One must never forget what they want to do; all actions must be based on this point. For Amane, there were always only two things that mattered most.
One was to live with dignity under the name Uzumaki Tian Yin. The other was her dream—the pursuit of individual strength.
For the former, Amane could only take the long view, seizing every possible opportunity to plan carefully, while also relying on a bit of luck.
As for the latter, it seemed that what she needed to do was much the same as the former.
Amane's Shadow Clone smiled. In any case, the present moment was an opportunity.
The task assigned to this Shadow Clone was simple: after leaving the base, she was to seal the Tongue Binding Seal!
That's right, seal it! Not remove it.
Because the moment she performed a removal operation, Danzo would sense it immediately. As for Ding, it would depend on whether he had the authority to sense it.
Therefore, for the sake of future possibilities, this had to be sealed and not directly undone.
Having gone outside the base to train multiple times over the past few months, Amane had used the knowledge learned in Root to set up several hideouts. Right now, she was inside one of these hidden caves.
In less than half an hour, she had covered the entire hideout with dense Chakra runes.
[Efficiency is really low without using Shadow Clones, but to save Chakra and be as safe as possible, I can only draw them by myself.]
After checking for any errors, Amane sat in the very center. Her hands began to form Hand Seals, mobilizing her Chakra to perform the operation.
Soon, runes crawled from the ground onto Amane's body, then slithered into her mouth and onto her tongue. They then converged into a triangular pattern, completely surrounding the Tongue Binding Seal.
As long as Amane dispelled this Shadow Clone, this seal would appear directly on the original body's tongue; she had already experimented with this point.
Shadow Clone, the eternal god-tier technique.
After cleaning up the traces, Amane walked out of the hideout and came to the riverbank. She stuck out her tongue to look at her recent masterpiece and couldn't help but let out a long, relieved breath.
[It went as smoothly as expected. Now there are no more worries.]
She sincerely had to thank Danzo for his dedicated teaching of Sealing Jutsu, but the grand premise for all of this was an information gap that could never be anticipated through logic.
Who could know that Amane possessed memories from birth, and who could understand that inside this infant's body was the soul of an adult?
And if Amane were not a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Danzo would never have taught her Sealing Jutsu.
So, this was such a fortunate turn of events as anticipated.
But in any case, the mission was complete.
She sensed her remaining Chakra; after all this trouble, she had actually used less than she did when leaving the base with Kagura Minds Eye.
[Tsk tsk tsk, even though I've consumed the amount I've shown outwardly. I'm really looking forward to fighting at full strength; the desire to fight continues to burn within my heart.]
Amane showed an eager expression.
At this point, her mission was complete. Finally, she just needed to dispel herself.
However, since there was still so much energy left, it felt like a bit of a waste to just disappear. But wandering around aimlessly wasn't a good idea either; who knows where Orochimaru might be loitering.
After thinking it over, this Amane decided to follow the footsteps of those heading toward the Hidden Mist Village.
The task of the'Second Sister' over there was ultimately to steal scrolls, not to collect intelligence on the internal combat situation of the Hidden Mist Village.
Amane also really wanted to see what it was like when a real Jonin intended to kill, going all out against a Kage-level or a Jinchuriki powerhouse.
Having found a reason, Amane continued her actions.
Meanwhile, back at the base, the 'Eldest Sister' Amane, who had initially inherited half of Amane's Chakra, realized after several hours of investigation that Ding was likely no longer in the base.
In other words, he had been taken by Mei Terumī to participate in the operation to dispel the Fourth Mizukage's genjutsu.
[They moved so fast. I really didn't expect her to take Ding along. It seems the persona of an honest and serious person has its merits.]
After all, Ding was Danzo's trusted intelligence operative; he had his own tricks for winning trust.
But Amane still felt that Ding's strength was likely the main factor. With a Wind-natured Chakra paired with a sword-fighting style, enemies who reached close-to-mid range usually wouldn't even have a chance to form Hand Seals.
Such a person was the perfect choice for a bodyguard. His instantaneous burst and reactions could crush the vast majority of Ninja, which was also why the Land of Iron held a place in the Ninja World.
[It feels like my task is the easiest; now I'm just staying behind as an insurance policy.]
Thinking of this, the 'Eldest Sister' Amane was happy to enjoy the leisure.
Wearing a stranger's face, she couldn't help but sit down outside a bookstore and pick out some interesting reading material to look through.
In any case, the base was different from the Hidden Mist Village; the Barrier for detecting outsiders here wasn't that strict, provided you weren't deliberately targeted by a Sensing Ninja.
For Amane, who had already learned Kagura Minds Eye, once there was a sign of that, she naturally had ways to get away.
And since we're talking about the Hidden Mist Village's sensing Barrier, we must mention the No. 2 Shadow Clone heading there.
[Eh! Around the base, is this... the Great Clam's genjutsu?]
Midway, in Amane's perception, the position of the base had shifted. Curious and wanting to figure out what happened, Amane went to high ground and looked down.
It was gone.
The original location of the base was now an unfamiliar forest.
[I see, so there's another layer of insurance like this.]
Recalling the trial Mei Terumī had given before, Amane suddenly understood something. However, this didn't have much to do with the Shadow Clones outside, so she continued toward the Hidden Mist Village.
But before she had gone far, she suddenly ran into trouble.
"Come out! I know where you're hiding!"
Wearing masks and dressed in sleek black Ninja outfits with the faint glint of chainmail, these were Hidden Mist Anbu. There were six of them, and they were surrounding the place where Amane was hiding.
[Bad luck, of all things, these guys know Barrier Ninjutsu.]
Originally, after sensing them in advance, Amane had planned to take a slight detour.
Her task was to see if she could fish in troubled waters, so the priority of preserving her state was higher than the other two Amanes.
Unfortunately, her luck was too poor.
Although these six people didn't have very high Chakra levels, they were indeed experts and were quite well-equipped. To save Chakra, Amane hadn't used Kagura Minds Eye for sensing, but used a common Sensing Technique instead, and then she was discovered.
Then, without a word, the six of them moved quickly to use Ninja tools to cast a Barrier Ninjutsu, trapping Amane within a certain area.
[I misjudged; I should have killed one and made a run for it.]
This was a mistake. One reason was the rustiness from not having been in a life-and-death struggle for a while, and the other was Amane's misjudgment of the opponent's strength.
Sensing the Barrier surrounding her, Amane quickly determined that its type was purely for imprisonment.
Sealing Jutsu, Cursed Seal Technique, and Barrier Ninjutsu were inherently closely linked, so Amane could understand them through analogy just like the Cursed Seal Technique.
While breaking it by force would work, the consumption would be more than it was worth. Moreover, this was a Barrier achieved through the assistance of Ninja tools; the opponent could likely set up another one.
[Let's do it.]
There was no other way; Amane showed an excited smile.