Makoto-sama would still remember us. I'm Falcon, and these are my teammates, Kamafu and Naru."
These three were the team that had blocked the middle of the Chūnin Exams third round last year and tried to seize Makoto's mission scroll.
But that had just been a normal clash during the exam. There was no way the two sides would have formed any grudge.
By now, they had long since learned that back then, they had tried to rob the Great Demon King himself. Fortunately, everyone was a Konoha ninja, so they did not have to end up in wheelchairs like those unlucky Kumo ninja.
The three had also successfully been promoted in the exams at the end of last year. Not long ago, they had been rotated here to the mine for garrison duty, and as a result had nearly all ascended to heaven together.
But they were lucky. They had run into Makoto.
"Is everyone all right?"
The captain of the chūnin squad replied, "We're fine. Just light injuries."
"That's good. Tell me the detailed situation. Also, where is the chakra metal?"
"Right here."
The captain turned the portable lamp toward a corner. Makoto saw that behind them was the end of the passage. This section had been newly excavated, and a pile of ore was scattered across the ground.
The illegal miners had been extremely lucky. They had followed this old smuggling tunnel and, not long after digging, found treasure. What was on the ground was not all of it. There was still quite a lot inside waiting to be mined. This area was a concentration zone of raw chakra metal ore.
Makoto picked up a piece of ore and tested it with chakra, discovering that it really was chakra metal, though only raw ore. After smelting and refinement, there actually would not be that much left.
All of this was property of the Land of Fire, and Konoha would also claim a portion of it.
Chakra metal had extensive uses in high-end industrial fields and was rarely made into weapons, because that was a waste.
Ninja weapons were consumables. Using overly precious ninja tools made it easy for others to see you as a fat sheep.
Unless, of course, you were strong enough.
So without another word, Commissioner Smith possessed Makoto's soul, and he stored several of the best-quality ore pieces in a sealing scroll.
It was not that he was greedy for money. He was planning to use some of it to reinforce his inherited short blade.
With his status, if he took a little to repair his own weapon, the village would not say anything.
The six people from Konoha were dumbfounded. So this was the kind of Makoto-sama you were.
Envious, but not daring to do the same.
Chakra ore was extremely rare. Every discovery would be officially registered. The higher-ups might not care if Higashino Makoto acted willfully, but if they dared to hide any for themselves, then they could wash their asses clean and wait to go to prison.
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