Kapitel 308: CH - 303 Kado!

Upon hearing the hurried report from his subordinate, Danzo, who was about to scold him, suddenly regained his focus. What? They finally found a way?

As for whether this was a trap set by those grass thieves, he couldn't care less. After all, the only place to purchase such equipment was Grass Village, so he had no choice but to deal with them. Given that he needed to buy equipment from Grass Village, he had already considered the possibility of a scheme.

Moreover, he was in Konoha now, and he didn't believe that the leader of Grass Village would dare to brazenly come into Konoha to kidnap him without a reason.

As for any schemes from Grass Village… they could simply exchange money for goods when the time came. And he was the infamous Danzo Shimura. With the right preparations, who could possibly deceive him?

Danzo leaned on his cane and stood up. After a moment of contemplation, he lowered his head to look at his subordinate and said, "What's the channel?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Root ninja quickly raised his head and respectfully replied, "A wealthy merchant from the Land of Waves."

"A merchant from the Land of Waves?" Danzo furrowed his brow at this. "Isn't that a small country adjacent to the Land of Fire?"

The Root ninja nodded. "Yes, Lord Danzo. The Land of Waves is indeed a small country next to the Land of Fire."

Understanding Danzo's line of thought, the Root ninja continued, "This individual is a well-known merchant in the Land of Waves. His company was recently established and operates across multiple countries in the ninja world. The business is well-capitalized and has a promising future. After our investigation, it appears that the staff mainly consists of ordinary citizens, with no suspicious ninja backgrounds, and he is a local from the Land of Waves."

"A company that was just established? A wealthy merchant from the Land of Waves?" Hearing his subordinate's words, Danzo frowned again.

He hadn't expected to find a channel in such a small country. Was it possible that someone in the Land of Waves was collaborating with Grass Village—perhaps even deeply? Otherwise, how could such a small nation acquire machinery from Grass Village?

However, he still had confidence in his subordinate's abilities. The Root ninjas were elites selected from various clans; besides their skills in espionage and framing others, they were quite adept at gathering intelligence. Otherwise, he wouldn't have launched the Root Daily without thorough preparation.

He believed that as long as they didn't encounter that group of fools, his subordinates would certainly not make mistakes. And even if they did run into those idiots, the Root ninjas would be able to detect anomalies in advance.

Thus, the fact that they dared to report to him now indicated that the Root ninjas had already conducted thorough investigations.

As expected. Before Danzo could ask further questions, the Root ninja spoke again. "According to our covert investigation, this individual is merely an ordinary person from the Land of Waves, and his company was actually established earlier this year."

"Earlier this year?!" Danzo's expression froze. Earlier this year, he had been 'touring' the Land of Rain. This meant that this new company wasn't established specifically after he had earned his billions.

While Danzo pondered this information, the Root ninja continued, "Although his company has dealings with the Land of Grass, they are all legitimate business activities with nothing suspicious. Moreover, the company operates across multiple countries, and its owner is just an ordinary person, not a ninja. I've heard he's planning to open a processing factory, which is why he purchased a batch of equipment from Grass Village."

"Hmph. A mere wealthy merchant from the Land of Waves? How could he acquire equipment that even I can't buy?" Danzo still couldn't believe that a simple merchant could obtain resources he himself couldn't secure.

"According to reports, it seems that earlier this year, he saved a merchant from Grass Village, which led to their connection." The Root ninja, sensing Danzo's skepticism, elaborated on their findings.

"A merchant from Grass Village?" Danzo repeated, intrigued.

"Yes, a young man named Tobi, and he's not a ninja," the Root ninja confirmed, nodding as he continued to explain.

As the Root ninja continued to report, Danzo mentally organized all the information he had received. If that merchant from the Land of Waves had managed to acquire equipment due to saving someone earlier this year, it didn't seem like a lie fabricated for his sake. This suggested that the intelligence gathered by the Root was credible.

While he didn't mind trading with Grass Village as long as he got what he wanted, he would prefer not to cooperate with that group of fools. After all, with them, you never know what might happen. He would need to remain cautious.

Danzo closed his eyes again, lightly tapping the handle of his cane as he said, "If that's the case, has he agreed to sell us the equipment?"

However, just as he finished speaking, the Root ninja awkwardly scratched his head and hesitated before replying, "Uh, Lord Danzo, we arranged for someone to go in disguise to negotiate with him, but… they were rejected."

"Rejected?" Danzo narrowed his eyes, intrigued.

"Yes. He said he worked very hard to acquire those machines and that they are crucial to him." The Root ninja nodded, his expression betraying his nervousness.

"Looks like he's definitely not one of those fools from Grass Village," Danzo muttered under his breath.

Before the Root ninja could respond, Danzo sighed in relief, a faint smile creeping onto his lips. As long as it wasn't 'Grass-level' bad news, he considered it good news. It seemed likely that this individual wasn't associated with Grass Village after all.

"Let's keep negotiating with him. Whatever his demands are, we can accommodate them as long as they don't cross my limits. I can even invite him to Konoha as my guest and talk to him directly," Danzo commanded, his tone calm and relieved.

"Yes, Lord Danzo!" The Root ninja nodded quickly, ready to take action.

Just as he was about to leave, Danzo called out, "Hold on a second."

The Root ninja paused and turned back, wondering what else Danzo might need.

"What's that merchant's name?" Danzo asked, a moment's hesitation before he continued.

"His name is Kado, my lord," the Root ninja replied, bowing slightly in respect.

Danzo nodded thoughtfully, a small smile forming on his lips as he repeated, "Kado?"

It was a name he hadn't heard before. It seemed that he was not one of those grass thieves after all.

…

"Ah-choo!" Akihiko felt his nose twitch as he scanned the intelligence report in his hands, a satisfied nod escaping him. "Excellent! It seems Danzo is making contact with Kado."

His trip to borrow someone from Tobi wasn't in vain after all.

To be honest, if Danzo genuinely wanted something, Akihiko wouldn't hesitate to sell it to him as a close friend. Though he had his limits, those limits could certainly be adjusted as long as Danzo was willing to pay.

However, Akihiko worried that being too straightforward might scare Danzo off. That was why he had gone through all this trouble in the first place.

Shaking off his thoughts, he redirected his focus to the plan for this year's graduation exams. With the inclusion of Sand Village, Pakura had specifically inquired about how this year's testing would be arranged. Naturally, the exam format would remain unchanged.

Akihiko narrowed his eyes slightly as he lifted his head, momentarily distracted by Mikoto, who was diligently focused on her work. After a brief pause, he said, "By the way, today is also the final exam for Naruto and Sasuke."

"That's right." Mikoto straightened up, seemingly aware of Akihiko's earlier stare. Her ears flushed slightly, but her expression remained composed. She nodded and smiled, adding, "I can't believe almost a year has flown by. Thank you so much for taking care of me, Akihiko."

Noticing him getting ready to leave, Mikoto inquired with curiosity, "Are you heading out?"

"Yes," Akihiko replied, slightly puzzled by the change in Mikoto's demeanor."I have something to attend to. You should try to wrap up your work early. Since Sasuke and Naruto are on break, let's celebrate properly for the two of them tonight."

"I will, don't worry, Akihiko," Mikoto reassured him with a nod.

After Akihiko left, Mrs. Mikoto shook her head with a warm smile, her eyes glimmering with affection. "Sasuke has really grown up."

However, her thoughts drifted to Sasuke's hesitant demeanor lately—especially the way he had quietly said to her last night, "As long as mom is happy, I'll accept whatever happens." A flush crept onto her cheeks at the memory.

Reflecting on this, she couldn't help but smile as she murmured to herself, "He's really starting to move past that 'tragedy'. Just like Naruto, he's becoming a bit… mischievous."

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