Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 300 Behind the Scenes

"Naruto, you really didn't do anything?" Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was away, Jiraiya suddenly approached him.

Naruto wasn't surprised; his master had always been very concerned about his physical and mental health, especially his mental well-being. Combat injuries were commonplace for ninjas, but assassination was a completely different experience. However, Naruto didn't know what that feeling was like because he hated assassination and didn't like doing it. He would only consider assassination if the opponent was truly despicable and there was a compelling reason for it.

“Really.” Naruto gave an affirmative answer. “I just gave a little encouragement to a third-party force that only wanted to kill that person, and incidentally did them a favor.”

"..." Jiraiya was a little confused by this statement. He knew his son was extremely intelligent, but he didn't know that he also had a cunning and shrewd side.

His intuition was correct, because the plan was devised by Hui's side in a last-minute meeting, and even the one who actually assisted wasn't Naruto himself, but rather Hashirama Senju, who connected the tree roots to the manor. The pollen from the Flower Tree World could decompose naturally, causing respiratory failure as a symptom of death, very similar to death under anesthesia. There were always a few people in the manor who could recognize what a corpse looked like after death under anesthesia, so to them, this was proof that there was a traitor within their ranks.

The faction that didn't want to investigate happened to possess these things and were afraid of being accused of murder. The faction that wanted to investigate had relatively clean hands and were constantly complaining about the other side's shady businesses, eager to get rid of them as soon as possible. Moreover, they believed that even if the king wanted to investigate, he couldn't possibly find out everything. The foundation laid by Taizheng was so vast that they could keep some things and enjoy their father's entire inheritance.

After obtaining the basic intelligence, Izuna analyzed these psychological states quite thoroughly. He decisively ordered Hashirama Senju to choose an auspicious day to poison Taisei, completely disregarding the possibility of having Naruto, who was closer in the field, carry out the task. Who was Hashirama Senju? He was the God of Shinobi, a man who created Konoha with benevolence and righteousness, a man of integrity throughout his life. Asking him to do such a thing would be incredibly difficult for him to overcome psychologically. Fortunately, Naruto saved him; he only needed to provide enough pollen to poison ordinary people...

"It has to be someone from the manor who takes action, otherwise the investigation will go cold, and they'll just have to suspect the Flying Thunder God Technique." Naruto had always known that Izuna harbored a prejudice against Hashirama, but they'd all worked together for so many years, and had countless arguments and disagreements, yet Izuna would still try to trip up Hashirama over trivial matters, his persistence was truly remarkable...

"You found a nemesis so quickly?" Tobirama asked.

“...How can you say that? They are righteous people who rid the people of evil!” Naruto gave Tobirama a speechless look and explained, “Actually, you can find out by filtering the emotions of everyone in the manor. There is someone who is full of resentment, but when you observe her, you can’t tell from her face that she is obedient.”

"Who?"

"The First Madam's personal maid."

Izuna sighed and said, "What kind of grudge is this? I'm a little curious myself."

"Brother Quannai, the other party took the initiative to come out of the mansion to find me. They are business partners, so you can't just go and search their brains."

“I know! I still have that much morality.” Izuna glared at him.

"That girl, you really can't tell from her appearance at all, how could she have such courage?" Hashirama was a little surprised. He had observed the various aspects of life in the manor through the "tree," and it almost made him furious.

"Regardless of whether she has the guts or not, since she's come and has even tentatively provided me with some information, let's trust her for now. If she can't bring herself to do it, I'll take matters into my own hands."

"I'm actually more curious about something else," Tobirama said, offering no suggestions regarding the battle. "Does that Lady know anything about it?"

The women of the Frost Kingdom have never had the opportunity to make their own decisions. Their lives are restricted by their fathers, brothers, families, and societal norms, and they see no way out.

The decision to hand over the power to investigate the manor to the First Madam was met with strong reactions not only from the Tai government but also from the King himself, who initially found it absurd.

"What can a woman accomplish?" The king offended the only woman present with a single sentence. Sakura smiled and gently placed her hand on the table. Without even making a forceful movement, a huge crack appeared in the table.

"Sorry, it was a slip of the hand."

When the king and Ye Ming first saw this female ninja exert her strength, they were immediately drenched in sweat and tried to change the subject, but Naruto insisted on handing over the investigation to the First Lady and came up with a very reasonable explanation.

"The First Madam is the second wife of the Taizheng Emperor. She has no sons, only daughters, and is not seen as a threat by any party in the Taizheng government. It is precisely because of her absolute neutrality in terms of blood relations and the division of power that the neutrality of the subsequent investigation can be guaranteed."

"What if she uses her investigative power as leverage to find powerful backers in the future? Isn't that still somewhat biased?"

"What we want is to find evidence of human trafficking in the Tai government. Regardless of which side this lady ultimately chooses, the opportunity to completely eliminate the other side is within reach, and there is no better option. If they were united, this matter would indeed be difficult to handle, but they are not."

"...So, it doesn't matter what she chooses; what matters is that we get the evidence and then use it to the maximum extent possible in our other investigative directions."

Naruto sighed again, feeling that he had been sighing a little too often lately.

"The best outcome would be for the lady to remain neutral and fairly collect everything, although that is unlikely."

Two days before the plan began, the "victim's" perspective also had to be activated. Naruto had observed that the trafficking gang, operating against the grain, would send the victims out of the city within two days. In the remote, poorly connected mountains, it wouldn't be easy for the delivery team to learn of Taizheng's death. Furthermore, Taizheng wasn't foolish enough to use his estate as a transit point for Tibetans; he only sent people over when checking accounts. Therefore, there was no need to keep the "goods" stuck in Lanlin City; sending them out would maximize their effectiveness.

“You’ve chosen the perfect time. We’re setting sail tomorrow. We were discussing today who should stay behind to watch the girls, but as you know, the fleet is short-handed.” Sasuke’s departure time had been set long ago, but no matter how far the distance, Naruto could arrive instantly. Moreover, the location of Hozuki Castle was not even outside Naruto’s perception range, so his departure was practically the same as not leaving at all. Therefore, there was no need for a special farewell.

"...The result was that no one could stay..."

"Isn't it cruel? Tonight is the last night."

"Then you don't need to do anything. These people might just break into the house."

Sasuke was shocked, and his eyes even showed signs of turning red.

"What, you don't believe me?"

"...This country is courting its own destruction."

"I completely agree with this."