Raito nodded, then turned his gaze toward Mei Terumi beside him.
"Hadn't you always wanted to ask me where exactly I sent Ao on his mission?"
Mei Terumi froze. "You... you arranged for Ao to join them?"
Raito nodded. "That's right..."
"I remember sending Ao undercover in Kara twenty years ago!"
Mei Terumi stared at Raito in shock, her mouth slightly open.
She had never imagined that Raito had already begun laying his plans back then.
Twenty whole years of patient endurance, just to catch them all in one fell swoop today?
What if the Ōtsutsuki Clan never appeared during those twenty years?
If Ao had stayed in the village back then, his experience and achievements would probably have earned him a seat among the elders by now.
At that thought, Mei Terumi's admiration for Raito's foresight grew even greater!
"Twenty years undercover just for this one possibility today? What if the Ōtsutsuki Clan really never showed up?"
Raito smiled confidently. "That wouldn't happen. They would definitely appear!"
"Why?"
Mei Terumi did not understand why Raito was so certain.
But Raito merely maintained his mysterious smile. "Don't worry about the reason. They would appear, no matter what!"
Raito swept his gaze over Sasuke and Kyuji!
"Ao spent twenty years undercover and paid an enormous price. He successfully infiltrated Kara and is now a member of its core, the 'Inner Shell'!"
Sasuke paused. "Inner Shell? What does that mean?"
Raito explained patiently, "Kara is divided into the Inner Shell and the Outer Shell. The Inner Shell is the true core that makes the decisions and holds the organization's secrets."
"The Outer Shell is usually made up of cannon fodder, or reserve candidates for the Inner Shell. They can be sacrificed at any time!"
Climbing into the Inner Shell over twenty years