Mei Terumi, Fifth Mizukage

The next morning.

Konohagakure.

A secret underground space.

"Chief, the mission may have... failed!!"

A masked man bowed his head as he reported to a man with bandages wrapped around his head.

This man was naturally Shimura Danzō, the leader of Root.

"May have?"

Danzo caught the key word in his statement.

"The people we sent have yet to return. We sent others to search for them, but not even their bodies could be found. Your subordinate suspects they may have already been eliminated by the target, with their corpses destroyed afterward!"

As the masked man spoke, he lowered his head even further.

Half of Danzo's face turned ashen.

"The Five-Man Group's five-layer barrier could withstand the full-force attack of a Kage Level expert. If that brat had been caught within it, he would have had no chance of escape. It seems the Five-Man Group was ambushed by him, and the barrier never had the chance to function."

"It seems I still underestimated that brat. Then again, how could someone with a zero mission failure rate during the Shinobi World War be so easy to deal with?"

For the first time, Danzo regarded Long Ye as an opponent worthy of his full vigilance.

"Chief! If nothing unexpected happened, that man has already gone to the Land of Water. Should we set up an inescapable trap along his route back?"

The masked man asked cautiously.

"There's no need! Judging from the fact that the Five-Man Group left no corpses behind, he's an extremely cautious and dangerous man. Neither his strength nor his schemes are simple. The price of confronting him head-on would be too great..."

Danzo bared his teeth, seeming to smile.

"However... there are many ways to kill someone. You don't necessarily need a blade."

Long Ye entered Kirigakure without