Chapter 290: A Piece of Paper

It was late, and because of the heavy snow and not too low temperature, Ye Shan declined the invitation to take the Chakra Car, waved goodbye to Keiji and Fugaku, and took Nara Shikaku on the road to the Anbu. As for Kushina, she was naturally sent home by the considerate Minato using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

It was snowing heavily, with goose-feather-sized snowflakes constantly fluttering down. Combined with the orange lights on both sides of the village road, it was a beautiful landscape painting.

Nara Shikaku dutifully held an umbrella for the Hokage, not caring that half of his body was covered in white. The two walked slowly and soon met a ninja team on duty at night, and they had to greet them. Ye Shan liked to walk back to his residence after finishing work late at night, thinking about government affairs while walking, and felt his head was more relaxed than ever before.

More than half an hour later, they arrived in front of a building with a wooden sign on a white background. Mizunotsuki Hara had received the news early and was waiting outside the door. When he saw the Hokage arrive, he led a dozen masked ninjas to greet him.

Ye Shan personally helped Mizunotsukihara up and said with a smile: "The weather is cold, you have worked hard on night duty. Now it is peacetime, there is no need to be on edge all the time, and it's okay to have a midnight snack occasionally."

The Anbu has one chief and three vice-chiefs. Uchiha Keiji is also the chief. He rarely asks about ordinary affairs of the department, and most of them are handed over to the three vice-chiefs. Mizunotsuki was originally the patriarch of the Mizunotsuki clan. After the whole clan joined the Konohagakure, he was given important positions. He is currently mainly responsible for external affairs of the Anbu.

"Hokage-sama is right, but the duty of the Anbu is to protect the village, and we dare not be careless. As for midnight snacks, the department often provides them, and the variety is rich, enough to meet the consumption needs of the ninjas on duty."

Ye Shan smiled and nodded. In the past few years, the Anbu has become increasingly powerful under the management of the other party, quite like the style of the Kirigakure Anbu: "Let's stop talking nonsense. Is the interrogation room ready?"

"Ready, right here in interrogation room number one!"

Although not many ninjas have heard of Interrogation Room No. 1, all those who have been in it are terrified. Because this is a place specifically for interrogating ninjas with special identities and high status, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the number one interrogation room.

"The ANBU and the Root are one and the same. The spy belongs to the Root. Do you have any relevant information on file?"

Mizunotsukihara's eyes flashed, and he said, "Please come in, Hokage-sama. We will go in and talk slowly."

The group entered the conference room, and Mizunotsukihara solemnly took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the Hokage respectfully. This simple piece of paper represented the turbulent career of a spy ninja.

Ye Shan took the paper and read it carefully. He soon sighed and said, "In the thirty-third year of Konoha, this person was assigned by the head of the Root Department, Shimura Danzo, to pretend to be a civilian from the Hidden Mist Village and enter the ninja ranks. Now it is the forty-seventh year of Konoha, which means this happened fourteen years ago!"

"Uesugi Yuta, male, 9 years old, grandfather joined the village and settled there in the sixth year of Konoha, father and mother both died in battle, his background is clean, according to the spy selection criteria, he is to be sent to the Land of Water, June , the thirty-third year of Konoha, left at the Root Spy Office." The information on the paper was very brief, three lines of biography plus a yellowed photo, the child in the photo was grinning and gesturing, and the background was the most common Hokage building. Before digital office was popularized, this piece of paper was his introduction and identity certificate, simple but not simple.

Ye Shan was in a bad mood. Although he had seen too many tragedies of ninjas, he still had some compassion in his heart, so he asked, "Does Uesugi Yuta know anyone in the village?"

Mizunotsukihara shook his head and explained, "According to the rules, once someone becomes a spy, all his household registration information in the village will be cancelled. Uesugi Yuta reported that he died of injuries and illness at the time, and the neighbors had long forgotten about him."

"Send someone to look for him again. Make sure to find out his acquaintances, even if it's just asking about Uesugi Yuta's favorite food!" Ye Shan ordered firmly.

"Yes!"

"A child who spent fourteen years hiding in the enemy country for the sake of the village, devoting his youth, wearing a mask and living in the dark, has already gone through a thousand and one difficulties. Now that the mission is over and we have returned to the village, we cannot just do things impartially, we must show some humanity! Interrogation Room No. 1 is temporarily unavailable, we will interrogate him here after we bring him back."

Ye Shan tapped his fingers on the table, looked around and said, "Put on your uniforms, turn up the lights in the conference room, and bring some food and drinks. It would be best if they were snacks unique to Konoha."

"Yes!"

"Shikaku, go to the office and get my haori. By the way, call Hyuga Hiashi. He is the head of the Root, so of course he has to be present."

"Yes!"

After everything was arranged, everyone sat in the conference room with bated breath and waited. A quarter of an hour later, the Flying Thunder God ritual engraved on the ground suddenly lit up. Ye Shan slowly stood up and even straightened his clothes.

"Shh!"

A flash of yellow passed by, and two people appeared on the technique. They were Minato Namikaze and an ordinary-looking young man. The young man was wearing the standard vest of the Hidden Mist Village, but he had a forehead protector with the logo of the Konoha Village on his head, which looked out of place.

Ye Shan smiled and started to applaud first, followed by the others, and the meeting room instantly became lively.

Uesugi Yuta was in a trance. He was prepared to be thrown into prison, but he never expected this scene. His eyes became wet. When he saw the leader wearing a brand new Hokage haori, which symbolized supreme power, he could no longer hold back and staggered forward two steps. He fell to his knees on the ground with a plop and burst into tears.

A spy is not allowed to lose his composure, and Uesugi Yuta has not cried since the moment he set foot on the road to the Land of Water. But today, he was more timid about returning to the village and excited about returning to the village, which made him burst into tears.

Ye Shan quickly stepped forward to help Uesugi Yuta up, patted his shoulder, and said warmly: "Welcome home! Sit down and eat something. It's freezing outside, so you need to replenish your energy."

Mizunotsukihara and Hyuga Hiashi supported Uesugi Yuta to sit down, smiling, "I don't know what snacks you like to eat, so the Hokage has ordered us to buy all the famous snacks in the village. You can make do with these to fill your stomach and then have a big meal when the sun rises."

Yuta Uesugi was still sobbing. He wiped his tears hard after hearing the words and looked at the snacks on the table. When he saw a small plate of sugar-roasted chestnuts from the Kuroda family, he suddenly fell on the table and started crying again.

"This...Kuroda family...chestnuts were my favorite food when I was a kid. I never thought I'd see them again in my lifetime!"

Hayama pouted, and Namikaze Minato stepped forward, peeled a chestnut, stuffed it into Uesugi Yuta's hand, and said softly: "It's okay, you are safe now, you can eat whatever you want in the future, and eat as much as you want!"

Uesugi Yuta nodded, put the chestnut into his mouth and chewed it vigorously, but his eyes were fixed on the string of four-color meatballs. Namikaze Minato took the meatballs considerately, but he didn't expect him to take them in his hands and not eat them, but just looked at them with sad eyes.

"Four-color dumplings are Matsukawa Otome's favorite food, but she can't eat them anymore..."

As he spoke, Uesugi Yuta's sad expression disappeared, replaced by a determined look. He put down the balls, took off the ninja uniform he was wearing, knelt on the ground and said loudly: "The spy codenamed 0 belonging to the root of Konoha Village has returned to the village to report!"

033 is the year and 091 is the serial number, which means that at least 91 spies were sent out in Konoha alone during the years!

Ye Shan said in a gentle voice: "No need to be polite, sit down and talk!"

"Dirty people don't deserve to sit here!"

"I told you to sit down and talk!"

Namikaze Minato helped Uesugi Yuta sit down. His eyes regained their composure, showing his strong ability to control his emotions. He stared at his hands and said, "I have important intelligence to report. According to our secret investigation, the current leader of the Water Country, Terumi Shikou, has been controlled by outsiders and has become a puppet at the mercy of others!"

Ye Shan was shocked, but he said calmly, "Any evidence?"

"Yes!" Uesugi Yuta said firmly, "Matsukawa Otome belongs to the Medical Ninja Team of the Hidden Mist Village. Not long ago, she was responsible for the personal medical services of Terumi Shiko. She found that Terumi Shiko had been taking a drug that suppressed male hormones for a long time, and she had seen her meet a white creature in private more than once!"

As he spoke, Uesugi Yuta lifted up his clothes, revealing his belly, and borrowed a kunai from the ninja next to him. He cut his skin and muscles in front of everyone's horrified gazes, revealing a layer of yellow fat under the light.

Yuta Uesugi frowned, his breathing quickened, but he remained calm as he reached his hand into the fat layer to feel around. After a moment, a blood-stained piece of paper was pulled out, but his intestines also lost their restraints and squeezed out.

"Hokage, please look, this is the information that Matsukawa Otome risked her life to pass on!"

Ye Shan's nose felt sore. Without even looking at the information, he held Uesugi Yuta's bloodstained hand and transferred the chakra in his body that symbolized vitality to him to help him heal his wounds.

Everyone present was moved. They stuffed the information under their fat layers and took it back to the village. This was unprecedented in the thousands of years of ninja history!

"Where is the woman Matsukawa O?"

Uesugi Yuta's expression darkened, and he replied, "She's dead."

"Zikao Terumi didn't trust outsiders. She died on the way to transmit information. For this piece of paper, several of the two-faced people died. I was lucky. My identity was not exposed, and I survived by chance."

Mizunotsukihara stared at Uesugi Yuta and said, "I know you. You belong to the Second Ninja Battalion of the Hidden Mist Village and are considered a direct descendant of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."

"Lord Hara has a good memory. Yes, I am doing well in the Hidden Mist Village. I was even identified as one of the heirs of the ninja sword a few days ago. I am mainly responsible for the daily security affairs of the village." Uesugi Yuta did not hide anything and spoke frankly about his identity and status.

"Master Yuan, if you have something to say, why not just say it directly? Why do you have to be so secretive?"

Mizunotsukihara gritted his teeth and said, "I am the deputy director of the Anbu. It is my job to investigate. Please forgive me if I have offended you."

"Since you hold a high status in the Hidden Mist Village, why would you risk your life and drop everything to pass on information?"

Uesugi Yuta opened his mouth to answer, but Hayama interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "Tonight is not the time to talk about these things. We are here to welcome the hero home, not to interrogate the enemy!"

Ye Shan set the tone for the matter, and then asked with a smile: "Welcome home, is there anything you want to eat?"

Uesugi Yuta's heart warmed, and he replied, "I want to eat the Root's training meal."

"Rizu, I'm leaving the people in your hands. Make sure you make proper arrangements and report to me at any time!"

Hearing this, Hinata Hiashi smiled and stood up, walked to Uesugi Yuta, took his hand affectionately and said: "Come on, I'll take you to the Root for dinner!"

After several people left the office, Ye Shan's expression became gloomy. He took out Uesugi Yuta's file papers from his arms and placed them on the table, staring at the two pieces of paper without moving.

A piece of paper showing Konoha's 33 years, and a piece of paper showing Konoha's 47 years. For the latter piece of paper, Konoha Village sacrificed the lives of more than a dozen outstanding ninjas; for the latter piece of paper, more than a dozen young men lived in anonymity for more than a decade.

What is a ninja? What is the will of fire? Many people can't answer this question.

Perhaps, the two pieces of paper placed on the table can give the perfect answer.