As the first rays of sunlight illuminated the earth in the early morning, Whirlpool Tide Village was already enveloped in a sense of unease.
"Haa... ungh." Uchiha Nen pushed open the door, the golden morning light shining on his face, and couldn't help but let out a long yawn.
He frowned slightly, his attention quickly drawn by the commotion outside.
Just then, Shin'yu stretched languidly as he walked up behind Nen. Facing the disturbance outside the inn, he looked nonchalant, as if nothing could faze him.
A hint of understanding flashed in Nen's eyes. Clearly, the commotion outside was inseparable from his Grand Uncle.
"Let's go watch the fun."
Shin'yu smiled meaningfully, put on his sunglasses with one hand, and walked out of the inn with Nen, seemingly casually heading towards the Whirlpool Tide Village dungeon.
The streets were lined with people, the dense murmur of discussion buzzing like mosquitoes. Shin'yu led Nen through the crowd, following a specific direction, and finally, after turning a street corner, they "happened" to run into Uzumaki Kongming.
At that moment, Uzumaki Kongming stood in front of the dungeon door, looking grave as he instructed his subordinates. The way he looked, he seemed quite harried.
"Yo, Brother Kongming." Shin'yu waved with a beaming smile.
"Brother Yu Shen!"
Uzumaki Kongming's eyes widened instantly, a hint of surprise appearing in his gaze, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.
Yu Shen, this was a name that Shin'yu had made up.
Relying on his burly frame, Kongming pushed through the crowd in a few steps and came to Shin'yu.
"Brother, how's the prisoner identity investigation going?" He grabbed Shin'yu's hands, his eyes filled with urgency.
Shin'yu didn't beat around the bush, directly nodding his head. "Yeah, it's all settled. According to the headquarters database, combined with my guess, these guys are Ninja from the Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Hidden Stone Village respectively."
Uzumaki Kongming's face paled, his expression becoming quite unsightly, even his hands trembled slightly, as if struck by a bolt of lightning from a clear sky.
"What's wrong?" Shin'yu tilted his head in confusion, his gaze passing over the crowd and towards the dungeon. "Could it be something happened last night?"
Kongming sighed deeply, his tone revealing gravity and unease. "To be honest, brother, just last night, all the prisoners in the jail... died."
"Ah!?"
Shin'yu opened his mouth wide, dumbfounded, directly transforming into a "shocked party," his tone incredulous. "That happened! How did that happen!"
"The scene was very tragic, you guys better not go see it, lest you have nightmares at night." Kongming said with lingering fear, "According to the on-site analysis, it should be that they had internal strife, killed each other, and finally died together..."
"The Clan Head is very angry about this matter, and ordered us to find out the truth..." Kongming said helplessly, "After questioning, the clansman responsible for guarding the prison door fell asleep last night, and that's why he didn't notice the changes inside..."
He scratched his head in distress. "Actually, the position of guarding the prison door is just for sleeping, because the Sealing Jutsu Formulae inside are quite strong, it's impossible for anyone to break through... The Clan Head began to question whether any suspicious people had contacted these guys in the past two days..."
"Wow, you wouldn't suspect us, would you, brother!" Uchiha Nen suddenly cried out strangely, looking at Kongming with utter astonishment, his voice trembling, his face flushed red. "We were invited by you to make contact, and you were there when we saw them yesterday..."
He beat his chest and stamped his feet, impassioned, showing Shin'yu what a true "shocked party" should be.
"Yes, yes, yes, I know..." Kongming was slightly stunned, obviously not expecting the reaction of these two to be so intense.
He also knew very well that it couldn't have been Shin'yu and Nen who did it, because the informants at the inn could indeed prove that these two not only didn't leave the house last night, but slept soundly.
But as the South District Chief, the dungeon was within his jurisdiction, and the reason why he was so anxious to confirm the identities of the prisoners earlier was also because the higher-ups had given the order.
But what he didn't expect was that the identities were clarified, but the prisoners had all died strangely.
This anomaly means he will inevitably bear the main responsibility.
Thinking of the key point, he immediately said to Shin'yu, "Brother, I still need your help with something?"
"What help?" Shin'yu asked smoothly.
"Come with me to see the Clan Head."
Nen immediately opened his mouth vigilantly, "You're not going to drag us into this again, are you?"
Kongming waved his hands repeatedly, "Don't worry, it's just to confirm the news, nothing will happen to you. I, Uzumaki Kongming, can guarantee that with my character!"
And so, under Uzumaki Kongming's almost pleading request, Shin'yu had no choice but to "reluctantly" follow him to see the Clan Head of Whirlpool Tide Village.
Uzumaki Changming, the direct grandson of Uzumaki Ashina, the founder of Whirlpool Tide Village, also has a relative relationship with Uzumaki Mito, who married into the Hidden Leaf Village. Now he serves as the leader of the Land of Whirlpools, both the Village Chief and the Clan Head of the Uzumaki Clan. He is a stern and rigid person, but very upright, and cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes.
Along the way, after Kongming's brief introduction, Shin'yu and Nen also gained some understanding of this Clan Head they had never met.
In fact, there was no need for him to introduce anything. The two of them could sense that the existence with the highest soul intensity in the entire village was this Uzumaki Changming.
Soon, the group stepped into the inner hall and, surrounded by several people in power, met the Clan Head.
This was a middle-aged man with a cold expression, sitting upright in the center. As a person in power, his robes were not gorgeous, but they were clean and tidy. He was tall and thin, with long red hair like silk, hanging straight to the ground, and a neat, symmetrical mustache on his face.
For some reason, Shin'yu inexplicably thought of an old friend, and chuckled in his heart.
"You are the people from the Land of Iron Merchant Guild?" Uzumaki Changming slowly opened his mouth, his voice quite dignified.
"That's right." Shin'yu nodded.
Uzumaki Changming frowned slightly, "Now that the goods have been delivered, why haven't you left yet?"
"Um... I can explain that!"
Kongming quickly stepped forward and quickly explained the matter of him asking Shin'yu to help investigate the identities of the prisoners yesterday. After speaking, he did not forget to vouch for Shin'yu and Nen, saying that everything that happened in the dungeon last night had nothing to do with them, and advised the Clan Head not to wrong good people.
"Clan Head, Yu Shen, my brother, is on the level!"
As he spoke, Uzumaki Changming's brow relaxed slightly. He looked at Shin'yu, his gaze no longer sharp, "Can you really be sure that these people are indeed from those three Ninja villages?"
"Of course, our Merchant Guild has traveled north and south over the years. I wouldn't say we know everything under the heavens, but we can still recognize the origins of a few people."
Shin'yu pushed up his sunglasses, "I can guarantee in the name of the Merchant Guild that what I said is the truth. If you don't believe me, Clan Head, you can come back to the Land of Iron with me to prove it!"
"Alright, alright, who wants to go to the Land of Iron!" Next to Changming, a burly man opened his mouth impatiently. According to Kongming's introduction, this man was the District Chief of the South District, named Uzumaki Lie.
"Now that things have come to this, let's discuss what to do!" he said in a muffled voice.
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