area51novel Chapter 34 I Became a Substitute
Chapter 34 I Became a Substitute
Chapter 34 I Became a Substitute
They met again in the Cat Village. When Shisui asked Kiyokawa Shiba, "Who is the mysterious person in the Akatsuki who bewitched Kakashi?", Kiyokawa almost burst out laughing again.
You ask me who I am?
This is so much fun!
Moreover, he never expected that a seed he casually sowed would bloom into a beautiful flower so quickly.
Kakashi's action-orientedness is even stronger than he imagined. Has he already begun his revenge?
Moreover, through Uchiha Shisui's honest narration, Shiba Kiyokawa quickly seized upon the exploitable gaps in the situation.
"You said that many people in Konoha suspect that the trial of Kakashi was orchestrated by Root?"
Uchiha Shisui hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Aizen-kun, it's not convenient for me to say more about this."
Shiba Kiyokawa smiled. "Your attitude speaks louder than a thousand words, silly child."
Then he had an idea.
"I do know something about that Akatsuki member. His name is Shimura Taiga. He's a wandering ninja who fled from the east to the Land of Rain. He's quite strong, but he's also a bit ruthless."
Shiba Kiyokawa casually made up a new identity for himself.
Although the name is fake, it differs by only a few syllables, so even if it is exposed in the future, one can claim that they misremembered it when they heard it from somewhere else.
The most interesting thing is that his surname is exactly one syllable different from the surname of the leader of Konoha Root.
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Shisui's expression immediately changed.
"Aizen-kun, you said that evil Akatsuki member's surname is Shimura?!"
Moreover, isn't the Land of Fire just to the east of the Land of Rain?
Uchiha Shisui felt as if he had just discovered a crucial point in the blind!
Shiba Kiyokawa feigned ignorance and asked, "Yes, is there a problem with this surname?"
Uchiha Shisui remained silent.
He realized that the Shimura family wasn't a particularly powerful ninja clan, and Danzo rarely publicized his surname and family, so it was probably normal for the people of the Land of Rain not to know about them.
But wouldn't that make it seem even more suspicious?
Uchiha Shisui didn't want to think of the village's elders as so sinister, but the recent series of events left him no choice but to think about it.
First, Minato and Elder Danzo had a conflict, then Kakashi was suddenly accused, and now he has discovered that the person who misled Kakashi is suspected to be from the Shimura family!
It's a closed loop now!
Uchiha Shisui grew increasingly alarmed as he thought about it.
Shiba Kiyokawa only needed to observe Uchiha Shisui's expression for a short while to realize that the seed he had planted had sprouted again.
He smiled slightly, filled with anticipation for the future developments in Konoha, and said, "Are you satisfied with this information, Shisui-kun? If you want to know more about Akatsuki in the future, you can come to me. As a friend, I'll give you a discount."
Uchiha Shisui nodded somewhat confusedly, puzzled. "Didn't you just say not long ago that they were your dearest friends, family, and brothers?"
However, the good-natured Shisui was too embarrassed to ask directly, and instead readily pushed the transcribed ninjutsu scroll over.
"Aizen-kun, these are the ninjutsu I promised you before. They're not very high-level, so I hope you don't mind."
Shiba Kiyokawa happily accepted it.
He gets paid for cheating people, so why would he mind?
"Then it was a pleasant transaction, Mr. Shisui. I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."
Afterwards, Shiba Kiyokawa paid the referral fee to the gray cat shopkeeper and ordered a high-end ninja sword mixed with chakra metal from the shop before leaving the cat village after performing hand seals.
Upon returning, he quickly gathered the Akatsuki members at the base.
"Everyone, I have recently made some progress and acquired some ninjutsu. I will teach it to my teammates first."
As for the others, as long as you work hard to contribute to the Akatsuki, I will teach you one by one in the future. I hope everyone will continue to work hard and contribute to the development of the Akatsuki!
Although Shiba Kiyokawa's words sounded righteous and awe-inspiring, the astute members quickly grasped their true meaning—
Captain Qinghe was fortunate enough to obtain a batch of ninjutsu techniques that could be taught, and he would decide for himself who to teach them!
They say you can receive the teachings by contributing to the organization, but here's the problem: can you really count the contribution of listening to Yahiko and listening to Captain Kiyokawa as the same?
The news quickly reached Yahiko's ears.
He was so angry that his head ached, and he couldn't help but rub his temples.
Yahiko was just naive; he wasn't stupid. How could he not see that Shiba Kiyokawa was trying to win people over and sideline him?
However, his personality dictated that he couldn't be too forceful in going to Shiba Kiyokawa and ordering him to hand over his ninjutsu.
In desperation, he thought of his two close friends.
Just then, Nagato pushed the door open and came in, looking very happy.
"Brother Yahiko, that's great! Kiyokawa helped me select a few people today, taught me a lot of techniques, and gave me a lot of information about Konoha. Now my intelligence network can finally be set up."
As luck would have it, not long after, Konan also pushed open the door and came in with a happy look on her face, saying, "Yahiko, good news! Kiyokawa has helped us find a channel to dump our goods in the Cat Country."
Next, we can sell some of the food and medicine left behind by the Ando merchants to the Cat Village, and then exchange them for ninja tools and weapons to arm our members!
Now everyone won't have to worry about not having ninja tools when they're on duty!
Seeing the beaming expressions on his two friends' faces, Yahiko momentarily forgot what he was going to say.
As expected, Shiba Kiyokawa came prepared this time, and once again managed to get his two friends to stand on his side.
Yahiko stiffly said, "Congratulations."
After that, he never mentioned his own affairs again.
Because he already knew his friends' answers without asking, and being kind-hearted, he didn't want to put his good friends in a difficult position.
However, things are not over yet.
A short while later, another subordinate came in to report, "Chief Yahiko, the ninja clan members who joined us a few days ago have also applied to join Captain Kiyokawa's squad today."
Yahiko's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is this possible?! Weren't they listening to me explain my vision and ideals for peace just yesterday?"
The subordinate didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Those ninjas who applied to follow Shiba Kiyokawa were the refugees from the small ninja clans who had contributed all their family's wealth and the Cat Village summoning contract.
They clearly believed in themselves and were so committed to their ideals before, so why did they turn out like this?
Yahiko doesn't understand.
But Shiba Kiyokawa understood very well that, in the end, while being inspired by ideals is one thing, when it comes to actually doing things, ninjas will inevitably be more inclined to follow a strong and reliable leader.
Moreover, since Shiba Kiyokawa had always followed the example of Boss Cao, who used the "Emperor" to command the feudal lords, no matter how much he argued with Yahiko, he never publicly rebelled.
Therefore, in the eyes of the newly joined members, following Shiba Kiyokawa does not seem to conflict with the ideal of following Akatsuki.
After such a series of blows, Yahiko finally slumped back in his chair, a single thought lingering in his mind—
Oh no, now I'm the stand-in!
Does this mean that from now on I'm only fit to recruit new members and give motivational speeches?
(End of this chapter)