Chapter 616 Doubt

Konoha, Ushima family.

It is a two-story residential house with a slightly larger area, surrounded by a large courtyard wall, and a large number of flowerpots are placed in the courtyard. Since it is winter, the flowers planted in the flowerpots have basically withered and are covered with white snowflakes.

At this moment, this two-story residential house is being blocked by the security forces. In addition to Tianzang, his confidant Jonin, there are two groups of eight Anbu ninjas who came with Tsunade.

When I came to the living room of Yushima's house, all I could see were blood stains on the floor and walls.

On the sofa in the living room, there are a few kunai sticks, and on the blood-stained wall, there are also a few more shurikens fixed on the wall.

Not only that, the tea table that was originally used to put things was burned by the fire, and some places were burnt black.

The floor in the center of the living room also had a pothole, which was a trace of flames.

Tsunade just glanced at it, and with years of eyesight, he understood that this kind of trace was left by the fire escape technique.

"Something weird..."

Not paying attention to the security personnel who were surveying the traces of the scene here, Tsunade pinched the black ash on the floor. The burnt floor had already cooled down.

"It's a bit strange." Tianzang also nodded, his eyes glanced around casually, and he also found a lot of abnormalities: "From the battle scene, Ushima Shinobi should have encountered a strong opponent here, and many parts of the living room were damaged. However... the people around didn't notice it at all. It wasn't until Anbu patrolled that they discovered what happened here."

Generally speaking, this is simply impossible to happen.

In such a tragic battle, the movement must be huge, and it is impossible not to attract the attention of the people around.

The fact is that until the arrival of Anbu, the residents said that there were no abnormal sounds coming from here.

More importantly, Yushima is a jnin in Konoha Village. Although the level is still very high, it has also entered the threshold of jnin.

Ninjas who have reached this level should have enough time to ask for help from the outside even if they encounter a surprise attack from a Jonin.

Moreover, the battle time at the scene seemed a bit lengthy, proving that Ushima Shinobi was not controlled by the enemy immediately, but was subdued by the enemy after a fierce battle.

Therefore, Ushima Shinobi had enough time to ask for help from the patrolling Anbu, and together they subdued the attackers.

"Are you sure the people around you weren't alert when the battle took place here?"

Tsunade narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again.

"Sure."

Tianzang nodded.

He asked the responsible Anbu and garrison personnel about this question a dozen times, repeatedly confirming the testimony of the surrounding residents.

"If this is the case, then there is only one possibility. This place is sealed off with spells. It looks like a fierce battle, but from the outside, it looks very normal here."

Tsunade guessed like this.

This is the only guess that fits the current situation.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the traces of the battle here, and it would be so intense that outsiders would not notice it.

"Is it a compound illusion barrier that blocks vision and sound, and disturbs illusion?"

Tianzang was speechless.

In this way, the person who strikes is very strong. Among Jonin, the strength also belongs to the extremely strong category.

Moreover, he is proficient in enchantment and illusion, and can easily combine the two techniques perfectly to achieve the effect of blocking the vision and sound of outsiders.

In this way, in the eyes of outsiders, the place is naturally calm, and Ushima Shinobi can't ask for help from Anbu, who is patrolling, until he defeats the enemy.

"Master Naruto, what should we do next?"

Tianzang asked.

Tsunade frowned and thought about it. In a few days, so many people disappeared, including Chunin and a Jnin... To be honest, the severity of the incident is escalating.

It must be resolved quickly, before panic is created.

However, no matter how you think about it, there seems to be no connection between these consecutive disappearances.

And the attacker, why did these people disappear.

Judging from the report, the property here has not been lost, and all kinds of valuables have been well preserved. It can be seen that it is not a money crime. What's more, it's not worthwhile to make such a big battle for crimes for money, and it's a bit overkill.

"Follow up."

After thinking for a while, Tsunade couldn't understand the connection, and the disappearance of all the personnel was extremely strange.

Vendetta? Or do you simply want to cause panic in Konoha Village in order to take revenge on Konoha?

"Then, Vice President Asami..."

Tianzang hesitated for a moment.

This serial disappearance case really needs to be followed up, but in this way, he can't be distracted when investigating the medical department.

"I will deal with it personally over there, and I will transfer it to you for follow-up investigation. Find the whereabouts of those missing persons as soon as possible. If you are alive, you must see the person, and if you die, you must see the corpse."

Tsunade said.

"I see."

Tianzang straightened his expression and nodded.

Sitting on his own desk, Asami Masumi scanned the documents in front of him, while tapping on the table with his fingers, pretending to be thinking.

Her attention was not on the report on the medical condition of the wounded in front of her, but on the safety of the main members of her team.

Although the 'disappearance' case successfully misled the Anbu's investigation direction, turning the members' initiative to disappear into disappearance after being attacked. In this way, the source of the problem is not the missing person, but the mysterious assailant who caused the disappearance.

And this mysterious attacker, in fact, does not exist at all.

Investigating a non-existent person, no matter how experienced Konoha Anbe is, he would never have imagined that this is an evacuation operation. It's just that in order to avoid suspicion, they pretended to be a serial disappearance.

Most of the people have been safely evacuated... There are still a small half of the people left. As time goes by, the dark patrol will increase. Whether it is communication or evacuation, the next steps will become more and more cumbersome.

The more cumbersome steps, the slightest carelessness may arouse Anbu's suspicion.

Unfortunately, she no longer has any cards in her hand to attract the attention of Anbu and Hokage.

Being stared at by Anbu all day long, even when she is convenient or sleeping, she can feel the ninjas of Anbe hovering nearby... With Hokage, her suspicion has already risen, and how long she can last is unknown.

It could be tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the next second when he will be suddenly surrounded by Anbu, arrested and imprisoned... But what is certain is that this month will not be over at the latest.

The operable space is getting smaller and smaller.

If you continue to sit still, will you fall into a passive position? Asami Masumi is not thinking about this possibility, but thinking about the solution to this possible event.

That **** superior, at this time, shouldn't General Tu be left behind? Thinking of this, Asami Masumi couldn't help complaining.

If General Tu was still in Konoha, things would be much more convenient.

What did you say to upgrade the 'system' of the avatars regularly, and let her wait for a few more days... If there is enough time, it's nothing, the key is to race against time.

The letter also said that if he was unfortunately caught, he would take rescue measures, saying that there is no need to worry...is it already assumed that she will be caught?

This kind of feeling made Asami Masumi feel as uncomfortable as having a relative.

"Ah Choo!"

Shiraishi sneezed without warning in the laboratory, picked up a tissue from the side and wiped his mouth and nose.

"What's the matter, Teacher Shiraishi? Could it be a cold?"

Lin, who was adjusting the machine, heard a sneeze from behind, turned her head and asked.

Shiraishi threw the paper towel into the trash can and piled it up with the discarded experimental materials.

"No, maybe someone is cursing me behind my back."

Shiraishi said so.

His eyes fell on the machine that Lin was adjusting.

The floor-standing transparent cylindrical building is about the size of a standard single room in a house. There is a control machine at the bottom, a display screen and buttons on it, and it is as tall as an adult.

In the transparent cylinder above, a khaki-colored creature resembling a humanoid curled up quietly, soaking in the green solution full of vitality, quietly absorbing these energies to moisten its body.

It is his clone, General Tu.

"It's true. Teacher Baishi is outside now, but people and ghosts hate existence. Moreover, the more famous a person is, the more valuable his head is. When going out in the future, Teacher Baishi should be more careful. It's not just the rest of the big powers who are eyeing your head, some desperadoes want to get your precious head."

Man dies for wealth, bird dies for food, this is a famous aphorism that has never changed through the ages.

In this world, not only big countries have ninja arms. In the invisible shadows, there are countless ninjas who want to take away Shiraishi's "golden head".

After all, it was a reward of two billion taels, which was a bit more than the sum of the five shadows' head bounties.

As long as you take this head, you can eat and drink for the rest of your life.

It can also be seen from this, how many people in this ninja world want Shiraishi to die quickly.

The release of so many bounties is definitely not one faction, but the accumulation of bounties after the alliance of many forces, reaching two billion taels.

The amount of reward offered in the underground black market remains high, firmly occupying the top position.

"Is this a new bad joke?"

Baishi raised his eyebrows.

I don't care much about the bounties offered in the underground black market.

Although the power of the underground black market is huge and is connected to many countries, there are only a handful of bounty hunters who can attract his attention.

Not to mention, there are a considerable proportion of Xuanyuanzhong and Leiguang group, which are private bounty armed forces belonging to the kingdom of ghosts.

"Just telling the truth, Mr. Baishi, you don't need to care."

Lin smiled lightly. After all, the reward amount of two billion taels can indeed attract countless troubles.

Immediately afterwards, she put her attention back in front of her eyes, skillfully adjusted the handles and buttons on the machine, and then poured the ground powder into the transmission port, and then mixed it into the solution in the cylinder for the earth general inside to absorb.

"Speaking of which, the maintenance time this time is tighter than last time. Did General Tu encounter any trouble outside?"

Lin asked casually.

While Shiraishi's avatar is convenient to use in many cases, it needs regular maintenance.

At the earliest time, it needs to be maintained once a year to check the physical condition.

Afterwards, as the technology is upgraded, regular maintenance is required every two to three years.

She remembered that it was a year and a half ago since the last maintenance of General Tu. Logically speaking, it would take half a year at the earliest before maintenance was needed.

"Probably because I ate too much food recently, which ruined my stomach. Since I came back from Konoha, I have been having stomach troubles, lack of energy, and the barrier space in my body has also been damaged."

Shiraishi put his hands into the pockets of his coat, looked up at the sleeping general in the container, and explained.

"Is that so?" Lin nodded: "It's not that I said, Mr. Baishi, you really don't love your clone too much. No matter how you say it is also the flesh that fell from your body."

"Don't worry about this. Next, I will use the enchanted space technique I got from Mount Miaomu to further expand the storage capacity in its body and increase its upper limit... In this case, there should be no problem."

Shiraishi thought for a moment and answered.

"No, the problem is even bigger now."

Lin clutched her head, feeling a little headache.

"I'm asking you to take care of this side, I'm going out to deal with some things."

"The matter of negotiating a truce with the big powers, isn't someone else already handling it?"

Lin asked puzzledly.

"It's Masumi's side. Her intelligence team needs to be transferred from Konoha. I have to be ready to meet them."

Although some personnel have already left Konoha, the entire Fire Nation is now under martial law, so the personnel who left Konoha are still temporarily staying in the stronghold in the Fire Nation.

And as time goes by, Asami Masumi's actions will become more difficult.

Here also needs to act as soon as possible to assist these people to smuggle out of the Fire Nation.

"Actually, I don't think it is necessary to evacuate the entire intelligence team."

Lin said so.

"No need, the next work center is not Konoha. Mt. Myogi no longer exists. Masumi's intelligence team has little meaning in staying in Konoha. They have already got everything they deserve, and there are more than expected. If they continue to stay in Konoha, problems may arise."

Leaving this sentence behind, Shiraishi left the laboratory.

In an apartment that can be seen everywhere, three figures gathered in a residential room, playing poker with extremely leisurely expressions.

But the content of the speech has nothing to do with playing cards.

"Are the three of us the only ones left with Konoha?"

One person played a card and spoke in a very low voice.

"No, there is also a family of three from Haruno Zhao's side. According to the order, he, like us, is the last batch of leavers."

Another person followed up to answer.

"The team leader Asami can't be contacted now, and the worst has happened. She has been completely targeted, and it may only be a matter of time before she is exposed."

The third person sighed.

Obviously worried about the situation today.

After all, spying is not an easy job, and the end of being discovered is basically a dead end, and it will also affect your family.

What's even more frightening is that during the years of espionage, as executors, they also have to bear enormous mental pressure and cannot relax at all times.

On the enemy's territory, this is a profession of 'dead by light'.

Even if they were mentally prepared at the beginning before embarking on this path and learned the mental anti-stress method, at this time, this situation still inevitably made them feel uneasy.

The bait released, I don't know when it can disturb the Anbu's sight.

If any loopholes are caught by Anbu, they are likely to stay here forever.

To them, the current Konoha is like a terrifying magic cave.

The more you stay here, the more danger you will have.

If it weren't for the situation, they would like to fly away immediately to get out of this dangerous situation.

Once they are targeted, they are powerless to resist Anbu's capture.

"Just act according to the original plan. The more we are at this time, the less we can be irritable and we need to stay calm."

The person who spoke also sighed, took out a medicine bottle from his pocket, poured out a pill, and chewed it in his mouth.

The originally uneasy state of mind regained its composure in an instant.

This is a new drug produced by the ghost country, which can forcibly calm one's mood, so as not to lose one's composure at such a time.

At this time, the dark tide was already raging inside Muye Village, and they also risked their lives to gather together again.

Even if you know that Anbu hasn't targeted them yet, you still have to look calm and don't act differently from usual.

"Since that's the case, act on time at five o'clock in the afternoon in three days' time."

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the sky has darkened, and there is light snow on the street.

A special guest came to Chunye Barbecue Restaurant.

"It's Yamato-san. It's been a long time. Why are you here at this time? Is Sakura causing you trouble?"

Haruno Zhao saw that the guest who entered the door was none other than Kaminin Tenzo, the leader of his daughter Sakura's seventh class, whose external name is Yamato.

In the eyes of outsiders, he is an extremely mysterious Konoha Jami.

He didn't wear Anbu's costume, and he didn't look any different from Konoha's other Junin.

But Haruno Ouga knew that the other party was a trusted confidant of the Third Hokage when the Third Hokage was in power, and now that the Fifth Hokage is in power, he is naturally a trusted confidant of the Fifth Hokage. And the other party holds an important position in the Anbu. If the Anbu Minister is vacant, the other party is likely to be the next Anbu Minister.

Facing a Jonin of this level, Haruno Zhao did not dare to be careless at all, and was extremely vigilant.

My heart was pounding, did the other party notice something?

"No, Class 7 doesn't have any missions recently. As for Sakura, she is currently receiving training from Hokage-sama."

Tianzang replied with a smile.

Knowing Haruno Zhao is also because of Sakura.

When the seventh class has occasional dinners, they will celebrate here.

Of course, he used the money of his ninja.

"So, this time you come to..."

"Well... how should I put it, I want to trouble Manager Haruno with something. I am entrusted by Master Hokage, and I want to ask about something."

Currently, his work center has changed from monitoring Asami Masumi to investigating the truth behind the disappearance of people.

During the investigation, he found that the working ninjas among the missing persons did not usually have deep connections, but just ordinary friendships. On the surface, there was no difference.

But the form of their disappearance is very strange.

Does not meet the general kidnapping incident.

Even after they disappeared, Tianzang also didn't know whether they were alive or dead.

Especially when a Jonin is involved, Tianzang may be very surprised if he knows the truth behind this scene.

After reading the materials collected by Anbu continuously for a day and a night, and spent a lot of time to eliminate all kinds of unnecessary messy information, finally came to a conclusion that surprised Tianzang.

Although these missing ninjas seem to be unrelated, they all have one thing in commonthat is, they like the barbecue at Haruno BBQ very much.

Tianzang also thinks that the barbecue in Chunye Barbecue Restaurant tastes very good. The meat and vegetables are very delicious, and there are all kinds of condiments.

In the entire Muye Village, word of mouth is very good.

Except for those who don't like barbecue, for those who like this kind of food, Chunye BBQ will be their first choice.

Therefore, even if they all have an interest in coming to Chunye BBQ, it seems nothing unusual.

However, there are a few weird things in it, and Tianzang feels that it is necessary to have a deeper understanding.

"Is it entrusted by Master Hokage? In that case, let Mr. Yamato come here to talk."

Haruno Zhao thought for a while, and took Tianzang to a secluded corner and sat down.

"Well, Mr. Yamato, I don't know what you want to know."

Haruno Zhao sat down and asked.

Tianzang didn't hesitate, took out a stack of photos directly from his arms, and picked out a few from it. They were all working ninjas among the missing persons, and put them in front of Haruno Zhao.

"I think Manager Haruno has also heard about a very nasty disappearance happening in the village. Not only civilians, but also working ninjas have been implicated. Leaving aside these civilians, when I was investigating this incident, I found that the missing working ninjas all liked to celebrate at Manager Haruno's barbecue restaurant, so I came here to ask some questions."

"Excuse me."

Haruno Zhao calmly said.

Tianzang took out a photo, which showed a slightly obese man.

"Manager Haruno, do you have any impression of this person?"

"Well...Of course I know, this is Don Tanaka Shinobi."

"Really? Manager Haruno has a really good memory. An ordinary ninja like Dotanaka Shinobu can remember it."

Tianzang praised intentionally or unintentionally.

Haruno Zhao laughed and said: "Where, my memory is actually mediocre, but this Don Tanaka Shinobi left a deep impression on me, so I remember it more clearly. I get familiar with it after going back and forth."

"oh?"

"It's like this, this Don Tanaka Shinobi is actually a vegetarian, and every time he comes to the barbecue restaurant alone... At that time, I paid attention to this person."

"Is he doing anything else weird at the kebab shop?"

Tianzang thought about it.

"The rest of the strange behavior? Hmm... how should I put it, I feel that when he came to the barbecue restaurant, he was waiting for someone. After all, as a vegetarian, it is a bit strange to come to the barbecue restaurant to eat, and he came alone."

"Waiting for someone?"

"Yes. That's how it feels to me."

Haruno Zhao replied like this.

"So, do you know who he's waiting for?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen anyone sitting opposite him. I also asked him if he was waiting for someone, but every time he shook his head and didn't speak. Then he finished the roasted vegetarian food and left."

Haruno Zhao gave a wry smile, obviously feeling very depressed about the strange behavior of that Dotanaka Shinobi.

"Is that so?"

Tianzang frowned in thought.

"How is it, Mr. Yamato, do you have any clues?"

"This information is very valuable."

After only saying this sentence, Tianzang started to ask the next question.

Haruno Zhao's face was either frowning, or began to recall in distress, as if racking his brains, stumbled to recall some things, and told Tianzang, but some information was missing, resulting in the information Tianzang got was very scattered, and many of them were useless.

At the end of the question, Tianzang found that it was Dotanaka Shinobi's behavior of "waiting for others" at the beginning, which was the most valuable information.

Before he left, Tenzo also quietly asked a few regular customers of the barbecue restaurant about Dotanaka Shinobu, and the answer was basically the same as that of Haruno Zhao.

Is it because I think too much? Walking outside the rotisserie, Tianzang shook his head as he looked at the booming Haruno rotisserie.

The information provided by Haruno Zhao is valuable and valuable, and it is worthless if it is not valuable. The breakthrough point of this piece of information is the missing Don Tanaka Shinobi.

And if you can't find Dota Chunin, this piece of information will be extremely tasteless.

While thinking hard, Tianzang put his hands into the pockets of his trousers, and stepped forward, preparing to meet with the rest of the Anbu before discussing and rearranging the next action.

At the door of the barbecue shop, Haruno Zhao kept his usual smile on his face and watched Tenzo leave.

Everything is normal.

(end of this chapter)