In the makeshift tent set up within the camp, Rasa gathered all the high-ranking Jonin in the camp and also invited Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, along with the two other Konoha Jonin, Sarutobi Ryu and Sarutobi Linko, to attend the meeting.
The rest of the Konoha Ninja, under the careful arrangement of the Hidden Sand, did not expose their whereabouts.
Even if there was a reason to move outside, they had to transform into the appearance of Hidden Sand Ninja and could not reveal their identity.
"Everyone saw last night's attack. It seems we still underestimated the Land of Demons' ability to launch surprise attacks."
Though angry inside, Rasa would not let himself be in a state of blind rage. Regulating one's emotions is an essential quality of the Kazekage.
As the leader of the Hidden Sand, no matter what he encounters, he cannot lose his calm heart, giving the enemy an opening.
More than anger, he now feels a headache and helplessness.
The Land of Demons always launches unexpected attacks, repeatedly causing Hidden Sand to suffer defeats on the battlefield.
Maki's vanguard troops in the Land of Demons encountered the aerial forces of the Land of Demons and are now likely completely wiped out.
Uchiha Ruri led a large number of Ninja from the Land of Demons, silently infiltrating the Land of Wind, catching him off guard, resulting in a direct setback for the Hidden Sand. It was because of this initial blow that Rasa has been cautious, fearing another ambush from the Land of Demons.
After realizing the Land of Demons has strong air assault capabilities, Rasa has been careful enough, arranging many ballistae for air defense to suppress the Land of Demons' air assaults.
The result was that the strange mechanical humanoid last night not only had high mobility flight capabilities but could also produce explosive light bombs, causing significant trouble for the Hidden Sand. Although it did not result in substantial casualties for the Hidden Sand Ninja, its constant aerial harassment was indeed annoying.
Especially the final ground-penetrating bomb, which left him, as the Kazekage, with a complex expression.
Judging from last night's situation, not only the air but even the underground might become unsafe.
If the Land of Demons were to target only the Hidden Sand's supplies in upcoming attacks, it would undeniably be a painful and helpless situation for the Hidden Sand.
"Indeed, even from a distance, we could sense the enemy's strength in such battles. But what surprised me was that the girl, who appeared in Konoha over a decade ago, still looks just as young now as she did back then."
Jiraiya stroked his chin with a thoughtful expression.
The information on the celestial maiden was once recorded by Konoha.
Not only Konoha, but the Hidden Sand must have documented it as well.
Over a decade ago, the celestial maiden not only appeared on the night of Konoha's defection incident but also at the time of the Hidden Grass Village attack earlier on, and had a bounty of tens of millions in the Underground Black Market.
Yet, over the years, the celestial maiden's appearance has not changed in the slightest, still maintaining the posture of a teenage girl.
Though there are numerous jutsu in the Ninja Realm for preserving youth, these are not generally accessible to ordinary Ninja.
Jiraiya could tell that the celestial maiden's young appearance was not due to Transformation Jutsu but because she was inherently this youthful.
"Having said that, it's indeed a bit strange. But I remember Chiba Hakushi was once a student of Jonin Tsunade, right? For a medical ninja, having insight into youth preservation isn't far-fetched."
Though many medical ninja are not interested in youth preservation, like their retired elder Chiyo of the Hidden Sand Village, there are still some medical ninja who are very interested in it.
Take Tsunade from Konoha, for example; her youthful appearance is so astonishing that it's impossible to tell she's nearly fifty years old.
Given that Chiba Hakushi and Tsunade have a student-teacher relationship, and the celestial maiden has complex ties to Chiba Hakushi, maintaining her youth isn't something hard to understand.
"It's not just that; if I didn't feel it mistakenly last night, she used a jutsu to block a large number of explosive tags, which should be Immortal Technique."
Jiraiya's expression turned serious.
"Immortal Technique?"
Rasa was slightly startled, having never considered this aspect.
Jiraiya nodded. Although faint and possibly due to distance making it less perceptible, he still sensed some abnormalities.
But he also had his doubts.
If she used Immortal Technique, then why did her body not exhibit any unusual changes?
For example, the Immortal Technique from Mount Myoboku would grant the user some frog-like features.
Similarly, Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave also have such characteristic transformations.
However, he did not observe these changes on the celestial maiden.
Or perhaps it wasn't Immortal Technique? But then what was that faint response of Natural Energy?
If it was indeed Immortal Technique, where did she learn it from?
It doesn't connect with any known systems of the Three Great Sacred Lands' Immortal Techniques.
Tsunade once hinted that the Katsuyu Sage from Shikkotsu Forest mentioned Chiba Hakushi could use Immortal Technique, but it wasn't from Shikkotsu Forest.
Did this girl learn Immortal Technique from Chiba Hakushi?
Since Chiba Hakushi's Immortal Technique isn't part of the Three Great Sacred Lands, where did he learn it from?
As far as Jiraiya knows, besides the Three Great Sacred Lands, the method for training in Natural Energy hasn't been passed down in the Ninja Realm.
Moreover, the process of Natural Energy training is extraordinarily dangerous, and without a guide, it presents substantial risks, with the slightest mistake potentially resulting in life-threatening danger.