Yamanaka Kari said he needed to make some arrangements and told Black Gorilla to stay outside the Tenshu Castle to maintain contact with the Hippo Squad.
Yōkō, meanwhile, followed him into the Tenshu Castle to help Yamanaka Kari with some covert preparations.
Yamanaka Kari found one of the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja, drinking and talking with him late into the night.
After the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja's guard was lowered, Yamanaka Kari used the Mind Body Switch Technique to control him.
Under Yamanaka Kari's control, the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja disappeared into the depths of the Tenshu Castle.
Yōkō stayed by Yamanaka Kari's side the entire time.
The Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique was incredibly powerful, capable of completely controlling another jōnin.
Half an hour later, Yamanaka Kari regained consciousness.
"I'll go check first. It's not convenient for you to wander around the Tenshu Castle. Wait here for me to return."
After Yamanaka Kari left, Yōkō, seeing no one around, took out the scroll given by Uzumaki Yuka and studied it.
He had been busy until now and only just found an opportunity to look at the scroll.
The Contract Seal and the Summoning Technique; one for signing contracts, the other for summoning creatures.
After memorizing the hand seals and chakra flow methods, Yōkō mentally practiced them.
Then, he pressed his handprint onto the contract scroll.
Performing the seals for the Summoning Technique, a small white egret appeared before him.
He handed the scroll to the egret and then dismissed the summoning.
He hoped Uzumaki Yuka could escape the Land of Waves.
Half an hour later, Yamanaka Kari returned.
"Let's go! I have full control of the Tenshu Castle now. Let's close the net!"
Disguised as Yamanaka Kari's subordinate, Yōkō walked through the Daimyō's Tenshu Castle.
High walls divided the castle into different sections: the main hall area, the civil officials' area, the military commanders' area, the inner residence, the gardens, and so on.
Various two and three-story magnificent wooden structures stood everywhere, a testament to the Daimyō's astonishing wealth.
Entering the deep parts of the castle, Yamanaka Kari arrived outside a courtyard bearing a plaque that read 'Inner Treasury'.
This was where the Daimyō's wealth was stored, one of the most heavily guarded places in the Tenshu Castle.
"Lord Kari!"
Greetings from the samurai echoed around them.
Yamanaka Kari nodded and continued inward.
Reaching the entrance to the underground vault, Yamanaka Kari inspected it and then turned to leave.
As he was halfway through turning, he suddenly snapped his head back: "Huh? Not good! Someone has entered the underground vault!"
The surrounding samurai looked at Yamanaka Kari in shock, then at the vault entrance.
"Lord Kari! We just changed shifts, we don't know anything!"
Yamanaka Kari quickly asked, "The keys?"
The Daimyō held one key, the vault guard held the other; both were needed to open the vault.
The samurai rushed into a nearby room and found the key guard bound by a sealing technique.
"Alarm! Sound the alarm! Someone has infiltrated the vault!"
A sharp alarm siren wailed over the Tenshu Castle.
Everyone who heard it felt a pang of panic.
Yamanaka Kari directly took out a large number of Explosive Tags and plastered them on the vault door.
Yōkō felt a wave of envy. So rich, that's at least 15 Explosive Tags.
The tags exploded violently, shattering the vault door.
Amidst the thick smoke, a figure tried to rush out.
Yamanaka Kari and Yōkō jumped into action simultaneously.
Attacking from left and right, they killed the person trying to escape.
Yamanaka Kari couldn't help but glance at Yōkō again; this Anbu was good, with excellent Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship.
As the smoke cleared, the thief's body was revealed.
A kunai was embedded in his left side, a ninjato in his right.
More crucially, his clothing bore the Uzumaki clan emblem!
The samurai captain shouted in shock, "What? The Uzumaki Guardian Ninja stealing from the Daimyō's vault?!"
The Guardian Ninja spat blood, looking at Yamanaka Kari with stunned eyes.
Trembling, he raised a hand, pointing at Yamanaka Kari.
Before he could speak, Yōkō moved again.
A sweep of his kunai slit the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja's throat.
Yamanaka Kari had used the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja's trust in him, controlling him via the Mind Body Switch Technique.
Now, the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja couldn't explain himself even if he tried.
Having learned the village's true stance from Black Gorilla, Yamanaka Kari had mercilessly set up the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja.
Surrounded by Guardian Ninja and samurai, the Daimyō arrived at the vault courtyard.
Seeing the blasted-open vault door and the dead Uzumaki Guardian Ninja, the Daimyō involuntarily took two steps closer to the Konoha Guardian Ninja side.
His voice filled with confusion and fear, he asked, "What happened!"
Yamanaka Kari said, "Lord Daimyō! The Uzumaki Guardian Ninja was stealing from your vault! I discovered and killed him!"
The Daimyō stared blankly at the body, then immediately turned to the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja Captain:
"I've heard these past few days that you plan to rebuild Uzushiogakure. Did you intend to use my treasury as funds for that?"
"No!" the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja Captain urgently replied, "I absolutely have no such intention!
Completing missions is a shinobi's primary duty. If we don't uphold this principle, who will entrust us with missions after Uzushiogakure is rebuilt?"
No matter how the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja Captain explained, the Daimyō no longer believed him.
The Daimyō said to the Konoha Guardian Ninja, "Konoha warriors, please act! Seize the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja!"
The Uzumaki Guardian Ninja Captain knew further explanation was futile; he couldn't die here.
Throwing down smoke bombs, the several Uzumaki Guardian Ninja quickly fled.
Yamanaka Kari made arrangements: "Three Guardian Ninja, protect the Daimyō's safety without leaving his side. I'll pursue!"
Yōkō quickly followed.
Yamanaka Kari didn't move very fast, trailing from a distance, hoping to follow the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja to the Uzumaki remnants.
Soon, Squad Leader Hippo also caught up with the Anbu.
Yōkō faintly felt something was wrong. Why were the Uzumaki Guardian Ninja constantly jumping across rooftops?
Shouldn't they be escaping stealthily?
The two pursued them all the way outside the city.
The moment they jumped down from the city wall, Yōkō saw a large number of Kiri-nin on the flank.
The commotion was so big that the Kiri-nin had also noticed the abnormality and pursued them out of the city.
A Spear Egret flew over, dropping a scroll from the air.
The Uzumaki Guardian Ninja Captain shouted from afar, "You want the elder's sealing scroll, don't you? Come on then! Come if you're not afraid to die! I will die, but before I do, I'll take you all with me!"
The Kiri-nin vastly outnumbered the Konoha side—two battalions against Konoha's single squad.
The Kiri-nin replaced Konoha as the main pursuers. The three parties raced across the wilderness.
Most of the Land of Waves lacked large mountains to trap moist air from the sea, resulting in little rainfall. Apart from some green areas near the coast, there were vast expanses of Gobi Desert.
After leaving the capital, the Uzumaki shinobi turned and charged into the uninhabited Gobi.
Several Uzumaki Guardian Ninja ran desperately across the desert wasteland.
The situation was different for the Kiri-nin and Konoha forces. With more people, they had to consider supplies.
"Are the Military Ration Pills we brought enough?"
"Is the water we brought sufficient?"
The squad leaders tallied their resources.
For the Konoha Anbu, the current problem was the Kiri-nin. The Uzumaki elder's sealing scroll must not fall into Kiri-nin hands.
...
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(End of Chapter)