Yamanaka Kōri said he needed to make some arrangements and told Black Chimp to stay outside the castle, maintaining contact with Captain Hippo's squad.
Yoru followed Kōri into the castle to help set up some covert measures.
Kōri found a Uzumaki guardian ninja and spent time drinking and talking with him late into the night.
Once the guardian ninja's guard was lowered, Kōri used the Mind Transfer Technique to take control of him.
Under Kōri's control, the Uzumaki guardian ninja vanished deep within the castle.
Yoru stayed by Kōri's side the entire time.
The Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Technique was incredibly powerful—enough to fully control another jonin.
Half an hour later, Kōri regained his senses.
"I'll go check ahead. You shouldn't wander around the castle. Wait here, and I'll find you when I return."
After Kōri disappeared, Yoru, seeing no one around, took out the scroll Yuka had given him and studied it.
He hadn't had time to examine it until now.
The scroll contained a contract seal and a summoning technique—one for signing contracts, the other for summoning beasts.
After memorizing the hand seals and chakra flow, Yoru quietly practiced in his mind.
Then he pressed his handprint onto the contract scroll.
Forming the summoning seal, a small white egret appeared before him.
Handing the scroll to the egret, Yoru canceled the summoning.
He hoped Uzumaki Yuka could escape the Land of Waves safely.
Half an hour later, Kōri returned.
"Let's move! I've fully secured the castle. Time to close the net!"
Yoru disguised himself as one of Kōri's subordinates, moving through the daimyo's castle.
High walls divided the castle into different sections: the main hall, administrative area, generals' quarters, private chambers, gardens, and more.
Double- and triple-storied wooden structures stood everywhere, a testament to the daimyo's immense wealth.
Deep inside the castle, Kōri arrived at a courtyard marked with a sign for the inner treasury.
This housed the daimyo's wealth and was one of the most heavily guarded places in the castle.
"Lord Kōri!"
Samurai voices greeted him.
Kōri nodded and continued inside.
At the entrance to the underground vault, he checked around and turned to leave.
But halfway through turning, he suddenly spun back: "Hmm? Something's wrong! Someone's entered the vault!"
The samurai looked shocked, glancing between Kōri and the vault entrance.
"Lord Kōri! We just changed shifts. We don't know anything!"
Kōri quickly asked, "Where's the key?"
The daimyo had one key, and the vault guard had the other. Both were needed to open the vault.
The samurai rushed inside and found the key guard restrained by a sealing technique.
"Alarm! Sound the alarm! Someone's infiltrated the vault!"
A sharp alarm rang through the castle.
Everyone who heard it panicked.
Kōri immediately placed a large number of explosive tags on the vault door.
Yoru was envious—at least fifteen explosive tags!
The tags detonated with a roar, blasting the vault door open.
Through the thick smoke, a figure tried to escape.
Kōri and Yoru leaped simultaneously.
One on the left, one on the right—they killed the fleeing intruder.
Kōri couldn't help but glance at Yoru. This Anbu operative was impressive; his Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship were excellent.
As the smoke cleared, the intruder's body was revealed.
A kunai was lodged in his left side, a ninja sword in his right.
Most crucially, his clothes bore the Uzumaki clan emblem!
The samurai captain shouted in shock: "What? A Uzumaki guardian ninja stole from the daimyo's vault?!"
The guardian ninja coughed up blood, staring at Kōri with wide eyes.
Trembling, he raised a hand, pointing at Kōri.
Before he could speak, Yoru acted.
A sweeping kunai cut the Uzumaki guardian ninja's throat.
Kōri had used the Mind Transfer Technique, exploiting the guardian ninja's trust, to control him.
Now the Uzumaki guardian ninja could not explain anything.
Kōri, having learned Konoha's true stance from Black Chimp, showed no mercy in orchestrating the guardian ninja's downfall.
With the guardian ninja and samurai surrounding him, the daimyo arrived at the vault courtyard.
Seeing the destroyed vault door and the dead Uzumaki guardian ninja, the daimyo instinctively stepped toward Konoha's guardians.
In shock and confusion, he demanded: "What happened?!"
Kōri said: "Daimyo! The Uzumaki guardian ninja attempted to steal your vault! I discovered and killed him!"
The daimyo stared at the corpse, then immediately turned to the Uzumaki guardian ninja captain:
"I heard you plan to rebuild Uzumaki Village. Were you planning to use my vault as funds?"
"No!" the Uzumaki captain hurriedly said,
"I never intended that! Completing our missions is the first duty of a ninja. If we fail to uphold this, who would trust us with assignments after Uzumaki Village is rebuilt?"
No matter how much he tried to explain, the daimyo no longer trusted him.
He told Konoha's guardians: "Take action! Capture the Uzumaki guardian ninja!"
The Uzumaki captain knew further explanation was futile; he couldn't die here.
Throwing a smoke bomb, he and several other Uzumaki guardian ninja swiftly escaped.
Kōri arranged: "Three guardian ninja stay with the daimyo. I'll pursue the rest!"
Yoru hurried after him.
Kōri's speed wasn't fast; he kept falling behind, trying to follow the Uzumaki ninja to find the remaining survivors.
Soon, Captain Hippo and the Anbu caught up.
Yoru felt something was off. Why were the Uzumaki guardian ninja leaping across rooftops?
Shouldn't they be sneaking away?
The two pursued them outside the castle.
As soon as they jumped from the wall, Yoru saw a large number of Mist ninja to the side.
The noise had alerted the Mist ninja, who also pursued outside the castle.
A Long Spear Egret flew in, dropping a scroll from the air.
The Uzumaki guardian ninja captain shouted from afar:
"You want the elder's sealing scroll? Come, if you fear not death! I will die, but before I do, I will take you all with me!"
The Mist ninja vastly outnumbered Konoha's forces. The Mist had two squads; Konoha only had one.
The Mist ninja replaced Konoha as the main pursuers. Three parties ran wildly across the terrain.
The Land of Waves had few mountains, unable to block the sea moisture. Rainfall was scarce, leaving large expanses of desert except for some coastal greenery.
After leaving Kyoto, the Uzumaki ninja turned into the barren desert, running recklessly as if their lives depended on it.
The Mist ninja and Konoha were different—they had many people and needed to consider supplies.
"Do we have enough rations?"
"Do we have enough water?"
The squad leaders counted their resources.
For Konoha's Anbu, the real problem now was the Mist ninja. The Uzumaki elder's sealing scroll must not fall into their hands.