Facts proved that the difference in strength between elite Anbu from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages and wandering ninja from nameless villages was not something that could be resolved through numerical advantage.
Even though Rei Kaguya did not want to expose his identity as a member of the Kaguya clan and only used ordinary taijutsu and an unfamiliar kunai to fight, the dozen or so wandering ninja still failed to last even five seconds before him.
He only needed to walk past those absurdly slow wandering ninja with leisurely steps to take their lives without the slightest hint of smoke or fire.
His blade was so fast that they could not even react to the fact that they had already died.
In the eyes of the surrounding ordinary people, the scene became Rei Kaguya stepping lightly out of the wandering ninja's encirclement.
Then, just as the wandering ninja who had missed their target tried to turn back and pursue him, the moment they took another step, their heads separated from their bodies, their chests burst open, and they turned into corpses with horrifying deaths.
And on Rei Kaguya's body, there was not even a single drop of blood from the wandering ninja.
Even though the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools had been oppressed by wandering ninja from various countries for so many years, they were still terrified enough to break down after seeing this eerie scene.
While covering their mouths and desperately stopping themselves from screaming in fear, they fled in panic, wanting to get away from this place.
That sight made Rei Kaguya shake his head again.
The people of the Land of Whirlpools could no longer develop even the slightest will to resist ninja.
They had been domesticated by the missing-nin entrenched in this country to the point where they did not even dare let the Lord Ninja hear their screams.
Truly pathetic.
Rei Kaguya casually threw out the kunai in his hand, whose blade had already gone dull, and killed the tall man who was trying to kneel and beg him for mercy on the spot.
Then, while checking the additional gains brought to him by the Keystone Rune Dark Harvest, he walked into the shop whose front door had just been kicked apart.
[Dark Harvest stacks +1. Current stacks: 2.]
[Dark Harvest stacks +1. Current stacks: 3.]
…
[Dark Harvest stacks +1. Current stacks: 17.]
[Dark Harvest stacks have reached double digits. Soul strength increased. Genjutsu resistance increased. Yin Release chakra strengthened.]
A cool, transparent sensation surged from his mind.
Like freshly melted spring water from a snowy mountain, it flowed into every cell in his body.
Rei Kaguya carefully sensed the subtle sublimation of his soul and nodded lightly.
Choosing Dark Harvest was indeed correct.
After finishing his main job this time, he would farm in the Land of Whirlpools for a while longer before returning.
After all, the wandering ninja gathered here were all humanoid trash who could die out completely without anyone caring.
The more Dark Harvest stacks he farmed from them, the higher his chance of achieving his desired goal in the war between Kirigakure and Konoha.
"L-Lord Ninja… May I ask, is there anything you need this lowly one to do?"
Rei Kaguya raised his head.
He looked at the middle-aged merchant, who was stammering as he spoke to him while trembling and shielding his daughter behind him.
Rei Kaguya slowly restrained the killing intent naturally spilling from his body and asked,
"When you were begging that corpse for mercy earlier, you said you had offered more than half your family's wealth to four passing ninja two days ago, right?
"Tell me their appearances and builds, and where they went after taking your money."
Hearing that Rei Kaguya was asking about information related to ninja, the middle-aged merchant subconsciously shrank his neck.
He wanted to use vague words to muddle through and offend neither side.
But when the corner of his eye swept across the dozen corpses lying all over the street outside, he immediately shivered and quickly rejected his earlier idea of "offending neither side."
The man in front of him, who would start killing over a disagreement, was clearly more dangerous.
"They… they were wearing very common civilian clothes from the Land of Fire. They did not wear ninja forehead protectors, but each of them was very skilled.
"But for some reason, all of them looked extremely tense and neurotic, as if something was chasing them from behind…"
"A-Also, they looked down on the other Lord Ninja who often come to town. In their words, they belittled them as if they were not worth mentioning at all…
"Right. When this lowly one prepared the money and brought it to them, I accidentally heard them mention something about 'Uzushiogakure'…"
"As for where they went after leaving the town, this lowly one does not know…"
"I-I don't know if any of this information is useful to you…"
Rei Kaguya turned his head away.
He did not want to look at the man's pitiful expression of servile flattery, humility, and desperate fawning.
"It's somewhat useful…
"In that case, I won't ask you to pay me a commission for getting rid of that garbage."
"T-Thank you, Lord Ninja!"
A surprised and delighted expression appeared on the middle-aged merchant's face.
He hurriedly pulled his young daughter down and kowtowed on the spot, repeatedly thanking Rei Kaguya for "mercifully" not extorting another sum from them.
Looking at the childish little round face of the girl, who also looked up at him with awe and extreme humility, Rei Kaguya silently made up his mind.
After becoming Mizukage, his first external expansion target would be this place.
In any case, to the people of the Land of Whirlpools, they only knew they had to submit to ninja rule.
As for which ninja village the ninja ruling them came from?
Who cared?
…
Not long afterward, a Konoha Anbu squad also successfully arrived at the border of the Land of Whirlpools and made contact with Konoha's intelligence personnel stationed there.
"How is the situation? Have you discovered the specific whereabouts of the mission targets?"
The squad leader, Hyuga Munekata, took the initiative to ask.
"Yes. Those guys' movements are extremely panicked, and they left behind quite a few traceable clues.
"After roughly linking and analyzing them, we believe their destination should be the ruins of destroyed Uzushiogakure, though we do not know exactly why…"
The intelligence officer nodded, then changed the subject.
"However, at the same time, we also discovered some intelligence that may be related to the pursuit force Kirigakure sent."
"Kirigakure's pursuit force?"
An Anbu from the Inuzuka clan repeated that piece of intelligence with interest.
"Give us the details."
"Yes."
The intelligence officer took out a scroll from his clothes, the ink on it not yet fully dry, and handed it to Hyuga Munekata, who led the team. Then he began reporting,
"The target suspected to be Kirigakure's pursuer came to the Land of Whirlpools alone.
"He appeared in a town controlled by wandering ninja. Because of a verbal conflict, he killed all the wandering ninja in that town. He also asked a merchant who had been extorted by the wandering ninja some questions.
"After that, he left the town and his whereabouts became unknown…
"This is all the intelligence we have. As for the specific judgment, that will require you to decide for yourselves."
"Eh~ Captain Munekata, Kirigakure's people sure are arrogant. They came to another country to pursue Anbu-level missing-nin, yet they only sent one person…
"Are they that confident in that guy's strength?"
Seo Inuzuka, who had only recently joined Anbu, excitedly punched his own palm, clearly trying to stir up his teammates into capturing the Kirigakure pursuer too.
But the mature and prudent Hyuga Munekata slowly said,
"It may not simply be confidence in that pursuer's strength…
"It may also be that, for Kirigakure, the fewer people who know about the mission involving those four Anbu missing-nin, the better.
"If that is the case, then the value of those four missing-nin may be even higher than we originally anticipated.
"From now on, everyone must keep Lord Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai in the easiest place to retrieve.
"Once we capture the mission targets, activate the Flying Thunder God kunai directly and let Lord Minato come take them back to the village.
"If you encounter that Kirigakure assassin alone, I also permit you to activate the Flying Thunder God kunai directly.
"After that, all actions will prioritize preserving your own lives. Understood?"
"Is there a need to exaggerate this much, Captain Munekata?"
Seo Inuzuka snorted in dissatisfaction.
"We are Anbu directly under Lord Third. If we start thinking about seeking help from others every time we run into a small problem on a mission, doesn't that make all of us look useless?"
"Seo is right. Captain Munekata, aren't you being a little too nervous? Kirigakure doesn't have a ninja like Lord Minato, someone who can shake an entire country alone. And even if they did, how could it possibly be some mere guy responsible for hunting missing-nin?"
"Being careful isn't a bad thing. Kirigakure hasn't participated in shinobi wars for so many years. Who knows whether a few terrifying monsters might have been born under that bloody system of theirs…"
Seeing the Anbu under him begin voicing their opinions one after another, Hyuga Munekata took a deep breath, furrowed his brows, and spoke sternly,
"This is my judgment as Anbu squad leader. It is an order, not a discussion.
"I do not remember teaching you that during a mission, you may question a superior's orders based on your own preferences like this absurd behavior is acceptable."
"Understood."
Although some of the Konoha Anbu present still felt there was no need to make such a fuss, since Hyuga Munekata, as the squad leader, had already said so, they would still respect the order he gave.
Even if only on the surface.