The next day, in the hotel of the Kumogakure mission, Little A woke up an hour earlier than everyone else. He sat at the dining table on the first floor, with a bowl of white porridge and two pickles in front of him, but he never moved his chopsticks.
The words Killer B said last night were running through his mind all night long.
Reflective tall buildings, iron boxes flying into the sky and hiding from the earth, four giant beasts, the chosen one...
Little A stirred the porridge twice with a spoon and put it down.
He didn't believe any of this was true.
It's not that he doesn't believe what Killer B said, but as a qualified intelligence judge, he must give the most reasonable explanation for the information he received.
And he couldn't explain these.
But the problem is that even Eight-Tails cannot detect any abnormalities.
Eight-Tails Gyuki has lived for hundreds of thousands of years. From the Sage of Six Paths era to the present, what Genjutsu has not seen? If it cannot even be detected, then either Konoha has mastered some method that completely surpasses the existing Ninjutsu system, or...
Or it can only mean that those things are true.
But... how is this possible!!!
Little A Suppress this thought. Don't think in this direction. Once you start to believe in "miracles", your rational judgment will be over.
So it must be Konoha, and it can only be Konoha, especially Senju Chen, who "happened" to come into contact with Killer B the day before yesterday.
"Chief."
The door was pushed open, and a ninja in plain clothes walked in. He was the one who queued up at the Medical Department yesterday - he had an ordinary face that would disappear in three seconds.
"Say."
"We checked around Senju Chen's whereabouts yesterday." The plainclothes ninja lowered his voice, "Yesterday he and Killer B went to the back for training and competition. At noon, they had dinner at Ichiraku Ramen, but after the afternoon..."
"What happened this afternoon?"
"There are no records from the period from 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon."
Little A's brows furrowed.
"Can't find it?"
"Yes. We asked several vendors along the street, but no one saw him passing by. But it may be that he went back to the Senju mansion, where our people can't get through."
"Anything else?"
"Yes." The plainclothes ninja's expression was a little strange, "It's not about Senju Chen. It's about something we heard on the commercial street when we went out to check out the location this morning."
"What news?"
The plain-clothed ninja looked at the door to make sure there was no outsider before speaking.
"The residents of Konoha Commercial Street are spreading something - a few days ago, before we arrived at Konoha, hundreds of people in a square near Konoha Hot Spring Street saw something at the same time."
Little A Put down the spoon.
"What?"
"A giant golden snake."
Little A's pupils shrank.
"It is said that the snake descended from the sky, was golden, and was extremely large. Its entire body spanned half the street. And-" the plainclothes ninja swallowed, "Those witnesses said that the snake had horns on its head, claws on its belly, and two whiskers on its face."
The room was quiet for three seconds.
Little A's fingers stopped on the table and did not tap again.
It has two horns on its head, claws on its underbelly, and two whiskers on its face.
Isn't this the kind of creature Killer B described yesterday?
"Is the source reliable?" Little A's voice was very low.
"It's not said by just one person. I heard similar statements in three different places this morning. One was the proprietress selling dumplings, one was a waiter at a hot spring hotel, and the other was an old man playing chess on the street corner. The details of their descriptions are not exactly the same, but the core features are the same - golden, huge, with horns, beards and claws."
"Moreover," the plainclothes ninja added, "They said that thing appeared for about two or three minutes and then disappeared, leaving no traces afterwards. At that time, all Konoha and Konoha Military Police Force were dispatched, but nothing was found."
Little A leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes.
Information is colliding rapidly in my mind.
The giant snake appeared before they arrived at Konoha. Hot Spring Street Square. There were hundreds of witnesses. The giant golden snake had horns, beards and claws.
What Killer B saw yesterday was also a giant golden snake, with horns, beards and claws. But Killer B saw four of them, while there was only one at the hot spring street.
If the incident at the Hot Spring Street was something Konoha did in advance to pave the way for Killer B's subsequent "miracle" - that would be outrageous.
Little A opened his eyes and found that there were cracks in his judgment system.
His logical chain was clear before: Senju Chen contacted Killer B→Killer B was abnormal→Senju Chen was suspected.
But now there is one more variable.
The incident at the Hot Spring Street happened before they arrived, and the witnesses were hundreds of Konoha civilians. This could not be a temporary arrangement for them who had not yet arrived.
Then there are only two explanations.
The first type: The hot spring street and Killer B saw the same type of phenomenon. They were all unknown events that occurred naturally and had nothing to do with Konoha.
The second type: Konoha's ability is more terrifying than he imagined. He was able to use the same kind of Genjutsu on hundreds of civilians hundreds of meters ago many days ago, and no one has seen through it yet.
The first explanation means that Killer B may have really encountered something beyond Shinobi World's knowledge.
The second explanation means that Konoha invented some kind of existence that is completely incomprehensible to them.
Either way, it is not good news for Kumogakure.
"Don't tell Killer B about this yet." Little A said.
The plain-clothed ninja was stunned. "Why?"
"How do you think that idiot will react to this news?"
The plainclothes ninja thought for a while.
"Compared... compared to the young master, he will be more convinced that he is the chosen one?"
"That's right." Little A stood up, "He has caused enough trouble now. If you add more fire to him, he can take off on the same spot. We are really Konoha right now and it is not appropriate for more accidents to happen."
"My subordinate understands."
Nine o'clock in the morning.
Little A made a decision - go to the hot spring street in person today.
He did not bring Killer B with him, but only brought two civilian ninjas, wearing ordinary Land of Fire civilian clothes, walking east along the main street.
The hot spring street is not far from the guest house, about fifteen minutes' walk.
Little A kept observing on the road. The streets of Konoha were much livelier than those of Kumogakure, with the shouts of vendors, the laughter of children, and the sound of ninjas flying over the roofs intertwined together.
Arrive at the entrance of the hot spring street.
Stone pavement, lanterns, hotel signs. The hot spring street during the day is not as noisy as at night, but there are still many people coming in and out. There is a faint smell of sulfur in the air, mixed with the aroma of miso soup wafting from the izakaya.
Little A Walk slowly along the street.
When we walked to the middle section, a square appeared in front of us.
It is not big. It is paved with bluestone slabs and there is a low stone platform in the middle. There is nothing on the stone platform. There are several hot spring hotels and tea houses around the square.
Little A sat down at a teahouse next to the square and ordered a pot of tea.
"Boss." He picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said in a casual tone, "I am a businessman from the east of Land of Fire. It is my first time to come to Konoha. I heard from my friends that something strange happened in your hot spring street a few days ago?"
The tea house owner was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was cleaning the cups. When he heard this, he stopped.
"Sir, you really have asked the right person, I was right there at the time."