Naruto: Eating Kaido's Azure Dragon Devil Fruit-Chapter 294: Land of Keys

Within Konoha, Sora’s figure leaped and landed several times in the night, once again silently leaving the village’s alert perimeter.

Recently, he had practically turned the area around Konoha inside out.

Relying on his Anbu status and guidance from his memories of the original story, he had indeed found several of Orochimaru’s secret bases near Konoha.

Unfortunately, they were either long abandoned, or their security level was too low, making it impossible to access core secrets like "Living Corpse Reincarnation".

He had also asked Fox for information, but the results were disappointing.

Orochimaru acted with extreme caution and secrecy. Those truly important bases left no traces to follow.

’It seems conventional methods won’t work,’ Sora thought to himself.

...

Land of Keys.

A small country on the ninja world map that you almost need a magnifying glass to find. Its ninja village is even smaller than Kusagakure and Takigakure.

But it is precisely such a small place that possesses a unique intelligence network.

Wearing the Vermilion Bird mask and his iconic black robe, Sora stood outside a somewhat desolate valley.

At the valley entrance stood a stone tablet carved with the three characters "Key Village".

Sora looked into the distance.

He found that it resembled a slightly larger mountain stronghold more than a ninja village.

The walls were low. Only a few ninjas wearing straw hats were patrolling. Their chakra fluctuations were weak, at most chunin level.

’It really is small.’

Sora evaluated in his mind.

He did not conceal his presence and walked directly towards the entrance.

"Halt. Who goes there?"

A guard noticed him and immediately shouted a challenge. Though he tried to sound stern, a hint of nervousness showed in his eyes.

Sora directly released a faint, almost imperceptible pressure.

"I’m looking for the person in charge here. To discuss business."

The guard’s face paled, and he subconsciously took half a step back.

He quickly gave his companion a meaningful look. The other person swiftly ran into the village to report.

Not long after, an old man wearing a straw hat, supported by a young girl, slowly walked out.

Sora’s gaze swept over them.

The old man’s face was covered in wrinkles, but his eyes held a shrewd glint.

The girl beside him appeared to be about fifteen years old, wearing a clean, plain-colored kimono, with delicate features.

Most noticeable were her large eyes, clear and holding a trace of curiosity, secretly observing Sora who wore the Vermilion Bird mask.

’It’s indeed the old man and Hanare from the original story.’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Sora confirmed in his mind. The person before him was indeed Hanare, who almost got Kakashi to settle down.

The old man spoke in a hoarse voice.

"May I ask who you are?"

Sora replied.

"A guest seeking information."

"This is not the place for conversation, is it?"

The old man narrowed his eyes, turned sideways, and made a "please" gesture.

"This old man has been negligent. Honored guest, please follow me."

Sora followed the old man and Hanare into the village.

Most buildings inside the village were low, old, and worn. There weren’t many people around, giving it a somewhat desolate feel.

...

The three arrived at a reception room. After they sat down, the old man directly asked.

"May I ask what information the honored guest wishes to inquire about?"

Sora did not immediately get to the main point. Instead, he first asked a few probing questions about troop movements on the Land of Earth’s border and the recent flow of some rare medicinal ingredients on the black market.

The old man answered fluently, even providing some rather detailed supplementary information. Clearly, their intelligence network indeed had its unique strengths.

’It seems I’ve come to the right place.’

Feeling assured, Sora stated his true purpose for coming.

"I want to know the locations of all possible secret bases of one of Konoha’s Sannin, Orochimaru, within the Land of Fire, especially near Konoha Village."

Upon hearing this, a trace of gravity appeared on the old man’s face.

Even Hanare, who had been standing quietly beside him, slightly widened her eyes.

She was clearly startled by the sensitivity and danger level of this question.

The old man was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Your question, sir, is not easy to answer. Lord Orochimaru... is not someone minor players like us can easily spy on."

"I know."

Sora said calmly. "That’s precisely why I came to you. Price is not an issue."

As he spoke, Sora took out a stack of banknotes from his robe and placed them on the low table in front of him.

The denominations were so large that Hanare behind the old man couldn’t help but blink.

The old man looked at the stack of banknotes, then at Sora who appeared calm and composed, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Finally, a businessman’s instinct and his desire for funds won out.

The old man gave Hanare a meaningful look.

Hanare understood, turned, and walked into the inner room. Not long after, she brought out a small scroll.

The old man took the scroll and said solemnly.

"We have indeed gathered some related information through certain channels."

"However, this old man must state in advance that we cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of this intelligence, nor can we guarantee whether these locations have been abandoned."

"Orochimaru’s strength and methods... I presume you are aware, sir."

"I understand."

Sora nodded. "I will judge the value of the intelligence itself."

The old man handed the scroll over.

Sora took it and opened it on the spot.

The scroll marked over a dozen locations. Most of them overlapped with the ones Sora himself had investigated.

Then, Sora’s gaze fell on three locations specially marked with red dots.

These three bases were in even more remote locations. Question marks were added after the defensive level assessments. Small notes next to them said things like "suspected important base", "relatively recent activity traces", etc.

’These three are it!’

Sora’s mind stirred.

He had not discovered these three locations before. They were clearly extremely well hidden.

"Very good. I’ll take this intelligence."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, coughed once, and reached out to take the banknotes on the low table.

At the same time, Hanare, who had been quietly standing behind the old man, began to move her clear, large eyes, as if looking around.

A faint spiritual energy, like invisible tentacles, quietly probed towards Sora!

’Hmm?’

Seeing Hanare’s wandering eyes, Sora’s heart tightened.

The original story did not clearly state that Hanare had a direct eye technique or ninjutsu for reading others’ information. But her actions and that spiritual fluctuation right now were clearly some form of mental probing technique!

Just as Hanare’s spiritual energy touched Sora’s body-

"Hum!"

A primordial, majestic, terrifying aura akin to a supreme predator suddenly erupted autonomously from within Sora’s body!

Dragon’s Might!

His body sensed the external mental probing, and the Azure Dragon Fruit’s power instinctively counterattacked!

"Ah!"

Hanare let out a gasp. The invisible spiritual tentacles, as if hitting a wall covered in spikes, instantly shattered into pieces!

In her "vision", appeared a sky-blotting, ferociously scaled azure dragon!

That dragon opened its cold, vertical pupils, indifferently looking down at her as if gazing at an insignificant ant!

The old man, startled by the sudden terrifying pressure, jumped up from his seat.

He felt as if the masked man before him had transformed into some kind of prehistoric beast.

"Control your people."

Sora’s icy voice rang out. His gaze fell on the old man and Hanare like a physical weight.

"This is the first, and the last warning!"

"If there is a next time..."

He did not finish the sentence, but that icy killing intent left the old man with no doubt that next time, this man would not hesitate to strike.

"A thousand apologies, sir!"

The old man quickly bowed, his tone filled with panic.

"This old man failed to discipline properly. Hanare is young and ignorant. She offended you, sir. Please forgive her!"

As he spoke, he forcefully pulled Hanare, who was still in a daze.

Pulled like this, Hanare seemed to wake from a nightmare. She gasped for breath, her eyes full of terror as she looked at Sora, her body still trembling slightly.

Sora gave them a cold glance, left the banknotes on the low table, stood up, and walked outside.

"I don’t want a fourth person to know about today’s events."

"Rest assured, sir. Rest assured, sir!"

The old man hurriedly assured him. "We are businesspeople. We value our reputation. What happened today will never be disclosed. Hanare will absolutely not speak of it either!"

Sora said no more. His figure flickered and disappeared outside the door.

Only after Sora’s presence completely vanished did the old man finally let out a long sigh of relief. He slumped into his chair, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

He looked at Hanare, who was still shaken, and asked gravely.

"Hanare, what did you see just now?"

Hanare’s voice still trembled as she spoke haltingly.

"Dragon... a huge, terrifying... azure dragon... its eyes... so terrifying..."

Hearing this, the old man’s expression grew even more grave.

Azure dragon?

That kind of legendary creature?

He couldn’t understand it, but he was certain that the man from earlier was absolutely someone the Land of Keys could not afford to offend.

He pondered for a moment, then a look of resolve appeared on his face.

He formed a strange hand seal with his hands and pressed it against Hanare’s forehead.

"Hanare, look into my eyes."

"Forget everything that just happened. Forget the masked man. Forget the dragon you saw... This concerns the survival of our village."

Hanare looked up blankly, meeting the old man’s eyes which contained special chakra.

The fear in her eyes and the memory fragments from earlier began to blur bit by bit, eventually turning into a blank emptiness...

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