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"What is our next course of action?" Mangetsu inquired.
"The situation right now is extremely urgent." Tsunade looked at Kurotsuchi and Mangetsu and proceeded to recount the deduction she had made back in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Mangetsu's expression shifted to one of outright alarm. "Are you saying that the Akatsuki's next target is Asachi Midorima?"
Tsunade shook her head. "I can't say for certain. But think about it logically. Among all nine tailed beasts, the Six-Tails is the only one missing. If you were in their position, what would you do?"
Mangetsu's brow furrowed deeply. He immediately pressed, "Where is Asachi Midorima right now?"
Tsunade clenched her fist tightly. "If I knew that, things would be much simpler."
That bastard... how had he just vanished into thin air?
"The only lead we have is that Shikaku Nara separated from him in the forest near the Hidden Rain Village. Orochimaru was traveling with him at the time."
"He's together with Orochimaru? What is he thinking?" Kurotsuchi frowned.
Orochimaru was by no means a good person.
Tsunade shook her head. "My guess is that he's attempting to rally every possible force that can be utilized, to unite them all against the Akatsuki."
"What kind of organization is the Akatsuki, exactly?" Kurotsuchi was finding the Akatsuki increasingly incomprehensible.
Tsunade shook her head once more.
She wanted to know the answer to that herself, but no one could tell her.
Perhaps the only person who truly knew the truth was Midorima himself. But he had simply "vanished."
"But right now, Midorima has disappeared. The Akatsuki can't possibly track him down," Mangetsu said, his brow knitted in intense concentration. Countless scenarios flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, his racing thoughts screeched to a halt—a single, terrifying realization crystallizing in his mind.
"The Hidden Mist Village—" Mangetsu blurted out. "If the Akatsuki can't capture Midorima, they'll undoubtedly head straight for the Hidden Mist Village to force him out into the open."
Tsunade watched Mangetsu's growing agitation, and the weight pressing on her heart grew heavier still.
After having suffered two devastating blows in rapid succession, the Hidden Mist Village was now truly and deeply vulnerable. Any disturbance, no matter how small, could have severe repercussions. There was even the very real possibility that the Akatsuki could wipe the entire Hidden Mist Village off the map.
"I know that," Tsunade explained to Mangetsu. "That's precisely why we need to figure out our next move as quickly as possible."
As things stood right now, facing the Akatsuki alone was no different from walking straight into a death sentence. They absolutely had to pool everyone's strength together.
But at this moment, Jiraiya's wounds had not yet healed. She had no way of knowing whether he could endure a long and arduous journey.
"What do you suggest?" Mangetsu asked.
Tsunade was just about to voice her thoughts when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Jiraiya struggling to prop his body upright. She immediately rushed to his side, exclaiming, "Don't move! Your injuries are severe."
"I won't die. No one knows this body better than I do," Jiraiya said with a pained grin. "I was listening in on your conversation just now. Midorima has been running himself ragged, dashing all over the place because of the Akatsuki. Now the Hidden Mist Village needs help. We have to do everything within our power to assist."
From the moment Jiraiya began speaking, Tsunade's brow remained tightly furrowed, refusing to relax.
Among everyone present, she was likely the one with the closest relationship to Asachi Midorima—Mangetsu included.
Because of this, Tsunade was fiercely in favor of heading to the Hidden Mist Village.
But Jiraiya's injuries...
"Don't worry about me. I can't think of any place better suited for my recovery than by your side. Don't glare at me. It's the honest truth. Who else could it be but you, Tsunade, the Hidden Leaf's foremost medical ninja? By the time we reach the Hidden Mist Village, my injuries should be mostly healed. So, I'm going with you. As for Kurotsuchi..." Jiraiya's voice trailed off.
Tsunade also turned her gaze to Kurotsuchi.
Among the four of them, Kurotsuchi was the one with the weakest ties to the Hidden Mist Village.
Kurotsuchi sat cross-legged on the ground, her expression dead serious. "I believe that Midorima is definitely hiding something related to the Akatsuki, but that doesn't affect my decision. I trust him. Besides, the way events are unfolding is aligning more and more closely with his predictions. So, no matter what happens, we absolutely cannot let the Akatsuki get their hands on the Six-Tails."
With all four of them aligned in their resolve, the path forward became much clearer.
Jiraiya entreated Fukasaku and Shima to relay the events that had transpired in the Hidden Rain Village, along with their decision, back to Hiruzen.
To stand against the Akatsuki, relying on just the few of them would be utterly impossible. They would have to draw upon far greater forces.
This was a sentiment shared unanimously among all four of them.
Just as Tsunade's group of four began their urgent journey toward the Hidden Mist Village, the current Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was "receiving" two very unexpected individuals.
To call it "receiving" was not quite accurate. "Apprehending" would perhaps be a more fitting description.
As for the two individuals who had been captured—
It was less that Mei Terumi had not expected to see them, and more that the activity they were engaged in utterly defied her comprehension: grave robbing.
If she had not personally recognized these two, she would have already thrown them into the deepest prison cell and picked out an auspicious date for their execution.
To dare lay a hand on the grave of the Second Mizukage... these two must have a death wish.
"Speak. Why were you digging up the Second Mizukage's grave?" Mei Terumi demanded, rapping her knuckles against the table as she glared at the two figures standing before her.
Neither of them uttered a word.
"I remember you. Your name is Jugo, isn't it? You've aided us in the past. So, unless it becomes absolutely necessary, I have no desire to draw a blade against you. Now, tell me. Why were you digging up that grave?"
How the hell should I know?
Jugo cast a sidelong glance at Kabuto, who stood beside him.
He was just here to help out.
Help out, you understand?
As in, holding a shovel, loosening the dirt, maybe keeping watch at most.
All that business about Impure World Reanimation and harvesting cellular tissue from the deceased... he didn't really understand any of that.
If there hadn't been so many shinobi guarding the Second Mizukage's tomb, he wouldn't have been surrounded in the first place.
And if these people hadn't been from the same village as Midorima, with his level of skill, he wouldn't have been captured either.
He was just a laborer.
Mei Terumi instantly picked up on the subtle cues from Jugo's furtive movements and shifted the focus of her interrogation from Jugo to Kabuto.
"I've seen you before in the Hidden Leaf Village. You and Midorima have a good relationship as well, don't you? So tell me. Why did you do something like this?"
Kabuto fixed his eyes on the kunoichi with the striking auburn hair and asked in a low voice, "Are you someone who can be trusted?"
"That depends on what aspect you're referring to. When it comes to the Hidden Mist Village, I am unshakably reliable," Mei Terumi replied patiently.
"No, I meant, do you trust Lord Midorima?" Kabuto shook his head.
"Of course I do. We grew up together. In the entire Hidden Mist Village, the person he trusts the most is me," Mei Terumi declared, thumping her chest confidently.
"Do you trust him?" Kabuto remained uneasy.
"I'll say it again. We grew up together. Do you understand what that means? At the very least, I trust him more than you do," Mei Terumi retorted, choosing a relatively conservative formulation.
In the entirety of the Hidden Mist Village, the one who believed in Midorima the most was her—even when almost everyone had branded him a rogue ninja, she had never wavered in her conviction that he was innocent.
However, she quickly caught a flicker of "contempt" flash through Kabuto's eyes, as if he were silently retorting that he was the one who trusted Midorima the most.
Wait just a minute... where on earth had Midorima found this bastard?!
He actually dared to doubt the relationship between her and Midorima?
Mei Terumi clenched her fists, forcibly suppressing the indignation bubbling within her, and repeated her initial question. "Why were you digging up the Second Mizukage's grave?"
"It was a task arranged by Lord Midorima. Of course, he didn't state it outright, but I understood perfectly," Kabuto explained.
"..."
Mei Terumi rubbed her forehead wearily. She needed a moment to think.