"What are you doing?"
Pinned against the wall, the man looked at him with terrified eyes.
Without a word, Jokichi punched him in the stomach and then removed the kunai.
The man instantly fell to his knees and threw up for a bit, only, what he threw up were just some digested food scraps.
"You were acting dead drunk, so why is there no alcohol in your vomit?"
Jokichi stared coldly at the man.
"Don't play dumb. My patience is limited, and I won't ask a second time. If the answer doesn't satisfy me, then there's no need for you to exist anymore."
"I, I..."
Seeing Jokichi's icy eyes, the man felt a wave of panic within.
Jokichi ignored him and directly asked.
"Are you a spy sent from the Land of Snow?"
"I, I..."
"Pfft!"
A sharp blade plunged into his thigh, and the man hugged his leg, howling loudly.
"I told you, I have no patience."
Jokichi said indifferently, performing this action without the slightest ripple in his heart.
Hearing the commotion, the people in the bar screamed one by one and scattered in all directions.
Jokichi ignored them, letting them flee past him. Only when Fujikaze Yukie was also preparing to flee past him did he pull out his bloodstained sword and block her path.
"This guy was coming for you."
"Me!?"
Yukie pointed at herself in astonishment.
"You must be mistaken!"
"I saw it with my own eyes. This guy was preparing to make a move on you from behind."
"This..."
Yukie involuntarily took two steps back, her face turning exceptionally grim.
Although she was the princess of the Land of Snow, she had never thought of taking back everything she lost. She only wanted to live in this world as an ordinary actress, and from the moment she left the Land of Snow, she had been using the name Fujikaze Yukie.
The identity of Kazahana Koyuki shouldn't be known to anyone.
But why...
"You're lying!"
Yukie clutched her head, finding it somewhat hard to accept.
I clearly gave up everything, why won't they let me go?
Jokichi didn't look at her, but looked at the spy, resting the blade against his neck.
"I said, my patience is limited."
"I'm not a spy, just a scout sent by Lord Doto to find traces of Lady Koyuki."
The man didn't dare to hesitate any longer and confessed everything.
Ten years ago, ever since Kakashi took Yukie away from the Land of Snow, Kazahana Doto had been sending people to gather intelligence on her, wanting to capture her and bring her back to the Land of Snow.
"How could this be!?"
Yukie's body involuntarily backed away, tears of despair flowing from her beautiful eyes.
"I already gave up everything, so why won't they let me go?"
Having experienced the destruction of her family and nation since childhood, Yukie felt terror toward the Land of Snow and toward the uncle who took away everything around her. She had psychological trauma and was always running away.
Jokichi knew Yukie's situation, but he didn't have Naruto's patience or Talk Jutsu to comfort her. He could only let her know that some things must be faced, no matter how much you try to run.
"Get lost. Go tell the master behind you that I will be coming for him."
Jokichi said to the man.
"You're letting me go?"
The man was somewhat surprised.
"I have no patience."
Jokichi frowned, flicked the blood off his sword, and then slowly sheathed it.
Seeing this, the man scrambled and ran for his life.
"Don't run!"
Yukie, realizing this in hindsight, wanted to give chase. But how could a weak woman like her catch up to a professional intelligence scout? She lost him in the blink of an eye, forcing her to come back in a huff to blame Jokichi.
"You knew he was a scout, why did you let him go?"
"I'm too lazy to go searching for them at their door."
"You..."
"I'm different from you. I am strong, stronger than anyone else, and I fear no one."
"Too arrogant. You don't know anything at all, yet you dare to make such big boasts. Even Konoha's famous Kakashi couldn't defeat my uncle's subordinates and could only take me and run. What can a kid like you do?"
"I am stronger than Kakashi."
Jokichi looked at her indifferently, and his cold expression suddenly broke into a smile.
"Moreover, the current Kakashi is countless times stronger than he was ten years ago. It's impossible for your uncle to win."
"You..."
Yukie pointed at Jokichi, stammering over her words, and finally just swung her hand fiercely and turned to leave.
Jokichi innocently spread his hands and followed.
The two returned to the movie theater together to meet up with the filming crew, then traveled together to a seaside city and took a boat to the Land of Snow.
Since she couldn't hide, she could only face it.
Although Yukie had been running away, she wasn't an idiot either. In this situation, the only thing left to do was settle things once and for all.
She prepared to hand the Hexagonal Crystal necklace over to Doto.
...
On the coastline.
Eight people wearing black cloaks with red clouds and one person wearing a plain black cloak stood side-by-side.
The person in the plain black cloak wore a spiral mask. In the single eyehole, a scarlet pupil could be seen, with three tomoe slowly rotating inside.
Another person had a body that was half black and half white, with a pitcher plant growing around their head.
Another was a woman with light blue-purple hair and light orange-yellow eyes, wearing a light purple paper flower on the right side of her head, purple eyeshadow, and a lip piercing below her lips. Her expression was indifferent, looking very calm and collected.
The last six people varied in appearance and build, but without exception, they all had a pair of ripple-patterned eyes and had many black metal rods piercing their faces.
They stood quietly on the shore, watching the boat drift further and further away until it disappeared over the horizon.
Suddenly, the person wearing the spiral mask looked at the man in the middle with short orange hair and ripple-patterned eyes, asking.
"Pain, why didn't you let us strike just now?"
"Because he was very vigilant, and I never found an opening."
Pain replied indifferently.
"With our strength, even if it's not a sneak attack, it shouldn't matter, right!"
The masked man said.
"He has a mission target right now, and he's in a city. If a fight breaks out, he will definitely be holding back for fear of collateral damage."
"But Konoha's reinforcements would also arrive quickly. Moreover, if we go too far, it will draw the gaze of the Five Great Nations. The plan is still in preparation right now; attracting the attention of the Five Great Nations too early would be detrimental to future plans."
"Then we strike while he's en route to the Land of Snow."
"During the mission, his vigilance will be very high. So, we'll strike on his way back after he completes the mission."
"Are you worried about catching the filming crew in the crossfire?"
"If it's a necessary sacrifice, I won't show any mercy."
"I hope so!"
The person with the black and white face reminded them.
"Be careful. That guy awakened Wood Release, so maybe he also awakened the Senju clan's sensory abilities. If you approach carelessly, you might be detected."
"That's why Pain decided to strike on his way back after finishing the mission. Once he relaxes his guard and we get close to him, and since it's on the open sea, he'll have nowhere to run."
The only woman among them said.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
...
This voyage was taken on a large galleon.
Along the way, the director and a bunch of actors filmed scenes on the ship.
Jokichi, meanwhile, lay on the ropes of the ship's sails, watching them film while also paying attention to his surroundings.
He hadn't forgotten Itachi's warning.
Pain and Obito had both set their sights on him.
With Zetsu's intelligence-gathering abilities, it was impossible for them not to find out his whereabouts.
Perhaps those two guys were already secretly lurking in the shadows.
As soon as he exposed a flaw, they would pop out and deliver a fatal blow.
However, through scanning with the scouter, he hadn't discovered any abnormal chakra.