Puppets Within the Barrier

Meanwhile, as Minato walked up the stairs, he saw a hair lying on the ground. Looking down the stairs, he saw a hair every few steps.

Minato smiled. If what was before was just a hint, now it was a direct statement.

However, Minato didn't rush to find her. The shopkeeper's attitude had made it quite clear that if he went to find the girl now, he might make a mess of things.

Therefore, he decided to postpone this matter for now and go inform Mito first. With that in mind, Minato did not stop and walked directly towards their room.

Back in the room, Minato explained the situation to Mito and handed Mito the intelligence scroll.

"A little girl? It seems she's the one who'll be fighting alongside me. Let's go, let's go over there first, meet up with her, and then discuss this intelligence."

"Clear."

Just then, as they were about to leave, Minato suddenly said, "Lady Mito, please grab me! Let's just use the Flying Thunder God to get there."

"Hmm? That's good, saves us the trouble."

After all, it's a bit strange for two grown men to go looking for a little girl alone, so if they were to go, they would have to do it by sneaking in, which would be quite troublesome.

Therefore, if we could fly directly in, that would be the best outcome.

With a "whoosh," Minato and Mito appeared directly in the middle of a room, with Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai stuck in the ground.

Directly opposite them, a little girl was sitting at a table fiddling with something. When she saw them appear, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she didn't stop what she was doing.

Minato and the others didn't disturb her and let her do as she pleased. After all, she could now be considered an ally, so it wasn't wise to interrupt her actions rashly.

Moreover, they all knew that Shiro possessed some unique Ninjutsu, and as the disciple Shiro sent to assist them, she should be quite skilled, which piqued their curiosity.

Finally, the little girl seemed to have finished. She waved her little hand above the pattern on the table, and a strange wave immediately enveloped the room.

It was a very eerie feeling, as if their senses were trapped within the room!

However, they were only slightly surprised and not panicked. Firstly, they were seasoned veterans and had encountered this type of Ninjutsu before, and secondly, these were friendly forces, so they remained calm.

Finally, there's the confidence that comes with strength. They can roughly sense that this barrier isn't very sturdy, and they only need to use a little force to break it.

This is also the direct reason why they didn't rush to take action.

This little girl is naturally Ayue. Originally, it should have been Shiro who came, but some unexpected things happened on his end, so Ayue had to come in his place.

The barrier was also set up for secrecy. At present, Ayue has no way to detect whether there are any White Zetsu nearby, so she can only use the barrier to isolate them.

Although this barrier is fragile, as long as the people inside don't cause trouble, others outside won't be able to detect it. In a world where not many people know Magecraft, this is a first-rate concealment method.

After setting up the barrier, Ayue stood up from the ground, took short steps, quickly walked to Minato, and bowed.

"Hello, Minato Shuimen. Hello, sir."

"Uh, hello to you too, haha, hello to you too." Minato, who was so young, was very embarrassed to be called "Minato."

Mito, however, didn't care so much. He glanced amusedly at the embarrassed Minato, then turned his gaze back to Ayue: "Well, you're fine too, but how are you going to prove you're his disciple?"

"Yes, this master told me. Please wait a moment." After saying that, he turned around and called out to the person behind him, "Xiao Yu, come out quickly, we have important business to attend to. Honestly, why are you hiding at a time like this!"

Then, to Minato and the others' astonishment, a bird that was the same shape as the Bird Puppet but much smaller, only about the size of two fists, waddled out.

Although it was quite clumsy in its movements and some of its body tissues had a metallic texture, they could still tell from its lively eyes and the Chakra aura it possessed that it was alive!

Unlike Minato, who was simply surprised by its peculiarity, Mito thought about something more. Long ago, when they received the technical data on the Bird Puppet handed over by Shiro, they had already made some guesses.

Subsequent research into this Ninjutsu revealed traces of its use of the soul!

However, at the time, due to concerns about Sakumo's attitude, and because this technique used the souls of birds and did not cross any moral boundaries, and it did indeed bring more benefits.

They did not pursue Shiro's research further, since although it was said to have been researched, it was still just a conjecture, and they could not provide effective means of proof.

Therefore, due to Sakumo's strong opposition, they abandoned their in-depth research on this technique and their idea of guiding Shiro to conduct further research.

However, seeing this scene confirms that Shiro is indeed engaged in biological research.

He wasn't discriminating against this kind of thing; the Second Hokage had done similar research, even researching humans, so he could understand it to some extent, though he still felt a bit of resistance.

After all, he was still a normal person, and he could never fully accept the idea of playing with souls. Therefore, he silently crossed Shiro out of the Hokage candidates in his mind.

Before this, he had a high opinion of Shiro, whose talent and temperament were beyond reproach; otherwise, he wouldn't have recommended him to Sakumo. After Sakumo's apprentice, his background also fit the bill.

Therefore, even though he was suspected of conducting this research and Sakumo's suicide might bring some potential dangers, he still thought highly of Shiro based on his good first impression.

However, it's too late to say anything now. There are quite a few people who have conducted such experiments, and in fact, quite a few in the field of research. However, most of them will gradually develop some psychological problems.

It's like how ninjas often go mad from killing on the battlefield; the probability is very high, and only a few can maintain their original intentions.

If there had only been a slight indication before, he could have guided the child to avoid going down that path. After all, as a Second Hokage disciple, he was quite confident in this regard.

However, now that Shiro has embarked on that path, there is nothing he can do. Naturally, he removed Shiro from the list of potential successors to the Hokage. He dared not entrust the future of Konoha to the hands of a potentially mentally ill person.

Even being a candidate is unacceptable!