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30 Advance chapters: patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0
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The city hummed like a living thing, vibrant yet dangerous under the veil of night. Lanterns swung gently in the breeze, casting pools of amber light over worn cobblestones that wound through the labyrinthine streets of the Fire Country's bustling trade hub. The air was heavy with the mingled scents of roasting chestnuts, damp earth, and the sharp tang of pine smoke drifting down from the hills that cradled the city.
Shouts of traders hawking fragrant spices, brightly dyed silks, and polished trinkets filled the air. Merchants barked prices, travelers bartered with eager hands, and cloaked shinobi slipped between the crowds, unseen but ever watchful. Beneath the jovial facade of commerce lay a more dangerous rhythm—the faint pulse of shadowed dealings, whispered threats exchanged behind locked doors, and eyes that never fully closed.
Aya adjusted the strap of her satchel, feeling the reassuring weight of her notes and the letter bearing the crimson seal of Yamato Shion. Beside her, Riku's gaze swept the crowd, ever alert for anomalies—an unfamiliar face, a misplaced crate, the sudden hush of conversation.
"These dockhands are nervous," Aya murmured, voice low. "Several avoid my questions, and others glance over their shoulders like they expect a blade in the back."
Riku nodded, stepping carefully over loose stones as they approached the water's edge, where crates were loaded and unloaded with practiced efficiency. "We need to be careful. This isn't just about missing shipments. There's something deeper… a network we haven't yet grasped."
They spoke quietly to a grizzled porter, whose hands were rough with work but whose eyes darted with fear. "There are new guards—foreign ones," he said, voice cracking. "Not the usual city patrol. And the crates—sometimes they don't get logged in. They come and go in the dead of night."
Aya scribbled notes quickly, her breath visible in the chilly air. "Armed guards and secret shipments… it matches the rumors tied to G.M. And the red-ringed scrolls."
Riku's fingers brushed the edge of a concealed dagger at his belt, a precaution they both silently understood.
Back at the inn, Shin lingered in the shadows of the common room, his eyes sharp beneath the rim of a worn hat. His thoughts flickered back to the narrow alleyway where the assassin had struck—swift, merciless, and almost successful.
The assassin's technique was precise, trained for lethal efficiency. Whoever sent him wanted Yugo dead—and by extension, to send a message.
Shin's gaze settled on Yugo, who sat quietly nursing a bandaged wound near his temple. Though the blood had stopped, the merchant's pallor betrayed lingering pain.
"You and your leader walk dangerous paths," Yugo said finally, voice low and measured.
Yugo's eyes, sharp despite his injury, studied Shin with a mixture of respect and wariness. "I never imagined merchants and shinobi would cross paths like this."
"They are often closer than they appear," Shin replied cryptically.
Later, as the inn settled into a near silence, Aya and Riku returned to their cramped room. The flicker of candlelight revealed lines of careful script in Aya's worn notebook.
"G.M.—Gennosuke Mugen," Aya whispered, tracing the characters with a fingertip. "Head of the Mugen Company. A merchant titan in the Fire Country."
Riku frowned, pressing his fingertips to his temple. "If this is the same Gennosuke Mugen, then this isn't just about trade disputes. His name carries weight beyond commerce. He's tied to shadowed politics and power plays."
Aya's lips curled in a grim smile. "Then it falls on us to uncover the truth behind him, and fast. Before this city—before we—become pawns in a game we don't understand."
Unseen by Aya and Riku, the flickering candlelight could not dispel the darkness pooling beneath the branches of a towering tree overlooking the dockyards. From this vantage, a figure cloaked in shadow observed, his gaze unblinking and cold.
Two tomoe glowed faintly in the night—Sharingan, the legendary eyes of the Uchiha.
"They are in contact with their leader," the figure murmured under his breath, voice barely audible. "Still ignorant of what they pursue… but curiosity has its dangers."
A slow, almost imperceptible smile tugged at his lips. "The head has ordered no unnecessary disturbances. Quietly collect the funds… but with the investigation begun, risks must be accounted for."
The shadow seemed to absorb the flickering lantern light, before retreating silently back into the inky blackness of the night.
Not far from the Uchiha's perch, Shin remained hidden among the crowd, ever vigilant. His keen eyes caught movement in the branches above.
A second pair of eyes—red and sharp—tracked Aya and Riku.
Shin's heartbeat quickened. An Uchiha… here?
This is no coincidence.
The Uchiha's Sharingan flickered as they followed Aya and Riku's steps before disappearing as silently as they had appeared.
The Uchiha Council
Within a dimly lit room filled with flickering candles and scattered maps, an Uchiha figure sat before a table littered with parchments. The faint glow of a red ring cast eerie reflections on his cold, calculating eyes.
"Funds have been exposed," he said, voice low and urgent, addressing an unseen council via sealed scroll communication. "No mistakes can be afforded. Continue the collections, but prepare contingencies. The Mugen Company's movements must remain unseen at all costs."
The crimson seal was pressed into the wax, the emblem of a secret faction known only to a few.
Meanwhile, Aya and Riku pressed on, unaware of the ever-watchful eyes trailing them. Every whispered conversation, every shadowed alley was a step closer to unveiling the dark web that entwined merchants, shinobi, and the elusive Gennosuke Mugen.
But the city's pulse was shifting. Quiet whispers in the night hinted at forces gathering. Secrets long buried were clawing their way into the open.
And in the darkness, the true game was only just beginning.