Hayato Ren and Mei Terumi then carefully made their way through the bushes.
Soon, a rather crude-looking small wooden cabin appeared before the two of them.
In front of the cabin was a small pond.
The Three-Tails Jinchuriki was sitting by the pond, with both legs submerged in the water, staring blankly ahead.
This peculiar scene couldn't help but make Mei Terumi's body tremble slightly several times.
This guy really is a monster.
How could a normal human possibly show such a bizarre expression?
Just as Mei Terumi was having second thoughts in her heart, a large hand suddenly enveloped her right hand.
At the same time, an inexplicable sense of security suddenly surged into Mei Terumi's heart.
Mei Terumi turned her head to look at Hayato Ren, and actually felt a sense of admiration rising within her.
But soon, she dismissed the strange feeling in her heart.
After all, as a future ninja, how could she rely on someone like Hayato Ren, an "ordinary person"?
Their relationship should be the other way around.
Half an hour passed, and the Three-Tails Jinchuriki still hadn't moved at all, maintaining the same posture and expression as before.
Just when Mei Terumi was growing impatient, he finally placed his hands on the ground and pulled his legs out of the pond.
However, this sight nearly made Mei Terumi scream out loud.
She saw that there was a large cluster of wriggling leeches on the Three-Tails Jinchuriki's legs. Anyone afraid of bugs or with trypophobia would probably faint on the spot at such a sight.
The bugs appeared to be ordinary leeches, but their numbers were abnormally high.
At that moment, a strange smile suddenly appeared on the Three-Tails Jinchuriki's face.
Immediately after, he reached down, plucked a leech from his leg, and directly stuffed it into his mouth, starting to chew.
This horrifying scene finally made Mei Terumi unable to hold back.
Mei Terumi gagged several times, going "yue."
The noise obviously caught the attention of the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
So, without delay, Mei Terumi grabbed Hayato Ren and ran away.
For some reason, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki didn't chase after Mei Terumi and the other.
Instead, he showed a thoughtful expression and then continued "eating."
After dragging Hayato Ren for over ten li in one breath, Mei Terumi finally stopped, panting heavily.
Turning to look back and seeing no one was following, Mei Terumi leaned against Hayato Ren, gasping for air while speaking with lingering fear:
"The legend is actually true. That guy must be a monster. To actually eat something like that, it's just too disgusting."
Although leeches can be used as medicine after being dried, stuffing a live leech directly into the mouth and eating it alive...
It had a tremendous impact on Mei Terumi's young mind.
Hayato Ren looked at the Mei Terumi before him and reached out to pat her head.
"Thanks to you, I've gained some good inspiration. As a reward, how about I treat you to barbecue later?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Terumi's face showed no smile; instead, it grew even paler.
"No, I don't want to eat meat again for at least a week."
After saying this, Mei Terumi tightly covered her mouth with her hand.
Ren Hayato truly felt no discomfort, as battlefields were a hundred times more gruesome than what they had just witnessed.
Things like intestines and internal organs were often scattered all over the ground.
That earlier scene was nothing more than child's play to Ren Hayato.
However, Ren was quite curious about why the Three-Tails Jinchuriki would do such a thing.
Had he been driven mad by the Three-Tails? But judging by his eyes, that didn't seem to be the case.
Moreover, Ren had Haunter hide in the shadows to investigate the surroundings.
Surprisingly, there were no Anbu guards around the Three-Tails Jinchuriki. Was the Hidden Mist Village really that lax with their Jinchuriki?
Ren planned to have Haunter investigate further tonight.
In the shadows, Haunter's concealment ability was no less effective than White Zetsu's.
Even a ninja with exceptionally strong sensory abilities like Kushina couldn't detect Haunter's presence.
Only when entering Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode could Kushina discover Haunter's traces.
Indeed, after more than a year of persistent persuasion, the Nine-Tails had finally agreed to lend its power to Kushina.
However, in exchange, the Nine-Tails needed to be let out for "fresh air" periodically.
This was done through the Summoning Technique, calling forth a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra to form a Tiny Nine-Tails.
It was worth mentioning that the Tiny Nine-Tails' favorite food turned out to be fried tofu - truly fitting for a great fox.
The sun soon handed over its shift to the moon and went home to sleep.
As the last ray of sunlight disappeared from the earth, a portion of Ren Hayato's shadow suddenly separated.
It swiftly darted toward the place where the Three-Tails Jinchuriki resided.
Haunter quickly arrived at the small wooden cabin. The Three-Tails Jinchuriki was just as before, still soaking his legs in the water with vacant eyes.
Haunter made a face at the Jinchuriki's back, then swaggered into the wooden cabin.
The furnishings inside were quite simple - just a table with chairs and a wooden bed.
The layer of dust on the bed indicated that it hadn't been slept in for a long time.
After rummaging through everything, Haunter found nothing useful. It had even checked under the table and bed, finding nothing but thick dust besides.
This discovery made Haunter scratch its chin in frustration. Was it going to return empty-handed today?
Just then, a sudden inspiration struck Haunter.
It slowly floated behind the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and tapped him on the shoulder.
The moment the Jinchuriki turned his head, Haunter used Hypnosis on him.
With a "thud," the Three-Tails Jinchuriki's body fell to the ground.
A smile appeared on Haunter's face. If it had known this guy would be so easy to deal with, why had it been so careful earlier?
After mocking itself for a moment, Haunter began searching through the Three-Tails Jinchuriki's belongings.
Before long, it made a discovery.
Looking at the scroll in its hand, Haunter let out an evil chuckle.
It couldn't wait to return to Hayato Ren's side and receive praise.
After taking one last look at the sleeping Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Haunter took the scroll and vanished into the night...