Capture Plan

Yinsen had never been much of an actor. One important reason he had hidden himself so well all those years was that he had kept himself "outside" the plot.

Once he began genuinely interacting with these people, exposing his true nature was only a matter of time. The fact that he had endured for this long was already a miracle.

Or rather, he had revealed plenty long ago. It was just that the people of the Hidden Leaf Village habitually viewed him through the lens of the past and had yet to realize it.

Tsunade, who had returned from outside, had directly encountered Yinsen's true personality. She knew perfectly well that Yinsen was no obedient little angel.

To keep Yinsen from staying behind and causing trouble, Tsunade had sent him on a mission outside the village. She just had not expected him to choose Kakashi and Sasuke Uchiha as his teammates for this mission.

"Taking Sasuke to search for Orochimaru's hideouts... only that brat would do something like this."

Jiraiya sat on the windowsill of the Hokage's office, looking toward the distant gates of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Today, Yinsen, Kakashi, and Sasuke Uchiha had accepted a mission and left the village. He had also spoken with Naruto Uzumaki. Once Naruto finished packing, the two of them would leave the Hidden Leaf Village as well.

"What I didn't expect was that you would actually agree to it."

"Compared to staying in the village, following him might be safer."

"..."

Both of them had personally experienced Yinsen's strength. They knew the boy was terrifyingly powerful... no, perhaps he had not even used his full strength that day. It was impossible to imagine just how strong he truly was.

"But strength like that can't be explained by talent alone, can it?"

"At