บท 188: Chapter 187: The Hidden Cloud is No Longer Kumogakure of the Past!

"Oh, my big brother, the jinchuriki has disappeared."

Upon hearing this, Killer B started rapping to himself. He didn't care about the news of the jinchuriki's disappearance; like him, the jinchuriki had also been a perfect vessel who entered the Fountain of Truth.

Although his combat strength was not on par with himself and Brother A, he was still among the top in the village.

In Killer B's eyes, the jinchuriki must have slipped away from his guards and gone out to hunt Konoha ninjas. He understood this well; it was truly unbearable to feel like one was always being watched.

Seeing that Killer B still didn't understand the seriousness of the situation, the Fourth Raikage said sternly, "Killer B, it's not just the jinchuriki that's missing since even the Anbu assigned to protect him have lost contact."

Killer B's expression changed slightly as he instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.

The jinchuriki might act recklessly, but the Anbu certainly wouldn't. With the Anbu protecting the jinchuriki also missing, it was possible that the jinchuriki had encountered danger.

But among the ninjas on the Konoha front lines, there shouldn't be anyone capable of defeating the jinchuriki.

At that moment, the Fourth Raikage seemed to remember something, his expression darkening as he said, "Killer B, do you remember the incident with Blue B?"

Killer B nodded.

He certainly recalled that Blue B had been assassinated by Orochimaru. If Blue B hadn't died, he wouldn't have been able to become the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

The Fourth Raikage continued, "I suspect that the jinchuriki may have encountered an attack from Orochimaru… but even if she was attacked, the jinchuriki should at least be able to send out a message…"

After analyzing for a while, the Fourth Raikage couldn't come up with any useful strategies and so he decided to suspend the frontline offensive and headed toward Kumogakure camp. Rather than racking his brains here, it would be better to hear his subordinates' opinions.

Upon reaching Kumogakure camp, the Fourth Raikage entered the command room.

Inside, there were terrain maps laid out, and several Kumo jōnin were discussing the disappearance of the jinchuriki.

Sensing the footsteps behind him, the Kumo jōnin quickly turned to face the Fourth Raikage and bowed, saying, "Fourth Lord, the search teams for the jinchuriki have already set out. Here are the results they brought back."

The Fourth Raikage nodded; he wanted to hear his subordinates' opinions.

Although Kumogakure was dominated by the Yotsuki Clan, the disappearance of the jinchuriki was a significant matter that concerned the future strategy of Kumogakure and whether they could seize the Land of Waterfalls.

Upon hearing the Fourth Raikage's command, a jōnin named Mabui lifted a kunai and pointed to a specific area on the map, saying, "Fourth Lord, the Anbu assigned to the jinchuriki lost contact in this area, which is about one hundred and fifty kilometers from the Konoha camp. In this area, there are traces left by an explosion of a tailed beast bomb in a nearby canyon. From this, we can deduce that the jinchuriki likely encountered elite Konoha ninjas and used the Tailed Beast Bomb as a trump card, but still couldn't escape Konoha's siege."

After a pause, Mabui continued, "As for the matter of the jinchuriki being captured by Konoha, none of us have any objections, but we are somewhat uncertain about the identity of the attackers. We don't know if it was Jiraiya, Orochimaru, the Third Hokage, or other ninjas."

"It was definitely Orochimaru's doing. He previously attacked Blue B…" The Fourth Raikage interrupted Mabui, speaking in an irrefutable tone.

"Lord Raikage, if it really was Orochimaru, then that might actually be a good thing."

After saying this, Mabui clapped his hands, and a cloud ninja entered with a sealed box. Upon opening the sealed box, several wooden fragments were revealed.

"Isn't this just wood? What's so strange about it?"

The Fourth Raikage asked in confusion, not seeing anything wrong with the wood.

Mabui rubbed his forehead, feeling somewhat helpless toward the Fourth Raikage. She picked up the wood with her fingers and said solemnly:

"These pieces of wood were found at the scene, and they possess the ability to absorb chakra."

"Ability to absorb chakra…"

With Mabui's reminder, the Fourth Raikage finally realized the seriousness of the matter and said gravely, "Wood that absorbs chakra? That's Wood Release, just like Hashirama Senju! Are you saying that the ninja who attacked the jinchuriki is a Wood Release user from Konoha!"

Mabui slightly nodded. After placing the Wood Release artifacts back into the box, she slowly said, "Lord Raikage, before seeing these Wood Release artifacts, I also suspected it might be the work of Orochimaru or Jiraiya, but after seeing these, I overturned my previous assumptions."

"Only a Wood Release user could silently defeat the jinchuriki; others would find it difficult to do so."

After hearing Mabui's analysis, the Fourth Raikage's expression became uncertain as he pondered deeply.

At this time, Mabui continued, "Lord Raikage, all of the above is just my speculation, but if Konoha truly has a Wood Release ninja village, we may need to delay our offensive plans."

At this moment, Killer B seemed to remember something and said, "Mabui, you said Konoha has Wood Release ninjas. Why did they still sit by during the Nine-Tails incident? That doesn't make sense, and it's not like ninjas."

Mabui gently shook her head and replied, "I don't know about that. Maybe the Wood Release ninjas from Konoha were away at that time, or perhaps that ninja didn't like the Fourth Hokage. However, according to the older generation of ninjas, Hashirama Senju's Wood Release is invincible as all the tailed beasts were defeated by Wood Release."

Upon hearing this, Killer B didn't feel afraid. On the contrary, he seemed eager to take action.

After a long silence, the Fourth Raikage stood up and said, "Mabui, don't be intimidated by the Wood Release ninja. Hashirama Senju was just born earlier than us since the ninjas of our time may not be inferior to those of his era. This village is no longer Kumogakure of the past.

If Konoha were truly that strong, they wouldn't actively seek negotiations with the Hidden Mist and the Hidden Stone. It doesn't matter whether or not Konoha has Wood Release ninjas, we must rescue the jinchuriki as soon as possible to avoid being at a disadvantage."

After the Fourth Raikage's speech, the morale of the Kumo ninjas present rose significantly.

Mabui seemed to be infused with the will of lightning, feeling incredibly excited as she said to the Fourth Raikage, "Lord Raikage, what should we do next?"

The Fourth Raikage looked toward the Land of Fire and stated his plan.

"Do not publicly announce the news of the jinchuriki's disappearance for now. Let's pretend we are still unaware of this matter to mislead the Konoha ninja village, then secretly mobilize a large force from our village to put pressure on Konoha. As long as we exert enough pressure on the front lines, Konoha will be compelled to request negotiations, at which point we can demand the release of the jinchuriki."

"What if the jinchuriki is already dead?" Asked one of the Kumo jōnin.

The Fourth Raikage cast a glance at the cloud jōnin and replied, "Then we'll take revenge for the jinchuriki. We must obtain the title of the number one ninja village this time and break the shackles that Konoha has placed on Kumogakure."