Land of Water.
At a hidden small pier, Yagura Karatachi led several Hidden Mist Village ninjas. Standing in the fog. Looking coldly at the sea ahead.
A large shadow suddenly appeared as a large ship broke through the fog and stopped at the pier.
Hiruzen Sarutobi led six ninjas and walked down.
"Mizukage. I have come under the orders of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to help avenge the Daimyo of the Land of Water."
Hiruzen stopped his steps. Maintaining a three-meter distance from the other party.
Yagura remained expressionless and spoke coldly.
"Help? I thought it would be kicking us while we're down."
"This is the order of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. I will not disobey it."
Hiruzen spoke in an even tone.
"Furthermore, avenging the Daimyo of the Land of Water should also be something the next Daimyo of the Land of Water wants to accomplish as soon as possible."
Although his tone was very flat, the underlying warning was already very obvious.
If the next Daimyo of the Land of Water knew that Yagura prevented Hiruzen from helping—thereby delaying the time of revenge—it would absolutely trigger dissatisfaction.
This immediately silenced the ninjas behind Yagura.
"Acting together is fine. But during the operation, the seven of you cannot leave our sight. And the specific actions must follow my orders."
Yagura slowly spoke up.
"Moreover, you are not allowed to conduct any investigative actions. Otherwise I will immediately deem you as spies and arrest you."
Hearing this, Hiruzen slowly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they could participate in the operation, it was fine.
"No problem. As long as it does not endanger our lives or attempt to extract intelligence from us, we will follow orders for the specific actions."
Both sides barely reached a preliminary agreement. Both secretly breathed a sigh of relief internally.
"Then can you share the intelligence? I also have a bit of intelligence regarding that embryo here."
Hiruzen spoke first.
Exchanging intelligence was beneficial to both sides. So Yagura naturally would not refuse.
"Devouring to obtain Kekkei Genkai?"
Hiruzen frowned deeply. Thinking of those records.
Zenshu wanted to create a perfect version of himself. He originally thought the other party had failed.
Now it seemed he probably hadn't truly failed.
He has probably already mastered most of the Kekkei Genkai in the village. The only good news is that the Byakugan and... the Sharingan haven't been devoured?
When Hiruzen thought of this, he was slightly uncertain.
The Byakugan definitely wasn't. Because it was very obvious.
But the Sharingan wasn't necessarily safe. After all, even Zenji could simulate it. Let alone Zenshu.
The greater possibility was that the other party had mastered the bloodline but hadn't awakened it yet.
Yagura's pupils shrank slightly after receiving the intelligence. Although some key pieces of information were not revealed—such as Idle Transfiguration, Zenshu, and the Chimera Technique—
But what the embryo might have mastered was written very clearly.
Barrier Techniques. Reversal of Eight Directions. And even intelligence on Domains was included.
Except for the Domain, there are almost no hand seals? ...Could they all be Kekkei Genkai?
Yagura was astonished internally.
He looked up at Hiruzen and slowly said.
"Follow me."
Hearing this, Hiruzen put away the intelligence in his hand and followed Yagura with a heavy heart.
"I see the intelligence states that ordinary monster soldiers possess Chunin-level strength. Is this... accurate?"
Hiruzen pondered for a moment and asked tactfully.
Yagura, walking beside him, didn't even turn his head. He spoke coldly.
"These monster soldiers all possess powerful strength and a considerable amount of chakra."
"The most important thing is that their bodies generally have a layer of bone—either thin or thick—making their defense extremely strong."
"In a one-on-one situation, an average Chunin would find it difficult to kill them."
Hiruzen's expression became solemn. Although it was only difficult to kill them, it didn't mean they weren't a match.
In a one-on-one situation, there are many other methods to deal with an enemy. Killing them isn't an absolute necessity.
But there were thousands of monster soldiers. Once formed into a group, this kind of defense would become exactly the most difficult aspect to deal with.
"Thousands of such monster soldiers will probably be hard to deal with."
Hiruzen couldn't help but take out his pipe and take a puff.
"Does the Professor of Ninjutsu also find this kind of group hard to deal with?"
Yagura revealed a hint of a cold sneer as he spoke.
This immediately allowed Hiruzen to guess the other party's thoughts. Connecting it to the other party's identity, everything became clear.
The other party wanted to use Tailed Beast Bombs to directly wipe out these monster soldiers.
"A number of monster soldiers gathered together? And they still haven't left?"
Hiruzen spoke in surprise.
If they stayed gathered together, they would indeed be much easier to deal with.
Yagura didn't speak. Leading Hiruzen toward the direction of the Daimyo's residence.
On the other side. On a hill in the distance from the Daimyo's residence.
A group of people was standing there. They wore black robes with red clouds. Exuding an extraordinary aura.
Leading them was none other than the Deva Path. Standing beside him was Konan. The other two were Kakuzu and Sasori.
These two were the earliest to join Akatsuki. The other members from the original story were either too young or hadn't joined yet.
As for Obito, he was still hiding his identity. Only providing intelligence in secret.
"How much longer do we have to wait here?"
Kakuzu spoke somewhat impatiently.
Wasting so much time was enough for him to take on many bounties. Who knows how much bounty money he could have earned.
Now he hadn't earned a single cent. It was truly too much of a loss.
"The dark mask affects our ultimate plan. We cannot ignore it."
The Deva Path spoke without any fluctuation.
Konan spoke from the side.
"Konoha's Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, has already entered the Land of Water. It won't be long before we can take action."
Sasori gazed at the Daimyo's residence in the distance. His eyes profound. Without making any comments.
Previously, due to impatience, he had already secretly attempted to infiltrate it.
"Sasori. Didn't you take a trip there? What's the situation inside?"
Kakuzu turned his gaze to Sasori at this moment.
Hearing this, Sasori became even gloomier. Unable to help but think of the experience of going inside.
"There are many monster soldiers inside. Those guys are all a bunch of tough lumps. It took me a great deal of effort just to injure them."
"Even the effectiveness of my poison was greatly reduced. It took three to five times longer than usual to take effect. And the effect was much weaker."
Kakuzu showed a look of surprise. He had witnessed the prowess of his companion. That poison was extremely troublesome.
He didn't expect that just a group of the lowest-level monster soldiers could resist that kind of poison.
"That truly is troublesome."
Kakuzu spoke softly.
Outside the Daimyo's residence of the Land of Water. In a temporary base. Hiruzen followed Yagura and walked in.
The surrounding Hidden Mist Village ninjas stopped one after another. Their gazes fixed on Hiruzen.
Some people's eyes were mixed with hatred. Others' gazes were extremely cold. The atmosphere was very heavy.
The war between Konoha and the Hidden Mist Village had only ended three years ago. The elite ninjas who could come here were mostly survivors of that war.
Naturally, they wouldn't have a good impression of Konoha. The only reason they didn't attack immediately was entirely because Yagura was present.
"Hokage. You have already seen my subordinates. I hope you will stay obediently in the place I arrange during this time and not move around casually. Causing unnecessary trouble."
Yagura spoke coldly.
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