After sunset, Zou Hyuga and the others returned to the inn to rest.
After asking around and learning that Sunagakure had no bathhouses, Zou felt disappointed.
Once he had washed up, Zou lay on the bedroom bed and opened his palm, watching Oto Uchiha check her kunai and explosive tags nearby.
The black markings had already appeared on his palm. With a little concentration, he could sense the chakra collected inside.
It was not ordinary chakra, but the tailed beast chakra of Shukaku the One-Tail, carrying a faint trace of violence and frenzy.
This was what Zou had gained from his recent visit to Bunpuku, the jinchūriki.
In terms of quality, Shukaku's chakra was far inferior to the nine-tails chakra he had collected before.
But there was much more of it, thanks to Sunagakure's crude methods of sealing tailed beasts.
Just then, Oto finished checking her weapons and walked over. "I saw it, Zou," she said softly.
Zou looked puzzled. "Saw what?"
Oto gave him a sly look. "The Merchant Company in town. It's been a while, and now it's expanded all the way to Sunagakure. As the boss of an international merchant company, you must be loaded..."
"So that's what you meant..." Zou inwardly sighed in relief. "That's the Merchant Company's own business. It has nothing to do with me for now. Don't go there yourself, either. Someone might catch on."
"I know that..." After a pause, Oto added, "I keep feeling you have ulterior motives for this mission. Last time, you absorbed Moryo's chakra. You're not after Shukaku's this time, are you?"
Zou shook his head. Of course, Shukaku was not his only reason for coming to Sunagakure.
Besides curbing the Akatsuki's arrogance, he also intended to refine his chakra threads. Sunagakure's expertise in the Puppet Technique and