The moment that figure was zapped and sent flying by the flashing electricity, Hibari heard alarms blaring throughout the entire office building.
'What's going on? I haven't even gotten in yet, and the plan's already gone awry?' Hibari thought, bewildered, from the water.
At the same time, electrical currents also flickered around that figure, seemingly dispelling some of the adverse effects the lightning had on him. He quickly got up from the ground. Before he could make any other moves, another extremely fast figure, accompanied by a flash of electricity, sliced through the night sky and appeared in the courtyard.
"You really were careless, weren't you?" The Second Raikage stood before the figure and said in a deep voice.
The figure showed no sign of panic, simply stating, "I was careless, Sensei."
Just then, a large group of guards also rushed in from outside. However, seeing the scene before them, they were somewhat surprised. They heard the Second Raikage say, "It's just a misunderstanding. Disregard the alarm."
Upon hearing the Second Raikage's command, the guards quickly went to shut off the blaring alarm. They then dispersed instead of gathering there.
Hibari, still cautiously submerged in the water, was greatly astonished. What was going on? After all that, was it just an exercise or something? But this exercise seemed too simple, didn't it?
If that person was the Second Raikage's disciple, he must be the one who would also inherit the 'A' title in the future, becoming the Third Raikage, right?
'I've long heard that the people of Kumogakure are simple and crude in their methods, but I never expected it to be to this extent. What kind of chaotic 'exercise' is this? Playing house? Impressive, truly impressive.' Hibari couldn't help but think.
But the next second, Hibari's expression changed slightly, and he quickly thought, 'The alarm just went off. Don't tell me Kagami misunderstood it as... '
Before his thoughts settled, a flash of fire suddenly appeared in the night sky not far away, and then Hibari heard some commotion.
"Fire! Fire! The civilian houses at the entrance are on fire!"
"Go put out the fire quickly!"
Hearing these sounds, the Second Raikage seemed to no longer intend to say anything more to the future 'Third Raikage.' Instead, he quickly said, "The alarm just now might have panicked those people, accidentally starting this fire. We'll discuss any suggestions later; let's put out the fire first."
"Yes, Sensei!" The figure also nodded.
Then, both of them swiftly left. Seeing this, Hibari was somewhat surprised. Did these people not consider that this might be a feint to lure them away? They just left so casually? Without even leaving anyone behind?
In truth, everything was simply too coincidental. If it were a normal day, the Second Raikage and his men would surely have thought more deeply, but today, they indeed left such a huge opening.
'Damn it, you people really are bold, but that's good too. This just makes things easier for me. Since you're so generous, don't blame me for being impolite,' Hibari thought to himself.
The next second, a small fish suddenly leaped out of the river, then instantly transformed back into human form. Without further delay, Hibari pushed off the ground, turning into a black shadow, and smoothly infiltrated the Raikage's office building.
At this moment, there were hardly any people inside the office building, only occasionally seeing some guards patrolling floor by floor, which could be considered the final line of defense for the Raikage's office.
It wasn't long before Hibari's figure evaded these guards and appeared before the Raikage's office door. Taking a deep breath, Hibari looked left and right, then placed his hand on the office doorknob and gently twisted it... 'Huh? It wouldn't budge.'
"It seems you're at least not careless enough to leave this kind of place unlocked when you leave..." Hibari muttered softly to himself, while taking out some lock-picking tools from the small pouch he carried.
Half a year ago, Hibari wouldn't have known any of these techniques, but he wasn't just 'throwing his weight around' in the Anbu all day. He humbly learned some miscellaneous skills from many subordinates with 'unique techniques.'
As a department formed for 'assassination,' lock-picking was undoubtedly an essential skill.
Before long, Hibari smoothly picked the lock. Then, gently pulling the door open a crack, Hibari instantly slipped into the room, and the door softly closed behind him.
Just after he completed this action, a squad of guards emerged from the stairwell around the corner and walked past the Raikage's office door again.
Hearing the footsteps fading into the distance, Hibari finally let out a complete sigh of relief, patted his chest, and said with a grin, "As expected, this timing is the best for infiltrating such an important place. If I waited until everything was perfected later, it wouldn't be this easy..."
After taking a breath, Hibari tiptoed to the Raikage's desk. He took out a scroll from his waist and quickly began copying the documents laid out on the desk.
Since the time was uncertain, Hibari didn't know how long he would have to steal this intelligence. Therefore, he had no intention of distinguishing between the pieces of information; he would just copy everything, pack it up, and take it with him, right? He could look through it slowly back home; he might even find some unexpected discoveries.
It seemed he found doing this alone too time-consuming. Hibari slapped his head and said, "What a fool!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he formed a hand seal and quickly released several Shadow Clones, and then his efficiency immediately shot up.
Only then did Hibari finally have some leisure to look around the Raikage's office. He looked around the dim office, then stood in front of a map, observing the marked items on it, and especially the heavily circled Konohagakure.
Hibari's expression sank, and he murmured, "So, were all those slogans about peace just delaying tactics? You've been secretly figuring out the most discreet entry points into the Land of Fire?"
Thinking about it, Kumogakure did indeed declare war without warning later, directly sending a large number of shinobi to infiltrate the Land of Fire in an attempt to ambush Konohagakure. However, they were eventually discovered by Tobirama, who led Konoha's shinobi in a counterattack, which then led to all the subsequent chaotic events, and thus the First Great Ninja War began.
While the Shadow Clones were busy copying various pieces of intelligence, Hibari, after looking at the map, also began searching for any secret rooms in the office.
In his impression, Tobirama's office had a very secluded secret room, which contained many classified documents and valuable items. Perhaps Kumogakure had one too?
"If I had known Kumogakure was so easy to infiltrate, I should have brought Hitenn along. If he just opened his eyes and looked around, wouldn't he have seen if there were any secret rooms here?" Hibari muttered, all while carefully searching.
Meanwhile, Kagami, who had just started a fire and set ablaze the civilian houses next to the Raikage's office building, was also squatting on a rooftop, observing the movements within the office building.
He had originally thought Hibari had set off the alarm and was discovered, preparing to create some commotion to assist Hibari's forced retreat. But shortly after setting the fire, he saw the Second Raikage actually leading people out to put out the fire. This left Kagami Uchiha utterly bewildered.
What was going on? There's a thief inside, and you're not catching him; instead, you're coming out to put out a fire?
After much thought, unable to understand the situation, and not seeing Hibari's figure, Kagami ultimately decided to remain put and wait to see what exactly was happening.
Just then, Kagami saw the Raikage, after arranging the fire extinguishing efforts, walk back inside with another person. He frowned slightly, thinking, "Hibari, you better hurry. The owner of this place is back inside."
At the same time, Hibari also noticed something strange. Listening to the tapping sound on the wall, Hibari was certain that behind the wall, there should be a secret room, but he hadn't found the mechanism yet.
"Done! All the documents on the desk have been copied!" A Shadow Clone suddenly whispered.
Hibari then temporarily paused his work and quickly cooperated with his Shadow Clones to put all the documents back in their original places. Then, he sealed all the copied documents into a scroll and put it on his waist.
"That was certainly easy to come by..." Hibari said with a smile as he dispelled his Shadow Clones.
He then resumed searching for the mechanism that would open the secret room. Just as he was looking for it, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside the door, along with the sound of two people talking.
"The number and strength of the guards are still not enough. With Kinkaku and Ginkaku's level, they could infiltrate here at any time..." The future Third Raikage said as he walked.
Hibari's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the voice. Even against just the Second Raikage, he wasn't sure if he could escape unscathed, let alone with a stronger 'Third Raikage' also present.
At this moment, this 'Third Raikage' might not yet possess the strength to fight against a thousand, but judging by his smooth succession to the Raikage position later, his strength must already be considerable!
But just then, Hibari happened to pull out a book from a bookshelf against the wall. The next second, the bookshelf against the wall rotated half a turn on the spot, revealing a hidden secret room.
Hibari had no time to think and quickly ducked inside. As soon as he released his hand, the book was instantly sucked back in, the bookshelf rotated half a turn, and then everything in the room returned to its original appearance, only missing Hibari's figure.
Just as everything settled, the Second Raikage had already opened the office door with a key, then walked in and said, "This door lock needs to be changed too; it's getting less and less responsive..."
Hibari, hidden in the secret room, pressed his ear against the wall, trying to eavesdrop on what the two Raikages were saying.
After listening for a long time, the two were only discussing some power issues within Kumogakure, with nothing of significant importance. Hibari lost interest and began to look around the secret room.
First, there were two perpetual lamps lit in the secret room, along with some ventilation shafts, so it wasn't as dim as the office just now, allowing Hibari to see everything very clearly.
Not daring to make too much noise, Hibari casually flipped through some intelligence. As expected, it was all classified, but mostly related to Kumogakure's internal affairs, such as blueprints for shelters and tailed beast research. Hibari wasn't too interested in these things. After a brief look, he noted down some key points and put them back. Then, his gaze fell upon a large scroll hanging on the wall, his eyes filled with curiosity.
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