"This little girl must be the candidate for the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"
Danzo muttered to himself, considering how he could keep the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki firmly under his control.
"Uh..." Sensing his ill-intentioned gaze, Kushina shrank back slightly and immediately slipped behind Mito to hide.
Hatake Sakumo stared blankly at the dignified, imposing Mito before him, a thousand emotions stirring within him.
Was this Mito Uzumaki, Konoha's legendary Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the wife of Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi?
How could he describe this feeling? It was like seeing a living fossil.
So this was one of Konoha's first-generation powerhouses?
"All right, there's no need to discuss anything else." Mito swept her gaze over everyone before finally resting it on Danzo.
"Danzo, you're leading this team, aren't you?"
"Tell me how many people you brought. I need an exact number."
At her words, Danzo paused briefly and drew a deep breath.
He glanced at Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo, then said slowly, "Lady Mito, aside from these two, I only brought eight ANBU ninja this time."
With that, Danzo raised two fingers to his lips and blew softly, producing a shrill whistle.
As the sound faded, eight masked ninja in black robes rushed through the doorway and lined up neatly behind Danzo.
"Only these few?" Mito shook her head gently, the last flicker of hope in her heart extinguished.
She had thought Danzo might surprise her. Now, it seemed there was no hope of relying on Konoha to save the Land of Whirlpools.
Hatake Sakumo's gaze suddenly froze, fixed on the eight black-robed ninja behind Danzo.
If he remembered correctly, hadn't Danzo brought sixteen black-robed ninja? Why was he claiming there were only eight now?
Orochimaru was puzzled as well. His brows furrowed slightly, as though he could not work