Not long after Ino led her 'army' away, Danzo also took action.
Having been a scapegoat for many years, the old man could now be considered a seasoned veteran, having gained some insight and experience in the art of deflecting blame.
According to Danzo's understanding, Ino leading three silly boys to stand in the open and draw aggro—did they really think such a small group could attract the Hidden Cloud Village's attention? Too naive, this was far from enough; the old man had other arrangements.
On a high cliff far from Konoha Village, Danzo, accompanied by Sai, met with the Konoha Rogue Ninja who had arrived as agreed—Hiruko, who had once been a contemporary of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.
"Lord Danzo, long time no see. Why are you looking for me?" Hiruko had been a rather handsome man in his youth, but back then, he was constantly overshadowed by the Sannin. Unwilling to accept an ordinary life, this fellow went mad researching forbidden Ninjutsu after becoming a Rogue Ninja, and now he had turned himself into something neither human nor ghost. Though clearly a middle-aged man, he stood before Danzo, shrunken and frail, like a child.
"Aren't you trying to capture Toroi, the Magnet Release Ninja from Hidden Cloud Village? I will send my subordinates to assist you. In exchange, you will also help me capture someone in the future."
Hiruko's face was wrapped in thick bandages, and from time to time, some yellow pus could be seen seeping through. The mummy-like man scanned his surroundings with a sidelong glance.
"Quite a few Root Ninja have come. Anyone who can trouble Lord Danzo must be very strong. Is it just one Toroi? I'm getting the short end of the stick. You must add one more for me."
Danzo flatly refused: "Impossible. Konoha's relationship with Hidden Cloud Village is extremely tense right now. Sending people to capture Toroi would entail huge risks. One for one."
Hiruko sneered twice: "Konoha's relationship with Hidden Cloud Village? What does that have to do with me? Two! Besides Toroi, you must add one more person from the list I gave you!"
Danzo's right hand was behind his back, involuntarily rubbing together. The Root Ninja ambushing in the shadows around him were all waiting for his signal.
Hiruko stared intently at his expression.
After a standoff of nearly two minutes, Danzo made a concession: "Two people is definitely not possible. The people you want are elites in various Ninja Villages. With the Ninja World in such chaos right now, it's very difficult for me to gather so many people to capture someone from a Ninja Village. However... I can give you Pakura's corpse. Root paid a considerable price to obtain her corpse from Hidden Mist Village back then. Although the corpse has been around for so many years and is somewhat decayed, it is largely intact."
Originally, he thought Danzo would refuse the deal, and Hiruko had already prepared to break out. Now that Danzo made a concession, he pondered it calmly.
This deal was actually acceptable. His Secret Technique required genetic bloodlines; whether it was a living person or a corpse was irrelevant.
"Who does Lord Danzo want me to deal with? Do I know them?" Hiruko asked.
"You don't know them, but they are connected to someone you do know, your old friend. Let me put it this way: the connection is very deep. You'll be very happy to get rid of this person too."
Hiruko thought for a moment, figuring this would definitely be a super troublesome matter, but he wanted to get something for free: "Alright, I agree, but you have to help me capture the person first."
"Very well." Danzo sneered inwardly, 'Fool, who would help you capture someone! You're just a visible decoy, to be discarded once used.'
From Konoha Village to Hidden Cloud Village, the journey passes through many countries.
After leaving the Land of Fire, Ino's team entered the Land of Hot Springs.
Ino had once annihilated the Evil God Sect here. The remnants of the Evil God's will were still sealed in the underground cave. She looked around; the Evil God Sect was gone, and now the people here had begun to worship Cat Gods and Dog Gods.
Neither side would give way. A perfectly good festival was forcibly split in two: the north for cat lovers, the south for dog lovers.
Ino was speechless. Were the spiritual worlds of these people in the Land of Hot Springs so barren? Did they feel unwell if they didn't create some gods?
The distinguished Kiba quickly became the spiritual leader of the Dog God faction. Xiao Huan joined the Cat God faction without a word and soon became the leader of the Cat faction. The two sides began large-scale PK!
The overly well-fed commoners of the Land of Hot Springs divided the entire country, including the streets, into two halves.
Those near Konoha Village in the Land of Fire liked dogs, while those near Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning liked cats.
When Hidden Cloud Village sent Nii Yugito to welcome the Konoha matchmaking group, the Cat faction enthusiastically pulled Nii Yugito into their camp.
Nii Yugito's mature and elegant demeanor instantly transformed upon seeing the kittens everywhere in the Land of Hot Springs. The affection in her eyes was completely undisguised. She petted this kitten's head, scratched that kitten's belly. All the kittens loved her, and the prettiest short-haired cat even snuggled onto her chest, refusing to move, as if to flirt.
"Lady Yugito is the messenger of the Cat God!"
"The Cat God is the greatest!"
For a time, the Cat faction completely suppressed the Dog faction.
Kiba tried twice to rush over to 'reason' with them, but he couldn't even meet one of Yugito's glances.
"Ino, you like dogs, right?" He could only place his hopes on his old classmate, Ino.
Ino was on the verge of collapsing. What was going on? Surely the fuse between Konoha Village and Hidden Cloud Village wouldn't be these cats and dogs, would it? If that were truly the case, the Ninja who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield would have died in vain!
Kiba looked at her expectantly: "You definitely like dogs, Akamaru told me that when we were in school, you often looked at Akamaru. Don't hide your true feelings, you like dogs! Right?"
Ino thought about it quite seriously. She indeed had a good relationship with Yang Kurama, and foxes are also canids. So, by rounding up, it seemed not entirely wrong to say she liked dogs?
Now, which animal she liked no longer mattered. Since Nii Yugito, representing Hidden Cloud Village, had joined the Cat faction, she had to join the Dog faction!
A sense of Autobots versus Decepticons, she didn't know where it came from, but she nodded helplessly: "Compared to cats, I do prefer dogs."
After gaining the Jonin's support, Kiba went around recruiting allies.
"Shikamaru, you're my best brother, and you like dogs too, right?"
"Choji, we skipped so many classes together, ate so much barbecue together. Your brother is asking for just one thing now: say it out loud, say you like dogs!? Please?"
Tonton was Tsunade's pet. Didn't it need more exercise? Kiba had his beloved dog, Akamaru, play with Tonton. With little effort, he pulled this pet pig into his camp.
Kiba connected with everyone. He didn't even spare Gamabunta from Mount Myōboku.
"You... you should like dogs too, right?"
Gamabunta looked up at him: "???"
It felt like this human's brain might be a little off!
There was no need to ask Pakkun and the other Ninja dogs; Ino might not be human, but they were genuinely dogs!
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