"Sigh, wasted an opportunity. It would have been great to pull Yang Release Chakra or a ninjutsu."
Uchiha Yoichi sighed, thinking about how Senju and Uchiha are almost two extremes, one with hardly any talent for Yang Release and the other with hardly any talent for Yin Release. Some simple jutsus are fine, but delving deeper into them is challenging.
As for the items he just stole, Uchiha Yoichi went to a secluded spot and spread them out to take a look.
A pink cotton triangle, it looked quite delicate. No wonder it seemed a bit warm when he held it earlier...
"...If I take this to Jiraiya, I could probably exchange it for at least an A-Class ninjutsu, or sell it for ten million ryo."
However, he would more likely be hunted down by the Sannin.
This thing can't be kept. No matter who discovers it, it's troublesome, so Uchiha Yoichi directly used Fire Release to incinerate it.
Uchiha Yoichi felt that Tsunade probably didn't realize it was him who caused the trouble. However, he didn't wait openly at the Konoha Hospital entrance; instead, he waited at a corner for Uzumaki Minami to come out quietly.
After Minami was done with the surgery, Uchiha Yoichi told her about his mission and asked Uzumaki Minami to fetch three million ryo from home to learn medical ninjutsu from Tsunade for two months.
This time, money was involved, and Uchiha Yoichi heard clear words from Tsunade that she doesn't want to get involved in the village's matters. When a Sannin says such things, it holds some credibility, so it's safe to learn from her.
After speaking, Uchiha Yoichi went back, took Lightning Fang, and headed directly to the village gate.
He arrived about an hour early and found some people already waiting there. Uchiha Yoichi wasn't the last to arrive. After a while, close to the assembly time, everyone finally gathered.
After leaving the village, Jiraiya called everyone together, then took out a map and pointed to a place on it, saying: "After here, the negotiation and reconnaissance teams will part ways.
If you discover intelligence, let Anbu send back the news. If you discover information about the Third Kazekage, you can return immediately."
After giving simple instructions, Jiraiya promptly ordered the move.
Although within the Land of Fire, after leaving the village, and before splitting up, the whole team advanced according to the formation of reconnaissance, main support, side guards, and rear defense.
For ninjas, long-distance travel is nothing significant. As long as Chakra is well-distributed, they'll keep a steady pace.
Since Jiraiya's group wasn't in a hurry, it took them two days to reach the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire.
Once Jiraiya made the team stop, he told the task squad assigned for the reconnaissance task: "Alright, let's split up here. Everyone, be careful."
Having said that, he then led the team heading for negotiations in the Land of Rivers to depart.
Besides Uchiha Yoichi, six other reconnaissance teams remained.
Uchiha Yoichi, not familiar with them, directly used Instant Body Jutsu to travel away.
"Huh, gone just like that? Captain, seems like your idea of getting him to join the squad failed."
One member of a reconnaissance team said upon seeing Uchiha Yoichi leave without saying a word; he suddenly felt Uchiha Yoichi was quite arrogant. Even if he's unfamiliar, they are executing the same mission. A greeting should be the least, right?
Squad Captain Inuzuka Sansuke shook his head and said: "He might be used to doing missions alone. Alright, let's not mind him. Let's discuss, shall we?"
With the Land of Wind being vast and sparsely populated, they planned to divide the reconnaissance directions to avoid multiple squads rushing to one place, wasting time and effort.
As for Uchiha Yoichi, he didn't need any of this flashiness; directly investigating Sasori would suffice.
There are two paths to investigate the Third Kazekage: one is to find Sasori, the other is the Great Snake of Ryuchi Cave, which is the Third Kazekage's Summoned Beast.
Shinga signed the Summoning Contract with the Third Kazekage; if the Third Kazekage is dead, Shinga should know and using Reverse Summoning Jutsu, if there's no response, he's likely dead.
But Shinga is in Ryuchi Cave, which isn't easily found, and that red snake has a bad temper, so it can only be a backup plan.
The main focus is to find Sasori!
As Uchiha Yoichi traveled, he thought secretly, and soon he determined the reconnaissance direction.
Though it's unclear why Sasori acted in advance against the Third Kazekage, if the Third Kazekage stays absent for a long period, it can largely be presumed he is dead.
The disappearance of a village Kage can cause village turmoil and destabilize people's hearts.
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"This should be the place...."
After disguising himself, Uchiha Yoichi arrived at a small town in the Land of Wind, heading to an alley behind an Izakaya.
He had previously asked the head of the Underground Gold Exchange in Chuazhu County about other bases, and the Underground Gold Exchange base in the Land of Wind was here.
Opening the secret door led to a flight of stairs going underground. Descending them revealed the Underground Gold Exchange.
The underground area had nearly a thousand square meters excavated. In the large space, there were only two people and a few lights. Upon seeing Uchiha Yoichi, one old man asked hoarsely: "Commission? Or bounty?"
"Commission. I need two pieces of intelligence."
Uchiha Yoichi straightforwardly asked: "There's a puppet master in the Hidden Sand Village named Sasori. I want to know his latest intelligence; the second one is to help me find information about a race with a unique physique. They love nature but will suddenly rage occasionally, and when they do, their appearance becomes very hideous..."
The second intelligence commission concerned Jugo's clan, and Orochimaru found the location of Ryuchi Cave thanks to information from Jugo.
This was a backup plan: if he could find it, he would; if not, then just keep an eye on Sasori. If even Sasori couldn't be found, then he'd return and tell Konoha that the Third Kazekage was dead.
Without evidence, as long as the intelligence was correct, Anbu could find Sasori.
"Sasori? I've heard of him, a genius puppet master of the Hidden Sand Village, also the grandson of Elder Chiyo, quite famous as a genius Jonin in the Hidden Sand Village..."
The Underground Gold Exchange's old man thought for a moment and said, since being in the Land of Wind, understanding the Hidden Sand Village's intelligence was natural; although they didn't have more detailed intelligence, they still had basic information like names and relationships.
"Investigating such a ninja isn't easy, fifteen million. As for the other intelligence, it's relatively simple, hehe. I just transferred to the Land of Wind from elsewhere. The unique physique race you mentioned happens to be one I've encountered before, six million ryo."
The old man chuckled as he quoted Uchiha Yoichi a high price, totaling twenty-one million ryo.
"So expensive? I just need the intelligence, not an assassination... fine, here's the money, you'd better not lie!"
Uchiha Yoichi knew these people were money-grubbers, so he took out 21 million ryo from his Storage Scroll, but he had already noted this person secretly.
Daring to extort him was already courting death!