Two days later, Tenzo recovered and was preparing to leave the hospital. Uzumaki Kushina came to visit him. However, Kushina's main purpose for this visit was to deal with the curse mark on Mitarashi Anko's body.
After examining Mitarashi's condition, Kushina said, "Complete removal is basically impossible. This curse mark isn't simply something injected into your body. It's a form of erosion and permeation. For now, it can only be sealed."
The developed curse mark contained Orochimaru's chakra. The curse mark's host was, in a sense, another means of resurrection for Orochimaru, which made it very difficult to remove.
"The bad news is that you'll have to carry this curse mark for a long time, and its danger cannot be completely avoided. The good news is that sealing away the vast majority of the curse mark's power and negative effects is not difficult for me," Kushina added.
Mitarashi Anko nodded. "Thank you, Kushina-sama, for your help."
"The pain you're suffering is essentially caused by the erosion of natural energy. It's strange that some people are completely unaffected by this erosion. It just goes to show that everyone is different..." Kushina rolled up her sleeve, ready to start.
The difference between people is greater than the difference between humans and dogs. Kushina was simply expressing her amazement. Given the danger of natural energy, it was bizarre that someone could continuously seal it within their body.
Upon hearing this, Tenzo, who was nearby, thought to himself, Habara isn't afraid of natural energy's harm, but you guys don't know that. Back then, he almost transformed into a little monster... Tenzo felt that Habara wasn't unafraid of natural energy's erosion, but rather that this erosion had reached a lethal extreme, and after Habara didn't die from it, he gained a super-strong adaptability to natural energy.
In other words, the original Habara wasn't special; he just survived an exaggerated round of natural energy erosion... Tenzo still remembered the scene of Habara shutting himself inside an iron shell.
The surroundings suddenly seemed to quiet down, startling Tenzo out of his rambling thoughts. He looked up and saw that Mitarashi Anko had already sat up halfway. Her front was covered by a white sheet, but her back, which was particularly suitable for cupping, was completely exposed.
Kushina felt that this back would be perfect for drawing something on. She was about to start when she remembered there was another person in the room.
"Ahem, Kushina-sama, I'll help you close the door from the outside," Tenzo promptly made his escape, as ninjas also had gender distinctions.
After eliminating the snake venom from his body, Tenzo was feeling quite relaxed. As he moved towards the Hokage Rock, he asked, "Daigo-senpai, where's Habara now?"
He was planning to expose Kakashi, since Kakashi had previously leaked the information that Habara was the source of the curse mark... Heh, look at this ugly and cruel internal organizational struggle.
"Habara? He already left Konoha. He said he was going to take a vacation, gather information about Orochimaru, and catch a summoning animal, all at the same time."
Tenzo: "..."
Before Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Habara had already taken leave, planning to leave Konoha for a trip. However, with such a big event happening in the village, Habara still insisted on leaving? He insisted on sticking to his original plan; wasn't he afraid something else unexpected would happen in the village?
Well, Habara really wasn't afraid.
"Daigo-senpai, I feel like only one of those three purposes of Habara's is real."
"Really? At least taking a vacation and catching a summoning animal are true," Daigo's voice, transmitted through the metal piece, carried a hint of hesitation.
Regardless, they all believed that Habara wouldn't go to gather information about Orochimaru. What was he going to do with Orochimaru? Habara knew perfectly well that he couldn't beat Orochimaru.
So, after leaving Konoha, would Habara inquire about Orochimaru's information? As it turned out, he actually would.
The reason he insisted on sticking to his original plan and leaving Konoha was, firstly, because he had already made the necessary preparations, and staying in Konoha for too long would affect his mentality and determination. Secondly, Habara knew that after Orochimaru defected, Konoha wouldn't have any major problems, at least not until it was confirmed that Jiraiya wasn't returning to the village much either. Only then would many people's minds start to become active.
He said he was going to look for Orochimaru's whereabouts, and Habara really was going to look for Orochimaru's whereabouts. After leaving Konoha, he found a secluded place and formed hand seals:
Ninja Art: Summoning Technique.
A small white snake was thus summoned by him.
Habara took out a scroll and immediately began to write a letter:
"Lord Orochimaru, are you in good health? Where are you currently located? Please inform me of your specific location... From Habara."
He handed the scroll to the white snake, and then the white snake disappeared with a "poof." And then... then there was nothing.
Habara waited for a while and found that the white snake showed no signs of returning. This indicated that Orochimaru wasn't very generous either, refusing to even reveal his address... Well, even if Orochimaru had been bold enough to give an address, Habara wouldn't have dared to go.
After failing to summon Orochimaru, Habara didn't head straight for the Land of Wind either. He went to a town near the capital of the Land of Fire and purposefully found a somewhat desolate building. Then, through some secret method, he entered the building.
This was...
Hmm, the underground black market.
Black markets, illegal gatherings beyond the control of ninja villages, should logically be eradicated without hesitation by Konoha. Since they knew the location, why keep it around?
Initially, Konoha did just that. However, these things were like weeds, impossible to eradicate completely. After one was destroyed, a new one would emerge soon after, an endless cycle... This indicated that there was a market demand for such places in the world. Forceful elimination was impossible.
So later, the ninja villages changed their strategy, from brutal eradication to flexible monitoring and general control.
Think about the famous assassin of the ninja world, Kakuzu. For so many years, hadn't he been making a living through the black market?
Before entering the black market, Habara removed his Konoha forehead protector, covered his face with a cloth, and also wrapped his "sword case" with a white cloth. In this way, he roughly concealed his identity.
Upon entering the black market, Habara found it to be rather quiet, not particularly busy. Soon, someone approached him.
"Guest, first time at the black market?"
Habara had wanted to act like an old hand, but the other person immediately recognized him as a newcomer. He was just an amateur, but the other person was a professional. They had to have basic discernment; otherwise, what if someone came in and wiped them all out?
A newcomer like Habara would undoubtedly arouse their vigilance.
"I have a question. Can you sell some special items on my behalf here?" Habara asked.
"Of course. Secret techniques and forbidden techniques from various villages, confidential information, special ninja tools, even young children of bloodline limit ninjas... As long as it has value, we can sell it, and we can buy it."
Child trafficking? This damn place really should be shut down.
"I have something here. See what price you can give me."
Habara didn't waste any time and directly took out a cylindrical iron lump, about the thickness of a wrist and the length of a forearm, and placed it in front of the other person.
What treasure was this? The black market manager examined it and found... well, iron was iron, and iron was just iron.
"Guest, this..."
If someone came to a place like the black market to play tricks, they would definitely pay the price.
Habara didn't explain. He simply placed his hand on the iron cylinder, and then the cylinder became filled with chakra.
"This, this is... such a large piece... This material..."
"How much will you give me?" Habara didn't care about the other person's shock and immediately asked for a price.
"Wait a moment, we need to discuss this." After examining the material and confirming that it could indeed conduct chakra, without any fakery, the manager became even more excited.
These people hurriedly went to discuss. Five minutes later, the person returned to Habara and said, "Guest, we can offer fifty million ryo."
"Seventy million. Even though I'm still taking a big loss, I need the money urgently."
Pricing such rare items was difficult, but the material Habara provided could be used to make five or six chakra swords if used sparingly, enough to equip an entire Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. So much equipment, and Habara was only asking for seventy million, it was practically a clearance sale.
The manager went back again and, after further discussion, they made a decision.
"Guest, we'll do as you say. Seventy million ryo. Let's consider this making a friend."
"I only want cash."
"Of course, of course. The principle of our black market is cash on delivery."
This black market could actually produce such a large sum of cash instantly, which showed how abundant their funds were, truly wealthy... The seventy million ryo filled three chests, which were handed over to Habara.
Habara roughly counted the money and then took the money chests. "I'm leaving."
"Please wait. We haven't yet asked for your name. We hope to cooperate frequently in the future."
Habara thought to himself, If I come here again, it will be to shut you down. This time, I just happened to exchange some money for travel expenses.
As he walked towards the door, he introduced himself without turning back, "I am... Marisa Kirisame."
Habara left the black market just like that. Then, on the street, he took out a sealing scroll, preparing to throw the three money chests into the scroll. But before sealing them, he deliberately opened the money chests, showing off his wealth.
Then, as he continued walking, four or five people indeed followed him.
After fifteen minutes, Habara dragged five people back into the black market. When he came out again, he had an additional 300,000 ryo.
"A bunch of poor bastards, they didn't even commit any major crimes and didn't have any bounties on them..."
Others had contributed funds to him, yet Habara was still complaining.
The 300,000 ryo wasn't bounty money, but a reward from the black market for him maintaining local order. It was really strange. You're contributing to social stability like this; does the Hokage and the Daimyo know about it?
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