"It stopped! Seems like they're saying something..."
"Still in the same place... still in the same place..."
"They should be discussing something..."
"They're leaving!"
After a while, Minato confirmed that the others had left the landing site, then turned to Akaseki.
Seeing this, Akaseki formed a hand seal and dispelled his Shadow Clone Technique. The memories from eavesdropping immediately flooded into his mind...
"Lord Akebino, shall we rest here for the night first?"
"Idiot! We already lost time waiting for the tide to recede. We'll find the Bloodthirsty Star Iron tonight!"
"Where is the Bloodthirsty Star Iron? Lead us there obediently, and we can ensure your families come to no harm. Otherwise..."
"All right, you don't need to be nervous. I know you went to Konoha because there are too many rogue ninjas wandering the sea these days. But rest assured, Kirigakure will stabilize from now on, and there will be fewer missing-nin on the sea. Kirigakure will protect everyone from now on... Don't entertain any other ideas!"
"Yes, yes, Lord Akebino. If Kirigakure can continue protecting everyone, we wouldn't want to either..."
"Mm. Besides, Konoha's ninjas were ambushed by those missing-nin this time. They won't trust you anymore."
Akaseki opened his eyes.
"How was it?" Ranwu immediately asked.
"There are three main points. First, these people aren't rogue ninjas. They're regular Kirigakure shinobi, and their leader's surname is Akebino. The ordinary people really are merchants from the Land of Waves;
"Second, they really do have a plot against Teacher Jiraiya. It sounds like conditions in Kirigakure have changed and the unrest is improving, so they've started guarding their own food;
"Third, they came here to have those three merchants lead them to some Bloodthirsty Star Iron... It sounds like some kind of ore?"
Akaseki laid out his