Beside a lake somewhere in the Land of Water, Black Zetsu's group and Hozuki Gengetsu stood on a nearby island, comparing the terrain before them with the drawings on an intelligence scroll.
"This is the place... Leaf Dragon, go down and take a look."
Having confirmed the location, Black Zetsu tilted his chin toward the lake.
Leaf Dragon dutifully walked to the shore, removed the cumbersome clothes that would hinder his swimming, and laid them neatly to one side. Then he tucked a small device that would help him breathe underwater beneath his tongue and slipped into the water.
Not long ago, a boatful of fishermen had spotted the enormous silhouette of a turtle here and reported it to the Second Mizukage. Hozuki Gengetsu had passed this unverified information straight to Black Zetsu, kindly throwing in a few water-repelling tools.
Tailed beasts were powerful and difficult to track. The two in the Land of Water had fairly mild temperaments and had never caused any trouble.
They were difficult to capture and just as difficult to manage. Holding on to them would only invite trouble, so it was better to leave them quietly in their habitats. Hozuki Gengetsu had always left them alone rather than deal with them.
Compared with tailed beasts, he cared far more about people.
A few days earlier, while selling him on the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, Black Zetsu had provided some current intelligence about the Shinobi World to earn his trust.
Konoha and the Shadow Organization were powerful and on good terms, practically on the verge of becoming allies.
Hearing this had filled Hozuki Gengetsu with tremendous pressure and a sense of impending danger.
After all, the Land of Water was right next to those two great nations!
The natural barrier of the sea offered some reassurance,