At the foot of the mountain, Tobi looked at the water shadow, who had already woken up but was pretending to be unconscious, and sneered inwardly!
To be honest, he had seriously considered whether to just kill her directly earlier.
After all, weakening the power of the five great nations was something he had been doing all along.
The vast Kirigakure almost collapsed because of him alone!
But after weighing the pros and cons, he felt that the weight of a water shadow wasn't worth abandoning his identity as Tobi right now.
Compared to the importance of Akagi Shinji, what is a mere water shadow?
Once he mastered the secret of human and cursed spirit fusion, he might even be able to advance that plan early. By then, the internal and external chaos of the five great nations would be no threat!
And he could also use the identity of Tobi to promote an alliance between the Akatsuki organization and the Jashin Cult?
This tempting thought suddenly appeared in Tobi's mind.
While lost in thought (dazed), the fog on the mountain gradually began to dissipate.
Not entirely dispersing, but becoming less dense, no longer concentrated in one area, and starting to spread outward, turning back into normal fog.
Soon after, Shinji dragged Hidan by his ankle, pulling him down from the mountain.
Although he thought Hidan wouldn't be harmed, his current dazed state was indeed a fact.
"Senior Shinji, what's wrong with Hidan? Did you eliminate the enemy?"
"Yeah, I already took him out. That idiot Hidan was counterattacked by the enemy before dying, so he'll probably need a few days to recover."
"Wow, Senior Shinji is so powerful! As expected, Hidan is just here to drag us down, huh. Sigh! So reckless!"
Tobi spread his hands helplessly, making a resigned gesture.
At this moment, Shinji glanced at Terumī Mei and asked, "Has she woken up yet?"
"Yeah, she's been like that since just now. My former teacher once told me that women at the foot of the mountain are like tigers—be very careful," Tobi pointed to the mountain, then at Terumī Mei, and made a tiger-eating-person gesture.
The woman at the foot of the mountain doesn't mean "the woman at the mountain foot"!
Though he knew in his heart that this guy was just pretending to be crazy, Shinji was still speechless.
But he roughly understood what Tobi was really trying to say—that this woman was pretending, so be careful.
His expression flickered slightly, pretending he didn't know anything. "Tobi, after we finish this mission, we'll leave the Water Country."
"Huh? Not doing that other mission anymore?"
"Forget it. I just obtained some intelligence from the enemy. The entire Water Country might be in danger, so we need to evacuate early. I'm afraid it'll be too late if we wait any longer."
"Ah? Okay! Let's go quickly then."
Tobi looked a bit dazed, then suddenly seemed to react, grabbing Hidan's ankle and starting to run.
Shinji was about to say it wasn't necessary to be in such a rush, but he realized he'd been set up by Tobi.
Because this guy had left him the 'tiger'!
Shinji sized him up, frowning.
Then he reached out to grab Terumī Mei's ankle, planning to drag her away just like he did with Hidan earlier—after all, fairness and equality, no discrimination!
At this point, Terumī Mei could no longer pretend. She opened her eyes, quickly retracted her foot, and in the blink of an eye, stood up.
"Huh? You're awake. If you're awake, just go by yourself. This mission is already over. Don't forget my reward."
Shinji turned and walked away without giving her a chance to speak.
And as soon as Terumī Mei thought about the conversation she overheard just now, her heart sank.
Whether true or false, she had to find out the truth!
So she immediately jumped in front of Shinji.
Shinji knew that this was the bait he had just cast, but on the surface, he still remained calm and expressionless.
"What exactly did you learn? Why is the Water Country in danger?"
"So, you're saying the Water Shadow likes eavesdropping? That's not a good habit, and it's not something a proper Water Shadow should do."
Terumī Mei clenched her teeth. If it had been anyone else, she might have kicked him by now.
But this guy had just saved her not long ago.
Plus, she still hadn't figured out how to deal with his strange ability. If they fought, and he had allies, she might not win.
This was really awkward!
But her reaction was quick: "I can exchange cursed objects for your intel."
"Sure. One hundred cursed objects—guaranteed to be worth it."
Shinji agreed readily, but Terumī Mei's face immediately darkened.
"No way!"
Even if she searched Kirigakure, she wouldn't find a hundred cursed objects, and even if she did, as the Water Shadow, she couldn't sell her family's assets just for some unknown-value intel.
"Then that's a pity. In my opinion, this intel might be worth more than the total value of a hundred cursed objects."
"Are you serious?"
Terumī Mei frowned and carefully examined Shinji's expression and eyes.
His repeated emphasis forced her to think further.
If it was true, she had to deploy her plans quickly.
"One hundred cursed objects are out of the question. Let's change the condition—within what I can handle."
Shinji finally heard what he wanted!
"One hundred cursed objects is my bottom line. I won't change that. But there's another way: I will only sell this intel to outsiders. For my own people, it's free."
Terumī Mei was stunned for a moment, then decisively said, "Fine, I can join you. But only if your intel is truly worth it."
Shinji directly threw her an Organization Contract Scroll. "Sign this, and everything you want to know will have an answer."
Terumī Mei carefully examined it and concluded it was just a blank sheet of paper.
So she signed her name directly on it.
Then, in the next moment, under her shocked gaze, that 'blank sheet' turned into a beam of light and entered her body.
Immediately, she felt a slight warmth on her left thigh, and a mark was engraved there.
"What is this?"
Terumī Mei felt she might have been duped.
Shinji showed her the back of his neck, explained the function of the mark smoothly, then dispelled some of her suspicion.
"Now tell me, what exactly did you learn?"
This was what Terumī Mei cared about most now—the mark on her thigh could wait.
Shinji didn't hide anything and directly said, "The strongest cursed spirits in the Water Country have already united and are secretly preparing a big move. The one we just killed was just a bait deliberately thrown out to attract attention and firepower."
"So, an interesting question is: what is their purpose? Are there any other enemies in this country worth uniting against?"
Terumī Mei's face instantly changed, and she thought of a very terrifying answer!
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