It was more or less within expectations—Gaara...
But where did the Five-Tails go? Deep within the mountains of the Land of Earth? With such a massive body, hiding it wouldn't be easy.
As for the Three-Tails, there's no need to think about it. It must have found a suitable place to live and sunk to the bottom of the sea to sleep.
Gekko Chizan nodded to himself. The intelligence that should exist was all there, and whatever wasn't there simply couldn't be collected.
"Keep up the hard work."
"Oh right, where's that little brat Yugito?"
"A while ago I heard from Konan that this little brat has started causing trouble again?"
Toward his beloved disciples, Gekko Chizan always maintained a free-range attitude, letting them grow through their own efforts.
Only Yugito was the exception. Honestly, he didn't know if it was a problem with how he had educated her in the beginning, but she had become increasingly crazy.
Every day she was dissatisfied with something, angry at something else, practically wanting to fight from morning to night.
At the mention of Yugito, Yahiko could only sigh helplessly. Her strength was growing stronger by the day, and her temper was growing just as fast.
According to Konan, it was probably adolescence—she refused to submit to anyone.
"From Amegakure to Takigakure, then to Kusagakure—every one of the surrounding countries has suffered under her hands."
"It was only when you previously arranged for her to search for the Five-Tails that she behaved herself for a while."
"Right now she's by the seaside doing some kind of experiment with Orochimaru."
Speaking of Orochimaru, Gekko Chizan couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Living Corpse Reincarnation and Edo Tensei had already been completely perfected. The development of the curse marks was also extremely complete. The five types of curse marks could now be mass-produced.
Tsk tsk. In the end, it was all because of his intervention. Orochimaru had discovered a way to make Jūgo even more perfect, which greatly advanced his research.
"Alright then, I'm leaving."
"There's always something going on with the Hokage back home. What a pain."
Flying Thunder God activated. Gekko Chizan had already left Takigakure Village, instantly returning to the entrance of the Hokage office building.
Inside the Hokage building, things were extremely busy.
Ever since the Daimyō Mansion openly began competing with Konoha Village for missions, the village's situation had become rather bad.
It wouldn't affect the village's foundation, but economically speaking, they had indeed been suppressed quite badly.
"Chizan, you're here."
"Yeah. So tell me—what's the Daimyō Mansion done this time?"
Gekko Chizan walked into the Hokage office and sat directly on the sofa, looking extremely casual.
It couldn't be helped—his status spoke for itself.
Even Nara Shikaku was standing off to the side in the office.
"Shikaku."
"The Daimyō Mansion has formed an alliance with the Fire Temple. The two sides have already reached a strategic cooperation."
"And the Fire Temple's chief disciple of this generation, Chiriku, has already joined the Guardian Ninja organization."
Chiriku?
The moment Gekko Chizan heard that name, he immediately thought of the Destruction of Evil Seal and the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed...
A decent technique, but the power was average and the attack pattern rather single—nothing impressive at all. Completely unimpressive.
"This move by the Daimyō Mansion is probably meant to further restrict Konoha."
"The Fire Temple has always been a core force within the Land of Fire. Originally they didn't participate in battles, but now they have openly taken the Daimyō Mansion's side."
"This is not good news for us."
Listening to Shikaku's explanation, Gekko Chizan showed a hint of disdain.
"After all, it's the Daimyō Mansion—the rulers of the Land of Fire. The Fire Temple siding with them was inevitable."
"Don't forget, the Fire Temple's supplies all come from the Daimyō Mansion. What other choice do they have?"
Minato Namikaze sat in his chair without saying a word.
The current situation for the village had already reached its worst point, far worse than before.
But there was nothing they could do. After all, it was the Daimyō Mansion—what could they possibly do?
Open rebellion was absolutely impossible.
"Shikaku, do you have any good ideas?"
That question made Shikaku scratch his head.
"No. I haven't come up with any good solutions. Wait for the Daimyō to realize things himself?"
"That's not very realistic. Ever since the end of the Third Great Ninja War—even though we achieved overwhelming superiority—the Daimyō Mansion hasn't shown the attitude it should have."
That was the truth. Ever since the current Daimyō took power, the Daimyō Mansion had shown an unwarranted resistance toward Konoha.
"So? Minato, what exactly do you want me to do at the Daimyō Mansion?"
Minato Namikaze sighed.
"Chizan, I need you to infiltrate the Daimyō Mansion and investigate what has been happening there recently."
"I have a feeling someone is deliberately targeting the village."
"I can't say exactly who it is, but based on my understanding of the Daimyō Mansion, if no one were maliciously pushing things behind the scenes, the Daimyō's attitude toward us shouldn't be like this."
"The village shouldn't be stabbed in the back by the ruler of its own country."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
Gekko Chizan nodded.
Wasn't that just asking him to find the root of the problem?
It wasn't like he hadn't done this kind of thing before.
"The people we sent earlier—including your proud student Kakashi—failed to obtain any useful intelligence."
"I have sufficient reason to believe that among the Guardian Ninja of the Daimyō Mansion, there is someone with extremely strong counter-reconnaissance ability."
"Perhaps even not weaker than you."
If one had to name the person with the strongest reconnaissance ability in Konoha Village, it would definitely be Gekko Chizan.
Given the current situation, only by sending Gekko Chizan could they obtain the intelligence they needed.
"Tch. Right now I feel like everyone's hiding ability is better than mine."
"It's been years—Danzō can't be found, the Akatsuki organization can't be found. I'm starting to feel pretty miserable."
"Fine. I'll set off for the Daimyō Mansion tomorrow."
"I'll go alone."
Gekko Chizan had no intention of bringing anyone else along. Alone, his mobility was far greater—he could leave whenever he wanted.
Much more convenient.
Minato Namikaze nodded at his suggestion.
"Oh right, Chizan. When you go to the Daimyō Mansion this time, I hope you'll make contact with someone."
"Hm? Don't tell me you mean that bastard Asuma?"
When it came to someone he could meet at the Daimyō Mansion, aside from Asuma, he really couldn't think of anyone else.
Minato Namikaze nodded, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face.
"Asuma is still a member of the village after all. Back then, he went to the Daimyō Mansion because of certain circumstances."
"With the current situation, if you can persuade him, perhaps you can also obtain some intelligence about the Daimyō Mansion."
"And this is also a request from Advisor Hiruzen."
"So if possible, try to contact him."
A request from the old man, huh. Then he might as well accept it.
After committing the matter to memory, Gekko Chizan left.
"Shikaku, do you think Chizan will be able to obtain the intelligence we need from the Daimyō Mansion this time?"
"He should. After all, Konoha's Ghost has never failed."
"Hahaha, that's true. We just have to believe in him."