Chapter 23: Thoughts of Change and the Assassination Operation
The four of them meticulously refined all the details they could think of within the framework proposed by Kiyoshi, determined to ensure the success of this one endeavor.
After all, failure this time would likely mean the exposure of their Hidden Mist identities, which would definitely lead to significant political resistance.
An ordinary person, albeit a general in control of a large army in a country, being assassinated by several Hidden Mist elites who put so much effort into it could be considered a fitting end.
The next few days brought excellent weather, so good that there were consecutive days of bright sunshine. This was rare in the Land of Water, a country known for its perennial clouds, fog, and frequent overcast skies. It was as if the Sage of Six Paths himself wanted to see the general off, allowing him to enjoy a few more days of the final sun.
Initially, Kiyoshi, Yagura, and Senno still had the mood to experience life in the streets every day. With the ever-familiar and talkative Yagura by their side, the two boys and the slightly older Senno, who was four years their senior, quickly became acquainted.
The relationship between the three gradually shifted from that of mere teammates towards friendship.
However, the prolonged wait for rain caused impatience to grow among Kiyoshi and the others, as they only had one month for the mission, and half of that time had already passed. Although they didn't know the specific point of conflict that had recently erupted between the Daimyo and the general, the fact that the Daimyo's府邸 had given a one-month deadline with no extensions indicated that if the target was eliminated after the mission time, it would be useless to the Daimyo, also signifying the mission's failure.
But their impatience had no effect on the Land of Water's weather. So, the group could only suppress their anxious emotions and continue to wait patiently.
During the wait, the group continued to gather relevant intelligence every day, enriching the target's personality profile to strive for the perfection of their plan. Kiyoshi and the others gained an increasingly clear understanding of the target they were to assassinate.
As a high-ranking noble under the Daimyo of the Land of Water, the general could not be considered a good person.
No, it could even be said that there were hardly any good people in the entire noble class. Perhaps there would be a few wrongly accused nobles if all the nobles in the Land of Water were rounded up and executed, but if you randomly picked nine lucky individuals out of ten to kill, you would definitely miss some who deserved it.
Enslaving civilians, treating them like dirt, levying exorbitant taxes, and living a life of extravagance and corruption were all commonplace.
Hooliganism, forcibly seizing women, inhumanity, cruelty, and ruthlessness, arbitrarily beating and killing for the slightest dissatisfaction – these noble classes were simply capable of any evil.
They unscrupulously plundered land and killed for pleasure. They recklessly abused public power for personal gain. They indulged in corruption and depravity at will, committing all kinds of wrongdoing. This was the true portrayal of most nobles in the entire ninja world. As the rulers of the world, they were above everyone else. Even the Onmyōji of the ancient era, and the samurai and ninjas of the Warring States period were just tools in their eyes.
As a newly debuted Hidden Mist ninja, Kiyoshi's first mission was to assassinate a stranger he had never interacted with. Although ninjas existed as mercenaries to complete mission requests, this kind of mission constantly challenged Kiyoshi's still immature and not fully formed bottom line, influenced by his memories of living in a peaceful era in his previous life. Previously, Kiyoshi had only been enduring the discomfort in his heart, fulfilling his duties as a Hidden Mist ninja and as an elite Anbu member.
However, as they continued to gather intelligence on the general and increasingly understood the actions of the noble class, Kiyoshi gradually became more accepting of the task of assassinating such scum. Even his initial respect for the Daimyo, the ruler of this country, gradually disappeared.
In his previous life, he had received education under the red flag. In this life, he had never experienced formal ninja education. Moreover, although Kiyoshi came from a ninja clan, he had grown up in a secluded, remote village.
Having awakened his memories from his previous life, Kiyoshi gradually developed his own thoughts. He didn't believe that the ninja world should be like this. Although his understanding of the various political systems of his previous world, Earth, wasn't comprehensive, at least the distorted one-country-one-village political system of the ninja world felt extremely wrong to him.
Ninja villages, to put it bluntly, were gatherings that ultimately formed from mercenary organizations coming together. Yet, this was the largest violent institution in a country, and this violent institution was actually economically constrained by the Daimyo, who was just an ordinary person. It was a great joke. The ninjas, who possessed the high-end power of the ninja world, were actually led by nobles. This seemed somewhat ridiculous to Kiyoshi.
The thriving social scene of his previous life, and the earliest era of the Ninshū a thousand years ago that he had seen in his memories – although Kiyoshi didn't agree with Hagoromo Otsutsuki's slightly naive idea of everyone achieving mutual understanding, he didn't deny that the very first Ninshū did have a beautiful vision.
The essence of Chakra power in the ninja world was actually the love-hate entanglement of the Otsutsuki family. Although it was mixed with the involvement of some native Senjutsu creatures, this was insignificant.
The essence of the ninja world's conflicts was the struggle for interest. Conflict was actually an alternative continuation of politics. When the desired interest could not be achieved through negotiation, exchange, or other peaceful means, then the demanding party was very likely to resort to force, which was war.
Kiyoshi, who had already seen through these essences in his memories, slowly began to have some ideas in his mind.
A spark of change slowly ignited in Kiyoshi's heart, and it would burn brighter and brighter in the future. As Kiyoshi's thoughts, the fuel for this fire, continued to mature, it would eventually sweep across the entire ninja world.
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Five more days quickly passed. Just as Kiyoshi and the others had become despondent and were about to reluctantly admit their mission failure in a few days, a long-awaited heavy rain suddenly arrived.
The weather was like the mood of the Sage of Six Paths, changing at will. One minute, the sun was shining brightly, turning from cloudy to clear. The next moment, dark clouds instantly gathered, and a torrential downpour caught the Land of Water off guard.
Time slowly moved towards evening, and night enveloped the entire city.
It was past midnight, the time when people were most tired. Even the energetic ninjas, after nearly a month of high-intensity defense, had gradually lost their vigilance.
The rain continued to fall incessantly. Perhaps because it hadn't rained for half a month, the downpour showed no signs of weakening. Under the cover of night, the rain poured down, as if a curtain of water hung between heaven and earth. The continuous rain blurred vision, as if the entire world was enveloped in water.
It was time to act!
Kiyoshi and the other three put on the disguises they had prepared long ago to conceal their identities. Although they were confident they wouldn't be discovered, they still decided to change their attire to ensure absolute safety.
Relying on Kiyoshi's excellent sensory abilities, they arrived at the periphery of the main courtyard without alerting anyone in the front courtyard.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"
Kazama, as the leader and proficient in Water Release, took the lead. He carefully manipulated his Chakra, preventing it from emitting too obvious fluctuations.
Under Kazama's control, the dense mist slowly spread from the periphery towards the target's location. The rain was extremely heavy, already hindering vision, so the slowly drifting mist did not arouse suspicion from the few guarding ninjas.
At the house where the target was located, in the front yard, five ninjas gathered under a tree in the courtyard, casually chatting while sheltering from the rain.
"We'll be able to complete the mission soon! Boss, after we get the reward in a few days, let's go have some fun. Staying here without leaving for more than half a month has really suffocated me. We shouldn't have been greedy for the huge reward and accepted this protection mission in the first place!" complained one of the short-statured rogue ninjas.
"Bear with it, Fourth! I can't help it either. Who told this old guy to be willing to pay? Zzzzz, five million Ryō! Just to protect his life for a month is worth more than ten of our usual robberies. These damned nobles are really rich!" explained the tall and sturdy leader of the five rogue ninjas, his tone slightly emotional.
As rogue ninjas, they often robbed merchant caravans, but the knowledge passed down for thousands of years prevented them, as ninjas, from ever having any thoughts about nobles.
Therefore, when the general guessed that the Daimyo might try to kill him, he hired these notorious five rogue ninja brothers to protect him for the past month.
As for why he didn't issue a mission to the Hidden Mist Village, on the one hand, he didn't trust the Hidden Mist Village, which nominally belonged to the Daimyo of the Land of Water. On the other hand, being greedy, he didn't want to pay the huge price to issue a mission to the Hidden Mist Village, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The money he paid to hire these five brothers for a month would probably cost him double or even triple if he wanted to hire ninjas of similar strength from the Hidden Mist Village.
However, the general, who knew nothing about ninjas, was unaware of the difference in strength between ninjas from the Great Ninja Villages and those from small ninja villages or even rogue ninjas. Even if they were both Jōnin, a Jōnin from a Great Ninja Village could completely crush a Jōnin among rogue ninjas. Not to mention that most rogue ninjas were ordinary ninjas, while the Great Ninja Villages not only had all sorts of strange and unique secret techniques but also extremely mysterious Kekkei Genkai.
About ten minutes passed, and the dense fog had completely enveloped the house where the general was, along with the small courtyard in front of it. Hōzuki Senno and her water clone, as well as the clone created by Yagura's Water Mirror Technique, had approached the five rogue ninjas along with the flow of rainwater on the ground and were ready to attack.
In the distance, Kiyoshi, his nerves tense, stared intently at the five, ready to strike and finish off anyone who wasn't killed in the initial attack.
"Move!" Kazama controlled the mist, sending out a wave of Chakra.
Although the leader of the five was a Jōnin, it was because he had accidentally eaten a strange herb in his early years, which made his body unusually strong and gave him immense strength, resulting in very powerful Taijutsu, that he possessed Jōnin strength. The second brother was just an ordinary ninjutsu-type Jōnin who had just been promoted not long ago, and the remaining three were the most ordinary rogue ninjas.
Silently thinking "not good," the two with Jōnin strength sensed a hint of wrongness, and their attention was instantly drawn to the Chakra fluctuations in the air. Before they could issue a warning or react, Senno and Yagura's attacks arrived. Yagura was responsible for taking out the small guy who had complained first, and the rest were left to Senno and her three water clones.
The five rogue ninjas, who had no sensory abilities, were completely defenseless against the meticulously planned operation of Kiyoshi and the others.
In an instant, the three with Elite Chūnin strength were killed with slit throats. The leader and the second brother, who had Jōnin strength, although they made dodging movements and avoided Senno's fatal blow, were directly pierced through the heart by Kiyoshi's Ten Finger Drilling Bullets from a distance, who had been locking onto them all along.
Senno and her water clones, along with Yagura beside them, caught the bodies of the five and simultaneously covered their mouths tightly, preventing them from letting out death throes.
The rain fell even more urgently, as if also cooperating with their actions. The sound of raindrops hitting the ground perfectly covered up the subtle sounds of their attack.
Seeing the three succeed, Kazama quickly dispelled the Chakra maintaining the Hidden Mist Technique. Wind Release Chakra swirled around his body as he quickly rushed into the house.
At this time, the general was still sleeping soundly, completely unaware that the five rogue ninja brothers he had hired at a high price had all gone to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
Tiger-Rabbit-Dog-Ram-Dragon, five seals were completed in the blink of an eye.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
Without any hesitation, Kazama used the Wind Cutter Technique to slash across the general's neck. Extremely condensed Wind Release Chakra gathered together to form an exceptionally sharp wind blade. The wind blade easily sliced through, without causing a single drop of blood to splatter. The general who controlled most of the army in the Land of Water died silently in his own home.
After confirming the target's death again, Kiyoshi and the other three erased all traces of their presence, took away the bodies of the five rogue ninja brothers with a scroll, and returned to the inn in the dense darkness of the night.
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