Chapter 892

"Lord Danzo said that, since Minato has personally set out for the nation's border, if this intelligence isn't delivered, Jiraiya will just have to judge for himself." The unspoken meaning in Danzo's words couldn't have been more obvious. In Jiraiya's mind, that one-armed, one-eyed Danzo had always been a gloomy old fellow who gave off a very uncomfortable feeling, but at this moment the man's image had become much more pleasing to the eye.

"Logically speaking, the regular contact should be arriving about now, but we haven't seen it yet — probably delayed on the road."

Danzo had laid out such an obvious escape route that Jiraiya would make full use of it. He deliberately ignored the Leaf Anbu member beside him, as if he had never received any intelligence at all.

"Mm, although we haven't received instructions from the village's higher-ups, given the current situation there's no time to lose. Let's continue with the original plan and carry out the transfer."

Zabuza had wanted to bring up his request to leave again, but Bai secretly tugged at him. Following the other's gaze, he only then noticed that a layer of frost had already formed on his shoes, and the words that had just reached his lips were swallowed back down.

"Um… as the one being protected by you all, could I say a few words?"

"How much longer do we have to wait? The Mizukage's mission has already been dragged on far too long."

The Mist ninja wearing Anbu masks — or rather, the private army loyal only to the Mizukage — asked the person beside them with some impatience. Every one of them was a cold-blooded killer who had extinguished all human feeling, and most of the blood on their hands came from within the Mist ninja themselves.

"Be patient. Only patience will let us achieve our ultimate goal 〃〃." Even though he too wore a mask, that voice — once heard, never forgotten — revealed his identity.

According to the Leaf Anbu report, the one who should have already returned to the Mist Village by now: Kisame Hoshigaki.

That's right. No matter what method he had used, the result was that he had actually succeeded in deceiving Danzo, and now he had chosen to go into complete hibernation, waiting for the perfect moment.

"The deadline the Mizukage gave us leaves no time for you to practice your patience! And don't forget — you're only temporarily appointed, holder of Samehada!" Kisame gave others a very dangerous feeling, just like his unusual appearance, which inspired a strange sense of repulsion.

Moreover, during the time he commanded the assassination unit in carrying out this mission, he didn't care at all about casualties, even treating his subordinates as pawns that could be thrown away at any moment.

People always cling to life — especially those who can kill others without hesitation. They understand the meaning of death better than anyone. So once the fact was established that the lives of these assassination unit members were all in Kisame's hands, it was natural that they didn't get along well with him.

As for these cannon-fodder who kept urging him on, who clearly knew the mission deadline was drawing closer, but still didn't dare step forward — Kisame had never regarded these people as companions carrying out the mission together, nor as props that could be replenished after being used up. To him they were just like shuriken and kunai meant for throwing — he had never once thought of retrieving them.

"That deadline was given to you fools…" This mission had cost nearly a third of the Mist assassination unit's elite. Yet up to now, only Kisame alone knew what the true mission actually was, and the other participants had no right to know.

"Keep tailing them. Only surveillance and reporting — contact is absolutely forbidden! I want them to proceed without a single hair harmed…" Rotating the wrist he had strained earlier in his fight with Young Yuanzi, Kisame calmly glanced at the Jiraiya party — just a few black dots in the eyes of an ordinary person — then left without looking back.

Speaking of two sides at once: at the border of the nation, a golden streak of light was darting along at high speed. In the blink of an eye it could appear without warning at a place very, very far from its previous landing point. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had left the Leaf Village he was stationed at and crossed the national border without any travel documents.

". 'Lord Hokage, new intelligence has come in. Lord Jiraiya's side, after repelling Kisame Hoshigaki several times, the Mist Village has issued a recall order.

After that, the assassination unit vanished without a trace and did not launch any further attacks. After a brief stop, Lord Jiraiya changed his route. The escort squad is now heading for the Water Nation — the safe house of the Water Nation's daimyo that the government-in-exile has set up under the Fire Nation's protection…"

Through her clan's unique mind arts, Yamanaka Ino could achieve communication over extremely long distances (good Zhao Zhao). This secret art, used for transmitting the latest intelligence, was very reliable, and was also the only means by which Minato could handle village affairs in a timely manner while out on missions.

"Send a squad of Anbu to the safe house to rendezvous with Lord Jiraiya…"

Even so, it was still unclear whether the enemy had truly all withdrawn, so strengthening the defense was very important. And most of the Anbu members were at jonin level, so sending a squad would provide very considerable combat power.

At the same time, in terms of confidentiality, it would also be more reliable than directly sending jonin from the village. Although it was now indeed an extraordinary period, in reality none of the ninja villages had ever let down their guard.