Chapter 184: Another Assassin
"Assassin!"
When he heard the shout, he was taken aback. He had been keeping his "pulse" vision active, and he had not seen anyone suspicious enter the castle. The Daimyo was in a safe location. And with the Special Strategy Division and the Nine Samurai now in charge of security, not even a fly could get in without an ID.
In his "pulse" vision, there was nothing wrong on the Daimyo's side. The commotion was coming from the servants' quarters on the other side of the castle. But his "pulse" vision could not detect malice. He could only judge the source of the panic by the gathering of the crowd. He could not sense each person's chakra like Kayo, let alone their malicious intent. It was like having a full map of the area, but with thousands of little figures moving around, each doing their own thing. It was difficult to keep track of everything at once.
But at the very least, he was sure that no one had entered the castle from the outside tonight.
He and Natsu exchanged a look.
"You stay here," he said. "I'll go and check it out."
"Okay," she said. "You take the left, I'll take the right. We'll surround him."
He immediately set out. But then, he looked at her, who was also moving, with a puzzled expression.
"Don't worry," she said. "I've got this."
But her speed, compared to his, was the difference between a rocket and a firecracker. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
With a gust of wind, he appeared at the scene of the commotion.
A crowd of servants had gathered, whispering. He pushed through them. A figure was lying in a pool of blood.
A middle-aged man, also dressed as a servant. The fatal wound was on his neck, likely from a kunai.
"Where's the assassin?" he asked the people around him.
But they all pointed at the man on the ground.
He frowned. "Then who killed him?" he asked.
The servants were flustered. No one dared to speak. Finally, an older-looking one said, "Lord ninja, he killed himself."
The Nine Samurai and the Special Strategy Division arrived to maintain order. A few minutes later, the panting Natsu also arrived, but she had snuck out of her room and was watching from a distance, not daring to show herself. He had all the servants who had been there questioned.
According to them, the dead man had been a steward in the castle for over a decade. That night, when everyone was asleep, he had suddenly thrown off his blanket, taken a kunai from under his pillow, and had started shouting that he was going to kill the Daimyo.
The commotion had woken up the other servants. Many had tried to stop him, but the "assassin" had just waved his kunai wildly and had tried to force his way into the inner castle.
But he was just an ordinary man. He had only managed to scratch a couple of people. When the other servants had tried to subdue him, he had, in his desperation, in front of everyone, stabbed himself, ending the absurd assassination attempt.
In the Daimyo's bedroom, at the top of the castle, the old man looked down, his face grim.
He could only vaguely see the flickering lights of the torches, but he had heard the shout, "Assassin!" very clearly.
Suddenly, a figure appeared on his balcony. It was Boku, the captain of the Nine Samurai. The Daimyo jumped in fright, and after seeing who it was, he hid the short sword in his sleeve again.
Boku saw the weapon but said nothing.
"What is the commotion?"
"It seems there was an assassin," he said. "But he has been dealt with. He was not a ninja, just an ordinary man."
"An ordinary man?" he said, suspicious. "I'll leave it to you to handle."
After dismissing him, the Daimyo sat on his couch, his mind uneasy. He felt that things were slipping further and further from his control.
After a long hesitation, he said to the servant outside his door, "Go and get Jun'en Furuya."
"As you command, my lord."
Outside the castle, in the residence of the black-haired swordsman and the sallow-faced ninja, a toad was bobbing up and down in a pot of boiling water, emitting a strange smell. The black-haired swordsman made a hand signal, and the two of them simultaneously formed hand seals, leaving Shadow Clones in their place while their real bodies appeared underground. They had secretly dug a tunnel here long ago.
The black-haired swordsman and the sallow-faced ninja had now returned to their original forms. They were Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
"There seems to be some commotion in the castle," Jiraiya said.
"It will be a good distraction for us," Orochimaru said, unconcerned.
He then drew a complex jutsu formula on the ground and placed the captured snail shell in the center. The shell was also covered in a large number of sealing formulas.
"Are you sure?" Jiraiya asked.
"From your description," he said, "the slug clone, after being captured, will self-destruct before you even have a chance to talk to it. This jutsu will prevent it from doing that. If I weren't so familiar with Shikkotsu Forest and Lady Katsuyu, I wouldn't have been able to do it."
"Let's begin," Jiraiya said. "I'm afraid our little trick on the surface will be discovered soon."
Orochimaru quickly formed a series of hand seals and then slammed his hands on the ground. The sealing formula on the ground began to move like a swarm of tadpoles, surrounding the snail shell. And in response, the jutsu on the shell quickly faded.
He nodded at Jiraiya. "Lady Katsuyu," Jiraiya said, stepping forward, "it's me, Jiraiya. I'm sorry for the offense."
After a long moment, a small slug poked its head out of the shell. A dejected voice echoed in his mind. "I am not Lady Katsuyu. I am just a clone with an independent consciousness. According to the agreement, I cannot answer any of your questions."
"But you recognize me, don't you?" he said urgently. "You have her memories. I'm looking for Tsunade. You must have some clues! Is she being held by the Cloud? Aren't you supposed to help the contractors of Shikkotsu Forest?"
The little slug tried to dissolve itself again, but the sealing jutsu was preventing it. It could only remain silent.
He couldn't get another word out of it. He was starting to get anxious. "It's just a clone," Orochimaru said. "Don't worry. With my jutsu, its memories won't be sent back to the main body. We might be able to find what we're looking for."
Jiraiya nodded. It was just a clone, not the real thing. There was no need to hesitate.
He formed a series of hand seals and cast a powerful genjutsu on the restrained slug.
Slugs were highly resistant to genjutsu, but this was just a weak little clone. Its antennae drooped.
"Where is Tsunade?" he asked, his voice grim.
The little slug seemed to be in a daze. "...I don't know," it said after a long moment.
He frowned and rephrased the question. "Is she in the Hidden Cloud Village?"
This time, the slug was silent for an even longer time. "...Yes."
He breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was alive.
"Who contracted with Shikkotsu Forest?"
"Yotsuki Dana."
"Was she attacked?"
"...No."
Jiraiya's face grew darker and darker.