Chapter 355: Chapter – 350 Wait… wait… and more wait…
Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…
With the sound of breaking wind, dozens of shadows shuttled through the raining forest, disturbing the resting or sleeping crows, their bodies covered with a black cloak, and masks of various patterns covering their faces. Their speed was extremely fast… and they soon disappeared into the gloomy rain forest.
After the dozen or so shadows have gone away, hundreds of crows that were disturbed by the shadows converged together into the shape of a person on the branch of a tree, this figure was wearing Homusubi disguise of Amatsukami, and it was none other than Uchiha Itachi who has sneaked into the Land of Rain not long ago as per Kuroto's order and was currently waiting to meet up with the other member of Amatsukami together with whom he will be performing the mission entrusted to him by Kuroto.
While looking in the direction of the disappearance of the shadows, Itachi under his mask had a serious expression.
The dozen or so shadows that just went past him were none other than Konoha Anbu. Itachi already has a deep understanding of the Anbu as well as its various rules, formations, and various passcodes, because they are ingrained into him by Kuroto and Shisui, all for the purpose of fooling village authorities, and to be able to sneak in and out of the village without alerting anyone.
Considering the shortage of manpower especially in the Anbu department that the village has been facing for some time, because of so many deaths of the Anbu shinobi, most of the time at the hands of Akatsuki Shinobi, it was surprising to see a dozen or so Anbu moving together.
Anyone with some IQ can tell that the task these Anbu will be performing is definitely not simple.
Itachi is obviously very clear of what all is transpiring in the shadows for the past few months, and seeing these Anbu, he wondered, "More Anbu will be participating in the Joint Raid? It seems that Hokage-sama is quite serious about this after all."
Just as Itachi was wondering a few things, a shadow appeared above him, Itachi was immediately vigilant and looked up only to see another person dressed in a similar disguise as him, with a few changes, of course, and Iron Sand Wings at his back.
Before any further communication, the other party made a hand seal, the particular hand seal which indicates that he is another member of Amatsukami, and Itachi did the same.
Itachi noted the key differences between both of their disguises, one being the pattern of their mask, and the other being the symbol of Wind on the chest part of the other party.
After that person landed on the ground, and Itachi spoke politely, "Code name Homusubi, how may I refer to senpai?" – Itachi was rather surprised when he realized who the other part is. He expected to meet the Tsukihi-san here and perform the mission under her leadership, but it seems that his partner will be different this time.
The other person nodded towards Itachi and said, "A pleasure to meet you, you can refer to me as Fujin… my element is Wind."
Itachi nodded, and asked, "Are the two of us will be the only members on this mission?"
Fujin nodded, and said, "Yes, we will be the only additional members… now we are already quite late, so let's go."
After that, he controlled Iron Sand to form wings around his back and then flew in the direction of Amegakure.
While Itachi's body broke into hundreds of crows and those crows too flew in the direction of Amegakure.
The crows while flying towards Amegakure all had the same thought, 'Yatagarasu is a useful Jutsu, now traveling has become, what should be the right term? Fun, I suppose.'
(Translator's Note: 'Yatagarasu' a Jutsu that Itachi came up with upon Kuroto's insistence to Itachi in creating unique Jutsu that Itachi will only use when in his Homusubi disguise. It is a combination of Yin and Yang Release, not Yin-Yang, but Yin and Yang Release. This Jutsu is a permanent version of Karasu Kage Bushin no Jutsu, where even the main body of the user works in the same manner. For a much easier understanding, it is the Crow Version of Shikigami no Mai that Konan uses.)
…
At the same time on the other side of the Land of Rain.
A team of four shinobi was running towards Amegakure, these four shinobi were dressed in the Kirigakure Shinobi Gear.
The head of the four-man team is a fat man with a fish-like appearance, he has small round eyes and sharp jagged teeth, he also has long orange hair that reaches to his back. He was carrying by far the most dangerous sword of Kirigakure… Samehada. This man is none other than Suikazan Fuguki, a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure.
Following him are three shinobi of Kirigakure, namely, Hoshigake Kisama, Momochi Zabuza, and finally Utakata the Jinchuriki of Rokubi.
Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…Whoosh…
Just when the four people were crossing through a river stream, Hoshigake Kisama asked casually, "Why did Mizukage-sama suddenly give such an order? This mission is too unreasonable!"
Utakata who was at the last of the four voiced out his own thoughts, "If we partake in such a mission, then I am afraid that it will provoke a war with other shinobi villages. With the current situation of the village, we don't stand much chance of surviving should that happen!"
Momochi Zabuza was silent, and finally said, "Something seems to be wrong with Mizukage-sama for a while now, and now such a mission."
As soon as Momochi Zabuza's voice fell, the leader of the team, Suikazan Fuguki rebuked the three, "Shut up, questioning Mizukage-sama's order is equivalent to the death penalty!"
With the scolding of Fuguki, the other three did not voice out their thoughts anymore, but under their silence, each of the three had his own thoughts.
Ever since returning from the Second Gokage conference, the Yondaime Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, who was originally committed to reforming Kirigakure has now completely changed… he rarely shows up in public.
Not only this, but the Yondaime Mizukage has also become completely indifferent to the development and reforming of the village from all aspects, instead, he has made the rules of the village more severe and has been ruling the village with an iron fist.
On several occasions, there have been various public executions of those shinobi and individuals who tried questioning his orders, making everyone extremely afraid of him.
The atmosphere of the village that had started to turn for the better not long ago has now become gloomier and more dangerous, no one dares to stand up to the Mizukage… making the village return to its bloody times.
And beneath these bloody changes, there are also several undercurrents taking the form of a soon-to-be-breathing rebellion.
…
Land of Rain, Headquarters of the tri-Alliance.
Now all the people gathered together, including all the Anbu, the number of shinobi present here has increased to more than a hundred.
Raikage said, "We can't wait any longer, let's get this started!"
He understands that there are still many shinobi on their way here, but because the Jinchuriki of Nibi has been captured by the Akatsuki Organization, and the status of life and death are unknown so the coalition must hurry and rescue Nii Yugito before it's too late!
Taking into account that the news of the raid is now known to the enemy, Hokage also understood that the longer they delay, the worse the situation will get, so he also immediately nodded, "Alright, let's set out now!"
Kazekage Rasa obviously did not have anything else to say, so he nodded in agreement. Although he is no longer so optimistic about the upcoming raid, however, coming so far, he can no longer back down here… Because if he did back down here, then that would be a betrayal, and if Suna betrays the alliance, then no other Shinobi village would be willing to help Suna should Suna face a predicament in the future.
After everyone got ready to set out, only a few people were left behind at the headquarters to keep track of all the movements, also respond to the incoming reinforcements, and guide them towards Amegakure.
The team-11 of which Kuroto is a member of is also part of the raid group, and because of Kuroto's Byakugan and his previous two ventures to Amegakure, Kuroto is at the forefront of the raid group. He is responsible for safely leading the entire raid team inside Amegakure and then further.
Since the base of tri-Alliance is located not too far from Amegakure, therefore, it did not take them too long to reach Amegakure.
Drip… Drip… Pittar patter…
As soon as they were about to reach Amegakure, the sky had become extremely gloomy with raindrops dripping on the puddles of water on the ground. Everyone was getting wet, but no one stopped, with their rain covers over… they kept progressing in the direction of Amegakure, eyes stern, ready for the upcoming battle.
Everyone understands that this battle is going to be extremely dangerous… and no one below the level of a Jonin Class will have any role in it, therefore, those who came here are all around the Jonin Class or higher… and even then, each of them is prepared for their death.
After reaching the outskirts of the village without any obstacles, Hokage, Raikage, and Kazekage said unanimously, "Everyone, follow the plan!"
With that, Raikage and Kazekage nodded together and immediately led their respective subordinates and changed their routes, meanwhile, Hokage continued forward under Kuroto's lead.
The reason for Raikage and Kazekage to lead their subordinates away is obviously to create an encirclement around the entire village, to cover the maximum area and not allow even a single member of Akatsuki to escape.
Ninjas are different from Samurai, if gathered in large numbers in a small territory, then their abilities will be limited as they have to also make sure that their large-scale ninjutsu attacks do not hit their allies.
Kuroto scoffed at their idea of not allowing even a single Akatsuki member to escape, the enemy is expecting your attack incoming, it would be a miracle to be able to catch and kill only a few of them, do these Kage still expect to be able to eliminate all of them after the foolishness they have shown?
These Kages do not understand the power level beyond that of a Kage, they still do not understand, and are rather unwilling to believe that Pain could be so terribly strong that even three Kage at the same time will not be able to eliminate him. It has been several decades since Shodaime Hokage's power was shown so it's not a surprise that they do not understand such a thing.
Anyway, after the raid team was divided into three sub-teams, each Kage led their teams to their respective predetermined position of gatherings.
After Konoha reached their positions, the shinobi of Konoha stopped and waited for the signal.
The objective of stopping and waiting is to allow Kumo and Suna to take their positions.
Team -11 was not part of either of the three teams, they were tasked with sneaking into Amegakure from a different route and then finding and locating the three people left behind, namely Jiraiya, Nii Yugito, and Samui.
Finding Jiraiya was of course the major priority over the three according to Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen knew the reason why Jiraiya had stayed behind, Jiraiya has already confessed to him that the leader of the Akatsuki Organization, Pain with the Rinnegan is most likely his disciple Nagato, one of the three children to whom Jiraiya once taught while he stayed behind in the Land of Rain for three years.
And Jiraiya also told Sandaime that he wants to try to persuade Nagato to change his path and give up on running the criminal organization Akatsuki.
So, it is natural to assume that this is the very reason why Jiraiya chose to stay behind.
Regarding Jiraiya's choice, Sandaime neither officially agreed nor denied it.
The reason for not agreeing is that he is worried about Jiraiya's safety. If Pain really cared about his sensei and sensei's home, then the members of the Akatsuki Organization wouldn't have attacked Konoha in the first place. So, Sandaime didn't really believe that Pain could be pursued.
As for the reason why he did not deny it? Well, it is because he also thinks that if this battle can be solved without any violence, then it would be for the better.
So, team-11 was now on their way sneaking into Amegakure.
Since Nii Yugito and Samui were captured, their memories would have obviously been read by Ningendo of Rikudo Pain, as such, Kuroto did not use the same route he took to Amegakure the previous time.
Fortunately, the waterway network of Amegakure is too densely spread throughout Amegakure. Under Kuroto's leadership, the four of the team rushed into Amegakure without any hurdles.
Coming out of the sewer, Kuroto said to the other three, "Make sure that rain does not fall upon us… We do not want to alert Akatsuki until the attacks from the three sides began. Additionally, there are also various animals or chimera beasts and puppets are spread throughout the village, so be careful of them too!"
"Right!" – After everyone nodded, Kuroto took out the map, and while pointing at the specific position of the Pain Tower he said, "Most probably, the leader of Akatsuki stays at this tower… so the area around here is the most likely place where Jiraiya-sama must be hidden."
Guy stared at the map and said, turned towards the direction of the village, and said, "All the buildings here are skyscrapers, and the scope is too big, how to actually search for Jiraiya-sama?"
With a bit of hesitation, Kakashi said, "Our best bet is to act separately… we must track Jiraiya-sama's position before the launch of the raid, and also try to see if we can locate the Jinchuriki of Nibi as well as the Jonin Kunoichi."
Shisui looked at his pocket watch and said, "If there is no accident, the raid should officially start within the next five minutes…"
Kakashi nodded and said, "Time is running out, we can only do our best and complete the mission our team is entrusted with."
Finding Jiraiya is extremely important, so after deciding the specific areas that they will be searching upon, Kakashi and Guy left one-after-another.
With both of them gone, Shisui and Kuroto made a Kage Bushin each, and those Kage Bushin will be searching in their stead.
After the two Kage Bushin have left, Shisui asked Kuroto, "Now, Kuroto-san, how are we going to act?"
"Wait. We are going to wait for a perfect opportunity to take the head of the leader of the Akatsuki Organization, doing anything else is simply meaningless."
Kuroto was not only waiting for the raid to officially start, but also for a message from Shinichi. According to Kuroto's previous instructions, Shinichi will be sending him Akatsuki's response and their deployment in the face of this raid.
But of course, Kuroto didn't really have much expectation about this as he also knows that the chances of any message coming at all are quite less.
The reason is obviously that Shinichi must be in the presence of other members of Akatsuki, as such he won't really have an opportunity to pass on the information.
Shisui asked, "I understand… but Kuroto-san, what are the chances of success of this operation?"
Kuroto shook his head, and said, "I do not know either… there is no absolute certainty this time… it's possible for even me to die here… so stay vigilant at all times… I have also called for additional help from someone else, but I am not sure if that party will be willing to help or not… so stay vigilant either way."
Shisui asked with a surprise, "Aside from those two, who else have you called?"
Kuroto said, "Someone even I have to be incredibly careful against… as such stay on guard against snakes at all times!"
"Snakes?" – Shisui tilted his head in confusion, then suddenly his eyes widened, "You don't mean him, do you?"
Kuroto nodded, "It's him alright…"
Shisui questioned, "But will he really help… I don't think that he would be willing to help Konoha!"
Kuroto shook his head and said, "I don't think that's the case either, but considering that Akatsuki is also his enemy, so his priorities should be clear… well you just have to be careful against snakes… rest I don't think there is any need to worry."
Shisui said after a short silence, "Alright…"
Kuroto then said, "Also make sure to directly use Kotoamatsukami on the masked man should he appear before you, understand?"
Shisui nodded, "The one who tried kidnapping Uzumaki Naruto, right? And he is also the person directly responsible for the death of Yondaime Hokage-sama."
Kuroto nodded, "Yes, that's the one… he can use Izanagi as well, so stay vigilant against that too. And there are even chances that Kotoamatsukami won't work on him… so do not drop your guard even after having used Kotoamatsukami on him."
Shisui asked in confusion, "Are you worried about the possibility that he is immune to Kotoamatsukami?"
"Although chances are extremely less, however, it is still a possibility… I don't know if Kotoamatsukami will work when he is hidden inside the other space… so be prepared, the last thing I want is for him to gain access to your Kotoamatsukami, because if that happens then it would be the end of everything. It wouldn't even take a month and Juubi will already be knocking on our doors!"
After all, Obito has Hashirama cells transplanted into him, giving him unlimited access to the dojutsu powers of Mangekyou Sharingan, meaning he will be able to exploit the power of Kotoamatsukami to the fullest, completely disrupting the order of the shinobi world.
Shot… whistle…... Bang!
Suddenly there was a sound of Signal Flare firing up, and immediately following which heavy vibrations can be felt.
Shisui checked his pocket watch and said with a confused tone, "No, it is still two minutes early…"
Kuruto said calmly, "Nothing strange, why will Akatsuki Organization obediently wait for us to attack them? Whey must have launched the attacks from their side."
Shisui nodded, then said, "Should we stay here or go out?"
Kuroto said without any change, "Wait for a while, our goal is only the leader of Akatsuki Organization… let the others handle the rest of their members…"
As Kuruto finished, the sounds of explosions and the vibrations they were able to feel increased and now could be heard from all directions.
Shisui perceived the vibrations and said with a frown, "It seems that all the explosions are coming from outside Amegakure."
Kuroto nodded, "It seems that a battle on all sides has started even before they could sneak into the village."
.
.
Read up to Chapter - 604 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations
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Chapter 356: Chapter – 351 Fight on Three Ends
Location: Outside Amegakure, on the side of the second unit led by the Raikage.
Time: Two minutes before Kuroto and Shisui heard the launch of signal flare.
After breaking the neck of a Kumo Anbu, Hiruko whose entire body was covered in bandages revealed a chiseled grin as the three tomoe in his Sharingan spun; giving everyone standing before him an indescribable sense of weirdness.
While holding the corpse of the now-dead Anbu by the neck, Hiruko slowly walked towards the Raid team of Kumo and spoke in a mocking tone, "Tsk tsk, is the Raikage in such a hurry to die?"
Raikage was obviously flaring and impatient by now, and he was more annoyed at Hiruko's mocking words, "Damn you Hiruko, answer my question, where are Yugito and Mabui?"
Plop…
Hiruko then threw the corpse of this Kumo Anbu to the opposite side which landed at the feet of Raikage and chuckled, "Hahahaha… don't know and don't care, what I care about is the person standing before me, it seems that I will soon be getting a high-level corpse to experiment upon, the corpse of the Raikage himself!"
When the group of Kumo shinobi following Raikage heard Hiruko's words, each of them cursed him, but they did not dare to step forward.
The previous death of the Kumo Anbu was a clear signal that Hiruko is too dangerous to be taken lightly.
Undoubtedly, Hiruko's mastery over the five Kekkei Genkai he has absorbed has become extremely well in the past few months that he spent in continuous fighting while doing all sorts of missions. So, there is an obvious increase in his strength. With the increase in his strength, there is a natural increase in his self-confidence which is different from his previous arrogance… and this self-confidence is clearly reflected in the aura that surrounds him.
Hiruko's aura was extremely fierce, like a beast itself, so much so that even the Jinchuriki of Hachibi, Killer Bee, was completely different from his usual self, which is very rare.
Shee walked closer to Raikage and whispered in a low voice, "Raikage-sama, it appears that Akatsuki Organization is waiting for us, it's still a while before the start of the raid, should we fire the signal flare?"
Raikage was now leaking his killing intent glared at Hiruko and his three subordinates and said, "Of course, the Akatsuki Organization is prepared! The enemy is right in front of us, there is no point in waiting for any longer, fire the signal flare."
Shee nodded, and immediately took out the Signal flare and fired it.
Shot… whistle... Bang!
At the very next moment, Raikage said to Bee, "Bee, Darui, and Shee, lead everyone inside Amegakure, and search for Yugito and Mabui. I will join you all after I deal with this Konoha defector and his pesky subordinates…"
Killer Bee nodded, "You got it bro!", then looked at Darui and Shee and said, "Let's start!"
With Bee's order, Darui and Shee, as well as the other Jonin and Anbu nodded rushed towards Amegakure.
Hiruko grinned while looking at the Kumo ninjas getting past him, he did not really care about them… they can go wherever they want… his current target is the Raikage.
'Although it would be nice if only the Jinchuriki of Hachibi goes further ahead as ordered by Pain-sama.' – mused Hiruko, then said to his three subordinates, "Ichi, Ni, San… stop as many as you can…"
San nodded and whistled, and immediately afterward, a bird chimera suddenly flew towards the passing group at an extremely fast speed, as soon as it reached near them, the bird fired feathers towards the Kumo shinobi.
Ichi also nodded and rushed towards Darui, while Ni nodded and rushed towards Shee.
Hiruko smirked and following his smirk, several explosions occurred all over the battlefield, since most of the shinobi were Jonin Class, therefore, they easily dodged the explosions and rushed forward.
At the same time suddenly the sound of lightning flickering sounded as the Raikage whose entire body was covered in 'Raiton Chakra Mode', appeared in front of Hiruko in a flash.
"Elbow!"
As soon as he flashed before Hiruko, Raikage thrust his elbow that was covered in lightning at Hiruko with extreme force.
The Raikage's elbow that also had golden braces on him hit Hiruko.
But the expected blood and flesh bursting did not appear nor was there any contact with flesh, this was unexpected and Raikage's figure stagnated, who turned his head back only to find a fading image.
At the same time, Hiruko's figure appeared where Raikage stood a few seconds ago, he had a condescending smile on his face which widened ever so slightly as he worded, "The speed is good, but insight? Not so much."
Raikage's already annoyed face became more annoyed, "Jinton Kekkei Genkai!"
Because there is no stable inheritance of this specific Kekkei Genkai in any shinobi clan, hence, there is no method to determine when and who will awaken it, as it can appear just about in anyone for that matter, so even the well informed and experienced Raikage has only ever heard of this Kekkei Genkai, never really fought against someone with it. Therefore, even he was slightly amazed by this Kekkei Genkai.
"Jinton? Yes, this Kekkei Genkai makes me the fastest shinobi alive… you are no longer the one to hold the title of the fastest shinobi, Raikage!" – Hiruko said.
Darui who was cutting down the chimera Snakes rushing towards him was also surprised by Hiruko's speed.
While Shee who was trying to put Ni as well as her bests in a Genjutsu thought to himself, 'I have never seen someone match the speed of Raikage-sama… is it really possible that this rogue-nin can match Raikage-sama's speed?'
Meanwhile, Hiruko continued, "Your 'Raiton Chakra Mode' sure makes your speed extremely fast but unfortunately you do not have Sharingan as I do. Without the extreme insight of Sharingan… will your ordinary eyes be able to catch my figure in a battle of speed, huh Raikage?"
Raikage snorted, "Arrogant… it seems that I must teach you that anyone who bears the name of a Kage of a village is not an ordinary individual that you make him up to be!" – Immediately after speaking so, the intensity of lightning covering his body became more violent, and his hair also rose up. At this moment, his Chakra was continuously flaring up rivaling to the level of a Bijuu.
Zz… Whoosh…
The very next instant Raikage appeared at Hiruko's back and raised his hand to perform a backhanded horizontal chop against Hiruko, "Raigyaku Suihei!"
The speed of Raikage this time was so fast that his figure appeared at the back of Hiruko even before the sound.
Raikage's sudden increase in speed to such a degree seems to be somewhat unexpected by Hiruko, and when this horizontal chop hit Hiruko, Raikage clearly felt the sensations of bones breaking before Hiruko was sent flying to the far end of the battlefield.
Boom…
Because of the sensation that Raikage felt, he was sure that Hiruko was now dead, and therefore did not bother to confirm, there is hardly any individual who can stay alive after his backbone is broken, after all, no one has ever survived against 'Raigyaku Suihei' before.
After dealing with Hiruko, Raikage turned towards three cartoons called Ichi, Ni, san who were giving Darui, Shee, and Moroi a hard time… which was rather surprising considering all three of them are Jonins.
Raikage decided that he will finish them himself as they don't have time to deal with them, more inner members of Akatsuki are yet to be dealt with, especially Pain with the Rinnegan, so Raikage rushed towards Ichi, Ni, San to finish the three and their pets at once…
But just as Raikage took the first step, he suddenly came to a halt as he felt a stinging pain from his back.
At the very next moment, he suddenly heard a low whisper from behind, "Where do you think you are going? If you think that I would die so easily with such weak attacks, then you are sorely mistaken Raikage."
While still covered in lightning, Raikage immediately turned around and punched Hiruko who had unknowingly sneaked up to him, Hiruko easily dodged that punch with a backflip.
Having distance himself from Hiruko, Raikage checked his back waist and found that although the wound is not large, for some reason the bleeding was not stopping, even the color of blood that came out was not red but somewhat blackish, showing the signs of poisoning.
When Hiruko attacked him, he made sure to inject poison into Raikage.
With a frown, Raikage took out a vial of antidote that works against most of the known poisons and took out.
Hiruko did not stop, the poison's purpose was not to kill Raikage, its purpose is to damage the auxiliary senses… And since the poison is newly created by none other than Sasori himself, it is obvious that any conventional antidote will not work.
At the same time, Hiruko was also catching up his breath, his back was a little deformed because of the attack from Raikage which showed that Raikage's attack had worked, but unfortunately, it didn't work as it was intended to… there was physical injury, but that physical soon returned to normal as if there was no injury at all.
"Cough-… *vomit* cough…" – After vomiting out the blood stuck in his chest Hiruko wiped the corner of his mouth the back of his left hand and said, "Perfect, you are the perfect specimen for the research I am conducting… now I am more interested in obtaining your corpse Raikage!"
After having completely drunk the antidote, Raikage threw away the vial, said, "You are the first one ever to have been able to survive my attack, at the same time you are also the first one to have been able to injure me through the Raiton Chakra Mode… After I kill you, I will remember your name until the day I die."
Hiruko chuckled, "Don't sweat it Raikage, today is the day you die…" After a pause here, Hiruko continued, "As for the matter of killing me? Don't even dream of it. An ant, like you, will never be able to kill me, a perfect shinobi!"
As the two sides drew out their entire Chakra, even the surroundings trembled, lightning raged… and the very next instant, under the still falling rain, two figures collided against one another… Their speed so impossibly fast that keeping track of their continuously changing positions became an impossible task.
Wherever the two figures went, everything ended up being broken and collapsed, but the two figures, one with a blue chakra and the other with grey did not care and continued their speed match.
And when it comes to speed, Hiruko's was undoubtedly faster than the Raikage.
However, Raikage's 'Raiton Chakra Mode' did not just boost his speed, it also increased his physical strength, overall defensive power, as well as his physical stamina.
Unfortunately, his opponent this time is Hiruko who can not only use Jinton but also use Koton for strength, Sharingan for high-insight, coupled with his ability to absorb Chakra through Meiton, and immunity to lightning attacks because of Ranton, Raikage was unable to gain any advantage in the battle.
So at this end, the Battle between Raikage and his guards vs Hiruko and his guards broke out in full swing, while a team of shinobi led by Killer Bee tried to rush towards the Pain tower in Amegakure.
…
Location: Outside Amegakure, on the side of the first unit led by the Hokage.
Time: One minute forty seconds before Kuroto and Shisui heard the launch of signal flare.
Shot… Whistle… Bang…
Looking at the signal flare, Akimichi Choza said, "Hokage-sama, the raid on the second unit's end has started before the agreed time…"
Nara Shikaku said, "Something must have happened on their end…"
Sandaime nodded, "Sure enough, the Akatsuki is already waiting for us."
After speaking so, he looked in the direction of the third unit, the unit that is led by Kazekage. There is still no signal flare from the third unit, 'Are they waiting for the agreed time? Or has something gone wrong on their end?'
After weighing it out a little, Sandaime ordered the Anbu behind him, "Launch the signal flare… the first unit is starting the attack"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" – The Anbu nodded and took out the flare.
But before he could fire it, suddenly a whirl appeared before at the back of this Anbu and dragged him into the distorted whirl.
"W-what…?!"
"Enemy attack… Be careful everyone!"
Hearing the sudden exclamation of the Anbu, everyone looked at him and was instantly alerted.
Sandaime had the fastest reaction, and he immediately shot several Shuriken at the masked man, but for some reason, the Shuriken all phased through the masked man
Nara Shikaku instantly weaved hand signs only to see that the masked man did not have any shadow, 'No shadow? How is that possible?'
Sandaime stared at the masked man who was now at the center of the group and said, "You are? Yes, now I recall, you are the one who tried to kidnap Uzumaki Naruto?"
Because of the ability of the masked man to phase through things as well his space-time ninjutsu that does not require any seals, summoning, or markings, Sandaime remembered the details of the masked man when team-11 made their report about him.
Questioned by Sandaime, the Masked man pointed at himself then immediately shook his head frantically, "Me? No, no-no-no. I am Tobi, I did not try to kidnap Uzumaki Naruto, I tried to use Uzumaki Naruto to kill Uchiha Shisui… But unfortunately, that plan failed, but anyway, Hokage-sama, you are too old… are you sure that you should be moving around here, instead of staying in Konoha, taking care of your old bones?"
Sandaime frowned at the manner of Tobi's speaking, it was as if the other party was not taking him seriously at all, intrigued, Sandaime said with a mild smile, "If I don't get rid of ambitionist like the Akatsuki's hidden in the dark, how can this old man ever retire with a peace of mind?"
Suddenly Tobi's tone became gloomy and indifferent and he said, "Your era has long since passed away, no matter how you try, you will never be able to stop the change."
"Does the change you speak of mean repeated attacks on Konoha and killing and kidnapping its civilians?" – Sandaime's expression suddenly became serious and he declared, "Because if that's the case, then as the Hokage of Konoha, I can never allow people like to continue to exist, and harm the peace of my village!"
Tobi shrugged, "Don't look at me so seriously, I'll bush… or not. And as for the matter of dealing with us, you won't be able to do anything… after all, Hokages are all pretty useless people."
Hearing Tobi's words, the Anbu all retorted, but neither of them dared to rush forward.
Sandaime bit his finger, then weaved hand signs, and shouted,
"Ninpou: Kuchiyose: Monkey Gog King: Enma!"
Poof…
With a cloud of white smoke, the Monkey God-King Enma appeared on the battlefield.
Enma looked at the surroundings and noticed a whole lot of Anbu surrounding the masked and asked, "Sarutobi, is the kid with the one-eyed, spiral-mask the enemy?"
Sandaime nodded with a solemn expression and said, "Yes, the person refers to himself as Tobi, he has some kind of strange Space-Time Jutsu… it's kind of difficult to deal with him."
"What has happened to the Shinobi World recently? One after another, all kinds of monsters are emerging again and again!" - with a helpless mutter, Enma transformed into the Adamantine Staff which was then held by Hokage.
On the other side, Tobi looked at the Monkey King Enma that transformed into the Adamantine Staff, then suddenly clapped his hands, "Wow… wow… that was so nice, I also want a similar monkey… A monkey that can transform into a walking stick, will be really helpful in old age!"
Hiruzen was annoyed because of Tobi's continuous banter, but Tobi did not care and kept talking, "But I don't have one! Hm, that's a bit of trouble, aha, I have an idea… although, I don't have a monkey, I do have a cat… I can ask the cat if she can transform into a walking stick." And the very next moment, the space around Tobi distorted as a figure appeared out of it.
This figure was none other than Nii Yugito, but at this moment, the color of her eyes was lost.
Seeing the appearance of Nii Yugito, everyone backed off a step, no shit, the other part is a Jinchuriki, you have to be careful against her.
Tobi did not care, and spoke in excitement, "Look, look, her name is Nii Yugito, she is the new cat that my senpai asked me to take care of, isn't he nice? By the way, Neko-chan, can you also transform into a walking stick like that old man's monkey over there?"
But there was no response from Nii Yugito.
Tobi looked disheartened at the feeling of being ignored, then suddenly perked up and said, "Okay-okay, if you cannot transform into a walking stick, can you transform into something else?"
This time, Tobi's call was heard, as suddenly two flaming blue tails sprouted out from Nii Yugito's, and within a few moments an extremely large, blue monster cat appeared next to Tobi with a loud roar, "Roar!"
"Oh-ho… that's so awesome! I like this cat more than that monkey! Now then shall we start?!" – Tobi said as he got ready for the battle.
Contrary to Tobi's nonchalant and carefree appearance, every other person on the battlefield had sweat flowing down their temples.
"T-that is Nii Yugito… is she being controlled by the enemy?! What should we do?" – said one of the Anbu.
Even Sandaime had to now take this battle more seriously than he expected initially, and there is still no guarantee that it will be a win or not.
'I don't know how he is controlling Nibi's Jinchuriki, but this move of his was too cunning; if we kill Nii Yugito here then a dispute with Raikage will arise, otherwise, our own men will die… even the Bijuu is liberated in the complete form, this battle just became more difficult than I anticipated!' – thought Sandaime, then to the tree shinobi standing around him, "Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza, I will leave the Nibi and its Jinchuriki to three of you… while I will take care of this Tobi…"
"""Yes Hokage-sama!""" – Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Choza nodded and took their Ino-Shika-Cho formation.
Tobi said, "Ara, you think that's the end of it all? But no! We have more!" – With Tobi's words, suddenly a beast with snakeskin, bullhead, and scorpion tale appeared out of the ground, as soon as it appeared it ate the shinobi from under whom he came out.
The very next moment, an extremely fast-flying chimera beast, with a griffin shape, flew down from the sky, and soon afterward, one after another chimera bests kept appearing surrounding the entire Kumo unit.
"W-what…"
"Arg… my leg…"
"Ahhh... get away from me you beast!"
"Hahahaha… Konoha Shinobi, meet the new pets of Akatsuki! Now kill'em all!" – Tobi said with a loud chuckle.
Looking at the scene before him, now Sandaime was a little panicked and can't help but think, 'Was this raid really a good idea?'
Tobi and Nii Yugito (Being Controlled) along with several Chimera Beasts vs Hokage and Ino-Shika-Cho Patriarch, along with several other Jonin.
…
Location: Outside Amegakure, on the side of the third unit led by the Kazekage.
Time: Five minutes before Kuroto and Shisui heard the launch of signal flare.
"Suiton: Daibakafu no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!)
With a sudden burst, an overwhelmingly large water vortex suddenly rushed towards the Suna unit galloping towards the predetermined position to launch the raid on Akatsuki Organization.
Kazekage Rasa, who was at the forefront of the unit immediately stopped and slammed his hand on the ground, immediately after which a huge wall of golden sand, protecting the entire unit erected in front of him.
After the vortex of water stopped, gold sand moved away and Kazekage finally got a clear view of the attackers, he was extremely surprised by the identities of the other parties, and questioned, "What are you Kiri-nin doing here? The tri-alliance of Konoha, Kumo, and Suna is working here in a joint raid… does Kirigakure intends to declare a war on all three villages at once?"
Suikazan Fuguki clutched the hilt of the great sword Samehada and said, "Don't ask me, we are only here because we were hired by Amegakure to resist 'Foreign Aggression', so we… well we hope that Kazekage-dono gives up on their plans to take over Amegakure, to avoid further conflict."
"Foreign Aggression?" – Rasa sneered, then continued, "Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure has long been dead, Amegakure is taken over by Akatsuki Organization, we are here to eliminate Akatsuki Organization, a group of rogue-nin from shinobi villages, move aside, give up this task, and move aside; if you do, I will look over this matter and not pursue it!"
Fuguki was too lazy to argue or reason with Kazekage, he drew out Samehada and said, "I don't know anything about Akatsuki Organization or whatever, I only the mission assigned to me… If Kazekage-dono does not intend to back off, we can only kill you here and now! Failing to complete a mission is unforgivable in Kirigakure."
Baki who was standing behind Kazekage said angrily, "Pay attention to who you are speaking to!"
Fuguki snorted coldly, "Yeah, aren't I talking to the Kazekage who is just a dog of Konoha's Hokage."
Kazekage was not angered by Fuguki's words, he looked at Pakura and the two elders, as well as the other Shinobi following, and said, "Chiyo-baa… you will lead the rest of the team to move ahead… I will deal with the Kiri shinobi personally, and then I will follow ahead."
Elder Chiyo nodded.
Pakura's Shukaton is weak against water, while puppet users don't have an effective way to deal with Rokubi Jinchuriki, so Kazekage himself had to stay behind to hold off these four Kirigakure shinobi.
The upcoming raid is imminent, and time is constantly running out, it is unwise for the entire third unit to fight Kiri shinobi, therefore, Elder Chiyo led the unit to Amegakure.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hiding in Mist Technique!)
Before casting Kirigakure no Jutsu, Fuguki noticed that most of these shinobi intend to go ahead while Kazekage himself is staying behind, and he ordered, "Kisame, Zabuza hold off the Suna Anbu Commander and her subordinates, I, and Utakata are enough to kill the Kazekage!"
Zabuza and Kisame nodded and chased after the Anbu commander of Suna.
Utakata on the other hand did not say much, he just stared at the opposite Kazekage and for the order from Fuguki.
On the other side, the Suna team that was rushing towards Amegakure noticed that two people were still following them.
Just as Chiyo was considering the options of how to deal with these two, Pakura said, "Chiyo-baasama, please go ahead, I will stay behind and deal with these two…"
There was no better candidate, Chiyo had no other choice but to no, "Alright, but they all specialize in Suiton, be careful…" – After a pause, Elder Chiyo continued, "Maki, you too stay behind!"
"Yes, Chiyo-baasama!" – Maki nodded and stayed together with Pakura.
"Well, looks like it's going to be Sensei and disciple now… make sure to keep up with me Maki." – Pakura said to Maki and then hurried forward to greet Zabuza and Kisame.
Maki said with a pout, "Muu, don't treat me like I am some kid, I am already seventeen!"
Pakura chuckled, "My, are you sure you have grown up…? Your chest is still so small…"
Maki flustered, "T-that's unfair! What does my chest size have to do with my age? And besides, so what if they are small…? At least…"
Pakura raised an eye, "At least what…?"
Maki turned her head to the side and whispered in a very low voice, "Nothing…"
Pakura smiled at Maki's response then said with a serious expression, "Alright, jokes aside, our enemy this time is no ordinary… both Momochi Zabuza and Hoshigake Kisame are extremely strong opponents… be careful…"
"Yes!" – Maki nodded and got ready for the battle with a roll of cloth at her side.
After two consecutive divisions of troops, the combat power of Suna was severely weakened, three high-level combat personnel were already left behind… but Chiyo, Ebizo, and Baki did not stop. This raid involves three villages, so Suna too has to be part of the main raid, else the village would its dignity.
Whoosh… Whoosh…
At this moment, two figures jumped from the sky and landed before the Suna unit being led by Chiyo and Ebizo.
Both of them were wearing Akatsuki's traditional turtle neck black cloak with red cloud prints. One of them had red hair and quite a young body, indicating that he was still quite young, while the other had had quite a tall body with green pupilless eyes.
These two were none other than Sasori of the Red Sand and Kakuzu, missing-nin of Takigakure.
Taking a glance at the opposite Sasori, Chiyo thought, 'He hasn't aged at all, he looks just like he did back then!'
After thinking so, Chiyo looked at the flying beasts hovering above them. She was surprised to find that Chimera Beasts had extremely bizarre shapes and sizes but for some reason, their speed was extremely fast, and she also noticed that these Flying Beasts were descending down, 'Are those things also going to fight us?'
Chiyo ordered, "Everyone spread out, don't gather together… disperse, quickly!"
The Suna shinobis partaking in this battle are obviously all elites, and it did not take them seconds to follow Chiyo's orders, they immediately took on a defensive formation against Sasori and Kakuzu, as well as those Chimera Beasts.
Chiyo then looked back at Sasori.
The only reason she and Ebizo joined this raid is because of Sasori. Sasori is the killer of Sandaime Kazekage, so it is Chiyo's responsibility to put Sasori's life to an end for what he has done… for treading the wrong path.
Sasori stood akimbo and said, "Chiyo-baasama, you shouldn't be here!"
Chiyo said sadly, "Perhaps, I shouldn't have taught you puppetry…"
Sasori said, "What's wring Chiyo-baasama? You have really gotten older; if it was a few years ago you would have never shown such a weak expression, isn't that right, Ebizo-jiisama?!"
"Sasori…" – Ebizo worded out ever so slightly.
Chiyo did not wait for Ebizo to speak anything, and said, "Seeing what you have become, I will inevitably feel sad." – After a pause, Chiyo continued, "I was the one to teach you puppetry…. I will be the one to end it!"
Sasori's said indifferently, "But can you? I have already surpassed you long ago when it comes to puppetry… I am the strongest and the greatest there is in the entire Shinobi World!"
Chiyo took out a string tied with multiple Kunai then connected it with Chakra thread and said, "You have taken the forbidden path."
After speaking this sentence Chiyo's eyes dimmed because she too has taken the forbidden path, created the Kinjutsu 'Kisho Tensei', to bring her son and daughter-in-law back to life.
"Old hag, Eternity is the ultimate meaning of puppetry… those who stick to bottom line, morals, standards will never be able to achieve eternity… the path I have chosen is the right one!"
Chiyo no longer talked, it was pointless to do so. All her life she has been dishonest with her grandchild, she did not speak to him when there was the need to, so what was the point in doing so now?
Chiyo used the Chakra threads she has attacked Kunais and fired them towards Sasori and Kakuzu.
Kakuzu stomped his leg on the ground, "Doton: Doryuheki!"
Instantly a stone wall appeared out of the ground, blocking the dozen or so Kunai.
Sasori smirked, then waved his hands.
Under Sasori's command, the chimera Beasts rushed towards all the other Suna shinobi, except for Chiyo.
Sasori then looked at Kakuzu and said, "Do not interfere in my fight with her, you go and deal with the geezer and others… I will be the one to end her life!"
Kakuzu nodded and rushed towards Ebizo and Baki.
The very next moment, Sasori and Chiyo both took out a scroll and summoned their puppet, henceforth, a battle between the two puppet masters of different generations broke out.
Ebizo looked at the chimera beasts coming towards them and then said, "Baki! you, and I will battle Kakuzu… Sister… Sasori is all yours, while the rest will deal with those incoming Chimera Beasts!"
Baki nodded, "Yes, Ebizo-jiisama!"
Same for the other Suna shinobi, "Yes, Ebizo-jiisama!"
…
On the side of the third unit, Kazekage vs Fuguki and Utakata, Pakura and Maki vs Kisame and Zabuza, Ebizo and Baki vs Kakuzu, the Suna Anbu and Jonin vs Chimera Beasts, and finally Chiyo vs Sasori!
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Read up to Chapter - 605 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page; p-atreon.com/Milta_translations
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