Panicked, Kazama quickly made an excuse and slipped out of Kirigakure.
After all, he had more pressing matters to attend to—tracking down the remaining Six-Tails and Seven-Tails.
Without wasting a moment, Kazama used the Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport back to Otogakure.
There, he left the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, who was under the influence of his Betsu Tenjin genjutsu, in the village's care.
At this point, Otogakure was home to the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, and now the Five-Tails Jinchūriki.
A single village housing three Jinchūriki? That was a level of power not even the five great ninja nations could match.
Add to that the strength of Orochimaru, Nagato, and others, and Otogakure's overall might surpassed the great nations by dozens of times.
Just as Kazama was about to summon Obito to check if the Akatsuki had any leads on the Six-Tails, a ripple of space flickered in front of him.
"Lord Kazama!"
Obito's sudden appearance told Kazama he must have news about the Six-Tails.
"The Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata, is currently in the Tsuchigumo clan's village. Hei Jue has already sent Sasuke to capture him!"
"Sasuke? His strength has grown that much? He's actually capable of taking on the Six-Tails?"
Kazama was genuinely surprised by Obito's report.
"Yes. Hei Jue has taught him several forbidden jutsu and given him drugs that rapidly boost his strength. Sasuke's taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu are now at an elite level!"
"Hei Jue's got some serious skills, huh?"
Kazama smirked at Obito's explanation.
This was exactly what he wanted—Hei Jue training Sasuke to become stronger.
When the time was right, Kazama would use Betsu Tenjin to control Sasuke and make him his own weapon.
The stronger Sasuke became, the happier Kazama was.
As Obito left, Orochimaru arrived at the scene.
"Lord Kazama, there's new intel from Konoha!"
Since Kazama was worried Hei Jue might target Konoha again, he had instructed Orochimaru to keep an eye on the village's movements while he was in the Land of Water.
"The Tsuchigumo clan, allied with Konoha, has been attacked by outsiders. Apparently, someone's after the forbidden jutsu their clan has guarded for generations. That jutsu is currently in the possession of Hotaru, the granddaughter of the Tsuchigumo clan's late leader, Yaku no Kōsha. Tsunade has sent Team 7 to support the Tsuchigumo clan!"
"The Tsuchigumo clan again?"
Kazama muttered to himself.
"With the Six-Tails Jinchūriki in the Tsuchigumo clan's village and Konoha sending people to protect their forbidden jutsu, if Naruto and the others run into a darkened Sasuke, they might not be able to handle him. In that case, I need to head to the Tsuchigumo clan to back them up!"
With that, Kazama set off for the Tsuchigumo clan's village.
Meanwhile, when Naruto, Sakura, and the others arrived at the Tsuchigumo clan's village, Hotaru, the bearer of the forbidden jutsu, was already missing. All they found was her master, Tonbei, lying injured and unconscious on the ground.
No matter how hard Sakura tried to heal him, she couldn't wake him up.
"Damn it! This guy's the only one who knows where Hotaru is, but he's been taken out by the enemy. If we can't save him, how are we supposed to rescue her?"
Naruto clenched his fists in frustration.
"It's my fault for not being skilled enough. If Kazama-kun were here, he'd definitely be able to save Tonbei!"
"But Kazama hasn't shown up in Konoha for ages. Even Tsunade-sama doesn't know where he is…"
"I'm here!"
Just as Naruto and Sakura were at a loss, a figure appeared before them.
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