After hearing Uchiha Madara's words, Obito felt a sense of relief in his heart, while a deep apprehension flashed in his eyes.
Were Uchiha Madara's words just a simple warning?
Or had he already started to suspect him?
Uchiha Obito's body tensed. Whichever it was, it was not good news for him now.
His current strength was too far below Uchiha Madara's.
Regarding Rin's death back then, Uchiha Obito was increasingly suspicious that it was the work of Uchiha Madara before him.
However, the more suspicious he was, the more respectful Uchiha Obito appeared towards Uchiha Madara.
"Go."
Uchiha Madara's flat voice entered Uchiha Obito's ears.
"Yes, Lord Uchiha Madara."
Uchiha Obito nodded respectfully. A spatial vortex quickly enveloped Uchiha Obito, and then he disappeared.
Uchiha Madara did not look back from beginning to end, his eyes coldly fixed on a map of the Ninja World laid out before him.
After a while, a thoughtful expression flashed across Uchiha Madara's face.
Reaching out, he pulled out two pieces of intelligence from the materials that had long been prepared below.
And on these two pieces of intelligence, the basic information of Deidara and Sasori were marked respectively.
"Rogue Ninja from Iwagakure and Hidden Sand Village, this is truly an unexpected gain. It seems the plan needs to be changed."
The corner of Uchiha Madara's mouth curved slightly, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
----
In a forest.
Yūto and Konan walked at the very front with calm expressions, while walking ahead of them...
...was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy wearing dark green clothes and a Takigakure forehead protector. It was Shemu, the leader of Takigakure.
It must be said that apart from Hidden Sand Village being located in a vast desert area, the surroundings of all the other Ninja Villages were covered in large areas of dense forest.
Speaking of the environment alone, the forests in the Naruto world could be considered unique.
After all, no matter what kind of destruction they experienced, the forests in the entire Naruto world still occupied a large area.
"Is this young man in front really the leader of Taki Village?"
Konan looked at Shemu, who was walking ahead of them with a nervous expression, and spoke with a tone full of doubt.
As the leader of a small Ninja Village, his strength might not need to be too high, but he must possess certain qualities of a leader.
But Konan now could not detect any such quality in the young man before her.
"If the intelligence from my Hidden Mist Village's Anbu is correct, he is indeed."
Yūto spread his hands and said in a flat voice.
Hearing Yūto's words, Konan's gaze fell on Shemu again, and a faint sadness flashed in her eyes.
In the current Ninja World, if the leader of a small Ninja Village was not someone with strong capabilities, it would likely be a great tragedy for that Ninja Village.
Although the entire Ninja World before them was calm, it was merely a false facade.
It was likely that this peace would be completely broken before long.
Roar!
Just then, a beast's roar suddenly came from deep within the forest.
Shemu, who was walking at the very front, was startled for a moment, then a look of panic immediately appeared on his face. At the same time, he quickly turned around and hurried behind Yūto and Konan.
With a frightened expression on his face, Shemu poked his head out from behind Yūto and cautiously looked ahead.
Yūto and Konan had slightly astonished expressions on their faces as they looked at Shemu's frightened face.
Both of them could clearly feel that Shemu's fear was not feigned, but genuine fright.
At the same time, in the dense forest ahead, a giant bear about two people tall crawled out from the forest.
As soon as this giant bear appeared, its fierce gaze fell upon Yūto and the other two.
"You should be a Ninja, right? It's just an ordinary bear, it shouldn't be a problem with your strength."
Yūto turned his head to look at Shemu, who was hiding behind him, and said in a flat voice.
"But... but, this bear is so big!"
Shemu raised his head and glanced ahead at the large bear with a fierce expression.
Shemu shivered all over, then quickly lowered his head again and said with a nervous expression.
"A cowardly man."
Konan frowned, a hint of disdain in her voice.
If the leader of a Village was really such a man, Konan could not imagine the future of this Village at all.
Roar!
A low beast's roar came from the front.
After seeing that the three humans opposite made no move, the large bear's initially cautious mindset instantly disappeared.
The next moment, the giant bear charged towards Yūto and the other two.
Paper Shuriken!
Konan flicked her palm slightly, and a paper shuriken quickly formed, shooting towards the giant bear.
Thud!
A series of blood splattered out.
The paper shuriken directly pierced the body of the giant bear.
Without even having time to let out a whimper, the giant bear completely collapsed to the ground, losing its life.
Only after seeing the bear completely dead, Shemu, who was hiding behind Yūto, let out a deep sigh of relief and walked out.
"How much farther is it to the destination?"
Yūto glanced at Shemu and said in a flat voice.
Shemu was startled for a moment, then said somewhat awkwardly, "We'll be there soon!"
----
Meanwhile, on a large tree some distance from Takigakure.
Dozens of Ninja stood quietly in different positions, their gaze fixed on the two men and one woman standing in the center.
"The exact entrance to Takigakure, among everyone present, only you know it, Shui Yan."
"I hope you're not lying to us, otherwise the consequences will be severe."
A Ninja with a sinister look on his face said coldly.
"Hmph, consequences?"
"Kiriume! Don't look at me like this now, but I am the strongest Ninja in Takigakure besides the previous leader."
The Ninja named Shui Yan let out a cold snort.
"Is that so? If there's time, I'd like to compare!"
Kiriume said faintly with a cold smile on his face.
As this sentence rang out, the already somewhat oppressive atmosphere suddenly became tense.
"If I remember correctly, your Takigakure has a Jinchuriki. That's big trouble. If we really start fighting with a Jinchuriki, all of us here might have to stay there permanently."
Seemingly sensing the change in atmosphere, a woman in somewhat revealing clothing walked out, licked her lips, and her gaze fell on Shui Yan.
"Don't worry, the Village people don't suspect me now. I will lure the Jinchuriki away first. However, Bing Yu, don't kill too many people."
Shui Yan leaned against the large tree, his gaze fixed on the female Ninja named Bing Yu before him.
"Reduce civilian casualties? Interesting. In the end, you still can't bear to attack your own Village, can you?"
Kiriume said with a light chuckle, a mocking smile on his face.
Hearing Kiriume's mocking voice, Shui Yan's expression did not change, as if he hadn't heard the mockery in the words.
Or rather, from beginning to end, Shui Yan's face maintained a calm expression.
"It's not because of that. It's just because only Shemu, the leader in the Village, clearly knows the exact location where the Hero Water is hidden."
"To make him tell us the location, we need to capture some villagers as hostages."
Shui Yan stood up from leaning against the large tree, twisted his neck, and said in a flat voice.
"It seems this is the only way."
Bing Yu raised her eyebrows, a hint of a smile on her face.
"We will now split into two groups. One group will follow me into Takigakure and lure away the Jinchuriki, that girl Fu."
"The other group will go and wait at the large waterfall outside the entrance of Takigakure."
"Although I don't know when Shemu will return, he should be back soon. If we can capture him in advance, many problems will be solved."
Shui Yan raised his head to look at Kiriume and Bing Yu and explained his plan.
Kiriume and Bing Yu exchanged glances and nodded slightly. Shui Yan's plan was indeed the most reliable method for now.
After confirming the plan, cold smiles simultaneously appeared on the faces of several people.
The next moment, all the Ninja present simultaneously disappeared from the spot, rushing towards two directions.
----
On the other side, led by Shemu, it wasn't long before the sound of rushing water could be heard.
Looking in the direction the sound came from, a huge waterfall appeared in everyone's sight in the distance.
Several waterfalls of different sizes were connected together, forming a scene that amazed everyone.
By a clear small river below the waterfall.
Konan raised her head to look at the huge waterfall surrounding the area ahead, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes:
"No wonder few Ninja Villages would invade Takigakure. Even if they reached here, without someone familiar leading the way, they probably wouldn't be able to find the real entrance to Takigakure."
Hidden Rain Village, like Takigakure, was located at the border of the Three Great Ninja Villages.
However, Hidden Rain Village was located at the border of Sand Ninja Village, Hidden Stone Village, and Konoha Village.
While Takigakure was located at the border of Hidden Stone Village, Cloud Ninja Village, and Konoha Village.
Although the locations were similar, the situations of the two Villages were completely different.
Hidden Rain Village did not have natural geographical advantages, and thus was constantly in a state of war.
This was also the reason why Konan felt somewhat surprised upon seeing Takigakure before her.
Having such a special environment could definitely help Takigakure avoid most of the trouble.
"Thank you, both sirs, for bringing me here. I've caused you trouble along the way."
Shemu, who was walking at the very front, suddenly stopped, turned around to look at Yūto and Konan, and said somewhat awkwardly.
"Does that mean you're telling us to leave?"
Konan looked at Shemu with a calm expression and said coldly.
"It seems you are somewhat wary of us and don't want to reveal the exact entrance to Takigakure."
Yūto showed an amused expression on his face and said with a light chuckle.
Shemu's expression changed upon hearing Yūto and Konan's words, and he quickly retreated a few steps.