The effect of the carpet search was quite effective, but it was also labor-intensive.
Uchiha Kiyo was fortunate—before covering even a third of the Land of Rain, he received a response from one of his clones.
At this point, the clone stationed in the Land of Rain had reached the level of an elite Chunin, not far from breaking through to the rank of Special Jonin.
Ever since the start of the Second Shinobi World War, Uchiha Kiyo had deployed this clone. It could be said that this particular clone was the true embodiment of perseverance and dedication.
For years, it had been operating within the black market, growing from a lowly Genin to its current level, all without committing any truly heinous acts.
Especially now, as a near-Jonin-level combatant, it had touched upon the threshold of high-level combat power within the shinobi world.
Even within a powerful village like Konoha, such ninjas were considered pillars of strength.
Additionally, with no dark history or criminal record, this clone was an ideal candidate for recruitment into the Akatsuki organization.
Normally, Uchiha Kiyo maintained minimal contact with this clone to avoid drawing attention. His primary concern was the ever-watchful presence of Black Zetsu, who was likely keeping tabs on the Land of Rain, given that Nagato, the heir to Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan, resided there.
At this moment, however, Nagato was still under Jiraiya's tutelage, making it highly probable that Black Zetsu's surveillance was somewhat relaxed. Nevertheless, Uchiha Kiyo remained cautious throughout this journey, keeping his Hidden Presence Technique active and continuously utilizing his Spiritual Perception.
Over the past two years, Uchiha Kiyo had primarily focused on the study of spiritual energy, and naturally, his secret technique—Spiritual Perception—had seen considerable improvements.
The technique had evolved not only in range but also in finer details.
Currently, Uchiha Kiyo's main body could effortlessly maintain a perception range of one kilometer and, in an extreme state, could extend this range to five kilometers for a short duration of ten minutes.
While the fundamental principle of Spiritual Perception had not changed, Uchiha Kiyo had refined its execution significantly. The most notable advancement was in what the technique allowed him to perceive.
Previously, Spiritual Perception provided a rough, silhouette-like mapping of objects, detecting chakra signatures and structures without any visual clarity. It was akin to a black-and-white sonar map with chakra reactions lighting up within his mind.
Now, however, things had changed.
By incorporating light perception into his Spiritual Perception, Uchiha Kiyo had devised a way to differentiate various materials, textures, and even colors. He essentially "wrote" this information into his spiritual energy, allowing him to visualize his surroundings in full detail within his mind.
Now, anything within Uchiha Kiyo's Spiritual Perception appeared as though he were seeing it with his own eyes.
Unless an opponent could completely phase into a different dimension or manipulate light itself, even a master of concealment like Black Zetsu would struggle to evade his detection.
Without any mishaps along the way, Uchiha Kiyo successfully updated the clone.
"Next is Tushi and Ma Jia."
Both of them possessed the Annihilation and Restoration Technique, allowing direct communication with the main body. This made finding them much easier.
"I'll check on Tushi first. It's been a long journey."
Once the Rain Country Clone update was complete, it immediately separated from Uchiha Kiyo and resumed its wandering existence.
Wasting no time, Uchiha Kiyo moved on to his next task—replenishing the other two clones.
"Finally, you're here."
Tushi, the Earth Clone, grumbled as Uchiha Kiyo arrived.
Uchiha Kiyo could only shake his head at the complaint. "You're the one in a hurry?"
Not wanting to waste time on further complaints, Uchiha Kiyo quickly formed hand seals.
"Come back."
With that, the Earth Clone collapsed to the ground, its chakra withdrawn and returned to the main body.
Unlike the previous two clones, Tushi and Ma Jia had frequent memory-sharing sessions with Uchiha Kiyo. Because of this, the sheer volume of memories transferred was significantly greater. However, since Uchiha Kiyo regularly synchronized his consciousness with them, he could assimilate the information without suffering from mental overload.
This time, the transferred memories only covered the past five days, and unfortunately, there was no particularly valuable intelligence within them.
Repeating the process, Uchiha Kiyo reformed the Earth Clone using a Shadow Clone and reinforced it with the Five Elements Seal.
The newly replenished Tushi sat up, brushing the dirt off his clothes.
With the memory update complete, there was no more complaining.
Tushi understood his mission, gave a brief nod to the main body, and departed.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kiyo recovered his chakra and set off toward the Land of Wind.
"Alright, time to get moving."
On Tushi's end, after being replenished, he immediately set out on his own task.
Over the past two years, he had thoroughly studied the layout of Iwagakure. With extensive training, his Primordial Cultivation Technique had significantly enhanced his chakra reserves and overall combat proficiency.
With the addition of combat experience from countless Shadow Clone engagements, Tushi had reached the level of an elite Jonin. Even if he couldn't defeat a Kage-level opponent in direct combat, his evasion and survival skills were impeccable.
Thus, he felt highly confident about his upcoming mission.
"I'm not planning to fight a Kage. I'm just sneaking into Iwagakure to steal something. There shouldn't be any Kage-level opponents waiting for me... right?"
Iwagakure was built within a mountainous region, its terrain providing a natural fortress.
However, this very design resulted in flaws within the village's barrier defenses.
Even though Iwagakure had minimized the barrier's range to mitigate these vulnerabilities, there were still sections where the terrain interfered.
Some mountains had barrier coverage, but there were gaps underground where the barrier failed to extend fully.
These hidden passageways were Tushi's entry points.
Approaching Iwagakure from an indirect route, Tushi activated his Hidden Presence Technique, using his natural agility to traverse the mountainous terrain.
Since he had completely suppressed his chakra signature, there was no risk of being detected via sensory techniques.
With a single figure moving soundlessly through the rocky expanse, Tushi blended into the landscape, becoming nearly impossible to detect.
After carefully navigating the outer defenses, he reached the edge of the barrier.
Locating one of the pre-identified gaps, he stopped a hundred meters away from the boundary and activated Earth Movement Technique.
Two years ago, he had obtained Iwagakure's Rock Concealment Technique from an earlier mission. Using that knowledge, he had refined his Earth Movement Technique to near perfection.
And surprisingly, this improvement was not accomplished by Uchiha Kiyo's main body but by the Earth Clone itself.
Since two years ago, Tushi and Ma Jia had taken on the responsibility of refining Uchiha Kiyo's proficiency in Earth and Wind techniques, allowing the main body to focus on other pursuits.
After burrowing approximately 100 meters underground, Tushi finally located the unprotected gap in the barrier.
He couldn't be sure if this flaw was accidental or deliberately left open.
If he had to guess, it was likely intentional—after all, even Jinchuriki needed secret escape routes.
And no shinobi village was ever truly united. There were always hidden factions and political schemes at play.
Without entering right away, Tushi placed a specialized kunai outside the barrier—one calibrated to allow long-distance substitution over five kilometers.
Once the kunai was secure, he slipped into Iwagakure through the underground passage.
Stealthily moving toward his target location, he refrained from using the Earth Movement Technique to travel further.
Iwagakure, being the origin of Rock Concealment, likely had detection measures in place.
Instead, he donned a forged Iwa forehead protector and suppressed his chakra to the level of a mere Genin.
Disguised as a low-ranking Iwa shinobi, he moved toward the secluded waterfall behind the village—his true objective.
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