Torture is one method of extracting information, but if the target is fearless of death, torture may be less effective. In such cases, genjutsu is the best option. However, Jiraiya's skills in genjutsu were a weak point, and using it to extract information wasn't feasible.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to summon Fukasaku's wife, Shima.
Summoning Jutsu!
Jiraiya pressed his hand onto the stomach wall, and the summoning sigils formed in an instant. With a puff of white smoke, a small figure appeared, barely visible within the smoke.
"Hm?"
As the smoke cleared, a small female toad appeared. She had a purple Buddha-like head, purple lips, and an old, somewhat wrinkled appearance. She wore an apron and held a long spoon in one hand and a small dish in the other, looking as though she hadn't quite grasped the situation yet.
After surveying her surroundings and understanding the situation, she turned her angry toad eyes on Jiraiya and scolded, "Little Jiraiya, what are you summoning me for in a situation like this!"
With that, she jumped up and struck Jiraiya on the head with the long spoon.
A dull thud echoed.
Jiraiya yelped in pain and rubbed his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Elder Shima, I wanted to use genjutsu to get some information from this guy. You know I'm not good at genjutsu, so I thought..."
Shima smacked Jiraiya again with the spoon, slightly irritated, "It's mealtime, and I still need to cook for Pa! If you need information, ask later!"
With that, she vanished with another puff of smoke, returning to Mount Myoboku without giving Jiraiya a chance to stop her.
As the smoke lingered in the air, Jiraiya slowly lifted his head, staring wordlessly at the stomach walls around him.
The Land of Wind, Nara Desert.
Ye Zi and Sasori, both wearing their cloaks, walked through the desert, braving the wind and sand.
Today's weather was poor, with fierce winds whipping up sand into the air, making it sting slightly as it hit their faces.
Sasori's tail was coiled around a teenage girl bound with ropes, dragging her along as they walked through the sandstorm. Ye Zi walked beside him.
"We're taking on just about any mission now," Sasori complained, his tone slightly disgruntled.
Despite the howling wind, their voices carried clearly.
Ye Zi heard Sasori's complaint but didn't respond. Instead, he glanced at the unconscious girl and reminded Sasori, "Be careful not to let her die."
The girl was their mission target. A wealthy family in the Land of Fire had hired them to kidnap her and deliver her to them.
In other words, this was a kidnapping mission. However, in order to capture the girl, Ye Zi and Sasori had to kill over a dozen ninjas, making the reward quite generous.
Even so, Sasori had many grievances about the mission, especially because the girl slowed them down, making their progress frustratingly slow.
"She's a ninja, after all. She's not that easy to kill," Sasori said, completely unconcerned, letting the unconscious girl get battered by the sandstorm.
After much effort, the two finally delivered the girl to the designated location and collected their generous reward, ending the troublesome mission.
For the first time in a while, they had no new missions lined up, giving them some rare free time.
"I need to make a trip to the Land of Grass," Ye Zi said, finally able to take the time to visit the person who had developed the special medicine.
Ye Zi wanted to go to the Land of Grass, while Sasori, on the other hand, still had his mind on the Taketori clan in the Land of Water.
"I won't be going with you," Sasori said indifferently.
"Alright," Ye Zi glanced at him before turning his gaze back to the road ahead. He didn't bother asking about Sasori's plans.
Without reporting their mission completion to Nagato, the two quickly came to an agreement and parted ways, each heading toward their chosen destination.
Without Ye Zi's help, Sasori wouldn't be able to turn the entire Taketori clan into human puppets, but capturing a few wouldn't be a problem.
Ye Zi set off toward the Land of Grass. He had wanted to meet the person who developed the medicine before, but missions had continuously delayed him until now.
Without any missions holding him back and with no companions to slow him down, Ye Zi moved at top speed and arrived in the Land of Grass within three days.
It was nighttime when he arrived, and he was having a meal at a restaurant.
Since Ye Zi and Sasori had wiped out the Land of Grass's military forces the last time they were there, two neighboring countries had taken the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack on the Land of Grass. However, they were utterly defeated by a mysterious suicide squad that had suddenly emerged from the Land of Grass. Although the squad's members were merely at the level of Genin, they somehow managed to defeat the combined forces of the two countries. Afterward, the Land of Grass capitalized on the victory to annex the two smaller nations, solidifying its power and officially establishing itself as the "Land of Grass."
From the intelligence Ye Zi had gathered, the person who developed the medicine was undoubtedly the key reason behind the Land of Grass's success.
Simply relying on this medicine had allowed the Land of Grass to establish its sovereignty. The importance of the person who developed it couldn't be overstated.
If given enough time and if the larger nations failed to take action, this medicine—which could instantly enhance an individual's strength—would allow the Land of Grass to grow ever stronger, though the cost of using the medicine was not insignificant.
"This is interesting," Ye Zi muttered as he stood up and left the restaurant, taking advantage of the cover of night to infiltrate the capital of the Land of Grass.
He was growing more and more intrigued by the person who had created this medicine.
The medicine had allowed the Land of Grass, which was at a complete disadvantage, to instantly turn the tide of battle. The terrifying power of the medicine was obvious.
However, Ye Zi was also fully aware of the medicine's side effects. Yet, the use he had in mind would allow him to disregard those side effects completely.
Madara had once told him that, if necessary, they could create an army of White Zetsu clones to use as disposable pawns.
Ye Zi had kept that in mind, but from his understanding of the White Zetsu clones' combat capabilities, they were too weak to be of much use outside of swarm tactics. For now, there was no need to use them.
However, after learning about the effects of the medicine, Ye Zi had formed a hypothesis in his mind: what if the medicine was injected into White Zetsu clones to enhance their combat strength?
Given enough time, they could produce an unlimited number of White Zetsu clones. If these clones were enhanced with the medicine, they could become a formidable fighting force—possibly a force powerful enough to contend with the entire ninja world.
This hypothesis was what made Ye Zi even more interested in the person who developed the medicine.
The night grew deeper.
The Land of Grass had weak defenses, and Ye Zi easily infiltrated the capital without being detected.
He didn't know where the person who developed the medicine was, so he decided to find the daimyo of the Land of Grass first.
After silently eliminating several ninja guards, the faint sound of their deaths woke the daimyo.
In an instant, Ye Zi appeared in front of the daimyo, swiftly gripping his throat to silence his scream.
"Where is the person who developed that medicine? Tell me, and I'll spare your life," Ye Zi said coldly, his emotionless eyes locking with the daimyo's.
"In... in the basement of the castle... please don't kill me..." the daimyo stammered, trembling in fear.
Crack.
With a quick squeeze, Ye Zi snapped the daimyo's neck.
Tossing the body aside, Ye Zi left the room and made his way toward the basement as the daimyo had instructed.
As he walked, he pondered how to recruit this person.
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