__________ POV Narration __________
The Blind Assassin's departure from Konoha had gone without a hitch.
No one really got in his way as he walked out the gates, and the Blades had already departed, each going his own way or teleporting home.
Ken had enough trust in them to not monitor their every move, all three Blades he had brought with him could likely survive against just about every opponent they met.
No rouge group of Shinobi like the one that had attacked the Akatsuki would be able to entrap them.
But what bothered him the most was the sudden rise in the number of Shinobi in the world...
Peaceful times have led to more Genin having time to grow further, for more of them to graduate from their village perspective academy equivalent.
This was not that big of an issue on a wider scale, the forces of the alliance were growing alongside the number of Shinboi.
But the most annoying part was the growing number of Rogue Shinobi. Deserters in a sense.
Peaceful times made those with a more bloodthirsty nature lash out and depart, looking for greener pastures than the peaceful walls of the established Hidden Villages.
Plenty of them would end up forming organized groups or joining the Green Forest Union.
In a sense, it was good that the Dark Brotherhood was not going to run out of business from its initial source of income any time soon.
But it was also a bad omen, a rather shaky start to what was supposed to be long-lasting peace.
And of course, who could forget? The Green Forest Union, which had its members also somewhat trained in Ninjutsu.
Their footsoldiers were Genin at best from what Ken had heard, but their sheer number was great enough to allow them to be called a significant force in the Elemental Nations.
But they were not acting in accordance with any Noble Clan's wishes from Ken's limited knowledge.
They were all gathered around someone they called the 'Green Forest King', and were only really well-known for setting up toll booths across the entire Elemental Nations.
They could be said to be openly going against the Nobles by obstructing business in their lands as well as giving birth to a rather thriving underworld.
Ken could easily surmise that such a large group also engaged in smuggling of all kinds, as well as any other illegal activities that one could think of.
'So what's the most likely option? Nobles managed to tame the crazed rogue shinobi using money? Or have they managed to sway the Green Forest Union somehow?'
But the groups that Hanzo had described, and Ken had studied the corpses of, seemed to not belong to the Green Forest Union, they were all at a pretty high level by Hanzo's addition too...
'What exactly is going on... Or, maybe I am simply barking up the wrong tree? What if they're employing a different strategy altogether...'
For a brief moment, as the Blind Assassin passed through the green woods surrounding Konoha, a thought flashed through his mind.
'Have the Noble Clans managed to establish other hidden villages?'
The territories within the Three Corners Alliance were already places where the Nobles held little to no power anymore.
Yet they still ruled the lands in name and profited from that period of peace as well. Their lands were still protected by the Shinobi of the Hidden villages, even if they no longer supplied them with funds.
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This meant that they had a sudden surplus of funds that could go into the building of villages in their respective lands.
It also stood to reason that some Rogue Shinobi could be broached into joining them with the right compensation or promises.
From there, it was just a matter of recruitment... Or brainwashing...
'I'm reaching too far with my speculations, this is nothing but a theory so far. But I should at least get someone to look further into this. I'll have to ask the other leaders to keep an eye out too...'
The Blind Monster shook those thoughts out of his mind as he continued making his way towards the Brotherhood.
He chose a scenic route as he pondered over other thoughts and what he had experienced in Konoha.
'Pure Love connecting souls in the Pure Lands, as well as there being more reincarnated people around this world... Really, just when you think you've got it all figured out.'
The Blind Assassin smiled as he started whistling a melodic tune.
When Ken got back to the brotherhood, he couldn't help but notice the somewhat sombre atmosphere that hung in the air.
Walking through its streets, the children were still manning the stores, they were interacting with customers just the same, but Ken could feel that something was off.
The oldest generation seemed to be the most unwell. They kept their composure outwards, but Ken could feel their distress.
Especially Naomi, the young lady who had always idolized Yue, to the point of even dropping out of the Chunin Exams for her back in the day.
It was a rather foolish move on her part, but Ken didn't judge her or punish her at the time. It was purely her choice whether to attend the Chunin exams or not in the first place.
But when sensing that she was in low spirits, his mind immediately wandered to Yue.
The Little Bloody Princess had long since grown up. She was already around the age of 22, but her punishment for her past mistakes had not qutie ended over the years.
It had changed a bit, she was allowed to continue training to some extent, but she was not allowed to go out on missions until Ken felt that she was truly capable of handling any such tasks.
He also didn't allow her to lead any teams of her own, despite most of the top 10 already being able to lead their own team.
As one might guess, the Little Princess was less than pleased about this, and she had complained both to Ken and her father several times regarding that.
But Ken was not budging unless she realized what she had done wrong and why her attitude was unacceptable continuously.
Yoichi, The Daimyo of the Land of Iron, was not able to get involved too much in the internal affairs of the Dark Brotherhood.
He did present his dear daughter with the option of returning home, as no one forced her to remain in the Brotherhood. But she didn't like that option one bit.
Yoichi's relationship with Ken was about the same as always through it all, though he did send him some letters at the time pleading with him to be more lenient on his daughter.
Ken's frustration only grew as he had to explain the extent of her punishment to Yuichi as well as its reason.
The old Samurai, Mifune, didn't have it in his heart to broach the subject it seemed... But regardless, Yuichi seemed fully on board with it, as he also found his daughter's attitude at the time to be reprehensible.
What no one expected was for the punishment to extend over 6 years and counting.
Changed or not, the fact that the punishment persisted only meant one thing... She was hardly willing to change in any way.
After Morita's promotion to 5th Blade, Yue's rank did not rise much. Rather, she stagnated completely, at least ranking-wise.
She was currently Number 3, right behind the sickle-wielding Assassin Akio, and the physically gifted Bull.
That fact had immensely frustrated her, and she felt that her lack of experience on the field was the cause of her losses, and she ended up blaming them on Ken.
The Blind Assassin had felt her resentment building up for a while, but he didn't think her crazy enough to act out... At least not up to that point.
She was missing from her room, nay from the entire compound. And Ken was sure that she hadn't gone to her father's place, as she was to always report to him when going to her father, and she'd even be given an escort to make sure that she wasn't in any danger on the route.
The Blind Assassin scowled, as his senses also passed over his office, finally getting the chance to inspect it further...
And as one would expect, a person was already waiting for him. A brooding masked man of medium height, carrying a large, living blade on his back.
It was none other than the First Blade, Tosho, Ken's right-hand man. The Blind Swordsman could tell just from his aura, though the living blade he had adopted was also a dead giveaway.
But this time, the odd thing was that he seemed to be missing a right hand...
The Blind Assassin's teeth clenched tightly for a moment, as he continued walking through the village they had built, straight to his office.
No one else seemed to be in bad condition within the Brotherhood, some others seemed to be missing as well, but they could've just been out on missions...
Ken as a snake, slipped through the small window in his office and slithered on his chair, a move that Tosho noticed immediately.
The Monster then transformed back into his usual self without even a puff of smoke, as he had already mastered the Transformation Jutsu.
"Tosho... Why is Yue, and your arm, missing?"
From the very faint scent of blood, Ken was sure that the wound had been inflicted in the same week.
Yet the arm was not reattached, meaning it was more than likely destroyed. Saburo was not the most capable doctor in the land, but he was still decent after all.
"Lord Ken, I regret to inform you... But it seems Yue has finally snapped."