"Then what do you suggest?" Kushina sat back down in her chair. "Are we supposed to let it keep living the good life out there?"
"Of course not."
Nishikawa Tetsu shook his head. He walked over to the conference table, spread out the nautical chart marked with the sea hare's movements, and traced several lines across it with his finger.
"To speed up the investigation, I've decided to split us into three teams."
Nishikawa Tetsu swept his gaze over everyone present and began assigning tasks.
"I'll handle the first team myself."
He pointed to the remote archipelago on the map.
"When that sea hare was rampaging earlier, it fled without hesitation the moment it saw my Sage Mode. That means it has an instinctive fear of senjutsu chakra—or of some particular aura I give off."
"If I approach it alone, I can keep a low profile without alerting whoever's operating behind the scenes. And since it's afraid of me, I can use that deterrent to investigate up close without provoking it. I need to find out why it went berserk and what exactly it's been doing on the seabed these past few days."
"Alone? Isn't that too dangerous?" Shizune asked worriedly. "What if that sea monster goes berserk again?"
"Don't worry, Shizune." Nishikawa Tetsu winked at her and smiled confidently. "Even if I can't beat it, surely I can outrun it? Even at sea, the moment I activate Sage Mode, that thing will probably run away faster than I can."
After reassuring Shizune, Nishikawa Tetsu turned his gaze to Kushina, Kana, and Terumi Mei.
"I'll be counting on you for the second team—the most important and dangerous one."
Nishikawa Tetsu's expression grew exceptionally serious.
"Kushina, take Team 3 and Terumi Mei and secretly infiltrate the Capital of the Land of