The preparation took a full five days.
"I've finished," Gin announced as he opened his eyes, glancing at Sakumo, who was leaning against the cave wall.
During those five days, Sakumo had been on watch, while Gin focused entirely on his training. At last, he had successfully mastered the jutsu he had been developing.
"You always seem to have whatever you need," Sakumo joked, though there was some truth to his words. Since teaming up with Gin, he had seen the young Uchiha's constant stream of new jutsu and strange inventions. Gin's knack for coming up with new techniques and tools was nothing short of remarkable.
If Gin ever shared his methods with the village, Konoha's strength would skyrocket. But it was clear Gin had no intention of doing so—he had long since moved beyond needing Konoha's jutsu or their approval.
Back to the present, Gin moved toward the two unconscious Kumo-nin lying on the ground.
"Do you need me to lift the genjutsu?" Sakumo asked. The two captives were still under his illusion, kept in a state of perpetual unconsciousness for the past five days.
"No need," Gin replied, shaking his head. His new jutsu didn't require the target to be awake. In fact, it worked best when they were still.
Gin raised his hands, which began to glow with a faint black aura. Ideally, he would have preferred the glow to be blue, but he had yet to master the control required to change its color. For now, the energy was always black.
He placed his hands on the foreheads of the two Kumo-nin.
"Meikon Jutsu!"
This jutsu, based on the secret techniques of the Yamanaka Clan, was enhanced with elements of the Spirit Transformation Technique, combined with various other jutsu related to the soul and mental energy. It allowed Gin to manipulate souls and, in more advanced stages, even alter memories. For now, though, he could only extract memories.
The technique was built on a foundation of advanced sealing techniques, combined with the essence of other powerful jutsu.
As Gin activated the jutsu, the memories of the two Kumo-nin flowed into his mind like a rapidly flashing slideshow. From their childhoods to the present, every moment was stored in their minds, though much of it had been long forgotten. Fortunately, the jutsu started from the most recent memories and worked backward, allowing Gin to avoid being overwhelmed.
His focus was on the past few months—this was where the critical intelligence lay.
Soon, the important details began to emerge.
Though the two Kumo-nin weren't privy to all the high-level information, what they did know was telling enough. A few months ago, Iwagakure had begun sending delegations to Kumogakure, followed closely by Sunagakure and Kirigakure. These visits were framed as diplomatic exchanges, but their frequency was suspicious. On several occasions, the delegations from the different villages had overlapped, with multiple villages present in Kumogakure at the same time.
While only Kumogakure's ninjas knew the full extent of these meetings, even the locals had started to notice, leading to rampant speculation and rumors. And the timing—right in the middle of the ongoing war—made the meetings all the more significant.
Gin shared all of this with Sakumo.
"If these villages are working together, that could spell real trouble for Konoha," Gin concluded. The possibility of an alliance between the four major villages was alarming. Konoha was already stretched thin, and if the four villages launched a coordinated attack, it would be devastating.
Sakumo's face grew grim as he processed the information. "A four-village alliance… the last time they tried that was during the First Shinobi War, and it didn't end well for anyone. They couldn't defeat Konoha and ended up fighting each other instead."
"Looks like they're desperate now," Gin noted. The strength of Konoha's forces had forced the other villages into considering an alliance, even if they had longstanding grudges against one another.
"This information needs to get back to Konoha immediately," Sakumo said. But Gin wasn't done.
"There's more," he added.
"Then spit it out," Sakumo urged, clearly eager to send the first batch of intel back to the village.
"Kumogakure is planning to send their Nibi Jinchūriki into Konoha," Gin revealed. "And she's a perfect Jinchūriki."
This information had come from the upper ranks of Kumogakure's orders to these two Kumo-nin. Their mission was to support the Nibi Jinchūriki as she infiltrated the Land of Fire to wreak havoc on Konoha's forces.
"A perfect Jinchūriki," Sakumo murmured, his expression darkening. He knew the immense power of a perfect Jinchūriki—someone who could fully control their tailed beast. Moreover, he had heard whispers of the Nibi's power.
Sakumo gave Gin a meaningful look. It was no secret that Konoha also had a perfect Jinchūriki, although details about their identity remained classified. Still, the stakes were clear.
"How many are in their force?" Sakumo asked.
"They're sending a full squad of Jōnin, along with five squads of Chūnin and ten squads of Genin," Gin replied. In total, forty-eight shinobi were involved in the mission.
"We can handle them," Sakumo said decisively. If they could intercept the Jinchūriki and her team before they reached Konoha, it might force Kumogakure to reconsider their plans. After all, Kumogakure wasn't as strong as it used to be. A decisive defeat could push them to withdraw from the war entirely.
Gin, however, didn't share Sakumo's confidence. "This sounds risky," he muttered. If they engaged the Jinchūriki, it would put both of them in serious danger. But with Sakumo as the team leader, Gin had no choice but to follow his orders.
"First, we send the intel back to Konoha," Sakumo said, summoning a wolf through a summoning jutsu. He wrote the encrypted information on a scroll and secured it to the wolf's body before sending it back to Konoha.
With that taken care of, Sakumo began preparing his gear for the upcoming fight. "We'll have to take out the Jinchūriki's team," he said, his aura becoming sharp and focused.
Gin winced at the intensity of Sakumo's killing intent. Even standing nearby made it feel like his body was being pierced by invisible blades.
"Got any of those weird tools of yours? Something useful?" Sakumo asked, eyeing Gin's various gadgets.
Gin sighed but complied, handing over a few of his inventions that he thought might help.
"Our job now," Sakumo said, his voice filled with grim determination, "is to crush that Jinchūriki's team."
(End of Chapter)
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