Boom—
A violent explosion sounded behind them, the blast somewhat muffled, like setting off firecrackers inside an aluminum can.
"Those people attacked the spores? How stupid."
A mocking expression appeared on Ajisai's face. She had not expected those enemies to actually catch up, much less that they would truly be foolish enough to attack the spores.
In truth, the spores themselves were not aggressive. They were simply more susceptible to outside stimuli, and attacking them accelerated their catalysis, triggering an intense reaction.
In other words, if they had simply left, nothing would have happened. Or if they had ignored the spores when they caught up. But Moriyue knew they would never ignore them. It was like someone throwing a grenade at you on a battlefield—you would never immediately suspect it might be fake.
People's natural reaction was to dodge and flee. Some might choose to shoot the grenade and detonate it from a suitable distance, but asking someone to stand still and ignore it was probably something very few could do.
It was precisely by taking advantage of that mindset that Moriyue had Ajisai use the spores.
The group sped through the ruins of Kirigakure. Orochimaru had not said much along the way, as though he was in a particularly bad mood.
Thinking about it, that made sense. He had come to Kirigakure to seek Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan. After finally receiving news, it might even have been deliberately leaked to him. There could not possibly be Itachi's corpse here. He had been played, so naturally he could not be happy.
Moriyue had obtained the Rabbit Talisman and Eerie Transformation on this trip, yet Orochimaru, the one who had initiated the operation, had gained nothing. If it were him, he probably would not have been happy either.
Ajisai naturally knew that,