"Yes, that's right."
Shin'un nodded, a smile spreading across his face, and pointed to the three puppeteers, saying:
"Whether we can obtain detailed information about the giant puppet depends on these three puppeteers."
"If we can find the giant puppet's weakness, it will be good for both us and Konoha."
Upon hearing Shin'un's words, Shiina Kō, slightly bewildered. She was rather slow to grasp these matters and didn't realize their importance to Konoha.
Seeing this, Shin'un didn't insist and turned to look at Yūichi, who was bored and spacing out.
" Yūichi, your Sharingan has reached the Mitsudomoe for a while now. How's your Genjutsu training going?"
"Huh?" Yūichi seemed somewhat surprised that Shin'un had asked him this question, and directly asked in return:
Don't you know the level of my Genjutsu?
"Of course I know." Seeing Yūichi's expression, Shin'un raised an eyebrow and waved his hand, saying:
"I thought you would start practicing Sharingan Genjutsu again after you advanced to the Mitsudomoe."
"After all, Uchiha ninjas who Sharingan to the Mitsudomoe all seem to be masters of Genjutsu."
Upon hearing Shin'un's words, Yūichi immediately felt offended and widened his eyes in rebuttal.
That's prejudice!
"Who says that Uchiha Clan ninjas have to be proficient in Genjutsu?"
"Oh~, so not every Uchiha clan member is proficient in Genjutsu ~" Shin'un said with his arms crossed, somewhat puzzled. "But I remember you were obsessed with Genjutsu when you first Sharingan."
"During that time, didn't you always carry a white cat around to practice your Genjutsu?"
"Later, when you awakened your Sharingan to the Futatsudomoe, even during the most intense phase of the war, you could still occasionally be seen practicing Genjutsu..."
At this point, Shin'un seemed to understand something, a smile appearing on his face as he pointed at Yūichi and said:
"No way, you're a genius Uchiha ninja who awakened the Sharingan to Mitsudomoe at the age of thirteen. You can't possibly have no Genjutsu at all, can you?"
"This..." Upon hearing Shin'un's words, Yūichi immediately wanted to refute, but even with his face flushed red, he couldn't think of the right words to retort, and in the end, he could only lower his head in dejection.
"It's not like I have no talent at all... If I focus on hypnosis, I can actually put kittens and puppies to sleep..."
"Tch!" Upon hearing Yūichi's words, Shin'un couldn't hold back any longer and quickly waved his hand, looking away.
"I was originally thinking of having you use Genjutsu to interrogate these Sand Ninja, but it seems I should probably skip that now."
Then, ignoring Yuichi's resentful Yūichi, Shin'un pointed to a Chunin in the surrounding crowd.
"Go find Jonin Yamanaka Yū and tell him to come here to find me."
After speaking, seeing that there were still a large number of ninjas watching, Shin'un simply waved his hand and said:
"Alright, the downpour has stopped now. Let's find a suitable place to rest and regroup. We'll set off again in an hour."
After speaking, Shin'un ignored the Konoha Ninja around him who were rustling as they began to lay out moisture-proof carpets and divide themselves into guard teams. He glanced at the dark-faced Uchiha Yūichi, smiled, and quietly waited for the arrival of Jonin Yamanaka Yū.
A minute later, a middle-aged man with a long ponytail arrived at Shin'un's side with two Chunin in Body Flicker Technique.
Glancing at the three Sand Ninja puppeteers sprawled on the ground, the leader, Yamanaka Yū, spoke:
" Jonin Hirakawa, is there something you need?"
"Yes, I do have a favor to ask you." Pointing to the three puppeteers lying on the ground, Shin'un looked at Yamanaka Yū. "I want to know everything they have about the giant puppet."
Nodding, Yamanaka Yu had already anticipated what Shen Yun had asked him to do.
Leave it to me.
After saying that, Yamanaka Yū took a few steps forward and approached the three puppeteers, knocking one of them unconscious with a single punch.
Then, Yamanaka Yū placed his hands on the top of his head, closed his eyes, and gradually became absorbed in the experience.
Seeing Yamanaka Yū close his eyes, Shin'un stood to the side, curious. It was the first time he had ever witnessed Yamanaka Clan Jonin using mind-reading Ninjutsu to spy on someone else's mind.
"There's absolutely nothing special about him... the only thing I can sense is a unique Chakra fluctuation emanating from his body..."
Shin'un stood aside, arms crossed, and observed for a moment, but as expected, he found nothing.
"After all, it's a secret Ninjutsu of the Yamanaka Clan. If it were so easy to spot, would I even have a chance?"
Shin'un shook his head, abandoning some unrealistic thoughts in his mind, and stood still to wait quietly.
However, this time the wait was rather long. It wasn't until more than ten minutes later, when the Sand Ninja Puppet Master whose mind had been read was bleeding from all seven orifices, that Yamanaka Yū finally opened his eyes and woke up.
Looking apologetically at the lifeless Sand Ninja puppeteer in his hand, Yamanaka Yū glanced at Shin'un on the other side.
"Sorry, my skills are still lacking; I accidentally killed this puppeteer."
Shin'un waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's alright. As long as we get detailed information on the giant puppet, these Sand Ninja puppeteers will have died a worthwhile death."
Yamanaka Yū Yu nodded, released the Sand Ninja he was holding, and let it collapse helplessly to the ground.
"I've managed to glean some information, but it's too fragmented. I'll probably need to investigate all three puppeteers to piece together the complete picture."
Upon hearing Yamanaka Yū's words, Shin'un nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Yamanaka Yū walked straight to another Sand Ninja puppeteer, and ignoring his desperate struggles, knocked him unconscious with a single punch, then began repeating the process from before.
Half an hour later, after the remaining two Sand Ninja puppeteers were either dead or unconscious, Yamanaka Yū finally pieced together the complete information from the fragmented memories.
Upon reaching Shin'un, Yamanaka Yū began to recount his story.
Shin'un listened attentively, but his brows gradually furrowed...
By peering into his brain's memories, Yamanaka Yū obtained a wealth of detailed information about the giant puppet, far more than the information Orochimaru had previously mentioned in his letter, thus supplementing the detailed information about the giant puppet.
However, none of this intelligence contained what Shin'un most wanted to know: the weaknesses that existed on the giant puppet.
"In addition, the defensive shells of all the giant golems are made of the same special alloy."
"The formula for this special alloy, some of the technologies used on the giant puppet, and the initial design inspiration for the giant puppet are all said to have come from a being that fell from the sky..."
"Excuse me, could you please stop for a moment?" Shin'un interrupted Yamanaka Yū's report.
"I won't go into these specific, fragmented details. Just write me a detailed report later, and I'll send it back to Konoha along with the entire process of gathering the intelligence."
"I just want to know if these giant golems have any common weaknesses, such as why the giant tiger golem malfunctioned at the end of the battle?"
Interrupted by Shin'un and hearing his question, Yamanaka Yū realized that he wasn't giving a report to his superiors in the Interrogation Department.
"Oh, sorry, let me think."
Resting his chin on his hand, Yamanaka Yū thought for a moment and said, "Yes, all giant puppets have a weakness that can't be considered a weakness. The puppeteers of the Sand Ninja call it— the Optimal Control Position."
Upon hearing the name, Shin'un frowned and silently repeated it.
" Optimal Control Position?"