Outside Kusagakure's satellite base, the Iwagakure and Konoha ninja were still locked in a standoff.
Neither side was in any hurry. They figured the person could not get away anyway.
As long as they drove off the other side, would a mere Kusagakure not be theirs to manipulate however they pleased?
Kusagakure felt the same way. Maeda could not wait to squeeze every last bit of value out of Kana before handing her over.
As for refusing to hand her over even unto death, he did not have that kind of courage.
After all, he was not one of those radicals in the Land of Grass who constantly dreamed of restoring the glory of ancient times.
Days passed one after another. The bite marks on Kana's arms grew increasingly dense, and she became more and more muddled, gradually losing the vitality she had once possessed.
One week later.
After traversing nearly half the Shinobi World, Araki and the others finally arrived in the Land of Grass.
Without wasting any time, he immediately sent out the contact signal he had received from Oyashiro En.
Half a day later, a young man entirely shrouded in a cloak came looking for him.
"Lord Araki!"
The man immediately dropped to one knee in greeting upon seeing Araki.
As Oyashiro En's subordinates, they might not have met Araki in person before, but they had long memorized the young man's face from the portrait their boss had sent them. They understood that he was their boss's boss.
"This subordinate is Huaming..."
He then gave a detailed account of everything that had happened around Kana these past few days.
"So it isn't just Kusagakure and Iwagakure. Even Konoha has gotten involved..."
Araki frowned slightly. "Can you determine Kana's exact location?"
"Yes. This subordinate's Kekkei Genkai allows me