The Land of Lightning,
Shinku and Mitarashi Shishō, along with the others, were surrounded by Dodai and over a hundred Cloud shinobi.
"Dodai, are you trying to start another war between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village?!"
Shinku shouted furiously.
In the end, he had miscalculated one step.
He never expected that the ones trying to kill them weren't just the Hidden Stone Village.
Choosing to detour through the Land of Lightning had instead become the final straw that pushed them into a dead end.
"Shinku, you're a veteran ninja famous throughout Konoha. At a time like this, can't you already see the situation clearly? Since we've already surrounded you, do you really think we'd let you leave so easily?"
Although Dodai sounded relaxed, he remained extremely cautious inside.
Yūhi Shinku,
Konoha's elite jonin, a master of genjutsu whose skill even surpassed most Uchiha.
Fortunately, their preparations this time were flawless.
They had brought over a hundred Cloud shinobi.
Everyone knew that most genjutsu techniques worked best one-on-one.
Even if Shinku managed to kill ten or twenty Cloud shinobi, as long as they killed him, the Hidden Cloud Village would profit immensely.
"All units, prepare yourselves."
At Dodai's command, every Cloud shinobi assumed a combat stance, waiting for the order to attack.
Seeing the movement among the Cloud shinobi,
Shinku immediately became alert as well.
"Stay sharp."
"Yes!"
"Shinku, looks like this time we won't be leaving alive."
Mitarashi Shishō tightly gripped the kunai in his hand.
"What, scared already?"
Shinku mocked.
"Scared? Hell no. I was fighting on the battlefield with Hideki back when I was barely a teenager. Funny enough, the enemies back then were Cloud shinobi too. Guess this counts as a fitting beginning and end."
"You're surprisingly open-minded. On the road to the afterlife, I'll buy you a drink."
"I want the most expensive one."
"No problem."
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Shinku and the others had already prepared themselves for a bloody fight to the death.
But at that moment,
Dodai's expression suddenly changed.
"Everyone! Retreat toward the Hidden Cloud Village immediately! Don't hesitate! Ignore anyone beside you and withdraw at full speed!"
After shouting the order,
Dodai immediately fled the area with the shinobi near him.
Most of the Cloud shinobi nearly stumbled from shock at the sudden command.
Fortunately, the Konoha ninja were also momentarily stunned after hearing it, which gave all the Cloud shinobi enough time to retreat rapidly.
At that moment, every retreating Cloud shinobi shared the same thought:
When fighting alongside Dodai-sama, always make sure to hear the very last sentence clearly.
In an instant, only the Konoha ninja remained, staring at each other in confusion.
"Shinku... are we seriously alive?"
"I think so—ow! Why the hell did you pinch me?!"
"You reacted like that, so I guess this is real."
"Then pinch yourself instead! Why pinch me?!"
"Because I'm afraid of pain. Besides, whether I pinch you or myself, somebody's still hurting. Sure, your body hurts, but my heart hurts too."
Mitarashi Shishō explained with complete sincerity.
Shinku said nothing on the surface, but inwardly he viciously added another mark to his mental grudge list against Mitarashi Shishō.
On this day, in this year and month, Mitarashi Shishō pinched me once.
"Shinku? Shishō? You guys are here too?"
Hyūga Hiyasu walked over carrying a massive black box in his arms, its surface covered in black sealing formulas.
Shinku and Mitarashi Shishō exchanged a glance.
Case solved.
No wonder the Cloud shinobi had instantly retreated.
So it was because he had arrived.
"Hiyasu-sama."
"No need to be so formal. You're Hideki's friends, which means you're my friends too. Just call me Hiyasu."
"Alright, Hiyasu. We really owe you this time. Otherwise, we definitely would've died at the hands of those Cloud shinobi."
"Cloud shinobi?"
Hyūga Hiyasu looked genuinely confused.
He hadn't seen any Cloud shinobi just now.
Otherwise, how could he possibly allow living Cloud shinobi to escape right under his Byakugan?
Hyūga Hiyasu's face darkened.
From the look of things, the Hidden Cloud Village had clearly developed some kind of ninjutsu or ninja tool that exceeded the detection range of his Byakugan.
That was definitely not good news for him.
"How did you end up cornered by Cloud shinobi?"
"We don't know either. In the Land of Grass, the Stone shinobi kept hunting us nonstop. Then the moment we entered the Land of Lightning, the Cloud shinobi started chasing us too."
Shinku briefly explained what they had experienced.
"Exactly. Anyone who didn't know better would think things had gone back to the days of the Great Ninja War, with the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village joining forces against Konoha again."
Mitarashi Shishō spoke casually, almost jokingly, yet he had unknowingly revealed the truth.
Hyūga Hiyasu quickly realized it as well.
It seemed the ninja world was no longer developing according to their plans.
"Shinku, Shishō, return to Konoha with me immediately. The entire ninja world is about to change."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Hearing the sudden seriousness in Hyūga Hiyasu's voice,
Shinku and Mitarashi Shishō became even more convinced that the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village were once again plotting against Konoha.
...
The Land of Rain, the members of Akatsuki—
No, four people.
Four phantom-like figures stood atop four fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
"Zetsu, how dare you make decisions on your own?"
The Deva Path of Pain was reprimanding Zetsu for acting independently.
But Zetsu showed no anger.
Instead, he calmly explained himself.
"Pain-sama, please allow me to explain."
Zetsu raised a hand and pointed toward the many empty positions that still lacked suitable candidates.
"Pain-sama, the method you established before no longer has any chance of succeeding. For some unknown reason, Konoha has begun hunting powerful shinobi outside the Five Great Villages."
As soon as Zetsu said that, another figure, Sasori, clenched his fists tightly.
"Konoha... Leader, if you decide to attack Konoha, I can join the battle at any time."
The Deva Path glanced at Sasori.
Through Konan, he already knew that Sasori had also become one of Konoha's assassination targets.
"Zetsu, how do you think Konoha knows the locations of so many powerful rogue shinobi?"
That wasn't only Pain's question— it was also something Zetsu couldn't understand no matter how much he thought about it.
There shouldn't be anyone in the ninja world better at gathering intelligence than him.
After all, one hundred thousand White Zetsu hidden beneath the earth across the ninja world was no joke.
"I'm not sure either. But one thing is obvious: Konoha is preparing for some massive plan, and we absolutely cannot allow them to succeed. Right now, even if the Hidden Cloud, Hidden Stone, Hidden Mist, and Hidden Sand Villages join forces, they still wouldn't be enough to defeat Konoha. If we don't intervene, Konoha may very well unify the entire ninja world."
The moment Zetsu finished speaking,
Nagato, controlling the Deva Path from behind, understood immediately.
Nagato would never allow Konoha to dominate the ninja world, much less unify it completely.
After all, his parents had died at the hands of Konoha ninja.
In his eyes, aside from Jiraiya-sensei, every ninja from Konoha was nothing more than a pack of disgusting bandits and thieves.
"Zetsu, you did nothing wrong. No matter what kind of plan Konoha has, we cannot let it succeed. Our current objective is to unite the four great hidden villages and sabotage every one of Konoha's operations."
"Yes."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo