With this shocking changes in Konoha, the one who benefited the most was Sora, who manipulated everything from behind the scenes.
It wasn't just the issue of Konoha's internal strife, as he had also practically obtained a large amount of material for his Shinigamification Experiments.
The souls of Minato, Fugaku, and numerous members of the Uchiha Clan had all been collected by Sora.
Moreover,
Konoha's Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, truly did not disappoint Sora.
After enduring the pain of the soul surgery, he formed a Shinigami-transformed soul body, becoming the second successful surviving test subject after Shisui.
"Chakra combines the power of the body and spirit. The stronger a Ninja is, the stronger their Chakra. Correspondingly, their mental power, or soul power, is also stronger."
"And Namikaze Minato's god-speed reflexes precisely prove one thing: he possessed an unimaginably powerful soul force."
Sora murmured to himself. This was his earlier hypothesis, now turned into reality. After a period of stabilization, Minato would enter a perfect Shinigami-transformed state, giving Sora another excellent test subject.
Clearly,
Everything was developing in a positive direction.
As time passed,
After completing some fixed experimental procedures, Sora left this hidden laboratory base near Konoha Village.
A Garganta opened.
The other end connected to Kirigakure.
This was the ability of the Garganta. For any place Sora had been to, he could set a spatial coordinate. Then he could travel between any two coordinates without any distance limitations, which is far more convenient than the Flying Thunder God Technique.
At dawn, Sora returned to his residence.
Kirigakure was already shrouded in a layer of white mist, making the view hazy and unclear.
Soon,
Before Sora could even steady his footing, he heard hurried footsteps outside the room.
"Sora!"
"Sora, you're finally back!"
The door was pulled open roughly, followed by an extremely anxious female voice.
Sora looked up, and found the person arriving was Haruko.
"What happened?"
Sora stepped forward and supported Haruko, who had nearly fallen due to her anxiety.
"Haku! It's Haku!"
"Haku has been kidnapped!"
Haruko's face was initially distraught, but seeing Sora return, her panicked and helpless heart finally stabilized somewhat.
"Haku was kidnapped?"
Sora slightly furrowed his brow.
'The Anbu had assigned people to protect Haruko-nee and Haku. Moreover, the Ninjas responsible for protection weren't weak. Could something still have happened under such circumstances?'
'And…'
'I had no recollection of a similar event happening in the original plot.'
"Don't worry."
"I'm here."
Sora calmed Haruko's emotions. As he frowned, a flash of cold killing intent passed between his brows.
'Daring to lay hands on my family… it seemed they're eager to go to the Pure Land.'
Sora soon left the Yuki Clan's compound. Kirigakure's Anbu were stationed there, having set up a cordon, completely blocking off an area of the street corner.
In the distance,
One could see marks of kunai and shuriken attacks on the walls by the street at a glance. Blood was splattered all over the road, clearly indicating an intense battle had occurred here.
'Kidnapping someone…'
'Charging directly into the Yuki Clan's compound in Kirigakure Village to kidnap someone?'
Sora's expression grew increasingly stern and unfriendly.
"Mizukage-sama!"
"Sir!"
Several Anbu on guard duty, seeing Sora's arrival, immediately used Body Flicker to approach, knelt on one knee, and respectfully recounted what had happened earlier.
Haku had been kidnapped.
The perpetrators…
Were Kumogakure's Jonin!
That's right
After retreating from the Karra Island battlefield, the typically violent Kumogakure did not remain quiet. Instead, they dispatched a team composed of Elite Jonin, infiltrated Kirigakure, and kidnapped Haku just as he was returning home from the Academy.
The Kirigakure's Anbu assigned to protect Haku engaged in a fierce battle with the Kumogakure's Elite Jonin. But the attackers were absurdly strong, ending the battle in seconds, and quickly kidnapped Haku.
And…
When leaving, they activated the Heavenly Transfer Technique.
No one expected Kumogakure's Elite Jonin to use this technique inside Kirigakure itself.
It caught the elite Kirigakure's Ninjas completely off guard, forcing them to watch helplessly as Haku was taken.
"Heavenly Transfer Technique?"
Sora took a deep breath.
The Heavenly Transfer Technique was also a spatial transportation technique. Unlike the Flying Thunder God Technique, this technique caused significant damage to the body.
Without a robust physique or recovery ability, one would be torn apart by the spatial turbulence generated during transport.
So…
The strength of the attackers must have been considerable.
Sora's mind even conjured the name of the prime suspect.
'The Fourth Raikage, A!'
'Probably only this Kage-level brute could withstand the damage of the Heavenly Transfer Technique and safely take Haku away.'
Thinking about it, this fit Kumogakure's usual style perfectly. If they wanted something, they just took it by force… they're pure bandits of the Ninja World.
But this time,
The grim expression on Sora's face indicated that Kumogakure, accustomed to acting like bullies, would likely pay an extremely heavy price for this.