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Chapter 452 - Chapter 453: Who Else Could It Be but Me?

First, Bunpuku, the One-Tail jinchūriki of Sunagakure, vanished inexplicably from his prison.

At first, the Second Kazekage, Shamon, believed that Bunpuku had been influenced by Shukaku and had left the prison on his own.

He therefore sent people out to search for him, but they found nothing.

But a month later, the Two-Tails jinchūriki of Kumogakure also disappeared without a trace.

The high-ranking officials of Kumogakure immediately exploded in outrage.

Kumogakure had already suffered enough by losing the Second Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki—now they had even lost their last remaining tailed beast…

The higher-ups felt that their village had been deliberately set up.

Countless Kumogakure ninja were dispatched in full force to search the ninja world for the whereabouts of the Two-Tails jinchūriki.

Unfortunately, they found nothing.

Several months later, the Five-Tails jinchūriki of Iwagakure also vanished under mysterious circumstances.

The high-ranking officials of Iwagakure felt the same way as those of Kumogakure—as if the sky had collapsed.

Tailed beasts were powerful deterrent weapons belonging to a village.

Without tailed beasts, a village would lose its strongest deterrent force.

The newly appointed Fourth Tsuchikage immediately mobilized manpower to search for the jinchūriki.

Alive or dead, they had to find them.

Only then did the villages that possessed tailed beasts belatedly realize that someone was deliberately capturing tailed beasts!

In just half a year, the One-Tail, Two-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails jinchūriki had all disappeared.

As for the Four-Tails and Eight-Tails jinchūriki who had died on the battlefield, they were not included in this count.

According to the testimony of the Takigakure village leader, it was a mysterious man wearing a white mask who captured Takigakure's elderly Seven-Tails jinchūriki.

Worth mentioning was that this mysterious person possessed a pair of Sharingan!

The disappearance of the other villages' jinchūriki was very likely connected to that mysterious individual!

After learning this news, the high-ranking officials of the various villages all pointed their spears at Konoha.

Perhaps this was the Hokage's conspiracy!

Secretly sending people to capture all the tailed beasts, stripping the other villages of their powerful deterrents.

If the other villages had no tailed beasts while only Konoha did—

What else could that be if not one village dominating all others?!

It seemed the ambition of Konoha's Third Hokage was anything but small!

At present, only the Three-Tails and Six-Tails had not been captured.

At least, that was how it looked to the other villages.

But the newly appointed Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure knew very clearly in his heart that their village only had the Six-Tails left.

The Three-Tails had disappeared several years ago.

Back then, the Third Mizukage had said he was preparing to seal the Three-Tails into a jinchūriki, when it suddenly vanished without any warning.

Judging from the situation, it had most likely been summoned away.

Even now, Kirigakure had still not found any trace of the Three-Tails.

The reason they did not tell anyone was simply to avoid ridicule from the other villages.

As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, they could not even keep watch over their own tailed beast.

If others found out, they would not be able to lift their heads in shame.

Thus, aside from the high-ranking officials of Kirigakure, no other ninja village knew about the disappearance of the Three-Tails.

In the previous war, the Kage of three villages had all been slain by Renya.

Now Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure shared a sense of mutual misfortune.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure prepared to send people to Kirigakure to provide round-the-clock protection for the Three-Tails and Six-Tails jinchūriki.

In addition, they also dispatched envoys to Konoha to demand an explanation.

On what grounds did they secretly capture the tailed beasts of their villages?!

How was this any different from banditry?

You had to know—those tailed beasts were purchased at enormous cost back then…

If the tailed beasts were not returned, then Konoha should refund the money!

Although Konoha was currently the strongest village in the ninja world, shouldn't they still act reasonably?

...

Konoha Village, Hokage's Office.

"Hokage-sama, envoys from five nations—Wind, Earth, Lightning, Water, and Taki—request an audience…"

An ANBU responsible for liaison with envoys came forward to report.

Shimura Danzo wore a dark expression and did not respond immediately.

Such a major event as the consecutive disappearance of jinchūriki from various villages was something he naturally already knew.

Moreover, he had already locked onto the culprit who was secretly capturing the tailed beasts.

Judging by the timing of the jinchūriki disappearances, wasn't it precisely when Renya took missions and left the village?

Every time Renya left, a jinchūriki went missing.

It was hard for Danzo not to suspect him.

If that were all, there might not be any concrete evidence.

But the leader of Takigakure stated that the one who captured the Seven-Tails jinchūriki was a member of the Uchiha clan.

Once that was said, it had to be Renya without a doubt.

This guy caused trouble all day long—who knew what he was capturing tailed beasts for?

The key point was that no one had seen him bring any jinchūriki back to the village!

"Danzo, do you think it could be Renya?"

Hiruzen asked tentatively.

In fact, aside from Renya, there was probably no one else.

He could not understand why Renya would do such a thing.

"Hiruzen, go notify Renya and tell him to think carefully about how he's going to explain this to me…"

Shimura Danzo said coldly, then had the ANBU bring in the envoys from the various nations.

Hiruzen left the Hokage's Office straight away after hearing this.

...

The residence of Senju Tobirama.

"Coming back after capturing tailed beasts just to sunbathe—how pleasant!"

As usual, Renya lay in the courtyard basking in the sun.

There were only three tailed beasts left, and he did not plan to capture them.

He had already collected six tailed beasts during this period, which could be considered more than benevolent enough.

Even if he were to capture more, he would delay it by several months.

In any case, he would not capture the Nine-Tails inside Mito-san, and the Three-Tails had not yet revived, so he could continue dragging things out for a while.

When the time came, he could just capture the Six-Tails to go through the motions.

After that, he could tell Madara-san the truth.

For this day, he had endured in silence for over ten years—it really hadn't been easy!

At this moment, he still did not know about the arrival of the envoys from the various nations…

"Renya, did you secretly capture tailed beasts?!"

Very soon, Hiruzen arrived in a menacing manner to question him.

Renya was not particularly surprised by this and spoke in a calm tone.

"Danzo sent you, right?"

Others might not be certain who was responsible for the jinchūriki disappearances, but Danzo had definitely noticed.

After all, every time Renya left the village, Danzo was always the first to know.

With a bit of thought, it was easy to guess.

At this point, there was no need to hide anything anymore.

In a few more months, he would be telling Madara-san the truth anyway.

He could not be bothered to keep acting.

Later, he would even bring him back to retire in peace—letting an old friend know in advance did no harm…

"The envoys from the various nations have arrived. Danzo wants you to be prepared to explain yourself to him."

Hiruzen briefly explained what had happened in the office.

"I know."

Renya yawned in boredom.

Now that the various nations had become alert, they would certainly strengthen protection around the Six-Tails, increasing the difficulty of capture.

That was a good thing for him!

He could delay things for several more months in a perfectly justified way.

The longer it dragged on, the higher the probability of defeating Madara-san.

"Renya, was this really done by you?"

Although he already had his suspicions, Hiruzen still asked instinctively.

"Who else could it be but me?"

Renya did not try to hide it and instead chose to admit it directly.

Hiruzen: "!!!"

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