Chapter 474: The Missing-nin Who Had Single-Handedly Purged Takigakure’s Leadership

In truth, they had no other choice.

The Village Hidden in the Grass lay between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, serving as the natural buffer between those two great nations. If trouble arose, they could only side with either the Land of Fire or the Land of Earth. And given what they were about to do, relying on Konoha was no longer an option.

The room once again fell silent, and this silence lasted even longer than before.

Only after quite some time did Mui finally speak again.

"Sheep Advisor, your proposal is worth considering. For now, however, let’s keep it as an alternative plan and move on to the next issue."

In the end, they simply had nothing capable of persuading the Village Hidden in the Stones, and the only bargaining chip they possessed was the Seven-Tails, which they had not even obtained yet.

The Seven-Tails’ chakra was intended to power the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Although rumors throughout the Shinobi World claimed that a tailed beast’s chakra was inexhaustible, that it could regenerate even after being completely drained, and that the Tailed Beast itself would eventually revive even if killed, no one in Kusagakure knew the truth.

They had never possessed a tailed beast, nor had they ever been exposed to such confidential knowledge.

The discussion therefore shifted to the second problem, the location of Takigakure.

The location of Takigakure had always been one of the Shinobi World’s secrets, known only to its own villagers.

Moreover, over the past several decades, Takigakure had never produced a single missing-nin.

As a result, no intelligence about the village entrance had ever leaked.

At this moment, Kusagakure was completely in the dark and had no idea where to even begin looking.

Of course, it could be investigated.

If they dispatched enough elite personnel to secretly investigate throughout the Land of Waterfalls, they would eventually uncover some clues.

But no one knew how long such a search would take.

Meanwhile, Morihara Hayato’s condition continued to deteriorate by the day. No one knew how much longer he could hold on. Worse still, during such a prolonged search, the slightest mistake could expose their movements. If Takigakure became suspicious and Konoha’s attention was subsequently drawn to the matter, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Launching a large-scale invasion of the Land of Waterfalls and forcing Takigakure’s ninja to come out and fight was another possible approach.

But that, too, was unacceptable.

Leaving aside the fact that their objective was merely to seize the Seven-Tails rather than wage a full-scale war against the Land of Waterfalls, such an overt invasion of another country would immediately alarm Konoha. At that point, it would no longer be they plotting against Takigakure; it would be Konoha coming to deal with them.

"No! There should be one."

An elderly woman’s voice suddenly came from the opposite end of the conference table.

Everyone turned toward the speaker.

It was the advisor wearing a rabbit mask, the only woman among the twelve advisors.

"Horse, Ox. Do you two remember? Forty years ago, Takigakure experienced a rebellion against its leadership, or rather, a purge."

After remaining silent for quite some time, the advisor wearing a horse mask slowly nodded.

"There really was such an incident, and according to the stories, the one who carried out that purge was only a single person."

"One person?"

Mui’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward slightly.

"Three advisors, what exactly happened?"

"I don’t know the specific cause or the full course of that purge."

The advisor wearing a rabbit mask shook her head, her tone remaining as calm as ever.

"I only know that Takigakure at that time conducted itself completely differently from how it does today. It was nothing like its current cautious approach. Instead, it was so aggressive that it bordered on recklessness. The leadership of that era even dared to openly oppose the first Hokage."

She paused, as though carefully choosing her words.

"As for the ninja who carried out the purge, I know neither his name nor why he slaughtered Takigakure’s leadership. What I do know is that after that incident, the village’s original leadership was completely wiped out. Leadership thereafter passed into the hands of the other faction, and from that point onward, the entire village’s conduct changed. They also began actively improving relations with Konoha, and the relationship has remained friendly ever since."

"In other words, the key to Takigakure’s location may lie with this missing-nin from Takigakure?"

The advisor wearing a dragon mask frowned.

"But that happened forty years ago. Whether this person is dead or alive, and where he is now, no one knows."

"But at least it’s a lead, isn’t it?"

An advisor wearing a horse mask replied calmly.

Mui pondered for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Horse Advisor is right. At this point, no clue should be ignored. It’s certainly worth sending people to investigate."

"Perhaps we should begin with the underground bounty stations." An advisor wearing a sheep mask suddenly added.

When everyone looked toward him, he explained unhurriedly,

"A missing-nin has no village to support him. If he wants to survive, he can rely only on himself. If that man did not choose to retire into seclusion after purging the leadership, but instead continued making a living as a ninja, then the place he was most likely to appear would be the various bounty stations, surviving on underground commissions by accepting assassination and escort missions. We may be able to find clues about him in their old records, or perhaps even find the man himself, assuming he’s still alive."

Mui’s gaze slowly swept across the silent masked figures seated around the table.

"What do the advisors think?"

"Let’s give it a try. Though I don’t have high hopes." An advisor wearing a dragon mask stated first. His tone remained indifferent, but he offered no objection.

"It won’t hurt to try. We don’t have any other leads anyway." The advisor wearing an ox mask agreed.

"I think it’s worth doing." The advisor wearing a horse mask slowly nodded.

"Good. Since all the advisors approve of this plan, this lead will officially become part of our operational strategy." Mui declared, making the final decision.

The meeting then continued as everyone repeatedly discussed and refined the plan until they finally dispersed late into the night.

The meeting had lasted nearly an entire day and ultimately established the overall framework of the operation.

Their ultimate objective would be to seize Takigakure’s Seven-Tails Jinchūriki in order to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

To achieve that goal, Kusagakure would secretly mobilize and prepare its military while simultaneously dispatching envoys to establish preliminary contact with the Village Hidden in the Stones in hopes of securing the backing of a great nation.

Before making their move, however, they would do everything possible to determine Takigakure’s exact location.

To that end, they established two lines of investigation to proceed simultaneously.

The first was to dispatch a small number of ninja skilled in disguise and intelligence gathering to infiltrate the Land of Waterfalls and conduct covert reconnaissance.

The second was to track down the missing-nin who had single-handedly purged Takigakure’s leadership forty years earlier by searching for his whereabouts through underground channels such as bounty stations.