radicalducati Chapter 107 The Madman
Chapter 107 The Madman
Chapter 109 The Madman
After leaving the gambling den, Akaishi went straight to the hotel across the street, where a room had already been booked. Sure enough, after waiting for a while, the "boss" followed him over.
Once both sides have dispelled their transformations—
"So it was you—" Akaishi realized that the other person was none other than Inuzuka Tsuru, a "familiar face".
"You really are the recipient, right? What's the code?" Inuzuka Tsuru looked at him with some skepticism.
Compared to Akaishi, Inuzuka Tsurugi recognized him much earlier. Although she didn't have much sensory ninjutsu, her sense of smell was at the level of a ninja dog.
Seeing this, Akaishi realized that he would have to cover up the smell next time!
"Three times eighteen points," Akaishi said directly.
Inuzuka Tsurugi then confirmed it, cleared his throat, and said, "Listen carefully—"
"Wait a minute!" Akaishi quickly stopped her.
"Huh?" Inuzuka Tsuru was taken aback by what he saw.
"Tell me a Hinata joke first," Akaishi requested.
"Huh? Why?" Inuzuka looked at him, puzzled.
"What if you secretly team up with the Hyuga brothers and then sneak a peek at my scrolls?" Akaishi emphasized.
"I wouldn't—" Inuzuka Tsuru pouted, but then rolled her eyes and said, "Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi have been wronged since they were little—"
"Because of all the scorn?" Akaishi blurted out, clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction. This "Hyuga joke" wasn't deep enough.
Akaishi shook his head and said, "Never mind, just tell me the code."
Hearing Akaishi's conciliatory tone, Claw retorted with dissatisfaction, "Then tell me one too—you might also be colluding with the Hyuga brothers!"
"I'm the receiver, what benefit would I gain from colluding with the Hyuga brothers?" Akaishi muttered, but after a moment's thought, he asked, "Of the Five Great Nations, which one does Hizashi like the most and which does Hiashi dislike the least?"
"The Five Great Nations? Fire—no—Wind—no—" Inuzuka put himself in the shoes of the people. Of course, he liked the Land of Fire the most and disliked the Land of Wind the least. But—this was the country that the Hyuga brothers thought the opposite of?
Inuzuka felt that none of the countries met this requirement!
"Which country?" Inuzuka Tsuru asked Akaishi, puzzled.
"The Land of Water," Akaishi said matter-of-factly.
"Huh? Why?" Inuzuka Tsurugi still didn't understand.
"Because the people of the Land of Water believe that children who stay in the womb longer are more mature—so when twins are born, the older brother is the one who comes out later," Akaishi said matter-of-factly.
Inuzuka Tsurugi: —
"This is too hellish—I hope Shinnosuke doesn't hear this," Inuzuka Tsuru said, unable to contain himself.
Well, if Shinnosuke knew, he might tell the Hinata brothers about it as a New Year's program.
Inuzuka Tsurugi gave the code to Akaishi, and then—Akaishi's figure disappeared with a "bang".
Inuzuka Tsuru was taken aback when she saw this. The scent of the shadow clone was the same as that of the original body. She hadn't been able to tell that it was a shadow clone before.
at the same time--
In another hotel, Akaishi wrote down the code he had just heard on a scroll.
Lan Wu was also standing nearby at this time.
When the two saw that there was one more code to receive, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
Everything is normal, reception complete!
a008■
In the distance, atop the clock tower, Hiashi Hyuga stared intently at the room Akaishi and Tsurugi entered, observing for a long while—
Even if you could see through the outer wall, all you could see inside was a large character for "seal" and a dense array of chakra chains; you couldn't see the real scene inside at all!
"A sealing technique, huh? As expected of a ninja beast from the Uzumaki clan," Hiashi Hyuga remarked with admiration.
Hiashi Hyuga wasn't too disappointed, after all, he had a great time these past two days. There were seven sets of coded rendezvous, and he and Hizashi had seen through them and copied down the codes in advance!
Not only did he score a lot of points himself, but he also deducted a lot of points from others. In seven instances, both sides of the pass and reception were deducted points.
The genin of Tanabata Street now grit their teeth at the mere mention of the Hyuga clan.
Of course, there are also cases of failure.
If someone like Akaishi sets up a "sealing technique" in advance, making it impossible for Hiashi and Hizashi's Byakugan to see through it, then there's nothing they can do.
At this moment, a new mission was also refreshed on the seventh reel.
"Ah—it's Shukuba-cho." Akaishi was somewhat disappointed when he saw the result.
Akaishi preferred a mission from "Tanpaku Town" or "The Valley of the End"—
Needless to say, if you randomly end up in "Tanzabachi" again, Akaishi and Ranmai don't need to rush and can start the next mission on the spot.
If you go to "End Valley", you can also meet up with Water Gate along the way.
Although we have confidence in Minato's abilities, the Chunin Exams are full of hidden talents, and it's understandable that we worry about him being alone in the Valley of the End.
Unfortunately, this time I was randomly assigned another mission, and this time it was to go to a post town in the southeast of the Land of Fire.
It is also the closest of the three locations to Konoha.
Shukuba-cho, as its name suggests, is a place for people to rest; it can be considered a "service area".
Yes, that's the kind of service area that Akaishi saw while immersing himself in a short drama!
If you're traveling from Konoha to the cities in the southeastern part of the Land of Fire, you can stop in a post town for a rest.
It was certainly not as large as Tanbata Street, with only a few hotels and restaurants, as its main function was to provide rest for passersby.
Correspondingly, brief "fights" are possible in the post town, but it's important not to make too much noise or fight endlessly, otherwise it will attract the attention of Konoha ninjas.
"Even if we make a move in the post town, there won't be any guardian ninjas coming immediately. Even if they do, they won't be very strong, and there will be room to escape. Moreover, the scale is much smaller than Tanabata Town, which means that everyone's mission rendezvous points are more concentrated—it seems that there will be some direct confrontations!" Lan Wu said with emotion.
Lanwu and Akaishi were actually happy to see a direct confrontation, which suited their wishes better than operating in secret in Tanabata Street.
However, it was already afternoon, so Akaishi and Ranmai rested until the next morning.
Of course, Akaishi wasn't idle in the afternoon and evening either.
Although there are no missions in Tanabata Street, you can still cause trouble for other people's missions!
After searching for an opportunity using "Shadow Clone Technique," Lan Wu discovered the rendezvous code on the street. Akashi used his Sharingan genjutsu to extract the code from the messenger on the spot—code interception +1!
That evening, Akaishi devoted the last two hours of "The Prince Consort Dies in Battle and Returns to Court, the Princess Wants to Remarry" to reading.
Previously, while immersed in the storyline, Hong Yan's wandering spirit seemed to be performing a farewell ceremony!
"A sachet? Does he really think I gave him a sachet to pray for his good fortune? It was only because Young Master Su was ill at the time, and the master said that Hong Yan's birth chart could bring him good luck, so I put the talisman in the sachet—"
"Alas, the prince consort is so pitiful. He probably doesn't know yet that the hair the princess gave him at their wedding was actually cut from a beggar's head, and he has been cherishing and keeping the hair ribbon ever since."
"The princess even gave the prince consort's breastplate to Young Master Su to use as a mirror—by the way, what happened to that armor later?"
As the princess's clever little tricks were revealed one by one, the sachet and hair ribbon on the wandering soul's body began to disappear one by one. At the same time, Hong Yan also realized why he had been shot through the heart by an arrow on the battlefield.
Of course, Akaishi didn't feel much sympathy for "himself" at this point—"I'm going to the battlefield, and you don't even check your own protective gear? I'm really too late to die—"
More than half a month has passed in the story.
"Getting married here is such a hassle—all those formalities, how many times have we done this already?" Akaishi complained inwardly. The ninja world had only been peaceful for a few years, so naturally there weren't so many complicated formalities. If there was one ceremony that a wedding absolutely had to have, it was that they had to be on guard the whole time to prevent the bride from being kidnapped!
The princess had already sent betrothal gifts and marriage proposals many times, parading through the streets each time, listening to the same outrageous remarks from the girls, which Chishi was tired of hearing.
Today, something new finally happened. The emperor, who had been suspected of being deafened, seemed to finally know what his sister was doing. After summoning her to the palace, he scolded her.
"Brother! It was Father who was misled by those old ministers, which is why he valued the Hong family so much and even sacrificed my happiness, making me marry that good-for-nothing Hong Yan. And now you are doing the same!"
"Shut up! What do you know? Who told you Hong Yan is a good-for-nothing? He's right here at the border, fighting a bloody battle for our Great Zhou!"
"Ha, everyone knows that the Grand General is Hong Yao, and he's still hiding in Zhenguo Temple—Brother, you actually conspired with them to deceive me too!"
Akaishi:——
This looks familiar. Is this the same old story, "Your husband is the one going to war"?
"You—you are truly ungrateful! You have no idea what Hong Yan has done for you! Fine, since that's the case—when General Hong returns, I will grant you a divorce!"
Akaishi:——
I don't think you're a normal person either!
After the brother and sister went on a rampage, the princess became even more diligent in preparing for the wedding.
Finally, on the wedding day, Hongyan's coffin returned.
The coffin-carrying procession arrived in the capital at night, while news of the deaths in battle reached the emperor during the day.
Akaishi was also desperate about the efficiency of this message delivery!
Even the people here run slowly—
But why was the messenger only slightly ahead of the coffin-bearing procession?
It was already dark when the princess's wedding procession was passing through the streets with music, singing, and drumming.
At the same time, the soldiers carrying the coffin also entered through the city gate, scattering paper money and carrying banners along the way.
Upon learning the news, the emperor immediately left the palace to greet him.
"Your Majesty! The Hong family army fought a fierce battle with the barbarian bandits for three days, killing 200,000 enemy cavalry. General Hong Yan killed the Chanyu in battle. For the next ten years, the barbarian bandits will not dare to look south!" Deputy General Hong Yao knelt down and cried out.
"Blow, blow," Hong Yao immediately said, "But—but—General Hong Yan—"
"I know General Hong is acting for the country—"
"Damn it! Who's blocking the road here? And scattering paper money—are they in such a hurry to be reincarnated?!"
The princess, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, stepped out of the sedan chair and began cursing at the funeral procession.
"Royal brother? Hong—ah, so it really is someone from your Hong family again! To stop me from getting married, you've actually done such an unlucky thing!"
"Your Majesty? What does the princess mean—"
"Someone! Change her wedding dress! Change her into mourning clothes!"
Akaashi:? ? ?
No, this thing with the shadow and the big name—did you just find out your sister is getting married? Are you really not putting on an act here?
"What are you doing—wait—"
"What? Hong Yan is dead?"
"You can actually come up with such a lie!"
"I don't believe it. You just want to stop me from marrying Jingyun—"
"I want to open the coffin!"
"Get out of here, you lackey!"
Akaashi:? ? ?
Seriously, bro, you're not even going to act anymore? You're really going to let her open the coffin?
Hong Yan's body was found to have been opened from its coffin, and his younger brother Hong Yao was kicked and severely humiliated.
Even the common people who came to welcome the triumphant procession were insulted by the people who were sending the princess off to her wedding.
It wasn't until they saw Hong Yan's body that the people who came to greet the army finally stood up straight!
Akaishi's genuine embarrassment was almost overflowing, but unfortunately, "embarrassment" didn't increase his chakra, while his immersive, manipulated emotions were—
Cool?
What am I doing here having fun?!
SNNENN
Just as Akaishi was feeling both awkward and exhilarated—
Three ninjas from Kawagakure are on their way from Shuba Town to Tanabata Town.
"It's getting late, should we rest for a bit?" Kawanin asked.
"Rest? No need—we don't have a code right now, and our points are 0!" Kawakawa Ninji said somewhat urgently.
"There's a lake up ahead, let's rest there for a bit—" Kawakawa Shinobu suggested as a compromise. They walked to the lakeside, and suddenly saw, "Huh? Someone's there!"
"An old man—he doesn't look like a ninja."
Upon seeing the figure, they were initially tense, but then revealed a nonchalant expression.
Indeed, a gaunt and aged figure was seen sitting by the lake, seemingly fishing.
Although it was late, it's not surprising that elderly people, who need less sleep, go night fishing.
"Hey, old man, did you catch any fish?" Kawanobu Oto, the one with the most short temper, shouted.
They have rations, but grilled fish would be even better.
"Two black carp," the old voice said.
"Why are there only two? Oh well, two is fine—" Kawanobu said casually, wanting to take them directly.
However, Kawano Ninja interrupted, "Sell it to us—how much?"
After all, Kawakami Village still needs Konoha's help, and he doesn't want to coerce ordinary people.
"This meat is incredibly delicious and worth a thousand taels of silver," the aged voice rang out again.
"One thousand taels? Are you crazy—" Kawakawa Ninichi felt this was an outrageous price.
But he was interrupted by Kawanagi Kakaru, who said, "Alright, here's one thousand taels."
"No, it's a thousand catties," the old man said again, seemingly out of nowhere.
Modern banknotes originated from metal trading during the Warring States period, hence the common name "liang" (两), but they are actually no longer related to precious metals.
As for the unit "jin", it has never been used on banknotes!
but--
The three Kawa ninjas could still understand the implication of raising the price on the spot.
"Old man, do you want to die?" Kawanobu couldn't help but shout.
"Death is like a cool summer night, allowing one to sleep peacefully without worry—"
Kawana Ninja A, B, and C: ? ? ?
Although they had seen many madmen as ninjas, someone like this, who couldn't utter a single human word, was truly rare.
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