Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Yuan both sensed that something was off when they saw how calm Rōshi appeared.
"Rōshi, you're already our prisoner. Don't tell me you don't understand your current situation?" Yuan asked.
"I'm not stupid. But do you Konoha folks dare kill a jinchūriki? You'll still have to negotiate with that old fart Ōnoki afterward, right? My life's not really in danger—why should I be scared?"
Yuan frowned in irritation and swung his blade at Rōshi's neck, unwilling to believe the old man truly felt no fear.
But even as the blade neared his throat, Rōshi remained expressionless.
"Heh! Kid, stop wasting your effort. You must've just started fighting in the war, right? You don't yet understand how your village's higher-ups think. Why not ask Namikaze Minato instead and see what he says?"
"Minato-senpai?" Yuan turned to him.
Minato smiled wryly and shook his head. "Yuan, let it go. He's right. The village's attitude toward jinchūriki has always been... complicated.
Back when the First Hokage distributed the Tailed Beasts, Konoha always maintained a policy of not stealing others' Tailed Beasts.
Even during wars, whenever we captured a jinchūriki, they were always used as bargaining chips during peace negotiations."
"Then what should we do with this guy?" Yuan asked, pointing at Rōshi.
"The Four-Tails has already been sealed, so we're supposed to take him back to the village for the Hokage to handle. But there's something I can't shake—why did Iwagakure sneak a jinchūriki like him into Konoha territory through the Land of Waterfalls?" Minato said, frowning.
"Minato-senpai, should we have Kagetsu try something?"
"Kagetsu? He can read memories now?" Minato asked in surprise.
"He can't do it directly, but if I use genjutsu to disable resistance, Kagetsu can read them."
Yuan activated his Sharingan and looked into Rōshi's eyes.
Immediately, Rōshi's expression went blank.
The Four-Tails had already been sealed with the Four Symbols Seal, so without its help to dispel the genjutsu, Rōshi was defenseless.
"Kagetsu, it's all yours," Yuan said.
Kagetsu placed a hand on Rōshi's head and closed his eyes.
Thirty minutes later, he collapsed to the ground, gasping.
"How is it? Did you get anything useful?" Yuan asked.
"There was... so much memory data. It's overwhelming—give me a moment," Kagetsu panted.
After about ten more minutes, Kagetsu finally organized his findings and said, "Minato-senpai, Yuan—the Iwa-nin squad we encountered was only meant to cause disruption inside the Land of Fire. It was a diversion."
"A diversion? Then what's Iwagakure's real plan?"
"They plan to ambush the Third Raikage on the front lines."
"To ambush the Third Raikage? That old Ōnoki really has some guts," Hyuga Asana remarked in surprise.
"What's the full plan?" Minato asked urgently.
"Iwa split their forces into three groups. The one we ran into, with Rōshi, was the first. Their job was to sneak through the Land of Waterfalls and infiltrate the Land of Fire, then disperse into smaller units to attack the Daimyō and nobility.
Rōshi's job was to stir up chaos wherever he pleased inside the Land of Fire.
When the Daimyō and nobles come under attack, they'll certainly call on Konoha for help. Plus, with a Tailed Beast appearing in the country, Konoha would have to send a top-tier combatant.
The Sand front is already strained—without Lady Tsunade, we can't deal with Chiyo's poisons. There's no way they'll pull forces from there.
And Konoha doesn't have many high-level ninja on the Bear front either—only Lord Orochimaru really counts. So reinforcements from there are unlikely.
That leaves the Grass and Frost fronts, where the pressure isn't as heavy since Iwa and Kumo are in a standoff.
So..."
"So the only possible reinforcement would be a top Konoha shinobi facing Iwa and Kumo—and the only one who can move freely between fronts is Minato-senpai. Their true goal is to tie him down?" Kakashi asked.
Kagetsu nodded.
"You said they split into three groups. We've talked about Rōshi's team—but what about the other two?"
"One group's target is Kumogakure. The Third Raikage and his son—both jinchūriki—are currently on the battlefield, so the village is short on elite defenders.
Ōnoki sent the Five-Tails and a demolition squad to attack Kumogakure directly.
When Kumo's frontline troops get the news, they'll be forced to turn back.
At that moment, Ōnoki will have the third group—already in hiding—ambush the returning Kumo forces.
Knowing the Third Raikage's personality, he'll definitely choose to stay behind and cover the retreat.
Then the Iwa-nin will dogpile him and try to kill him."
Everyone fell silent after Kagetsu's explanation.
After a long pause, Minato finally asked, "Kagetsu, has the plan already begun?"
"It has. The Five-Tails' jinchūriki and demolition squad have probably already reached Kumogakure."
"This is bad. Yuan, you all return to the Bear front. I need to report to the Hokage immediately so he can make a decision." With that, Minato disappeared with Rōshi and his team.
Once Minato left, Yuan turned to Asana and Kagetsu.
"Kagetsu, Asana—I need you two to help me collect the dispersed Four-Tails chakra from the air."
"Four-Tails chakra? Yuan, what do you need that for?" Kagetsu asked, puzzled.
"I have my reasons. You'll find out later."
Kagetsu didn't ask further. He and Asana began collecting the residual chakra.
After a long time, they finally gathered it all into a sealing scroll.
"Is this all?" Yuan frowned at the amount.
"The Four-Tails wasn't out for long. This is actually not bad," Asana replied.
"True." Yuan stored the scroll.
"Are we heading straight back to the Bear front now?" Kagetsu asked.
"What do you think, Asana?" Yuan turned to her.
"I heard the Third Raikage is on the same level as the Hokage and Hanzō the Salamander. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I'd like to see how the Iwa-nin plan to bring down such a powerful figure."
(To Be Continued...)