Obito and Pain shuttled through the tunnels, unimpeded, as if walking in their own backyard garden.
By the time they returned to the surface, they had already arrived at the inner area of Kirigakure. Not far away was the Mizukage's office building, and in front of them was a building of ancient and elegant style.
"Where is this?" Pain asked.
"The elder, Master Genji's residence," Obito answered.
Ever since Obito used genjutsu to control Yagura, many of the policies he issued had been influenced more or less by Genji.
If it had been someone else, Obito would've killed them long ago. But Elder Genji had been running Kirigakure for many years, with deeply entangled networks of interests, and had close ties to the daimyo's official staff.
If he were to die, it would attract unnecessary trouble, so Obito chose instead to deal with it slowly. Over the years, Obito had been gradually eating away at Genji's authority.
"I remembered his hard work and contributions, and originally wanted to let him die of old age naturally, don't look at me like that, I'm actually very good to old people."
Obito walked up to the courtyard gate and gently pushed the door open, "It's just a pity that some people want to treat Genji as a spiritual pillar, and intend to use his name to do some things that will make a lot of people unhappy. As a result, he chose to support them."
The main door creaked open.
Obito's cold gaze swept over, behind the door were four Kirigakure shinobi responsible for guarding the elder.
"Then I can only cut off the 'retreat path' for this group of people who pinned their hopes on him."
"Stop right there!"
Two massive swords blocked Obito's path.
Hozuki Mangetsu's gaze fell on the two of them wearing black cloaks with red clouds, "Akatsuki's people, what are you doing here?"
"Heh,"
Obito chuckled softly, "There are only two situations in which a person knowingly asks the obvious."
"The first kind is when they're confident of victory and want to psychologically pressure the opponent."
"The second kind is when they are afraid, and wishfully hoping for a different answer."
Obito's spinning Sharingan fixed on Hozuki Mangetsu, "Hozuki-kun, which kind are you?"
Hozuki Mangetsu's grip on his sword suddenly tightened. He swung his twin swords, Flatfish, and at the same time shouted loudly,
"Enemy attack!"
———
The courtesan was a woman in her early twenties, with delicate features and a graceful figure.
Right in front of Ryosuke and Gato, she casually put on a kimono, loosely tied the sash, then took out a lady's cigarette from the pouch she carried, click, lit it, and elegantly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Seeing both men's gazes fall on her, the courtesan froze for half a second and asked, "Honored gentlemen, do you still need me to serve you? Or have you decided to kill me first before talking business?"
Ryosuke looked at the ground full of Gato's subordinates' corpses and realized, the courtesan thought she would be silenced as a witness, so she simply stopped pretending, smoked a cigarette, and waited for death to arrive.
Compared to her calm detachment, the trembling Gato collapsed on the ground, face drained of blood, was as ugly as a wild boar in the mud.
Gato kneeled on both knees, kowtowing repeatedly, "Don't kill me! I have money! However much you want, I can pay! As long as you don't kill me, you'll enjoy endless wealth and luxury in your next life!"
Gato was truly scared.
He had recognized who Ryosuke was. The lunatic who dared to kill Orochimaru and Danzo.
Gato had money, sure, but in terms of political power, he was nothing compared to Danzo.
He had worked hard all his life to build his business empire. If he were killed by a madman, that would be too much of a loss.
"Money is good. Money is a good thing."
Ryosuke squatted down and patted Gato on the shoulder, "But your money is too dirty. It has to be laundered before I dare to use it."
"L-Laundered? Money laundering?"
"Yes."
Ryosuke leaned close to his ear and whispered, "With your blood."
The White Snake appeared and punched through Gato's chest.
Blood poured out. Gato clutched his chest, eyes full of resentment and hatred, "The daimyo... the Water Country daimyo will not forgive you... Ryosuke, you will die in the end..."
White Snake spat a mouthful of saliva, put one hand on her hip, leaned her body back, raised her chin, and with the other hand raised high, slapped Gato across the face, knocking out two golden teeth.
"You sure talk a lot. Why do you think we came to find you?"
Click!
Two discs popped out.
One was memory.
The other, because Gato didn't have a Stand/ninjutsu, was a "Mind" disc, containing Gato's over forty years of business wisdom.
Ryosuke wasn't interested in Gato's business smarts. He threw the mind disc back and only kept the memory disc.
Gato was a financial tycoon from the Land of Waves. With his level of capital, he wouldn't care about the Kirigakure graduation ceremony's gambling scene. Coming all this way to the Land of Water was no small loss for him.
With that time and energy, it would make more profit to run his own business instead.
The explanation Ryosuke came up with was, Gato came to the Land of Water for a new business.
He flipped through Gato's memories and quickly found, '…Reached an agreement with the daimyo of the Land of Water to introduce D-goods into the country, mix it with salt for nationwide sale.'
'Citizens who consumed D-goods would work harder, have significantly shortened lifespans, eliminating elderly resource drain, and due to its addictive nature, increase domestic consumption in the Land of Water.'
'Kirigakure's shinobi would become the bodyguards of Gato's business caravans.'
Ryosuke put down the memory disc. This was Gato and the Water Daimyo's plan, 'Two beasts want to turn an entire country's people into livestock.'
Ryosuke pocketed the disc and stood up. There was still time. He planned to "have a talk" with the Water Daimyo after the ceremony ended tomorrow.
He pulled a large wad of cash from Gato's corpse, thought for a moment, took out a stack, and placed it on the table for the courtesan.
The courtesan exhaled a puff of smoke, reached out a finger, and pressed it on the money. Her rosy nails and pale fingers, along with the way her clothes slipped off her shoulder due to the movement, revealed a large area of white skin.
"Sir, is this money to buy my silence?"
"No. You don't need to hide anything. If someone really asks you, just tell the truth."
"Then this money…"
Ryosuke pointed at her body, "You're a courtesan, I'm a man. I saw your body earlier. According to the rules, of course I should pay… for the service, right?"
The courtesan was stunned.
She stared blankly at Ryosuke. His gaze was open and honest, without a trace of lust.
Ryosuke nodded at her, then turned and left.
Only after watching his figure disappear did the courtesan come back to her senses. She stood up, lifted her skirt, chased after him, and from behind the window shouted loudly, full of hope, to Ryosuke, who was already down the road, "Sir, will you come watch again?"
Ryosuke turned back and smiled, nodding.
Seeing that response, the courtesan's eyes lit up instantly.
"My name is Iwamine! Sir, anytime you want to see, you can come find me!"
Ryosuke let out a helpless laugh but didn't respond. He waved his hand and was about to leave.
Suddenly, his smile vanished.
The little airplane that had been circling above detected many running and moving breaths, people gathering in one direction…
Ryosuke turned to look at the inner area of Kirigakure.
"As expected, plans will always be defeated by changes."
Ryosuke raised his hand. The massive Breaker Blade tied beneath Aero Smith dropped from the sky. He caught it one-handed, spun it once, and strapped it to his back.
Ryosuke ran toward the area where people were gathering.
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