Shino and Kiba, who had been tracking him the whole ti, both froze. They exchanged a look on instinct, confird they were sensing the sa thing, and imdiately stord into the temporary base, only to find Victor was gone.
Even the scent had vanished. Akamaru couldn't sll anything at all.
Shino couldn't sense his female insects' location, either.
"This is bad." Shino touched the teacup on the table. The tea was still a little warm. "Victor doesn't look like the type who can use Jikūkan Ninjutsu (space-ti ninjutsu). If he could, he would've used it to escape a long ti ago. It's pretty obvious soone used Jikūkan Ninjutsu (space-ti ninjutsu) to snatch him away without warning. We have no idea where they took him."
Kiba nodded grimly. "Probably sowhere far. Anyway, Akamaru can't sll the mark anymore, and even your bugs can't sense it."
For a mont, both of them fell silent, faces dark.
They'd been so confident. They were sure they could follow the trail and dig up the Ōtsutsuki hiding in the shadows. They hadn't expected sothing like this to go wrong.
"Shino. Kiba." Sasuke appeared in a flicker.
"Sasuke… Victor's gone!" Shino and Kiba sounded pissed.
"I know. I sensed it. Jikūkan Ninjutsu (space-ti ninjutsu)." Sasuke didn't look surprised. "If nothing else changed, the one who made a move was that Ōtsutsuki. And they might not even be inside the shinobi world. They could be in a different dinsion."
A different dinsion? No wonder.
If Victor had been taken into another dinsion, Akamaru naturally wouldn't be able to track the scent, and Shino wouldn't be able to sense his female insects.
And up to now, the only person everyone knew who could freely co and go through different dinsions was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. So the one who took Victor into a different dinsion was extrely likely to be the lurking Ōtsutsuki.
So the "stirring the grass to startle the snake" plan really had worked.
The problem was, now they couldn't find the target.
Seeing how calm Sasuke was, Shino guessed sothing. "Sasuke, can you sense that dinsion?"
Kiba blinked, then lit up. If they could lock onto that Ōtsutsuki, that was huge.
Sasuke gave a small nod. "When they used Jikūkan Ninjutsu (space-ti ninjutsu), I felt out the location. I can confirm the general direction. My space-ti portal can reach any space. We should be able to find it."
That made Shino and Kiba finally breathe again.
Thank goodness Sasuke showed up. Otherwise their investigation team would've failed the mission, and they'd have no face going back.
Sasuke seed to read what they were thinking, but didn't bother comforting them. He just said, "The plan is over. We shouldn't keep provoking them. We'll regroup with Kakashi first, then report back to the higher-ups. This is a major situation. Once preparations are in place, we'll launch a full assault on that dinsion."
Shino and Kiba had no objections.
The next second, Sasuke's eyes shifted into the Rinnegan with six tomoe. He opened a space-ti portal and brought the two of them back to Kakashi and Hiashi.
Kakashi asked imdiately, "How did it go? Did the Ōtsutsuki show up?"
Sasuke nodded. "The plan worked. But the enemy is in another dinsion now. We're heading back first. We'll discuss a new plan with the higher-ups before we move."
Then he used the portal again, bringing them straight back to the Hokage's office.
After the flower viewing, Natsuki and the others had been waiting in the office the whole ti. When they saw Sasuke return with Kakashi's team, everyone's faces filled with anticipation.
Naruto couldn't sit still first. "Well? Well?! Did that Ōtsutsuki show up?"
Kakashi motioned for Naruto to calm down, then began his report, laying out the entire "stirring the grass to startle the snake" operation in detail, with Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke adding clarifications.
After hearing it all, everyone looked thrilled.
A's hands were already itching. "So you're saying, Sasuke, you can take us to that dinsion and find that Ōtsutsuki?"
Sasuke answered firmly. "I can sense the location. Opening a portal isn't a problem. But to be safe, I didn't rush in. I ca back to discuss it first."
Smiles of approval spread around the room.
In an unclear situation, barging into an unknown dinsion alone, even if you found the Ōtsutsuki, would be extrely dangerous. One mistake and you might not co back, and your only lead would die with you.
Then everything they'd done up to now would be wasted, and the alliance would be forced into a passive position.
Luckily, Sasuke had made a cool-headed call.
That was exactly what they needed.
Natsuki asked, "So what's the next step? Do we just hit them head-on?"
Ōnoki stopped him at once. "Absolutely not! We have no idea what their organization looks like. We don't even know how to deploy our forces. Charging in blindly is too dangerous!"
"The Tsuchikage's right," Hashirama said. "We need more intelligence."
Tobirama pointed at the dark-skinned secretary. "Didn't you bring one back? Interrogate him and see if we can squeeze out anything else."
Hearing that, Neji didn't waste a word. He moved imdiately, pressing a green orb of chakra to the secretary's head. He'd learned this mory-reading thod from Hanabi, who'd said the Tenseigan's powers could be used like this.
With the sa Tenseigan, Neji mastered the trick fast. Using it was effortless.
Not long after, Neji pulled his hand back.
Facing everyone's expectant stares, he said, "This secretary doesn't know much. He only knows Victor is an Inner mber of the Kara organization. Everything Victor knew about the Divine Tree ca from Kara. Beyond that, he doesn't know anything."
Kara?
So was Kara the organization that Ōtsutsuki had built?
Everyone couldn't help but start thinking hard.
Shikamaru raised a hand weakly. "Um… about Kara, I think I've seen the na in so scattered records."
Ōnoki nodded as well. "You rember it too, kid? I've also seen that word in miscellaneous notes before, but it was so minor I assud it was just so no-na civilian group. I didn't pay it any attention."
Tsunade, A, and i exchanged looks and nodded too.
Kara really had shown up here and there in random docunts, but it had never drawn anyone's attention. Thinking about it now was terrifying.
If Kara was founded by that Ōtsutsuki, it must have existed for many years. And yet it had stayed hidden the entire ti, never once attracting notice.
That ant the Ōtsutsuki had been watching the entire shinobi world, while everyone in the shinobi world knew nothing at all.
Just imagining it was enough to make your skin crawl.
Fortunately, the enemy hadn't acted openly until now. No one knew what they were wary of. But precisely because of that, the shinobi world had been given a chance to save itself. Now they needed to figure out how to destroy the enemy.
The only thing everyone worried about was the Ōtsutsuki's strength. If it was so overwhelming they couldn't beat it, then the shinobi world was finished.
(End of Chapter)
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