After shaking off Ōnoki, Uchiha Yuan sprinted with the Third Raikage's corpse, heading toward the agreed meeting point with Hyuga Asana and Yamanaka Kagetsu.
A ninja's corpse is also a valuable source of intelligence. The less time passes since death, the more can be extracted.
That's why Yuan was in such a hurry—he was truly drooling over the Lightning Chakra Mode of the Raikage.
If he could obtain this technique, he'd focus on developing his own lightning chakra, aiming to master it as soon as possible.
Half a day later, Yuan arrived at the rendezvous point. Asana and Kagetsu were already waiting.
Without pausing to rest, he immediately called out, "Kagetsu! Quick, check the Raikage's body. See what intel we can get!"
Kagetsu took the body and immediately began probing the Raikage's memories. As a member of the Yamanaka clan, he understood the time sensitivity of information.
The process lasted a full hour.
When he finally opened his eyes, sweat drenched his forehead and his face was pale—clearly, the mental toll was enormous.
"You okay, Kagetsu?" Yuan rushed over.
"I'm fine, just drained. Need a moment," he said, closing his eyes again.
After another half-hour of recovery, Kagetsu said, "Yuan, your gamble paid off big time! There's a lot of useful intel in the Third Raikage's memories."
"Does it include the Lightning Chakra Mode and the Hell Stab training methods?" Yuan asked eagerly.
"The Hell Stab part is blurry—I only got fragments. But the Lightning Chakra Mode and related jutsu were mostly recovered."
"Fantastic! That alone makes everything worth it!"
Kagetsu then transcribed all the techniques, including the Lightning Chakra Mode.
The Third Raikage mainly used lightning-style taijutsu. At the core of it all was the Lightning Chakra Mode.
Though only a B-rank jutsu, this technique channels lightning chakra through the entire body, enveloping it in chakra and electricity. It activates the body's cells and enables the use of Lightning Body Flicker, dramatically boosting defense.
More impressively, the lightning enhances neural conduction, increasing reaction speed.
Complementary jutsu include Lightning Body Flicker, Heavy Current Explosion (重流爆), Lightning Oppression Horizontal, and Liger Bomb more than ten techniques in total.
Beyond the lightning-style taijutsu, there were also many general lightning-style techniques.
Just for these jutsu alone, the risk Yuan took had paid off handsomely.
"Kagetsu, aside from jutsu, any other intel?" Yuan asked.
"Right now, the most valuable would be Kumo's troop deployments and how they develop Perfect Jinchūriki."
Yuan was more interested in the troop data. As for the Perfect Jinchūriki part, that had already been shown in the original series—mainly tied to Turtle Island. Even knowing about it didn't mean he could access it.
Still, just in case the Fourth Raikage had hidden details, Yuan patiently listened as Kagetsu recited everything.
Turned out, the Fourth Raikage really was "straightforward and honest"—the intel matched the original story almost exactly.
"Kagetsu, everything we discovered and the jutsu you wrote down must be kept strictly confidential. Tell no one, got it?" Hyuga Asana said sternly.
Having worked as a team with Yuan and Asana for so long, Kagetsu trusted them deeply and agreed without hesitation.
"Yuan, what will you do with the Raikage's body now?" Asana asked, changing the subject.
"He's no longer useful to us—but Kumo still holds him in high regard. The best move is to use his body to extort them and squeeze out the corpse's remaining value."
Kagetsu was stunned. "Yuan, calm down! Us three negotiating with an entire village? That's insane!"
"Who said we're going directly? The bounty exchange network spread across the ninja world is the perfect place to trade.
Every village has informants in the exchange system. We just need to leak the word through it, and Kumo will come to us."
Asana and Kagetsu exchanged glances—they agreed, this was a viable plan.
"So we head out now?" Kagetsu asked.
Yuan nodded, stored the body and scrolls in his storage ring, and set out for the nearest bounty station.
Before entering, all three used Transformation Jutsu to alter their appearances. Yuan and Asana even created shadow clones, making them appear as five people total.
Asana and Kagetsu carefully scanned the interior of the exchange. Confirming they could handle any danger inside, they entered.
Back during the Bear Country campaign, Yuan had acquired a 10-million-ryō voucher from the ice-style ninja Kiyoshi.
Together with the two clones, the group approached the counter and cashed the voucher. Then, putting on a veteran's demeanor, they inquired how much the Third Raikage's corpse was worth.
Yuan's words immediately drew attention from the bounty staff—especially the Kumo informants in disguise, who rushed over.
"You five have the Third Raikage's body?" one asked.
"Are you buying?"
"If it's real, absolutely," the Kumo agent replied.
Yuan then pulled the corpse from his ring.
When informants from all villages saw it, their faces changed.
They had heard the Third Raikage had fallen during the Iwa assault—but didn't expect his body to show up here.
"Name your price," the Kumo agent said.
"The Raikage's head is worth 60 million ryō on the books," said a staffer. "You could sell him to us directly."
Yuan heard this and was slightly disappointed. The Raikage was worth less than he expected. Asuma was worth 30 million—and the mighty Third Raikage only fetched two Asumas?
(To Be Continued...)