“We’ve finally arrived!”
Several days passed in a flash. At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers—
Might Guy looked out at the endless dunes, his face full of excitent.
"Yeah, we finally made it."
Gen was just as excited—not because of the scenery, even though the Land of Wind was a barren desert…
But the mont he stepped into this place, he could instantly sense the Flying Thunder God marker left behind by Namikaze Minato!
Even though it was still a bit far, he was sure that if he got just a little closer, he could rush over and carefully inspect its condition.
'This is nature’s gift. It’d be a sha to waste it. And more than that...'
He raised his head and looked out at the vast desert. The Magnet Release chakra within him was reacting—telling him that there really was gold to be found in these sands.
“Hmm? Kakashi-sensei, soone’s coming.”
Just as his excitent peaked, he suddenly spotted soone approaching from the distance.
"Probably a welcoming party from Sunagakure."
Kakashi thought for a mont before responding.
"Let’s go et them. Be polite."
As they spoke, the group walked forward to greet the approaching figures.
But they had barely taken a few steps when an elderly man ahead of them suddenly froze—then broke into a run, charging straight at them.
As he got closer, the fury on his face beca unmistakably clear.
"You’ve got so nerve showing up in Sunagakure!"
"Prepare yourself—Konoha's White Fang!"
“…Huh? Wait a second… why are there two of them?”
“…”
...
“Raikage-sama, why won’t you let go?”
Inside Kumogakure, Darui stood there with a disgruntled expression, staring at the Fourth Raikage.
A few days ago, their ANBU had unexpectedly intercepted so intelligence.
The so-called Akatsuki seed to be active in the Land of Wind, and Konoha had also dispatched a team heading in that direction.
Moreover, it had been confird that among the Konoha squad was none other than the Fourth Raikage’s personal enemy!
The Fourth Raikage’s defeat and the loss of his arm were a stain on the pride of all of Kumogakure.
So, without hesitation, the village had deployed an elite squad. Whether to obstruct the mission or seize a chance to take out so Konoha shinobi, either outco would be worth it.
Naturally, Darui also wanted to get involved—but the Fourth Raikage had refused to let him go.
“What are you going there for?” the Raikage snapped, shooting him an annoyed glance.
“With Toroi leading the team, that’s more than enough. You going along wouldn’t change anything. You’d be better off spending your ti training your Storm Release.”
“Hmph.”
Darui still looked dissatisfied, but the Fourth Raikage had already risen to his feet, giving him no chance to argue further.
“Alright, go train. I’m heading to check in on Killer Bee.”
“Also, that Kitagawa Gen isn’t just using Flying Thunder God Technique—he’s also mastered a strange purple lightning.”
“That jutsu isn’t any weaker than my father’s Black Lightning. If you can incorporate it into your Storm Release, then maybe you’ll have a shot at surpassing him.”
“Even I would find him troubleso if I ran into him right now.”
“Tch.”
Darui didn’t argue anymore after hearing that. The Black Lightning developed by the Third Raikage was imnsely powerful—but mastering it was no easy feat.
He had begun to grasp so of its principles, but hadn’t fully gained control over it. Of course, that was partly because of his own laziness.
Still, now he was starting to feel motivated.
...
“This is such a pain. More Konoha shinobi again? Looks like that Danzo guy really isn’t ordinary, huh.”
Under the blazing desert sun of the Land of Wind, Hidan trudged forward, visibly irritated.
“By the way, how the hell did you ever get used to this dump?” he asked.
“This ti, things are a little complicated,” Sasori replied, casting a glance at Hidan and choosing not to engage with his complaints. His thoughts were currently preoccupied with the situation involving Konoha.
“And to think that damn snake is here in the Land of Wind too… What a damn nuisance.”
“Either way, I can tell we’re being used as bait,” Kakuzu added, clearly displeased. He had already figured out the strategy behind their current deploynt.
“I think it’s ti we dial things down a bit. Even if soone’s supposedly watching our backs, fighting Kitagawa Gen is no joke.”
“We still have no idea what that brat’s capable of—what cards he’s hiding. No matter what, this ti we have to find out more about him.”
“Dial things down?” Sasori gave Kakuzu a strange look. He remained silent for a long while before finally speaking.
“…It might be worth a try. I still have so operatives in Sunagakure. I’ve already lost quite a few puppets—I can’t afford too much attrition.”
“I’m just short on a few materials. Otherwise, I can manage,” Kakuzu said, revealing just a bit of his current state.
Only Hidan gave a scornful snort from the side.
“What are you so afraid of? Just go up there and hack him to pieces! I, the great Hidan, ain’t scared of him at all!”
“…”
Both Sasori and Kakuzu tacitly ignored him. This guy’s ntal state had always been unstable, and he truly had no sense of the danger that Kitagawa Gen posed.
“If only we could find a powerful Wind Release shinobi… That would solve quite a few problems for ,” Kakuzu sighed, shaking his head as he spoke.
Sasori frowned slightly at that and, after a mont of hesitation, opened his mouth as well.
“I’m afraid we have a bit of a conflict, because I also need a powerful Wind Release user—to make into a puppet.”
“Is that so?”
Kakuzu furrowed his brows, thought for a mont, and then cautiously asked, “When you make your human puppets… do you need to keep the internal organs intact?”
“Not really. You just need the organs?”
Sasori blinked in surprise, then replied with equal restraint.
Kakuzu fell silent for a mont before finally nodding.
“Looks like we can work together.”
“Yeah. Here’s to a fruitful collaboration.”
With just that brief exchange, the cold standoff between the two along the road ca to an end.
After all, ninjas don’t easily reveal their true intentions to one another, so it had been impossible to know exactly what the other wanted.
But now, it seed they really could cooperate.
“…Freakin’ lunatics.”
Watching the two, Hidan was completely dumbfounded. He honestly had no idea what was going on with them.
But he couldn’t be bothered to care. Instead, he raised a curious question.
“Hey, hey, hey! Were you two even listening to ? Who the hell is this Shimura Danzo guy from Konoha anyway? And why does he always seem to get intel on us?”
“Just a sewer rat,” Kakuzu said with a frown, voice dripping with disdain. Sasori nodded in agreent.
“He’s called the ‘Darkness of the Shinobi,’ but in reality, he’s just so shady old man who never made it to the big stage. Though now that you ntion him…”
“What about him?” Hidan asked.
“…I believe he has Wind Release. And he is a veteran shinobi with quite the reputation.”
...
“Haha… I was just joking earlier, don’t take it so seriously, alright?”
Chiyo laughed awkwardly toward Kakashi and the others, trying to play it off like a harmless slip-up of the elderly.
Yet even as she smiled, her peripheral gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the ninja blade now resting against her throat.
She could feel her fists involuntarily clenching.
'That blade… That is White Fang’s sword!'
Truth be told, she hadn’t even seen what had happened.
The next mont, the cold tal was already at her neck.
That kind of speed—just thinking back on it now still made her feel incredulous.
All she knew was that it was a kid who had made the move!
Who exactly was this kid?
Why had she never heard of him before?
Has Konoha produced another genius?
...
“Gen, it’s just a misunderstanding. That’s enough, alright?”
While Chiyo’s heart was in turmoil, Kakashi stood there with his usual dead-fish eyes, staring flatly at the old woman before him.
Sure, it felt like his student had taken advantage of her—but honestly, this wasn’t the first ti sothing like that had happened.
“Now that you ntion it, that Sasori of the Red Sand really is your relative. He mistook us for soone else too.”
That line probably would’ve been better left unsaid.
The mont it ca out of his mouth, Chiyo could feel her blood pressure spiking.
“You’re right—attacking the mont you see , without saying a word. Completely unreasonable.”
Kitagawa Gen withdrew his ninja blade, nodding slightly as he spoke.
“By the way, do I really look that much like Kakashi-sensei’s father?”
“…”
This ti, it was Kakashi’s turn to be visibly uncomfortable. Off to the side, Guy watched the whole exchange with an amused expression, saying nothing.
After all, he wasn’t good at dealing with these kinds of situations—better to leave it to Kakashi.
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I will post so extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar
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