The doors of the Mizukage's office shut once more.
With Ringo Ameyuri and Utakata gone, silence returned.
Seeing Mei's lingering worry, Yuto smiled faintly.
"If you're worried about the jinchūriki, there's no need. Utakata has already chosen to stay. With his nature, he won't betray the village again."
He stretched, rolling his neck lazily. "Since they're on their way, it's time I moved too."
Mei blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
"How many of Orochimaru's bases have been located?" Yuto asked suddenly.
"Not many. None of them had Orochimaru himself," Mei replied, puzzled at the sudden question.
"Give me the addresses anyway. A little greeting gift," Yuto said with a casual smile. Small bases wouldn't house Orochimaru, but even scraps of his research might be worth it.
Others might not know where he truly hid, but Yuto certainly did.
"And Kinoshita Jiro?" Mei asked quickly.
Since that incident, Jiro had remained imprisoned. Without Yuto's order, no one dared move him. But keeping him alive meant the Kinoshita Clan couldn't name a new head.
Yuto chuckled. "They've kept quiet so far. Why rush? Pressure does wonders."
Mei's eyes narrowed with understanding. Jiro had become a blade dangling over his clan's neck. He couldn't die, and they couldn't let him die.
Yuto clearly intended to use the clan.
For a moment, Mei almost pitied Jiro. If he had been only a minor clan leader—or just like Tsuchida Masamitsu—he might have had the mercy of a clean death.
Instead, he had chosen the wrong side, concealing the jinchūriki's attempted defection, and become nothing but a stepping stone.
Politics never dealt in right or wrong. Only winners and losers. And Jiro was the latter.
———
Boom!
An explosion rattled the forest.
Dust brushed from his shoulder, Yuto glanced at the map in his scroll and crossed out another marked site.
The last of the bases was gone. They had all been abandoned, their valuables stripped. He had expected no less.
"Oto… the Sound Village."
A faint smile tugged at his lips as he vanished.
———
The Land of Rice Fields.
Bordering the Fire Country, nestled between Earth, Lightning, and Fire—the perfect crossroads.
Because of its awkward position, shinobi rarely crossed into it.
And so, when a new shinobi village suddenly appeared there—Otogakure—few took notice.
Some knew, but none cared.
No one imagined this tiny place was Orochimaru's creation. Or that the entire land was already his.
High on a tree branch, Yuto sat watching.
The Sound Village was pitifully small, the buildings scattered and bleak. No wonder the great villages had ignored it.
And unlike normal shinobi villages, it had no real civilian population. The few present were little more than Orochimaru's experiments.
This wasn't a village—it was one of his larger bases.
Swish!
A sharp sound cut through the air.
A kunai shot from concealment, aimed straight at Yuto's heart.
He glanced at it, lifted a finger, and flicked.
The blade shattered midair.
In the brush, a man paled. Impossible—shattering a kunai barehanded? Who was this intruder?
"Dosu, now!" the man shouted.
Boom!
An invisible soundwave burst out, engulfing Yuto's perch.
The bandaged man leapt from cover, hands flashing through seals. "Decapitating Airwave!"
Chakra condensed into a cutting blast, slashing toward Yuto.
Still seated, Yuto only smiled faintly.
He recognized them now—Dosu Kinuta and Zaku Abumi.
Two of the trio that had once represented Oto in the Chūnin Exams. Nobodies, but still notable enough for giving Leaf genin a beating.
The twin attacks struck—sound and chakra slicing into Yuto—
And vanished.
No pain, no explosion, no effect at all.
The two Oto shinobi froze, shock spreading across their faces.
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