Chapter 94: Konoha's Targeted Squad (Extra Chapter 4/5, sponsored by From Heaven to Hell, I Pass Through the Human World)

Karn-san, the suggestion you made last time—I've already hinted at it to a few close friends, but most think it's not very realistic. The Third Mizukage would be hard-pressed to proactively start a war against another ninja village..."

Terumi Shin had once again secretly slipped into the Land of Waves to meet Karn. He'd felt Karn's suggestion was excellent last time, but considering the Third Mizukage, it would be very difficult to put into action.

When the man was implementing the Blood Mist Policy, targeting bloodline clans, and consolidating his own power, how could he possibly abandon that position and choose to ignite a war against another ninja village?

Karn smiled and pulled out a map he'd prepared in advance, saying to Terumi Shin, "That's easy. If someone were to commission you with a highly lucrative mission, would you still accept it now?"

Terumi Shin answered without hesitation, "Of course we'd accept. Mission commissions are the very foundation of a ninja village's survival. Even the Mizukage wouldn't dare refuse a mission posted by someone else—unless the client concealed information..."

Karn continued, "I'll have someone go to Kirigakure and commission a mission. The objective will be to destroy a fleet and a dock in the Land of Lightning. Given the strength of Kirigakure's ninja, it should be easily accomplished."

Terumi Shin nodded in agreement. No ninja village would dare engage Kirigakure in naval combat. If any did, their leader would have to be an idiot.

Once Kirigakure's ninja were out at sea, they could combine their Water Release techniques to raise tsunamis over a dozen meters tall. Destroying a fleet and a dock would be trivially easy.

But why choose this particular fleet? Was there something special about it...

"Karn-san, this fleet and dock..."

"They're the private property of the Land of Lightning's Finance Minister clan. That family is just as domineering as Kumogakure itself. Not long ago, they tried to seize a shipping route near the Land of Hot Water and sank one of my ships. Having Kirigakure destroy something of theirs will absolutely make that bastard in the Land of Lightning ache with grief. At that point, he'll definitely egg Kumogakure on to retaliate... No, even if the Finance Minister doesn't stir things up, the Raikage's arrogance will demand that Kirigakure apologize to them."

Terumi Shin grew angry as he listened. "Those bastards are truly shameless..."

Thinking about Kumogakure's consistent behavior, Terumi Shin found it entirely plausible. Kumogakure's bullying was notorious throughout the ninja world—if they coveted a secret technique, they'd steal it; if they lacked resources, they'd seize them. Sometimes the Raikage himself even led the raids. They'd truly elevated the bandit style to its absolute extreme.

Perhaps it was because the local culture was uniformly inclined toward the militant faction. It was said the Second Raikage leaned somewhat toward the dovish side, and in the end, he was killed by Gold and Silver Brothers, who came from the militant faction.

The only ninja village in the entire world that dared openly bleed smaller countries dry was Kumogakure. Other villages at least used alliances to cover their tracks, but Kumogakure simply took by force.

"If there's no problem, then in a while, someone will go to your village to post the mission. After that... Shin-kun, you should know what to do."

Terumi Shin immediately gave his assurance. "Of course I understand. This is one of the rare opportunities for our bloodline clan. I must thank Karn-san for his help."

"It's nothing. This benefits me as well—at the very least, I'll have one fewer rival on the shipping lanes."

Then Karn shook his head and said to Terumi Shin, "But your bloodline clan's chances of seizing power are still very slim, unless the Third Mizukage makes a mistake and a new Mizukage is elected... If the struggle turns fierce and you ultimately fail, Shin-kun, my door will always be open to you here."

This was a hint. Karn felt the bloodline clans' odds of victory weren't high—unless they had the Kaguya clan take the lead right now, while the Third Mizukage hadn't yet fully consolidated control over all the village's forces, and launched a direct armed coup. That way, they'd still have a chance.

It was almost the 42nd year of Konoha. Localized skirmishes were already breaking out across the ninja world. This move by Kirigakure against the Land of Lightning's Finance Minister's assets would directly accelerate the outbreak of war.

After seeing Terumi Shin off, Karn pondered and planned for a moment. Once war broke out, he would accumulate resources step by step.

Selling medicine and medical supplies, absorbing refugees to expand his guard forces, developing the Land of Tea and the southern peninsula of the Land of Fire, establishing industrial and military factories—until he turned the entire ninja world into his own backyard.

...

There were many obstacles. The daimyō of the Five Great Nations, the ninja villages, Madara Uchiha, Black Zetsu, and the future Ōtsutsuki—counting them all, nearly everyone could end up standing against him.

But there were also some allies he could win over—for example, the Fourth Hokage Orochimaru's Konoha. As long as Karn didn't harm the village and provided Orochimaru with knowledge from another world, there was no reason the two couldn't cooperate.

The bloodline clans who'd fled Kirigakure, the impoverished Sand ninja, and others all had strong potential to be recruited.

Thinking it over, the backyard plan wasn't impossible—but it would take at least twenty years at the fastest.

Becoming the master of a planet in just twenty years, and a feudal planet with supernatural powers at that—if he could gain complete control, it would be a considerable boon to Karn. It was just a rather large challenge.

With this thought, the ambition in Karn's heart swelled without bound.

He was a colonialist merchant crossing time and space, only his methods were relatively gentle. In the ninja world, he had no choice but to be gentle, because a deus ex machina could appear at any moment.

Compared to the Harry Potter world, the ninja world was still in an unenlightened era. Eliminate Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu, and there was a real chance of ruling the entire planet.

...

Konoha, Hokage's Office

Today, aside from Hiruzen Sarutobi, only three others were in the room. To discuss this matter, Hiruzen had the Anbu stationed guard outside the door to prevent anyone else from barging in—someone like Tsunade, who never knocked.

"I called you here today to tell you something confidential."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Minato Namikaze and Dan Katō. If even a space-sealing barrier was useless, then Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique and Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique were probably Konoha's last remaining countermeasures.

"Last time's explosion wasn't the work of a Land of Lightning spy. It was done by someone you all know..."

"Third Hokage-sama... are you talking about that merchant, Karn?"

Dan Katō frowned slightly as he guessed. Earlier, the Hokage's advisor Danzō had hinted to him about related matters, and now with confirmation from the Third himself, he immediately thought of another person.

"Him?!"

Jiraiya's face showed surprise, and he quickly asked, "Old man, how could it be that guy? Wasn't he just an ordinary person? He's sold Konoha so much medicine."

"Jiraiya, the reason I didn't want you involved is because you're too impulsive. This matter concerns Konoha's secrets. Moreover, no matter what you hear in this room today, you must not breathe a single word of it to anyone—anyone at all!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe in mild irritation, then glanced at Minato Namikaze, implying that Jiraiya wasn't even as level-headed as his own student.

"He was originally an ordinary person, but after Nawaki was injured, Karn brought out an unfinished drug capable of healing any wound. He approached Tsunade and asked her to perfect it. Tsunade, hoping the drug could cure Nawaki, agreed..."

After that, First Hokage's cells were added to the Extremis virus serum, which allowed Nawaki to gain the Wood Release bloodline. Karn also injected himself with the Extremis serum, and now possessed abilities identical to Nawaki's. Hiruzen knew all of this in complete detail.

At the time, Tsunade had even wanted to recruit Karn into Konoha—never imagining that relations between Konoha's higher-ups and Karn would deteriorate so badly.

"Not long ago, Danzō discovered that the medicine Karn sells has appeared inside Kirigakure. That violated our original agreement. Combined with the Wood Release bloodline leaking out, Danzō decided to move against Karn.

Karn had previously displayed a space-time technique, so Danzō, using the notes left by the Second Hokage, prepared a barrier that isolated space and time. Inside it, even the Summoning Technique was unusable... but unexpectedly, it failed. In total, we lost five squads from the Anbu and Root combined."

Five squads?!

Hearing Hiruzen's words, both Dan Katō and Jiraiya grimaced with anger. Those were twenty of their comrades from the village. Dead, just like that. They'd thought it was Kumogakure's spies—never imagined it was Karn, that merchant.

Jiraiya then asked, "Old man, so that's why you had Minato learn the Flying Thunder God..."

"Perhaps only the Flying Thunder God Technique, being a space-time technique, can counter his spatial jutsu. Otherwise, Konoha would have virtually no way to deal with him."

Hiruzen shook his head. He then relayed to Minato Namikaze and Dan Katō the intelligence he'd gathered from Nawaki regarding the new Extremis.

Its recovery power was astonishing—even if a limb were severed or blown off, it would regenerate within seconds. It was also almost impervious to poison. Orochimaru had tried four kinds of snake venom on Nawaki, and none had any effect.

There was also extremely high resistance to genjutsu. Nawaki's genjutsu aptitude had been unremarkable before, but now even Orochimaru's genjutsu had no effect on him.

When these abilities were combined with an unblockable space-time technique, even Jiraiya fell silent. No wonder the old man was troubled. Karn's strength wasn't particularly high, but he was truly difficult to deal with.

Add in the explosion that day—if they provoked him too far, Konoha simply couldn't defend against someone like him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said gravely, "I'm telling you this today because the two of you, working together, have a chance to deal with Karn. But you'll only have one opportunity, so you must not act rashly."

Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique was vastly different from ordinary genjutsu—it directly controlled the target's spirit. It might buy a few seconds. Then Minato could teleport in with the Flying Thunder God and either kill Karn or seal him.

"Minato hasn't fully mastered the Flying Thunder God yet. You must wait until you're completely proficient—at least reaching the level of the Second Hokage-sama... Today is merely to inform you in advance. This matter is classified as an S-rank mission. Only the three of you and the advisors will know. You must not reveal it to anyone else!

And you must act as if nothing has happened, continuing to perfect the Flying Thunder God and the Spirit Transformation Technique. If you need anything, Konoha will support you fully."

Hiruzen Sarutobi admonished them with a very solemn expression. His gaze swept over each of the three, lingering especially on Jiraiya.

Jiraiya said with a sour expression, "Stop staring at me, old man. I guarantee that not even Tsunade or Orochimaru will get a scrap of intelligence from me. That good enough?"

"Fine. Dismissed."