November 11.
In the blink of an eye, Akaseki had spent two and a half months in Kumogakure. He was almost used to the name "Genta" now...
Kumogakure had already seen its first snowfall.
Access to Kumogakure was difficult to begin with, and it depended on outside supplies. Especially in winter, when heavy snow sealed off the mountain roads, it burned through its stockpiles. At the same time, it was easy to defend and hard to attack—clearly a village built with military considerations in mind.
But what Orochimaru and his two companions saw now was this: if the Eight-Tails rampaged in the heart of such a defensible village, evacuating the civilians would also be difficult, leading to even greater destruction!
Orochimaru's plan had finally reached its closing stage.
At the beginning of those two and a half months, Blue B's condition had improved considerably. Not only had he seemed to be recovering, he had even reported that communicating with the Eight-Tails had become easier!
Over the past two weeks, however, things had taken a sharp turn for the worse...
Blue B's condition had grown increasingly severe, and he often went several days without sleep.
Although some people in Kumogakure wanted to pin the blame on "Doctor Tetsusai," everyone from the Third Raikage to Blue B himself—and plenty of others who could see what was happening—knew that was nothing but scapegoating!
After all, Blue B's deterioration had clearly coincided with the changes to his sealing formula...
Virtually every downturn had matched the "worst-case scenario" predicted by the Kumogakure Sealing Research Institute.
Under the Third Raikage's strict orders, modifications to the seal had therefore been put on hold. Tojii's objections had been overruled.
However...
At the research institute, Akaseki discovered that the three middle-aged researchers had begun lobbying Blue B, urging him