Chapter 564 - 564 The Ninja's Methods, The Audacious Art Duo

Just how powerful is the World Creation Divine Tree? Ordinary people probably only know that it is extremely tall and enormous, and that once this colossal entity rampages, it can shatter mountains and rivers…

But as a peak Divine Realm expert, Ryun could understand its terror more profoundly.

The power of the Divine Wood Star beneath his feet, and even the sparse natural energy dispersed throughout the cosmos—any energy it could absorb was continuously flowing into the body of the World Creation Divine Tree, a vast torrent of power that only entered, never left, making its limits utterly unfathomable.

Even though Ryun was now very strong, he was unwilling to confront this World Creation Divine Tree head-on, because this thing was simply not on the same level as him…

Ryun had considered dealing with the World Creation Divine Tree, but his idea was to completely annihilate the Ōtsutsuki clan, leaving the tree unattended, to see if this method could curb its growth, or at least weaken it to the greatest extent possible.

To physically destroy it outright, given the indestructible nature of the Divine Tree within Ryun himself, he believed it was impossible to achieve, at least not with his current Divine Realm strength.

"I must first figure out the issue with the World Creation Divine Tree…" Ryun thought to himself.

If the World Creation Divine Tree could be utilized, then the risks of the upcoming battle in the ninja world would become extremely high, leaving Ryun no choice but to be exceedingly cautious.

After returning from the birthday banquet, Ryun took out the tea leaves from his Kamui dimension once more, intending to visit that Second Elder again when no one was around, to see if he could extract information about the World Creation Divine Tree from the other's mouth.

Ryun felt this Ōtsutsuki Second Elder was quite talkative; perhaps useful information could be gleaned from him. After all, Ōtsutsuki Shingetsu belonged to his own faction, so he likely wouldn't be overly defensive.

While Ryun was busy working hard to gather intelligence, the members of the expeditionary force were also using their respective skills to obtain information on the Ōtsutsuki clan.

As ninjas, how to gather intelligence without exposing themselves was a required course in their training, something they all knew even without Ryun reminding them.

Eastern Area of the Ōtsutsuki Clan Territory.

Location of the Akatsuki Art Duo.

"This Ōtsutsuki clan's habitat is really vast, practically forming its own country… Scorpion, my Explosive Clay is running low again…" Deidara muttered softly.

Currently, the two were in a densely populated area, disguised through special transformation techniques.

Deidara, possessing a pseudo-Byakugan, placed pieces of Explosive Clay of varying sizes in crowded spots, while Sasori of the Red Sand used his puppet techniques to conceal these clay pieces, making them difficult to detect even with the Byakugan.

The duo had been repeating this process constantly; they had already laid down a large swath of a terrifying minefield, waiting for the moment action began to detonate and blow up the entire eastern region of the Ōtsutsuki territory!

The hidden mines Deidara planted weren't deliberately concealed too deeply; some were even placed openly in plain sight… only, their exteriors were wrapped in vividly lifelike puppet shells, making it hard even for the Byakugan-wielding clan to discern the true purpose of these terrifying hidden explosives.

Sometimes a hidden mine was a fake tree, sometimes a fake rock, sometimes simply a lump of 'mud,' not even hidden at all…

Even if some Ōtsutsuki touched or even damaged the puppet surface and discovered the Explosive Clay, as long as Deidara didn't detonate these mines, they were merely simple clay crafts, or even just plain mud…

At most, one could only detect that they contained powerful natural energy inside; beyond that, one would never imagine these things could be high-explosive bombs capable of sending people to the heavens!

Deidara's clay crafts weren't afraid of being seen; he manufactured large quantities of high-explosive clay almost daily, teaming up with Scorpion to bury these dangerous, forbidden items everywhere, all to annihilate every Ōtsutsuki living in this area!

"My wireless puppets are already helping you dig clay; if it's really not enough, use Konan's explosive tags for now… there are plenty of those…" Sasori of the Red Sand replied offhandedly.

"Big Sis Konan's explosive tags are plentiful, sure, but their power is too weak…" Deidara complained.

"If the power is weak, then use more of them; when your clay explodes, the power will be amplified anyway…"

"Fine… but these things aren't as concealable as clay; if we spread too many, there's still a risk of being discovered…" Deidara reminded in a low voice.

"Then hide them more carefully…"

As the dominant clan of the Divine Wood Star, the Ōtsutsuki clan had already annihilated most of the resistance forces on this planet, resulting in a general lack of vigilance within their own territory.

After learning some of the clan's rules, the transformed duo could swagger around openly within the vast clan grounds!

The audacious Art Duo was quietly laying mines for the Ōtsutsuki clan, while the other pairs didn't dare to be so radical; most of them were investigating the numbers and distribution of the Six Paths-level Ōtsutsuki, and it would be even better if they could pinpoint fixed locations.

This was the task Ryun had assigned: first, determine the numbers and locations as much as possible, then find opportunities to eliminate or even replace them gradually!

The methods of ninjas were diverse and varied; all the underhanded tricks and poisonous schemes imaginable in the world were known to ninjas. As long as the enemy had weaknesses or defensive vulnerabilities, ninjas could devise ways to overcome them!

Were the ninjas acting freely within the Ōtsutsuki clan grounds without anyone noticing? Certainly, some did notice… and more than one Ōtsutsuki had caught the scent of danger!

Residence of the Ōtsutsuki Third Elder.

"Has there been any unusual activity within the clan recently?" The female Third Elder frowned as she asked her subordinate.

She currently felt uneasy, but after careful deduction, she couldn't figure out why…

She possessed some abilities in deduction and divination, but in recent years, these abilities had repeatedly malfunctioned, leading even the clan leader to question her competence…

Any deductions or divinations involving peak Divine Realm experts were beyond her ability to calculate or predict; she could only divine trivial matters of little consequence, which held no real significance for the clan…

If not for having borne a capable daughter who served as the High Priestess of the Ōtsutsuki clan, and her secret affair with the clan leader, she likely wouldn't even be qualified to hold the position of Third Elder…

"Within the clan grounds… there haven't been any abnormalities. Could you be more specific, Third Elder?" The female subordinate didn't quite understand the Third Elder's meaning.

"I can't quite say, I just keep feeling a vague sense of crisis, and the source seems to lie within the clan itself…" The Third Elder said with a grave expression.

She believed her intuition wasn't wrong; it was just that she couldn't yet locate the source of her unease.

Logically speaking, apart from the World Creation Divine Tree, there were no enemies left on the Divine Wood Star capable of threatening the Ōtsutsuki clan, so she instinctively felt the problem must be internal.

"I will order the clan guards to strengthen daily vigilance and patrols, and I myself will also observe the clan's movements more closely!"

The female subordinate volunteered; she was a Six Paths-level expert herself, possessing a powerful and keen Insight-Byakugan.

"Mmm…"