"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 163: Time to Return to the Village
So where had Minato gone that made Kushina so unhappy?
Under Sakumo's arrangements, he had brought Kakashi to Beizhong Town.
Although Hiruzen had confidently promised to personally resolve the Fujiwara clan's issues, Sakumo clearly had his own agenda.
Beizhong Town was bustling with activity at the moment.
Danzō denied any involvement in the Fujiwara clan's extermination. Taking him at his word for now, Hiruzen dispatched his eldest son—Sarutobi, the ANBU squad leader—to investigate the matter.
Seemingly having guessed certain truths, Danzō also sent a Root squad led by Aburame Ryōma to the scene, to verify whether things were as he suspected. If so, Ryōma would handle the cleanup. If not...
If you dare make Danzō your scapegoat, just wait and see what happens!
Finally, there were Minato and Kakashi.
Add Feng Bai and his loyal subordinates, and Beizhong Town was lively enough to host a Beizhong Town Mahjong Tournament.
Feng Bai was clearly thinking along those lines.
"Riichi."
Playing the two-dot tile, Feng Bai looked at his Big Three Dragons hand with a mischievous expression: "Be careful—mine's big."
"Sorry, I win. All Simples."
Before Feng Bai could boast for long, Kakuzu's cold words made him flush with frustration on the spot.
"Don't you have any ambition, Kakuzu? All Simples, All Simples—is that all you ever play?!" Having been sniped by All Simples three times in a row, Feng Bai wanted nothing more than to unleash Ice Release right into Kakuzu's face.
"As long as it makes money, any hand will do." Kakuzu's reasoning was sound, earning nods of agreement from Pakura and the anonymous wet nurse.
"Damn it! You—go handle the business arrangements right now!"
Unable to refute Kakuzu, Feng Bai simply exercised his privilege as leader.
"Pay up first." Kakuzu looked completely unbothered as he extended his hand, urging Feng Bai to cough up the money.
For Kakuzu, nothing in heaven or earth mattered more than money.
However...
Sensing the chill in the air and seeing the undisguised killing intent in Feng Bai's eyes, even Kakuzu—who valued money over life—chose discretion at this moment.
He'd finally managed to piece his hearts back together and didn't want to lose a few more over something as trivial as mahjong.
"I suppose owing me for now isn't entirely unacceptable." He yielded, but not completely.
A wise man adapts to circumstances. After spending time with Feng Bai, Kakuzu had more or less figured out his temperament.
In daily interactions, he seemed like a cute, not-too-bright kid. But once he got worked up or entered combat...
This guy showed absolutely no mercy.
Not only was he ruthlessly underhanded, his chakra reserves were enormous.
He'd hit you with wide-area jutsu at the drop of a hat—who could stand that?!
Remembering the three hearts Feng Bai had previously destroyed, Kakuzu, nearly ninety years old, thought of a very fitting description: white-cut-black.
What normal person constantly aims for the kidneys?!
Wait—
Glancing at Feng Bai's height, Kakuzu belatedly realized why he always targeted the kidneys.
I see—it's a height limitation issue.
"What are you thinking about, Kakuzu?"
Feng Bai's eyes narrowed, his tone growing increasingly dangerous.
"I remembered something happy."
"Pfft." Pakura, seeing Kakuzu size up Feng Bai's height and then look enlightened, instantly caught on to his thoughts.
As Feng Bai turned his gaze toward her, Pakura also waved her hands and stood up: "I remembered something happy too."
"You two..."
...
The same Feng Bai who'd just been mocked as white-cut-black was now kneeling properly on the tatami with a bashful smile on his face.
Yes, bashful.
If Kakuzu were present, he'd definitely break character and burst out laughing.
Of course, anyone who could make Feng Bai show this expression was no ordinary person.
Humbly examining the familiar face before him, Feng Bai spoke softly: "Ryōma-sensei..."
Feng Bai considered his sensory abilities, while not as monstrously acute as Tobirama's, at least above the average jōnin level.
But until Aburame Ryōma spoke up, he hadn't detected when another person had entered the room.
Too terrifying—truly worthy of being Root's strongest remaining operative.
"Master Feng Bai, since you're here, it proves Lord Danzō's suspicions were correct." Ryōma maintained his cold tone, showing no relaxation even though he faced Danzō's own son.
"What suspicions?"
Feng Bai wasn't sure which matter he was referring to.
"That woman outside is Pakura of Sunagakure's Scorch Release. Sunagakure announced she was killed by Iwagakure before the Battle of Kikyō Mountain, yet she's appeared at your side."
Ryōma bluntly revealed Pakura's identity, though he wasn't particularly familiar with Kakuzu, who hadn't been active in the shinobi world for many years.
"The other man..."
"He's Kakuzu, and he's my, uh..." Feng Bai didn't know how to describe their relationship.
Although he claimed to be building an organization, he hadn't even thought of a name for it yet.
More importantly, he was a Konoha ninja—wouldn't creating an organization behind Konoha's back get him in serious trouble?
"I'll handle the cleanup here for you. The Daimyō's mansion has already questioned Konoha about this matter, and the village's investigation team should have arrived by now."
Calculating his departure time, Aburame Ryōma wasted no words and immediately prepared to take over the Fujiwara estate.
"But still..." Feng Bai wanted to struggle a bit more. This was territory he'd fought to claim—handing it over to his old man like this felt somewhat...
"Lord Danzō said that if this was really your doing, we'll help you cover it up. After getting past the Daimyō's audit, you can do whatever you want here and he won't interfere."
"Of course—how could I not trust you? You're my dad's right-hand man. I'm doing this for Konoha, for Root. Um, let me go brief Kakuzu and the others."
By the way, what was this Battle of Kikyō Mountain about? He'd been away for less than a year—who was Konoha fighting now?
Ryōma showed no surprise at Feng Bai's instant change of attitude, maintaining his cold tone: "Lord Danzō also said that if I encountered you, I should tell you..."
"You've been away from the village for nearly a year. It's time to go back and have a look."
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