Land of Rice Fields. Early morning. Rain.
"This is definitely the place?" Hagoromo asked the masked Anbu shinobi in front of him.
Speaking of which, with the rain falling like this, and with that thing constantly covering his face, would it not affect his vision?
Hagoromo had probably already forgotten that, back in the day, he himself had always had one of those things fastened to his face as well, and he had stubbornly refused to take it off no matter the wind or rain.
"Yes, Lord Hagoromo," the Anbu shinobi gave an affirmative reply.
After that, Hagoromo turned his head and glanced at Mirai. Only after the girl nodded did he speak to the Anbu shinobi again.
"In that case, your mission is over. Leave the rest to me."
Clearly, the rain did not have any obvious effect on Mirai's sensory ability.
"…"
However, the Anbu shinobi seemed to have some concerns.
"Speak."
"Considering the enemy's strength… is it really appropriate to let Lady Mirai directly participate in battle?"
It seemed this Anbu still had his own considerations. For such a high-risk mission, directly allowing the Fourth Hokage's daughter to participate did not seem very suitable.
Hagoromo smiled. "It's fine. She's already thirteen, after all."
When Hagoromo himself had been thirteen, he had already gone around the Land of Fire collecting heads. So after reaching this age, there was no issue with letting Mirai truly participate in this kind of high-intensity battle. Besides, it was not as though she would be fighting one-on-one later. Next, it would be three against one. There was nothing to worry about.
More importantly, the enemy they were about to face did not require that level of caution.
Even more importantly, even if something really did go wrong, was Hagoromo not right there watching from the side?
"Your mission is reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, not combat. Once the battle begins, given the Land of Rice Fields' location, Kumogakure shinobi may be drawn here. So it would be better for the Anbu squad to withdraw in advance," he further explained.
Taking the worst-case scenario into account, if a large force of Kumogakure shinobi appeared, Hagoromo would definitely be able to win, but he might not necessarily be able to look after every single person.
Although the Anbu did not need him to look after them.
The Anbu who could participate in this sort of operation were naturally all highly experienced shinobi. The squad leader could naturally think of everything Hagoromo had mentioned, but he still had no intention of directly retreating.
Because his mission was not limited to the things Hagoromo had mentioned.
"It is precisely because this is the Land of Rice Fields that we cannot leave. According to the Fifth Hokage's orders, after completing reconnaissance and intelligence transmission, we are to switch to a surveillance mission. Our main task is to monitor Lord Hagoromo and ensure that, under circumstances that are 'not absolutely necessary,' you do not 'incidentally' charge into Kumogakure."
Hagoromo: "…"
This was damned awkward. What happened to the basic trust between people?
After White Zetsu invaded Konoha, the Fifth Hokage had permitted Hagoromo to move freely when it came to striking international crime. Once Mirai's birthday had passed, he officially began taking action. However, at this time, Tsunade had temporarily forbidden him from making any further moves against the tailed beasts, because the remaining tailed beasts all currently had owners. If Hagoromo acted carelessly, he might once again trigger a war between villages.
At the moment, Tsunade was actively carrying out diplomatic efforts. Before she received replies from the various villages, she needed Hagoromo to behave himself a little.
Tsunade had already warned him about this in advance, and Hagoromo had already agreed. But he had not expected there to be follow-up surveillance.
Big Sister Tsunade was actually quite helpless too. Considering Hagoromo's credit rating… he had no rating at all. This guy was far too prone to "accidents," which was why someone had to keep an eye on him.
This sort of surveillance would probably be effective… right?
Previously, Hagoromo's preferred tactic against Akatsuki had been step-by-step pressure. That was why his actions had started with the tailed beasts. But now things were already different. His thinking had been "slightly" adjusted. He wanted to take the other side down in one fell swoop…
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to take them all down at once, there was no pot to take. After all, they had always been operating separately. They were not even in the same pot. So he still had to proceed step by step.
"Ahem. Then do as you like."
What else could Hagoromo say? If they wanted to monitor him, let them monitor him… One had to admit that Tsunade had done beautifully. If no one was supervising him, could Hagoromo really not do something like turn around and charge into Kumogakure?
Heh. What a joke.
In any case, let the Anbu do as they pleased. Hagoromo was about to begin moving.
When they truly set their minds to doing something, the Anbu's operational efficiency was actually very high. When a great shinobi village like Konoha continuously investigated an organization's intelligence, it was not as though they would discover absolutely nothing.
On top of that, Akatsuki's members had one distinctive feature: this group liked to run around everywhere wearing those glaringly conspicuous uniforms. If one wanted to find traces of them, that made things relatively easier.
Especially when they were within Konoha's sphere of influence.
However, the other side clearly did not think so. Perhaps they had never considered that swaggering through the streets in that kind of uniform was an act of choosing popularity over secrecy.
So, when Hagoromo appeared with Mirai's three-person team before these two gentlemen—one crawling, one flying—they were still standing there blankly.
"Have you two eaten?"
"Heading to the Land of Lightning? Going after the Two-Tails or the Eight-Tails?"
"Friendly reminder: I'm very familiar with Kumogakure. I can help advise you on this matter. I've had close, intimate contact with both of those tailed beasts."
Hagoromo's overly familiar way of greeting them, plus his seemingly proactive attitude of cooperation, really might have made someone who did not know better think both sides belonged to friendly forces.
But the actual situation was absolutely not that. Hagoromo's appearance here meant that this Akatsuki duo probably would never make it to Kumogakure.
However, if one were to call them acquaintances, then among these two, one really was an acquaintance of Hagoromo's… the red-haired young boy, Sasori of the Red Sand. Many years ago, the two had met once.
Moreover, this "fate" seemed to have continued. The last time Hagoromo went to Sunagakure, he had nearly caught up to him, and now, among the first Akatsuki members Konoha had found, he was still present.
But for Sasori, this kind of fate absolutely could not be considered a good thing.
"So this is the White Yaksha? He looks somewhat familiar…" Sasori's voice came from within who-knew-which-generation Hiruko, still carrying that same hoarse quality.
He was still accustomed to hiding himself inside that puppet shell.
Hagoromo stretched out a finger and tapped Hiruko, then said, "Your Excellency seems to have forgotten. Many years ago, we met once in Amegakure. If I remember correctly, I should have thoroughly dismantled this thing back then."
Hagoromo was using selective memory. Why did he not mention that back then, he had been chased all over the place by the other party?
Sasori's gaze, hidden beneath the puppet, flickered slightly. After Hagoromo's reminder, he finally remembered who this guy was. After so many years, although his personal art style had changed greatly, his appearance had hardly changed at all.
He had simply never expected that the brat he had chased around years ago would grow to such an extent… Perhaps not continuing that pursuit back then had been the greatest mistake of Sasori's life.
In truth, Sasori was overthinking it again. Even if he had relentlessly pursued him back then, after angering Hagoromo, who would dismantle whom would still have been uncertain.
After all, at that time, Hagoromo had still been holding back and had not dared to show himself too much. But now, who would still care about exactly how many shots the White Yaksha could fire every day?
Sasori and Deidara exchanged a glance. In the current situation, battle was the only choice left to them. Turning around and fleeing was probably impossible. Only by fighting would they have a slim chance.
Hagoromo's arrangement here was for Mirai's three-person team to deal with Sasori while he himself handled Deidara. Compared to the latter, he was quite clear on the former's intelligence. After telling Mirai that information, they would also be able to fight with a more targeted approach.
At Hagoromo's level of strength, to be honest, even if a puppeteer played himself into full bloom, would it not still be the same? As long as they paid attention to his poison, everything else was manageable.
As for Deidara, his abilities and intelligence were relatively more ambiguous, so Hagoromo would handle him.
Or should Hagoromo simply beat both of them down by himself? That was not impossible either, but in that case, there would be no point in bringing Mirai's trio along.
"Fortunately, in order to deal with the tailed beasts, I brought enough explosive clay today, hm." Deidara tugged open his clothes, revealing the ninja tool pouches on both sides of his waist. Then he stuffed both hands inside them.
Amid the sound of rain, a strange chewing sound rang out again, making one unable to resist wondering exactly what Deidara was doing after stuffing both his lower hands into the area around his waistband.
"The White Yaksha, is it? Let me show you my art!"
Hearing the other party say this, Hagoromo genuinely laughed. With his left hand, he drew the chakra blade at his waist, then switched it into his right hand.
"No matter how you look at it, your first impression on me is quite good…"
Was this person a bit simple-minded?
"I admire you. But I hope you can continue maintaining this attitude from here on out."
What Hagoromo meant was: please keep up that Deidara-like attitude, and then…
Keep it up until death.
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