Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 143 Troublesome Politicians

"You launched a large-scale operation yesterday?"

As dawn broke, Old Zi, who had been sitting like a wooden statue for three days, finally sat down across the table again. He had certainly heard the commotion last night, but he didn't know exactly what had happened. However, just by looking at the number of shadow clones that had been dispatched and the departure and return of the main body, even a fool could guess that Dongfeng had made a big move in Fuxiu City.

Naruto yawned, looking utterly exhausted, but it wasn't an act. They had chosen 2 AM yesterday, when most people were in deep sleep, to begin their operation. By the time he finished and returned, it was nearly dawn. Add to that his continuous work over the past few days—searching for the child, setting up clones, creating the Flying Thunder God seal, and remotely monitoring the entire team's movements. And just three hours ago, he had used a new, extremely energy-consuming large-scale jutsu. It was fair to say that he was still awake, only holding on by sheer willpower.

He wanted to save as many people as possible.

"Hmm." Naruto didn't have the energy to play games with Roshi right now, so he just gave a casual reply and wolfed down his breakfast, which he had heated up with Fire Release techniques.

"Immediately order your ninjas to withdraw from the city. The real power in this city is the old city lord, and he's no pushover. I'll go into the city later to distract that old man and buy you some time." After considering it for three days, Old Purple finally took that step.

Naruto opened his drowsy eyes, suppressing his sleepiness and discomfort, and focused a little of his attention on Rōshi. "Which aspect are you referring to as difficult to deal with?"

"He will issue arrest warrants for all ninjas in the city, and the warrants will remain in effect until he believes he has caught the culprit."

Undeniably, Naruto briefly entertained a murderous thought, but quickly suppressed it. His expression turned serious, he sat up straighter, and asked, "Are you sure it's all of them? How can he be sure the ninjas will surrender?"

“Ninjas who resist arrest warrants will be blacklisted by the Land of Earth. They will not be allowed to re-enter the country, will lose their identities and all their assets in the Land of Earth, and even their families will be implicated. If they violently resist arrest, they may even be wanted.” Old Purple lowered his head and said the reason why ninjas were controlled. “Ninjas are indeed very powerful, but as long as they are still human and cannot live outside the world, they are just 'people' who are a little more difficult to deal with.”

Old Zi is damn right.

Hui's global reach has barely achieved food self-sufficiency, but there are still many things they cannot produce. Currency is also a major problem; they have had to establish money houses, using the purchasing power of gold as a standard and guarantee, to ensure the currencies issued by the five great nations can be readily converted, facilitating trade between caravans and villages using various currencies. As for family, that's an insurmountable line; even within ninja clans, there are members who cannot use chakra, let alone ordinary ninja families.

The old city lord's combination of moves was enough to strike most ninjas, but it failed to strike the ones who were really causing trouble.

"...You just said you were going to attract attention? How?" Naruto remained silent for a long time, but he wasn't swayed by anger. He was more concerned about the solution that Old Purple had suggested. The real issue now wasn't withdrawing their own people, but... how to prevent that old man's decrees from being issued.

Old Zi finally raised his head. Looking at the young man, whose brows were slightly furrowed but who remained composed, his admiration deepened. His passion, dormant for over a decade, surged again. He saw a paradise, a world without plunder or oppressive rule, a future whose brightest possible future could only be born where the East Wind resided. He thought he should do something, he had to do something.

"You asked me that day, 'Are you ready to defect?' My answer was..."

Old Zi replied with a smile, "Yes, I'm ready."

——————Founders Group Chat

Izuna: "That old bastard, what ruthless methods! This is going to be difficult. I guess I should just control him directly, otherwise all the ninjas in the city will be implicated."

Hashirama: "Why don't you let me bury him? I'd be happy to..."

Tobirama: "Shut up, bro! Control your chakra, you're scaring the kid!"

Fugaku: "Let's consider control methods. His son was killed, wasn't he? We can use that identity to enter the lord's mansion openly, as long as Naruto remembers some of the guards' appearances."

Naruto: "Not all the guards are dead."

Fugaku (?)

Quan Na〖! 〗

Tobirama: "...As expected, I knew you wouldn't kill me."

Hashirama: "Hmm... I was involved in this too. I built an artificial spring and used plants to lure them there."

Izuna: "That scumbag should be dead by now!"

Naruto: Of course he's dead.

Naruto: "Do you guys think any of those guards would dare to report the city lord?"

Fugaku: "You mean...we want to expose what happened in the desert? But the guards aren't victims; at most, they'll be tainted witnesses."

Tobirama: "Isn't that rescued caravan still in Gachar?"

Izuna: "...Tobirama, do you think they have the guts? Think about something practical."

Naruto: "I don't need them; I'm the victim."

Between the pillars […]

Tobirama: "Naruto, you should know you're in a disguise right now, right? Do you think they won't investigate you after you report me? When it comes to matters of noble honor, they'll only torture you with the harshest methods to force you to confess to false accusation!"

Naruto: "That's why we shouldn't have involved Boss Xu and his gang. We just need someone to distract them, but they really will die."

Hashirama: "This method is feasible; I agree."

Tobirama [Damn it!]

Fugaku: "...I abstain."

Izuna: "I disagree! The risk of exposure is too great. You're a living person, not an Edo Tensei. How will you maintain your disguise if you're tortured? That thing isn't welded to your body."

Naruto: "Oh, I have good news. Roshi says he's ready to defect."

[? ?] x4

Naruto: "Should I tell him something deeper?"

Izuna: "Shut your mouth! Listen to him! Watch him do it!"

“Lord Fuxiu has a hunting hobby. He must have offended you to die, right?” Old Zi did know a lot of scandals about nobles. He could judge the general direction of things based on just a little information. “I will go into the city and turn myself in, saying that I accidentally killed the lord because he led a pack of wolves to attack the caravan I was protecting.”

Old Purple chuckled self-deprecatingly, realizing for the first time that his identity was quite useful. "They know my strength; it's rare for a creature to leave a complete corpse after using Lava Release. A puppet city lord can't shake the status of the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, so they won't do anything to me. What they really want to cover up is the scandal of the city lord using wolves to attack a caravan. I need your cooperation to spread this fact far and wide, far enough to shake the very foundation of this trading city. That way, they won't have time to bother with a few kids who shouldn't even be in the city in the first place."

“I know you can do it.”