Because it involved the Akatsuki organization, the village acted quickly. Jiraiya led an elite squad and set off that very day.
Traveling through the night, the squad took less than a day to reach the southern coast and met up with the patrol team that accidentally stumbled upon the Akatsuki organization's internal strife.
Looking at the patrol team in front of him, Jiraiya frowned slightly: "How did you discover it?"
The Chunin captain of the patrol team then described the situation at that time in detail.
After listening, Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at each other, doubts showing on their faces.
It wasn't that they suspected the patrol team was lying, but they felt that with the mediocre strength of this patrol team composed of one Chunin and three Genin, even watching from afar, they shouldn't have been able to escape the perception of Akatsuki members and retreat unscathed.
Seeming to see the doubts of Jiraiya and others, the Chunin captain of the patrol team hurriedly said: "Jiraiya-sama, I know what you are suspecting, but wait until you go to the scene, you will know why our squad could evacuate safely."
Jiraiya didn't waste words: "Let's go, take a look!"
Soon, the group left the outpost and rushed towards the battlefield by the coast yesterday.
After arriving at the scene, an accompanying Intelligence Division ninja compared the map in his hand and said: "Something's wrong! The map clearly shows a high cliff stretching more than ten miles east along the coast here. How did it become a shoal?"
The Chunin captain of the patrol team couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Before yesterday, this area was indeed a high cliff. Our daily patrol had to go back and forth from here. But after the battle between 'B' and 'D' of the Akatsuki organization, it became like this!"
"What!?"
Everyone in the Intelligence Division looked at each other in dismay.
They really couldn't imagine what kind of fierce battle could flatten such a long high cliff entirely into a shoal.
Even if two ninja armies broke out in a great battle here, they probably couldn't achieve this level.
At this time, everyone understood the meaning of the patrol team Chunin captain's words just now.
Clearly, it was precisely because the battle between 'B' and 'D' at that time was too intense and both sides had no time to attend to other things that the patrol squad hiding in the distance could retreat unscathed.
Kakashi pushed aside the forehead protector on his face, revealing his Sharingan to observe the surroundings, then found a reef with a very neat and smooth cut in the shoal.
Squatting by the reef and gently stroking the cut, he said: "This rock looks like it was cut by a sharp blade? But this length..."
Saying this, he shook his head again.
This half-section of the reef exposed above the sea surface was fully seven or eight meters long, and the cut was formed in one go, so there shouldn't be any sharp blade that could cut such a large reef at once, unless it was attached with Wind Release chakra or some other Wind Release ninjutsu.
Hearing Kakashi's doubt, the Chunin captain said: "These reefs were originally rocks on the high cliff, all cut into pieces by 'D' using a blood-colored long blade dozens of meters long."
Kakashi's gaze sharpened: "Blood-colored long blade?"
The Chunin captain answered: "Mhm, I'm not sure what exactly it was, but seeing it scatter into blood rain in the air later, so I speculate it might be a long blade made of blood!"
Jiraiya and Kakashi immediately associated it with Chino of the Hidden Grass Village, who could also manipulate blood.
So Jiraiya asked: "Are you sure she is 'D' of the Akatsuki organization?"
The Chunin captain was incredibly certain: "The pattern on her mask was a Hannya demon, I wouldn't mistake it! And the other one had a fox mask!"
Jiraiya's face sank.
'A's group of Akatsuki members all wore masks, so the only thing that could distinguish their identities was the patterns on the masks they wore.
And according to intelligence, the pattern on the mask worn by Akatsuki's 'D' was indeed the Hannya demon mentioned by the Chunin captain!
Jiraiya said: "Tell us about the battle situation at that time in detail!"
The patrol team Chunin captain began to recount the course of the battle he saw. However, due to the relatively long distance and limited by his own strength, much of the battle content was guesswork. But he could still recognize iconic ninjutsu like 'Wood Release'.
When hearing that both 'B' and 'D' of the Akatsuki organization actually used 'Wood Release'.
Everyone from the Hidden Leaf looked surprised.
Jiraiya said in a deep voice: "Damn it, has the Akatsuki organization already conquered the Hashira cell transplantation technology?"
Kakashi also looked solemn: "I'm afraid so!"
To say that both 'B' and 'D' comprehended 'Wood Release' through the fusion of two chakra natures, Kakashi was the first not to believe it.
So the only explanation was that the Akatsuki organization, or more accurately 'A's group of Akatsuki organization, very likely had already conquered the Hashira cell transplantation technology and could transplant it in batches.
"There are indeed many traces of 'Wood Release' left at the scene, even on the sea, there are quite a few broken logs and vines remaining..."
"No blood traces found at the scene..."
"Maybe due to time, chakra fluctuations have basically disappeared, no clues..."
The Intelligence Division ninjas surveying the surroundings gathered around, reporting the results of their survey of the scene to Jiraiya one after another.
The patrol team Chunin captain said: "I secretly came here last night. There wasn't much left at that time; the winner should have cleaned up the scene!"
Kakashi asked: "Who do you think won?"
The Chunin captain said: "Should be 'B'!"
His tone was not as certain as before because he led the squad to retreat first before the battle ended. So he only saw 'D' falling into a disadvantage, but as for who won in the end and whether there were casualties, he could only guess.
Jiraiya nodded: "You may withdraw first!"
The patrol team Chunin captain bowed respectfully, then withdrew.
After the patrol team Chunin captain walked away, Jiraiya said to Kakashi: "Judging from this leftover battlefield, the two sides fighting were very strong, fitting the claim that Akatsuki's 'B' and 'D' had internal strife here and dueled."
Kakashi frowned: "Mastering 'Wood Release' and manipulating blood, isn't 'D's ability a bit wrong? According to the Intelligence Division's previous analysis, the opponent should be a powerhouse practicing 'Spirit Transformation Technique'."
Jiraiya said: "We have very little intelligence on 'D' to begin with. We can't stick to stereotypes. This investigation can be considered to have completed the intelligence."
"Mhm!"
Kakashi nodded.
Jiraiya looked around, seeing the messy battlefield, and sighed with emotion: "Just didn't expect 'D' to be so strong, actually able to rival 'B'. Where exactly did 'A's group of people pop out from!"
Kakashi said: "We now have two directions of investigation, one is 'Wood Release', the other is manipulating blood! For 'Wood Release', we can start investigating from Hashira cells. As for manipulating blood, we can start with Chino of the Hidden Grass!"