Chapter 116: Blood-Red Cherry Tomatoes (Subscription Requested)

"Who's there?"

Terumi Mei turned around, discovering that the person was one of those they had brought from the Land of Water's pier. Everyone there had been assigned to her by Elder Gen, so there shouldn't have been any issues; perhaps Kahn was just being a bit tense.

"Mr. Harry, that's one of our own..."

Before Terumi Mei could finish her sentence, she saw Kahn point a finger. The ground beneath the man he had just identified suddenly shifted. The solid concrete path turned into thick mud, and several flowing stone pillars emerged, preparing to bind the man.

Jiraiya, of course, would not sit idly by and be captured. He controlled the man to leap high into the air, and upon landing, he emerged from the shadow, quickly weaving hand signs to unleash a Fire Style ninjutsu.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet."

A scorching fireball burst from Jiraiya's mouth, rapidly hurtling toward Kahn and Terumi Mei.

"So he really is an enemy!"

Terumi Mei's face flushed with heat. She had just been trying to guarantee with absolute certainty that there couldn't be any problems with Elder Gen's men, and reality had given her a sharp slap in the face.

Facing Jiraiya's fire attack, Terumi Mei immediately wanted to counter with Water Style, but Kahn raised a hand to stop her. He continued using Transfiguration, turning the concrete on the ground into a shield that blocked Jiraiya's fire.

The next second, Kahn suddenly vanished from his spot. He had used Apparition to move twenty meters behind Jiraiya. Because there was almost no sound, and Jiraiya was busy trying to shake off the stiffness from the Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation Technique, he did not notice Kahn behind him.

When he had jumped and landed earlier, Jiraiya had memorized the surroundings; in his impression, there was no one behind him. However, Kahn was an exception. Apparition was originally a magic for travel, but Kahn skillfully applied it in combat.

"Confringo!"

After landing, Kahn cast another spell directly at Jiraiya. The Blasting Curse was the one he used most comfortably, though after casting it, Kahn felt a slight regret; he really should have used the Killing Curse or the Imperius Curse.

At the critical moment, Jiraiya instinctively sensed the danger behind him. He subconsciously channeled chakra into his hair; but before his Needle Jizo technique could manifest, he felt a tremendous force strike him, sending him flying.

"Behind... how could there be an enemy!?"

Jiraiya was knocked over a dozen meters away by the immense force. The hair on his back was completely shattered; even if it wasn't the full Needle Jizo, hair infused with chakra was extremely tough. Yet now, it had been smashed by a single blow. Jiraiya felt like the old back he had been straining for months was about to break.

"I can't stay any longer. If I stay, I'll lose my life."

Jiraiya was basically certain these were Mist Village ninjas. He had been careless and attacked from behind; he had lost the leverage to detain them, and he hadn't gathered any intelligence on the Mist ninjas.

*Bang!*

As soon as Jiraiya landed, he threw some smoke bombs in front of him. A thick fog rose instantly, and then he used Earth Style to burrow underground.

"Smoke..."

Kahn frowned slightly at the thick cloud of smoke. He waved his hand, using his magic to disperse it. This was somewhat inefficient, but he hadn't learned any Wind Style ninjutsu. It took three waves before the smoke cleared completely, by which time Jiraiya was already gone.

There was a hole in the ground; it seemed he had escaped via Earth Style. Kahn thought for a moment and then abandoned the idea of pursuing him. He was only a shadow clone here, and he had to guard the chakra metal. If he wanted to chase someone, he would have to use his main body, but his main body didn't have any tracking magic or ninjutsu either.

Aside from the hole in the ground, Kahn also found some white hair in another spot. Coupled with that ninjutsu that involved emerging from shadows, the identity should be quite obvious.

At this moment, Terumi Mei came to Kahn's side, bowing with a very unsightly expression: "Mr. Harry, I am very sorry; this is entirely our negligence." This was a huge embarrassment; it was a lapse on their side, and she hadn't even been able to help at all.

"Don't worry about it. You haven't exposed your identities, so it won't affect future business."

Kahn waved his hand at Terumi Mei. He was just trading with people from the Land of Water, not the Mist Village itself; so many nobles in the Land of Fire did the same thing. Konoha and the Sand were fighting to the death, yet they still had to purchase iron ore resources from the Land of Wind. Why should ninjas fighting affect their ability to make money?

"I am very sorry."

Terumi Mei apologized again. Even if Kahn didn't care, they felt deeply ashamed.

After Jiraiya left, Terumi Mei thoroughly checked everyone and every location. Only after confirming there were no more errors did she finally relax. While sending others to perform a detailed inspection, Terumi Mei took the opportunity to tell Kahn about some of the Mist Village's recent movements.

Ever since Kahn started continuously commissioning tasks from the Mist that were likely to provoke war, the village had sent out successive task squads. The shipping lanes and basic ports of the Land of Lightning had been almost entirely destroyed. Although the Third Mizukage sensed something was wrong, there were Kahn's missions on the outside and several major Bloodline Limit families actively cooperating on the inside. By the time the Third Mizukage realized it, the Mist and the Cloud Village were only one step away from war. In this situation, not even the Daimyos of the two countries could intervene to stop it.

Moreover, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning wished the Cloud Village would wipe out those lunatics in the Mist, because their reckless behavior had cost the Land of Lightning countless billions of Ryo!

Kahn couldn't guess the exact losses of the Land of Lightning, but his trading company had made a fortune in the last six months. His shipping business had also doubled; he had bought four old ships and had five new ones waiting to set sail. This batch of medicine was likely supplies prepared for the war; once it started, it would be sent to the front lines.

"Mei, be careful in everything you do. If the Third Mizukage targets you, come and join me."

While the two were talking privately, Kahn had switched back to his original appearance.

Terumi Mei nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Mr. Kahn. I will play it by ear; if an accident occurs, I will have my clansmen seek your help in the Land of Fire."

This trade with the Mist Village had earned Kahn quite a lot, and now that it had also allowed him to buy chakra metal, one could only say that this was the charm of war. He would keep half of this metal and bring half back, letting Tony and his father study whether it could be applied to weapons.

...

After the shadow clone transmitted the memories back, Kahn was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected the trade to encounter an accident. Jiraiya went to the Land of Waves—was it a coincidence or intentional? He recalled the events again and confirmed that Jiraiya shouldn't have found any evidence or anything else, so he slowly set his mind at ease.

"Boss, did something happen?"

Kushina asked with an unusual tone. Just now, Kahn had suddenly moved his head, and his face had rubbed against her lap a few times. This sensation of skin rubbing against skin, especially the hot breath coming from Kahn... made it almost impossible for her to focus on massaging.

After thinking for a moment, Kahn said, "Hmm... I feel like eating some grapes, Kushina."

Upon hearing this, Kushina puffed out her cheeks, and her massaging hands used a little force. So, the plate of grapes on the table next to the sofa wasn't for her, but for her to peel for the boss. She liked eating grapes too.

Today, Kushina wasn't kneeling on the floor for a lap pillow; she was sitting on the sofa, which meant she was closer to Kahn. Her thighs could clearly feel his hot breath, and every time the heat touched her, it made her heart flutter in an strange way.

"Peeling grapes is very inconvenient right now..."

Although that was what Kushina thought, her actions were completely at odds with her thoughts. One hand reached out unconsciously to take the grapes, and then she began to peel them.

The "Blood-Red Little Pepper" had come to Kahn's room and had turned into a "Blood-Red Little Tomato."

Kahn enjoyed the grapes peeled by Kushina in the room, while rumors were circulating in Konoha Village.

"The honorable White Fang has violated the ninja code due to personal feelings, leading to heavy losses for Konoha and the Land of Fire!"

No one knew when this rumor had started, but it had slowly become the main topic of street gossip. Some people didn't quite believe it. Besides, even if Konoha and the Land of Fire suffered heavy losses, it had nothing to do with them—would they be compensated for those losses if they hadn't occurred?

However, under the intentional guidance of certain people, they eventually linked Konoha's White Fang failing his mission to the possibility of the nation being destroyed. This slowly shifted many people's emotions and stances, and they began to complain about White Fang.

Even the students at the Ninja Academy knew about this. After all, Konoha's White Fang was Kakashi's father, and Kakashi was a genius who had graduated from the academy last year; he had even heard he recently became a Chunin.

When Rin Nohara heard about the matter regarding Konoha's White Fang, she keenly sensed that this atmosphere wasn't right, but she didn't know exactly what was going on. However, if it continued to spread like this, it would certainly have a bad impact on Kakashi.

"Obito, let's go visit Kakashi after school!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Obito immediately felt unhappy: "Why go see that guy? He became a Chunin and didn't even come to see us... Fine, I got it, Rin."

Just now, Rin hadn't used a tone of negotiation, and she had been staring at him while he expressed his dissatisfaction with Kakashi, so Obito hadn't persisted for long before agreeing.

Hearing Obito's agreement, Rin Nohara smiled and nodded.

After school, Rin Nohara and Uchiha Obito walked toward the Hatake residence. The Hatake house was quite remote. With the reputation of Konoha's White Fang, he could certainly have bought a house in the middle of the village, but Sakumo Hatake preferred quiet places, so he chose the very edge of the village.

When Rin Nohara and Uchiha Obito were almost there, they suddenly noticed two other people on the road, also heading in their direction.

Uchiha Obito waved and asked, "Mister, are you also looking for Kakashi... no, are you going to the Hatake house?"

"That's right, young students. We are the publisher and a reporter for the *Ninja World Weekly*. We hope you will support the *Ninja World Weekly*."

The publisher of the Konoha newspaper smiled at Rin Nohara and Uchiha Obito, then took out a business card and handed it to Uchiha Obito. He had noticed the fan crest on the boy's clothing, which was why he was greeting them so friendlily.

"Oh, I read every issue! It's really excellent, Mr. Publisher."

Uchiha Obito said excitedly. Afterward, he and Rin Nohara learned from the publisher that he was planning to interview Sakumo Hatake, hoping to get some useful information to publish in the newspaper. This made Rin and Obito curious.

Rin Nohara immediately asked, "So you're also going to interview Kakashi's father, Mr. Publisher? May I ask if you know what happened? We are Kakashi's classmates, and we are very worried about him..."

"We don't know much about this matter either, which is why we're going to interview him," the publisher of the Konoha newspaper said. "If you want to know, you can follow us and see. Though, I don't know if Mr. Hatake will let you in."