On the high platform.
Within Kyo's Spiritual Pressure Perception,
He immediately saw those intelligence operatives leaving.
However, they had of course each left some people behind, still keeping a close watch on this place.
A faint smile immediately appeared on the corners of Kyo's mouth.
Sure enough,
Just as he expected.
Upon learning of the Sharingan's existence, the intelligence operatives from every village couldn't remain calm.
Especially in such a special place as this.
This Kikyo Castle, although located within the Land of Fire and very close to Konoha,
In reality, Konoha's reach simply couldn't extend here.
Therefore, even if Shinobi from other villages secretly infiltrated this place, Konoha had no reason to interfere.
I'm just here sightseeing, and incidentally claiming a bounty mission, not affecting your Konoha at all. What right do you have to control me?
Are you trying to maliciously disrupt the peace between our villages?
Basically,
As long as this kind of reasoning was used, Konoha could only silently accept the situation.
Because of this,
Kyo chose to operate under the identity of the wanted individual "Kitsune Ogre".
Because only in this way, when the other major villages considered making a move, they wouldn't have any scruples.
After all, the so-called Shinobi World bounty,
Was originally something anyone in the Shinobi World could participate in, even the party that issued the bounty had no right to interfere.
And next,
There was only one thing Kyo needed to do.
That was to wait.
He only needed to wait for this matter to slowly ferment,
Then he could officially begin to establish the name of "Las Noches" within this Shinobi World.
However,
He wondered who would come by then.
Kyo pondered as he looked towards the system interface.
There, a series of side missions were listed, along with the names of various famous Shinobi.
Each one was a mission to defeat.
That is to say,
By then, no matter who came,
As long as Kyo defeated them, he could easily complete side missions, while also increasing his bounty and Las Noches' fame.
Not just efficient, it was incredibly efficient.
The corners of Kyo's mouth slightly curled, and he wasn't at all worried about running out of time.
After all, as long as he didn't excessively consume his own Spiritual Pressure, he could maintain his Hollowfied masked state indefinitely through [Recovery Medicine].
It was a huge payoff with minimal investment.
...
At that moment.
In a distant, dark corner.
The masked man, Tobi Uchiha, gradually calmed down from his earlier shock.
His expression was slightly dark as he stared at the Kitsune Ogre ahead.
Although he was indeed angry inside,
He also knew he couldn't lose his composure.
Now,
He needed to go find out if Kyo was really... in this Kikyo Castle.
If he wasn't found,
Then it would mean... the Kitsune Ogre before him was him in disguise.
And if he was there, it was even simpler.
He only needed to let Kyo fight this Kitsune Ogre first, then he would seize the opportunity to ambush, and finally, take back the Sharingan.
Swish.
After a flicker of his gaze, the masked man's figure was immediately sucked into a spatial swirl.
He began searching for Kyo around the black market.
...
Ten minutes passed.
Every time the masked man passed a location,
His expression darkened further, and the unease in his heart grew stronger.
He had almost finished searching the entire Kikyo Castle, yet he still hadn't found any trace of Kyo.
"Tsk..."
The masked man slightly gritted his teeth.
He stood on the rooftop of Kikyo Castle's tallest building, his expression gloomy.
"Could it be... my guess was correct..."
"That Kitsune Ogre guy really is... the Golden Eye Kyo in disguise..."
Just as he was pondering,
Suddenly, a calm voice came from behind him.
Directly interrupting his thoughts.
"Hey, Tobi!"
"?!"
Hearing this familiar voice,
Before even turning around, the masked man felt his body shake, his expression changing dramatically!
'Wait...!'
'This voice... how could it be...?!'
'It's... Kyo?!'
While utterly horrified, the masked man instantly turned around, directly looking at the figure before him!
However, what he saw was-
On a bench ahead on the rooftop, Kyo, dressed in his red cloud black robe, sat in a very leisurely posture, a smile on his face.
In his hand, he held a skewer of dumplings.
"?!"
Seeing this scene, the masked man's pupils abruptly constricted,
Instinctively, he suddenly looked sharply towards the distant bounty black market, and the result... was a sight that sent a chill down his spine.
That white Kitsune Ogre was still on the high platform, accepting challenges from bounty hunters!
Two figures, appearing simultaneously!
'...????'
At this moment, the masked man was completely dumbfounded.
All his previous suspicions and guesses were completely shattered in this instant!
'Kyo...'
'And Kitsune Ogre...'
'Really are damn two different people?!'
"..."
The masked man's pupil was still sharply constricted, staring intently at Kyo, desperately trying to find any flaw in him.
But after a long time, he saw nothing unusual at all!
This was exactly the same as his usual appearance!
Whether in aura or appearance, it was absolutely not something any Clone Technique or Transformation Technique could achieve!
Even a Shadow Clone Technique with a physical body couldn't possibly make the appearance and aura of the original and the clone completely different!!
'But... how could this be...!?'
The huge psychological gap left the masked man frozen in place for an instant.
He had originally thought he had discovered the true identity of the Kitsune Ogre mask, but never expected...
Everything... was just his own mistaken inference!
...
Just then,
The Kyo across from him seemed to notice something was off.
He frowned slightly and said:
"Hey, Tobi, what are you doing standing there frozen?"
"Herniated disc acting up?"
"..."
As the words fell, the masked man finally snapped out of it.
Ignoring Kyo's mention of a disc, he instinctively spoke, asking in a deep voice:
"Why... are you here?!"
His voice was very low.
However, as soon as the words fell, Kyo across from him frowned again and said with a puzzled expression:
"Huh?"
"What's going on, Tobi? Why did your voice get so deep?"
"Could it be someone impersonating you?"
"...?"
Thump!
At these words, the masked man was momentarily stunned, then his expression abruptly froze.
He suddenly realized something was wrong!
'Damn! This is bad!'
'I had gotten so used to speaking in my Madara tone lately that I forgot I was supposed to be the intern Tobi right now!'
The masked man panicked internally.
He quickly coughed, and rapidly switched his voice back to Tobi's goofy mode.
Then, he quickly moved close to Kyo and chuckled:
"Ahh! Sorry about that!"
"Just joking around a little, Kyo-senpai!"
"Hey, who would possibly impersonate me, Tobi... right!?"
The masked man instantly switched to actor mode and began to play along.
However,
He still couldn't completely conceal a trace of panic.
As if afraid his identity would be exposed.
Kyo found it amusing inside, but his expression remained unchanged as he nodded and casually said:
"Oh, is that so."
"Speaking of which, before I saw you just now, I thought that Kitsune Ogre down there might be you in disguise."
"Huh???"
The masked man's face turned green.
'This guy... actually thought that Kitsune Ogre... was me in disguise???'
'And I thought it was you in disguise!!'
"..."
After a moment of silence, the masked man spoke again in Tobi's tone, pretending to be casual:
"Hey, senpai, why are you here?"
"I heard from the other seniors in the organization that you went to track down the traitor Orochimaru..."
"Could it be that Orochimaru is also in this city...?"
The masked man asked probingly.
As the words fell,
Kyo immediately rolled his eyes and said flatly:
"If I said I suspect Kitsune Ogre is Orochimaru, would you believe me?"
"..."
The masked man's expression darkened.
'Like hell I'd believe it!'
'You seem to think everyone is Kitsune Ogre?!'
However,
Although thinking this inside,
The masked man naturally didn't forget his main purpose. He immediately changed the subject and chuckled:
"Hey, senpai?"
"Do you still remember that you promised to help me defeat that Kitsune Ogre guy down there?"
"Should we go down now?!"
"Hehe, I can't wait to see your True Eye of the King shine!!"
The masked man immediately pretended to be excited, waving his arms and speaking loudly.
His true purpose was, of course, to instigate a fight.
However, after hearing this,
Kyo just chuckled lightly and shook his head, saying:
"We could fight him, but there's no need."
"...Huh?"
The masked man was momentarily stunned.
'What's going on? This guy wants to coast?'
However,
Before he could ponder, Kyo looked at him with a smile and suddenly began to analyze leisurely:
"Don't you understand yet, Tobi?"
"This Kitsune Ogre's goal seems to be provoking the bounty hunters to fight him."
"But in fact, since he's already brought out the Sharingan, we can basically conclude that what he really wants to provoke is... the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"
"...?!"
As these words fell, the masked man's expression shook.
'What?!'
'Provoke the Five Great Shinobi Villages!?'
'Wait...'
'Is that really it...?!'
The masked man's gaze flickered slightly, suddenly understanding a bit.
He had previously thought that Kitsune Ogre's behavior was too suspicious, but he never expected that Kyo's analysis would actually hit the mark!
At that moment,
Kyo continued with a smile:
"And since we've confirmed he wants to provoke the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it's even simpler."
"We can just wait here quietly for the elite Shinobi from the villages to arrive, let them fight Kitsune Ogre first."
"And at the end..."
"We two make our move, and can directly profit from the conflict - defeat Kitsune Ogre, take the Sharingan, and claim the bounty."
"After that, we just need to leave here, and we're the real winners."
"Isn't that right?"
Kyo stared at the masked man Tobi, speaking in an ambiguous tone.
Hearing this to the end,
The masked man's breath caught slightly, and he was stunned.
Although before this, he had always been very distrustful of this guy Kyo...
At this moment, he actually found it absurdly plausible that what this guy said-
Actually made some sense...