Chapter 277: Completed

As evening approached, the rain in the New Rain Kingdom suddenly became heavier. It was no longer sparse as it was during the day, but instead poured down like falling jade beads.

Shimura Danno squatted down and searched for spoils among the dying enemy. Finally, he found a forehead protector from the Hidden Mist Village in his arms, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

Terumi Hong had never felt so weak before. He lay on his back on the mud, feeling the life draining away from his body. He opened his mouth to say something, but the blood rushing up his trachea blocked his voice and he could only make gurgling sounds.

"You want to ask when the seal will be cast to release the clone, right?" Shimura Danno asked, glancing at the enemy, who blinked hard and motioned for him to continue.

"Why should I tell you?"

Unfortunately, this deputy minister of the Kirigakure Anbu and a rising star of the Terumi clan was destined to leave the world with confusion and regret. No matter how high-spirited and proud he was during his lifetime, all of it vanished into thin air at the moment of his death.

Shimura Danno stared at the dying enemy with interest. This was his personal hobby. He liked to watch the prey slowly die, and then cut off the opponent's head and bring it back to the village to show his bravery. For this, the ninjas in the village scolded him a lot, but so what? The ninja's duty is to fight, and fighting means death. Why pretend to be a good person if you kill people?

Let's move forward to a few quarters of an hour. When Shimura Danno's subordinates sensed the enemy ahead, he jumped from the tree trunk to the ground, and then rushed over. So the question is, do ninjas usually have unstable bodies after landing and need to shake their bodies to remove the excess impact? The answer is obviously no. Not to mention that Shimura Danno is an elite jonin and has reached the top of the ninja profession, even a chunin can master the skills and land safely. So, the Wind Style Shadow Clone was released at that time. But Terumi Hong didn't notice it, or he didn't care about it at all, which led to his battle with the shadow clone from the beginning, which doomed him to defeat and death.

In a ninja fight, keeping a close eye on your opponent's hands is of utmost importance. The various strange ninjutsu are hard to defend against, but as long as you make sure that he doesn't have the chance to make hand seals, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Shimura Danno knew this clearly, so he released the clone technique to lure the enemy at the beginning, while his real body hid, waiting for the right time to give the enemy a fatal blow.

His tactics were successful. Although Terumi Hong was not much weaker than him, it looked like a fight that would end in loss for both sides. However, a slight mistake can lead to a huge loss, and Shimura Danno won the victory almost unscathed.

The sky gradually darkened. Shimura Danno put his ear to Terumi Hong's mouth and squinted his eyes to listen to the gurgling sound of blood spurting in the other's trachea. He looked intoxicated, as if this was the most beautiful sound in the world.

After a moment, Terumi Hong completely turned into a corpse. Her originally rosy face turned extremely pale, and her wide-open eyes were full of unwillingness and reluctance. She couldn't close them even though the rain continued to wash them.

Shimura Danno stood up with a look of unsatisfied desire, smacked his lips, and decided to look for the next prey. Before leaving, he took off the other's head, held it in his hand and sneered, "Another guy who doesn't know his own limitations. What the Hokage is going to do is unprecedented and will never be repeated. How can you, a vulgar person, question it? I want to see how many ignorant guys dare to come and die!"

The Shannan Province was destined to be filled with blood tonight. The Root Ninjas who had been holding back their resentment for years had now found a vent. In addition, they were all elite jonin, and they did not care about the severity of their attacks. This made life difficult for the group of destructive Mist Village Ninjas.

After daybreak, Sakata, who had hurried over, met Shimura Danno, who was covered in blood. The latter had returned to his traditional attire, wrapped up so tightly that there was no identifiable part of him at all.

Sakata was startled, but he quickly reacted and made a hand seal, bowed and said, "Are you dressed like a Root ninja?"

Shimura Danno returned the greeting and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Excellency is too polite. We are here under the order of Uchiha Fugaku, the Deputy Hokage, to eliminate the enemy. Now everything is done. Please inspect it, Your Excellency."

Acceptance? Sakata was speechless. With the current situation, what can he do even if he holds the power of Shannan Province? When asking someone to do something, you have to have the attitude of asking for help. Sakata smiled and said enthusiastically: "Why call me sir? It's too strange. Just call me by my name. You have worked hard all night. Come with me out of the mountain to eat some food and rest."

Shimura Danno's mouth curled up slightly under the mask. He would not eat the meal. The Root has its own rules, even if the village no longer follows them. He said tactfully: "The Deputy Hokage has issued a death order. We don't have much time left. We need to rush back immediately to report. I will treat you to a meal when I have time in the future. Please give me some face."

Sakata was stunned. This was the first time he met a Root ninja who spoke so many words in one breath. He had always been concise before, but today he was enlightened: "Well, since you all have official business to attend to, I won't force you to stay. Please say hello to the Deputy Hokage for me."

The two sides separated, and after the Root ninja walked away, a ninja standing behind Sakata asked, "Sir, do we really not need to inspect? It would be very bad if some fish slipped through the net and harmed people's lives."

Sakata stared at the direction where the Root Ninja left for a long time and said, "There is no need for that. They are all professionals and they always do things flawlessly."

"Did you see the Root Ninja who just spoke? He is the famous Ripper. So far, no mission he has ever handled has gone wrong. In the underground world, his bounty even exceeds that of the Three Ninjas!"

"What's his name?"

Sakata looked at the subordinate who was asking the question with a half-smile, and replied meaningfully: "Shimura Danno, the younger brother of the former Root leader Shimura Danzo."

Speaking of Danzo Shimura, everyone present changed color. That hawkish figure of Konohagakure represented the darkest side. He would do anything to achieve his goals and had no principles at all. He was the nightmare of many people.

"He is actually the remnant of the Shimura clan, why didn't Hokage execute him!?"

Sakata snorted coldly and said, "Keep your mouths shut! The Shimura clan is part of the Konohagakure, and is definitely not a remnant! The Hokage appoints people based on their merits. Shimura Danno is able to hold power alone because he has the ability. If you don't accept it, you can try sitting in that position."

Everyone was silent. After a moment, someone said, "Since the danger in the mountains has been eliminated, should we remove the notice? There has been a lot of opposition from the people in the past few days. If it gets to the Hokage, it will be serious."

Sakata thought for a moment and said, "It's not a good idea to let them all go at once. If there are traps set by ninjas in the mountains, it will also endanger the lives of the people. Let's do this. Take people in to search and make sure there is no danger before letting them go. But you have to be quick. I will only give you half a day."

"Yes!"

Two flowers bloom, each with its own beauty. The action of eliminating the enemy in the New Rain Country has just ended. Yeshan in the Konoha Village has just received the report from Uchiha Fugaku, which makes his originally happy mood turn gloomy.

Ye Shan slept in the bathhouse last night and came out in the morning feeling refreshed, especially his waist which had been sore all the time, now straighter and stronger. He didn't expect to receive bad news from the New Rain Country as soon as he entered the office.

Ye Shan rubbed his brows. Recently, there have been a lot of bad news. The attack on Kakashi's team and the killing of the people of the New Rain Country have made him very upset. But there is no suitable solution to the problem at present. He can only hope that Uchiha Fugaku will handle it properly.

Nara Shikaku knocked on the door and entered, with a resentful look on his face, as if he was still brooding over the ruthless abandonment last night. Seeing that the Hokage looked unhappy, he said softly, "Sir, all the people participating in the meeting have arrived."

Ye Shan suddenly realized, looked at the clock, and was surprised to find that it was already a quarter past nine. He was stunned. It seemed like he had done nothing all morning?

The meeting held today is very important. It was ordered by Ye Shan himself, and the venue was chosen to be the conference room on the second floor of the Hokage Building, which shows its importance.

Yeshan stood up, put on the Hokage haori handed to him by Nara Shikaku, took out the wooden box that had been prepared long ago from the drawer, and walked straight out the door.

In fact, it was just upstairs and downstairs, so Ye Shan only took more than a minute to get to the conference room. At this time, the room was full of people, and from time to time, happy laughter could be heard, and it looked like everyone was having a great time.

"The Hokage has arrived!"

Following Nara Shikaku's announcement, the meeting room instantly fell silent, and everyone stood up to greet the Hokage. Hayama walked into the room with a smile on his face, and the first thing that caught his eye was the electronic screen in the front, which read: "Ninjutsu Research Association Results Exhibition Conference!"

Ye Shan sat in the main seat, with Uchiha Keiji sitting next to him. The two looked at each other and showed a tacit smile on their faces. It was obvious that they did not do anything good last night.

Uchiha Keiji restrained his smile, cleared his throat and said: "Everyone! Today we are holding a grand meeting to accept the scientific research results. After more than half a year of hard work, with the cooperation of various departments of the Ninjutsu Research Association, we have made unprecedented progress! Now, please allow the Hokage to make a summary speech!"

Ye Shan waved his hand, suppressing the urge to applaud, and said directly: "We are all family, so we should avoid unnecessary nonsense. First of all, I will report to you why Vice Hokage Minato Namikaze was unable to attend the meeting as scheduled today. I believe you have heard some gossip. That's right, Vice Hokage Minato is currently in the Land of Whirlpools. Under his leadership, Konohagakure has regained its lost territory!"

"Crash!"

Warm applause flooded the conference room, forcing Ye Shan to stop speaking.

What's interesting is that Ye Shan was talking about recovering lost territory, not some other messy thing. This means that Konoha's dispatch to the Land of Whirlpools was justified, and it was definitely not because of greed for the rich mineral resources there.

"In the past six months, Konohagakure has become better and better thanks to everyone's efforts. A few days ago, you developed steam cars, trains, and chakra cars before the agreed time. These are all research results that can definitely change the ninja world! On behalf of Konohagakure, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you. You have worked hard!"

After a pause, Ye Shan continued, "In order to commend the meritorious ninjas and to create a fair and just competitive atmosphere, the village leaders have decided to award all of you the second-level scientific research pioneer medal, and to award individual outstanding individuals the first-level scientific research pioneer medal!"

The atmosphere in the meeting room reached its peak, and everyone cheered and enjoyed the rewards of their hard work. Ye Shan and Uchiha Keiji personally presented them with medals, which were gold medals with the sickle logo of the Ninjutsu Research Association. Not only did it look pleasing, but more importantly, it was worth a lot of money.

After the medals were awarded, Ye Shan sat down with a smile and said, "You completed the assigned tasks ahead of schedule and were accepted in practice. I am very happy and proud. But the New Rain Country's new policy has not yet been completed, and the production methods there are still backward. You need to continue to work hard for it!"

"I declare that the next research focus of the Ninjutsu Research Association will be the development of agricultural machinery, and the main direction of the research will be how to combine chakra with agricultural production!"

Everyone was sitting quietly in the conference room, only Ye Shan was talking incessantly. The theme of today's meeting was more of a briefing than a display of research results. Ye Shan wanted to use a small-scale meeting to determine the work direction of the Ninjutsu Research Association in the coming period.

"If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a bright road ahead of us, and beautiful scenery around us. The vast New Rain Country is waiting for us to develop and display our talents. I hope you will continue to work hard and strive to achieve excellent results before the end of the year!"

"The meeting is dismissed!"

Ye Shan took over Nara Shikaku's job. After everyone left, he still sat in his seat, thinking about how to arrange the work next.

The spring ploughing in the New Rain Country has basically ended. If nothing unexpected happens, a large amount of food will be delivered to the village granary in a few months. The food crisis has completely ended and can even feed back to Konoha Village, which is good news that makes people happy.

But solving the food problem is only the first step of a difficult task. How to properly deal with the remaining power of the aristocracy is the top priority. Everything should be done step by step. Now the Water Country is stirring up trouble again. It seems that there is an invisible hand controlling everything in the dark, which makes Ye Shan alert.

Therefore, when Minato Namikaze proposed to recruit the Mizunotsuki clan, Hayama chose to accept it arbitrarily without even obtaining the approval of the Jonin Conference.

Throwing a stone to test the water might be the best option at the moment. Cautious Ye Shan decided to slow down the pace of the new policy and solve the major problem of the Water Kingdom first.