Chapter 123: Pain — Watching and Waiting
The benefits that could move two major ninja villages were even more tempting for those smaller villages.
Naturally, some small villages that were not afraid of death dispatched ninja to secretly follow behind the forces of the two major villages.
Unfortunately, while the forces of the two major villages restrained each other and dared not act against one another, they showed no mercy toward these small villages.
Any small-village ninja who followed behind them were all annihilated on the spot.
Although the ninja sent by the various small villages were basically wiped out, they were not without gains.
The useful intelligence they obtained was that the directions of advance of both forces seemed to be toward the Land of Fire.
The Sand Village and the Mist Village joining forces to attack Konoha happened far too suddenly, leaving many villages unable to react in time.
To be precise, even Konoha itself was somewhat stunned when it suddenly faced attacks from both the Sand Village and the Mist Village.
Aside from Orochimaru, even the Sand Village itself did not know that the Mist Village would also make a move against Konoha.
It could only be said that the Mist Village's sudden action caught everyone off guard, and even those who reacted were forced to make corresponding choices.
If the Mist Village had not joined the attack, the Sand Village would likely have surrendered long ago when faced with Konoha's overwhelming strength, rather than stubbornly holding on as it was now.
At this moment, thunderous explosions could be heard from the direction of Konoha from time to time, coupled with the undisguised movements of the ninja forces of the Cloud Village and the Stone Village.
Now, even the slowest to react could tell that something major was about to happen.
The Rain Village.
Inside an extremely hidden and gloomy cave.
Pain stood atop the head of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, looking down below with an expressionless face.
Before long, translucent figures began to appear one by one at the positions of the statue's fingers.
Pain turned his head and looked toward two empty positions, which belonged to Itachi and Kisame.
Did they not come?
Pain turned back again and continued to look down below without expression.
"Didn't we just gather not long ago? What is it this time?" Sasori's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction, as he was currently in his own territory making puppets at a critical moment.
Pain's sudden summons naturally made him displeased.
"Hey! I'm in the middle of finding sacrifices for Lord Jashin right now!" Hidan shouted loudly, his voice filled with irritation.
"There is important information to inform everyone of," Pain said coldly, not paying attention to their reactions, then turned his head toward a position beside him.
Following Pain's movement, everyone's gaze shifted as well, and they saw White Zetsu, with his distinctive split black-and-white face, slowly rise from the ground.
"Ah, long time no see," White Zetsu said in a lively tone, while Black Zetsu beside him remained silent, with no intention of speaking.
"If you have something to say, say it quickly!" Deidara's mouth twitched violently.
Between Hidan and White Zetsu, facing these two chatterboxes always gave Deidara the urge to blow them both up.
It was not just Deidara—others also looked at White Zetsu with faintly threatening gazes, clearly not wanting to hear his nonsense.
Feeling the threatening looks around him, White Zetsu muttered quietly, then obediently began to report the intelligence.
"What? The Mist Village and the Sand Village have joined forces to attack Konoha!" Hidan exclaimed loudly in shock.
"Not only that. The Cloud Village and the Stone Village are also already on their way to attack Konoha," White Zetsu said, spreading his hands.
"Even the Cloud Village and the Stone Village are involved? Interesting," Kakuzu said in his hoarse voice.
"That means the war might erupt ahead of schedule. Is there any more detailed information?" Sasori thought for a moment before speaking calmly.
"No. Whether it's the battlefield around Konoha or the outskirts of the Cloud and Stone forces, there are a large number of sensor ninja. If I get too close, I'll likely be discovered."
"More importantly, all four villages have fluctuations of tailed beast chakra. Clearly, they've deployed jinchuriki, so I don't dare get too close," White Zetsu said helplessly.
"Heh heh! Now this is getting interesting. Should our plan start early?" Kakuzu said, a broad smile appearing on his face.
"Since the Cloud Village and the Stone Village have both mobilized large numbers of ninja, this is a good opportunity for us."
"Oh right, why didn't Itachi and Kisame show up? Weren't they supposed to be in Konoha?" Hidan asked curiously, looking toward their empty positions.
"They likely ran into some trouble," Pain's voice sounded, causing everyone present to fall silent.
"Now that the information has been conveyed, we'll end the discussion here. Meeting adjourned," Pain said coldly.
"We're not going to do anything? This could benefit us," Kakuzu asked, his hoarse voice filled with doubt.
"Before everything is settled, we observe and wait," Pain replied.
As those words reached their ears, Pain's figure had already disappeared.
Seeing Pain leave, the images of the others also vanished one after another, leaving only Zetsu behind.
"A war breaking out so suddenly, without any warning at all. What do you think?" White Zetsu muttered, then turned to Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu ignored him, as if lost in thought.
Seeing that Black Zetsu did not respond, White Zetsu showed an expression of having expected it and continued talking to himself.
"This needs to be reported to Tobi… Ahem, to Tobi. I wonder if he'll be happy."
After speaking, Zetsu's figure quickly sank into the ground and disappeared.
Not long after Zetsu left, a paper slip streaked through the air and vanished just as quickly.
...
The Konoha battlefield.
Facing the full force of Konoha, the Sand Village, lacking large-scale reinforcements, could not withstand the pressure and was forced to retreat continuously toward Konoha's main gate.
The only thing that put Maki and the others at ease was that the Mist Village forces showed no intention of flanking them, allowing them to retreat out through Konoha's gate.
After retreating to the gate, Maki saw the Three-Tails Isobu lying not far away, and shock immediately appeared on his face.
That was definitely not a jinchuriki, but a true tailed beast.
The Mist Village actually had a tailed beast completely obeying their commands—this was simply unbelievable.
When had the Mist Village acquired such methods?
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, everyone believed the Mist Village and the Sand Village to be the weakest two, but in Maki's view now, the Mist Village's strength was not weak at all.
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