It was early January, and the weather teetered between chilly and slightly warmer. The winter snow had melted, yet the bitter cold of winter lingered on, with nature's vitality still buried beneath the soil, waiting to awaken.
Beside a road on the outskirts of the Land of Fire—
Taking cover behind a thick tree trunk, Guy said to Aozora and Junping, "The Black Market sure is bold—building such a massive public restroom in such a remote place. Something's definitely off!"
Junping nodded thoughtfully before shaking his head, replying, "Well, not necessarily. Some black markets are extremely secretive—so much so that even Anbu have no intelligence on them."
"Fine!"
Guy, bored, turned to Aozora and asked, "Aozora, how long until your Shadow Clone finishes scouting? I'm itching to get started already…"
"Ready to dance?"
Aozora picked up where he left off, "Don't worry, there'll definitely be a chance for you to prove yourself later!"
Just as he finished speaking, the shadow clone automatically dispelled itself, transmitting the gathered intelligence from inside the Black Market.
"Get ready!" Aozora whispered.
As the two focused their attention, Aozora explained, "Inside, there's only Black Market members and Bounty Hunters—one Jonin, twelve Chunin, the rest aren't worth worrying about."
Guy and Junping nodded: "Understood!"
Aozora continued outlining the strategy: "I'll break into the money exchange. You two make sure nobody escapes!"
With that, Aozora leapt near the money exchange building and carefully formed several hand seals.
[Earth Release – Earth Rising Spear!]
Surging chakra flowed underground. Instantly, the earth twisted violently. Walls cracked. That massive public restroom collapsed into ruins, revealing the money exchange facility beneath.
Five or six Golden Droplets appeared simultaneously on the Heavenly Book, but Aozora paid them no mind. With his Sharingan blazing, he observed the dusty wreckage before him.
Swish! Swish! Swish!—
In an instant, seven or eight figures shot out from the smoke and dust, shouting wildly.
"Who dares attack the money exchange?"
"Are you asking for death? Daring to attack me, the great one?"
F***! There's crap smeared all over me!
"Heartless bastards!"
"…"
Dodging falling debris, the Black Market members and Bounty Hunters leapt from the rubble, ready to confront their attackers—but Guy and Junping had already struck.
[Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
The kunai launched from Junping's hand instantly doubled, quadrupled, soon becoming a dense rain of iron raining down upon the enemy.
Clang! Clang! Thud! Thud!—
Although it had been given a new name and identity, this technique hadn't lost any of its power. The dense kunai shower quickly suppressed those who had rushed out from the smoke, wounding many lower-skilled Chunin.
[Leaf Whirlwind!]
Eager to show off, Guy followed immediately after the kunai assault. Before the Black Market members could react, he had already swept through like a whirlwind.
His powerful leg swept across a Bounty Hunter's stomach. Instantly, the bounty hunter curled up like a shrimp and flew sideways.
"A Jonin! Definitely a Jonin!"
"How… how could a Jonin attack our money exchange?"
The survivors who escaped the earth burial were either seasoned Black Market members or veteran Bounty Hunters. Witnessing such devastating jutsu and lightning-quick taijutsu, they instantly discerned the attacker's strength.
In an instant, the Black Market members and bounty hunters completely lost their courage. The anger that had flared up moments ago, the bravery they had mustered, vanished like snow beneath the midday sun.
The Black Market owner immediately pulled a smoke bomb from his sleeve and tossed it out. Using the smokescreen as cover, he swiftly performed a Body Flicker Technique to retreat backward.
While rapidly moving away, he glanced over his shoulder.
He saw two Konoha ninja continuing to wipe out the remaining Black Market members, while the last of the Konoha ninja stood still, silently watching him.
Not going to chase me?
The Black Market owner quietly exhaled in relief. But the next moment, he saw a streak of [Azure Light] fly out from the smoke.
This [Azure Light] was like the first gleam of dawn, like a meteor across the night sky.
Before he could even appreciate its fleeting brilliance, a sharp pain exploded in his chest.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed!
Whiz!
A piercing sound through the air!
So fast! I still had tricks left in my sleeve!
His vision went black, and the Black Market owner completely lost consciousness, stumbling forward a few steps before collapsing face-down on the ground.
If even the Elite Jonin-level Black Market owner was instantly killed, the rest of the members were quickly defeated by the trio as well.
While inspecting the battlefield, Guy looked toward the fallen Black Market leader with a frown and said, visibly disappointed, "Aozora, couldn't you have left him alive? He was the Black Market owner—he might have known a lot of valuable intelligence!"
Their mission was to eliminate the Black Market, and any surviving members would be handed over to the Konoha ninjas arriving later.
However, if the enemy wasn't too strong, it was better to take prisoners for interrogation to extract more information.
Aozora fired a flare into the sky and replied casually, "I slipped."
With a chuckle, Aozora continued explaining, "After all, the opponent was a Jonin. I had to give my all, striking him down with lightning-fast precision.
Otherwise, if he had some secret jutsu and suddenly counterattacked at the end, even if we three managed to defeat him, it probably wouldn't have been pleasant.
Risking my teammates' safety just for a bit of intelligence isn't my Ninja Way."
Upon hearing this, Guy's face filled with emotion, and he immediately apologized, "Sorry, I shouldn't have questioned your decision."
Aozora's belief in placing comrades above all else aligned perfectly with his mentor's philosophy—"To protect what matters most until death."
Moreover, knowing the deadly power of secret techniques like [Eight Gates], even an Elite Jonin would find facing an upper-tier Jonin's final desperate attack extremely difficult.
Needless to say, although his current strength was only several times that of an average Jonin, after activating [Eight Gates], he'd take on even the Five Kages head-on.
Of course, he didn't know Aozora had an even deeper reason for killing the Black Market owner outright.
The Black Market owner was a major criminal deserving death. Capturing him brought no benefit to Aozora, but slaying him earned quite a few [Golden Droplets] in the Heavenly Book.
Junping, with his Sharingan still active while securing the battlefield, supported Aozora's reasoning by adding, "Our task was simply to eliminate the Black Market. If possible, taking prisoners is best, but directly wiping them out still counts as completing the mission. Besides, we did capture a few already, right?"
Shortly after launching the flare, a squad of Konoha ninjas quickly arrived.
After handing the captured enemies over to the supporting Konoha ninjas, Aozora and his team rushed toward the next Black Market without delay.
While swiftly running through the forest, Aozora slightly furrowed his brows.
The squad's operation proceeded smoothly, and he managed to collect quite a few Golden Droplets. Yet deep down, a vague unease lingered.
"Am I suffering from paranoia?" Aozora murmured to himself.
Meanwhile, other squads were swiftly wiping out one Black Market after another.
An ordinary Black Market had at most one Jonin, sometimes even no Jonin at all. For squads containing three Elite Jonin, this was nothing short of a massacre. The Black Market operations were less like battles and more like one-sided massacres.
After splitting up, reports of success began pouring in from each team.
Within just a few days, many Black Markets inside the Land of Fire suffered heavy blows. Countless Black Market operatives were captured, and massive caches of their assets and intelligence fell into Konoha's grasp.
Moreover, several Elite Jonin even found time to eliminate Bounty Hunters and Rogue Ninjas they encountered on the way, further enhancing Konoha's reputation and eliminating the criminal elements from the Land of Fire.
The news spread like wildfire through the underworld, and soon ninja living in the Underworld learned that the Akatsuki organization had attacked the Northwest Camp. As a result, Konoha launched this campaign against the Black Markets to make an example of them and show its full strength.
Bounty Hunters, upon receiving the news, could simply pack up and leave for other regions to seek fortune.
But most Black Market members were affiliated with certain patrons—they could only follow orders from their shadowy bosses.
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