Within the dim and shadowy black market, the scene had recently become unusually busy.
Every reception hall was packed with crowds, even to the point of overflowing.
However, unlike usual, the vast majority of these people were not here to take on dangerous or thrilling missions.
They all had only one purpose, to inquire about the latest and most explosive news.
After all, this outbreak of a ninja world war was very likely to become the war that destroyed Konoha.
This was a major event tied to changes in the entire structure of the ninja world, so naturally everyone was paying extremely close attention.
At this moment, those experts who specialized in collecting and selling intelligence successfully brought back key information from the Moryo battlefield and resold it to the black market.
It had to be said that this kind of intelligence had a unique time sensitive nature.
In the early stages of a war, it was worth a fortune; but as time passed, its value would rapidly drop until it became completely worthless.
Because of this, under normal circumstances, such precious intelligence was always handled collectively through the black market.
After all, if traded privately between individuals, not only would it be difficult to guarantee the accuracy of the information, but prices would also vary wildly.
It was worth mentioning that the reason the black market could stand out among so many channels was precisely because of its strict control over the authenticity of information.
By comparison, if one chose to obtain intelligence from scattered individuals, its reliability would be hard to guarantee.
That said, in an environment so mixed and full of deception, if someone truly managed to find a confidant they could trust completely and share valuable intelligence with them, that would undoubtedly count as extraordinary skill and luck.
As of now, although only a small number of people had learned some insider information first, even these scraps of rumor were enough to shock anyone.
It was said that the Ghost Legion under Moryo had actually been completely wiped out.
As for how many forces had secretly intervened behind this fierce battle, the answer was even more unclear.
According to incomplete statistics, those involved included Senku, Miroku, the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage, and others. It could truly be called a massive all out brawl.
However, aside from the confirmed disappearance of the Ghost Legion, the specific casualties of the other participants were still far from clear.
Konoha's forces had not engaged the enemy head on. Instead, they had rapidly mobilized troops to support Iwagakure.
Although the Ghost Legion failed to successfully tie down much of Konoha's military strength, anyone with discerning eyes could see that under the joint pressure of three ninja villages, Konoha was in an unfavorable position.
At this moment, Kakuzu sat alone in a corner, calmly flipping through a small booklet in his hands.
Standing upright beside him was a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a shiny bald head.
What was surprising was that within a one meter radius centered on the two of them, not a single person dared to approach.
One had to know that in this bustling, overcrowded black market, being able to sit calmly in one spot and leave such an open space around oneself already displayed a powerful deterrence born of strength.
The bald man standing in front of Kakuzu was a staff member of the underground bounty exchange. He and Kakuzu could be considered long time partners.
In the past, Kakuzu would drop by every so often to take on various missions, and as the middleman, the bald man earned quite a hefty commission from it.
However, in recent days, Kakuzu had practically vanished, not setting foot in this black market for quite some time.
Because experts like Kakuzu were no longer taking on those high difficulty missions, many troublesome commissions had remained untouched.
This directly caused the bald man to lose a stable source of income, leaving him extremely anxious.
When he learned that Kakuzu had appeared in this black market, he immediately put aside his work and rushed over from the exchange.
Standing before Kakuzu with a face full of smiles, the bald man said, "Brother Kakuzu, you're here! Take a look at our latest bounty list. Maybe there's something you'll like."
As he spoke, the bald man hurriedly handed a thick bounty ledger to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu accepted the ledger expressionlessly and began flipping through it page by page.
His eyes swept rapidly over the bounty information on each page, but not the slightest hint of interest appeared.
Before long, Kakuzu finished flipping through the entire ledger and casually handed it back to the bald man.
Then he spoke coldly, "I have other matters to deal with. You can leave now."
The bald man looked at Kakuzu with anticipation, only to be met with such an icy response.
He could not help but feel disappointed, but he did not dare voice any complaint.
After all, in this black market, most of the people coming and going were ruthless and had complicated backgrounds, and someone as powerful as Kakuzu was especially not someone to offend.
Receiving such a tactful refusal was already quite polite by Kakuzu's standards.
So the bald man forced himself to perk up, squeezed out a strained smile, and carefully took the bounty ledger back from Kakuzu's hands. Bowing and nodding, he replied, "Alright, Brother Kakuzu, then I won't disturb you."
After saying that, the bald man did not dare linger any longer and quickly turned to leave.
At this moment, Kakuzu watched the bald man's retreating figure, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly into a faintly amused smile.
Over the years, he had handled funds totaling in the hundreds of millions. Those tens or hundreds of thousands were long since too trivial to interest him.
The reason he had taken the bounty ledger and flipped through it was simply to use the opportunity to probe for any potentially useful information from the side.
What he had not expected, however, was that even Senku's bounty had disappeared.
There was no need to think much to guess what this meant. Senku was most likely already dead.
One had to know that for high level bounty missions like Senku's, just taking the commission required paying a substantial fee.
The black market would never remove such a mission before the intelligence had fully circulated.
In other words, it was only because he and the bald man had worked together for many years, and the other party did not dare offend him, that the mission had been taken down.
But this had only been a casual check on his part. He was here to wait for someone from Konoha.
Before long, a travel worn figure dressed as a Konoha ANBU arrived at Kakuzu's side.
He took out half of a shuriken.
Kakuzu produced the other half, and the two fit together perfectly.
The ANBU then took out a scroll and handed it to Kakuzu before hurriedly leaving.
After obtaining the intelligence, Kakuzu did not linger either and immediately left the black market as well.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.