The following days brought a brief period of calm.
The Allied Ninja Forces had already been assembled, but the search parties weren't yielding much success—they hadn't managed to locate even a single Akatsuki member.
Since Akatsuki had already captured all the Jinchuriki except for the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails hosts, they only needed to proceed with the sealing process.
However, sealing required a massive amount of chakra. After every sealing operation, it would take several days to fully recover their chakra reserves.
Meanwhile, Zetsu and Setsuna Uchiha had already devised their plan.
The plan was straightforward—once all seven tailed beasts were sealed away, the Six Paths of Pain would definitely go after either Naruto or B. That would leave Nagato's true form unguarded, creating the perfect opportunity.
At this moment, Shindai was leisurely lying on a recliner inside an adult puppet store, resting.
Naruto and Sasuke were growing stronger at an incredible pace. With these two saviors getting along so well now, what could possibly happen if they worked together? Even if Madara Uchiha or Kaguya Otsutsuki appeared, who would stand a chance?
In battle, he'd just have to slack off and deal with minor enemies.
All those years of raising them had finally paid off!
Hikaku Uchiha leaned forward with one hand supporting his chin, looking at Shindai and asking, "What's got you so happy?"
Shindai grinned and replied, "I was thinking that once we finish dealing with Akatsuki, maybe the three of us should travel through the ninja world and sightsee a bit."
A smile formed on Hikaku's face too. "Now that you mention it, I feel like going too. Then it's settled."
Shindai's expression froze—he had just been joking around, making stuff up. Truthfully, he wanted to stay home and had no intention of going anywhere.
Oh well, maybe Hikaku will just forget all about it by then.
And if he doesn't… well, I'll just chicken out again. Not like I haven't done that before.
Suddenly, something occurred to Shindai. Right now, Sasuke still only had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, not yet the Mangekyo Sharingan, let alone the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!
He instantly grew anxious. But surely there was no way to force a deadly battle between Itachi and Sasuke just so Itachi could give Sasuke his Mangekyo Sharingan?
Hikaku stared puzzledly at the suddenly frantic Shindai. How had his mood changed so quickly?
Three days later, the Allied Ninja Forces finally made progress in their search operations.
Suspicious traces of Akatsuki members were discovered within the Land of Waterfalls.
This was because several corpses of Hidden Waterfall shinobi were found, and near those bodies were strange patterns composed of blood—circles and triangles.
According to intelligence reports on Akatsuki, this specific pattern was a ritual circle used by the Akatsuki member Hidan during his abilities.
Minato Namikaze immediately dispatched a search squad composed of Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clan's ninja to conduct further detailed investigations. They discovered Kakuzu and Hidan performing a Sealing Technique inside a hidden cave.
After confirming their location, the search squad didn't take immediate action, since their mission was strictly intelligence gathering rather than combat.
Minato then sent Darui from Kumogakure, a specialist in Lightning Release; Zabuza from Kirigakure, a master of Water Release; Temari from Sunagakure, who wielded Wind Release; Kitsuchi from Sunagakure, who controlled Earth Release; and Itachi from Konoha, who commanded Fire Release — all deployed to counter Kakuzu's abilities.
He also summoned Shindai, who had been trained by Kushina Uzumaki and could employ Sealing Techniques through his Iron Sand Body, to deal with Hidan's Immortal Body.
The team was led by the highly intelligent Shikamaru.
Once the personnel assembled, they immediately traveled to the Land of Waterfalls to meet up with the search squad members.
"Tch, why do I have to show up again? There must be other ninja skilled in sealing techniques too, right? Why does it have to be me specifically? Besides, with this kind of elite force, couldn't we just easily crush them?"
Shindai, originally at home racking his brains about what to do regarding Sasuke's Sharingan, was dragged out unwillingly and started grumbling.
With so many powerful ninja around, there was absolutely no need for him anyway.
Shikamaru said helplessly, "Sensei Shindai, this is Hokage-sama's order. Stop complaining and let's move out."
"Fine, fine."
Shindai thought he might as well watch what happens. Thinking at home or outside should be basically the same.
After two days of traveling, the squad arrived at the Land of Waterfalls and successfully rejoined the search squad.
The search squad leader reported, "The targets are still inside the cave. No one else is present."
Shikamaru immediately began formulating a plan based on Kakuzu and Hidan's abilities.
"That's the plan. Let's begin the operation now!"
The cave where Kakuzu and Hidan were hiding was blocked only by a stone wall created through Earth Release. There were no traps around, nor any barrier like the Five-Seal Barrier that had been used during Gaara's attack.
After final preparations were completed, explosive tags attached to the stone wall were detonated.
With a loud 'boom,' the stone wall crumbled under the force of the explosion.
Kakuzu and Hidan dispelled their Projection Technique.
Kakuzu complained to Hidan, "I told you several times not to kill anyone right now! Now look what happened - we've been found."
Hidan replied indifferently, "That won't work. I must regularly offer sacrifices to Lord Jashin. Those ninja who came looking for us, just kill them all, right?"
Shouldering his Blood Scythe, Hidan arrogantly stepped out of the cave, shouting, "Who's the stupid bastard disturbing us?"
What greeted Hidan, however, was a barrage of ninja techniques.
[Lightning Release: Black Panther!]
[Water Release: Water Dragon Shot!]
[Wind Release! Sickle Weasel Technique!]
[Earth Release! Earth and Stone Dragon!]
[Fire Release! Great Dragon Fire Technique!]
[Magnet Release! Iron Sand Spike!]
As soon as Shindai and the others appeared, they unleashed a barrage of signature Ninjutsu techniques toward Hidan.
Caught completely off guard, Hidan had no time to dodge and was directly hit by these attacks.
The overwhelming power of these techniques sent Hidan crashing back into the cave, causing it to collapse.
When the dust settled, Kakuzu's voice suddenly rang out.
[Lightning Release! False Darkness!]
A sharp lightning spear blasted from the cave straight toward Shindai and his group.
Shikamaru barked, "Temari!"
[Wind Release! Dragon-Blade Gust!]
Temari fully unfurled her three-stage war fan, channeling wind chakra to create massive, multi-directional tornadoes imbued with chakra. The wind attribute countered and neutralized the Lightning Release! False Darkness.
Kakuzu carried Hidan through the path cleared by the lightning spear and stepped out from the debris.
Hidan looked a mess—his body was twisted, covered in wounds, with a gaping wound splitting half his body open.
But Hidan was perfectly fine, still shouting defiantly with full vigor.
Several tendril-like appendages emerged from Kakuzu's body, stitching Hidan's torn flesh back together.
Suddenly, Kakuzu found himself unable to move. He realized too late that his shadow had been caught—controlled by someone else's technique. His possessed hand flung Hidan outward.
"Shindai-sensei, he's all yours!"
Shindai sighed helplessly at the sight of Hidan flying straight toward him. He had wanted to watch the fight but couldn't even get that chance.
Seeing Shindai, Hidan immediately flew into a rage. "You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!"
Shindai rolled his eyes. Even when lying, you should at least prepare a script.
In Shindai's opinion, Hidan was the weakest member of the Akatsuki organization. Without his Immortal Body, Hidan probably wouldn't have even qualified for membership in the Akatsuki.
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