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Haori watched the two people passing by with his peripheral vision. Although the latter had disguised themselves somewhat, he could still recognize their identities from certain characteristics.
Hard work pays off, and the melon-eating man was rewarded by fate. When Haori was deliberately trying to find information, he hadn't discovered anything meaningful. But when he was idly relaxing, he discovered a major situation.
It seemed like he had gained something. At this moment, Haori could smell the scent of an international conspiracy.
For now, Sunagakure was still at war with Kirigakure. And at this time, a well-known Sunagakure ninja was openly appearing in the Land of Water. This behavior alone was enough to convey a lot of information.
Was Sunagakure trying to do something behind the scenes? Or…
His mind raced, but no matter what judgment he made, it was just a guess. So, he had to follow them.
Although he had made up his mind, Haori didn't immediately follow. If he had followed right behind them after they had just passed by, his purpose would have been too obvious. Not to mention ninjas, even stalkers wouldn't be that low-level.
At least, he shouldn't make it obvious that he was "following them."
So, on the surface, Haori still looked calm and didn't seem to be in a hurry. He continued to eat his melon calmly until the two figures on the road completely disappeared from sight, and he had finished his watermelon. Then, he began to move.
"Mister, here's your money."
Haori was a genuine consumer who was willing to pay for his melon-eating. After putting down the money, he stood up, stretched in the gazebo, then leaned out, put his hand up to shield his forehead from the sun, and then walked out reluctantly, frowning.
The weather was too hot. Haori dragged his feet out of there, looking 82% wilted.
And the direction he was heading in was the same direction the two people had left.
At this time, although Haori looked listless and wasn't walking very fast, his Tailing MAX skill had already been activated.
Following behind the two ninjas, several kilometers away, Haori didn't do anything. He just had to make sure he could follow them from a distance, without losing them and without being discovered.
It was broad daylight now, so he couldn't take any drastic actions. He could only wait for the opportunity.
In fact, Haori was very good at recognizing people. He was a million times better than a certain face-blind blue beast. If necessary, he could even record a person's special bioelectric signals to ensure that he wouldn't overlook them when they appeared in front of him.
Although the principles were very different, the method and effect were similar to the chakra perception and recognition ability unique to certain members of the Uzumaki clan.
But in the shinobi world, the Uzumaki clan was clearly much more advanced than Uehaishi. Not to mention accuracy, just in terms of perception distance, they could leave Haori in the dust.
He could only distinguish and perceive when someone was within a certain distance of him.
The Sunagakure ninja following behind the Kirigakure ninja wasn't exactly a friend of Haori's. They had only met once and had an incomplete fight.
The other person was a well-known female ninja of Sunagakure.
So, her identity was obvious: Sunagakure hero, Yashamaru of the Scorch Release.
The last time Haori had fought her was in the Land of Rain two years ago. They had been interrupted by the three-person boss group from Akatsuki, and the battle had ended without a conclusion. Haori's team had directly chosen to retreat.
As for Yashamaru, although it was a pity, she had also wisely chosen to retreat after Haori and the others left… If she had chosen to attack Nagato and the others forcefully, she should have been dead by now.
Of course, Haori didn't just find out now that Yashamaru was still alive. In fact, he had heard about Yashamaru not long ago.
During the previous battle between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, Konoha had received intelligence about Yashamaru's active participation in the war.
So, Haori wasn't surprised by her life or death. He was surprised that she was here, now, and with a Kirigakure ninja.
What did that mean?
Haori thought back to the old Iwagakure ninja, Rōshi, who had appeared during the Byakugan retrieval mission… It seemed like Kirigakure had been very active in external relations these past few months.
Judging from the surface phenomena, Yashamaru should be acting as Sunagakure's envoy to the Land of Water.
What was their goal? Peace? It seemed like it wasn't just Sunagakure that wanted to quickly withdraw from the war. Kirigakure had also begun diplomatic actions.
Although the Five Great Nations had deep grudges against each other, Kirigakure and Sunagakure were no exception. But during this war, the two had mainly clashed in the early and middle stages of the war. As for the later stages, they were only in a state of war. There wasn't a lot of actual combat, especially after Sunagakure surrendered to Konoha.
So, in Haori's view, peace wasn't impossible.
Would peace between the two be beneficial to Konoha? From the perspective that they would have one less enemy, and Kirigakure could focus its strength on Konoha, it was disadvantageous. Haori was already considering the possibility of killing Yashamaru and destroying peace between the two countries.
If Yashamaru, the envoy, died in the Land of Water, wouldn't mistrust between the two countries intensify? Wouldn't peace become impossible?
In fact, Haori was overthinking this. The subsequent developments exceeded his expectations.
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Haori's tailing continued from afternoon to evening. After sunset, the Land of Water instantly became colder because of the coastal environment. Fog also began to rise.
As he followed Yashamaru and the other two, the surrounding terrain was no longer flat. There were hills and valleys, so Haori didn't have to keep his distance. He used the terrain for cover and began to speed up, closing the distance between himself and Yashamaru's group.
As he silently approached, Haori could even hear their conversation.
He reached the entrance of the valley, but he didn't follow them in.
He hesitated.
The fog was thicker here, which would have been convenient for his tailing. But for some reason, Haori instinctively felt something was wrong.
With a flick of his mind, Haori reached into his ninja tool pouch, which was hidden in his exaggerated clothes, and pulled out a small, transparent bottle. Then, he opened the bottle, dipped his index finger into the transparent liquid inside, pinched the two fingers together, and evenly spread the liquid on his finger.
Finally, he extended his finger into the fog in front of him. The liquid on his finger quickly turned black.
This meant that there was poison in the fog… The poison gas was mixed with the fog. It was impossible to distinguish between the two, and there wasn't any obvious smell. This was clearly a Kirigakure trap. Yashamaru had fallen for it, but Haori's intuition had come into play.
What was going on? Kirigakure was trying to poison her, even though she was a Sunagakure envoy?
As Haori thought this, he put the transparent bottle back and then pulled out several differently colored antidote pills. He swallowed them all in one gulp.
Then, he controlled his breathing as much as possible and, taking a risk, entered the valley.
…
"You've been so helpful. You even helped me with directions. But I still know the route."
"No, no, Lady Yashamaru. It's my honor to guide such a ninja like you."
Their conversation was harmonious and deceptive, but the tailer behind them knew that it was all fake.
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