Naruto Arrows

"Where is Qingming's body?"

In the Stone Kingdom adjacent to the Craftsman Country, a ninja wearing a gray-white ninja vest from Konoha Anbu with a broken mask was being tortured.

The difference was that the person who tortured him was not a ninja from Sunagakure, or even a living person, but just a puppet.

And the burqa with a black background and red clouds covering the puppet also made his identity obvious.

Red Sand Scorpion.

After receiving the news from the spy, he immediately went north and came to the Kingdom of Stone, the only way back to the Land of Fire, to intercept the Konoha ninja who left the Land of Craftsmen and wanted to return to the Land of Fire.

The root ninja who is still lingering in his hands with only his last breath is the third unlucky guy he captured today.

It's a pity that each of these root ninjas have been given the magic of tongue to eliminate the evil. Even if they can't stand the torture and poison of the scorpion, they can't tell any information at all.

"It's really troublesome."

Seeing that the prisoner in his hands was no longer breathing, Xie casually threw the body aside with some irritation and dissatisfaction, set off again, and disappeared from the place seemingly slowly but really quickly.

. . .

As he set foot on the road back to Konoha, Neji was no longer as leisurely as when he came.

Yamato, who went to contact Kakashi, returned without success. I don't know whether it was because of a new mission or something discovered. The third team led by Kakashi disappeared without a trace.

But Yamanaka Kaiichi, who knew that staying in Takunin Village would only make the situation more and more difficult to deal with, finally decided to set off on time.

After previous battles with members of the Shiten Elephants and Qingmei, Yamanaka Haiichi and others already have a preliminary understanding of Neji's strength. Knowing that his strength is no longer weaker than that of ordinary genin, they will naturally not be like before. Accommodate him like that.

Instead, he was made a member of the escort transport team.

Moreover, they are still the kind of temporary workers who have no establishment, not even a contract or a title.

Although Neji was very dissatisfied with their use of "illegal labor and child labor", because there was no labor law in the ninja world, and there was no relationship with the courts, he could only swallow tears in his stomach.

In this world of physical cannibalism that was completely different from his previous life, if he really left the protection of Yamanaka Haiichi and the other jounin, the best outcome for his little arms and legs would probably be to travel through time again.

Fortunately, Yamanaka Haiichi, an elite jounin, still has some conscience. He knows that their behavior of turning the client into an object of exploitation is very uncontractual. Therefore, he privately promised Neji that after returning, he would not only The commission fee will be returned to him in full, and his wonderful performance during this trip to the Land of Craftsmen will be reported to the Hokage. Not only will it add points to his future professional titles, but he will also receive a hefty reward for the mission.

When he found out from Yamanaka Haiichi what the reward for this mission would be, he no longer had any complaints.

No way, they gave too much.

And he is indeed short of money now.

The sealing scroll is too expensive.

. . .

The situation is not right.

It was early in the morning, but it was only midnight when Danzo set out. Danzo temporarily left Ma Ji behind. After summarizing the news sent back by his subordinates, his expression under the mask became very solemn.

In less than one night, six root ninjas from three teams have disappeared. Considering that he himself has attracted many Sunagakure Anbu, including Maki, this situation is obviously abnormal.

Could it be that Sunagakure's reinforcements arrived so quickly?

Danzo, who didn't know about Scorpion's existence, could only think of the reason being Sunagakure's large-scale reinforcements.

As a veteran who had participated in one, two, or three ninja wars, he could roughly understand the importance of Qingming's body to Sunagakure.

Sunagakure's puppet master force was severely damaged by Hatake Sakumo in the Second Ninja War, so it basically disappeared in the Third Ninja War a few years later, and its reputation was not prominent. However, the puppet master force was so powerful that he This person who witnessed the first ninja war knew it very well.

Therefore, before setting off, he had already made a plan. If he was really sure that Qingming's body could not be taken out, he would destroy it immediately and never let it fall into the hands of Sunagakure.

But now, having lost three teams and six men in just a few hours, it might be time for him to re-evaluate the possibility of successfully taking Qingming's body out.

"Danzo-sama, the Sunagakure Anbu are following us again."

Just when Danzo was still hesitating whether to destroy Kiyoaki's body directly, Aburame Ryoma, who used insects as a scout, discovered traces of Sunagakure Anbu.

"These damn sand ninjas are really haunted."

Danzo, whose thoughts were interrupted, couldn't help but curse in a low voice.

However, when he saw Ryoma's figure, he couldn't help but feel a slight movement in his heart.

. . .

Danzo was deeply irritated by his pursuer Maki, and the pursuing Maki was also irritated.

The Konoha ninja was too cunning. Even if he led most of the Anbu to track Danzo, he could not guarantee that Qingming's body would be in Danzo's hands.

In particular, Danzo divided his men into dozens or twenty two-person teams and acted separately, which caused great trouble to his tracking.

After all, no one can guarantee whether Danzo will hand over the scroll with Qingming's body sealed to one of the teams, while he himself will stay to attract attention.

Therefore, he could only order his men to disperse and track.

This was also the second reason that made him anxious.

Due to the shortage of manpower, he did not dare to launch a surprise attack even when faced with a root team of only two people. Instead, he could only let his ANBU follow closely and wait for support to arrive.

A day and a night have passed, and he is not sure when support will come, or even whether support will come.

After all, if the top management can trick their own war heroes to death, who can guarantee that they will not do other tricks again.

"Maki-sama!"

Just when Ma Ji was irritated and worried, a Sunagakure Anbu, whose whole head was wrapped in white cloth, with only a pair of eyes exposed, suddenly appeared in front of Ma Ji, bowed to him and reported.

"The body of Konoha ANBU was found about ten kilometers to the east."

The news he reported immediately shocked Ma Ji, and then a look of anger appeared on his face.

"What happened? Who did it?"

He had already given an order to try not to come into contact with the Konoha ninja before support arrived. Now, not only did he come into contact, but he even killed the Konoha ninja. Even if the guy who did it did a good job, his order was in vain. It was a blow to his majesty as an ANBU minister.

"Master Ma Ji, according to the autopsy, the person who did it should not be one of our people, but the puppet master."

The Sunagakure Anbu who reported the news quickly continued.

"Puppeteer?!"

After hearing these three words, Ma Ji's anger disappeared and was replaced by amusement.

If there is anyone who will firmly support him after he sends the news back, it must be the puppet masters.

After all, if Qingming's body is really obtained this time, the puppet master will gain the most. It may even make the puppet master army, which has been in decline for a long time, once again become one of the pillars of Sunagakure.

"Oh, it seems that these guys who usually like to stay at home and play tricks are really anxious this time."

Like Danzo, he also didn't know the existence of Scorpion, so he naturally regarded it as the work of his own puppet master.

The only thing that surprised him might be the speed at which the puppet masters arrived.

Puppet masters who have been obsessed with figurines all year round, although they cannot be said to be frail and sick, are indeed inferior in physical skills compared to ordinary ninjas of the same level.

However, he didn't pay too much attention, he just felt that these puppet masters always looked half-dead on weekdays, but now that they had motivation, they were finally willing to show their strength.

But on the third day of the trip, the fastest group of Sunagakure ninjas arrived at the junction of the Country of Craftsmen and the Country of Stone, and after meeting Ma Ji, Ma Ji realized that he had made a mistake in his judgment.

There is a third person who is proficient in puppetry, or a third party force is also involved in the fight for Qingming's body.

And in the evening, the real Sunagakure puppet masters finally arrived belatedly, met with Maki, and after inspecting the body of the Konoha Root Ninja, this one sneaked in like a ghost and participated in the fight for Qingming's body. The identity of the third person is also about to be revealed.

The strongest master of Sunagakure Puppetry, the grandson of Elder Chiyo, the Akasaka Scorpion is known as the genius of Puppetry.

Although Sunagakure has yet to have conclusive evidence proving that Scorpion assassinated the Sandaime Kazekage and then defected, this is actually a well-known secret in Sunagakure Village, but it is only due to the identity of Chiyo, a highly respected elder. , only then did both Scorpion and the Sandaime Kazekage be listed as missing.

Because of this, after discovering that Scorpion was probably in the Stone Kingdom, many Sunagakure ninjas, including Maki, had another target in mind.

Capture Scorpion and bring him back to Sunagakure for trial.

Among them, the puppet masters were the most excited and concerned.

After all, other people don't have much else to think about except completely uncovering the secret of the Sandaime Kazekage's disappearance, but the puppet masters can't help but want to capture the scorpion and use it as free labor and a source of inspiration for puppet making.

As the grandson of Chiyo, he was already a genius who was able to design and create three puppets, namely crow, sansho fish and black ant, even before he graduated from the ninja school. Over the years, his ingenuity and skills in puppet making must have become even better. Perfect.

After working so hard on self-study based on Qingming’s body, where can I find the happiness that comes from Scorpion’s body?

. . .

While Sunagakure's puppet masters were still dreaming, Scorpion, their coveted target, was quietly approaching Danzo's camp.

Although he did not get much useful information from the captured root ninjas, he, who is known as a genius, spent a whole day and relied on many puppets to investigate, and he still found the key points keenly.

The configuration around Danzo was obviously different from other root ninjas, which undoubtedly made him more sure of his judgment.

Just when Scorpion cleared the hidden sentry and came to the open space less than ten meters away from Danzo's camp unimpeded, suddenly, more than a dozen torches lit up all around.

"Tch, have you been found?"

Fei Liuhu's eyes did not shrink even a little due to the sudden firelight, but instead let out a slightly disdainful whisper.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a puppet master as brave as you."

Danzo, who had no idea what kind of monster he was surrounding, appeared from behind the torch and looked at the somewhat weird puppet master being surrounded with a hint of admiration and pride on his face.

Although almost all the hidden sentries he deployed had died in the opponent's hands.

"However, since you dare to take the lead in destroying the tacit understanding between Konoha and Sunagakure, then don't blame me for being cruel."

He and Ma Ji had always maintained a tacit understanding before. Even if they were in confrontation, they would try not to make a fatal blow and maintain considerable restraint.

But now, the other party broke the tacit understanding first, so he will naturally not be polite anymore.

And he could happily accept the exchange of a few ordinary chuunin for the life of Sunagakure, a puppet master he had never heard of but was very powerful.

"Noisy!"

Scorpion, who didn't explain his identity, or was too lazy to explain, let out a disdainful sneer through Hiryuhu, and then locked eyes with Danzo.

"Is Qingming's body in your hands?" If you hand it over, I can make you into my puppet so that you can live forever.

"Don't be ashamed!"

Danzo, who was pretending to be nothing, was ridiculed in a disdainful tone by the other party. His face darkened instantly. After he shouted angrily, his fingers under the firelight were so fast that it was difficult to see his shadow clearly.

"Wind Escape · Vacuum Jade!"

Having fought against the puppet master before, he knew that Fei Liuhu was just a defensive puppet for Scorpion, so he used the extremely lethal vacuum jade in an attempt to tear down the opponent's turtle shell.

But no matter how fast the Vacuum Jade is, it cannot be faster than the Magnetic Release Sand Iron Ninjutsu that does not require seals.

Scorpion, who recognized Danzo's identity, was much more serious than he seemed. The moment the fire light rose, he had already prepared the scroll that sealed the Sandaime Kazekage's puppet.

"Sand Iron Wall!"

Looking at the thick iron wall composed of countless iron sands that stretched in front of him, Danzo's expression couldn't help but change violently.

"This is the Kazekage's ninjutsu. Who are you?!"

"The one who will kill you."

Knowing that the Sunagakure ninja was only a few kilometers away, Scorpion obviously didn't want to waste any more time. After a low drink, he controlled the Sandaime Kazekage to launch an attack.

The sand and iron wall that was originally concentrated in front of him turned into a sharp triangle like the plasticine in a child's hand.

"Hold him."

Although he has the strength to fight the Sandaime Kazekage, Danzo, who has always cherished his life, is naturally unwilling to stay here to fight with Scorpion. After ordering his men to drag Scorpion with his roots, the figure retreated into the darkness.

"Earth escape, clay from the sky!"

A group of root ninjas fulfilled their duties and immediately launched a desperate attack on Scorpion.

"Fire escape, the fire is extinguished."

. . .

"It's Danzo, Scorpion went to Danzo's place!"

The "liveliness" of the temporary camp at the root naturally cannot escape the eyes of the Sunagakure ninjas several kilometers away.

And now that Scorpion's identity has been confirmed, who else can cause such a lively situation with Danzo? The answer is obvious.

"Damn, how could he move so fast?"

The Sunagakure ninjas, who had long known that Scorpion's target was also Qingming's body, were quite angry at this moment.

They had just analyzed Scorpion's identity and formulated a capture plan, but now this scene was enough to prove that their capture plan had failed before it even started.