The reconnaissance squad departed once more and returned shortly afterward.
"Report! Everything outside the city walls is normal. No traps, no Explosive Tags, no barriers."
"Scout again! Check the water sources, bridges, and roads outside the city. See if they've been tampered with!"
"Report! Water sources are normal, bridges are intact, and there are no signs of excavation on the roads."
"Scout again!"
After repeating this process for an entire hour, Yagura looked at the reconnaissance squad that had returned once more and spoke again: "Scout again!"
"Commander Yagura!"
One of the reconnaissance squad members finally could not hold back any longer.
"We've already run around the city eight times. There's really nothing there."
Yagura remained unmoved, his eyes fixed firmly on the direction of Rinkai City.
No one is inside or around the city, and that was precisely the most dangerous situation.
It meant that Shinichi Higashino was definitely planning some grand conspiracy, one that could strike at any moment.
The Konoha ninjas were certainly hiding somewhere, and they simply had not found them yet.
The moment they entered the city, they would immediately fall into a deadly trap.
"Pass down the order! The entire army will continue holding the position. Double the number of sentries. Report every unusual movement within ten kilometers outside the city!"
After a moment of silence: "Yes."
Another half hour passed.
Yagura stood motionless at the command post, his expression grave as his mind raced, deducing one possible conspiracy after another.
Seeing this, Chukichi could not stand it any longer. He walked over to Yagura and said, "Yagura, let me take a look."
Yagura turned his head and looked at him seriously.
After a brief silence, he nodded.
"Chukichi, you must be careful when you go in. I suspect Shinichi Higashino has definitely done something somewhere and is hiding some kind of ambush behind the scenes."
"I understand."
Chukichi listened quietly, then vanished from his spot in a flash.
A short while later, he returned and stood before Yagura. The expression on his face was difficult to describe.
"Yagura, there's really nothing in the city. Absolutely nothing. No ninja, no civilians. Everyone is gone. The warehouses and houses are empty, everything is empty."
He paused, looking at Yagura's still-contemplative face before adding: "They simply cleaned out the entire city and handed it over to us."
Hearing this, Yagura's expression became even more serious.
Something was absolutely wrong!
Would Shinichi Higashino really be so kind?
But Chukichi's sensory abilities could not be wrong.
After all, he was the strongest sensory ninja in the village.
"You will continue holding the position."
Having reached a decision, Yagura finally spoke.
"The first and second battalions will enter the city with me."
A short while later, inside Rinkai City.
Yagura stood on the empty main street, his gaze sweeping over the neat yet deserted houses lining both sides.
He stared expressionlessly at the empty city before him, then, after a long silence, he suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"Yagura, what are you laughing at?"
Beside him, Hyakume Sosuke, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki who had entered the city with him, turned and asked curiously.
Yagura withdrew his gaze, then a smile that no one could understand hung at the corner of his mouth as he replied calmly: "Senior, I'm not laughing at anything. I'm simply laughing at Konoha's cowardice and Shinichi Higashino's lack of wisdom!"
"Why do you say that?"
Hyakume Sosuke looked at Yagura in surprise.
Outside the city just moments ago, Yagura had acted as though facing a formidable enemy, cautiously verifying everything again and again.
Why did he suddenly appear so confident after entering the city?
"Senior, do you feel confused?"
Yagura stood with his hands behind his back and looked over the empty city before him.
"Our army is powerful, so the Konoha does not dare confront us head-on and can only abandon the city and flee. This exposes their insufficient military strength and inability to face us directly. That is Konoha's cowardice!"
"Therefore, Shinichi Higashino can only resort to avoiding us and striking our weakness. He intends to trade space for time, surrendering this city to slow our advance and drag us into a prolonged war of attrition."
"But while this appears clever, it is actually exactly what I wanted."
"Our army has obtained this place without losing a single ninja. With this city as a base of operations, we can establish a firm foothold and steadily advance inland. Control of this battlefield has already fallen into our hands."
"That is why I say Konoha is cowardly and Shinichi Higashino lacks wisdom! The advantage in this war lies in..."
Boom!!!
Before he could finish speaking, the sky suddenly flashed brightly.
A gigantic bolt of lightning violently tore apart the night sky, followed by a deafening thunderclap!
Because the city was located along the coast, the airspace above the sea was especially open.
The thunder encountered almost no obstacles as it traveled, making the sound exceptionally fierce as it poured directly into the city, causing even the window frames throughout the city to seem to tremble slightly.
Yagura's words were abruptly interrupted.
He instinctively raised his head and looked toward the endlessly churning night sky above.
Lightning intertwined among the clouds.
Bolt after bolt illuminated Rinkai City in alternating flashes of light and darkness.
The thunder rolled continuously, one wave after another.
Before the thunder had even subsided, torrential rain came pouring down.
Raindrops the size of beans crashed down noisily.
The downpour arrived swiftly and violently. Within only a few seconds, it became a curtain of rain covering the heavens, engulfing the entire Rinkai City in a torrential storm.
In the southeastern coastal region during summer, heavy rain was commonplace.
Yet as Yagura gazed at the sky above, filled with dancing lightning and endless thunder, an inexplicable sense of unease rose within him.
It was as though something lurked deep within the clouds, coldly watching this city and everyone arrogant enough to enter it.
"The wind is about to rise, Yagura."
Hyakume Sosuke, beside him, had not thought much of it. He looked up at the sky, then toward the distant sea.
His brows furrowed slightly as he spoke.
The Land of Water was an island nation.
Its people spent their entire lives dealing with the sea.
Especially experienced fishermen, veteran sailors, and ninja who spent years carrying out missions at sea.
For them, the signs of a typhoon were an instinct etched into their bones.
"Judging by the trend, this typhoon won't be small."
At this point, Hyakume Sosuke turned toward Yagura and reminded him: "We need to make preparations as soon as possible, Yagura."
Hearing this, Yagura withdrew his gaze from the sky and suppressed the inexplicable unease in his heart.
"I'll make the necessary arrangements, senior."
With that, Yagura turned and strode toward the city lord's mansion, which had been requisitioned as a temporary headquarters.
Soon, a series of orders was quickly issued.
The first concerned the army outside the city.
He did not bring all the troops into the city.
Only three thousand elite soldiers were transferred inside, tasked with transforming the empty city into Village Hidden in the Mist's largest forward operating base on the southeastern coast.
The remaining seven thousand soldiers were deployed around Rinkai City, dispersed among key locations and forming a network of mutually supporting outer strongholds.
At the same time, he issued search orders to the reconnaissance squads once again, requiring them to expand their search area and locate the Konoha ninjas.
Although Yagura had spoken lightly in front of Hyakume Sosuke earlier, he had never relaxed his guard regarding Konoha, especially regarding Shinichi Higashino, the man who had defeated him twice.