What was bound to come had come. From the moment Kumogakure forbade Konoha's Anbu from taking Uzumaki people away, this had already been inevitable.
They had been discovered, yet no one tried to stop them. The patrols merely trailed far behind them. It was so obvious that Ronglin would have lived in vain if he failed to see through it.
"Nine-Tails, speed up. Let's go meet our old friend."
Since Ay had allowed him to swagger all the way to Kumogakure, why should Ronglin stand on ceremony?
He directly had the Nine-Tails accelerate and head swiftly toward Kumogakure.
"Yes, my lord."
Upon receiving the order, the Nine-Tails immediately sped up, carrying Ronglin, Shisui, and Kisame Hoshigaki swiftly toward Kumogakure.
At the entrance to Kumogakure, Ay waited with quite a few people. Before long, the enormous outline of the Nine-Tails appeared on the horizon, entering everyone's sight.
Its figure grew from small to large, signaling that the Nine-Tails was drawing ever closer to the village gate.
"Ay, how have you been lately?"
The Nine-Tails rushed to the village entrance, and Kisame Hoshigaki and Shisui, who had been standing atop it, immediately jumped down.
They had climbed onto its back, something the Nine-Tails had long disliked. If Ronglin had not kept it in check, it would have thrown a fit long ago. Other than Ronglin, whenever anyone wanted to climb onto its back, the Nine-Tails would put on a sour face to show that they were unwelcome.
The Nine-Tails stopped at Kumogakure's entrance. Ronglin stood atop its house-sized head and greeted Ay, who stood on the wall.
"Hokage, you have come from afar and must be weary. A guest who comes through our gates is welcome; please enter the village and rest for a while."
As the supreme ruler of a village,