Starting with the usurpation of Akatsuki, the ninja world was overthrown.

Chapter 120 A Letter from an Unknown Woman

Chapter 120 A Letter from an Unknown Woman

After that day, many people in the Akatsuki organization learned that their leader, Shiba Kiyokawa, had developed a completely new ability.

Everyone was happy about the leader's increased strength.

However, only the person involved knows the cost.

For the next few days, Koyo would blush and avoid him whenever she saw him, while Konan, for some reason, temporarily took over Kakuzu's work and quietly became his little follower, following him wherever he went.

Even when Konan is working, she is always accompanied by a lazy-looking long-haired Ragdoll cat—that is Konan's contracted ninja cat, with a pair of lake-blue jewel-like eyes, named Ran.

Konan was initially uninterested in the Cat Village Roll. Her innate paper-based ninjutsu was enough to exhaust all her energy. Especially after her best friend's hydrangea contract failed, she voluntarily gave up trying in order not to discourage her friend.

However, influenced by Shiba Kiyokawa, she renewed the contract.

Now, Shiba Kiyokawa feels like he's shot himself in the foot.

He and Lan discussed it.

"Good kitty, here's a can of dried fish, go find Xiaoyu to play, okay?"

Lan squinted at him, looking at him with a half-smile, her expression revealing a mischievousness that was almost human. In an instant, she turned around and deliberately meowed in a high-pitched voice.

"Meow, did you hear that? This person gave such cheap dried fish, what a heartless person~"

From the corner behind Ran, Tama jumped out with a hurt look on her face and looked at Shiba Kiyokawa, "Meow~ That's too much! I risked my life to help you blind that giant snake, and all you gave me was three cans of dried fish, meow!"

"..."

At this moment, Shiba Kiyokawa's inner thoughts seemed to transform into a meme.

(╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻

Why is even the cat trying to create a love triangle with me?!

He didn't necessarily want to send Lan away to do anything; it was just that he had too many secrets.

But just then, a letter was delivered by an unfamiliar spirit beast.

Lan sniffed the air from afar, and immediately revealed a subtle expression.

"Meow~ Where does this strange woman's scent come from? It's all my nose's fault~"

Shiba Kiyokawa rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay attention to this drama queen cat who was addicted to teasing him.

Who knows how such an innocent girl like Xiaonan managed to contract such a sassy, ​​cunning cat?

He opened the letter and quickly read it.

It was somewhat unexpected, yet somehow also quite logical.

The letter was sent by Yecang.

"It seems our acting Kazekage isn't having an easy time," Shiba Kiyokawa said with a light laugh after putting down the letter.

This result did not deviate from his prediction when they parted ways.

Yecang had been away from the village for more than half a year, and even before she left, she had always been at a disadvantage against Luosha. How could she possibly turn the tables so easily?

This is evident from her current title—she is merely the acting Kazekage.

Several days have passed since the major news of Rasa and Hiruzen Sarutobi's abdication, and the two villages have surprisingly maintained a consistent approach in handling the aftermath, neither immediately announcing the appointment of a new Kage.

Konoha has appointed Minato Namikaze as the acting Hokage, but he is currently only wearing the Hokage's half-sleeve and has not yet held a formal succession ceremony.

Moreover, it seems that he has no intention of returning to the village to succeed to the position in the short term. He has only sent Nara Shikaku back to help take over the internal affairs and responsibilities of the Hokage.

The situation in Sunagakure is even more unpredictable!

Yekura became the acting Kazekage, but she still failed to gain official recognition from the Fifth Kazekage.

Its nature is the same as Danzo who participated in the Five Kage Summit in the original work. It is only a temporary appointment, not a formal succession. In Konoha, such a proxy will not even leave a portrait on the Shadow Rock.

Even now, Yekura's title is still only Acting Kazekage, not Fifth Kazekage!

It's clear that even with Sasori, Yekura, who had been out of work for over half a year and had no foundation, couldn't achieve a complete turnaround after returning.

So much so that within just a few days, she was forced to start writing letters to Shiba Kiyokawa.

-

Let's rewind a little bit.

Inside Sunagakure, a young ANBU member, still a tiny little boy, instantly entered the Kazekage's office and knelt on one knee to report to Pakura.

"Lord Kazekage, the village's funds are running extremely low, and the commander at the front is urging us to wait for the next batch of ninja tools and puppets. What should I say in response?"

Ye Cang sat wearily in his seat, and couldn't help but pinch his brow. After a long while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Juan, get up. I told you you don't need to bow to me here. Just continue to call me teacher as before."

Maki, Yekura's youngest apprentice, is also the person who will seal her away in the future in the original work (the image above is Maki in the Fourth Shinobi World War in the original work).

Now he's the only confidant she can completely trust in the village.

Unfortunately, no matter how talented Juan is, she is just a little girl now and can't help her much.

"The frontline commander is urging us to send Elder Chiyo to appease him, since she was the one who promoted him!"

"We're running low on funds, so send Luo Sha into the desert to dig for gold! Hasn't he always been in charge of this? What? Doesn't he want to do it anymore?"

After rolling up, Yekura asked wearily and irritably.

Now, after so many days, she's almost too exhausted to even be angry.

Her confession reveals her current predicament: she doesn't hold any of the important positions in the village; they were either promoted by the elders or left behind by Luo Sha. Even the village's financial lifeline is not in her hands.

Even though Rasa resigned from his position as Kazekage, he was still a highly influential figure in the village thanks to his gold-mining ninjutsu!

In the original story, Rasa was able to sell Pakura to Kirigakure, but conversely, the newly appointed Pakura didn't dare to easily touch Rasa.

This left Yekura feeling deeply exhausted.

Juan noticed the teacher's disheveled state, but she didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only report back to the teacher in detail.

"Lord Rasa... he said that he recently had a conflict with an oasis city in the northern desert and asked... Lord Kazekage, to handle it as soon as possible, saying that he can't go out to pan for gold until it's resolved."

"Excuses! They're all just excuses!!" Ye Cang slammed his fist on the table in anger, and couldn't help but swear.

Juan lowered her head, so sad that she almost cried.

Of course, she could tell that Jonin Rasa was making excuses.

But what can be done?

They were completely powerless against the other side.

After a long while, Yecang leaned back weakly in her chair and murmured, "The northern part of the desert... that place should be very close to the Land of Rain."

As she said this, a complex look flashed in her eyes.

If she had a choice, she really didn't want to contact that wretched brat, Shiba Kiyokazu, again!

The last time was clearly the first time she had ever stood up for herself and won back the score with that guy. If she went back to beg him so soon, wouldn't it make her seem like she was completely outmaneuvered?

But... in this situation, besides seeking help from the Akatsuki organization in the Land of Rain, and from that boy who always uses her and has her completely under his thumb, she really can't think of any other way.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt angry, but she was powerless to struggle.

Oh well, let him take advantage of me. It's not the first time.

With a "what the hell" attitude, she instructed, "I'll write a letter to the outside of the village. Juan, do you know the name of that oasis city that Luo Sha mentioned had a conflict with?"

Juan answered honestly, "Lord Luo Sha said that place is called Loulan."

(End of this chapter)