Caught in the Crossfire

As a major clan within Kirigakure, with the public reputation of being a battle-hardened people, wasn’t it only natural that Xu Yue would ultimately choose to cooperate with the Taketori Clan?

Because Xu Yue had expressed his desire for a long-term partnership, even the Taketori Clan’s patriarch personally came to speak with him.

"Haha, choosing us was undoubtedly a wise decision, sir. Our clan’s reputation alone is enough to deter petty troublemakers."

The Taketori patriarch spoke to Xu Yue with a broad, hearty smile.

However, Xu Yue was not particularly impressed by this so-called major clan. Judging solely from the man’s aura, this patriarch should be at the level of an elite jonin.

While aura did not fully equate to strength, the discrepancy was generally not that great.

That would naturally be more than sufficient in other ninja clans, but it was rather ordinary for a so-called "major clan." What a waste of such a fine Kekkei Genkai.

As he perfunctorily dealt with the man, other thoughts continued turning in Xu Yue’s mind.

"I wonder if there’s any way to obtain the Taketori Clan’s Kekkei Genkai."

If things like Boil Release and Lava Release could possibly be learned through scrolls, then this kind of purely bloodline-based power definitely could not.

He also wondered whether the Reincarnation Space had any special mission rewards. If he triggered some mission and took out the patriarch, would there be a chance…

Still, having already reached his current level of strength, Xu Yue did not feel that he absolutely had to obtain this Kekkei Genkai.

After turning the thought over in his mind, Xu Yue looked back at the other man with an expression of pained hesitation.

"Overall, I’m fairly satisfied with your clan. Your clan should also be the strongest in Kirigakure. Um, if I may ask something presumptuous, how large is the gap between you and your village’s Fourth Mizukage? I heard he has some kind of power that can subdue Tailed Beasts."

Xu Yue had chosen the Taketori Clan for other reasons as well. It was not simply because they were powerful and possessed plenty of information; another reason was that they were exceptionally stubborn.

They were foolish enough to rebel despite lacking sufficient strength. The Uchiha Clan, at least, had the confidence that came from possessing powerful individuals.

Since he was generally not planning to drastically alter the plot’s course here, his choice of approach naturally became very important.

Ordinary people had no real concept of how powerful ninja were, but everyone agreed that Tailed Beasts were immensely powerful.

Otherwise, why were stories of the Kazekage and Raikage taking on Tailed Beasts alone so widely spread? It was simply to enhance their reputations.

Using Tailed Beasts as a benchmark against ninja was itself a form of recognition.

Xu Yue’s question did not arouse the patriarch’s suspicion.

"Of course we can do that as well."

Naturally, the Taketori patriarch could not say that his side was incapable of it, so he began boasting decisively.

Xu Yue naturally played along with his boasting, putting on an expression of admiration and astonishment that greatly pleased the other man.

And from this fellow, he completely obtained the information he wanted.

The other Jinchuriki, Utakata, had not yet defected, but he had a huge argument with the Fourth Mizukage. He seemed deeply dissatisfied with the Fourth’s policies and had accepted a mission to leave the village. He had not yet returned.

The reason they even revealed that he had left on a mission was because Xu Yue had casually asked about the price of hiring him.

In truth, aside from Konoha, the other villages made fairly frequent normal use of their Jinchuriki.

Gaara, Killer B, Yugito Nii, and the others often went out to complete ordinary missions as well.

Based on Xu Yue’s current senses, he did not feel that the other man was lying.

If so, then it would naturally be best to wait until Utakata returned.

Delaying for time would be easy enough. Spending a little money and saying that he first needed to gather together the goods he had ordered from various places would be sufficient to stall.

Was there anything wrong with such a stingy merchant personally inspecting every shipment for fear of being cheated with inferior goods?

Nothing wrong with that…

Still, this incident made Xu Yue feel the limitations of intelligence gathering. He might know each person’s abilities well, giving him a tremendous information advantage in battle.

But when it came to locating people or objects, once he was away from Konoha’s support, even with general intelligence, it became far too troublesome.

Yet while Xu Yue waited as he collected goods, Utakata did not arrive. Instead, something strange came to him…

Escorted by two elite Chunin from the Taketori Clan, Xu Yue had just finished purchasing the scattered high-quality goods from a small town and was transporting them to Kirigakure for consolidation. When he saw several people suddenly appear on the road and block the convoy, he could only feel speechless.

Whether it was the strange aura that did not fit with its surroundings in his Force Sense, or the knightly attire resembling full medieval plate armor worn by those people, both pointed to them being Reincarnators.

It was understandable that there were Reincarnators in the Land of Water, but why had they suddenly come after him, a "merchant"?

Did Reincarnators really have that much free time?

"The intelligence is correct. There are two members of the Taketori Clan. Move quickly. Once we deal with them, silence everyone else."

After confirming the identities of the two elite Chunin from the Taketori Clan, the leader waved his hand and gave the signal to attack.

Xu Yue suddenly felt as though he had been caught in the crossfire for no reason.

Why did it feel like he would have had much less trouble if he had not brought these two along to collect goods?

What the hell.

Capturing elite Chunin from the Taketori Clan who held a certain position… Were they trying to farm a massacre mission for intelligence, or for some other purpose?

Although the Reincarnation Space advanced the main plot very slowly, its brute-force, scattershot approach still allowed it to progress fairly quickly along side plots. It had been the same with Boil Release before.

"My lord, be careful. We’ll deal with them."

One elite Chunin from the Taketori Clan stepped in front of Xu Yue. Two bone blades slid out from his palm, while the other fired a distress signal into the sky.

However, the signal had only just risen into the air when an invisible owl seized it and swallowed it whole, rendering it completely useless!

"Naive. How could we possibly let you successfully call for help?"

The leading Reincarnator was also an outstanding Veteran Reincarnator at the elite Chunin level.

And compared to someone following the pure ninja system, he had far more cards in hand!

The other six or seven people had all reached the Chunin level as well.

They held an absolute advantage in localized combat strength.

This time, they would eliminate every uncertain factor!

The two elite Chunin might be difficult to handle, but with so many preparations, they could completely deal with them.

They had studied the Taketori Clan’s weaknesses for so long, specially prepared a way to intercept distress signals, enchanted full-body armor, and carefully arranged this location, the timing of their appearance, and the patrol schedule.

Every aspect had been considered. Nothing could go wrong.

"Let me test the mettle of your Taketori Clan."

The Reincarnator leading the group raised his hand as though grasping a strange orb of light, then pressed it into his chest.

His entire aura and temperament underwent an earth-shaking transformation, as though he had become a different soul.

Now, I fear nothing!