Naruto: We Agreed on a Simulation, But They Actually Came to Life?

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: A Coincidence

Terumi Mei glanced at Kitahara Kaede and spoke.

"Have you reviewed the route map?"

Kitahara Kaede walked half a step behind her left side. "I have."

"Anything we need to be cautious of?"

"I’ll tell you on the way."

Terumi Mei nodded. By the time they reached the village gate, Ao was already waiting for them.

"Senior Ao, we aren’t late, are we?" Terumi Mei asked.

Ao shook his head. "No, I just arrived myself."

He cast a glance at Kitahara Kaede and handed over the mission documents. Once the three of them had verified the details, they departed from the village.

The mission was a routine rotation inspection of a base in the eastern Land of Water, while simultaneously checking the surrounding area for any signs of infiltration by foreign shinobi.

The trio worked with seamless coordination and finished their tasks quickly.

Early the next morning, they met in the open area in front of the base. Terumi Mei handed the organized records to Ao.

"The patrol report is finished. Please take a look and see if anything needs to be added."

Ao took the papers and flipped through a few pages before nodding. "The format is fine. Add one item to the appendix: the rotation interval for the northern sentry post has been changed from four hours to three. Note the reason."

Terumi Mei pulled a pen from her tool pouch to make the correction.

Kitahara Kaede looked up. His gaze passed over their heads, scanning the northeastern sky. Noticing his movement, Terumi Mei followed his line of sight.

A palm-sized dark silhouette was flying toward them from the distance.

Ao saw it too. As it drew closer, Kitahara Kaede recognized it: a messenger hawk specifically used by the Hidden Mist Village. It was a gray-feathered bird with an incredibly fast wing-beat frequency.

The hawk didn’t circle to scout the environment; it dove straight down, landing precisely on Ao.

Ao reached out to catch the bird, removed a thin strip of paper from its leg, and unfolded it.

Kitahara Kaede watched as Ao’s expression darkened. Terumi Mei’s pen stopped mid-stroke on the paper, and she remained silent. Kitahara Kaede did not speak either.

After a few moments of silence, Ao folded the note. He looked at Kitahara Kaede, then at Terumi Mei.

"This is an intelligence line I left in the village," Ao explained. "Its sole purpose is to confirm if any sudden incidents occur within the village."

Hearing this, Terumi Mei put her pen away.

Ao’s tone remained steady. "A squad from the Cipher Division was surrounded by Konoha shinobi during a mission. The unit was led by Ibiki Morino."

Terumi Mei had never heard the name, and her brow furrowed slightly.

Ao added, "He is the head of Konoha’s ANBU Interrogation Force. His methods for interrogation and intelligence extraction are extremely ruthless."

Terumi Mei understood instantly. The enemy’s goal was to capture the Cipher Division members alive to obtain the keys to the Hidden Mist’s entire encryption system.

Ao continued, "The escorting ANBU, Kisame Hoshigaki, judged that they could not break the encirclement. To prevent the Cipher Division personnel from being captured and the encryption system from being leaked..."

His voice lacked any inflection. "...he personally killed all of his accompanying comrades."

Terumi Mei’s expression shifted. "He killed all his comrades with his own hands?"

Her voice was much lower than usual.

Ao looked at her. "Yes. This situation must be viewed from two perspectives. From the result, he protected the village’s cipher system. The consequences would have been unthinkable had the entire system fallen into Konoha’s hands."

He paused. "But from the process, he murdered his own comrades."

Terumi Mei didn’t respond.

Ao spoke again. This time, his tone changed, carrying an emotion that neither Kitahara Kaede nor Terumi Mei had often heard from him.

"It is true that the Cipher Division cannot fall into enemy hands. But to place the entire burden of choice on a single subordinate, forcing him to personally execute his own comrades..."

He paused. "That should not be the norm."

Terumi Mei looked up at Ao. She suddenly remembered something Kitahara Kaede had said a long time ago: *’Ao is the right person.’*

She had always remembered those words, but she had never understood their meaning as clearly as she did in this moment.

Ao was loyal to Kirigakure, but he had a moral line in his heart. And that line was the same as hers.

Kitahara Kaede remained silent by their side, but his mind was whirling.

Kisame had been repeatedly assigned to these types of missions; the orders had come from Fuguki Suikazan. Under the guise of "protecting intelligence," Fuguki had forced Kisame to do this over and over again.

In reality, Fuguki himself was the one leaking intelligence to the outside. Eventually, Kisame discovered this fact and killed Fuguki with his own hands.

Kitahara Kaede’s gaze landed on Ao.

There was no point in investigating Fuguki’s issues on his own. He lacked the authorization, the standing, and shouldn’t even be aware of the suspicions.

But Ao had them.

Ao possessed the Byakugan, the backing of Genji’s system, and a deep loyalty to the village. If given a direction, Ao would dig into it himself.

Once Fuguki’s thread was pulled, the things connected to it would only get bigger. Including Yagura.

Kitahara Kaede finally spoke. "Whose man is Kisame?"

Ao glanced at him. "A direct subordinate of Fuguki Suikazan."

Kitahara Kaede nodded. "The Cipher Division is one of the most core intelligence links in the village. When such a team goes on a mission, the route, timing, and contact methods are all top-secret."

He paused. "How did Konoha ’just happen’ to run into them?"

Terumi Mei’s gaze sharpened instantly. "Are you suggesting someone leaked the Cipher Division’s movements?"

Kitahara Kaede did not answer. Ao did not respond either.

Silence hung in the air for several seconds.

Anyone who had been a shinobi for decades knew that there were very few "coincidences" during a mission. Especially when the opponent was Konoha’s Interrogation Force.

Ao spoke. "What do you think? Do you have a suspect?"

Kitahara Kaede looked at him. "I don’t. But there aren’t many people who have access to the specific details of the Cipher Division’s operations."

He paused. "And there are even fewer people who could expose the Cipher Division to Konoha and then shift all the responsibility onto the executor afterward."

He hadn’t named anyone, but the target was locked.

In all of Kirigakure, the number of people who could coordinate Cipher Division missions and had enough authority to dump the consequences on subordinates could be counted on one hand.

Ao remained silent for a long time.

"Fuguki Suikazan holds partial authority over the Cipher Division’s mission dispatch," Ao said softly. "He was also responsible for several special intelligence lines."

Kitahara Kaede didn’t say another word. That was enough; Ao would verify the rest himself.

The three of them packed their things at the base and began the journey back to the Hidden Mist Village. There was almost no unnecessary conversation on the way.

As they approached the village gate, Ao’s pace slowed slightly.

"Fuguki’s future actions," Ao said in a low voice, "I will personally monitor them."

Kitahara Kaede walked behind him and didn’t respond.

Terumi Mei looked at Ao’s back.

*’To change the village, killing one person is not enough. You need sufficient power, you need to see the truth clearly, and you need the right people standing by your side.’*

Those were the words Kitahara Kaede had told her long ago.

The right people.

Ao was one of them.

The three of them entered the village gate, and Ao split from them at a fork in the road, heading straight toward the high-level administrative building.