Casting the net

Beneath the sand dune, a pile of corpses lay abandoned. Tōka and Xie looked down indifferently at the bodies of Rasa and his group.

"Won't it be discovered so quickly if I leave it here?" Tōka looked around at the vast Wind and Sand of yellow sand, where sand was the most abundant element.

He could hardly see any difference in the land of the Land of Wind; perhaps only the natives could distinguish east from west and north from south.

Scorpion wasn't concerned with that. He glanced sideways at Tōka, his hoarse, deep voice ringing out, "You remember our promise, don't you?"

"Don't worry, Chiyo and Ebizo are for you." Tōka understood Sasori's inner conflict, smiled slightly but didn't point it out. They were just two old guys with half their bodies buried in the ground.

If the scorpion wants to keep it, then so be it.

"Good that you remember." Scorpion turned his head and walked slowly towards the Northeast.

"The preparations in the Land of Wind are complete; all that's left is to meet that guy." Tōka gazed into the distance, the Wind and Sand blurring his figure...

A giant white bird soared into the sky, its wings creating a hurricane that caused the Forest below to sway and undulate like a green sea.

Two people stood atop the giant bird: Deidara and Tōka, dressed in Red Clouds on a Black Background- Kazekage.

"This is it, let's go down!"

Tōka's tense facial muscles relaxed, the Ice Blue halo in his eyes faded, and his pupils returned to their inky black.

Upon hearing the sound, Deidara immediately controlled the giant bird to land.

"Senior Tōka, what are we doing in this godforsaken place? There's not a soul in sight! Hmm."

Deidara looked around; all he saw were bare hills and sparse Big Tree.

The geography of the Land of Rice differs from that of the Land of Fire. The Land of Rice is characterized by lush green Forest, with mountains and fields forming a crisscrossing pattern.

The land is all good, suitable for growing crops, but it requires human effort to develop.

"The population of the Land of Rice is only average, and besides, this area is an undeveloped Wasteland, so it's quite strange that humans have appeared here."

Tōka's lips curled up slightly, revealing a strange smile.

"Don't you think so?"

A strange, eerie wind swept by, and Tōka's figure appeared a hundred paces away, in the canopy of a Big Tree that would take several people to encircle.

A dark figure dressed in ninja attire and wearing Forehead Protector Musical Note was cornered by Tōka.

"Senior Tōka is truly amazing! He actually detected an enemy from such a distance! Hmm." Deidara looked over in surprise, thinking to himself.

Call!

The Sound Ninja turned around and swung a sharp Kunai at Tōka. Tōka, seemingly slow but actually extremely fast, stretched out his right hand and grabbed the Kunai.

"How is this possible?!" The Sound Ninja wasn't very strong; they were just ordinary Chunin. When they saw that they couldn't move the Kunai an inch despite using all their strength, they were shocked.

The other person caught his Kunai him even flinching!

"Take me to Kabuto!" Tōka's words were like a Demonic Sound entering the ears of the Sound Ninja, who was stunned and stared blankly.

His body seemed to relax uncontrollably, his tense muscles loosened, and the Sound Ninja slid down the tree trunk and landed steadily.

Deidara also moved closer, his gaze falling on the Sound Ninja before turning to Tōka.

"Deidara, you stay here. Don't let that guy get away," Tōka said. The Sound Ninja's bases were usually built underground.

Deidara, with his superior air superiority and high vantage point overlooking the land, could easily spot enemies.

Kabuto is just like Orochimaru, slippery and cunning.

"Leave it to me!... Hmm." Deidara patted his chest, confidently agreeing.

The Otogakure (Orochimaru) was founded by Orochimaru after he left Konohagakure. It is marked by Eighth Note, and the ninjas in the village all use sound attacks.

Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's confidant, greatly admires and respects Orochimaru. He is exceptionally intelligent and has a profound mind, but lacks a sense of self.

Now that Orochimaru has been sealed away, everything in the Sound Ninja revolves around Kabuto Yakushi.

However, Kabuto Yakushi's strength is only that of Jonin, so it is not an easy task for him to suppress a group of subordinates with special abilities and extremely strong combat power.

So...

In the Land of Rice, at the Otogakure base, led by the Sound Ninja, Tōka quickly found Kabuto Yakushi's location.

In a Laboratory, a pale-faced figure sat in a chair, his expression one of pain, with tubes attached to his arm.

"Kabuto, your look... is quite unique."

Inside the Laboratory, the space shook, and as a Black Vortex spun, Tōka's figure appeared in the room.

Upon hearing this, Kabuto, Kabuto Yakushi was gritting his teeth and enduring the excruciating pain, raised his eyelids and squinted at the sound.

His pupils suddenly contracted, revealing an expression of utter disbelief.

"Hey, hey, hey... I'm quite confident in my looks, your reaction is making me very embarrassed," Tōka with a teasing laugh.

"You didn't come here to kill me, did you?" Kabuto Yakushi stared intently at Tōka, his voice trembling slightly as he probed.

He was terrified; the person before him was far more cunning and shrewd than he could ever imagine in terms of combat prowess.

Even Lord Orochimaru fell to Tōka's hand; he... was no match for him!

"Kill you? I don't have time for that." Tōka chuckled, casually circling Dou's chair and examining the changes in Dou's body.

Being stared at like a monkey, even the deep-thinking Kabuto Yakushi of his eye. If he weren't outmatched by Tōka, he definitely...

You have to endure it, even if you don't want to!

Tōka noticed that Kabuto was implanting Orochimaru's cells into his body; no wonder his face was so pale and he looked like he was about to die!

Orochimaru's power is impressive, but Tōka believes his own power is the strongest.

If you lack talent, then practice diligently; if you lack blood, then create; if you lack experience, then accumulate it.

Only those who are down-to-earth and become strong step by step can truly master power.

In less than a minute, it felt like several years had passed for Kabuto Yakushi. He was enduring immense physical pain while also feeling the pressure of being scrutinized by Tōka.

Finally, just as Kabuto Yakushi was about to give up, Tōka withdrew his melancholy gaze and asked, "How much of the Otogakure can you control?"

"The Otogakure? What do you want to do?" Kabuto Yakushi grimaced in pain as he stared at Tōka, but did not answer his question.

As a person of deep cunning, it is impossible for him to reveal any of his strength before knowing the enemy's intentions.

Especially when facing Tōka, a guy who has both strength and cunning.

"Dou, I don't really want to use Genjutsu on you, because you're a smart person." Tōka curled his lips into a cold smile; he hated people who lacked self-awareness!

Kabuto Yakushi's expression changed slightly as he felt a chilling coldness in the air. He knew that this guy was even more dangerous than Orochimaru, and not only was he impatient, he was also unreasonable!

After a slight pursing of his lips, Kabuto Yakushi, who had been silent, finally spoke truthfully, "I cannot mobilize the forces from any other bases besides this one."

"So little? You're really useless!" Tōka's disdainful gaze made Kabuto Yakushi's veins throb, yet he was helpless.

If he weren't lacking in strength, why would he be content to control only such a small portion of the power?

Tōka's expression clearly showed dissatisfaction, and a great deal of dissatisfaction at that. Before meeting Kabuto Yakushi, he had estimated that at least half of the power of the Otogakure was under Kabuto's control.

It's also clear that the ninja village Orochimaru established was truly populated by a group of unruly individuals!

"It's okay, fewer people is fine, we're not counting on them anyway." Tōka's nonchalant attitude only made Dou frown more.

This made Dou even more curious about Tōka's purpose for this trip, but he couldn't ask such a question.

The more you know, the faster you die; even I understand this simple truth.

Lost in thought, Tōka slightly modified the plan, then looked up at Dou, "How long will it take you to finish here?"

"No matter how long it takes you, gather a portion of the Sound Ninja and come see me in three days."

Before Dou could even speak, Tōka's figure vanished with a bang, exploding in mid-air as a cloud of white mist.

Kabuto Yakushi slightly taken aback, then realized that the Tōka in front of him was just a Shadow Clone!

As Tōka departed, Deidara, who was in charge of the air surveillance base, also received the message and controlled the Clay Giant Bird to flap its wings and fly towards the Land of Rain.

On the border of the Land of Fire, in a secluded mountain forest, a dark cave entrance is hidden among layers of Tree Shadow.

Suddenly, a strange wind swept through the forest, its strong force causing the branches to sway.

The strange wind came abruptly and went away extremely quickly, as if it were an illusion.

Inside the Cave, water droplets dripped onto the uneven ground, and sparse sunlight cast shadows at the cave entrance.

"Stop pretending now that you're awake. We're old friends, why be so formal?" A strange gust of wind blowing into the Cave transformed into a figure, the faint light illuminating the shadowy form—who else could it be but Tōka?

Upon hearing this, Mei Terumī, who was pretending to be unconscious, showed obvious signs of anger as her chest heaved.

An old friend? Yes, indeed an old friend!

Mei Terumī suddenly opened her eyes, her cold gaze seeming to shoot countless sharp arrows at Tōka, as if she wanted to pierce Tōka with a thousand holes.

"Heh... Old friend? Can you come over and break the seal?" Mei Terumī said in a sarcastic tone, mimicking Tōka's.

When she woke up, she felt completely powerless, as if all the chakra in her body had been disconnected and she could not sense it at all.

Although her hands and feet were not bound, Mei Terumī was unable to stand up for such a long time.

Upon hearing the wind outside the cave, Mei Terumī immediately collapsed and pretended to be unconscious, but unfortunately, Tōka entered too quickly and saw her.

"You don't have a seal on you; you really don't have much chakra left." Tōka felt that Mei Terumī was not bad, so he didn't intend to kill her.

"It's not a seal? Then why do I have no strength at all?" Mei Terumī bit her lip and glared at Tōka as she asked.

Tōka smiled mysteriously without offering any answers, showing absolutely no awareness of being a prisoner.

Chakra is the Physical Energy absorbed by the body's cells, and the Spiritual Energy cultivated through training and accumulating experience.

It would be life-threatening if all of it were extracted from the body, so Tōka deliberately left behind an extremely small amount of chakra.

On one hand, he wanted to suppress Mei Terumī's strength to prevent her from fighting him; on the other hand, he wanted to spare Mei Terumī's life.

The atmosphere became eerie because of Tōka's silence.

When a charming and sexy woman stares directly at you, her gaze is complex, containing three parts resentment, three parts anger, three parts hostility, and even a hint of sorrow.

Tōka's faint smile couldn't be maintained, and it gradually faded away.

"I've come to see you because I have good news and bad news to tell you." Tōka's voice softened, and a smile returned to her face. "I also need your help with something."

Mei Terumī's heart tightened; she thought to herself, "Here comes the important part!"

She watched Tōka Budong, neither choosing whether to hear good news or bad news first, but simply waiting for Tōka to continue.

Tōka pursed his lips, muttered to himself that it was boring, and sat down on a rock three steps away from Mei Terumī.

"The good news is that your subordinate, Ao, has already returned to Kirigakure." As Tōka finished speaking, he noticed One Flash Mei Terumī's eyes.

Although they hid quickly and cleverly, how could they possibly escape Tōka's sight?

"The bad news is that the information we brought back was somewhat inaccurate." Tōka looked troubled, which infuriated Mei Terumī, who wanted to rush up and tear that face off.

In the silence, the only sound was the dripping of water onto the stone.

A few minutes later, Tōka saw Mei Terumī staring at him fiercely without saying a word, so he couldn't help but ask, "Huh? Aren't you going to ask me what news he brought back?"

"Take back the news that I'm dead?" Mei Terumī asked coldly.

"Tsk tsk tsk... wait a minute." Tōka held up a finger and shook it in front of Mei Terumī, then changed the subject, "Having told you so much information, shouldn't you do me a favor?"

Mei Terumī was choked, her face flushed red and her chest heaving. She wanted to fight back but didn't have the strength.

After rambling on and on, all she learned in the end was that Qing was still alive; nothing else mattered!

"I had no idea I could help you?" Mei Terumī scoffed, her beautiful eyes fixed warily on Tōka.

This kid has been a cunning little devil since he was a child; he could easily be sold out without even realizing it!

Tōka smiled but remained silent, a cluster of Green Light shimmering in his palm, gradually enlarging in Mei Terumī's wide eyes...

The Land of Water, the Kirigakure.

With a bang, a Kirigakure Ninja rushed into the Conference Room, and immediately all the Kirigakure Ninja high-ranking members turned to look at him.

"Information, intelligence, information about the Mizukage." The Kirigakure Ninja panted as he held up the intelligence Scroll in his hand.

In a flash, an elderly man with white hair, who was closest to the gate, swiftly snatched the intelligence Scroll of the Kirigakure Ninja.

For a moment, the entire Conference Room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone watched the man nervously, each with their own ulterior motives, yet all were curious about the contents of the intelligence Scroll.

Everyone only cared about one thing: Mei Terumī was dead or not!

After a short while, the white-haired elder finished reading the intelligence Scroll and handed it to a high-ranking official beside him, explaining, "It's the Mizukage's handwriting. She wants to select the best Genin to go to Konoha."

"Participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

"Ha??!"