Deidara is just the kind of ninja who naturally excels when going after Tailed Beasts. His signature Explosive Clay could be seen as sort of "advanced" attack technique—like bringing guns to a sword fight, if you will.
Ninjas capable of unleashing relentless barrages through Saturation Strikes are incredibly rare—which makes these techniques perfect for taking down massive targets like Tailed Beasts.
Deidara is Iwagakure's inside man. Add Kakuzu to the mix, and… it must be admitted, Kakuzu is still quite a formidable ninja. He can fully demonstrate his combat effectiveness in various battlefields—that is, as long as the comparison standards are properly set. In that sense, he truly qualifies as a high-end asset.
The enemy operates from the shadows while the Jinchuriki stand exposed. With such an advantage, Iwagakure would find it nearly impossible to protect their "strategic weapons."
Besides Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, the remaining villages still possessing Tailed Beasts are only Kirigakure, Takigakure, and Kumogakure. There's no need to elaborate on Kirigakure and Takigakure—Takigakure is a small village, while Kirigakure has remained chaotic to this day, practically defenseless.
As for Kumogakure, though powerful, Pain's operation against it will take place before any action against Iwagakure—more precisely, the capture of the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails has already succeeded, because this mission was carried out by the two strongest members of the Organization.
Itachi Uchiha, Obito Uchiha.
The Organization acts far too quickly, and intelligence in the Ninjutsu World tends to be fragmented and slow to spread… After Sunagakure weighs its options, it will report the Kazekage's death and Shukaku's loss to Konoha—even if the alliance between villages has been strained, an alliance remains an alliance.
Sunagakure might do this—but does it expect other villages to do the same? To reveal their most classified secrets to Konoha? Intelligence is the lifeline of any ninja village.
Even further, even if certain intelligence and real-time events in the Ninjutsu World were to reach Konoha, Haseo wouldn't necessarily know them… there's often no reason for him to be informed about many things.
So when Haseo finally realizes that things have already begun, they're practically over.
Night, Hokage's office building.
"So, he really isn't here?"
The person who suddenly appears in the Hokage's office late at night is none other than Haseo himself. Although he could easily do so unseen, he made no effort to conceal his presence this time.
"The Fourth, what brings you here?"
After arriving, Haseo took a quick look around, and soon enough, the Anbu guarding the Hokage's office revealed themselves… Technically speaking, Haseo's actions should be considered overstepping; a retired individual shouldn't appear in a place representing Konoha's core authority.
Anyone bold enough to openly do such things is definitely not some rule-abiding person.
But when the Anbu ninja saw Haseo, their overall attitude was calm and composed. Compared to hostility over his breach of protocol, they felt more confusion toward his actions... After all, Haseo was the Fourth Hokage, and his credibility within Konoha, especially among ordinary ninja, went without saying.
"It's nothing serious—just a brief visit."
"I'm sure you're well aware of what happened recently in Sunagakure. Increase the village security during this period... Something might be coming soon.
"Something quite severe, actually."
After leaving just those words behind, Haseo immediately departed from the scene.
The night sky was clear, with cool, bright moonlight pouring across the entire land. If this could be considered a beautiful sight, then naturally Konoha was equally enveloped in its glow.
Yet inside the Third Hokage's office, there wasn't even a trace of moonlight—only layer upon layer of shadows.
The silhouette of an Anbu ninja blended perfectly into that darkness.
Even if you looked out the window, there was no brightness to be found, for the entire room—and even the window itself—was shrouded beneath the cliffside shadow cast by the Hokage Monument.
The leader of the Anbu opened his mouth slightly, as if wanting to say something to Haseo, but ultimately stopped himself.
Considering the priority of intelligence distribution in Konoha, it was only natural—the Anbu, who constantly executed high-intensity missions and were the Hokage's most elite forces, definitely had access far superior to that of Haseo, who had already retired from active duty.
...
At noon the next day, in a small plaza within the Uzumaki District.
There were few pedestrians on the streets at this hour; two children had taken shelter under the shade of a tree in the square.
Having been in Konoha for quite a while now, Niyu Haseo had also made some friendly connections—especially with kids like The Second.
Of course, considering the age difference between Niyu Haseo and Naruto, the eight-year-old usually followed playfully behind these older kids aged thirteen or fourteen.
Niyu Haseo probably wasn't particularly fond of spending time with such kids.
However, since Haseo had told her before that for a child like Naruto, who grew up without much coddling, to still develop good morals and a sound sense of right and wrong was already quite admirable. Considering that Naruto was a "positive figure," Niyu Haseo sometimes chose to spend time playing with kids like him.
Right now, Naruto was trying to sort out family relations. Recently, he had realized something surprising—that Lady Tsunade, despite appearing unusually young, was actually a generation senior to his parents, making her practically a grandmother figure. Following this logic, Niyu shouldn't be called "sister"—she should be "auntie" instead.
This wasn't anything particularly important in terms of family ties, and in purely chronological terms, Niyu truly was his elder sister. So Naruto treated it more like a fun little revelation he wanted to share.
Just as Niyu Haseo was preparing to react—to either praise or scold Naruto for his revelation—a man clad in a black cloak suddenly appeared directly before them. At first glance, danger radiated from his entire being.
"There are two questions I must ask:
First, where is the location of the Fifth Hokage?
Second, how does one access 'Kagenami'?"
"This guy looks totally random, asking such a weird question in an even weirder way." Naruto was already itching to leap up and start a fight... but let's face it, he wouldn't stand a chance.
At the very least, he should try talking his way out first.
But Niyu Haseo instantly yanked him behind her.
Smiling gently, she calmly replied, "As for the Hokage, he's definitely inside the Hokage office building at a time like this. The Fifth Hokage is apparently quite conscientious about his duties—his working hours certainly go far beyond the traditional nine-to-nine, six days a week. So if you're planning to meet him... your best bet would be the Hokage's office building.
As for how to enter Kagenami... we don't know either because I've never actually been there. In fact, we don't even know its exact location."
Before the stranger could respond to Niyu Haseo's words, Naruto leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Big sister Niyu, why are you giving out this kind of information to someone whose background we don't know? Where's your secrecy as a ninja?"
It was already impressive enough that Naruto could lower his voice like that. Normally, based on his usual behavior patterns, even after being dragged back, he should have jumped out again and started yelling at the stranger.
Niyu rolled her eyes and thought to herself, *Didn't I just say what I said? I told the truth, but it's also practically useless information… since I really don't know anything else.*
"You're wrong. You aren't even a ninja, and neither am I… Can someone who hasn't even finished elementary school really call themselves a ninja?"
Since Niyu didn't have much combat ability, trying to play clever around obviously dangerous people—ones she clearly couldn't beat—was pointless. The smartest move was simply to answer their questions honestly.
Ignoring Naruto, Niyu turned her head toward the stranger.
The Black Cat, dozing lazily on a branch, suddenly shot open its vertical-slit eyes.
"Let me make one thing clear—I can guarantee everything I just said is true, whether or not you believe it is up to you. However... even if you choose not to believe me and insist on seeking answers yourself, please don't attempt to use genjutsu on us.
Otherwise... I won't be able to guarantee the consequences."
Indeed, the first half of Niyu's performance was a textbook example of the proper response during emergency situations—just back off when necessary. After all, acting cautious was perfectly acceptable for a kid.
However, the second half of her behavior clearly showed signs of provocation... It was practically in her blood as Haseo's daughter.
Sting tactics—straight from Haseo's personal teachings.
The gleam of eager anticipation in Niyu's eyes was barely contained... Recently, she had gotten hold of a particularly interesting gadget and had been waiting for just the right opportunity to test it out.
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