Danzo stared at Hiruzen. Half a minute later, he spoke.
“Hiruzen, only senior figures in the Village can serve as negotiators; experience is crucial. What do you mean by sending someone barely in his teens to represent Konoha in negotiations?”
Hiruzen replied with a smile.
“Our current negotiators are either too soft or too harsh. While we usually find a middle ground, we often end up at a disadvantage.”
Danzo sneered, accusing him.
“It’s your fault for being too soft. Don’t blame the rest of us.”
Hiruzen shook his head.
“And your methods are too harsh; if we followed your ideas, we would constantly be at war. Of course, I wouldn’t send an inexperienced person to handle our final negotiations.”
“He is one of the first-round negotiators. His job is to annoy the other party just enough to keep the negotiations on the table, giving us an advantage in subsequent talks.”
Hiruzen’s words and confidence greatly surprised Danzo. He wondered.
“What exactly does Hiruzen see in that boy?”
Hiruzen looked at Danzo, thinking to himself.
“On second thought, sending Feng Zheng to Root would also be hilarious. Danzo always makes promises when recruiting. If Feng Zheng really joined Root, I wonder how often he would ask Danzo for new Ninjutsu.”
Danzo was about to say something when Hiruzen interrupted him.
“Say no more; he is no longer up for discussion. His talent would be wasted in Root.”
Seeing Hiruzen’s stubborn attitude, Danzo nodded and left. If Feng Zheng had known about this conversation, he would surely have sighed in relief and said.
“Phew! That was a close call, I barely escaped!”
That being said, even if Hiruzen hadn’t refused, Feng Zheng wouldn’t have joined Root.
Although Danzo led Root and was influential, he couldn’t force anyone to join.
He would use patriotism, offer rewards, threaten loved ones, or lie to recruit existing Ninja into Root. However, none of these four strategies would work on Feng Zheng.
As he left, Danzo thought.
“Things didn’t go as expected. I didn’t think Hiruzen would be so stubborn about an orphan. It doesn’t matter. I was only interested in him because of his potential in Wind Release. There’s no need to waste any more energy on him.”
Danzo left and stopped thinking about Feng Zheng. Years later, he would hear of Feng Zheng’s achievements on the battlefield.
In a future battle, Feng Zheng’s reputation would spread rapidly throughout the Ninja World. That battle would make Danzo regret not trying harder to recruit him.
And his greatest regret would be dying at the hands of this orphan he had thought so little of!
The Renjiro Squad ran at full speed for about 7 hours. The border of the Land of Hot Water was very close to their hiding place.
Although Yugakure Village was far away, the town they were heading to was in the southern part of the Land of Hot Water. Therefore, it was closer to them.
After 7 hours, they entered Niigata Town. Upon entering, Feng Zheng said.
“We entered another country and then their second-largest town, yet we didn’t encounter a single Ninja! Do they not have Ninja, or are they too lazy to patrol?”
Renjiro chuckled and replied.
“Only the five Great Ninja Villages maintain frequent patrols. Even among the five Great Villages, Hidden Mist and Sunagakure don’t patrol regularly due to their harsh terrain. In smaller Villages, only important figures have good protection. If ordinary people encounter danger, they post missions to Villages like ours.”
Feng Zheng thought for a moment, then said with a troubled expression.
“I understand. But in that case, the lives of the common people here are very fragile; they have no protection. Any rogue Ninja could kill them and escape. If he hides well, they might not even get justice.”
Renjiro looked at Feng Zheng for a few seconds. He sighed and replied.
“Unfortunately, this is the world we live in, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Feng Zheng had a worried look and didn’t reply. Renjiro thought to himself.
“Although Feng Zheng is greedy, he has a kind heart.”
Meanwhile, Feng Zheng thought to himself.
“I don’t think I can learn any more Ninjutsu from Renjiro. But further improving my image will still be beneficial. This might help if I need something from Tsunade in the future. After all, we’re from the same clan.”
Mieko and Hodaka watched Feng Zheng and Renjiro. They also began to ponder the tragic situation of small Villages.
They started walking towards the town center. Renjiro said.
“Well, there’s no need to be downhearted. While there isn’t much protection, major towns do have garrisons. Perhaps, in the future, every town will have a garrison, which would provide them with good protection.”
Feng Zheng nodded and said.
“Yes, that might be a good start.”
They arrived at the town center. A mansion stood there.
Upon seeing them, a guard immediately invited them in, while his partner ran inside to inform someone.
The guard said.
“Welcome, Lord De Ping is already waiting for you.”
Renjiro nodded and followed him into the mansion.
As soon as they entered, a tall man appeared before them! He was over 2.2 meters tall and very fat.
Seeing him, the same thought flashed through the minds of Feng Zheng, Mieko, and Hodaka.
“Did someone from the Akimichi Clan immigrate here? Even by Akimichi Clan standards, he’s enormous!”
Behind him stood four other people.
Takeshita Tokuhei smiled.
“Senju Renjiro, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Renjiro replied with a smile.
“Takeshita Tokuhei, I’ve heard about you too.”
De Ping said.
“We had hoped you would arrive sooner.”
Renjiro replied.
“We also encountered some trouble, which caused the delay.”
De Ping nodded and looked at the children behind Renjiro. He frowned, thinking.
“This mission didn’t mention any strict deadlines. So I can’t press him further. But this mission focuses more on the strength of the Ninja. Renjiro is strong, but why send children?”
Renjiro looked at him, understanding his thoughts. But he didn’t comment. There was no need to explain the strength of the Ninja undertaking the mission; completing the mission was the most important thing.
De Ping knew Renjiro understood his frown. But since he offered no explanation, he didn’t dwell on it, thinking.
“My own squad should be enough to kill those rogue Ninja. Unfortunately, the Daimyo was worried about our losses, so he issued a mission to Konoha. If they are too weak, they will die.”
Renjiro asked.
“What are the details of those rogue Ninja? And where are they now?”
De Ping looked at his subordinate. Takeshita Toshiaki stepped forward. He said.
“So far, we have discovered thirteen rogue Ninja. We estimate there are two more, and they are all Ninja from the Land of Water. Among these thirteen Ninja, there are three Jonin and ten Chunin.”
“Their leader is Kubota Mitsutsuka. He is a veteran Jonin. The others under his command are also experienced. Some of them were Ninja assigned to him during the Third Shinobi World War.”
“We haven’t found their base yet. But based on their movements, we estimate their base should be near the coastline to the southeast.”
Renjiro analyzed the information and said.
“Good, we don’t need to waste any more time looking for them.”
Takeshita Tokuhei said.
“Renjiro, although we know their general location, we don’t know their exact position.”
Renjiro said.
“Don’t worry, leave it to us. We’ll rest today and depart at 4 AM tomorrow. Have your squad ready.”
De Ping wanted to leave immediately. But he understood that they had traveled a long way. He nodded and said.
“Alright, Toshiaki, arrange a place for them to rest.”
Takeshita Toshiaki led them to the arranged rooms.
After he left, Feng Zheng, Mieko, and Hodaka all stared at Renjiro. They wanted answers.