There had to be some deeper scheme; it simply had yet to be brought out into the open.
Kirigakure had become a veritable lion's den, a forbidden place no ordinary ninja dared casually investigate.
They had long since experienced the bizarre reconnaissance technique Gekkō Raito possessed.
Those creatures called "Cloud Pigeons" were practically surveillance devices that could slip in anywhere.
According to reports from their intelligence network, these bizarre, cloudlike pigeons numbered at least several thousand, scattered throughout every corner of the shinobi world.
It was tantamount to Gekkō Raito casting an inescapable net across the entire shinobi world, with his eyes watching everywhere.
That was precisely why Orochimaru and his group spent all day holed up in their gloomy underground base, never setting foot outside.
If they rashly showed themselves, the Cloud Pigeons flying all over the sky would very likely pinpoint their location.
Once their whereabouts were exposed, what awaited them would probably be Gekkō Raito's thunderous pursuit.
The name "Eye of the Mizukage" had already spread like wildfire through the underground black market.
Any stir in the shinobi world, even a passing fly, probably could not escape that Lord Mizukage's discerning gaze.
The major ninja villages had been driven to nervous exhaustion and had begun frantically expelling every bird from their airspace.
Whether it was a domesticated carrier pigeon or a wild sparrow, anything with wings and feathers was to be killed without mercy in classified areas!
A murderous air hung over the forest on Konoha's outskirts.
Several Konoha ninjas on patrol held kunai, staring fiercely at the sky.
With several sharp whistles through the air, a few innocent birds attempting to fly over the wall were instantly turned into pincushions and fell with anguished cries.
One ninja wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spat