Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Meeting and Traveling News

_________ POV Narration_________

Ken and Saburo started making their way towards the cave that Akira resided in without wasting more time.

They had sealed the secret lair entrance to keep it hidden and intact, to make sure no one would just accidentally stumble upon it, though that was already unlikely.

Ken realized that if a sensor as good as him ran by it, they could still spot it, but it was really impossible to plan for all possible situations.

Still, the Blind Swordsman was quite pleased with the way things had developed.

'With Saburo, we've gained 45 able-bodied shinobi, all chunin or above. Well, 44 to be more exact. I doubt the original body will ever go in any missions.

He shouldn't even be allowed to. Losing him would be a lot more annoying than losing a single highly trained assassin.

With his help, I can finally jumpstart this organization for good, start hunting bounties on a broader scale...'

Ken was well and truly excited for Saburo to settle into his little organisation, getting the Strawman's allegiance was the greatest reward for all of his trouble with the Grass Village.

Their techniques and money were also good, but he wasn't even sure how much money was in the scrolls he had stolen, nor what techniques he had received.

'The most valuable thing is the friends we made along the way... Puh...' Ken couldn't help but laugh internally at his own bad jokes, some small chuckles escaping outside as the blind swordsman was not as cautious as usual.

The most amusing part was that Ken and Saburo were the furthest apart from friends. They were both well aware that as soon as their business relationship soured, they would be at each other's throats with no hesitation.

Ken put no trust in Saburo. And the Strawman was not oblivious to that. No, he even respected it.

'Such is the mentality one must have in this bleak world...' That was what the Strawman thought. Though he found it exceedingly odd that a child could adapt to their world so quickly and easily.

Ken's occasional giggle and raspy chuckle along the way as he remembered some random joke was the only thing that could remind Saburo that the Blind Monster was still a child.

The Strawman always just looked at the masked child with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to ask what had amused him so much.

The entire situation was amusing to him, to begin with, so he wasn't about to judge the perpetrator for laughing.

An entire village begging the one they had attacked to please leave them alone was a funny prospect.

Ken and Saburo reached Akira's cave after a few more minutes.

Instantly, Akira became alert when seeing close to 50 Shinobi descend on his hideout, he immediately tried to run away but seeing Ken calmed him down greatly.

The thought of Ken allying himself with the Grass Village and hunting him down again didn't even cross his mind.

Well, it had slightly. Ken was travelling with plenty of shinobi visibly wearing a Grass Village Headband, but Akira shoved the idea out quickly as it was a rather stupid conclusion to reach.

After all, if that had been the case Ken would have already knocked him out and/or killed him.

He also took notice of Ken's appearance, his long coat was now both tattered and bloody, it also revealed parts of his body, filled with scars and lithe muscles but no wounds whatsoever.

"I was about to think you wouldn't make it back, boss!" Akira immediately started calling Ken his boss and rubbing his hands together like a shrewd businessman.

Seeing him come back unscathed made Akira want to follow him immediately.

After all, someone that could stand up to an entire village was usually someone worth following, and Akira was already a wanted man, he needed protection.

"If you keep doing that with your hands I'll cut them off..." Akira immediately stopped rubbing his hands together at Ken's threat though.

"What's with all of the Shinobi though... Are you getting escorted out of their territory or something?"

Akira pointed at Saburo and his many clones.

"They will be joining me from now on. I am building an organization currently, and some extra hands are welcome. Yours will do just fine too." Ken decided to just be upfront with Akira, as he wanted to invite the thief to join them as well.

"Thanks, boss! I'd be more than glad to join ya!" Akira immediately kneeled in front of the Bounty Hunter, calling him boss once more.

His shamelessness made Saburo sweat slightly, but the Strawman could understand the thief's thought process well enough. 'The weak follow the strong for benefit... That much is just natural law at this point.'

"Is it really wise to trust the former Shinobi of the village you just raided?" Akira was a bit sceptical about Saburo though.

"I assure you that m-our relationship with the Grass Village was nothing more than transactional..." Saburo decided to step out and speak for himself, meanwhile his clones also just threw away their headbands, as they didn't need them anyway.

Akira could only raise an eyebrow at that. Shinobi never threw away their headbands, they never threw away the marks of their original village, even if they cut a line in the middle of it.

It was a sign of loyalty, a sign that something still tied them to the place they came from. Be it spite, hatred, longing, or regret, all Rogue Shinobi kept their headbands.

In truth, most of them were just brainwashed to think highly of their respective hidden villages from a young age. All of their friends and families gathered in one place.

It was a great way to foster loyal shinobi and it was also extremely easy to indoctrinate them and convince them that dying for the village was acceptable and even heroic.

The hidden villages had managed to draw a parallel in between families and the village. Some had even managed to convince Shinobi to put the village above their families.

The good of the village was, at the end of the day, much more important than personal happiness and the safety of your loved ones.

Other times, the safety of the village was directly related to the happiness of your loved ones. It was a rather well-thought-out system.

Few outsiders could see it for what it was, and Akira was one of them, as he had seen many shinobi and he had travelled a lot despite his young age.

That was why the scene of Shinobi just throwing away their headbands was so jarring. But it did its job of convincing Akira.

The thief was still a bit sceptical, of course, but he didn't voice any displeasure anymore.

Ken didn't bother to explain that Saburo was just one person, extremely sadistic and opportunistic at that.

The Blind Swordsman also didn't bother to introduce Akira to anyone but the original Strawman, calling him the defacto leader of the deserting shinobi.

Akira was a bit weirded out by how silent every single one of the shinobi was, but he didn't voice out any more complaints, he was just glad that his saviour/benefactor was back in one piece.

The thief was rather shocked to hear a bit more about what had transpired in the village, but it was still within his expectations after seeing Ken decimate the group that had attacked them.

'It was already clear enough that numbers won't help you much against the Red Dot...

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This just helped solidify that, and this should also help the world realize that he isn't someone to mess around with.'

Still, none of the people present expected the news to come out of the village quickly. They expected the Grass village to internally suppress it for a few weeks at the very least.

They didn't know that a storm was already brewing throughout the world, in but a few hours, every important figure got wind of the fact that a single bounty hunter brought a hidden village to its knees.

"Buhahahahah!" A, the third Raikage, couldn't help but burst out laughing when reading that.

He slapped his desk with jubilation as he heartily laughed at how absurd Ken's achievements seemed to be for a single bounty hunter.

Immediately, the Raikage became even more interested to have the Masked Assassin in his fold.

Not only was the report thorough, it included everything, even the fact that the Grass Village was forced to surrender and that they weren't able to do any meaningful damage to the Red Dot.

Overall, the reputation of the Grass Village was tarnished, and their power was extremely diminished, with even their Anbu Captain and a sizable number of Anbu going and joining the bounty hunter instead.

It was a pathetic loss for a hidden village to ever admit to. Even the Raikage was shocked to see how willing the Grass Village was to write on its own sorry condition.

However, the Raikage couldn't really bring himself to laugh at them, as he could see exactly what the elders of the hidden village were trying to do.

They seemed to have a rather clear goal in mind when announcing their failure so quickly... Asking for aid from one of its former allies, Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. 

Elder Yuu was initially going to try to bide his time a bit, but discovering that he had absolutely nothing to work with inside the village, he knew that the faster he revealed everything and asked for help the better he was off.

The hidden village immediately called Saburo and his Shinobi criminals. They didn't denounce him for any of his unsavoury experiments though, as they didn't wish to implicate themselves with that.

Thankfully, the Second Shinobi War was already coming to an end, and most of the villages were somewhat spent.

None were willing to attack the Grass village when reading reports that Ken had already taken everything from them, and they also didn't have much land or resources to take either, as it was a rather small nation.

By revealing the news in such a way, the shrewd elder had managed to momentarily take the target off his back and put it on the bounty hunter that was now technically one of the richest men alive.

'Such power and wealth are currently just roaming the world, huh?' Many bounty hunters were tempted to try their hand at the newly risen Red Dot. But not that many were actually willing to try.

His reputation was already quite fearful before, but now it had already reached a whole new level.

It was clear that no shinobi was going to stop by and sit down at any of his roadside grill parties. The fear had now truly set in, and it was clear that Ken didn't just go for targets.

It was still unknown what exactly made Ken attack the village, so people would rather choose to not find out on their own skin... The limits of the Red Dot's patience that is.

The 5 Kage were well aware of the full situation though, especially those that had wanted Ken dead.

No one bothered to speak out on Ken's reasons, so they remained a mystery, and the Blind Swordsman was called a bloodthirsty monster and criminal.

Ken and the rest had caught wind of that, about one week into their journey while passing through a small village.

The people there were visibly fearful of Ken and his men, a squad of close to 50 shinobi rolling up on a village was rather intimidating after all.

They also received other new and rather interesting pieces of information.

'The Second Shinobi War has officially ended, huh?' One week, in one week the villages had finally stopped their fights. The highlights?

Konohagakure had managed to defeat Amokagure and Sunagakure, or at least it did so on paper. Losses were great on all sides.

Now, the Leaf Village was the strongest hidden village. It had proven itself by fighting on multiple fronts and having the most powerful shinobi.

For one, the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the current God of Shinobi, is said to have mastered all ninjutsu.

There were also his disciples, all 3 of which had become renowned in the war and had gained the title of 'The Sannin'(Legendary 3 Shinobi). They had gained their titles by facing off against Hanzo of the Rain, who had bestowed the titles upon them by himself during their battle.

It was a rather heroic tale, as Hanzo was known for his strength, a man powerful enough to stand on the same stage as the 5 Kage.

Another prominent figure was Konoha's White Fang, who had also distinguished himself against the Sunagakure.

Overall, the village was simply brimming with talent and power. How could it not? Especially with the strong foundation that the first and second Hokage had left them.

Still, the end of the war made no difference to Ken.

It only meant that he would be able to go about his business while witnessing a bit less bloodshed on the way.

The Blind Swordsman was already lucky enough to have stumbled upon 3 different sites where Shinobi had killed each other en masse during his bounty hunting.

It was a rather grim scene, and even nature seemed unwilling to grow there for a while, though that might've been because of the scorched ground and cracked earth.

Ken and the rest continued their journey without bothering too much to dwell on the news.

It wasn't like they didn't expect the Grass Village to paint Ken as some sort of maniac. That much was so obvious that it hadn't even deserved mention before.

The point that the Blind Swordsman had wanted to make had still come across.

That he was a bounty hunter whom one shouldn't be messing around with.

That was the reputation that Ken had wanted to build when he had set out in the first place, so in a sense, he could thank the Grass Village for the help.

Ken also remembered something quite crucial as soon as he entered the forest where his hideout was.

'... I forgot to tell Tosho to prepare housing for all of us ahead of time...'

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Was able to write it a bit earlier today ;)

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