“But if you ask me, none of this is useful. Most of the bandits have fled the Land of Fire, and very few have truly been eliminated. In a couple of days, they’ll all be back.”
Hearing Kimura Kazuki talk about the current situation in the Ninja World, Jiraiya stroked his chin, feeling a surge of emotion.
“It seems the war is truly about to end.”
This war had already taken too many lives; the peace that was about to arrive felt too heavy.
“Speaking of Sunagakure, there’s something I don’t know if you all are aware of.”
“Because Konoha is redeploying troops towards Sunagakure, the Third Kazekage, in a desperate move, launched a surprise attack on Konoha’s front-line base.”
“He intended to make himself look less like meat on a chopping block at the negotiating table before Konoha’s reinforcements arrived.”
“However, all the attackers were stopped at Konoha’s front-line base by Konoha’s White Fang.”
“The Daimyo thinks highly of this Konoha’s White Fang and is reportedly planning to bestow many rewards upon him.”
Kimura Kazuki’s family served in the Daimyo’s court, so he knew many insider details.
Hearing Kimura Kazuki’s words, Uchiha Yakoto’s expression was slightly peculiar.
Konoha’s White Fang? Sakumo Hatake?
According to the timeline, Kakashi Hatake should not have been born yet, so Sakumo’s wife should still be alive.
It seems there’s a chance to meet this person who was never mentioned in the original story.
“If nothing unexpected happens, the war should end within a month.”
Although the war was ending soon, a large amount of supplies would be needed for post-disaster reconstruction and other matters.
For merchant caravans like Kimura Kazuki’s, there was still profit to be made.
Just then, Hyuga Kana suddenly entered.
“Lord Jiraiya, a group of people has been secretly following us for a while.”
Hearing Hyuga Kana’s words, Shizune instantly became excited.
“Let’s go, we’ll take them out.”
At her words, everyone looked at Shizune with strange eyes, and Kimura Kazuki’s gaze was filled with vigilance.
This woman doesn’t seem like a good person.
“Ahem, the time has come to test you all. I won’t participate much in your decisions for now. I’ll only step in when you can’t handle it anymore,” Jiraiya lightly coughed, speaking righteously.
“Only the Party and the people can test me,” Uchiha Yakoto muttered.
“What?” Minato Namikaze looked confused.
“Nothing.”
Kimura Kazuki looked at Jiraiya with some worry.
You can test them, but please don’t joke about the safety of the caravan.
Sensing Kimura Kazuki’s gaze, Jiraiya patted his shoulder.
“It’s fine. With me, the Great Toad Immortal Jiraiya, backing you up, nothing will happen.”
“So, what are your thoughts, everyone?” Minato Namikaze was the first to ask.
“I still say, strike first or suffer later. If we take them all down first, there won’t be any problems,” Shizune quickly interjected.
Uchiha Yakoto now seriously suspected that Shizune had been corrupted by Tsunade, completely losing her mind.
“Yakoto, what do you think?” Minato Namikaze still relied heavily on his second brother’s advice.
Hearing Minato’s question, Uchiha Yakoto looked at Hyuga Kana.
“Do you have any other information?”
“There are about twenty of them, but they are all ordinary people. I didn’t detect any Chakra fluctuations from them, but they all have weapons on them.”
“And they haven’t made any moves, just kept following us,” Hyuga Kana replied weakly.
Hearing Hyuga Kana’s answer, Uchiha Yakoto’s first reaction was that they might just be a small group of bandits.
They had discovered this rich target, but because they were only a small group and weren't confident in taking them on, they were waiting for support from other bandits.
But it was also possible that they were just ordinary people, though Uchiha Yakoto thought this was unlikely.
After careful consideration, Uchiha Yakoto still decided to solicit everyone’s opinions.
“I have two conjectures: first, they are just an ordinary group of people, but I think this possibility is small.”
“Second, they are just a small group of bandits who accidentally discovered us and are guiding other bandits here, possibly with rogue Ninja present.”
“If it’s the second situation, it would be more dangerous.”
Hearing Uchiha Yakoto’s judgment, a hint of admiration flashed in Jiraiya’s eyes.
This young man is good. If he remembered correctly, this was Yakoto’s first mission outside the village, and his sensitivity to situations was indeed impressive.
“Hyuga Kana, can you confirm whether those people have been following us all along?” Minato Namikaze asked.
After being questioned by Minato Namikaze, Hyuga Kana became a little uncertain, her voice growing softer and softer.
“I-I think so.”
Hearing the others’ words, Shizune also lowered her head and began to think.
Uchiha Yakoto also remained silent, just thinking quietly.
“How about Yakoto and I go directly, just the two of us, to test whether they are bandits?” Minato Namikaze broke the silence.
“They’re all just ordinary people anyway; they probably can’t do anything to us.”
Reason told Uchiha Yakoto that he should rather wrong the world than let the world wrong him, and strike first to solve the problem once and for all.
However, the values formed in his previous life still made Uchiha Yakoto unwilling to directly deal with those ordinary people.
“How about we observe a bit longer?” Hyuga Kana said weakly, even though she had noticed these people for quite some time.
“But if we delay any longer, if bandits or rogue Ninja truly arrive, we could be put in a passive position,” Minato Namikaze analyzed calmly.
“How about this: Hyuga Kana and I go ahead to scout the situation. If they really are bandits, we can respond in time,” Uchiha Yakoto suggested.
After a moment of thought, Minato Namikaze slowly said,
“At present, there’s probably no better solution.”
After everyone reached an agreement, Uchiha Yakoto and Hyuga Kana stealthily approached the group of people.
To say “approached” actually meant they didn’t go far; the group was quite close to them.
Uchiha Yakoto and Hyuga Kana used the Transformation Jutsu, hiding behind trees, observing the group from a short distance.
“How is it? Have you found anything?”
Hyuga Kana nodded. Getting a little closer, her Byakugan could see even more clearly.
“It’s similar to what I found before. This group consists of ordinary people, with no Chakra fluctuations. There are weapons in their wagon.”
“Also, apart from the weapons, the wagon is basically empty.”
“It can probably be concluded that they are bandits.”
Just as Hyuga Kana was speaking, one of the bandits used a sharp knife to carve a mark on a nearby tree.
“Alright, now we can confirm they are bandits.”
“They’re all ordinary people. Should we make a move?” Hyuga Kana asked.
“Let’s go back and discuss it with everyone first.”