The plaza beneath the Hokage Building was one of Konoha's sights, a fine place to seek shade, cool off, stroll around, and relax.
On the surface, Rikusei was gathering intelligence, but in truth, he was meeting with that man.
Kurama suddenly froze his nine swaying tails. His fiery red fur stood up in layers like needles, and he hurriedly hid behind Rikusei's pant leg, whimpering as he stared fixedly at the plain-looking man walking toward them.
Uchiha Madara's sensor picked up the signal. Rikusei glanced at the sky; the other Hidden Villages probably would not be coming either. Silently, he put away his little notebook and casually sucked Kurama into the Tailed Beast Ball.
"Shocking! Why has the head of a great ninja clan fallen so low that he cannot return home and must wander from inn to inn?"
Sitting on a stone bench by the roadside, Rikusei's eyes glinted with amusement as he teased Madara, who was disguised with the Transformation Jutsu.
"Then this clan head's disciple must be quite formidable in taijutsu, right?"
With pedestrians walking not far from them, Madara could only tug at the corners of his stiff mouth, several flickers of fire secretly flashing in his eyes.
The pedestrians gradually walked farther away, leaving only the two of them on the street.
Rikusei sensed a hint of danger. He hurriedly turned serious and pasted the Chunin Exams procedure onto the surface of the Tailed Beast Ball.
"This is what prompted the Crown of the Tailed Beasts?"
Madara discreetly tucked the information into his sleeve, curiously rolling the red-and-white sphere around in his hand and casually flicking it several times with his fingers.
Rikusei seemed to sense an aura of despair emanating from the Tailed Beast Ball in Madara's hand. He hurriedly snatched it back and