aircannonsinc Chapter 259 Life is like a play, all about acting skills
Chapter 259 Life is like a play, all about acting skills
Chapter 259 Life is like a play, all about acting skills
Konoha Camp in the Land of Rivers.
Minato looked at Obito and the others with a solemn expression. Others might not know, but he certainly did. The current Konoha camp had no need to go out on missions that lasted so long.
Moreover, this was a mission that involved drawing different teams together; if such a mission existed, he couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
"Minato-sensei, is there a problem?" Kakashi realized something was wrong and quickly asked.
"It's too early to say!" Minato looked at the children in front of him and made a decision. "Come with me and let's check on the mission."
He waved to the group and led the way toward the central military camp.
Upon arriving at the central command tent, Jiraiya immediately noticed the group that had entered. He couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Minato, weren't you on a mission? Why are you bringing these brats here with you?"
"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato said sternly, "Have you sent Yohei on any mission?"
"Yohei?" Jiraiya, completely lacking in seriousness, had his idle nature reawakened by the recent leisure. "What missions do that brat need to do right now? Isn't that a waste of his talent?"
But as he spoke, he sensed something was amiss, and his expression gradually turned serious. "You mean Yangping went out on a mission? How long has he been gone?"
Minato nodded. "They've been gone for two days."
97
Jiraiya's vision went black. Yangping had the strength of a Jonin. Every mission he carried out, whether assigned or self-selected, was reported to him immediately. This was a rule to ensure that the commander was always aware of the status of the camp's high-level combat forces.
Yangping has been away for two days now, but he hasn't received any news from him. There must be something wrong here.
For a moment, Jiraiya dared not think any further.
A question from the Uchiha?
A word of advice from Taiyi?
The conflict between the village and the Uchiha clan?
Various consequences flashed through Jiraiya's mind, giving even this Kage-level ninja a headache.
"Kakashi, recount everything that happened when Yohei accepted the mission, and the others can add to it."
This is also why Minato brought Kakashi and the others here, hoping to glean some clues from their accounts.
Kakashi also knew the seriousness of the problem. Someone had faked a mission to lure Yangping out of the camp. Two days had passed, and he didn't know if Yangping was safe.
He quickly gathered his thoughts and recalled what had happened, recounting the events bit by bit. During this time, Saori and Rin added to the story, gradually reconstructing the entire incident.
"Teacher, Yangping checked the runes and confirmed the scroll was correct before accepting the mission. The camp has been smuggled in by someone." Minato said coldly. He was being tactful; if we were to be serious, the matter was quite grave.
Jiraiya's face turned truly dark. Someone had impersonated him and given false missions to the ninjas on the front lines. In that case, even he couldn't escape the blame for negligence in supervision.
Moreover, from Kakashi's description, he immediately realized that it was most likely the work of Root. Thinking of Danzo's fear of the Uchiha, Jiraiya gritted his teeth in hatred.
If Danzo were standing in front of him right now, he would want to tear the guy to pieces. Doesn't he consider the consequences at all? How many people did Yang Ping involve? He even personally vouched for him, and yet this still happened. He doesn't believe the Hokage didn't tell Danzo about the stakes involved.
That means he did this entirely out of selfish desire, and he truly deserves to die.
"Say something! Is there any way to help? Is my cousin in danger?" Obito was extremely anxious. Despite often getting beaten up by Yohei, the two had a really good relationship.
Minato shook his head helplessly. "The other side is very cautious. There are no mission records in the central camp. They used the excuse of secrecy to prevent Yangping from revealing any information to you. We don't even know where he is now, so we can't do anything."
"Then what are we going to do? Just wait here like this?!" Obito's words were already filled with anger.
Just when everyone was at a loss, Saori spoke up: "The situation may not be that urgent."
All eyes turned to Saori, who gently brushed a stray hair behind her ear and said, "Yohei has a sealing talisman made by Taiichi and a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai on him. If he really encounters danger, he can call Taiichi immediately. So the danger shouldn't be too great."
Everyone's eyes lit up. Not only would there be no danger, but as long as they called for help in time, Taiyi would definitely be able to escape back.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that everyone was alright. As long as everyone was alright, everything could be salvaged.
"Alright, now that Yangping's safety is guaranteed, you kids can go do whatever you need to do and stop obstructing our work."
When Jiraiya started driving people away, he showed none of the spirit of sharing joys and sorrows that the others had shown when they were going through the same troubles together.
"What? Jiraiya-sama is kicking me while I'm at it! I want to know more about Yohei."
Obito kept shouting, but he couldn't resist being dragged by Kakashi and Rin. When only Jiraiya and Minato remained in the tent, the atmosphere became heavy again.
"Teacher, what are you planning to do about this?" Minato asked cautiously, glancing at Jiraiya's expression.
Jiraiya remained silent, his eyes filled with worry and resentment. The impact of this incident was far too severe. Even before the news had spread, he dared not imagine the terrible impact it would have on the ninjas on the front lines if it were to get out.
Everyone would be worried, afraid that they had received a fake mission. If that were the case, then there would be no need to fight in Konoha anymore, and everyone could just go home and get some sleep.
Did Danzo's brain get eaten by a pig? How could he do something so idiotic?
"When Yangping returns, he will have the evidence we need. This time, we must be fully prepared and teach Danzo a lesson he won't forget."
"What the teacher means is—even this isn't enough to completely dismantle Danzo. Shouldn't he be severely punished at this crucial moment to set an example?"
Minato found it hard to believe that such a serious crime—faking a mission and even killing a fellow villager—could be let off the hook.
Jiraiya said helplessly, "It is precisely because of this time that we cannot severely punish Danzo. The Western Front is currently being held up entirely by Danzo's roots. If we take down Danzo now, the entire Western Front will collapse in an instant. I will absolutely not take that risk."
"This matter can't just be left unresolved, can it? If it does, won't everyone on the front lines be living in fear?" Minato's eyes widened, his gaze clear like that of a newbie.
"How could that be? Don't forget, the real victim in this matter is Uchiha Yohei. Behind him is the Uchiha clan. If the old man can't give the Uchiha a satisfactory answer, the consequences will be no less severe than the collapse of a western front."
Jiraiya explained to Minato with a self-deprecating tone, but his eyes were filled with worry.
There's one more thing he didn't mention: Taiyi's attitude. The fact that Taiyi had specifically come to him to ask about Yangping's situation shows how much Taiyi cares about his two teammates. Most importantly, Taiyi is no longer a nobody; his strength and reputation are now formidable and not easily manipulated.
Jiraiya gazed towards Konoha, as if trying to leap across endless space to see his teacher in the Hokage's office, wondering what kind of outcome he would ultimately take.
While Jiraiya and the others were frowning over Yohei's situation, Yohei himself was in considerable pain. Taiichi had not fully healed his injuries, but had left a significant portion of them intact.
After all, it would be unreasonable to be ambushed without getting hurt, and being injured would also earn him some sympathy.
So Yangping could only drag his ailing body and stagger from the Land of Rain all the way to the camp in the Land of Rivers.
That's right, Yangping headed to the camp alone. In order to create a tragic sense of being tricked, Taiyi and Yangping decided after discussion that they should return in a rather miserable state.
At least on the surface, in order to quell everyone's suspicions, the village had to give everyone a satisfactory solution. Otherwise, if they went back quietly, the higher-ups might suppress the news.
After three days of tireless travel, and having exhausted almost all of his chakra, Yangping finally returned to the Konoha camp.
He had only just arrived at the camp entrance when he staggered and collapsed to the ground, then lost consciousness.
He saved himself some trouble by lying down, but it caused quite a stir at the camp entrance.
Yang Ping is no longer some unknown nobody. He attracted a lot of attention as soon as he appeared in the camp's sight, and everyone was already surprised to see that he was injured.
Unexpectedly, he collapsed on the ground as soon as he arrived at the camp. How serious must his injuries have been to render such a powerful ninja like this?
The news spread like wildfire, and a large number of idle ninjas rushed over to see what was going on.
Jiraiya quickly received the news, and his first reaction was that it was impossible. According to Saori, Yohei shouldn't be like this.
But then he realized that Yang Ping had returned alone, still covered in wounds. This was Yang Ping and Taiyi's counterattack. He just didn't know what their plan was, and he hoped they wouldn't go too far.
He immediately got up and walked outside, determined to go and see for himself no matter what.
When Jiraiya saw Yangping again, they were already at the medical camp, where Chief Physician Fujita was giving him a detailed examination and treatment.
About half an hour later, Director Fujita finished the treatment and stood up. She saw Jiraiya standing behind her. Knowing that this was an emergency, she did not hesitate and immediately began to report.
"He sustained multiple injuries, mostly from Wind Release and Fire Release techniques. Although the injuries weren't serious, the lack of timely treatment caused some minor injuries to escalate into major ones. As for the reason he fell unconscious, it was probably due to exhaustion; he probably hadn't rested for two or three days."
Although Chief Fujita was unaware of the inside story, his analysis was indeed very objective and accurate. However, it sounded particularly grating to Jiraiya's ears. He twitched his lips slightly, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Those two troublesome little brats were always causing him trouble.
But he still had to cooperate, which made him quite frustrated.
"When will Yangping be able to wake up?"
Director Fujita glanced back at Yangping on the bed, a relieved smile on his face. "Two or three hours, he's just recovering his strength while unconscious. He should wake up in three hours at most."
Jiraiya gave Yohei a deep look. These two guys really went all out. "Alright, I'll come back in three hours."
He knew that these three hours were the time Taiichi and Yohei had to give him to make a decision: whether to work together to hold the higher-ups accountable and put pressure on them, or to downplay the matter. It all depended on his next decision. After Jiraiya left, the other friends finally had a chance to gather around.
Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Logically, with Taiyi present, this situation shouldn't have occurred, but it did.
No one was stupid. Even Obito didn't speak rashly. The situation was too complicated. All they could do was silently protect the unconscious Yangping.
Three hours passed in a flash, and with a soft groan, Yangping, who had been lying down for half a day, finally opened his eyes.
Jiraiya, Minato, Shikaku, and two other advisors were all by his bedside, while Kakashi and the others were kept on the periphery. This gathering clearly indicated that they had not come specifically to visit him.
Yang Ping instantly recalled Taiichi's instructions. It seemed that Jiraiya didn't want to let this matter pass so easily and wanted to use this opportunity to put pressure on the higher-ups, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people here.
With this thought in mind, Yang Ping immediately came up with a response. His face instantly darkened, and he uttered a shocking statement.
"Lord Jiraiya, a spy within the camp!"
The three staff officers looked at each other in dismay. None of them knew the inside story. They were all shocked to hear that there was a spy in the camp. This was no small matter; it was a matter that could endanger the life and death of the entire camp.
"A spy? How do you know there's a spy? Is it related to your mission?"
Jiraiya is also a true actor; those who don't know him would never guess that he's cooperating with Yohei in a double act.
Yangping was agitated and struggled to get up, but he aggravated his wound and fell heavily back onto the bed.
Saori, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward and helped Yohei sit up. Jiraiya's eyebrows twitched as he watched, secretly marveling at how dedicated these kids were to acting these days, but he still played along, saying, "You don't need to get up, just sit and talk!"
"Yes, thank you, Jiraiya-sama."
After Yangping composed himself, he said, "The mission I received this time was fake. Someone in the camp was colluding with the enemy and fabricated a mission to lure me out."
As he spoke, he took out a scroll from his ninja tool bag and handed it to Jiraiya; it was the same mission scroll from before.
Jiraiya took the scroll, carefully checked its authenticity, and then looked at the mission details inside. He then handed the scroll to Minato so they could take a look as well.
When the scroll returned to Jiraiya's hand after making a full loop, he said with certainty, "The scroll is real. This is not something an outsider could forge. It seems there is indeed a problem within our ranks."
This defines the nature of the problem and acknowledges what Yangping said: that there were problems within their organization.