"Is that one of the Seven Shinobi Swords of the Mist's swords?" Kurotsuchi asked softly.
Kitsuchi thought for a moment and nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, it's Kurotsuchi Raiga's 'Lightning Blade Kiba'!"
Confirmed, Kurotsuchi recalled, "I remember the village sent two jinchuriki to work with a few of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist to eliminate Uchiha Megumi, but they failed. Only Fuguki Suikazan managed to escape. The rest, including Raiga, died."
"Yes," Kitsuchi nodded slightly, "Uchiha Megumi's strength was too great. Fuguki Suikazan was terrified. He lost his will to fight after that and was killed by the younger Kisame Hoshigaki a few years ago, which is understandable."
Kurotsuchi said, "If you count carefully, Kirigakure lost three of the Shinobi Swords just from this series of events. So, logically, in whose hands should the Lightning Blade Kiba be now?"
"Uchiha Megumi," Homura interjected.
"But this person is clearly a man! What kind of relationship must they have for Uchiha Megumi to give him such a precious Shinobi sword?"
As she spoke, Kurotsuchi's eyes flickered, trying to figure out the various possibilities of the masked man's identity.
Kitsuchi analyzed, "Uchiha Megumi defected from Konoha and joined Kumogakure. Since this person is not Uchiha Megumi, he must be a Shinobi from Kumogakure. Judging by his build, he must be underage..."
Kurotsuchi's mind raced, and she interrupted, "No need to guess here. Just go and rip his mask off!"
"Wouldn't that be inappropriate? What if it causes a dispute between the two villages?" Homura questioned.
Kurotsuchi immediately retorted, "He's not wearing a headband! We can just pretend we don't know, can't we? We're in the Land of Earth territory anyway. If we act under the guise of investigating criminals, Kumogakure won't have a reason to blame us!"
Kitsuchi thought for a moment and made a decisive judgment, "We'll make our move after he leaves Yaotu Town. We can't break the rules here."
"What about our mission then?" Homura hesitated.
Kurotsuchi waved her hand, "It's just a matter of waiting for them to leave the town, it shouldn't take more than a few days. We can definitely make it to the Land of Demons before the agreed-upon date."
"The most pressing matter is finding out this guy's true face. A Kumogakure Shinobi wearing a mask and being sneaky in the Land of Earth has no good intentions!"
"Oh."
Homura nodded, no longer questioning.
...
Two days later at noon, Sasori arrived early and met up with Seiya and Konan.
The rule of the Yaotu Inn was that early check-out meant no refund.
Seiya felt very unhappy thinking he had given Iwagakure hundreds of thousands of ryo for nothing. But if they continued to stay for seven days, Sasori would have to book another room, which would be a significant expense, meaning he would also be giving Iwagakure another sum of money for nothing.
Seiya weighed his options and finally decided not to waste time. Let Iwagakure earn a little; it wouldn't make them rich anyway!
The three left the inn together, left the town, and walked on the vast, uninhabited loess plateau. Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi, and Homura followed and immediately blocked their way.
"Recently, the Land of Earth has strengthened its security and is investigating suspected criminals within its borders. The three of you have secretive movements. Please cooperate with our work, register your identities, and state your purpose for entering the country."
Kitsuchi spoke with a solemn expression and a certain authoritative posture.
Homura, beside him, played his part and took out paper and a pen.
Sasori did not speak. His scorpion tail beneath his robe twitched, already filled with killing intent.
Konan's eyebrows furrowed.
She thought, Seiya didn't look for trouble with you, but you actively came knocking.
Seiya couldn't help but chuckle, finding the trio across from him amusing.
They couldn't even come up with a believable excuse.
The Yaotu Inn, which sheltered rogue Shinobis, was just a short distance away, yet they had the nerve to say they were investigating suspected criminals.
But on second thought, it made sense.
They held the territorial advantage, and this excuse was upright and unassailable.
Kitsuchi saw that none of the three moved, and said sternly, "If the three of you insist on not cooperating, we will take necessary measures to complete our work."
Konan's eyes turned slightly cold, and she said flatly, "Baselessly suspecting people entering the country, when did the Land of Earth become so unfriendly? We are all decent people. You had best not invite trouble upon yourselves."
"Oh, is that so?"
Kurotsuchi sneered, pointing at Seiya, "This guy is wearing a mask, doesn't dare to show his true face, and is being sneaky. He clearly isn't a good person!"
"Judging people by their appearance is shallow!" Seiya's eyebrows rose slightly as he touched the mask on his face.
Sasori lightly coughed, getting impatient.
Kurotsuchi saw that the three had no intention of cooperating.
Her beautiful face immediately clouded over, and she warned coldly,
"It seems you are stubborn and harbor malicious intent. Then don't blame us for being impolite!"
A battle was imminent.
Konan's eyes narrowed, her gaze flickering.
She didn't want to escalate the matter, especially so close to the Yaotu Inn.
If Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi died, the Third Tsuchikage would pursue them relentlessly, digging three feet deep for the culprits.
At that point, the inn's entry log would be a clue.
Furthermore, since the opponents were appearing here so openly, they had likely already reported to their village.
With this thought, Konan commanded, "Finish it quickly, just teach them a lesson. Don't kill them."
Sasori understood and replied with a sound of assent.
Kurotsuchi looked at Konan in disbelief, surprised, "You are too arrogant!"
In this loess plateau, her father had the complete advantage of the terrain.
Who could defeat him?
Even her grandfather wouldn't dare to claim a guaranteed victory!
This woman reminded her companions not to kill them?
Kurotsuchi felt she had gained new insight and immediately spoke, "Dad, quickly make her understand how foolish she is!"
Upon hearing this, Kitsuchi formed hand signs, his whole-body surging with chakra, his presence immense.
Seiya's expression slightly hardened.
He instinctively felt that Kitsuchi was on par with the Raikage, even surpassing Killer B.
To face an opponent of this caliber.
Although he wouldn't be harmed, he also couldn't do anything to the opponent.
Seiya glanced at Sasori. According to his mother's intelligence, this puppeteer would also have difficulty dealing with Kitsuchi.
He then turned his gaze to Konan, "Sister..."
"Don't worry," Konan was calm and gently squeezed Seiya's fingertips.
At the same time, Kitsuchi finished his hand signs.
Earth Release: Mountain Just-No-Jutsu!
On the plateau, the earth surged mightily, gathering into two ten-meter-high hemispheres, rapidly closing in on the three of them from both sides.
With such a formation, even a Tailed Beast would struggle to resist.
Kitsuchi was using almost his full power, without any probing.
Konan, without hesitation, transformed her entire body into paper, carrying Seiya to fly out of the encirclement.
Sasori summoned his puppet, the Third Kazekage, and used its Magnet Release-condensed wings to quickly fly away.
The earth mountains closed together, and dust rose everywhere.
Kitsuchi raised his head to the sky, his eyes narrowed, and he exclaimed in surprise,
"The missing Third Kazekage of Sunagakure! I didn't expect him to be dead and made into a puppet!"
"A genius of his generation, reduced to such a state. How tragic!"
Chapter 86: Danger! Completely Countered!
Unlike her father's lament, Kurotsuchi smiled sweetly, intrigued.
"Things are getting more and more interesting!"
Excitement shone in the girl's clear eyes.
In the air, the puppet Third Kazekage formed hand signs.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower!
In an instant, a wave of iron sand appeared in the air.
Considering Lady Angel's instruction not to kill them, Sasori did not poison the iron sand, directly manipulating it to condense into countless fine needles, shooting rapidly towards the three people on the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Prison Golem Jutsu!
Homura spat out a large amount of mud, which instantly formed a towering, several-meter-high rock giant, completely blocking the Iron Sand Shower.
Seeing this, Konan abandoned the idea of condensing paper blades for attack.
That would not break the rock man's defense at all and would only waste chakra.
Seiya drew his sword, and lightning flashed on the blade.
"Sister, let me go down. I'll meet them."
Konan hesitated, reminding him, "Their use of Earth and my use of Paper are complementary, and both greatly counter your ability. They can easily trap you without harming you."
Seiya smiled, "No worries, lightning counters earth. Besides, don't I still have Sister covering me from the side?"
Konan thought for a moment and nodded slightly, "Alright, go ahead. I won't let anything happen to you."
The paper wings then brought Seiya back to the ground.
Kurotsuchi looked at him from a distance and shouted, "Masked man, I advise you to take off your mask yourself, otherwise, when I shatter your mask, your face might not be intact!"
Seiya tilted his head, deepening his voice, and scoffed, "You talk so much but haven't made a move. Are you just a good-for-nothing who only talks big?"
Kurotsuchi proudly lifted her chin, completely unfazed by his taunt, and grinned, "If you can defeat my father, you'll naturally see me make a move!"
"..."
Seiya fell silent. He really couldn't keep mocking her about this.
After all, he was much like Kurotsuchi, one hiding behind his mother, the other behind her father.
Seiya thought for a moment, abandoned the verbal sparring, and directly charged at Kurotsuchi with his sword.
Kitsuchi immediately rushed to intercept him.
As they clashed, Kitsuchi's booming punch, wrapped in rock armor, met the lightning and directly knocked the Shinobi sword away.
In the face of the massive difference in strength, the so-called elemental counter had no effect on the situation.
Kitsuchi's rock armor only gained a shallow dent.
On the other hand, the massive recoil knocked Seiya's Shinobi sword flying.
Kitsuchi seized the opportunity and immediately punched Seiya's waist.
A muffled sound rang out; the punch landed squarely.
However, Seiya's whole body was illusory.
He stood steadily as if nothing had happened, not even letting out a reflexive cry of pain!
Kitsuchi's expression tightened.
He quickly retreated, returned to his daughter, and reminded her solemnly, "This masked man's ninjutsu is bizarre, definitely not ordinary!"
Kurotsuchi had witnessed the entire process.
She couldn't help but frown and commanded, "Homura, you fly up and pin down those two guys up there."
"Oh."
Homura responded, his body covered in rock armor, and he flew directly towards the puppet Third Kazekage.
At the same time, Seiya picked up the Lightning Blade Kiba, recalling the results of his earlier test.
Kurotsuchi's eyes flickered, and she said softly,
"Dad, he himself seems immune to your attack, but his Shinobi sword is not. I guess his strange ninjutsu doesn't affect external objects. Next, don't focus on killing him. Focus on destroying his mask and forcing him to reveal himself!"
"Good."
Kitsuchi nodded and charged again.
Lightning surged on Seiya's legs, instantly boosting his speed; his dual tomoe Sharingan appeared, predicting Kitsuchi's movement path, which he easily dodged.
He then charged straight towards Kurotsuchi in the distance.
To catch the leader, one must first catch the general.
If he controlled the girl, Kitsuchi wouldn't dare to act rashly!
Kurotsuchi quickly retreated, her hands rapidly forming hand signs.
Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique!
A large amount of quicklime spewed from her mouth, rapidly condensing into cement.
Seiya had already seen through her hand signs and was prepared, skillfully maneuvering around it.
However, the cement's range was vast, and it barely touched his edge.
Seiya was hampered and could only use his lightning chakra to coat his Shinobi sword and cut away the cement.
Kitsuchi, who had rushed back, seized the opportunity while his movement was sluggish and punched his mask.
Seiya quickly turned his head, taking the blow with the back of his head, then rapidly retreated, creating distance.
Kurotsuchi's mind raced, a sudden realization flashing in her eyes.
She shouted a warning, "Dad, this guy isn't afraid of damage, he's afraid of control that causes no injury!"
Kitsuchi understood instantly.
He immediately formed hand signs, and dozens of rock giants suddenly surged from the plateau, reaching out to gently grab Seiya.
At the same time, tall, thick earth walls quickly rose from all four directions, closing in to form a circle.
Seiya immediately felt a bad omen, rushing and dodging frantically through the giant formation.
Konan noticed the situation below and quickly flew down with paper to retrieve him.
Kitsuchi saw this and quickly formed hand signs.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!
In an instant, a massive opening appeared on the ground, centered precisely where Seiya was standing.
Countless mud sprayed from underground, changing the terrain. The soft soil made it difficult to gain leverage, severely hindering Seiya's movement and slowing him down.
The rock giants seized the opportunity to grab Seiya, and the surrounding rock walls immediately sealed shut.
A rock prison was formed!
Under Kitsuchi's control, the mud compressed and solidified, firmly restraining Seiya, ensuring that everything below his head was deeply submerged in the soil, unable to move.
Kurotsuchi lit a tinder, illuminating the surroundings.
A smile then curled her lips as she slowly walked towards Seiya in the distance, stopping at a relatively safe distance.
Just in case, she used the Quicklime Congealing Technique once more, creating a large patch of cement to cover the mud around Seiya, tightly adhering to his neck.
"Your ability is very special. Are you seemingly immune to injury?" Kurotsuchi probed.
Seiya remained silent, ignoring her.
He secretly thought that he had underestimated this girl.
She looked chirpy and unskilled, but she was good at catching details and had considerable combat intelligence.
Kurotsuchi lifted her chin, smugly saying, "It doesn't matter if you don't speak. I'll know who you are very soon anyway!"
Seiya couldn't help but frown deeply.
He had only been in Akatsuki for a few months.
Was his identity about to be exposed to the world?
With this girl's intelligence, she would certainly notice my resemblance to Mother and would inevitably suspect the village.
I, a Kumogakure Shinobi, am traveling with a rogue Shinobi who murdered the Third Kazekage.
Once this matter spreads throughout the Shinobi world, the consequences would be unimaginable!
The mask absolutely cannot be removed!
What can I do to make her stop?
Seiya stared at Kurotsuchi, secretly anxious. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead.
As his emotions tensed, his blood surged, and power rushed and gathered.
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