Chapter 443: Obtained Intelligence (Patreon)

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S.H.I.E.L.D. -

Triskelion Building-

Inside Nick Fury's office, Coulson spoke up, "Director, Lance Hunter is here. He has some new intelligence to report to you."

Nick Fury nodded and calmly said, "It's good that he chose to bring the target to New York and seize the opportunity to gather intelligence. It saves us spending on intelligence."

Coulson also nodded, "Ninjas still adhere to the principle of mission commissioning. Being able to obtain some intelligence by delivering the target to their destination is very cost-effective for us."

Just as the two were talking, the door of Nick Fury's office was knocked.

Nick Fury pressed a button on the table, and the door automatically opened.

"Come in!"

Lance Hunter looked at the open door and walked in directly.

Upon entering, he saw besides Director Nick Fury, there was also Coulson who had recommended him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Director, I obtained some important intelligence through Pakura and need to report it to you."

Nick Fury nodded, then said, "Alright, what specific intelligence do you have?"

Lance Hunter began, "During the journey, Pakura and I chatted quite a bit to gather intelligence. I learned that the base of the Hidden Sand Village can be confirmed to be not in Japan."

"It's located in a vast desert. They have established their ninja village within an oasis in the desert."

Coulson interjected, "Lance, there's also a desert in Japan."

Lance Hunter nodded, "I considered that. Indeed, there is a desert in Japan, but it's too small. Even ordinary people can easily traverse its sand dunes, and it has long turned into a tourist attraction."

"The ninja of the Hidden Sand Village definitely wouldn't hide there."

"It's only possible to be in the large deserts within other countries or among the world's top ten deserts. Only those places have enough area to conceal a ninja village, as they are rarely visited, and generally, no one would venture deep into them."

"Especially deserts in third-world countries are even harder to develop, making them more suitable for concealment."

"And perhaps their names have already hinted to us."

"The Hidden Sand Village, a village in the desert, and their ninjas are called Sand Ninjas."

"The Hidden Mist Village, perpetually shrouded in mist, indicating a place with heavy fog."

"And places like this are more likely to be coastal areas, coupled with their concealment, it's more likely to be some small islands at sea."

"So far, there are still many islands at sea that have not been thoroughly explored by humans."

"By the same logic, the Hidden Leaf Village might be in places like dense forests."

"This not only fits the criterion of concealment but also corresponds to the names of their ninja villages."

Listening to Lance Hunter's analysis, Nick Fury and Coulson pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Then Nick Fury raised a question, "Since the Hidden Sand Village is not in Japan, why did they appear there?"

"It's possible they were there for some mission. After all, Temari didn't initially appear in the island country, not even with Kankuro and Gaara."

"Gaara and Kankuro, according to the intelligence we've gathered, their first appearance was actually directly in New York."

Hearing this explanation, Nick Fury also acknowledged it, but the combined area of the world's top ten deserts is much larger than that of Japan, making the search much more difficult.

"Additionally, the relationship between the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist might be strained."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was talking to her about the Hidden Mist Village, I sensed strong hostility."

"That kind of hatred and hostility made me feel like it wasn't just personal animosity; it's possible that they were previously hostile."

"But one thing I find strange is that when discussing the Hidden Leaf Village, Pakura's behavior gave me the impression that they didn't seem like allies."

"However, according to Temari's intelligence, the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand are allies."

"I find this puzzling."

After thinking for a moment, Nick Fury spoke, "Regarding this matter, we need to make a record of it. Perhaps we'll understand what's going on later."

"Do we know Pakura's purpose for coming out?"

"Yes, we do. She admitted that she came to handle matters concerning the Sand Puppet Shop. This time, she's responsible for leading Temari's team of lower-ranked ninjas."

Coulson recalled the terrifying ability to control storms that she displayed when they first met, yet she was only a lower-ranked ninja.

"From what I've gathered, ninjas are organized in teams, with three lower-ranked ninjas assigned to a team led by an upper-ranked ninja."

"Only when all the members of the team become Chuunin or higher-ranked ninjas will their team career end."

"By the way, there's also a point of doubt. When we met Pakura, she was flipping through a book about world history in the library. When she left, she took the book with her directly."

"But I didn't find anything special about that book."

At this point, based on the intelligence obtained by Lance Hunter, Nick Fury pondered for a moment, then said, "Lance, you've done very well this time."

"It's no wonder Coulson went against the consensus and assigned you to lead this operation."

"The intelligence you've obtained is very useful for us. According to your reinforcement request, I've already arranged personnel for you."

"Next, you need to bring a chakra detector and thoroughly search Japan for me to ensure we find the location of the Hidden Sound Village."

"Their association with the Japan is very strong, so there's a high possibility that their ninja village is stationed there."

"Yes, sir!"

As Lance Hunter left, Nick Fury turned to Coulson and said, "Coulson, what do you make of this intelligence?"

"Sir, the relationship between ninja villages might not be as simple as they claim. There's definitely a lot we don't know about."

"We can't make accurate judgments until we have more information."

"Perhaps we need to recruit a rogue ninja to gain a better understanding of the ninja world."

"After all, these scattered fragments of intelligence might completely mislead us and go against the actual situation."

"As for the ninja team-leading model, this piece of intelligence only gives us some insight into their internal structure, but it's not very useful."

"On the other hand, his analysis of the connection between the names of the ninja villages and their locations might be more meaningful to us."

Nick Fury nodded and then said, "That'll be all for now. Organize the intelligence and file it away, and continue with the previous arrangements."

"Yes, sir!"