Chapter 425: Changes in the Far West
Nine out of ten of the pirates, warrior monks, and wandering ninja hired by Ino had died, but she still fulfilled her promise and gave them their due rewards. As for those who had died, there was nothing she could do. The dead didn't need gold and jewels, so she reluctantly accepted them.
They had spent the New Year at sea. After winning a great victory, the celebration had to be made up for.
All five thousand ninja who had participated in the expedition to the Mist Village were given vacations of varying lengths.
Ino led her army back to the village. This was a great relief to the Konoha leadership, who had been worried about the village's strength being spread thin on three fronts and the enemy taking advantage of the vacuum.
"The one who starts a thing is the one who will have no posterity," as the saying goes. The Cloud and Konoha had successfully raided each other's homes. The Mist had fallen into the same pit twice and was ridiculed by the ninja world. At the same time, all the major ninja villages made preventing surprise attacks their top priority.
When Ino returned to the village, besides the necessary rest, she also came back to preside over the reconstruction of the village's sensory barrier.
Previously, Konan's ring had been stolen, and Itachi had also mentioned the Akatsuki's powerful reconnaissance abilities. At that time, Ino, who was still a chunin, had proposed the "Iron Wall Plan."
She had demanded that the chakra signatures of all ninja entering Konoha be registered. Any unregistered ninja found in non-public areas, if discovered by the sensory squad, would be arrested.
At that time, this proposal was rejected by the Konoha leadership, led by Koharu Utatane. The reasons for the rejection were varied.
They had rejected it then, but now they had to implement it.
Ino's personal strength was one aspect. The fact that the Cloud and Konoha had successively raided each other's homes and set a bad precedent for the ninja world was another.
Conducting surveillance throughout the entire village was unrealistic. The power to monitor all ninja in real-time was simply too great. If it were truly implemented, everyone from the Hokage down to the Ninja Academy students would be under surveillance.
After repeated research and compromises, it was finally decided to monitor key areas.
The village gates, the main roads in the village, the warehouses, the twenty-two hidden outposts in the village, the two Anbu bases, the hospital, the school, and the commercial street were all within the surveillance range of the newly established sensory squad.
The Hokage's office, the main Anbu base, the Root base, and the residences of the major ninja clans were not allowed to be monitored.
Even so, the newly established sensory squad still held great power.
Inoichi Yamanaka officially resigned from his position as the leader of the Analysis Team and announced his retirement. The Konoha leadership appointed Aoba Yamashiro as the new leader of the Analysis Team.
The Yamanaka clan had formally withdrawn from the Konoha Interrogation Unit, which consisted of the Analysis and Torture and Interrogation teams. Only then was Ino's appointment as the leader of the new sensory squad officially approved.
Ino was now definitely one of the village's high-ranking officials, lower than the advisors but half a rank higher than ordinary jonin.
The new sensory squad was no longer under the management of the jonin squad, but reported directly to the Hokage.
As the new official, Ino took out her gains from the Mist Village: the sensory water sphere that the Allied Shinobi Forces had used in the original timeline. This was a product of Ao's suggestion, created by the joint efforts of more than a dozen Water Release users and the fatso Chuyoshi. Now, she was using it without any hesitation.
She also buried alarm-type puppets at some key locations in the village. People could be distracted or bribed, but puppets could not.
The perception squad could only discover problems, not solve them.
A large number of Konoha's ninja were divided between the eastern and western fronts, and some of the village's internal conflicts gradually came to light.
The problems were not major, often just quarrels between villagers or trivial matters.
How to deal with them? Who would deal with them?
In fact, the Second Hokage had considered all these problems and had already planned the solutions. But now, no one dared to talk about this matter.
Kakashi proposed to re-establish the Konoha Military Police Force.
This force would be responsible for the village's public security work, which had been controlled by the Uchiha clan in the past.
After the Uchiha clan was massacred, no one dared to mention this matter anymore.
For a time, Danzo had proposed letting the Hyuga clan do this, but the Hyuga clan shook their heads like rattle drums. No way, absolutely not!
After that, the matter was delayed. No one mentioned it. For nearly ten years, Konoha had not had a department to manage the village's public security. If something happened, whoever saw it would handle it! It was very free, but it was also troublesome for even trivial matters to be brought to the Hokage.
Even after nearly ten years, now, when the topic of which family should form the Konoha Military Police Force was brought up, it was as if it meant that family was going to be annihilated.
It seemed that the Konoha Military Police Force had become synonymous with rebels.
The major ninja clans were unwilling to get involved in this mess.
The Ino-Shika-Cho, the Sarutobi, and the Hyuga clans had all clearly refused.
Jiraiya had no choice but to have Kakashi take the name of the captain of the new Konoha Military Police Force. Then, a vice-captain was chosen from both the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. Finally, a large number of civilian ninja were added to this force to maintain daily public security work.
The establishment of the new sensory squad and the Konoha Military Police Force were basically the two major events that Konoha was mainly occupied with in the first half of the year.
Time soon entered April, and the great ninja war had been going on for nearly half a year.
"Lord Hokage! Lady Tsunade! This is a letter from Kakashi-sensei for you!" Rock Lee rushed into the camp like a gust of wind. The messenger hawk was still on its way.
When Jiraiya came to the front lines, Tsunade naturally became his second-in-command. She had no objection to this. When there was nothing to do, she would have a small drink, which was very enjoyable.
Jiraiya took the letter and read it carefully, his brows furrowing.
The letter had been sent from the far west, from a country even farther west than the Land of Earth, called the Land of Demons. It was a place where a priestess sealed a demon, a typical barren land that had been guarded by generations of priestesses.
To thank the priestess clan for their efforts, the five great nations had been providing the Land of Demons with supplies. That place was too poor, lacking everything.
If the five great nations did not contribute money and effort, no matter how stubborn the priestess's will was, she would not be able to maintain the seal alone.
Now, there were signs that the seal was breaking. The priestess sent a message to the five great nations, and the Land of Earth among the five immediately passed the information to the five great ninja villages.
No matter how they fought, it was still a human war. But if the seal broke and the demon entered this world, then everyone would be in trouble.
Two days later, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning also sent messages, requesting that Konoha and the Cloud temporarily cease hostilities and immediately send ninja to the Land of Demons to investigate.
Who to send?
This person must have a high enough combat power, be proficient in sealing jutsu and ninjutsu, have strong mobility, a strong will, be decisive, and have a high enough status. For such an important matter, sending a small soldier would definitely not do.
The Rock, Cloud, Mist, and Sand villages jointly recommended that Ino Yamanaka go and investigate!
In the end, even Konoha felt that she was the most suitable person. Just listen to the name of this damn place, the Land of Demons!
If you don't go, who will? If you don't go, who would dare to go?
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