Meanwhile, on the other side.
Kyo, traveling within the Garganta, stood on the Spirit Particle Path, raised his hand with a smile, and deactivated his Hollowfication.
Whoosh!
The color on his body began to slowly revert back to its normal state.
The Kitsune Ogre mask on his face dissolved into moon-white Spirit Particles and gradually disappeared, revealing his handsome face once more.
And the clothes on his body immediately switched automatically.
From the elegant white Las Noches attire, they transformed back into the loose Akatsuki's red cloud and black robe.
The sword at his waist also changed from a pure, bright white back to its normal black scabbard and silver blade.
"Haah..."
After deactivating everything, Kyo slowly exhaled, a smile on his face.
This way, the initial step of the Las Noches plan was finally complete.
If things went as expected,
Before long, the notoriety of Las Noches would begin to spread rapidly, and its influence would greatly increase.
Furthermore, his own bounty amount would start to rise quickly, and the rewards for those series of side missions would be secured.
Not bad at all.
This time, just sending the Fourth Raikage flying was enough to spread throughout the Shinobi World directly, leaving behind plenty of rumors.
In other words, he could finally rest a bit.
For a long time to come, he probably wouldn't need to appear in this identity again.
Admittedly,
Although the Hollowfied form had a ridiculously high style factor, his current appearance was still more comfortable.
Just as Kyo was pondering this,
At that moment, the system's prompt sound opportunely rang in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations Host!]
[You have successfully launched the first battle of 'Las Noches' in the shinobi world! Fame has greatly increased, influence has greatly grown!]
[Current Influence Level: LV.1 (Starting to Show Promise)!]
[Influence Breakthrough Reward: [Otherworldly Summoning Technique - Gillian Menos Grande x10]!]
"-?!"
As the prompt sound faded, Kyo's mind stirred, and he was momentarily stunned.
'Hmm?'
'What the... ???'
'Another strange summoning technique has actually appeared!'
'From last time, the big dog's Bankai, Kokujo Tengen Myo'o, to now, directly ten Gillian Menos Grande???'
'This is just absurd, right?!'
Kyo couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.
'Was something like this summoned specifically to fight Tailed Beasts head-on?'
'No, wait, there are also the Great Buddha and Susano'o!'
'In the later stages, it really is a battle of the Shinobi World's giant robots!'
After pondering for a moment,
Kyo shook his head, smiled, and closed the system interface.
Now was naturally not the time to think about this.
After all, that Portable Gigai outside would soon deplete its Spiritual Energy; he had to go switch identities back immediately.
Thinking this, Kyo opened the Garganta.
He positioned the Garganta's opening directly behind that building's rooftop, behind a wall.
About ten meters away from the center of the rooftop.
What needed to be done next,
Was simply to have the Gigai Kyo walk over from that side.
Then, after entering behind the wall, when nearing the main body, Kyo would directly act, deactivate the Gigai state, and easily make it disappear.
Then, the main body would continue walking out from behind the wall.
Everything would be perfectly completed.
This kind of operation sounded very complicated, but in reality, it was just a matter of a single thought to swap, very simple.
...
And at this moment, on the rooftop.
After being silent for a while, the masked man decided to return to Amegakure.
He needed to properly discuss matters concerning this "Las Noches" with Pain and Konan.
He absolutely could not let the Tailed Beast Collection Plan go wrong.
Thinking this,
The masked man switched back to Tobi's voice mode, looked at Kyo, and said:
"Hey, senpai, should we return to Amegakure now?"
"There doesn't seem to be anything interesting here anymore, right?"
"After all..."
"Senpai, you don't have the ability to find that Kitsune Ogre either, do you?"
The masked man Tobi deliberately said this.
Kyo's consistent slacking off naturally made him quite displeased.
However, he couldn't show it too obviously.
As his words faded, the Gigai Kyo simply raised an eyebrow slightly and said with a very relaxed smile:
"Okay! Let's go then!"
As his words faded,
He turned around without hesitation and walked directly forward in a carefree manner.
Hands in the pockets of his Akatsuki robe, his pace leisurely and carefree.
"..."
Seeing this relaxed and cheerful back, the masked man's expression darkened to the extreme.
'This damn Kyo, is he crazy?'
'When I wanted you to go down and deal with the Kitsune Ogre earlier, why weren't you this proactive?!'
'The moment I mention returning to Amegakure, you turn tail without a second word?'
'This guy is even more cautious than me!!'
'And what's with that incredibly relaxed look?!'
'You promised to go down and help defeat the Kitsune Ogre to snatch the Sharingan, and now we haven't gotten a single one. Aren't you embarrassed?!'
The masked man's expression was gloomy, momentarily at a loss for words.
However, at this moment,
What he didn't know was that…
Within the brief two seconds it took Kyo to pass through that wall, the identity swap had already been completed!
The Gigai Kyo disappeared, and the main body Kyo officially returned.
However, because Kyo consistently maintained good control over his own aura,
The masked man naturally didn't notice this subtle operation.
After a moment of silence, he followed.
...
Order in Kikyo Castle began to return to normal once again.
And at this moment,
Two men wearing loose Akatsuki's robes arrived at the recent battlefield location.
A breeze passed by, leaving a desolate scene.
They were the Akatsuki's working duo, Kakuzu and Fujii, who had rushed over hoping to make some money.
And now, seeing the scene before them, the two were momentarily dumbfounded.
Fujii beside him frowned and said:
"What's the deal, Kakuzu?"
"Did we... arrive too late?"
As his words faded,
Kakuzu's expression darkened slightly, then he let out a light, cold snort, and said:
"Tch, what lousy luck."
"If we hadn't encountered some troublesome guys on the road, we might have been able to get here earlier."
That's right.
Upon receiving the news, Kakuzu, as one of the bounty hunters, naturally prepared to rush over immediately.
But on the way, he was stopped by a group of old enemies.
So he had to defeat those enemies together with Fujii before continuing.
Unexpectedly,
By the time they arrived here, everyone was gone.
"..."
After a moment of silence, the run-of-the-mill-looking Fujii waved his hand and said:
"Since that's the case, forget it,"
"Let's go back."
As his words faded,
Kakuzu's expression naturally still showed some reluctance.
This was a whole ninety million ryo high-level bounty.
Not being able to earn it was truly a pity.
However,
What he didn't know was that,
If he had actually made it here, what awaited him might have been a severe beating.
Perhaps he would have lost a few more of his newly acquired hearts.
After all, in Kyo's series of side missions, there was still one hanging, which was to cumulatively destroy five of Kakuzu's hearts...
But that's another story.
...
At this moment.
In the distant Konoha Village.
Within the Hokage's Office, the people returning from Kikyo Castle had arrived.
The four Anbu's members who had slacked off the whole time naturally, shortly after returning, had rejoined their unit without needing to report.
As for Danzo, he didn't even come to the Hokage's Office; he simply went back on his own, closing the door and refusing to see anyone.
Therefore, the ones now standing before the desk were only two people.
Hatake Kakashi.
Might Guy.
And at this moment,
There was one other person in the office.
He was Konoha's genius strategist, Nara Shikaku.
He stood beside the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, unsmiling.
Originally, he had come here to discuss other important matters.
Unexpectedly,
He just happened to encounter Kakashi and Guy returning to report.
So,
Hiruzen asked him to stay and listen as well, to help analyze the situation.
After all, when it came to tactical thinking and overall perspective, there were few in all of Konoha who could compare to Shikaku.
Therefore, Hiruzen naturally trusted him completely.