Akaseki's "Mirror Clone" previously discovered that Hiruko was not only not in Konoha during the first seven disappearances, but also performed tasks where he could be temporarily separated from his teammates without being suspected, or he had already completed the task and was spending time away from home, and he was not far away from the missing person...
It's not so close that you'll be suspected, and it's not so far that you can't get there!
If he goes to Fire Temple now with the same purpose...
"No way? That Hiruko is just an ordinary Chunin. The previous attacks were all teams led by ordinary Chunin. As for Cong Yun..." Ranwu felt that Kurama Murakumo was not an ordinary Chunin. It was just that he was not promoted because he had no chance to make meritorious deeds.
How could Hiruko be his opponent?
Judging from the missing teams before, there is no one as good as Kurama Murakumo!
"But there are indeed no other ninjas with great Shinobi Clan origins nearby." The "great Shinobi Clan" Akaseki refers to is Shinobi Clan who has at least some "blood". It does not mean that a family has just a few ninjas.
Then Akaseki added, "Furthermore, looking at the attack locations of the missing persons, they are basically in the north of the country... I guess that guy's lair should also be in the north. If the attack is launched in the south, it will be difficult to transport the victims back to their lair."
Ranwu had no objection at all.
Although I am anxious about Kōken, but to be on the safe side, it is always right to see Kurama Murakumo first...
"That's right, the safety of our companions is more important. If the mastermind behind the scenes is really this Hiruko, then he won't be able to escape!" Ranwu suppressed his worry about Kōken and nodded.
If the missing ninja was captured for experimentation, he is probably still alive...
Akaseki didn't say a word - it was indeed for safety, but... it wasn't all for the safety of Kurama and the others!
Hiruko If he was kicked to death, it would be difficult to find the missing people...
Akaseki is also not sure how much strength Hiruko has hidden before he dares to attack Kurama Murakumo.
But...
Hiruko definitely doesn't know the true strength of Might Duy in the team.
Fire Temple is not Ninja Village, but there are also Chakra Practitioner, some are similar to "Miko" and are called "Monk". They are also famous for Sealing Technique, and the style is closer to Sealing Technique of Sunagakure. Since Warring States Period, there has been cooperation with the nobles of Fire Capital. Historically, among the Guardian Ninja of Fire Capital, there have been practitioners from Fire Temple.
Konoha and Fire Temple are also in contact from time to time. This time Hiruko is also escorting a batch of large transactions and will stay at Fire Temple for a few days. At this time, he can leave with any excuse. After all, there is no need to worry about safety issues at Fire Temple, and Konoha's transaction products have been delivered!
Regardless of strength, Hiruko is indeed likely to attack Kurama Murakumo.
However, what Akaseki didn't expect was...
On October 31st, Akaseki and three others arrived at Valley of the End, and they made a discovery without spending any more time.
"Huh? This is..." Ranwu couldn't help but was stunned when he found a mark carved on a tree near the battle scene - it was Konoha Ninja Distress Signal.
This is also different from the previous disappearances!
It's not all traceless this time...
"The signal was left not long ago!" Akaseki said after judging.
"The traces of battle here..." Ranwu looked around with some confusion - this movement Shizuma is not small!
Such huge actual damage does not seem to be caused by Genjutsu's confrontation... So is Hiruko really that strong?
But...
"It's two Taijutsu very strong ninjas fighting here... Even if one is Hiruko who hides his strength, then the other one..." Nonō was also confused at this time.
"Might Duy is very strong, but it doesn't last long... chase!" Akaseki chased directly in the direction given by the distress message.
Looking at the wild traces at the scene, Akaseki can basically determine that the party that left traces of the battle includes Might Duy!
"Who? Dai?" Ranwu was stunned when he heard this.
In fact, if Ranwu looks carefully, he will find that there are some traces, which are obviously caused by Konoha Whirlwind, Leaf Great Whirlwind... These are the basics of Might Duy's daily practice, Konoha Style Taijutsu, but this power makes Ranwu very strange!
But Akaseki can tell at a glance...
Might Duy This is Gate of Opening!
This also shows that if the enemy is Hiruko, he may have a lot of hidden strength...
After all, Might Duy didn't kick him to death here!
Akaseki followed the distress signal, and soon heard the sound of fighting.
I saw a White-Clad Figure, and was kicked away by Might Duy...
It's exactly what they are looking for Hiruko!
However, Hiruko's appearance at this time was completely different from Chunin's usual vest. He was wearing a white robe that had been torn from the battle, and messy bandages could be seen on his exposed body.
Of course, what looks more "abnormal" than Hiruko is Might Duy...
I saw that Might Duy's whole body was red at this time, with hot steam coming out. Only the whites of his eyes could be seen, and his facial features were twisted and hideous...
Akaseki can see that Dai has already turned on Sixth Gate!
Seeing Akaseki and the other three arriving, Hiruko's face lit up, and he immediately put on a panicked look and said, "Be careful! This Genin... is hiding his strength and is probably a spy from the enemy country!"
The moment Ranwu saw Hiruko, he was about to go up and hold him down, but was stopped by Akaseki calmly.
At this time, facing Hiruko's request for help, Akaseki even said, "Leave this to us. You can take the wounded to a safe place."
"Okay! Be careful!" Hiruko said, picked up the unconscious Kurama Murakumo and left.
"We can't let him go! Akaseki..." Might Duy saw this and immediately stopped him.
But Akaseki stopped in front of him and... winked at him.
Might Duy seemed to have realized something when he saw this. He just shouted as if he was confused, "Get out of the way! Don't stop me!"
"Come help! This guy is not afraid of Genjutsu!" Akaseki looked like Sharingan Genjutsu was ineffective.
Ranwu and Nonō looked at each other and vaguely understood what Akaseki meant. At this time, they followed Might Duy, while Hiruko carried Kurama Murakumo away all the way.
Hiruko has no doubts about the fight between the reinforcements and Might Duy - no matter how you look at it, that guy is more suspicious than himself, right?
Hiruko never thought before that a mere Genin could actually hide such power...
It seems that he is also conducting some forbidden research?
Everyone is harboring evil intentions!
Hiruko regards Might Duy as the same person as himself.
Even...
If you say your talent is just "mediocre", then Might Duy's talent is "inferior".
Therefore, Hiruko takes it for granted that Might Duy has such strength, especially since it has not been discovered yet, so it must be hiding a secret that no one can see.
At first he wanted to persuade the other party to cooperate...
However, Might Duy was very angry because Hiruko attacked Kurama Murakumo, and refused to let him take away the unconscious Kurama Murakumo, chasing him all the way!
Although Hiruko has made some progress in "Chimera" recently, it is no match for Might Duy's "One Force to Defeat Ten Clubs", and he was almost kicked to death - the distress signal was also left by him.
In the situation just now, Hiruko felt that Akaseki and the others would definitely think that Might Duy was the "culprit". Indeed, Akaseki's performance was as he expected.
But...
After a while, Akaseki stopped and said to Dai: "Stop quickly, he is gone."
Dai turned off his Secret Technique at this time and fell to the ground exhausted on the spot...
"Akaseki! That Hiruko..." Dai gritted his teeth angrily, with tears in his eyes.
"Follow him first." Akaseki nodded, indicating that he understood, and then channeled Tanuki Treasure in the form of White Tiger, asking it to carry the disabled Dai first.
Then a group of four people chased him in the direction Hiruko left.
"This guy cleared up the traces of his departure." Nonō said with a serious look on his face.
Obviously, Hiruko did not simply escape, but planned to get rid of the "pursuing soldiers" from the beginning!
"It doesn't matter, he can't escape." Akaseki said matter-of-factly.
Although Hiruko was very cautious and started cleaning up the traces he left not far from the scene, but...
Akaseki has secretly channeled Hell Yama King from the beginning. Without Hiruko seeing it, Hell Yama King's tongue has already wrapped around Kurama Murakumo!
He dragged Hell Yama King all the way, how could he get rid of Akaseki's tracking?
Ranwu and Nonō immediately understood what Akaseki meant...
From the beginning, the two of them were wary of Hiruko. Although they were shocked by Might Duy's condition, because of Akaseki's previous words, neither of them had too much doubts. At best, they were "ok".
But seeing Akaseki pretending not to know anything at this time, the two of them immediately understood that Akaseki wanted to follow Hiruko to his lair!
How can we compare with asking him to lead the way after we capture him?
Pretending to be rude may lead to suspicion, but in the situation just now, Hiruko would not feel anything strange at all, and would only think that his evil plan was successful.
On the way Might Duy also talked about what just happened...
As soon as he opened his mouth, Akaseki was also surprised.
When Kurama Murakumo took the initiative to invite Might Duy to form a team, he mentioned that he wanted to fish out the enemy ninjas who were attacking Konoha's companions one after another!
Because Akaseki took Might Duy on several missions before, Kurama Murakumo also knows Might Duy, has teamed up with Might Duy, and knows some of his strength.
This time I also specifically approached Might Duy...
Kurama Murakumo not only had to do the mission, but he also analyzed that the enemy ninja who had infiltrated was probably active in the north and was targeting the Shinobi Clan ninja, so he deliberately took this mission.
From the very beginning, he wanted to use himself to fish out the so-called "enemy ninjas". In order to prevent the enemy from taking action because he was too strong, he found Dai, who was very weak on the surface, and in the name of the village Chunin being incompetent, he completed the border patrol mission "one by one", making the enemy feel that he was weak to the greatest extent...