"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 109: Allies
Struck hard in the waist, the Iwa ninja didn't even have time to identify his attacker before feeling a flash before his eyes, leaving only a senbon glinting with dangerous cold light at his side.
Pulling the senbon from his body, the Iwa ninja was about to counterattack when his vision began to blur.
"Damn it, it's poisoned!"
Realizing he'd been poisoned, the Iwa ninja gritted his teeth and searched for Feng Bai's figure.
"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"
Not far away, another Iwa ninja targeted by Feng Bai hastily unleashed a wind technique to force Feng Bai back.
The sudden wind attack forced Feng Bai to alter his assault trajectory. While evading the wind technique, he threw more senbon to disrupt his opponent's vision.
The Iwa ninja swung his blade to deflect the senbon and was about to press his advantage when he clearly saw Feng Bai's face and stopped his movements.
"Halt!"
Staring intently at Feng Bai, the Iwa ninja suddenly raised his blade and shouted, stopping the other Iwa ninja who were rushing to provide support.
Just as Feng Bai thought they were preparing some large-scale attack, his opponent suddenly spoke a cryptic phrase:
"Code G."
Code G—this was the secret identification phrase Root used when infiltrating enemy territory.
In other words, all these Iwa ninja attacking the Rain ninja were Root operatives in disguise.
"Reinforcements have arrived! Everyone hold on!"
On the other side, the Rain ninja were overjoyed to see Feng Bai intervene, thinking he was their ally. Just as they prepared to rally for a renewed assault, they saw Feng Bai suddenly vanish. The next moment, the Rain ninja charging at the front felt a sharp pain in his neck and instantly lost consciousness.
After swiftly eliminating the Rain ninja before him, the Root squad leader made a hand signal indicating Feng Bai and the others should follow, then dragged away the unfortunate operative Feng Bai had wounded earlier.
The group reached a quiet location. As soon as they stopped, Feng Bai pulled out a medicine bottle from his jacket and tossed it to the Root ninja who'd been stabbed in the waist.
"Thank you very much."
Also recognizing Feng Bai's identity, he said little more, respectfully expressing his gratitude before swallowing the viscous liquid from the bottle.
"You..."
Watching him consume the ointment from the bottle, Feng Bai paused, wanting to speak but hesitating.
A moment later, he pulled out a new medicine bottle and threw it to the operative. Under the man's puzzled gaze, Feng Bai said what he hadn't had time to mention earlier: "That one's for external use."
"Young Master Feng Bai."
The injured Root ninja expressionlessly lifted his clothing to apply the ointment to his wound. Another Root operative, now back in his original disguise, appeared before Feng Bai and knelt respectfully.
"Who's leading your team?"
Glancing at the somewhat familiar Root ninja, Feng Bai recalled his codename should be... Ding San?
Just as Feng Bai was mentally speculating about their purpose for infiltrating here, the operative's next answer left him unable to maintain his composure: "It's Lord Danzō."
...
If you were to rank the things Danzō had done in his lifetime, conspiring with Hanzō to force Yahiko's death would definitely be among the top three.
After that incident, Danzō successfully helped Obito manipulate Nagato, laying the groundwork for Konoha's future devastation.
Even Uchiha Madara would have to praise him as a "good comrade."
When Feng Bai learned that this mission's leader was his own father, he immediately realized what Danzō intended to do.
The two "Zōs" were about to join forces.
Following Ding San ahead, Feng Bai racked his brain trying to think of an excuse to dissuade his father from targeting Yahiko. Soon they arrived at a cave entrance.
"Lord Danzō is waiting for you inside."
After Ding San finished speaking, he turned to stand guard at the cave entrance, clearly not intending to accompany Feng Bai inside.
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work."
Steadying his nerves, Feng Bai took a deep breath and plunged into the cave. After walking a short distance, he saw dim light flickering ahead.
A crude stone table held a single candle, providing the cave's only illumination.
Danzō, dressed in standard Konoha ninja attire, sat expressionlessly behind the stone table. His entire face appeared somewhat menacing in the candlelight's reflection.
"Dad, what brings you here?"
Looking at his father's imposing face, Feng Bai shivered and spoke with forced casualness.
Hearing this, Danzō merely glanced up at Feng Bai, nodded slightly, then asked: "Seeing the Land of Rain, what are your thoughts?"
Starting with this question?
Not expecting Danzō to open with this inquiry, Feng Bai considered carefully, recalling everything he'd witnessed in the Land of Rain, and answered seriously: "The people live in great hardship."
Hearing Feng Bai's response, Danzō closed his single eye and lightly tapped the stone table with his knuckles.
After a long moment, Danzō opened his eye: "Your perspective is very much like your teacher's, but what I see is this nation's people harboring bone-deep hatred toward the great nations."
"So?"
Feng Bai swallowed, already guessing what Danzō would say next.
"So I intend to keep this country in continued chaos. You should already understand Amegakure's situation."
Danzō beckoned Feng Bai forward.
When Feng Bai approached, he discovered a map of the Land of Rain spread before Danzō. Not only were Hanzō's territories clearly marked, but the areas controlled by the Akatsuki organization were circled in red ink.
Looking at the map, Feng Bai noticed with sharp eyes that where the Iwa ninja had gathered was precisely within Akatsuki's sphere of influence.
"Hanzō is using borrowed knives to kill?"
Seeing how close the two factions were positioned, Feng Bai instantly grasped Hanzō's intentions.
"Exactly. However, disappointingly, this Akatsuki organization hasn't clashed with the Iwa ninja. For this reason, I specifically sent people disguised as Iwa ninja to provoke them, never expecting you to stumble upon it."
"But even if you hadn't appeared, that organization probably wouldn't have made any moves anyway."
Danzō shook his head, his tone carrying some regret: "Ever since those Iwa ninja entered their territory, Akatsuki's people haven't appeared at all. Even the Rain ninja you just encountered were operatives from various other minor factions nearby."
From Danzō's map, it was clear that the Land of Rain's current situation was one of single dominance with multiple weak powers.
Hanzō's legitimate Amegakure occupied the central tower and vast surrounding areas, while outside the central region, numerous small Rain ninja factions held sway. The outermost areas were controlled by the Akatsuki organization.
"This so-called Akatsuki organization is an emerging power that's only risen to prominence in recent years. In just a few short years, they've unified most scattered territories, with prestige rivaling Hanzō's. Recently, there have even been rumors of Hanzō cooperating with them. If this faction continues developing unchecked, it won't be long before Amegakure is completely unified, becoming an enemy practically at Konoha's doorstep."
Pointing at Akatsuki's territory on the map, Danzō's tone was filled with killing intent.
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