Chapter 396: The Power in the Dark
He saw so many ninjas appear in an instant.
The middle-aged businessman who had been talking so eloquently just now immediately took two steps back in fear.
His mind began to rapidly recall whether he had done anything wrong after landing this time.
Did he pay less tax?
Or was it that the customs found out that the grain was inferior and was sold as good grain?
'But we just sold a few warehouses of old rice, so there's no need for so many people to come at once, right?'
The middle-aged businessman swung his legs slightly, still thinking about how he should defend himself if he was asked by the visitor.
However, these ninjas who arrived ignored the middle-aged businessman whose clothes were almost soaked with cold sweat.
Instead, they all walked up to the young man who had just spoken to him.
With a "swish" sound, they all knelt down on one knee in unison.
"Mizukage-sama!"
Kaito looked at the white-haired young man who was leading the group and carrying a big sword, and rolled his eyes helplessly.
"Shingetsu, you have learned to do this to me now, right?"
Upon hearing this, Hozuki Shingetsu looked up and grinned at Kaito, revealing a row of small fangs.
Then he stood up straight again and scratched his head in embarrassment.
However, Kaito ignored this idiot and turned to look at the middle-aged businessman who was chatting with him quite well, with a warm smile on his face.
"Thank you for your advice before, but I may have some small things to do here. Let's meet again next time if we are lucky."
At this moment, the middle-aged man no longer had the eloquent demeanor he had before.
Faced with Kaito's politeness, he couldn't even utter a word, but just nodded tremblingly.
It was not until Kaito and his group left his sight that he came to his senses a little.
Only then did he realize that not only was his back soaked with cold sweat, but even the pants on his legs were wet without him noticing.
However, the man, who had just come to his senses, ignored his pants and started slapping himself.
"You're the only one who can say it! You …"
After slapping himself more than a dozen times in succession, this man looked like his wife had died. He stared in the direction where Kaito left, muttering to himself.
"What a great opportunity! I'm wasting my mouth"
Not to mention the middle-aged businessman who is still regretting alone.
As for Kaito, after listening to the introduction of the merchant, he originally wanted to take Uchiha Hikari to the commercial street to stroll around and do some shopping.
However, since Hozuki Shingetsu has come to him, he is not going to show off with so many people.
He will just go straight to the Kirigakure Village's base here.
On the way, Kaito, who knew about Hozuki Shingetsu's mission in Sea Mist City, did not hide it and asked him directly and causally.
"Shingetsu, how did you deal with the pirates who were heading towards Sea Mist City?"
Who would have thought that this was originally such a trivial matter, Kaito just felt that the atmosphere was a bit awkward since no one said a word on the road, so he just found a random topic to talk about.
But Hozuki Shingetsu suddenly became serious.
He first looked around and then spoke softly to Kaito.
"Mizukage-sama, this is what I was originally planning to report to the village this time."
When Kaito saw Hozuki Shingetsu's look, he straightened his mind a little and motioned for him to continue.
"After I arrived at the Sea Mist City to garrison, except for some of the assigned flying ninjas who were responsible for escort and patrol work, most of the garrison ninjas were working with me to fight and search for pirates."
"Initially, the fight against pirates went relatively smoothly. Although many pirate gangs were apparently instigated by other ninja villages, they did not dare to go too far. Basically, there were no pirates above the level of Chunin. As long as we caught them, it would not be difficult to wipe them out."
Kaito nodded upon hearing this. He had already expected this.
Kirigakure Village created such an overseas city, and it is running very successfully.
Not to mention that Konoha, which was forced to sign a contract with Kirigakure, would definitely not be happy about this. Even other ninja villages might be jealous and want to ruin this place.
And the Kumogakure Village also faces the sea together with the Kirigakure Village.
Although there is no war between the two sides now, an armistice treaty has never been signed.
Not to mention secretly controlling some pirates to carry out harassment.
If it weren't for the fact that Kumogakure is already in a spent force, it would not be impossible to send ninja troops directly to attack Sea Mist City.
It's just a small matter, obviously not the real reason why Hozuki Shingetsu is so serious.
Sure enough, after briefly describing the previous situation, Hozuki Shingetsu continued.
"However, in recent times, most of the pirates who were still alive have disappeared without a trace at the same time."
"Even some pirates whose lairs we have located have already been deserted by the time our ninjas go to eliminate them."
When Kaito heard this, he also frowned slightly.
"Disappeared? Did they withdraw on their own initiative?"
But just after asking the question, Kaito shook his head and denied this guess.
The reason why pirates can continue to exist in this era when ninjas are flourishing is that It's just too troublesome to find them at sea.
Just like a rat in a sewer.
As long as they are not hit head-on by the ninja or their lair is not found, they will disappear without a trace no matter where they hide.
What Hozuki Shingetsu meant by disappearing without a trace obviously did not mean that there was no trace of the pirates, but that even the pirates who came out to rob merchant ships were gone.
Given the greed of those pirates, there was no unified coordination among them, and some of them were supported by the ninja village behind the scenes.
It is obviously unlikely that they would disappear from this sea area at the same time, or hide away and stop plundering.
"Have you found any results from your investigation of the pirate camps that targeted their lairs but disappeared?"
Upon hearing this, Hozuki Shingetsu nodded slightly, then shook his head.
"There are some guesses, but not many clues."
"There are a few traces of fighting in several pirate camps, but they were not intense. There was not much blood at the scene, and all the property and weapons disappeared."
"Some of them seem to have been abducted, but..."
But it is not an easy task to do all these at the same time.
Kaito knew what Hozuki Shingetsu wanted to express.
As mentioned before, it is not easy to find the pirates' lair.
Even with the support of the Kirigakure Village, Sea Mist City still couldn't find all the pirates in a short period of time, let alone others.
Or let these pirates disappear at the same time.
Moreover, what's the point of a force that is capable of doing this to capture pirates who are mostly composed of ordinary people and at most a few Chunins?
While Kaito was puzzled, the group had already arrived at the ninja station in the Sea Mist City.
And they have just entered the base.
A pretty girl walked towards Kaito with a happy smile.
(End of this chapter)