Chapter 274: Prisoner exchange part 2
Everyone was a bit tense when they heard that hidden leaf shinobis were standing with the bloodline clan leaders. Only one person was happy with the situation and that person was Priest Ji. He had a wide smile on his face as he muttered "The heavens seem to be on my side today. The more the merrier."
"What should we do now?" Jiro asked. At first, he had planned to start the fight in the middle of the exchange but now it looks like they may have to make some changes.
Moji thought for a few seconds and said "We should let the leaf shinobis get their hands on the kid and once they are out of the picture, we can launch the attack. Maybe they won't help the bloodline clans since they have nothing to offer."
Jiro also agreed with what Moji said and instructed his people to stand back until the leaf shinobis get the kid and leave.
Priest Ji didn't like this order at all and quickly walked toward Jiro and said "Lord Jiro I think this is a good chance to teach the leaf shinobis a good lesson."
"No…we can't afford to enter into a conflict just because of a kid." Jiro shook his head.
"But all our men are strong enough to kill a few leaf jonins. We won't let the matter leak as to who killed them and then spread the word that they were betrayed by the bloodline clans." Priest Ji insisted. He didn't like that things were going opposite to his expectations.
Jiro and Moji could clearly see the desperation and madness in Ji's eyes. Something they knew was increasing day by day. What Priest Ji had said now could theoretically be possible by practically keeping so many mouths shut was an impossible task. Moji and Jiro both knew that their men wouldn't leave the chance to brag about killing leaf shinobis and so no matter whatever steps they take, the news would leak. Jiro and Moji looked at each other once and nodded together. Jiro then looked at Ji and said "Priest Ji…follow what we have decided now. Don't take any unnecessary actions or else that could be the last action you take." Jiro said in a threatening tone. Even the shinobis around them could feel the pressure emanating from Jiro.
'He is strong enough to take me down. I can't get thrown out of the envoy…I will think of something to pull the leaf shinobis in as well.' Priest Ji thought. He looked at Jiro and said "I apologize, Lord Jiro and Lord Moji, I might have gotten ahead of myself for a little while there. Me and my people will follow the decision taken by the two of you." Ji said as he smiled and walked back to his place with his people.
Seeing that things were back in order, Moji turned to his scout and said " Go make contact with their scout, and until then we will reach the meeting place. I also want you to take a few of your people and scout the surroundings to see how many they are in total. I need to know how big of a conflict they are ready for." Moji said.
Jiro also nodded and said "Lord Moji is right. We should overwhelm them with our numbers from the start so they even lose the motivation to fight against us." Jiro then turned to one of his people and said "I want you to do the same and also include the nearby villages…they could have people disguised as civilians there. The shinobi nodded and left with two of his people.
Moji and Jiro along with the others continued their travel toward the meeting point. In 5-10 minutes, even they could now see the bloodline clan leaders and the leaf shinobis. Seeing Kakashi's silver hair and the headband covering one eye, Jiro immediately understood that the hidden leaf didn't send a no name jonin here. This means that securing the kid could not be the only reason they are here.
Jiro was about to tell Kakashi's identity to Moji but Moji had also recognized Kakashi as he said "It's the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake. We have to be more careful now."
Yoshiro and the others also saw Moji and Jiro come with their people to the meeting place. The first thing that Kakashi noticed were the people that were dressed as normal shinobis. With the help of their uniform, Kakashi could tell who is a regular shinobi and who is Anbu.
'Why do the regular shinobis give an off feeling? They seem stronger than the Anbu.' Kakashi thought.
As the clan leaders and Moji came face to face with each other they couldn't help but control their anger. Riko was practically gnashing his teeth as he was filled with hatred for Moji and his faction.
To stop the awkward silence, Jiro stepped close to Moji and tapped on his shoulder. He then looked at the bloodline clan leaders and the leaf jonins as he said "It is good to see that we are all here. I didn't know that the kid meant this much to the hidden leaf that they sent you Kakashi Hatake."
"What would you have done if you knew?" Asuma asked. Seeing Asuma's serious expression Jiro shrugged and said "Of course, I would have organized a trade between the hidden stone and the hidden leaf directly and the kid would already have been with you.
'Jiro is trying to imply that being on our side, Kakashi has put the kid in more danger and if Kakashi and the others had contacted Jiro and the others instead of us, they would have gotten the kid a long time ago.' The bloodline clan leaders understood but they decided not to react to this provocation. At least 3 of them did but not Riko.
"What are you trying to say Jiro? That we are the reason the kid is in danger? You better choose your words carefully." Riko shouted. Asami was about to stop Riko from saying anything more but then someone from Moji's faction came forward and said "What are you going to do meathead? You only rely on that weak bloodline of ours and brute strength."
This angered more and Riko was about to go and punch the man when Jiro's cold voice spread through the area. "Ji I have told you to stand back and that is what you will do." Jiro understood that Ji was trying to gaslight Riko to get him to start a fight. Priest Ji looked at Jiro to convince him that he wasn't the one who started the fight but seeing Jiro's eyes full of anger, Ji kept quiet.
"Let's not waste time on all this. Have you brought my people that are in your custody?" Moji asked. He didn't want to waste time talking with the bloodline clan bastards any more than it was required.
Yoshiro nodded and signaled Ao who brought out 5-6 shinobis handcuffed and in chains. Moji looked at them and saw that they weren't crippled or anything.
Mei and Kana were looking at all the shinobis from the Mizukage faction trying to find Yami. Kana had waited many days to see him and now she wanted to make sure that he was safe there.
Yami was standing at the very back of the group but due to his enhanced senses, he could hear everything. He was surrounded by Jiro's men and with Yami could feel the ominous chakra from them. He understood that these must be the people that have the demon heart transplanted into them.
At the front, Kakashi decided to go with the flow and asked "Where is the kid?"
"He is safe here…we will send him after we are sure that none of our people are poisoned or their chakra networks are destroyed." Moji said. He had to say something like this as Jiro told him to appear a bit unreasonable. This would let Jiro behave as a mediator and do things his way.
"We can't let you come near them unless we know the kid is safe." The old man said in a calm voice. Moji knew that the other clan leaders won't defy the old man… at least not directly in front of everyone.
Moji looked at Jiro who nodded. Moji signaled one of his men to bring the people ahead. To appear that Yami was still Moji's prisoner, Jiro had his people wear clothes of mist shinobi and guard Yami.
The guards walked ahead and the two in the front stepped aside revealing Yami standing in the middle. Yami looked at the people in front of him whether it was the clan leaders or the leaf shinobis or Kana. He didn't show any change in expression after seeing them. He also noticed that Hideki, Shiro, and the other spies were standing behind Kakashi.
"Yuta.." Kana muttered.
"Now you see that the kid is safe. Let our people come here first and then we will release the kid as well." Moji said.
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