Inside Takumi Village.
"Still haven't found him yet?" Shibuya asked with a gloomy expression.
"Actually, even finding Zukiri now won't help," Chikuma sighed. "He's already revealed all the methods to enter the village."
"But if we could just capture him..." Shibuya said, unwilling to let go, "At least we could force him to explain how Hero Water really works!"
"It's useless. Do you think others will believe us?" Chikuma shook his head.
Shibuya stayed quiet for a moment, then smashed his fist through a wall, cursing, "Damn it! You better hope I never catch you!"
Just at this moment, a chunin rushed over in a panic to report, "Lord Shibuya, it's terrible, terrible!"
"Calm down. What's happening?"
"It's Iwagakure! Iwagakure has brought many people to our village!"
Shibuya and Chikuma exchanged glances, both seeing concern in each other's eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Shibuya quickly made a decision, "Call all the village ninja. Some will come with me to greet Iwagakure's 'guests'. The others will lead the villagers to shelter!"
"Yes sir!"
...
At the lake's edge.
One after another, Iwagakure ninja emerged from the lake's surface.
A few scattered Takumi ninja maintained distant vigilance in the distance, not daring to approach.
The Iwagakure ninja didn't pay them any attention, speaking casually about the surroundings like masters commenting on their new property.
"Never expected Takumi's entrance to be beneath the lake surface. No wonder nobody found it all these years!"
"The scenery here looks quite beautiful!"
"That must be the Sacred Tree that rogue ninja mentioned — the source of Hero Water. It's huge!"
Amid these murmurs of conversation, Shibuya and Chikuma approached with some ninja.
The nearby Takumi ninja quickly gathered around them, as if finding their backbone.
"Friends from Iwagakure, welcome to visit Takumi Village!" Though furious about Iwagakure's uninvited intrusion, Shibuya still greeted them with a tight smile.
"Haha! The Land of Stream and Land of Earth are neighbors. Speaking of it, our two villages should be considered neighbors!" Han laughed. "So many years have passed, but this is our first visit to our neighbor. We've been terribly impolite!"
"Not at all!" Shibuya replied with a forced smile. "It's just that we prefer quiet here."
"Prefer quiet? Then we must've disturbed you."
"Not at all. However, are today's guests really only here for a visit?"
"Actually, there is some official business!" Han said seriously. "We heard your village captured the rogue ninja Kakuzu, and we at Iwagakure have many ninja who were assassinated by him. To let those departed souls rest in peace, I hope your village can execute that rogue ninja!"
Just what he feared most had come true... Hearing the request, Shibuya only felt his head throbbing with pain. Where on earth could he find Kakuzu?
Sighing, Shibuya spoke with an embarrassed expression, "Apologies, we failed in our supervision and let Kakuzu escape!"
"Escape?!" Han exclaimed in disbelief. "How come I heard that you captured him a long time ago? After keeping him locked up for so long, he still managed to escape... This makes me unavoidably suspicious about your motives!"
"This is because..."
"Could it be that the ninja named Kakuzu was never a rogue ninja to begin with, but rather someone you deliberately sent out as a cover to collect funds!" Han became more confident. "I've been wondering all along—why would a lone ninja keep taking bounty missions? What would he even need all that money for?"
"Now that I think about it, all the funds he collected through bounty missions were probably used to support your village!"
"There's absolutely no truth to that!" Shibuya naturally couldn't just watch as the other party smeared them. He replied firmly, "Fifty years ago, Kakuzu killed all the jonin in our village before defecting. That hatred alone proves he'd never work for us!"
"Your Takumi has always kept itself isolated from the world, and this happened fifty years ago, making it impossible to verify. How can I know whether this isn't just an excuse you deliberately fabricated?"
Shibuya's expression turned serious. He realized this wasn't going to end peacefully today. "Then what do you want?"
"How about this: first, use Takumi's treasures as collateral. Once you've captured Kakuzu, we'll return the treasure!" Han said earnestly.
"Sorry, but we don't possess any such treasures in Takumi!" Shibuya rejected bluntly.
"Ah well! It seems your Takumi truly has no sincerity!" Han sighed. "Moreover, since you can deceive me regarding this matter, what you said about Kakuzu before was probably also a lie!"
Shibuya grew somewhat angry too. "We've already told you, Kakuzu's actions have nothing to do with us. He's a rogue ninja, and we want to capture him as well!"
Han shrugged helplessly. "Still, you have to let us see some proof of your sincerity, right?"
Shibuya took a deep breath, suppressing his anger as he spoke. "I'll send people out to capture him right away!"
"Just pretending won't do!" Han smiled. "You still need to provide some collateral!"
"Enough!" Chikuma, watching from the side, could no longer stand it. "Whether to capture Kakuzu, and how to capture him, are internal matters of our Takumi village. We don't need Iwagakure to comment!"
"But that's not how it works, is it? The ninja called Kakuzu killed so many people. Who's to say you weren't secretly pulling the strings behind him? If everyone just labels their village's ninja as rogues and then lets them run wild, wouldn't the shinobi world descend into chaos?"
"Alright, what exactly do you want?"
"Haven't I already said? Use your treasures as collateral..." Han smiled. "If you insist on me stating it so clearly, it's your Takumi's Hero Water!"
"Absolutely not!" Shibuya firmly refused. "Name another condition!"
"Since you've rejected Iwagakure's goodwill," Han's voice turned serious, "For the peace of the shinobi world, I can only represent the Five Great Shinobi Nations in imposing sanctions on you!"
"If you want to seize our belongings, just say so directly!" Chikuma sneered. "Why bother making up so many excuses?"
By this point, Shibuya gave up on any illusions. "Drive these invaders out of Takumi!"
"Don't think you can oppose us just because you have a jinchuriki!" Han immediately transformed into a half-bijuu form. "You're still far from matching us!"
"You're the ones being too arrogant, thinking being one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations gives you the right to do whatever you please?" Chikuma also transformed into a half-bijuu form to meet him head-on. "Don't underestimate Takumi!"
The brief clash between the two Jinchuriki sent towering waves over ten meters high across the lake surface, forcing both sides' ninja to retreat far from the lake.
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"It finally started!" From a distance, Seiki sat on a tree, watching the battle with great interest.
Back then in Iwagakure, wherever Han went, people always ended up talking about him — naturally, it was all his doing.
Even Han thinking of using Kakuzu as an excuse right away was partly influenced by those rumors.
"However, this level still isn't enough. I need to stir things up a bit more."
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