Konoha Village, Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, serving as the Hokage's advisor, laughed heartily, saying with satisfaction:
"As expected of my disciple! Tsunade did great!"
Akamichi Tsume asked in confusion:
"Tsunade choosing to withdraw when confronting Yagyu has already caused dissatisfaction among Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure."
"They have now sent letters demanding an explanation from us. Isn't this a troublesome bad thing? You look quite happy."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile: "Tsunade did nothing wrong. Otherwise, we would have lost a Kage-level combat force."
"As for the letters from Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure... ignore them. Why should our Konoha give them an explanation?"
"As long as our Konoha maintains its current strength, no matter how dissatisfied they are, they can only choose to cooperate with us."
"Joining forces to deal with Kirigakure and Yagyu is the most important thing right now. They won't fight us head-on."
"Of course, they also wouldn't dare to do so, because they are afraid that doing so would push us towards the Kirigakure side."
"Even if we don't join forces with Kirigakure to fight them, merely standing by and watching would be unbearable for them."
"After all, watching from the sidelines, taking advantage of chaos, and kicking someone when they are down are not uncommon occurrences between villages."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked self-assured and spoke with an experienced air: "Just wait! They will definitely send people to negotiate with us, and they will try hard to win us over."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat excited.
When Yagyu caused chaos in Konoha earlier, it wasn't just the village that lost face, but also him, the Hokage serving as the village chief.
At that time, he was the laughingstock of the entire Ninja World. The old geezers of his generation—the Third Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and Chiyo—did not spare him from mockery.
And now?
The Third Raikage and Chiyo, those two old things, are done for.
The Third Tsuchikage isn't faring much better; his only son was crippled by Yagyu.
Akamichi Tsume mused: "We have to fight Yagyu of Kirigakure again? That guy is not easy to deal with!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was chilling: "Don't worry! We have specially trained a ninja unit to deal with Yagyu."
"Furthermore, the other three villages are not pushovers either; they also have some strength to confront Yagyu."
"Of course, we can't rush this. We cannot act rashly without complete preparation."
"We cannot expect Yagyu to spare us every time. That kind of thing is unrealistic."
...
Kirigakure.
Yagyu obtained an Anbu position from the Third Mizukage and also got a set of Anbu gear for Pakura.
Looking at the neatly dressed Pakura, Yagyu frowned slightly:
"Your hairstyle is too distinctive. Won't a familiar person recognize you?"
Pakura's hair was very distinctive; most of it was dark green, with only two hanging bangs being orange.
"My hair? I thought it looked interesting at the time, so I dyed it like this."
"But what you say is right; this hairstyle is too obvious."
"Does Kirigakure have a hair salon? I'll just change my hairstyle."
Pakura touched her hair, speaking carelessly.
"You dyed it?"
Yagyu looked surprised.
Pakura snapped: "Of course! If it wasn't dyed, how could my hair have two colors?"
Yagyu shook his head: "No, no, no, you underestimate the wonder of this world. We have every race in Kirigakure. It wouldn't be strange even if you naturally had two hair colors."
Yagyu sighed softly; he was already used to such oddities.
Zabuza Momochi, who was naturally eyebrow-less; Kisame Hoshigaki, who seemed like a fishman hybrid; Juzo Biwa, with sharp teeth; and Fuguki Suikazan, who looked genetically mutated...
No matter what strange creature appeared before Yagyu, Yagyu would naturally regard them as special creations of the Naruto world.
Yagyu took Pakura to a hair salon, making her wear a mask and change her hairstyle.
Soon after, an Anbu ninja with naturally colored, lustrous hair appeared before Yagyu.
"Not bad!"
Yagyu sized Pakura up. Pakura now looked exceptionally beautiful.
Her dark green hair was changed to a light green, reducing the sense of heaviness and adding a sense of brightness and prettiness.
"Very good! Let's go. We're heading overseas to find my subordinates and disciples."
Yagyu nodded with satisfaction, and together with Pakura, he boarded the large ship heading for Neutral Island.
...
"Wind Release – Thousand Faces Wind!" (Fūton – Senmen Kaze)
On the deck, Yagyu and Pakura were sparring.
Pakura's greatest strength was her Scorch Release Bloodline Limit.
When she usually fought others, she primarily used Scorch Release Ninjutsu, or at the very least, incorporated it as a support element.
But now, Scorch Release could not be used. This was a huge limitation, and she needed to adapt to the current fighting style as quickly as possible.
"Even without using Scorch Release Ninjutsu, your Taijutsu, Wind Release, and Fire Release are enough for you to be rated as an Elite Jōnin."
"You truly are a genius. Your combat sense is very sharp, and your combat experience is also very rich."
"But that's all there is to it. This level only puts you at the bottom of the Elite Jōnin rank, and that won't do."
"I have a special set of Nin-Taijutsu here. It should be helpful to you. I will teach you how to practice it now."
Yagyu pondered for a moment and decided to teach Pakura the Navy Six Styles (Nin-Taijutsu version).
Employ people without doubt, and do not employ people whom you doubt.
Furthermore, with Yagyu's current strength, he wasn't afraid of Pakura double-crossing him.
Neutral Island.
After Yagyu arrived, he activated his Observation Haki (Kenbunshoku Haki) fully and quickly located Mei Terumī and the others.
However, in Yagyu's senses, Mei Terumī and her group were currently in a fight, and their opponents were not weak.
"Interesting!"
"Mei Terumī's enemies are not ninja, yet they possess terrifying strength no less than that of ninja."
Yagyu muttered to himself, his face showing a look of interest.
"Come with me!"
Yagyu instructed Pakura, leading her toward the location of Mei Terumī and the others.
A moment later, they arrived at the edge of Neutral Island.
Mei Terumī's group and their opponents had fought their way here.
Mei Terumī's group had four enemies: one man and three women.
All three women possessed considerable strength, while the only man hid behind the three women.
At this moment, Zabuza Momochi, holding a standard-issue ninja longsword, was fighting a female werewolf.
The female werewolf was extremely vicious, fighting with a cold and bloodthirsty style, fiercely battling Zabuza Momochi.