Takigakure Village.
Several Konoha ninja had already entered the village, but what greeted them was only ruins and stunned Taki ninja.
"Who's in charge here?" A Hyūga ninja approached one of the dazed shinobi sitting motionless on the ground. He crouched down and asked.
The Taki ninja seemed not to hear, still staring at the ground beneath him.
He didn't have obvious wounds, yet lacked even the strength to speak.
Scared stiff and unable to fight—that was a disgrace for a ninja, and now he started questioning his own path as a shinobi.
"Leaf ninja…"
Before they could seek someone else for answers, they heard a weak voice calling out.
Looking over, it was a very young ninja, clearly heavily injured, slumped in a pool of blood with multiple wounds across his body. His hair was disheveled.
The group exchanged glances before walking toward him.
They needed to quickly clarify the situation and gather intelligence from the wounded Taki ninja to help plan their next steps.
...
Sunagakure, hospital.
Kazekage Rasa and Team Shisui had already returned to Sunagakure Village.
Since Kazekage Rasa was seriously wounded, he'd been rushed straight into the hospital upon arrival.
Although Shisui's spirit remained strong, he also bore injuries and went in for treatment alongside Rasa.
Initially, Shisui and his team were even suspected of attacking Kazekage Rasa; however, after Rasa explained things, the Suna ninja changed their attitude entirely.
Chiyo stood by Rasa's bedside. Her aged face showed signs of exhaustion—dark eye circles visible beneath her slightly swollen eyelids.
She had departed in the night with the reinforcement squad to search for Rasa, and returned under cover of darkness carrying the injured Kazekage for urgent medical care. She hadn't slept a wink since.
"It was admirable work, Elder Chiyo!" Leaning against the headboard with a pillow supporting his back, Kazekage Rasa spoke softly.
His face appeared pale while both his left arm and abdomen were tightly wrapped in thick bandages, making him look quite pitiful.
"As long as the Kazekage is safe, this old woman can handle it!"
Chiyo pursed her lips slightly and sighed.
"Now tell me about exactly what happened."
Pulling over a chair, she sat close to the foot of the bed and fixed her gaze on Rasa.
Meanwhile, Ebizō—the former strategic mind behind Suna—entered the room and took a nearby seat.
He sat in silence, eyes half-closed, betraying no reaction.
Nodding slowly, Rasa swallowed hard, shifting his position slightly in bed to adjust his posture.
"The enemy who fought me is called Saitama Uchiha."
First giving the name, he observed the two elders' reactions briefly, noticing no particularly shocked expressions.
"I had my eye on him before. Elders, do you recall the units that sowed chaos behind our lines when war with Konoha first broke out? He was part of one of those groups!"
"But later on, he died during a mission targeting Iwagakure!"
"This time appearing here, I discovered he had joined an organization. In total, there were two enemies who infiltrated our village and took Gaara away—the aforementioned Saitama was one, while the other was a puppet master I never faced directly."
When Rasa paused at the mention of the second attacker being a puppet master, his gaze remained fixed on Chiyo's face.
When Elder Chiyo heard these words, her breathing noticeably quickened.
"He should be someone capable of infiltrating the village as a spy and also an exceptional puppet master. Elder Chiyo, you should know exactly who I'm referring to. Although I've never fought him myself and can't be certain, there's probably no one else in the entire ninja world that fits this description!"
Kazekage Rasa looked grim—this wasn't what he'd hoped for, but it was the truth.
"The old woman gets it. Let's talk about something else."
Elder Chiyo's expression darkened, shadows clouding her face.
Seated beside her, Ebizō remained silent, his deep-set eyes flickering with thought.
"Their goal is the tailed beasts. Konoha's ninja came mainly to warn us, but unfortunately, they arrived too late."
Chiyo continued speaking. Earlier, while healing Shisui, he had told her their purpose for coming to Sunagakure.
"It's said that Iwagakure's Four-Tails has also been captured by that organization led by Saitama. Combined with our One-Tail abduction this time, they've already taken two."
Ebizō nodded, straightening his posture as he turned toward Rasa.
"What exactly are they planning? We still don't know, but whatever it is, it won't be good."
Rasa kept his gloomy gaze fixed on the bedsheets, clenching the blanket tightly in his right hand, wrinkling the fabric.
This mission not only failed to recover Gaara but also cost him his left hand and part of his forearm because of a momentary lapse in caution.
Even though his Magnet Release techniques didn't rely much on hand movements, losing a hand still significantly impacted someone of his caliber.
"I've already sent out scouts to search based on the clues we have. Hopefully, we can find where the enemy is hiding."
Chiyo spoke while looking at Rasa.
At this point, sending people after Saitama—a Kage-level expert who had defeated Rasa himself—wasn't filled with much hope. But doing something was better than doing nothing; it at least brought some comfort.
"Thank you," Rasa sighed, knowing this was just a formality. She didn't really expect much from it anyway.
"I've decided to cooperate with Konoha. This organization collecting tailed beasts won't stop now—they'll definitely take further action!"
Rasa sat on the bed, clearly having thought it through.
"Yes, that's what we were thinking too. The enemy is far too bold!"
Ebizō finally spoke, wisdom gleaming in his deep-set eyes.
"How's that Konoha ninja?" Rasa asked, recalling Shisui's earlier battle—although he ultimately couldn't defeat Saitama, his strength still couldn't be underestimated.
"He's fine, just minor injuries."
Chiyo replied, though her tone lacked warmth.
Because of past experiences, she struggled to feel any fondness for people from Konoha—even someone like Shisui, who had saved Rasa's life.
Still, regardless of personal feelings, inter-village diplomacy required certain formalities to be observed.
"Rest well for now. We'll deal with everything tomorrow after leaving the hospital."
Chiyo rose, signaling Ebizō to leave, then said one last word to Rasa.
...
Boom! A fiery blast erupted, sending sparks flying and smoke billowing into the sky as a figure shot forth from the explosion.
Thump!
The figure crashed onto the ground with a dull thud.
Her chestnut-brown hair had turned jet-black, and her silver-white ninja armor was torn to shreds.
Yugito struggled to push herself up, a trickle of blood slowly dripping from the corner of her mouth. As she prepared to rise again, several whistling sounds cut through the air near her ear.
Shwip! A figure descended from the sky and landed beside Yugito.
Crack! The moment the figure landed beside her, an attack followed instantly.
A black rod pierced through her from behind, impaling her body and protruding out from her chest. It stabbed into the ground, pinning Yugito like a bug.
"Kchhh!" Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Yugito felt like the chakra inside her had slipped beyond her control, becoming nearly impossible to manipulate.
Crk! Another rod pierced down. Yugito's body stiffened. Her white eyes began changing back to normal.
At this moment, everything related to the Tailed Beast within her vanished completely, leaving her powerless to resist.
[Deva Path] stood beside her, gazing coldly without speaking.
Even in her berserk state, Yugito had proven quite powerful—she'd actually destroyed one of the Six Paths Puppets, the Animal Path known for its Summoning Jutsu.
But it was merely a dying struggle, completely ineffective. Because of the [Naraka Path]'s presence, damaged puppets could always be repaired.
Shwip! Shwip! Shwip!
Several more whistling sounds filled the air as five figures landed behind the Deva Path—it was the other puppets of the Six Paths.
"The Two-Tails Matatabi has been successfully captured!"
[Deva Path] stared at the immobilized Yugito, murmuring to himself while shifting his gaze toward Amegakure Village.
Beyond lay a distant mountain peak. Someone up there appeared to be watching him.
Without further concern, he dismissed it—he no longer cared whether someone saw what had happened.
[Preta Path] stepped forward, grabbing Yugito roughly by the arm and tossing her over his shoulder like a ragdoll.
When a Jinchuriki was seized like this, they were left powerless, unable to extract any Chakra.
Surrounding trees, already half-destroyed by battle, still cast large shadows blocking sunlight.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned—a very good thing indeed.
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