After several days of travel, Yuuki had already arrived in the Land of Iron.
This time, Yuuki hadn't brought anyone with him and had disguised himself.
He had transformed from a handsome, sunny young man into an ordinary-looking youth.
Yuuki was currently in a small town on the coast of the Land of Iron. He found a lively pub and walked in.
The moment Yuuki entered the pub, the boisterous chatter in the hall paused for an instant, then quickly returned to normal.
Wearing clothes that were clearly expensive and exuded nobility, coupled with his sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a face so beautiful it rivaled a woman's, he looked completely out of place in the pub.
Yuuki, who had a misunderstanding of what 'ordinary-looking' meant, attracted most of the gazes in the hall.
In Yuuki's perception, there were no fewer than a dozen Ninja in several private rooms, clearly spies from various Ninja Villages.
Accustomed to being watched, Yuuki felt no discomfort; he even deliberately raised his head and scanned each gaze directed at him.
People were not used to making eye contact with strangers and quickly shifted their gaze away, no longer looking at Yuuki.
Everyone resumed their previous conversations, and the pub quickly returned to its former lively atmosphere.
Yuuki also rented a private room, ordered a pot of sake, then sent the waiter away. After that, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan to filter through all the information in the entire town.
The town was located on the coast of the Land of Iron, with a natural harbor on its coastline, making the town quite prosperous and fairly large.
However, a town where ordinary people lived, no matter how big, couldn't be bigger than a Village, could it?
As the Village Chief of Konoha Village, it was effortless for Yuuki's Mangekyo Sharingan to cover the entire town after activating Shinatsuhiko.
Ninja, especially when performing intelligence gathering missions, spoke very softly and cautiously.
However, everything was revealed under Yuuki's ocular jutsu.
From their respective conversations, it was clear that, apart from a few rogue Ninja, everyone in the town was officially sanctioned.
None of the Five Great Ninja Villages were missing.
That's right, Konoha had also dispatched forces to monitor the situation.
Having them there was normal; if they weren't, then Konoha's intelligence system's keenness and sensitivity would be too low, and Yuuki would need to consider replacing people.
Kumogakure, the main protagonist of this matter, also had squads in this town, and they were the most numerous.
In addition to one visible squad wearing headbands, there were also two covert squads.
Of course, Darui was not present; he was, without a doubt, at sea at this time.
Capturing a Tailed Beast isn't something the Raikage, Darui, can simply do by fighting it; if he wins, the Tailed Beast won't just obediently return with him.
With Kumogakure having lost the amber purifying pot, the difficulty of capturing a Tailed Beast has at least doubled.
Combat teams, support teams, logistics teams, intelligence teams, sealing teams, and backup temporary Jinchuriki—none could be left out.
Searching, fighting, and sealing were undoubtedly crucial, but even more important was the return journey.
After Kumogakure successfully retrieves the Eight-Tails, if other people have ideas, acting during the return journey is the best time; if successful, not only can they take advantage of an existing situation, but they can also avoid attracting too much attention.
In Yuuki's estimation, no Village should be interested in the Eight-Tails, or even if they are, it's not worth expending such great effort to plot at this time.
What Yuuki could think of, Darui could naturally also think of; even if he couldn't, there would always be someone around him who could.
Having wandered the Ninja World for so many years, Yuuki understood a truth: perhaps people in the Ninja World don't have as much knowledge as he does, but there are countless clever people; those who treat others as fools are undoubtedly fools themselves.
Kumogakure knew it was highly unlikely anyone would snatch the prize from their jaws, but they couldn't completely rule out the possibility, so they naturally had to make corresponding arrangements.
Therefore, even though it was just a Tailed Beast capture operation, Kumogakure could already be considered to be in a state of war.
The Land of Iron, as well as the Land of the Moon, the Land of Hot Springs, and the Land of Rice Fields between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Iron, and even the Land of Waterfall beyond the Land of Iron, were all filled with Kumogakure Ninja.
This was achieved by reaching agreements and paying a price with various small countries and Ninja Villages, and these were the visible and distinguishable forces.
There were also a large number of Ninja squads secretly following behind these teams, hidden in the shadows.
This was the stance adopted by a Great Ninja Village without transcendent Ninja when facing a wild Tailed Beast.
After all, this wasn't a confrontation with a Jinchuriki, and the goal wasn't to kill but to capture alive and seal; Kumogakure wasn't exactly using the full strength of the Village, but half the Village's strength was certainly being deployed.
[Leave of Absence Notice]
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