Chapter 179: The Beginning of the Dispute
Capital of the Land of Lightning
Jun'en Furuya summoned two of the Nine Samurai of the Thundercloud.
They were the youngest of the nine, both in their early twenties. Though it was said that all nine were Jonin, he knew that these two were, at best, Special Jonin.
"Prince Takayoshi will be traveling to the Land of Hot Water," he said, looking at them calmly. "The journey is perilous, and the Daimyo is concerned for his safety. He requires the two of you to escort him."
The two young Cloud ninja exchanged a look. In principle, the Nine Samurai were only responsible for the Daimyo's personal safety. But he would often assign them to other tasks, such as protecting other important nobles or relatives. In their view, these tasks were just a way for the Daimyo to show his favor to a certain person. This Prince Takayoshi was one of his more favored sons.
This was clearly a troublesome errand. And it was a long way. At the speed of a noble's carriage, it would take a week or two to get to the Land of Hot Water. A round trip would be almost a month.
"We need to speak with our captain," one of them said with a sigh. "And if you're taking two of us, we'll need to make preparations. We can't have any gaps in the castle's defenses."
The captain he was referring to was the leader of the Nine Samurai, a senior elite Jonin.
"No problem," Jun'en said, his expression unchanged. "I have already informed your captain. But you can go and confirm it yourself."
Seeing that their attempt to get out of it had failed, the two of them had no choice but to agree.
The next morning, they left the capital with a caravan of about eight carriages.
The caravan was on its way to the Land of Hot Water, supposedly for some important banquet. At the speed of a noble's carriage, it would probably take a week or two to get there, and a month for a round trip.
A ninja would find it ridiculous to spend a month traveling to a party, but the two of them didn't care. They were just there to ensure the prince's safety.
The Land of Lightning was not a poor, war-torn country. Even if there were a few petty thieves, the sight of such a magnificent caravan and its ninja escort would be enough to scare them off. So, the two of them dozed off along the way.
But as they were approaching the border, passing through a valley, they both keenly sensed that something was wrong. Something in the forest had been watching them.
Just as they were about to go and investigate, the two attendants who had been with them day and night suddenly moved.
With a speed far beyond that of an ordinary person, they reached for them, one for the waist, the other for the wrist.
"What?!"
It all happened so fast. Before they could react, their Communication Snails had been taken. The attackers had been less than a meter behind them. They had had no time to react.
Their hearts sank. These two attendants had been with them the whole way, and they had never noticed anything wrong. Had they been replaced, or...
But it was too late.
The next moment, a massive boom.
"Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind!"
The terrain in the valley suddenly changed. A pink, undulating wall of flesh instantly enveloped the valley, trapping the two of them inside.
They had, out of duty, tried to protect the prince, but they now saw that he was not trapped at all. In fact, the only ones who were trapped were themselves.
They instinctively felt that something was wrong, but they had no time to think. From the fleshy wall, a tall, black-haired swordsman emerged. And the two "attendants" who had attacked them had transformed into two identical-looking people. They were clearly Shadow Clones.
"Who are you?!"
"Does it matter?" the swordsman said.
The Cloud ninjas' hearts sank to the bottom of their stomachs. Their opponents had somehow replaced the two attendants and had taken their Communication Snails at the very beginning. They were clearly well-prepared. Even they had only just gotten their snails a few days ago and had barely used them. And these people knew to guard against them.
They had been completely outplayed.
They exchanged a look. This was likely a fight to the death.
The two "attendants" behind them licked their lips with their unnaturally long tongues. The Communication Snails in their hands were now covered in sealing formulas.
The battle was short. In less than ten minutes, the two of them, trapped in the stomach of the toad, were defeated, one dead and one injured. As Special Jonin, they had done everything they could.
The last one lay on the ground, dying, and glared at the tall, black-haired swordsman.
"No matter who you are," he gasped, "you won't get away with this. The village will avenge us. Hahaha."
The swordsman paused for a moment, but in the end, he did not stop.
Three days later, the Hidden Cloud received the devastating news. The Daimyo's son had been attacked while traveling, and the two Nine Samurai who had been escorting him were both dead. The prince was injured and traumatized, and had barely managed to escape.
The Communication Snails, which should have been able to send a distress signal, had been silent. And Lady Katsuyu had not even sensed the death of the little slugs. Dana had gone to Shikkotsu Forest, and she had said that the two little slugs were still alive, but she could not contact them. They seemed to be sealed.
The Third Raikage was furious. He ordered a special investigation team to find out what had happened.
But before they could even get a result, another embarrassing incident occurred.
With two of the Nine Samurai gone, there had been a gap in the defenses, and an assassin had managed to sneak into Asuka Castle and had attempted to assassinate the Daimyo. Though he had been killed by the Nine Samurai in the end, the Daimyo was still shaken. It was said that the assassin had made it all the way to his study.
The news spread like wildfire. The ninja world was stunned. They suddenly realized that the seemingly invincible Cloud was not so invincible after all. They could also make such amateurish mistakes, and could not even protect their own Daimyo.
The Third Raikage broke three desks in his rage.
The news had spread so fast, and with such detail, that someone must have been fanning the flames. But at this time, there were countless powers in the ninja world who wanted to see the Cloud taken down a peg. It was impossible to find out who it was.
The investigation team that had been sent to investigate the deaths of the two Nine Samurai had also returned empty-handed. The Cloud had arrived at the scene after the fact, and the attackers had been extremely skilled at covering their tracks. There were no useful clues left. The valley itself had even been half-filled in with Earth Release.
The Third Raikage had no choice but to summon Dana, who was still playing in the mud at the village gate, and have the "Special Strategy Division" take over the case.
And Dana had to put his "mountain-moving" project on hold.
The next day, he set out for Asuka Castle.