Yamanaka Kari said he needed to make some arrangements and instructed Captain Black Ape to remain outside the Tenshu Castle and stay in constant contact with Captain Hippo's squad.
Yako followed him inside the castle to assist with some covert setups.
Kari found a Uzushio guardian shinobi and drank with him late into the night, talking heart-to-heart.
Once the guardian's guard was down, Kari used the Mind Body Switch Technique to take control of him.
The controlled Uzushio shinobi disappeared into the depths of Tenshu Castle under Kari's command.
Yako stayed close to Kari the entire time.
The Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique was powerful enough to fully control even a jonin.
Half an hour later, Kari returned to himself.
"I'm going to take a look. You shouldn't wander around inside the Tenshu Castle. Wait here until I return."
After Kari disappeared, Yako made sure no one was around, then took out the scroll Yuka had given him.
He finally had a chance to look at it after all this time.
Contract Seals and Summoning Techniques—one for making a pact, the other for calling a summoning beast.
Memorizing the hand seals and chakra control pattern, Yako silently rehearsed the sequence in his mind.
Then, he pressed his hand to the scroll.
With a hand seal, he activated the Summoning Technique—and a small Longspear Egret appeared before him.
He handed the scroll to the egret and dispelled the summoning.
'I hope Yuka managed to escape the Land of Waves.'
Half an hour later, Kari returned.
"Let's move! I've secured full control of the castle. Time to close the net!"
Yako disguised himself as one of Kari's subordinates as they walked through the daimyo's Tenshu Castle.
High walls separated the castle into distinct zones: the Grand Hall sector, Civil Officials' sector, Generals' sector, Inner Chambers, Garden sector, and more.
Elegant two- and three-story wooden buildings filled the place—an impressive display of the daimyo's wealth.
They headed into the depths of the castle, arriving outside a courtyard with a plaque labeled "Treasury Office."
This was where the daimyo's wealth was stored—one of the most heavily guarded areas in the entire Tenshu Castle.
"Kari-sama!"
Voices of greeting rang out from surrounding samurai.
Kari nodded and walked onward.
At the entrance to the underground vault, he checked the surroundings, then turned to leave—
Suddenly, he spun back around. "Hm? No good! Someone's entered the treasury!"
The nearby samurai looked at Kari in shock, then at the vault entrance.
"Kari-sama! We just rotated shifts. We don't know anything!"
"Where are the keys?" Kari demanded.
The daimyo held one key; the treasury guards held the other. Both were needed to open the vault.
The samurai rushed into a nearby room and found the key-holder bound by a Sealing Technique.
"Sound the alarm! Someone's broken into the vault!"
A shrill alarm echoed over Tenshu Castle.
Everyone who heard it felt a wave of panic.
Kari immediately slapped a stack of Explosive Tags onto the vault door.
Yako was silently impressed. So rich—at least 15 Explosive Tags.
The tags detonated with a boom, blowing the vault doors open.
Amid the thick smoke, a figure tried to charge out.
Kari and Yako leapt into action.
One left, one right—they killed the intruder in perfect sync.
Kari gave Yako a second glance. This ANBU was good—his Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship were sharp.
As the smoke cleared, the intruder's body came into view.
A kunai was lodged in his left side, and a short sword was stuck in his right ribs.
More importantly, the crest of the Uzumaki clan was on his clothing!
The captain of the samurai guard cried out in shock. "What?! An Uzushio guardian shinobi stealing from the daimyo's vault?!"
The dying shinobi coughed blood and stared at Kari with disbelief.
His trembling hand rose, pointing at Kari.
Before he could speak, Yako moved again.
A sweeping kunai slash—his throat was cut.
Kari had used the guardian shinobi's trust to control him with the Mind Body Switch Technique.
Now, the guardian couldn't speak even if he wanted to.
Kari had already learned the village's true stance from Captain Black Ape, so he had no hesitation in setting the Uzushio shinobi up.
Amid the crowd of guards and samurai, the daimyo arrived at the treasury courtyard.
Seeing the blown-open vault doors and the dead Uzushio shinobi, the daimyo instinctively took a few steps toward the Konoha side.
His voice was tinged with fear and confusion. "What happened here?!"
Kari said, "Daimyo-sama! A Uzushio guardian tried to rob your vault! I caught and killed him!"
The daimyo stared dumbly at the body, then turned sharply toward the Uzushio captain.
"I've heard rumors these past days—you intend to rebuild Uzushio Village. Were you planning to use my vault to fund that reconstruction?"
"No!" the Uzushio captain protested quickly.
"I would never think of such a thing!
A shinobi's first mission is to complete the task. If we abandon that principle, who would ever hire us again even if Uzushio were rebuilt?!"
But no matter how he explained, the daimyo no longer trusted him.
The daimyo turned to the Konoha guardians. "Konoha, I leave this to you. Capture the Uzushio shinobi!"
The Uzushio captain knew that more words were pointless—he could not die here.
He threw down a smoke bomb, and several Uzushio shinobi made a swift retreat.
Kari immediately gave orders: "Three guardians will remain to protect the daimyo at all costs. I'll pursue!"
Yako quickly followed.
Kari didn't move fast—he kept his distance, trying to let the fleeing shinobi lead him to any remaining Uzushio holdouts.
Soon, Captain Hippo arrived with reinforcements from the ANBU.
But something didn't sit right with Yako.
'Why are the Uzushio shinobi hopping across rooftops like this?
Shouldn't they be trying to hide their escape?'
The chase continued until they left the city.
Just as they dropped down from the outer wall, Yako saw a group of Mist shinobi appear to the side.
The commotion had attracted the Mist as well—they too had joined the pursuit.
A Longspear Egret flew overhead and dropped a scroll from the sky.
The Uzushio captain shouted from a distance:
"You want the Elder's Sealing Scroll, don't you?! Come on! If you're not afraid to die, then come and get it!
I'll die—but I'll make sure to take you down with me!"
There were far more Mist shinobi than Konoha shinobi. The Mist had sent two full units; Konoha only had one squad.
The Mist replaced Konoha as the main pursuing force. The three factions sped across the wild terrain.
The Land of Waves had few mountains to block ocean moisture—rainfall was scarce. Outside the coast, much of the region was barren wasteland.
The Uzushio shinobi, after leaving the capital, turned and charged straight into the uninhabited wilderness.
Several of them ran across the wasteland like they had nothing to lose.
But the Mist and Konoha forces were different—larger in number, they had to consider logistics.
"Do we have enough ration pills?"
"Did we bring enough water?"
The squad captains took stock of supplies.
To the ANBU, the real problem now was the Mist.
They could not let the Uzushio Elder's Sealing Scroll fall into their hands.