To Prevent Konoha's Attack

Two days later, at the shrine barrier in the underground cavern, a squad of four ninjas landed with a flicker of movement.

Because there had been no scheduled reports, the village sensed something was amiss and dispatched men to investigate the situation.

A faint trace of fear appeared on the faces of the four ninjas, with the fear on the face of one blonde ninja being even more pronounced.

"Captain..."

"The jinchuriki has escaped..."

"How is that possible!" the blonde female ninja couldn't help but scream in terror, "We didn't teach her any ninja talents at all!!!"

Another ninja couldn't help but sneer, "She really was just a monster, after all."

"Shut up, all of you! Report to the village immediately!"

The four of them flickered away from the cavern.

Not long after, the entire Takigakure erupted into chaos, with large numbers of ninjas moving back and forth.

The escape of a jinchuriki was a major event; if things went poorly, they might have to undergo another tailed beast capture, but the village no longer possessed such power.

"Now is not the time to discuss retrieving the jinchuriki; we should be thinking about how to guard against the jinchuriki's retaliation," said a green-eyed, decrepit old man leaning on a cane in the conference hall. "That child is not a stable existence; she is a walking catastrophe in herself."

In the hall, the four clans were gathered, and together with the village's neutral ninjas, they stood behind their respective leaders, the scene as crowded as a gangland negotiation.

"Hehehe, look at the fine mess your Uji Clan has made. I said it before, choosing someone like that as a jinchuriki wasn't safe," a short, hunched old woman cackled sinisterly.

Sitting in the main seat was a robust old man, eyes closed in meditation. Upon hearing this, he merely raised his eyelids. Behind him stood a sturdy, tall ninja wearing a full set of pitch-black, skin-tight tactical gear. He was masked, a black scarf wrapped around his neck, and a ninja sword strapped to his back. His exposed arms were thick and solid, and he stood with his arms crossed in arrogant isolation, his eyes scanning the crowd like a hawk, seemingly searching for a specific figure.

Unlike the typical "skinny dog" ninjas of the ninja world, he was very muscular.

He looked upright, like the image of a hero walking alone in the darkness.

Hero Clan.

"Great Elder Taki, say something," the old man with the cane squinted at the robust elder. Behind him stood a blonde man dressed in a full set of water-blue ninja armor. His skin was fair, but he was equally muscular and strong, carrying a ninja sword on his back. He was unmasked, wearing a cruel, manic smile as he provocatively stared at the arrogant, cross-armed ninja. Most peculiar of all was the large, lifelike ninja dog made of flowing water at his feet.

Uji Clan.

Taki opened his eyes and said calmly, "The choice of the jinchuriki was decided by our four clans together; there was no better candidate. This matter is not to be discussed again. The current problem is that we must secretly retrieve the jinchuriki to prevent the Five Great Villages from finding out."

The hunched old woman cackled again. Behind her stood a hunchbacked ninja who looked like a grotesque alien, covered in thick body hair and wearing only an elastic mesh vest and shorts. He sneered, his beady eyes scanning the crowd dangerously. What was most strange was that he didn't just have one pair of arms, but four, giving him an inhuman appearance.

He was ugly enough to be unforgettable.

Qian Gui Clan.

"You're noisy, old hag Xun," the cold, gloomy old man sitting to the side said coldly. Behind him stood a tall female ninja with equally pale skin, wearing a matching plain white kimono with a knot tied at her waist. Her expression was icy, and she held a naginata in her arms. Beneath her eerie purple eyeshadow, golden snake-like pupils scanned the crowd with cold danger.

Kusanagi Clan.

Aside from them, in addition to the lackeys and underlings there to bolster the numbers, there were a host of clan elders and old women participating in the discussion.

Mochizuki Gen sat in the lower seat, quietly closing his eyes to rest, surrounded by ninjas from outside the four clans.

And so, the plan officially began.

At the round table of the meeting, Great Elder Taki said in a deep voice, "Enough with the nonsense. The top priority is to dispatch men to find the jinchuriki's whereabouts. Furthermore, we need to continue to consolidate our forces and strengthen the village's defenses to prevent attacks from the Five Great Villages, especially Konoha."

Hearing these words, Yura wanted to laugh.

Above the meeting hall, a pitch-black butterfly gently flapped its wings.

"Everyone, pay special attention to strengthening the defenses within your own clans. Just in case, be prepared for the mobilization and evacuation of your clansmen. For the time being, let's not be in a hurry to accept any mission requests."

Mochizuki Gen raised an eyebrow, watching the Great Elder who seemed to have everything arranged, but he did not speak.

This way, it saved him from having to waste his breath offering suggestions.

"Great Elder..." the Kusanagi old man said in a deep voice, "What about the missions currently being executed? Who will bear the losses?"

The Great Elder did not speak, merely closing his eyes.

The next second, the meeting hall exploded, and the old men and women began to argue again.

Sitting atop the Black Nest, Yura stood up.

The plan was proceeding smoothly; next, it was time to take action.

"Little Monster~" Yura called out with a faint smile.

Lucy, who was covered in soot and busy cooking, rolled her eyes at the sound. She patted off the dust and said irritably, "What is it? Great monster."

Numerous small birds were perched on Lucy's body and hair, chirping away as they naturally preened their feathers while lowering their heads.

Over the past two days, aside from being used as a menial servant, Lucy hadn't felt particularly uncomfortable in her company.

Watching this unusually harmonious scene, Huan's mouth twitched, and she moved further away. Both Yura and Lucy exerted immense mental pressure on her, so she naturally didn't want to get close. Moreover, Yura was different from ordinary people; Huan had already suffered enough at her hands and didn't want to suffer any more. She didn't know when she might annoy Yura and get killed. She chewed on a dry military ration while watching the pot of bird soup Lucy was cooking.

"Nothing, it's time to get some exercise, Little Monster~" Stepping through the void and landing on the grass, Yura smiled. "Since you can already refine chakra, it's time for some real combat. Huan, you stay here."

Huan's eyes lit up, and she nodded—that bird soup would belong to her.

Hearing this, Lucy first looked displeased; she had no interest in killing people and even found it repulsive. But then, remembering something, she feigned excitement and said, "Finally, I get to kill someone?"

She was supposed to be a monster now; it would be disastrous if the real monster saw through the fact that she wasn't one.

Baby's heart is bitter, but baby cannot speak of her bitterness.

Yura reached out, and a massive amount of hair surged from her hand, rapidly twisting and deforming in the blink of an eye into a ninja blade, which she then held out toward Lucy. As Yura drew closer, the birds, sensing something, shrieked and flew away from Lucy in a panic.

The blade was straight and only sixty centimeters long.

Lucy did not see the blade and blinked her eyes in confusion.

Guiding her hand, Yura pressed the ninja blade into Lucy's grip and said, "Try injecting your chakra into it, Little Monster~"

Over the past two days, whenever she had spare time outside of her own cultivation, Yura had been training Little Monster. Chakra refinement was something she already knew, so beyond that, Yura had only taught her some basic chakra control, such as tree-walking.

"My name is Lucy!" As chakra was injected, a black blade shimmering with a cold light took shape inch by inch before the eyes of Lucy and Huan. Lucy let out a cry of surprise: "A sword?"

The value of this blade was comparable to a chakra-metal ninja blade, and it was even an invisible Ghost Blade.

"How is it? Do you like it?"

"I..." With eyes sparkling in pleasant surprise, Lucy lowered her head and muttered gloomily, "I hate it so much..." She looked up, revealing a somewhat sinister, sunny smile, and looked at Yura expectantly: Are there any more?

For as long as she could remember, the things that truly belonged to her had been few and far between.

Receiving a gift for the first time made her deeply moved.

"Disperse your chakra; don't let anyone see it." Yura turned around, walking step by step into the void, and said, "Let's go, Little Monster~"

"Wait for me..." Dispersing her chakra while still clutching the hair-blade, Lucy flapped her wings rapidly to hover in the air, hurrying to keep up with Yura's pace.