Entrapment

Oguri Hayashi only glanced inside. The space was about ten square meters and contained quite a few things, but he had no time to inspect them. He casually tossed Kong Zhange's corpse inside, then vanished from the spot.

When he appeared beside Tsunade, he gave her a fright. She had thought it was an attack from that person who had merged into the shadows, but Oguri Hayashi's familiar Chakra quickly calmed her down.

Chakra could be sensed, and sensory-type ninjas were even more sensitive to it. Though Tsunade was not a sensory-type ninja, Oguri Hayashi had used Space Ninjutsu so many times that she was very familiar with this situation.

Once she had calmed down, she did not slow her pace. Instead, she raced forward atop the branches. At their level, Chakra recovered faster during long journeys than their physical stamina did, so they could already use Chakra to travel.

"Where are the enemies?" Oguri Hayashi caught up to Tsunade in an instant and asked.

"Ahead."

"How many are left?"

"Three. One of them can use shadow ninjutsu. I'm starting to worry they really are Konoha ninjas." Tsunade gave a bitter smile.

The three of them had fled especially quickly, and Tsunade had been unable to catch up to them for the time being.

Naturally, she was joking. Even if the other side had merely used a shadow-related ninjutsu—or even if they had used the Shadow Imitation Jutsu—with someone like Oguri Hayashi around who had stolen Konoha's ninjutsu, Tsunade would never believe they were Konoha ninjas.

She was far too famous. Any normal Konoha ninja should have known who she was upon seeing her, yet after learning her identity, they had still attacked her without hesitation. They had even known about her hemophobia from three years ago. That alone was enough for Tsunade to know they had come with nothing but hostility toward her.

No matter what, Tsunade could not let them go.

"Tsunade, I have a plan." Oguri Hayashi continued forward beside her. "How about we follow them?"

"They're too weak. The one who fought me earlier was strong, but I couldn't hold back and could only kill him. Still, if we follow them, we might find out where they came from," Oguri Hayashi suggested.

He truly was curious about where this group had come from, how they had arrived, and, more importantly, how they had become Konoha ninjas.

If they wanted to infiltrate Konoha, it would actually be very simple. They only needed to plant suggestions in the minds of nearby people. If ninjutsu could accomplish such things, there was no reason the Infinite Hall, which could traverse countless worlds, could not. But large-scale suggestion and Genjutsu were different from directly altering cognition.

More importantly, how would the Infinite Hall arrange their identities?

Still, if it was only for a short period of time, large-scale suggestion would be enough.

Oguri Hayashi did not know how they had arrived, but he was extremely curious about them. That curiosity and desire to investigate made him want to cast a long line for a big catch.

They did not know that he and Tsunade were in Takigakure. Their only reason for coming to Takigakure could have been the Seven-Tails.

However, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū, was only three years old now. That was precisely why the Waterfall Ninja had been so sensitive when he had visited Takigakure last time—their Jinchuriki was in the middle of being transferred and could not form any fighting strength at all.

The fact that the enemy had chosen this exact time showed that they had capable people among them. As long as they defeated the Waterfall Ninja, they would not need to kill the Jinchuriki. Holding the Jinchuriki would be like carrying a mobile seal, so they would have no reason to fear the Seven-Tails.

In fact, with their abilities, they were already more than capable of dealing with the Seven-Tails.

But the Seven-Tails was definitely not their main purpose in coming to the world of Naruto.

Their objective was something more specific.

Oguri Hayashi knew that they would not return until they had completed their objective.

So he needed to give them time and room to complete it.

Or rather... a mission?

Oguri Hayashi's words made Tsunade stop. She stood where she was, deep in thought.

"When you put it that way, it does seem to make some sense."

She spoke.

"Besides, the friction between Konoha and the Sand Ninja has intensified recently. You haven't gone back to Konoha in a long time either, have you?" Oguri Hayashi stood beside her and asked with a smile.

At one meter sixty-five, he was only slightly shorter than the one-meter-sixty-six Tsunade. Meeting her gaze at eye level, he looked at her with a gentle smile.

Tsunade stared at him blankly for a moment, then shook her head and nodded. "Fine. We can find out exactly where these people came from and what they're plotting."

"Then it's settled." Oguri Hayashi nodded.

"I'll return to the village and deal with some matters there first. You follow them for now. I'll be there soon."

Tsunade nodded. Oguri Hayashi thought for a moment, then said, "You don't need to follow too closely. Just track them using ninja reconnaissance techniques. If they don't see you in person, they may relax more."

Tsunade fell into thought. When she looked up again, Oguri Hayashi had already disappeared from beside her.

The next second, Oguri Hayashi appeared beside ten Waterfall Ninja jonin.

"Have you brought Yamada's corpse back?" Of the original ten Waterfall Ninja jonin, only five remained here. Oguri Hayashi asked them.

"Yes, Yamada's body has already been taken back," they answered respectfully.

"What about the bodies of the two killed by Tsunade?" Oguri Hayashi asked. Naturally, he had returned to loot the corpses. Though he could not sort through the items for now, he could toss them into his spatial ring and deal with them later.

"They're all here." Of the ten, only five remained because three had escorted the bodies back, while another two had gone to clear up the traces of battle. The remaining five were guarding the corpses. After all, corpses were valuable assets to ninjas and could not simply be abandoned.

"Are all their belongings here too?" Oguri Hayashi asked as he looked at the pile of things on their bodies.

Three Poké Balls, along with several other items and their heads, had been placed on their abdomens in a pile. An ordinary person would surely vomit at the sight, but Oguri Hayashi remained expressionless. The five men had originally been Waterfall Ninja themselves, so they too showed no reaction.

Oguri Hayashi was the same.

"Yes." After receiving confirmation, Oguri Hayashi nodded, grabbed the two bodies, and threw them into his spatial ring. Others could not see the spatial doorway formed by the ring—something Oguri Hayashi had confirmed while fighting Kong Zhange—so to the others, this move looked just like the Flying Thunder God, effortlessly sending the corpses away.

Oguri Hayashi's casual ease made the other ninjas feel envious. If they had such a ninjutsu, they would at least possess the ability to protect themselves against enemies.

"Let's return to the village. There are some things we must explain to them."