At noon, Nojuro Ryun's room finally quieted down.
Anko, with slightly clumsy steps, crept back to her own room, letting out a sigh of relief upon finding Kurenai still asleep.
She didn't know how she would face her best friend after Kurenai discovered her affair.
Nojuro Ryun's solution was simple: when many things are too difficult to explain, use the body to convey feelings.
However, Anko couldn't use the same strategy when it came to Kurenai.
Fortunately, Kurenai was still asleep; it seemed she really had drunk far too much yesterday.
"What time is it, Anko?"
Hearing that Anko had finally settled down, Kurenai played along with the act.
At any rate, she needed to first leave the Kazamatsuri Hot Spring House and return to her own home to calm down before deciding anything else.
"It's noon, Kurenai. So, how about it? First day of the new year, want to go out and have a drink together?"
"Spare me—I just want to go home right now."
"Then let's grab a quick bite to eat, and I'll see you home?"
Kurenai hesitated slightly before nodding.
As Anko's best friend, refusing even this would be a bit too cold.
The two tidied their appearances and left the Kazamatsuri Hot Spring House.
As they passed by Nojuro Ryun's room, Kurenai purposefully asked softly, "What about him? He's not here?"
"Haha, he's probably still resting."
Anko tried her best to hide the awkwardness on her face, saying, "After all, after what happened this morning, he must have gotten quite a scare too."
"Yes, quite a scare."
Kurenai deliberately emphasized the word "scare"—just who among them had actually gotten the scare?
Under Anko's urging, the two left the hot spring house.
Meanwhile, the Ryun who Anko said was resting was using sensory ninjutsu to observe Kurenai's reaction.
Just as Ryun expected, Kurenai had discovered his affair with Anko.
It was almost impossible not to notice, given the rather average soundproofing of the rooms here.
So, what would Kurenai's reaction be after discovering all this?
For now, it was definitely pretending nothing was wrong.
But once she gradually witnessed Anko's happiness, her feelings would start to change. Ryun was confident of this.
After all, he, Anko, and Kurenai were three lonely souls without any family to speak of. He had already experienced in the simulator just how lonely Anko truly was.
Of course, Asuma could have filled that void for Kurenai, but Ryun wouldn't give him that chance now.
This matter wasn't urgent. Having dealt with the immediate unexpected trouble, Ryun needed to plan his next steps in Konoha.
According to the simulator's timeline, in about a month or so, Danzo would make a move against him.
The timing might not be precise, but Danzo targeting him was almost a certainty.
The current Ryun was no longer afraid of Danzo or a Root ambush.
However, as long as Danzo made this move, regardless of the battle's outcome, the result would be Ryun's estrangement from Konoha.
Naturally, Ryun didn't want to break with Konoha, at least not before the Chunin Exams.
To keep Danzo too busy to cause trouble for Ryun, Ryun would have to take the initiative and cause trouble for Danzo first.
Thus, Ryun picked up pen and paper and began writing a story. This was what he was best at.
After nightfall, Ryun left a shadow clone behind. His main body then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave Konoha.
Following the memories of his travels in the ninja world from the simulations, he arrived outside an exchange house located in the Land of Fire. He transformed into a burly, large man and entered the exchange house's interior.
There were, of course, multiple checks along the way to verify if one was an insider. Ryun was well aware of all these, so the process went relatively smoothly.
"This ninja-sama looks unfamiliar. What can we do for you?"
A man with a scar on his face greeted Ryun. He had actually noticed Ryun was using a Transformation Jutsu from the start.
But that didn't matter. Wasn't everyone who came to an exchange house trying their utmost to hide their identity and secrets?
As long as they didn't cause trouble here, he would serve them even if they disguised themselves as beasts.
"I'm here to sell information. Do you buy it?"
"Of course. As long as the information is valuable, we have no reason to refuse."
Ryun nodded, took out the scroll he had written, and handed it directly to the proprietor.
"I'll give you one hour to copy it. After that, return the original to me. Understood?"
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
Seeing that Ryun didn't even ask about the price, the proprietor didn't mention it either.
He would offer a low price after copying it; by then, Ryun wouldn't have much choice but to accept.
He had more than one ninja stationed here and wasn't afraid of ordinary troublemakers.
However, once the proprietor went to the inner room, opened the scroll, and saw the words written on it, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
This was actually information about Konoha's Darkness!
Rumor had it that man killed without blinking and was one of the most terrifying figures in the ninja world. Could he really handle this kind of person's information?
—Take it! Why wouldn't he dare take it!
Their shop even had a bounty poster for the Hokage's son. No matter how famous Danzo was, he was still just a ninja under the Hokage!
Besides, after acquiring the information, they wouldn't publicize it themselves. They would sell it to others who needed it.
If Danzo wanted revenge later, he would target those buyers. What did that have to do with their exchange house?
So, for the next hour, the proprietor wrote furiously, striving to record all the information.
Finally, he recorded what Ryun had written: Danzo's Six Great Crimes. He then respectfully rolled up the scroll and returned it to Ryun.
The so-called Six Great Crimes referred to Danzo's human experimentation, assassination attempt on the Third Hokage, manipulation of the Uchiha clan massacre, suppression of the Hyūga Clan, driving Hatake Sakumo to suicide, and brainwashing and controlling village ninja.
Ryun hadn't recorded the details in depth, as he himself didn't know many specifics.
But he could write these as stories mixing truth and fiction, designed to captivate readers at first glance.
The proprietor was clearly captivated. Now, he didn't dare look down on Ryun.
Anyone willing to sell Shimura Danzo's dirty secrets had to be either incredibly strong or possess formidable backing, or perhaps both.
Ryun took the scroll back and tucked it inside his robe.
He had used his sensory ninjutsu to monitor the proprietor the entire time. Had the proprietor tried any trickery, Ryun would have acted immediately.
Fortunately, although exchange houses dealt in murder and plunder, their internal order was relatively stable.
"Might I ask how much you want for this, honored guest? Let me be clear first: while your information is quite weighty, we don't yet know its veracity."
"You can choose to wait for us to verify its authenticity for a higher price, or you can take 5 million ryo and leave right now."
Ryun gave him a slightly surprised look. "Aren't you afraid my information is all fake?"
"You jest, honored guest. While we can't confirm the exact truthfulness of the information above, by cross-referencing with what we already know, we can roughly gauge its significance."
"If we didn't have at least this much discernment, how could we run an exchange house?"
Ryun nodded. "Give me the 5 million ryo. What you do with the information afterwards is your business."
"Right away. Please wait."
The proprietor soon returned with a stack of cash and handed it to Ryun. Ryun glanced at the thickness, confirmed it was correct, then turned and left the exchange house without looking back.
As expected, after leaving, two ninja with Special Jonin-level strength trailed Ryun from a distance. One of them even had chakra sensory abilities.
Faced with such pursuit, Ryun simply smiled faintly, performed the Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu, and then vanished without a trace.
Arriving at an unnoticed wilderness area, Ryun looked at the 5 million ryo in his hand and couldn't help but feel a sense of....
Not long ago, he had extorted a hefty sum from Sasuke for a plot of land costing a few hundred thousand ryo. Now, he had effortlessly obtained ten times that amount.
Truly, to make real money, one had to leave Konoha and target the big players—Of course, writing books still needed to continue, as this would help Ryun accumulate fame for later use when he went to the capital to seek a noble title from the daimyo.
Although he could gain the daimyo's recognition through sheer strength alone, Ryun didn't want to become another Danzo in others' eyes.
Ryun sealed the money away using a sealing technique, then activated the Flying Thunder God and disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was near an exchange house on the border of the Land of Earth. Over these past days, he had used merchant caravans to place Flying Thunder God markers in many locations within the Land of Fire, allowing him to travel so effortlessly.
In one night, Ryun sold this information a total of six times, his route roughly forming a circle around the Land of Fire.
The selling price varied each time, the lowest being only 2 million ryo, and the highest, in the Land of Lightning, fetching 6 million ryo. In total, the six sales netted him 21 million ryo.
To tell the truth, this amount was somewhat low.
After all, this was Danzo's dirty laundry, material that could be used as a casus belli against Konoha.
But Ryun was satisfied. Since he couldn't actually step forward to manage these affairs, he could only make a one-time profit.
Next, Ryun used the Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha and lay down comfortably in his bed.
I wonder if the entire ninja world will be thrown into chaos in a few days because of this?
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