At the top of the distant Central Tower, Torikaze and Homura were speculating about Orochimaru's group's intentions. Watching Orochimaru and the others move, Homura shook his head and said, "With such a simple trap, they can at most trip that Brown Bear. Killing it would be pure fantasy. We should get ready to clean up after those brats.
"It really is too difficult for them to deal with that Brown Bear. Even ordinary Special Jonin would struggle against a Ninja Beast that large. It's already impressive that they managed to get the scroll through their own wits."
But Torikaze raised a hand to stop him. "No rush. Let's watch a little longer. I have faith in my disciple."
Homura could not help rolling his eyes at that. "If I didn't know your Summoning Beast had already been waiting nearby, I might actually have believed your nonsense."
Torikaze chuckled and stopped paying attention to Homura, focusing instead on waiting for Hoshi to appear.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, Hoshi slowly entered their field of vision. Smiles appeared on their faces when they saw him, and Orochimaru called out loudly, "Jump over from the branches! There's wire on the ground."
Understanding immediately, Hoshi scrambled up a tree in a few quick movements. With several leaps, he cleared the wire and landed steadily, then turned around and made a face at the massive Brown Bear.
The Brown Bear was enraged by the taunt. It let out a roar and charged forward with its head down. But just as it passed between two large trees, something caught its foot. Its center of gravity shifted, and it crashed to the ground.
The instant the Brown Bear fell, Hoshi, who had been making faces not far in front of it, vanished. At the same time, three voices