Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan

by Little Merger

The trembling Hyuga Kuroto finally got the treasure that he dreamed of! How exactly will the world of Naruto be perceived with his glowing Royal Blue Tenseigan

11. 322 - 353

Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan #Chapter 322 - – 318 Super Shinno God! - Read Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan Chapter 322 - – 318 Super Shinno God! Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Playvolume00:00/00:00

Truvid

fullScreen

Ads by Pubfuture

After receiving the scroll, Homusubi did not care about the presence of Shinno and directly unfolded the scroll.

Carefully looking through the content of the Scroll, Homusubi had a thoughtful expression under the mask.

Although this is the first time, she is reading any information on Chimera Technique, Tsukihi is still knowledgeable enough to have some basic understanding of the Chimera Technique, therefore she can passively judge whether the Technique described in the scroll is truly Chimera Technique or not.

Of course, even if it is her, Tsukihi can not judge whether this technique is a hundred percent accurate or not.

After all, there is a hundred percent probability that Shinno has tempered with the content on the scroll.

It didn't take long for Homusubi to read the scroll then folded it back.

At this time Shinno said softly, "Well, now that I have shown my sincerity, Amatsukami should be able to trust me, right?"

However, Homusubi tossed aside the scroll as it turned into ash, and said lightly, "So you say… But why do I get the feeling that you are not being as much sincere as you are showing yourself to be?"

Even slight tampering on the details and process can greatly change the effects of ninjutsu, and Kinjutsu such as Chimera Techniques that are too complex is easier to temper, especially for people with deep knowledge like Shinno.

No to mention, considering Shinno's character, it is impossible for Homusubi to trust him.

Shinno dared to betray Akatsuki even after understanding the true power that Akatsuki holds, Tsukihi will absolutely not believe in Shinno. Shinno's ultimate goal is to rule over the entire Shinobi World, and everything that comes in his path to complete that objective is his enemy. And Amatsukami is no different from that. So, it is obvious that Shinno would not give a perfect technique to Amatsukami so easily.

Seeing that Homusubi burned the scroll as if it was nothing more than a piece of trash, Shinno's face sank and he can't help but think, 'Did he figure it out so easily?'

Shinno obviously did not give an original version of the Chimera Technique to Homusubi. Many of the but critical details were tempered by him in that scroll. According to Shinno, if Homusubi or anyone else tried to perform Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual based on the information in that scroll. Then without a doubt, it would have resulted in a failure and most likely death of the performer.

Shinno will of course not admit that he was trying to fool Homusubi, as such he said with a cold face, "I hope you understand that I am not afraid of fighting you. I just find it to be too troublesome. But if you are so eager then I don't mind, as you might be aware that I have already killed Uchiha Tsukihi, and you won't be any different, even if you have the Mangekyou Sharingan!"

Homusubi suddenly laughed loudly, and her voice turned into that of a female as she pulled out her Katana, "Is that right? In that case, I would like to see just how you killed Uchiha Tsukihi, and what else can you do against a Mangekyou Sharingan wielder!"

However, hearing that voice, Shinno's eyes widened, more so when he recognized that Katana, "That voice… that Katana…"

Ads by Pubfuture

"Oh, you guessed it alright. I am the same one you claim to have killed!" – said Tsukihi with a chuckle.

Shinno was surprised and took a step back in shock, as he muttered, "How? You should be dead already! I… I… ate you… THEN HOW THE HELL ARE OYU STILL ALIVE!!!???"

"You ate me?" – with a confused expression, Tsukihi continued the next part with a grin, "Think again, you were not even close to eating me! I let you swallow me at that time because defeating you from the inside was the easiest at that time."

"You… you're kidding right!?" – Shinno's expression was dazed, and he couldn't understand just what was happening.

However, suddenly he regained the color in his eyes and said, "I don't know what's happening, but appearing before me again is your greatest mistake. More so trying to fool me by pretending to be Homusubi… you will suffer, and I will see to it that you don't get to live to the Sun of the next day!"

Since it was Uchiha Tsukihi, so Shinno obviously did not worry anymore. Uchiha Tsukihi does not have Mangekyou Sharingan, so there was no need to fear here, in fact, Shinno did not even consider her enough of a threat.

Understanding this, Shinno's arrogance has already started to resurface.

However, Tsukihi seemed unfazed by Shinno's arrogance, and said with a mocking smirk, "You seemed to be mistaken Shinno. If I recall correctly, the last time it was you who was defeated, not me, and don't think this time would be any different."

Shinno roared grimly, "You think!? Then why don't you show me!" – as he took his stance, and suddenly a black vapor burst out of his body, instantly shredding his upper clothes, and his hair floated upwards by the waves of winds

Huala… Huala… Huala…

Instantly, strange symbols appeared on Shinno's body, and his figure transformed into Super Shinno.

With Shinno's transformation into Super Shinno, all his muscles swelled up and tightened, his body shape also changed to the one that he had during his previous battle with Tsukihi.

"Hahahaha…!!!" – Regaining his valor, Shinno laughed proudly. He stomped his feet on the ground, as a result the ground beneath his feet was shattered into spider cracks.

"Do you see this?" – Shinno smiled, and then said, "Compared to the superficial power of you Uchiha Clan, the strength that I have is truly innate. Last time, you survived but that's not going to happen this time… I will make sure to kill you!"

After saying that, Shinno took the stance and shouted, "Hachimon Tonkou: Keimon: Open!"

Boom… Huala… Huala… Huala…!

As soon as he opened the first gate of Hachimon Tonkou, a heavy pressure descended the surroundings and the black vapor around him became a bit denser.

Shinno slammed a punch in the air which alone stirred up a large wave of air. Feeling pleasant, Shinno did not stop there and shouted, "Hachimon Tonkou: Kyumon: Open!"

Boom… Huala… Huala… Huala… Huala… Huala…

This time the air pressure was stronger.

Shinno laughed, "Hahaha… How do you like that… It's still not over yet!"

Ads by Pubfuture

"Hachimon Tonkou: Seimon: Open!"

"Hachimon Tonkou: Shomon: Open!"

With the opening of two gates one-after-another, Shinno's aura became stronger and stronger, and the amount of Dark Chakra he controlled at the moment was incredible, it felt wild… almost like a raging beast.

Shinno shouted, "I feel my blood boiling… hahaha… what is it Uchiha Tsukihi, do you regret it now...? Do you feel fear…? Are you cowering in fear…? This is still not over!"

"Hachimon Tonkou: Tomon: Open!"

"Hachimon Tonkou: Keimon: Open!"

"Hachimon Tonkou: Kyomon: Open!"

"HACHIMON TONKOU: SHIMON: OPEN!"

BOOOM...!!!!!

Instantly, airwave rolled all over… and the heavens itself seemed to cower in the face of Shinno's strength!

At the same time, the dark Chakra on Shinno felt almost at the level superior to that of a high-tier Bijuu… it felt uncontrollable.

The Black Vapor is non-existent at this moment… and it seemed that Shinno went from Super Shinno to Super Shinno 2 then, Super Shinno 3 and finally after opening Shimon, he transcended the mortal realm, thus becoming Super Shinno God!

But despite everything that happened here until a few moments ago, Uchiha Tsukihi didn't seem much scared, or rather, she seemed to try to control her yawn as she for some reason felt a bit sleepy, it was only after Shinno became Super Shinno God, that she showed a bit interest.

After all, being able to open all eight gates of life is no joke. The multiplier effect of eight gates varies from person to person depending on their innate strength and physique but the Super Shinno God here is very-very-very strong.

Not at the level of Might Guy, but very much strong nonetheless.

But what's more surprising is that he seemed unaffected by the negative effects of opening Shimon.

'The fact that he can use Hachimon Tonkou is already very surprising, moreover, he seems to be unaffected even after opening Shimon… this guy really is-…!' – though Tsukihi.

She didn't really expect Shinno to be able to do so. After all, Hachimon Tonkou is no joke. Just opening a few gates is already very difficult not to mention all that should certainly kill an individual.

It took Might Duy almost two decades to perfect this technique and pass it onto his son Might Guy, who has since been solely training in Taijutsu and yet he can open only up to Keimon… he has not yet passed the threshold to open Kyomon and is currently exploring the realm of Keimon.

So practicing Hachimon Tonkou takes years, even then opening Shimon is unquestionable death… and yet… and yet…

This guy is a bastard, but this bastard is a talented bastard that can come up with such unexpected things…

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 572 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Ads by Pubfuture

Report chapter Comments

First Homusubi – Uchiha Tsukihi.

Second Homusubi – Uchiha Shisui.

Third Homusubi – Uchiha Itachi.

...…

Seeing Tsukihi's silent look, Shinno misunderstood and laughed loudly, "Hahaha… I really want to see the look of despair on your face… how is it… you are feeling despair right now, aren't you?"

With that Shinno got ready to attack Tsukihi.

Tsukihi's expression immediately condensed, she quickly printed the hand seals and shouted,

"Fire Release: Fire Ball Technique!"

Whoooooshh... BOOM!!!

Instantly, a huge fireball rushed towards Shinno.

Shinno snorted in disdain as his lips curled in a mocking smirk, he immediately slammed his punch towards the incoming Fire Ball Technique.

Boom…!

With a loud explosive noise both Fire Ball and the wave of air collided with each other and canceled each other out.

Tsukihi was surprised but not so much at the same time. The fact that Shinno managed to produce such terrible air pressure purely with his punches seemed shocking but not so much when you think about what Might Guy is capable of doing. Nevertheless, Shinno's strength is also nothing to scoff at and Tsukihi will have to be careful as she is not Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, or Uzumaki Naruto.

At this time, Shinno spoke, "It's my turn now!" – and speaking so, Shinno's figure disappeared from his position as he rushed towards Tsukihi with a sharp whistling sound.

Tsukihi was obviously surprised by Shinno's speed and she instinctively drew out her Katana to parry Shinno's attack.

Punch… SMASH... Crack…!!!!!

But it seemed she overestimated her capabilities as Shinno's fist slammed through Katana, then slammed at her gut. It seemed like a train hit her, her body arched, her backbone started to crack because the force in that fist was too much for her to be able to bear.

Bang… Bang… Bang… BOOM!

Slammed with a heavy punch, Tsukihi flew out several hundred meters, collided with multiple trees, breaking all of them, and finally collided with the last one which stopped her.

"Cough-cough… Vomit!" – with violent coughing, Tsukihi spewed out a large amount of blood that dripped on the ground.

Regaining her breathing, Tsukihi wiped away the blood that overflowed from the corners of her mask, then glanced at the Katana in her hand.

She didn't need to be surprised as the Katana in her hand was twisted and broken. Although this Katana was not as strong as a Kusanagi Sword, and even though this Katana was not some kind of artifact, it was still a carefully forged Katana by one of the top bladesmiths of the Land of Iron, so the face that this Katana was easily broken by Shinno really disappointed her, It couldn't even withstand one of Shinno's punch."

Shaking her hand helplessly, Tsukihi threw away the broken Katana and said, "Looks like you really would be worth fighting Shin-…!"

Tsukihi's words were not completed as Shinno again appeared before her, and heavily pounced on her face.

But this time, the expected sound of the mask or bones breaking was not heard, nor was there any feeling of hitting someone because just the moment before Shinno's punch was about to land. Tsukihi's body fragmented into countless crows.

"Crow Clone!?" – Shinno muttered in surprise.

The crows cawed and scattered all over the battlefield.

Soon tapping of footsteps sounded… but what confused Shinno was that the sound was not coming from one direction… it was coming from three different directions.

At this time a chuckling sounded, "Although you are indeed fast… your speed is still nothing compared to the insight of my Sharingan!"

As the voice landed, one figure of Homusubi walked out of the forest.

Shinno turned towards the source of that voice and frowned, because even with the appearance of Uchiha Tsukihi in front of him, the sound of footsteps has not ceased, which means that there are more people here.

At this time, one more person wearing the disguise of Homusubi walked out of the forest. This person had a short sword in his hand, there was a presence of blood on the blade of the short sword that dripped on the ground. Clearly signifying that this short sword has killed a lot of individuals recently.

Shinno muttered in anger, "Another idiot pretending to be Homusubi? You think that just because you are wearing that disguise, I would be fooled into believing that you are the real Homusubi?"

Shinno's words fell and at this time one more person walked out of the third end he too wore Homusubi's disguise, and as soon as he came, he looked at the first Homusubi and said, "All the shinobis of the Land of Sky have been resolved."

The first Homusubi nodded and looked at Shinno, while saying, "Be careful of his speed and raw strength… this guy is able to open all the eight gates of Hachimon Tonkou… A direct hit from him would prove to be critical…"

The second Homusubi looked at Shinno and noticed the terrifying evil chakra that Shinno was giving off, he immediately raised his guard against Shinno.

While the third didn't speak anything, just nodded seriously.

Shinno's face was beyond gloomy by now, initially, he thought that the only enemy is Uchiha Tsukihi, but then suddenly two more have appeared. Both of them are wearing Homusubi's disguise so most likely they are also Uchiha.

"Since you, Uchihas have such an ardent death wish, then I might as well fulfill it for you." – With a roar, Shinno's figure disappeared and appeared before the second Homusubi.

Even though Shinno's speed was fast, it was nothing in front of the second Homusubi, who easily dodged Shinno's punch, the next moment he appeared behind Shinno and waved his sword to incur a deep cut wound on his back.

At the same time, the third Homusubi has already shot multiple shurikens which collided with each other, changed their trajectories, and instantly wove a net of wires thus effectively trapping Shinno within.

Swish… Ding…

But just when the second Homusubi's short sword slashed at Shinno's back, the expected splashing of blood did not come, instead, there was an iron symphony as what that sword cut through was nut human flesh but metal.

And the very next moment, Shinno's muscles wiggled and broke through all the steel wires that trapped him.

Rip… Rip… Rip…

Seeing his attack fail, the second Homusubi leaped backward.

Shinno laughed, "Do you see it…? This is the ultimate body!!!"

"Jinchuriki Mode!"

Boom…!

Suddenly the chakra suppressed inside Shinno exploded in an explosive sound. And the ground beneath his feet cracked. Both second and third Homusubi had to retreat backward.

But Shinno was not finished, his body started to change, and a purple-black chakra cloak appeared over his body.

The broken fragments of stones flew into the air and were suspended there as if gravity no longer affected them. And they started to revolve around Shinno forming a ring-like structure.

Second Homusubi spoke in shock, "Jinchuriki mode on top of Hachimon Tonkou!?"

Shinno laughed madly, "Hahahaha… I have mastered Dark Iryo Ninjutsu and coupled with my Body Revival Technique, I can easily use the Jinchuriki Mode!"

Third Homusubi looked at First Homusubi who has been standing silent, observing the course of events.

Tsukihi put her hand over her chin and said, "Tch, he is even able to use the Jinchuriki mode? This was somewhat beyond my expectations." Speaking so Tsukihi looked at the other two and added, "It's time we use over true cards!"

Shinno laughed, "Hahaha… Do you people still have something up your sleeve? Fine come at me with everything you have! I will crush you peo-… p… l… e…?!"

Before Shinno's words could be completed, a golden chakra phantom appeared before him. The skeletal body of the chakra phantom was covered with muscles and Armor appeared over.

Shinno was a little dazed, and muttered, "Su… Susanoo!!?"

But before he could be relieved of his shock, another chakra phantom appeared. This one was green… and it too was an upper-body Susanoo.

And at the same time, a red chakra phantom appeared… however, this one only had a skeletal body… but this Susanoo exuded an extremely dark aura, so despite its small size and incomplete appearance, it was no weaker than the other two Susanoo.

Shinno was surrounded in the middle of the three towering Susanoo… and he had a sluggish look… Traces of sweat flowed down his temples, and he tried to speak something but all that came out was, "Th… th… three… Susanoo!!?"

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 573 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Looking at the three Susanoo with different colors and shapes surrounding him in a triangular seize, Shinno had a sluggish expression, all he could murmur were some incoherent words.

Susanoo, the embodiment of Uchiha's strongest dojutsu is also one of the standard ocular power that a Mangekyou Sharingan grants to its user.

Being able to use Susanoo means awakening Mangekyou Sharingan, so when the three Susanoo appeared here at the same time, Shinno realized that Uchiha Tsukihi, as well as the other two Homusubi, have Mangekyou Sharingan.

From the color of Susanoo, Shinno can guess that the golden Susanoo is that of Homusubi of Amatsukami which means that Uchiha Tsukihi is Homusubi in reality. While the green one is that of Uchiha Shisui while the red one… probably Uchiha Itachi?

But regardless of who they are, what Shinno knows is that in the face of three Susanoo he is in great trouble.

Facing three Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan? In such a situation, there are only a handful of people in the entire Shinobi world who can survive, and Shinno understands that he is obviously not one of those few.

Perhaps Tendo Pain? Yeah, maybe only people at the level of Tendo Pain who have something like the Rinnegan can survive such a situation.

Uchiha Tsukihi was standing inside her Golden Susanoo, her one hand over her waist and a calm look in her eyes.

Honestly, she was not really afraid of going against Shinno in a one-vs-one battle. The only reason she involved Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi in this mission is to ensure that no shinobi of the Land of Sky survive this massacre and also ensure that Shinno doesn't use any means to escape. There is also a possibility of an Akatsuki member suddenly appearing here so Tsukihi doesn't want to risk it.

And now that Shinno has revealed two extremely strong techniques one-after-another, Tsukihi is really grateful that she brought Shisui and Itachi with her.

At this time, Shinno took a deep breath and said politely with a gentle smile, "It seems… it seems that we had some sort of misunderstanding before… maybe we can talk about it and… and… you wanted the scroll of Chimera Technique, right? You can have it… even if you destroyed the previous one, I will give you another one… this time it will be original… so… so… we don't really have to fight here, right?"

Tsukihi sighed.

Seeing Tsukihi sigh, Shinno quickly added, "Everything was just a misunderstanding… Uchiha Tsukihi, since… since you are a member of Amatsukami, don't you need information about Akatsuki? I can give all the information about the Akatsuki Organization that I know to you… don't you… doesn't your leader Yama wants to know who is the leader of Akatsuki Organizati-…?"

Tsukihi suddenly chuckled which interrupted Shinno midway, "Shinno, you seem to have forgotten that I too attended Hiruko's ritual… how do you think I did that?"

"Uchiha Shinichi!!!?" – Shinno muttered with a shocked expression, "Does that mean Uchiha Shinichi is also… wait if that's the case then does that mean the reason why Uchiha Shinichi threatened me was also under the orders of Amatsukami? Did you all plan this long ago?"

At this time, Shinno figured out more things.

Uchiha Tsukihi attended Hiruko's ritual ceremony as Shinichi's subordinate, but given the fact that she has Mangekyou Sharingan, just means that she cannot be Uchiha Shinichi's subordinate. And given the fact that Uchiha Tsukihi is a member of Amatsukami, and Shinichi cooperated with her means that Shinichi is also working with Amatsukami… which ultimately means that he is acting as a spy within Akatsuki for Amatsukami.

This explains the reason why Uchiha Shinichi suddenly started blackmailing him for the Chimera Technique, forcing him with no choice but to leave the organization, and Amatsukami suddenly came to him.

And given who unshocked the other two Uchiha are by Tsukihi's words, just means that they are more or less aware of these things… which means that either the entire Uchiha clan is working with Amatsukami or Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi have betrayed their village and are working for Amatsukami as a spy.

The first reason is more believable, the entire Uchiha Clan has betrayed Konohagakure and has sided with Amatsukami.

Realizing, Shinno still couldn't figure out one thing, "But… but why are you all after me? If it's just Chimera technique then I am willing to give it to you…?"

Tsukihi said with a gloomy tone, "You see, you did something not long ago which has angered our leader, you dare lay your hands on the Miko of Land of Demons, and she is sort of a teacher to our leader… and that's not all… you didn't stop and even destroyed her entire country… You could have chosen any other country but you had to go and destroy Land of Demons, and you offended our leader… so you see… you made Amatsukami an enemy after doing so... therefore, we are here!"

Shinno was shocked, now he understood that the battle between them was inevitable, even if he wants to not get involved, what's done is done and can not be changed… As such Shinno didn't want any more words and directly broke out all his chakra.

Smash… Crack… Boom… Whoosh…

With all his strength, Shinno stomped on the ground and rushed towards Tsukihi.

His speed was fast, several times faster than even, just a rush-produced violent wind, causing the golden flames of Susanoo to sway…

BOOOM…!!!

Amidst a roar, Shinno smashed his fist on Uchiha Tsukihi's Susanoo.

Crack…

And instantly, several cracks appeared on the golden Susanoo.

Undoubtedly, the raw strength that Shinno's has currently is even superior to that of Sandaime Raikage, as such he was able to make some cracks in the incomplete Susanoo.

Next, he immediately retreated and said while catching up his breath, "Haha… hahaha… It seems… It seems that Susanoo is not as strong as it is said to be!"

Tsukihi said with a giggle, "You think…?"

"Susanoo: Tsukumo!" – And the very next minute a rain of green chakra Senbon was fired towards him.

Shinno immediately raised his guard and dodged those incoming Senbon one after another.

"Amaterasu!" – In an instant, black flames suddenly appeared on Shinno's body.

"Ahhhh… Ahhhh… What are these…!?" – Shinno was taken aback by the sudden appearance of black flames on his body, these flames were as hot as the Sun and immediately burned his skin and were now reaching for his muscles.

And no matter how much he tried, these black flames simply couldn't be extinguished!

Realizing the danger, Shinno hurriedly printed hand seals and shouted, "Water Release: Water Veil!"

A veil of water suddenly appeared out of thin air and Shinno was covered on it.

However, Shinno had to be disappointed, even the veil of water was unable to extinguish the Black Flames.

But Shinno is still Shinno, he immediately realized a counter method of these Black Flames, as such he instantly covered his body with a dense Chakra of Moryo thus temporarily reducing the burning effect of Amaterasu.

Seeing Shinno's method of countering Amaterasu, Tsukihi was surprised and knew that Shinno can't be given any more breathing time. As such, she immediately used the two fists of her Susanoo and smashed Shinno with them.

At the same time, Shisui and Itachi were not idle. They also controlled their respective Susanoo and attack Shinno at the same time.

Smash… Boom… Cut… BOOM… Boom… Kaboom…!

The three Susanoo worked tacitly, and Shinno was being burned by Amaterasu had no time to dodge.

Smashed with the Golden Fist, he flew out, while flying several Green Senbon pierced his stomach… at the same time, a Golden Chakra Sword appeared out of the other arm of Golden Susanoo which cut of Shinno's left arm, while a series of Red Chakra Shuriken came at him flying, cutting off both of his legs.

In an instant, Shinno had already lost both of his legs, and an arm, along with his stomach. Coupled with the Black Flame burning him continuously, Shinno couldn't put much resistance now, even with his Body Revival Technique.

All he could do now was roll and wail in pain.

After defeating Shinno, Tsukihi, Shisui and Itachi dispersed their respective Susanoo and watched Shinno suffering from cold eyes.

Did they pity him?

Not really. Shinno killed Miko-sama as well as destroyed the Land of Demons, and had the gall to go after Shion and Hyuga Yui. He worked with Akatsuki Organization and destroyed part of Konohagakure, killed several Konoha Shinobi. And most of all, he dared to lay his hands on Uchiha Sasuke… these things alone are more than enough to incur the wrath of the three!

Wailing and crying in pain, Shinno begged them to stop this torture.

The Black Flames of Amaterasu would not extinguish no matter what he tries. Amaterasu is undoubtedly the strongest Flame.

After a few more seconds of burning, when Shinno could no longer speak or cry or move or twitch, Tsukihi said to Itachi, "Alright, put out the flames."

Itachi nodded and extinguished the burning Amaterasu.

Next, she instructed Shisui, "Control him with Genjutsu."

Shisui nodded and walked towards Shinno and used a strong Mangekyou Genjutsu on Shinno.

In an instant, Shinno lost the color in his eyes.

At this time, Tsukihi walked towards Shinno and observed his state.

Don't look at his state, after Amaterasu was extinguished all of his injuries started to heal. Whether it was the cut-off arm or the pair of legs… they were all recovering at a visible speed.

Realizing this, Tsukihi was really grateful that Itachi was here. With Itachi's Amaterasu, dealing with Shinno became very easy.

Converging her diverging thoughts, Tsukihi crouched down and asked from the controlled Shinno, "Now, hand over the complete Chimera Technique!"

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 574 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

After hearing Tsukihi's question, the healed-up Shinno got up and entered the temple. The other three curiously followed him.

Corridor by corridor, they observed everything around them curiously, Tsukihi was able to notice what this place is…

After walking for a while, four of them arrived at the main compartment, at this time, Shinno walked towards a Stone pillar in the main compartment with a blank expression. Then he lightly pressed on the stone pillar and a hidden grid was revealed where a scroll with a black case was placed.

Tsukihi took out the scroll from the hidden grid and immediately opened it. From the contents, this scroll too recorded the Chimera Technique.

After comparing the information in this scroll with that of the information she remembered from the previous scroll thanks to her Sharingan, Tsukihi noticed that as she expected, most of the information was accurate and same, just the most critical detail was tempered with.

"Sure enough, it's just as I expected." – muttered Tsukihi softly, after that she folded back the scroll and put it inside her Ho Musubi cloak.

Then she again looked at the Blank Shinno and asked, "What exactly is this temple?"

"Ancor Vantian." – Replied Shinno in a mechanical tone.

"Ancor Vantian!?" – Shisui and Itachi muttered in confusion as they glanced at each other with a puzzled expression.

Tsukihi was silent, she knew that there was a giant air fortress in the Land of Sky but she didn't know whether it was this temple or not, as such she asked, "What is 'Ancor Vantian'?"

Shinno replied, "The 'Ancor Vantian' is the Aerial Fortress of Land of Sky…"

"This is indeed Aerial Fortress!" – muttered Tsukihi and then asked, "Can this fortress fly?"

Shinno nodded then shook his head as he added, "It is capable of flight but it's not ready yet as the power system of the fortress has yet to be completely optimized."

Tsukihi asked, "How to optimize the power system?"

Shinno said, "From the Power Room."

"Then what are you waiting for? Lead the way." – instructed Tsukihi.

Shinno nodded and walked towards the exit of the main compartment.

Under the leadership of Shinno, the other three quickly arrived at the power room of Ancor Vantian.

Looking around, Shisui said in surprise, "I never expected that the Land of Sky that was destroyed by us would still hide something like an aerial fortress."

Itachi observed the seals engraved on the walls and asked, "Is this fortress really capable of flight?"

Tsukihi crouched down and took a closer look at the Fuinjutsu engraved all over the power room, "Theoretically it is capable of flight, but the amount of fuel it requires to do so is too much for a single individual or even a few individuals to provide."

Shisui asked, "Which fuel is used here?"

Tsukihi said, "Both mechanisms probably work. That is to say, both electricity and Chakra would work… But in terms of efficiency using Chakra would be better for the long-term functioning of this fortress, and that's where the problem arises, the Chakra amount it requires would be humungous."

Shisui also looked at the Fuinjutsu engraved on the floorings and walls and asked, "Does that mean that this Fuinjutsu is still effective?"

Tsukihi nodded, "Some parts are damaged, but most of it is still working, it would only require some work and testing and they can be continued to be used, however, if I have to say then it would be better to change the seals, instead of repairing these seals, it would be better to redesign the entire mechanism as these seals are somewhat inefficient…"

Among the three of them, Tsukihi's Genjutsu proficiency is the least, now it's not that she is weak in Genjutsu, but Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi are just too good when it comes to Genjutsu usage. Similarly, Tsukihi is the most proficient in Fuinjutsu among the three, now it's not that the other two lack Fuinjutsu knowledge, it's just that Tsukihi is much superior in Fuinjutsu compared to them. As such, she can better analyze the seals in the power room.

Therefore, she said that redrawing the seals would greatly improve efficiency and safety.

Thinking of this, Tsukihi was planning to design a new Fuinjutsu Mechanism casually asked Shinno, "And what were you people planning to do after you have started Ancor Vantian?"

Shinno replied, "Bury the five great Shinobi Villages and Amegakure. We planned to start with Konohagakure!"

As soon as they heard this, both Shisui and Itachi were shocked and uncontrollable killing intent was directed towards Shinno.

Unlike other Uchiha, the village comes before Clan for both Shisui and Itachi, and whoever dares to harm the village is a greater enemy for them.

Shisui said coldly, "You fool, you still planned to destroy Konoha? What you did the last time was not enough already? And do you really think that the likes of this decaying aerial fortress alone can destroy Konoha completely? You are being too arrogant!"

Shinno instinctively shivered, and said, "The weapon system of Ancor Vantian is functioning properly. And this fortress contains a Chakra Cannon that can completely wipe out an entire shinobi village within seconds… Konohagakure wouldn't have held much longer even with their barrier cover."

"YOU…!?" – Shisui was suddenly speechless.

Itachi on the other hand breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, we acted on the right opportunity and subdued him first, otherwise the village would have been in danger."

Tsukihi nodded indifferently but there was still some lingering fear.

Even if Shinno has overestimated the capabilities of the Chakra Cannon, there's no telling whether the Chakra Cannon is not capable of what he says.

After all, the Raikage claimed that their Chakra Cannon is capable of destroying the moon, so there is no telling if this Chakra Cannon is not capable of destroying other Shinobi Villages.

And even Kuroto is not sure whether he would have been able to save the village in such a situation. Because the cannon could reduce Konoha to dust in less than a few seconds.

Tsukihi asked now, "And what is the source of fuel you planned to use?"

Shinno said, "Captured shinobi, civilians, as well as Moryo, I planned to extract chakra from them."

Shisui and Itachi sighed, "This guy is too evil, even dares to involve unrelated civilians."

While Tsukihi nodded slightly, she has already expected Moryo to be the source, although, civilians and captured Shinobi were a surprise, it's not so strange considering those prison cages and the fact that Fuinjutsu is running throughout the fortress.

Anyway, this only makes things easier for her. Initially, she was considering how to resolve Moryo.

Since Moryo is the other half of Miko, so as long as Miko is alive, Moryo will also not disappear. Even if killed he would not cease to exist.

For that reason, he can only be sealed, not killed.

However, if he has to be sealed then instead of sealing him at the sealing shrine in the Land of Demons or somewhere unsafe, it is better to seal him here at Ancor Vantian. This way he will also be useful in running Ancor Vantian.

It can be said that this idea kills two birds with one stone!

Just when Tsukihi finalized the plans, Shisui asked her, "Now what to do with Shinno? If he is handed over to the village, then I am worried then intelligence on Amatsukami will be extracted out during the torture process, did Kuroto-San give you any order regarding this?"

Shinno has witnessed all three Susanoo, he also knows that Uchiha Tsukihi is not dead, Uchiha Shisui is also a member of Amatsukami and there is also a third Ho Musubi, so he cannot be handed over to the village.

Tsukihi nodded and said, "That's why I am going to seal him here inside the power room. To be exact, I will extract Moryo out of Shinno, then he will be killed and Moryo will be sealed here… this way Ancor Vantian will also become functioning…"

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 575 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Shisui looked at Tsukihi for a while then asked, "Do you want to run this Aerial Fortress?"

Tsukihi nodded. Although this fortress is somewhat dilapidated and many of the facilities here are in ruins, the amount of value Ancor Vantian holds is still very much.

Not to mention other things, the flight capability and Chakra Cannon alone make it a terrifying weapon of war.

It is obvious for an organization like Amatsukami to hold such things in its hands. And Ancor Bantian can also be used as a base of command.

Shisui stared at Tsukihi. To be honest, he doesn't really know Uchiha Tsukihi all that much, therefore, he doesn't trust Tsukihi that much either.

The fact that Kuroto-san has given that pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to Tsukihi has surprised him very much. It's only because of Kuroto-san that Shisui is willing to accompany and work under Tsukihi's command.

But now the matter of Ancor Vantian came, so he was a bit surprised and asked seriously, "Does Kurotosan know about this?"

Tsukihi was surprised by Shisui's serious words, after thinking a bit she immediately figured out his worries, and nodded, "Don't worry, I am just following Kuroto-sama's orders."

Shisui asked, "Does that mean that Kuroto-san was aware of the existence of air fortress even before?"

Tsukihi nodded, "Mm-hm, there were various objectives of eliminating the Land of Sky, taking control of Ancor Vantian was one of them, this place will now be Amatsukami's base. As for how he knows about the existence of Ancor Vantian, you should have heard Shinno's words right?"

"The part about Shinichi?" – After a pause, Shisui asked, "Does that mean Shinichi is also with us? He also joined Amatsukami?"

Itachi also paid attention to the discussion.

The defection of Uchiha Shinichi who had awakened Mangekyou Sharingan is definitely a very big loss for the Uchiha Clan and the Village. To this day, the Uchiha Clan has not given up on bringing Shinichi back, but they have been unable to do so despite how much they try.

Shisui has blamed himself for this. He feels that he is also partly responsible for Shinichi going rogue and joining Akatsuki Organization. It was Shisui who took the responsibility to bring back Shinichi but he failed to complete it!

Tsukihi shook her head, "Uchiha Shinichi has not officially joined Amatsukami, but it seems that he had some sort of dispute with Shinno. So, he provided some information to Kuroto-sama about Shinno and here we are."

Both Itachi and Shisui were thoughtful after hearing this piece of news. This also explained many things to them.

On the other side, Tsukihi was also silent, the reason she did not reveal Shinichi being undercover in Akatsuki is very simple. A spy is only a spy when him being a spy is unknown to the most, and only known to his contact point. Otherwise, some flaws will appear. Even if Shisui and Itachi are not the kinds of people who will let those flaws be revealed it is still better to not reveal anything.

Moreover, Shinichi was indeed disappointed by his clan and village, even if he blamed himself for the death of Uchiha Kurumi, he was nonetheless disappointed, so it doesn't seem that he has any plans to come back to his clan for the time being. Therefore, Tsukihi doesn't want to give Shisui and Itachi unrealistic hope.

Besides, as long as Shimura Danzo is alive, the return of Uchiha Shinichi would not be a good thing for the Uchiha Clan.

After all, Shimura Danzo did suffer heavy losses from Uchiha Shinchi, so it is best that Shinichi remain in Akatsuki for now.

Shisui put one hand over his eyes, then asked, "Can you arrange a meeting between Shinichi and me?"

Tsukihi shook his head, "Shinichi is in Akatsuki Organization, so he is mostly busy with some or another task, so there is no way to track his whereabouts as he is traveling throughout the Shinobi World. Moreover, your identity is too sensitive, whether as Uchiha Shisui or as Ho Musubi. It would cause too much trouble for him, as well as Konoha."

Itachi, who had been silent all the time suddenly asked, "Is Akatsuki really so powerful?"

Tsukihi pointed towards Shinno who was under Genjutsu and said, "This guy has betrayed Akatsuki, but he should be aware of some extent of power Akatsuki hides. Since you want to know just how strong Akatsuki is, you can get some understanding of that organization from him."

Itachi nodded and walked towards Shinno, activating his Mangekyou Sharingan he looked into Shinno's eyes, then questioned, "Who are the members of Akatsuki Organization?"

Shinno was already under a Genjutsu cast by Shisui and with Itachi's extra Genjutsu he obviously couldn't resist and immediately fessed up everything that he knew.

The members of the Akatsuki Organization included: Sasori, Kakazu, Uchiha Shinichi, Biwa Juzo, Hiruko, him, Zetsu.

Orochimaru a former member… but this information was still not public knowledge…

Then there was Konan and Tendo Pain… about the two of them, all Shinno said was God and Angel… This obviously meant that Shinno is unaware of much information on Tendo Pain and Konan.

The official members of the Akatsuki Organization are all Kage Class or higher than Kage Class shinobi.

Shisui thought of that mysterious masked man with strange space-time Jutsu that tried to abduct Yondaime-sama's son, and asked, "Are these the only official members of the Akatsuki Organization?"

Shinno nodded.

Shisui asked again, "No this can't be right. I know that there is a one-eyed spiral-masked individual in Akatsuki Organization. He uses a strange space-time Jutsu, who is he? Is he not in Akatsuki?"

The existence of this masked man has really made Shisui very scared, space-time Jutsu is not a joke, almost no one is your opponent unless he too masters Space-Time Jutsu.

Shinno's face distorted, and it seemed he was trying very hard to think, but even after a long while of thinking he shook his head, "there is no such individual in the Organization…"

Tsukihi thought, 'The existence of Obito is a secret even within Akatsuki. Currently, there are only four individuals in Akatsuki who are aware of his existence. And those four people are, Pain, Konan, Shinichi, and Zetsu. So it's no wonder that Shinno isn't aware of one-eyed masked individual.'

Shisui was silent after hearing this.

At this time, Itachi asked, "What are the abilities of the leader of the Akatsuki Organization?"

Shinno seemed to struggle here, but just a look from Itachi was enough, and he immediately spoke, "Tendo Pain claims to be God, he has God's eyes from the myth. The Eyes of Rikudo Sennin… making him an extremely powerful Shinobi…far superior to any of the existing Kage."

The occasional pause from Shinno indicated that he was really afraid of Tendo Pain, and this was even shown when under the effect of Genjutsu.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Tendo Pain has strength superior to that of all existing Kage?"

Shisui asked with a confused expression, "What are God's eyes?"

"The Rinnegan!"

"What!?" "The Rinnegan!!?"

"Yes, the Rinnegan!"

Shisui muttered, "But Rinnegan has only existed in myths. And there is no solid proof of its existence. How could Tendo Pain have those eyes?"

Tsukihi said, "It's not just a myth, the myths of Rikudo Sennin are true. And the Rinnegan that Tendo Pain has is also real."

Both Itachi and Shisui looked at each other with shocked expressions.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 576 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Tsukihi said, "It's not just a myth, the myths of Rikudo Sennin are true. And the Rinnegan that Tendo Pain has is also real."

Both Itachi and Shisui looked at each other with shocked expressions.

It should be noted that because being under two Genjutsu at the same time, Shinno doesn't have any ability to lie, as such Shisui turned towards Tsukihi and asked again, "Does Kuroto-san knows of all this information?"

Uchiha Tsukihi who was leaning on the wall with hands over her chest nodded gently.

If anyone other than the current members or former members of Akatsuki is aware of what Akatsuki is truly capable of then without a doubt it is Hyuga Kuroto for obvious reasons.

Their combined strength is more than enough to destroy entire Shinobi Villages like Konoha in a matter of a few hours.

In the original story, it was Nagato's foolishness that led to the death of most of the Akatsuki members.

And despite that, Akatsuki Organization still managed to collect seven of the nine Bijuu, and almost caught the Hachibi and Kyuubi as well.

They even manage to seal part of the Chakra of all the nine Bijuu inside the Gedo Mazo thus awakening Juubi.

Tendo Pain alone killed thousands of Konoha Shinobi, almost destroying Konohagakure, the strongest of the five great powers. If it weren't for Uzumaki Naruto's strongest Jutsu, that being Talk no Jutsu which made Nagato realize some things, prompting him to give up his life in exchange for bringing back those Konoha Shinobi he killed, including Hatake Kakashi, Konoha would have existed in name only.

So, it can be understood just how strong Akatsuki is.

Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito and his Pain Rikudo, Nagato and his Pain Rikudo, Kabuto and his Edo Tensei Army which included multiple former Kages, many of the deceased Akatsuki Shinobi as well as other Kage Class, and Elite Jonin Class Shinobi, Hundred Thousand Zetsu Army, Uchiha Sasuke, and his Team Taka, Orochimaru and his Otogakure, Uchiha Itachi, Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Biwa Juzo, Kisama, Hidan, Deidara… and most of all, the final boss… Otsutsuki Kaguya!

Akatsuki was nothing short of a mind-boggling organization filled with the freaks of this Shinobi world and could have easily erased the entire Shinobi World should their leaders work in the right manner.

At this time, Shisui asked again, "Kuroto-san is also aware of the Rinnegan?"

Uchiha Tsukihi who was leaning on the wall with hands over her chest said, "He is aware of the existence of the Rinnegan that the leader of Akatsuki has. And Shisui you must be aware of the Dojutsu that Kuroto-sama has, right?"

Shisui nodded, how can he ever forget those eyes?

Seeing Shisui nod, Tsukihi continued, "So, well those eyes are Tenseigan and they hold the potential to be on the same level as the Rinnegan. Tenseigan was a dojutsu that Otouto of Rikudo Sennin awakened. Precisely because Kuroto-sama has awakened Tenseigan, he understands the amount of danger a Rinnegan user can have on the world."

At this time, Itachi asked, "But how is Kuroto-san aware of all this?"

Tsukihi hurriedly said, "To be honest I am not entirely sure, maybe from Orochimaru, or from Uchiha Shinichi, or maybe from his own intelligence collection or perhaps from some other source, but that's not the point, the point is that the danger Akatsuki poses. This is exactly why he has never revealed the existence of his Tenseigan because he wants to stay in the dark and deal with the situation appropriately. So, Kuroto-sama wants this Aerial Fortress, Ancor Vantian to be the main base of Amatsukami.

The existence of Ancor Vantian is unknown to most, other than us three, Shinno and the Shinobi of the Land of Sky, as well as Kuroto-sama and Uchiha Shinichi, and perhaps Orochimaru but unlikely are the only people aware of its existence. Shinno would soon be dead, none of us are ever going to reveal such a thing, Orochimaru has betrayed Akatsuki so it is unlikely that he would want to incur the enmity of Amatsukami at the same time. And Uchiha Shinichi has given his words to not reveal its existence to anyone even in the Akatsuki. The Shinobi of the Land of Sky are either all dead or will be dead soon enough, so almost no one would be aware of where the base of Amatsukami is. Making it the perfect base."

There is one more variable that Tsukihi did not word out, Black Zetsu. Given what exactly Black Zetsu is, and for how long he has existed it is possible that he is aware of the existence of Ancor Vantian. But even if he is, he has no way to reveal that to Akatsuki, as that would be suspicious. So Tsukihi has to take that risk. And besides, even if Zetsu reveals the existence of Ancor Vantian, finding an Aerial Fortress in the sky over the entire Shinobi Continent would be next to impossible even for the Akatsuki, and the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Itachi thought about it, then nodded. While Shisui did the same.

At this time Itachi turned to Shinno and spoke, "There are a few more things I want to know about Tendo Pain, what are the specific powers of Rinnegan?"

After a long silence, Shinno didn't speak anything indicating that he is not aware.

Tendo Pain rarely takes the shots himself. Only the old members of Akatsuki like Kakuzu, Sasori, Biwa Juzo, and Orochimaru are probably the only ones aware of some of Tendo Pain's powers. So, even though Shinno was very interested in Rinnegan, he did not have any information about it. He has only ever met Pain three or four times face to face, as such he never even had the chance to explore Rinnegan.

So it is completely logical that is unaware of the abilities of Rinnegan.

Understanding that they can no longer obtain any other intelligence from Shinno, Itachi and Shisui sighed. They are of course aware of where the base of Akatsuki is, but even if they know what good does it do in the end?

Tsukihi shook her head, then said to Itachi, "Now that everything is clear, we have to hurry up. Itachi, you go out, clean up all our traces here and also make sure that no one has escaped. Our objective is to take away this Aerial Fortress without alerting anyone, so we can not leave any of our traces behind. Also, leave out a few Crow Summons outside to make sure that we are aware if anyone comes nearby."

Itachi did say that all the shinobi of the Land of Sky have been eliminated, but there is no harm in making sure.

It would take some time before they take the flight, so they have to be careful.

"Yes." – Itachi of course understood the situation, so he immediately nodded and left the power room.

Then Tsukihi said to Shisui, "Before we extract Moryo out of Shinno and seal him here, I need to rearrange the seals here and that will take some time. In the meantime, you take Shinno and check the layout of this Ancor Vantian, also make sure to see what all things have he stored here since I have placed a seal on Shinno restricting the use of Moryo's Chakra so there is no need to worry about him getting out of control."

Shisui nodded and left the power room with Shinno.

With Shisui and Itachi gone, Tsukihi now paid attention to the power room.

The space in the powder room is very-very large. It is enough to keep Moryo sealed here.

But to keep Moryo sealed here, an extremely powerful seal array needs to be designed, and the seal array must be foolproof.

"Let's use Four-Symbols Seal as the core!" – After a while of consideration, Tsukihi finally decided on Four-Symbols Seal.

Four-Symbols Seal is the best seal that is specifically designed to keep the Bijuu Class beings restrained, and if arranged correctly, it also grants the user ability to extract Chakra.

But a single Four-Symbols Seal wouldn't be able to keep Moryo restricted. It is one thing to seal a Bijuu class being inside oneself, and it is another matter altogether to seal a Bijuu Class being outside. To restrain the huge body of Moryo, an array of Four-Symbols seal must be designed to ensure safety. To make sure that Moryo doesn't break out even by overflowing the array with Chakra.

And isolation is also very important. Tsukihi does not want others to be able to sense Moryo's Chakra, so Chakra Isolation is also required.

With the plan formulated, Tsukihi started arranging the seal array.

After printing the hand seals, she immediately shouted, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof… Poof… Poof… Poof…

With a burst of white smoke, four Shadow Clones of Tsukihi appeared next to her. Counting herself, there were now five of them in the power room.

The Four-Symbol Seal Array to be arranged wouldn't be just simple stacking, but would rather be arranged in a definite shape. For this purpose, several Four-Symbol seals have to be activated at the same time, for that purpose, there is a need to use Shadow Clone.

With everything set, Tsukihi and her four Shadow Clone started arranging Four-Symbols Seal Array, and not long after, Tsukihi arranged a pentagram array with five hundred individual seals. Making the huge power room covered in the sealing symbols that gave off a fluorescent glow.

"Wheh…" – After the array was arranged, Tsukihi breathed, wiped off the imaginary sweat from the top of her mask, and then deactivated the four shadow Clones.

Arranging five hundred Four-Symbol Seals, and keeping all of them activated is a huge burden, even for her.

But it was all worth it as this array would perfectly restrain Moryo, the chakra extracted from Moryo would be more than enough for the functioning of Ancor Vantian, and there would also be no danger of him escaping here.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 577 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

By the time Tsukihi completed the Four-Symbol Seal array, Shisui also brought Shinno back to the power room.

When Shisui looked at the power room that was almost covered with the fluorescent light of the Found-Symbols Seal array, he was literally dumbfounded, "This… did you just arrange this entire array in such a short time?"

Tsukihi smiled and nodded triumphantly. "How about it? It should be more than enough to seal Moryo, right?"

"You are capable of such a feat, no wonder Kuroto-san chose to give you the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan…" – Shisui suddenly looked at Uchiha Tsukihi in a new light.

In the field of Fuinjutsu Shisui is also has quite a lot of understanding, therefore, he easily recognized the seals in the array are Four-Symbols seal, but their sheer number really shocked him.

The difficulty of keeping one Fou-Symbol Seal active at a point is already quite high, not to mention keeping hundreds of them active. Such a feat is not something that just anyone can do!

However, instead of acting proud, Tsukihi casually said, "This pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is only temporarily in my eyes sockets. As long as you need it, or should the need arise for someone else to use, it will be given to that individual."

A pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan may hold immeasurable value for some but for Hyuga Kuroto, it is just a useful tool for him and holds some research value.

What's more, when Kuroto would use Chimera Technique in the future, the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan will have to be removed as any foreign DNA that does not consist of Kuroto's own DNA will not be used.

As such only, the semi-finished pair of Byakugan that were initially present will be used.

Therefore, Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan holds no importance for Kuroto's final plan.

However, Shisui didn't know that, and he was seriously shocked by what Tsukihi said so casually.

"Even in the face of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, you are still not greedy and can easily let go of it? I can't think of a better candidate for keeping those than you!" – said Shisui.

Tsukihi said, "You may not be able to, but I can think of better candidates. You are one, and Uchiha Itachi is the other one."

Shisui shook his head and said, "I can't say for Itachi, but I do not want nor need those eyes. I have already talked about this with Kuroto-san so you can rest assured. I just hope that you won't misuse them, and can continue to contribute to Konoha… and protect the village from the shadows!"

Seeing that pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, Shisui is always reminded of Uchiha Ryota and Uchiha Hideki, therefore, he has sort of a subconscious resistance towards those eyes. After all, he was partly responsible for what they experienced this makes him feel guilty.

For this reason, Shisui has never once thought of transplanting this pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, even when his eyesight has started to decline.

Seeing that Shisui was a little depressed, Tsukihi decided to change the subject and asked, "So have you checked the layout of Ancor Vantian?"

Shisui immediately let go of those depressing thoughts and nodded, "Yes."

Tsukihi asked, "And did you find something useful?"

Shisui nodded, "Hmm, if we are talking about useful I wouldn't say much, but there are three warehouses that do store a lot of materials. From the looks of it, the third was still being filled but probably because of our attack, their work came to a halt midway. I asked and confirmed from Shinno, those materials that are left to be transported here are not far away…"

"That saves a lot of trouble for the matter of funds." – Tsukihi immediately perked up with a joyful smile. "Come on, let me see those warehouses!"

Shisui nodded and then walked together with Tsukihi under the leadership of dazed Shinno. The three of them quickly arrived at the place where the material that the Shinobi of the Land of Sky did not have time to transfer was kept.

And Tsukihi was highly surprised to find that all the flying instruments of the Land of Sky as well as other instruments that can be used in conjunction were here.

Tsukihi did remember that in the original story, the Shinobi of the Land of Sky did have these flying instruments using which they conducted their air raid on Konohagakure. Making Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade as well as other Konoha Shinobi almost helpless in the face of this sudden surprise air raid.

Picking up one of the flying tools, Tsukihi tried weighing it approximately.

These instruments are mostly made up of metal, and their wingspan when fully expanded is almost two meters wide, after some rough calculations, Tsukihi estimated that each of these flying instruments contains around twenty kilograms of iron.

Next, she did the same with the firearm. This is a type of gun that is capable of firing Kunai, Shuriken, and Senbon as projectiles. There are also those bullets and small grenade-like bombs that do not have a lever.

With all these instruments in hand, each shinobi can be regarded as a low-level Deidara.

Tsukihi turned her head to Shinno and asked, "All these flying instruments are functioning?"

Shinno replied, "There are about a hundred sets here, a few of which needs to be repaired and they will be up and running."

"A hundred sets…?"

There was a flicker in Tsukihi's eyes when she thought of this number. This number is more than enough to form a small-scale air force.

Shisui was curious about these flying instruments and asked Shinno, "What is the working principle of these flying instruments?"

Shinno pointed at the end of the instrument and started explaining, "Here is an ejection device, to reach a high altitude the ejection device can give the necessary power output and air thrust."

Next Shinno pointed at the metallic wings and continued, "After the user reaches a suitable altitude, all you need to do is use the flowing winds and use your own chakra to activate the seal imprinted on the wings and glide using the wind."

Both Shisui and Tsukhi are well-informed and they soon understood the mechanism.

In short, it's like a glider after reaching a suitable height.

But it also has its own disadvantages, this device is less flexible which was clearly depicted from the fact that Sai was able to beat them with the flexibility and agility of his ink-bird.

Tsukihi thought, 'As long as there is a Chakra input these devices will function properly, if that's so, I can seal chakra and then use my Tenseigan to control these instruments as puppets.'

Just as Tsukihi started to make plans for a suitable Puppet Air Brigade, Itachi returned, "I have erased all the traces of our presence, and any and all those Shinobis of the Land of Sky that were left alive have also been eliminated, it is unlikely that anyone escaped."

Tsukihi was broken out of her thoughts, and nodded, "Alright, next we must seal Moryo in the power room, and then prepare to take off with Ancor Vantian."

The sooner they leave the better… there is no telling if someone will chase behind Shinno, and if they will then how long will it take for them to catch up, so the sooner they disappear the better.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 578 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Looking at the giant pile of flying instruments in front of him, Shisui said, "It will take a lot of time to carry so many of these… "

As soon as Shisui'c voice fell, the skeletal body Golden Susanoo appeared on the field.

Both Shisui and Itachi immediately understood Tsukihi's thinking, Tsukihi wants to use the Susanoo to carry these flying instruments inside Ancor Vantian but using Susanoo, the strongest power of the Mangekyou Sharingan power for the coolie work was sort of unacceptable for both Itachi and Shisui.

Tsukihi didn't seem to notice Shisui and Itachi's awkwardness and said with a chuckle, "With this transporting these instruments will be a piece of cake, both of you don't even have to help."

This is the advantage of having the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Because of the inevitable blindness, Shisui and Itachi have to be frugal in regards to using Mangekyou Sharingan, as their eyesight will become weaker the more they use Mangekyou Sharingan. As such unless absolutely necessary they would generally avoid using techniques like Susanoo and other specific ocular powers.

But Tsukihi is different in this regard. With the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan at her disposal, the ocular power will always recover, so using Susanoo for such a task is full a possibility.

Using the Susanoo, Tsukihi easily moved all the materials into the third warehouse of Ancor Vantian.

Next, the four of them moved back to the Power Room.

Shisui asked at this time with a solemn expression, "Are you sure you want to seal Moryo in the full-body state?"

Tsukihi nodded and explained, "I have arranged such an advanced Four-Symbol array for this very purpose, extracting Chakra from him in this state would be most efficient."

Shisui nodded, "All right, but Moryo's Chakra is too large to be controlled so easily. If I use Genjutsu and stimulate Shinno to remove Moryo from inside him, there is a possibility that something can happen, so you must be careful."

Tsukihi nodded and also signaled Itachi on the side.

With both of them ready, Shisui did not waste any more time and directly activated his Mangekyou Sharingan to control Shinno's actions with a Genjutsu.

And under the control, Shinno, whose chakra is sealed by Tsukihi could not pose even the slightest of resistance and immediately deactivated the seal of Moryo.

With the seal deactivated, Moryo's purple-black chakra started to escape out of Shinno.

Under the rush of chakra, his own consciousness was also disrupted, and he showed signs of struggling as if he was trying to break free of Shisui's Genjutsu.

Just as Shisui was preparing to use more ocular power to control Shinno, Tsukihi signaled him not to do so.

As more and more of Moryo's chakra escaped out of Shinno, the Four Symbol Seal Array printed in the Power room begun to take effect, as such, whether Shinno regains his consciousness now doesn't matter.

Shisui complied and deactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan, and Shinno finally managed to break free of the effect of Genjutsu

As soon as he woke up, the first thing he spotted was the figures of the three Uchiha dressed as Ho Musubi standing on three sides.

Neither of the three bothered to answer, as Tsukihi created four Shadow Clone and started printing hand seals to complete the sealing array.

Looking at the Five Uchiha Tsukihi, Shinno's gaze finally landed on the dense symbols that gave off fluorescent light, and he immediately realized that something very bad is about to happen, "No… wait… what-what… please you can't do this!"

…

Konohagakure, Hyuga Clan.

On the calm and peaceful night, the famous Hyuga Brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi sat in the courtyard of Hiashi's house, busy in some casual conversation.

After a while, Hizashi finally took a deep breath and said, "Nii-san, I have thought a lot in the past few days, and I think that the Hyuga Clan must change."

Hiashi was surprised, he raised his eyebrow and beckoned Hizashi to continue, "What do you mean?"

Hizashi relayed Kuroto's exact words to Hiashi and added, "I think Kuroto-Kun's words are very reasonable. Although Gentle Fist is the foundation of Hyuga Clan, it is also limiting us… if we… if we hope to thrive during the upcoming chaotic years of the Shinobi World, then we must adapt, and to do so we must change… Gentle Fist is also the limitation of the Hyuga Clan and we must change that or else…"

However, before Hizashi could finish speaking, Hiashi interrupted him midway, "Do not talk of such a matter here… what do you expect will happen should the Elder hear you, do you not understand the consequences?"

Hizashi quickly added, "Nii-san, this is just a casual conversation between us, not a formal discussion during a clan assembly… I just want to know what are your opinions on this matter…"

Hiashi sighed lightly, "I understand that you have a lot of dissatisfaction with Main Branch… but Gentle Fist and Bird Cage are the traditions of the Hyuga Clan, you better than anyone understand that Bird Cage also protects Hyuga Clan… it is only because of Bird Cage that the situation of Hyuga Clan has always been more peaceful compared to Uchiha Clan… As the Patriarch, I can not question the traditions… as for the matter of changing the Clan…"

But before Hizashi could complete his words, suddenly an alarm sounded.

Hizashi's expression shrank immediately, and he instantly stood up, "No, this is the alarm of the Forbidden Section."

Hizashi also realized the seriousness of the matter, "Does that mean that someone breached into the Forbidden Section…?"

With a solemn face, Hiashi said, "We will continue this discussion at a later date… for now I must check the possible cause."

Hizashi of course nodded.

With a serious face, Hiashi immediately rushed towards the forbidden section, Hizashi also closely followed, if someone broke into the forbidden section, then the situation is serious, as this kind of thing has happened first time in the history of the Hyuga Clan, at least, first time ever since Bird Cage Juinjutsu was deployed a few centuries ago.

By the time, Hiashi and Hizashi arrived in the Forbidden Section, several guards had already arrived here.

Everyone found two bodies collapsed at the gate of the forbidden section, both of them dead, and their eyes turned grey… next, there was an old man with a withered face lying in the outer hall of the forbidden section. This old man too had no breath, indicating that he is dead, but what's more serious is that his eye-sockets are hollow. The pair of Byakugan in his eye sockets has disappeared.

"Asahi-sama!" – Hiashi exclaimed, and immediately ran into the outer hall of the forbidden section.

Hyuga Asahi, who is lying dead in the outer hall of the forbidden section was one of the Senior Elder of the Hyuga Clan Council. Although his overall strength as a Shinobi had seriously declined over the years because of his senior age… he was by no means a pushover…

What's more, here is the Forbidden Section inside the highly secure compound where the members of the Main Branch reside. It is almost impossible for anyone to be able to kill an elder without alerting anyone.

This is still the Hyuga Clan Residence with Hyuga Shinobi crawling all over the place. It must not be forgotten that if the members of the Branch Division will try to target the members of the Main division, then they can easily be controlled using the Bird Cage Juinjutsu. So it is very unlikely that someone from the Branch Division attacked Elder Asahi.

Looking at those empty sockets, Hiashi had a gloomy look.

The Hyuga Clan has only ever lost a single Byakugan that was stolen by Ao of Kirigakure after he managed to kill one of the members of the Main Branch during the third great Shinobi War.

Therefore, the fact that someone gouged out the pair of Byakugan from Elder Asahi's eyesockets is very problematic. This is a very serious yet shameful event for the Hyuga clan.

As such, Hiashi immediately ordered, "Blockade the entire Hyuga Residence Compound, no one is allowed to enter or leave without my permission!"

After giving such an order, Hiashi immediately walked towards the deeper parts of the Forbidden Section.

The forbidden Section not only houses the various secrets of the Hyuga Clan, including its history, some forbidden Jutsu, various secret treasured that have been collected and passed down through the generations, including many other things.

But most of all, it also stores the scroll of Bird Cage Juinjutsu.

If the scroll of Bird Cage Juinjutsu is stolen, then that will be a very problematic situation.

The Branch System within Hyuga Clan has been going on for hundreds of years, and if someone gets his hands on that scroll then he can cause chaos within the Hyuga Clan.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 579 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

After entering the deeper chamber inside the Forbidden Section, Hiashi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The vault that stored the Scroll of Bird Cage Juinjutsu wasn't opened by the intruder, it means that the scroll was not stolen, this is a blessing in the misfortune.

After making sure that the scroll was not stolen, Hiashi further observed the vault to check if someone tried to steal this scroll.

The size of the vault is not very big because there are not many things that are secretive enough to be stored here.

The scroll of Bird Cage Juinjutsu is the only one.

This vault is locked using a very complex seal. Only the Patriarch and some of the senior Elders of the main Branch can release that seal.

After his careful observation, Hiashi found traces of tempering on the seal, which means that some did try to break it.

Which is the cause of the alarm being triggered. Although they failed what's important is that someone really tried to break that seal. Meaning their goal of breaking into the forbidden section was indeed related to Bird Cage.

Looking away from the vault, Hiashi further checked the other areas of the library.

And soon he discovered that the shelf recording the millennium years long history of the Hyuga Clan have been turned over.

He walked quickly to the shelf and soon noticed that three scrolls were missing. What's more, all these three scrolls record the secrets of Byakugan as well as Bird Cage Seal.

"The purpose of the intruder is very clear, although he failed at obtaining the exact thing he needed, he did obtain some resources…" – muttered Hiashi.

Finally confirming that nothing else was touched or stolen, Hiashi walked out of the forbidden section to the outer hall.

By now, a lot of people have gathered outside. Some were examining the corpses of Hyuga Asahi as well as the two guards of the Branch Division.

When they saw the Patriarch coming through, one of the elders asked with a light murmur, "Is the scroll of Bird Cage Juinjutsu safe?"

Hiashi nodded lightly.

After getting an affirmative reply from Hiashi, the elders of the Main Family breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though they know that breaking the seal of the vault is almost impossible, so it is very unlikely that that intruder managed to steal the scroll, but they couldn't help but worry, because if that scroll really gets stolen then it would be very problematic.

This is because the thief will get a method to control the lives of all members of the Branch division, which is a serious threat, and this makes the Elder shudder.

At this time, Hiashi walked towards the corpse of Elder Asahi and asked, "What is the cause of Elder Asahi's death?"

One of the shinobi of the branch division lifted the collar of Hyuga Asahi's revealing a bite mark on the neck, and said, "Judging from the bite mark, it should be from the venom of a snake."

"And the two guards?" – asked Hiashi.

Another brach shinobi said, "Same reason."

Hiashi frowned, 'From a snake?'

At this time, one of the Elder ordered, "The members of Branch Division leave the forbidden Section for now!"

Hizashi asked angrily, "What do you mean? Do you suspect that we of the Branch Division are responsible?"

When faced with Hizashi's question, this very elder was silent, but his eyes clearly showed his doubt and distrust towards the Branch Division.

Needless to say, the intruder may have failed to steal the scroll of Bird Cage, he did plant a seed of doubt and suspicion between the Main family and the Branch Division.

When Hiashi thought that the Intruder did break into the forbidden section for the scroll of Bird Cage, his expression turned cold and he ordered, "Hizashi, leave!"

In the face of his Hiashi's words, even Hizashi was helpless, and he had to lead the members of the Branch Division and leave the forbidden section.

After all the members of the branch division were gone, Elder Haruto questioned Hiashi, "The scroll of Bird Cage is safe, but was something else stolen?"

Hiashi didn't conceal it and told everyone that some of the scrolls recording the history of Byakugan and Bird Cage are missing, as well as the fact that someone tried to break the seal of the vault.

Elder Haruto muttered, "So the objective was indeed the scroll of Bird Cage!"

Another Elder, named Hyuga Kazuto said, "I checked the list of visitors, no one outside of Hyuga Clansmen has entered the Residential Area of Main Family today, so the intruder has to be someone of the Branch Division!"

Hiashi shook his head, "It couldn't be so easy… do not forget what happened with my elder daughter a few years ago…"

Hiashi is not blindly covering the Branch Division, because if it really was someone of the Branch Division, then he would have been easily neutralized by Elder Asashi using Cage Bird. After all, as long as the members of the Branch Division are nearby, there is always a resonance that those with control over Bird Cage can perceive. So Elder Asahi must have perceived that particular member of Branch Division coming close as well as the death of the two guards.

So the possibility of the Branch Division can be ruled out, at least the one directly responsible for the death of three can not be a member of Branch Division.

At this time, Elder Aito who was observing the body of Elder Asahi said, "Someone who can instantly kill Elder Asahi as well as two guards, and also uses snakes… don't these things remind of someone?"

Hiashi's face changed, "You mean Orochimaru?"

Alder Aito nodded, "Yes, Orochimaru. Do not forget that Orochimaru attacked you at the time of his defection, I think everyone remembers that, right?"

Orochimaru did attack and stole some of Hiashi's cells before his defection. But Hyuga Clan didn't make too big of an incident at that point just informed Sandaime and Yondaime of that event.

Hiashi asked Elder Aito, "Do you suspect someone of the Branch Division to be working with Orochimaru? Because he couldn't have sneaked here without being unnoticed."

Elder Aito nodded, "Do not forget, Hyuga Kuroto was under Orochimaru so it is possible that he is still working with Orochimaru."

Hiashi thought about it a little then shook his head, "I am sure it couldn't have been Hyuga Kuroto, but someone else of the branch division may be working with Orochimaru. Hmm, although the culprit being Orochimaru in the first place is very less likely. But we can not ignore the matter that there is indeed a traitor in the Clan, this very traitor might be the same person who was responsible for helping those shinobi of Kumogakure sneak inside and almost kidnaped Hinata…"

The elders all thought about it and then nodded, "Indeed, at that time to it was Hyuga Kuroto who saved Hyuga Clan from big trouble… so it has to be the traitor."

After pondering for a while, Hiashi said, "I trust Hizashi and he wouldn't be the culprit either. Moreover when this incident happened Hizashi was with me, so he can be ruled out. I will have Hizashi conduct an investigation."

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 580 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Land of Tea, Ancor Vantian.

As the effect of the Four-Symbols Seal Pentagram Array started the roars of Moryo who was raging to run away grew weaker and weaker and gradually became silent.

On the other hand, Shinno's body who has lost the support of Moryo's chakra was lying limp.

Tsukihi looked at the limp Shinno indifferently and used a Fire Style Jutsu to turn him into ashes without any shred of mercy in her heart.

Over the years this guy has stolen from countless people, betrayed many, fooled many, and manipulated many all for his grand purpose of Ruling the Shinobi World. Tsukihi doesn't care about all those people, it would be hypocritical of her if she did. What she cares about is the fact that he dared to lay his hands on Miko-sama and the Land of Demon.

That was Shinno's biggest mistake.

Tsukihi utilized Shinno's nature of deceiving and betraying people to her advantage and induced Shinno to again betray Akatsuki. And then she finished Shinno along with taking everything from him for her own use.

'Anyway… now that the revenge part is finished let's focus on the matter at hand.' – Thought Tsukihi.

With Moryo sealed, the flow of chakra in the Power Room became stable, and it was easy to feel the Chakra that was being transferred to the engine room. So must so that even the floor began to tremble.

Shisui and Itachi looked at each other with surprise clearly evident in their eyes.

At this time, Tsukihi thought of the activation method of this Aerial Fortress that she obtained from Shinno before killing him, then turned towards Shisui and Itachi, "Alright, now let's go back to the Main Compartment!"

Shisui asked curiously, "So are we going to make this fortress fly right now?"

Tsukihi continued to walk towards the Main Compartment and replied, "Mm-hmm, as I said before, we must take retreat as soon as possible because there is no telling when Akatsuki will start searching for Shinno. I don't want them to know about Ancor Vantian so we are going to do it now."

Shisui nodded and the three people soon arrived at the Main Compartment.

In the main compartment, Tsukihi stood before the throne and the gold disc plated on the floor, thin after biting her finger, she printed the hand seals and tapped her hand on the gold disc.

Instantly, a light pattern emerged from the Gold Disc and it soon spread all over the flooring, walls, and roof of Ancor Vantian.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

The very next instant, the entire temple shook.

Tsukihi balanced herself to not fall but more of her attention was on Ancor Vantian, she could clearly feel that this aerial fortress was slowly rising above the ground.

Shisui and Itachi also noticed this; they immediately rushed out of the main compartment and came to the entrance of the temple. From here they were able to see that the ground was slowly being distanced which clearly meant that the fortress was rising into the sky.

Realizing this, both Shisui and Itachi can't help but feel surprised. Even if they expected such a thing to happen after getting all the information from Shinno, but when it really happened, they were surprised.

It did not take long for Ancor Vantian to take to the sky, and then higher beyond the clouds.

Standing at the gate of the temple, looking at the bed of clouds before her, Tsukihi thought, "As long as Ancor Vantian is flying at this altitude, which means as long as it is flying above the level of clouds, it won't be noticed by anyone… So, there wouldn't be any threat of snooping and infiltration."

In the Shinobi World, not many are capable of flying, and those few who are capable of can not fly at such high altitudes.

As such as long as Ancor Vantian keeps flying at a high altitude it will be impossible to be noticed by anyone. Which in terms of security is already much higher than Kuroto's secret laboratory hiding inside the Death Forest.

Therefore, the secret laboratory will be transferred to Ancor Vantian for more space and better security purposes.

While it was still nighttime, Ancor Vantian flew over to the Land of Fire under Tsukihi's control. Tsukihi made sure that the Flying Fortress was hovering at a high altitude over Mount Shami.

(Mount Shami is the mountain where Hiruko conducted his ritual in the original movie)

Since Mount Shami is generally covered in dense fog and is thus a difficult environment to tread to otherwise, therefore, the sky above it is more secure as thick clouds gather over it.

With that done, Tsukihi, Itachi, and Shisui left the flying fortress and came back to Konoha.

Since the mission was completed, so Itachi and Shisui went to their respective houses, while Tsukihi went to the Secret laboratory in Death Forest.

Transferring back the soul to the main body, Kuroto next sealed everything, all the pieces of equipment and all the materials inside Storage Scrolls, and then carrying those large number of storage scrolls, he left the secret laboratory along with Sandaime Kazekage Puppet.

It may be an extremely difficult task for anyone to fly to the air fortress that will be hovering at an altitude of several kilometers above the ground, but it is a piece of cake for Kuroto.

With his Main body, Kuroto can fly to such a height both with his Dragon wings that comes from Ryuumyaku Chakra Mode, as well as with the Tenseigan Chakra Mode.

Of course, Kuroto hasn't yet mastered the Ryuumyaku Chakra mode completely but he has begun to understand it and can therefore sprout out those Dragon Wings from his back.

Next, he can use Magic Mirror Ice Crystals from his Suijin Clone to fly up to the Air Fortress, as he has learned to telekinetically control Ice Mirrors. So, they are now a nice surfboard for him.

Then for the final, there is Susanoo for the Tsukihi Clone, so coming and going to the Flying Fortress is no big deal for Kuroto.

Itachi and Shisui are still not up to it as they still can't manifest the Armored Full Body Susanoo with Wings, but maybe they will be able to do so in the future.

After transferring all those Storage Scrolls at Ancor Vantian, Kuroto left Kazekage Puppet along with a Shadow Clone of his at the Flying Fortress to arrange all of them.

The Kazekage Puppet is capable of flight using his Magnet Release so he is still the best guard for Ancor Vantian.

After dealing with all this, Kuroto did not stay at the Fortress any longer and immediately returned to Konoha.

Although Anbu Team-11 has been granted a small break because of the emergency there is no guarantee when Hokage-sama will re-summon them, therefore it is best not to stay out of the village for too long.

Since it is nearly the time of Sunrise, so Kuroto should be at home.

It was only about an hour after he returned home, dispersed his Shadow Clone, and went to sleep when Yui hurried to his door.

Woken up from his sleep by the panicked-looking Yui, Kuroto frowned and asked, "What happened that would make you worry so much? Did Akatsuki attack again?"

After catching up with her breath, Yui narrated the event that took place in Hyuga Clan only a few hours ago, with two guards of the Branch Division and an Elder of the Main Family killed.

As soon as he heard this, Kuroto was shocked, and asked seriously, "Was the culprit found?"

Yui shook her head, "No not yet. There is no significant clue left behind that would point to the culprit. Hiashi-sama and Hizashi-sama both are very anxious and Himeji-sama conveyed to inform you of the event. Additionally, Himeji-sama also wants you to be careful, and vigilant during this time."

"Himeji-sama asked me to be careful and vigilant?" – Kuroto muttered in confusion, "Why would I have to be careful? Do the Elders of the main division suspect me to be the culprit?"

Yui was able to sense some traces of anger from Kuroto's tone and quickly added, "Hiashi-sama denied the possibility of you being the culprit but some of the elders are still doubting you, Kuroto-kun. This is because a few days ago you did question the traditions of Hyuga Clan, and you know…"

Kuroto considered Yui's words. When he thought about it, it did seem reasonable to be worried.

The worries of Hiashi-sama, Hizashi-sama, and Himeji-sama are not superfluous. With the weak mentality of the Elders, all the members of the Branch Division who questions or have questioned the traditions of Clan are a suspect.

But Kuroto found something amiss. This alone shouldn't make him one of the suspects.

Yui glanced at Kuroto's thinking and spoke in a low voice, "Moreover, the cause of death of the three is the venom of a snake that bit them. So, some of the elders suspect Orochimaru's involvement in this case. Since you were Orochimaru's disciple before he defected, the possibility of you being a suspect is higher compared to others. Therefore, Himeji-sama notified me early and wants you to be prepared so that you can defend yourself should the situation arise."

Kuroto smiled and nodded, "Well, I am happy that Himeji-sama is worried about me, and I am thankful for that. But she should focus more on the two daughters than me. Anyway, there is nothing to worry about. Let alone those old geezers of the Main Family, even Sandaime-sama can't do anything to m-..."

Yui was taken aback by Kuroto's words and quickly covered his mouth with her hand to make sure that Kuroto doesn't finish those words. Then she activated her Byakugan to make sure that no one was spying on them, and after making sure that no one was there, she chided Kuroto, "Please be mindful of what you speak Kuroto-kun. What would happen if someone hears you? You would be in trouble. Even if you are strong, there is nothing we can do in the face of 'Bird Cage', can we?"

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 581 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

"Sigh… Bird Cage…?" – Kuroto muttered thoughtfully.

'Bird Cage' may be a problem for the ordinary members of the Branch Family. It may be a cage on their destiny but that's no longer the case with Kuroto.

For Kuroto, Bird Cage Juinjutsu amounts to nothing.

Because the moment he activates his Tenseigan, the Bird Cage Juinjutsu will deactivate for him.

Of course, this is not a permanent solution, and Kuroto is really regrettable that up until now this is the only solution he has found, but it makes no difference for him.

But Kuroto has never dared to look down on Bird Cage Juinjutsu as a whole, nor has he even done anything openly that would anger the elders.

Why so?

It's simple actually. Bird Cage Juinjutsu may be ineffective on him, but that's not the case for Yui. If she is controlled with the 'Bird Cage' and is used as a hostage, then besides annihilating the entire Main Family Kuroto can't really think of any other effective countermeasure.

Yui didn't seem to notice Kuroto's thinking and said, "Anyway, Hizashi-sama also said that since you are a member of Anbu so the people of the Main Family can't directly touch you, even if they have some doubts, they will have to go to Hokage-sama first. So, as long as you stay careful, you should be fine."

Kuroto nodded with a sigh.

He has long understood the methods of those geezers.

Living carefree life under the protection of the Branch Family, they have developed the habit of controlling the weak and fear hardship.

Previously, Orochimaru attacked the Patriarch, but because of Orochimaru's sensitive identity, the elders of the main family dared not do anything, they were even willing to sacrifice the prestige of the Patriarch of the Clan.

Then there was Watanabe's incident, if not for Kuroto's intervention and solving the situation in a manner that made the incident seem completely unrelated to the Hyuga Clan, the elders of the Clan would have sacrificed Hizashi without a second thought.

Additionally, everyone in the clan is aware of the Byakugan that is with Ao of Kirigakure, but because of the diplomatic issues between the two nations they did not dare to send anyone to Kirigakure secretly and bring back that stolen eye.

All the above incidents highlight the hypocrisy of those geezers. They put up a strong and rigid front, suppress the people of the branch family but when it truly comes down to it, they are willing to sacrifice the people of Hyuga Clan to ensure their own living, to ensure their own rule.

As long as the external pressure is enough, they don't have any bottom line, and Kuroto even thinks that they wouldn't hesitate to even sacrifice the Patriarch.

Therefore, Hizashi-sama's speculations are not unreasonable. So long as Kuroto does nothing extraordinary for some time, his Anbu identity is his protection.

Seeing Kuroto's distracted look, Yui was more worried, she thought that Kuroto didn't pay attention to anything she said, "Kuroto-kun… Kuroto-kun…?! Were you listening to what I said just now?"

Kuroto smiled and while gently patting Yui, he said, "Of course, I heard everything loud and clear. Don't worry, I will be fine, Hizashi-sama has also said that if the elders want to do anything they must first go past Hokage-sama.

So, they wouldn't find it easy. The Anbu team I am part of is the strongest Anbu team there is, and Hokage-sama would be unwilling to let something happen to me without any solid evidence."

Yui nodded, she does trust and understands Kuroto's abilities.

Over the past few years, no matter how troublesome things Kuroto-kun has encountered, he has solved them easily. His strength and status have also improved over the years. Nobody speaks anything openly, but she is very clear that Kuroto-kun has become sort of a leader of the younger generation among the Hyuga Clan.

Moreover, he is also counted among one of the most genius shinobi of his generation, in the same rank as Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui.

In terms of influence too, Kuroto has a pretty good relationship with the two most talented Uchiha of the younger generation, including Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.

Then his mentor-student relationship with the previous Miko of Land of Demons also came to light not long ago.

As an Anbu, he further holds high influence. So overall, Kuroto is quite strong both in terms of personal strength and also in terms of political strength.

As such, touching him carelessly is no longer an option, that's why even the Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan values Kuroto very much.

And therefore, he asked her to warn Kuroto of the possible events that might put him in some trouble.

At this time, Kuroto spoke, "Anyway, I will be fine Yui. All I ask is that you be careful."

Kuroto's words broke Yui out of her thought, and she nodded with a genuine smile. Looking at those eyes, Yui only said, "I will be fine as long as you are safe Kuroto-kun. Your well-being is the most important thing to me!"

Kuroto sighed and hugged her close.

Yui didn't resist and laid next to Kuroto. With her head resting on Kuroto's arm, she slowly drifted into sleep.

With Yui sleeping, Kuroto too tried to sleep but couldn't because of the various thoughts coming to his mind.

He can't help but think of the whole thing Yui told him about.

Kuroto's target of suspicion was obviously that 'traitor' who helped Watanabe sneak inside the Clan. The other party seemed to have mastered a Spiritualization Technique.

But this also confused him, since the other party has mastered the 'Spiritualization Technique' he should be able to kill the Elder and the guards without the need of snake's venom, or rather he should be able to sneak inside the Forbidden Section without any need of killing the guards and the elder.

"Snake…?" – muttered Kuroto with a frown, "Why use a snake to kill when you can kill using hundreds of other ways? Is it possible that Orochimaru is also involved here? Or does the other party wants to transfer the blame to Orochimaru and thus lead the investigation to lead to failure?"

If the blame is really transferred to Orochimaru, then the Elders of the Clan wouldn't dare to make a move against Orochimaru, so Kuroto can't rule out that possibility.

As for the reason why Kuroto didn't consider himself as the target?

Well, he just didn't, Kuroto has a very reasonable explanation. He doesn't use snakes, nor does he use snake venom. And most of the people within the clan are aware of it. This was also once the object of great discussion. When people of the Hyuga Clan heard that Kuroto doesn't use Snake techniques despite being Orochimaru's subordinate and disciple they were highly surprised.

When asked why he doesn't?

All Kuroto said was, "I don't find them interesting enough…"

And this sentence will work in favor of him.

Anyway, what Kuroto cares about is the other party's purpose.

"Why would the traitor do such a thing? What did he expect to get from the Forbidden Section? Was it something related to the Cage Bird?" – muttered Kuroto in doubt.

Kuroto is of course unaware of Bird Cage Juinjutsu Scroll hidden inside the Forbidden Section. How will he? It's not like he has ever been there in the first place, nor was there any information about this in the original story. And those who are aware of that scroll will obviously not tell him.

Therefore, his mind turned towards other possibilities, "Is the traitor looking for other opportunities he can exploit?"

In the original story, the traitor coordinated with Kumogakure and framed the Hyuga Clan, which led to the death of Hyuga Hizashi. And nothing else happened. But here, there is another attack on the Elder and two guards.

Perhaps because Hyuga Hizashi was sacrificed, the traitor realized that there was no point in doing anything anymore. If even the blood brother can be abandoned, then is there any point in revenge?

Sigh, whatever may be the case, this is another one of those butterfly effects.

…

Inside of one of the houses within the Hyuga Clan Compound.

In a dark room, a figure sat on a chair and took out a scroll from his bag.

The scroll looked very ancient and its paged were yellowed.

The figure didn't care about these things, and he focused his attention on the text.

The figure was lost in the text, and after reading the first scroll completely he was lost in thought.

What was recorded in the scroll was the origin of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and Branch Family system.

Such a system has existed since the beginning but there was no such thing as the Cage Bird Juinjutsu that branded and bound the Branch Family to be the servants of the main family.

It was only after the Hyuga Clan suffered a cataclysm that among the surviving members of the Clan, the Patriarch that was chosen at that time, worked with other Shinobi of the Hyuga Clan, with the help of some of the Uzumaki Clan Shinobi and finally created the Cage Bird Juinjutsu that could protect the Byakugan from being gouged out by others.

In other words, the origin of Cage Bird Juinjutsu is based on a catastrophe that the Hyuga Clan once suffered.

And the text did not end there, there is also an explanation as to how the original Juinjutsu didn't have anything that would allow the people of the Main Family to control those of the Branch Family.

They didn't have such power.

But with the passage of time, things changed. As the generations changed, and so did the situation of the Warring States Era, and the patriarch felt the need to have some control over the lives of the members of Branch Division, as once they are kidnapped by enemies, extracting intelligence becomes very easy.

So, the condition of controlling the life and death of the branch family members was added to the Bird Cage.

And then the situation changed, some people like the taste of power and control over the life and death of other humans. Some people of the Branch did not like this fact, and they tried to resist, now not everyone can be killed, as that would lead to the extinction of the clan, so another condition was added, the condition to punish.

With this nobody would be able to pose an opposition.

Along with that several more changes were made, and the original Juinjutsu evolved into the current Cage Bird Juinjutsu.

Making the members of the Branch Family eternal servants of the Main Family. With no control over their life and death. Making them nothing more than glorified noble slaves.

After reading the entire scroll a question came to the person's mind, "What was the cataclysm that the Hyuga Clan faced?"

There was no description of that in the scroll.

Not even the slightest mention of it. Just what exactly happened that made Hyuga Clan suffered so much and left them with no choice but to resort to developing a Juinjutsu to ensure the safety of their clan?

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 582 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

After reading through all the three scrolls that he stole from the forbidden section, the person had a better understanding of the history of the Hyuga Clan, Byakugan, Cage Bird Juinjutsu, Gently Fist Taijutsu, and Main Family – Branch Family division system.

Based on everything that he has read up to now, the Cataclysm that led to the near destruction of the Hyuga Clan was undoubtedly related to Byakugan as well.

The fact that the Cage Bird Juinjutsu was developed in order to protect the Byakugan from being gouged out indicates that the Cataclysm was further because others wanted to steal Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan.

But this has further confused him. Since who exactly wanted to steal the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan is not described here, as such, there is no solid base for any speculation.

After all, Hyuga Clan too is a Noble Clan with a strong and unique Kekkei Genkai. There are countless who would want to have this Kekkei Genkai but are they strong enough to threaten the survival of the entire clan?

After all, even during the Warring States Era, there were very few Clans within the Land of Fire who could truly fight threaten the Hyuga Clan.

Since this matter is of the time before the birth of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, so it can be said without a doubt that at that time, Uzumaki Clan, Senju Clan, Uchiha Clan along with the very few other shinobi clans had the power to fight against Hyuga Clan on an even front.

After all, a Byakugan is no inferior to a simple Sharingan. Hyuga Taijutsu also gives Hyuga Shinobi enough mastery to go against the Senjus.

So, it stands to reason that not many could pose a real threat to the Hyuga Clan.

And out of those who could go against the Hyuga Clan wouldn't really want the Byakugan. Uchiha Shinobis are prideful and they would never give Byakugan such worth that they themselves would want to steal it.

Senju's too are the same. Their principle would never allow them to steal the Byakugan. Moreover, they would never dare to do something that would force the Hyuga Clan to ally with the Uchiha Clan.

Meanwhile, the Uzumaki Clan assisted the Hyuga Clan in the development of Juinjutsu, it is very unlikely that Uzumaki Clan was the cause.

Other Shinobi Clan hardly had the strength to do anything. Therefore, the person couldn't exactly determine the exact cause.

Sighing slightly, he soon folded back the scroll with a disappointed look.

His objective was unaccomplished.

With the emergence of more and more Uchiha with the Mangekyou Sharingan, a doubt has sprouted within his heart, 'Is it possible to evolve Byakugan to a higher level of ocular power?'

Both are similar types of Kekkei Genkai, so technically it should be possible, right?

With this thought in mind, he ventured into the forbidden section.

Killing the guards, and trying to break through the seal of that vault was just an act of diversion, the true objective was to steal a pair of Byakugan as well as the history of Byakugan and Hyuga Clan to see the possibility of the evolution of Byakugan into a high level of ocular power.

So, although he managed to acquire a Byakugan pair by killing that elder and also stole these scrolls along with diverting the attention of all parties into thinking that his objective was the Cage Bird Juinjutsu.

But the end result still frustrated him.

According to his records, in the millennium years long history of the Hyuga Clan, there has never been a precedent of the evolution of Byakugan into a higher level of Ocular Power.

"Both Byakugan and Sharingan are Dojutsu type Kekkei Genkai, then why is it that Sharingan can evolve into Mangekyou Sharingan but Byakugan always remains Byakugan? Is it truly the case that Byakugan is inferior to Sharingan as the rumors have been circulating in the village?"

With a discouraged look, the person picked up the scrolls and was ready to destroy them but just when he was ready to destroy the scroll, he suddenly saw a pattern on the case of one of the scrolls.

With a raised eyebrow he halted and observed the pattern for a while. From the looks of it, it didn't really mean anything, but when he looked at the other two cases, he again saw patterns on those two scrolls, what's intriguing here was that the patterns on both the scrolls were different, and yet similar somewhat similar.

Curious, he sat down again and drew the pattern from line to line on three different pieces of paper, then he placed those three pieces of paper together only to find that it seemed to be part of a map.

But the map was obviously incomplete as it was still missing a large part.

'Why is there a map hidden here? Does it lead to somewhere?'

"it seems that I must steal the other scrolls too!" – muttered the person as he realized that he has finally obtained some kind of clue to something!

…

Kuroto's home.

Understanding that this was the work of the traitor, Kuroto decided to put the matter to the side. It is obvious that the other party will be especially cautious for a while as such it is impossible that they will make any mistakes that would give them out during this time. So, finding the traitor would obviously take a lot of time.

Moreover, Kuroto is even unsure of what bait he should use to draw out the other party, so it is best to put the matter to the side for a while.

Of course, he will take a precautionary measure such that neither he nor Yui is affected by this and everything else doesn't matter.

As long as he and Yui are safe, and no matter how much trouble the traitor cases for the Hyuga Clan, it will have little impact on Kuroto's plan. In contrast, now that he has finally got his hands on the scroll of Chimera Technique so researching and perfecting it is obviously Kuroto's top priority.

If the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku remains true then Juubi will inevitably be revived, Uchiha Madara will ultimately become the Juubi's Jinchuriki, Otsutsuki Kaguya will eventually be freed from her seal and the other members of the Otsutsuki Clan will sooner or later come to the Shinobi World.

Before all these people cause chaos to the Shinobi World, Kuroto has to complete his Plans and attain Godhood, so every unimportant thing can be put to the side for now.

Anyway, as long as he remains in the dark, no one will be truly vigilant of him, and that is his greatest advantage.

And as long as he attains true Godhood by achieving Kekkei Mora, there will be nothing that he wouldn't be able to accomplish in this Shinobi World.

The main objectives and side objectives are clear to Kuroto, and the main objective, for now, is to study the Chimera Technique as that is the path to attaining everything.

With this thought in mind, Kuroto held the sleeping Yui tightly and he too entered the land of dreams.

…

A few hours later.

Kuroto was sitting in his study room with the scroll of Chimera Technique.

For the Chimera Technique, Chimera Buds or Leech (the blue gluey material) is important as that is what acts as the mediator between the core (main body) and the target subject (target bodies to be absorbed) and help the core absorb the subject.

And the creation of Chimera Buds is no easy task.

They have to match your own genetic combination and Chakra Wavelength, so it would take quite a bit of monetary value to make them.

But aside from all that, what made Kuroto feels troubled is that the Chimera Buds also have their own negative effects in the Absorption Ritual.

And realizing this, Kuroto can now more accurately judge one of the serious problems within Hiruko's ritual.

During the ritual, the Chimera Buds will be absorbed within the core, and that's problematic, even if they are created keeping the genetic combination of the core in mind, they will never become a part of the core.

What's more, expelling them outside is also no easy matter.

In other words, the end result will never be a true success!

"Hiruko's ritual was flawed from the root…!" – Kuroto reached this conclusion.

Hiruko may have survived the ritual and gained the five Kekkei Genkai, but as time passes the flaws will start to become more and more apparent. And at the end, these flaws will result in his death.

Every time he is injured seriously, he will suffer from the consequent backlashes until his soul will no longer be able to support him.

"It seems that I have to further research on Chimera Buds!" – muttered Kuroto.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 583 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 334: Amenooshihomimi

Three weeks later, in the middle of the night at Ancor Vantian Training Room.

"Hahahaha… Huff… hahaha- cough-cough-… hahaha…" – While lying on the ground Tsukihi laughed uncontrollably amidst her breathlessness.

Chest rising and falling due to haggard breath, all her clothes, as well as her body drenched in sweat, large amounts of sweat dripping through her skin forming a puddle on the ground… but there was a clear joy as well as relief in her eyes…

It took a while, exactly three weeks, to figure it out, but finally, she figured out the basics of the Blaze Release… finally the first step to developing one of the most difficult Kekkei Genkai was successfully climbed.

The difficulty far exceeded her imagination.

The most difficult part was to keep her Susanoo open all the time, after all, continuously bearing pain in every cell of her for the past three weeks is no joke.

But it was all worth it, after all, she has finally touched the threshold of Blaze Release!

Now the stage at which she can use Blaze Release is still very basic and has a few requirements, one of them is that the Susanoo must be active.

Yeah, that's right, while using Blaze Release, she must have her Susanoo be active, which also has its own problems but let's not discuss them for now.

After calming down for a while, Tsukihi got up and wiped away the sweat, next she urged her eyes, and they soon changed into Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and activated the rib-cage Susanoo after taking a deep breath.

Next, she covered the rib cage with Golden Flames.

After the entire setup was done again, she started weaving Hand Signs, one seal at a time, the speed of weaving Hand Signs was very slow, as slow as weaving one seal per two seconds.

The reason for such slow weaving speed is because the fusion of Fire and Lightning Chakra is still foreign to Tsukihi, and it takes much focus and effort to be able to do so. The stability of two violent Nature has to be kept in check… since true fusion has yet to be attained so these things have to be taken care of. Otherwise, it will lead to an explosion.

And that's not the end of it, the Golden Flames on the Susanoo has to be used as a medium to guide the Nature fusion of Fire and Lightning, as well as Visual prowess has to be used during the entire process.

So, in short, a lot of processes and steps are to be taken before she can display Blaze Release.

When Tsukihi finally completed the seventeen seals for the required Jutsu, Tsukihi already had her hands covered in Golden Flames from Susanoo, then she put those hands over her mouth while taking a deep breath and then released, "Amenooshihomimi: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Instantly, golden fire spewed out from Tsukihi's mouth and took the shape of a dragon. The dragon hovered in the training room and illuminated the entire room in a golden glow, similar to daylight!

Tsukihi has decided to call these golden flames 'Amenooshihomimi', named after the first son of Amaterasu-Ōmikami.

The 'Amenooshihomimi: Dragon Fire Technique!' used by Tsukihi was developed using, 'Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!' as the parent Ninjutsu. The original Dragon Fire technique is C-class ninjutsu with four Hand Signs. But because 'Amenooshihomimi: Dragon Fire Technique!' involves so many steps, so it needs seventeen Hand Signs… However, Tsukihi does know that the number of Hand Signs, and their weaving time will be reduced in the future as she increases her mastery of this Kekkei Genkai.

But she is still too far from that. The fact that she needs to use not only the eternal Mangekyou Sharingan as well as Susanoo to be able to use 'Blaze Release' alone shows that she is still at the basic stage.

"Hmm, compared to Uchiha Sasuke who was able to master Blaze Release so easily thanks to his Kagutsuchi, it will take a lot of time for me… sigh…" – muttered Tsukihi.

'But aside from practice, there is still something lacking that would improve my Fire and Lightning Nature fusion… is it visual prowess? Is it because my visual prowess is weak compared to Uchiha Sasuke?' – Tsukihi reached this conclusion after some speculations.

Regarding individual mastery of Fire Nature and Lightning Nature, Tsukihi feels that she is pretty apt, so there is no problem from that side, but when it comes to fusion, the guiding force, that is visual prowess seems to be not as strong as it should be.

When Uchiha Sasuke developed Blaze Release, he already had Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, aside from the fact that he had Kagutsuchi, the visual prowess of Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan was obviously much superior compared to Tsukihi's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. This is because of two factors, one being that Sasuke used Itachi's eyes for Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan… Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan was way too powerful… so it is only natural that Sasuke's resulting Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan would also be very-very powerful. Then the second reason was Indra's chakra.

The passive effect of Indra's Chakra also must have had quite a significant effect on Sasuke's dojutsu, thus increasing his ocular a lot.

Therefore, Tsukihi's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is obviously incomparable to Sasuke's.

'How to improve Visual prowess?' – thought Tsukihi.

The improvement of visual prowess is not so easy. It is done by either awakening a higher level of Dojutsu, or by a long-time accumulation, or by absorbing Rikudo Sennin's Chakra.

Uchiha Sasuke experienced two of the three methods, thus instantly increasing his visual prowess by leaps and bounds.

Apart from these three methods, no other method would work.

The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan Tsukihi has is already the highest level of dojutsu that the Yin-Chakra of Uchiha can give.

If she wants this pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to evolve into a higher level of dojutsu, then Yang-Chakra of Senju must be brought to use, to awaken the Rinnegan.

The awakening of Rinnegan is not as simple as the fusion of Yin and Yang Chakra.

It must be known that Uchiha Madara transplanted Hashirama Cells into his body after the battle of the Valley of the End, but it was only decades later, at the time he was nearing his natural death did he manage to awaken the Rinnegan.

Having Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Yang Chakra of Senju Clan is only the lowest threshold necessary to awaken the Rinnegan… but this must not be confused into believing that having just these two is more than enough to awaken the Rinnegan.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 588 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 335: Hanzo is dead?!

The idea of evolving the pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan into Rinnegan seemed neet to Kuroto, but it was soon discarded by him.

In order to awaken Rinnegan, Kuroto will have to immediately learn the transplantation of Hashirama Cells, which is no joke.

It must not be forgotten that the life activity and cell division rate of Shodaime Hokage's cells is even more vigorous than Cancer cells. And once injected into Tsukihi Clone, regardless of success or failure, Tsukihi Clone will become useless for the ritual.

So, if the Rinnegan has to be awakened another body is needed, Uchiha Ryota is naturally the best option for that, but to use Uchiha Ryota he will have to be brought back to life which itself is too troublesome.

And Rikudo Sennin will obviously not be kind enough to give his Chakra for the purpose of evolving Rinnegan… so that's also not a possibility.

So, the plan of awakening Rinnegan is too difficult, and almost unrealistic, for now at least.

So Tsukihi had no choice but to accept the reality and work with whatever she had at hand.

Based on the degree of development of 'Blaze Release: Amenooshihomimi' it would take quite a lot of time for her to master this Kekkei Genkai completely.

The second-level breakthrough will only be achieved once Fire Nature and Lightning Nature Chakra are fused down to the bottom, and Amenooshihomimi can be used even without Visual prowess. But that will take a lot of training.

And sadly, there is no other alternative for Tsukihi. It would be unrealistic of her to master an entirely new, unheard-of Kekkei Genkai in just a span of two or three weeks.

Training… training… and more training… For the remainder of the time before the reunion of Team-11, all Tsukihi did was training.

And more training, thankfully Ryuumyaku was with her, to help in terms of Chakra Supply, such that Tsukihi was able to persist even with her weak foundation.

…

5 weeks later.

Kakashi, Guy, and Shisui have one-after-another arrived at their pre-discussed meetup point. And seeing that Kuroto also returned, each of them started reciting all the things that they experienced in the past two months, the matter of intelligence collection as well as other things.

When it came to Kakashi's turn, Kuroto asked, "Kakashi, what trouble did you encounter?"

Kakashi sighed and said, "Fortunately or unfortunately, I encountered a Rogue-nin."

Everyone immediately frowned. In these times, Rogue-nin is almost equivalent to too much trouble.

Moreover, Kakashi seemed to be injured, and that alone shows that this Rogue-nin is no simple, Kuroto continued, "The Rogue-nin was able to wound you? Who was he? A member of Akatsuki or Amatsukami?"

Kakashi recalled the description of the person, then shook his head, but spoke with a thoughtful face nonetheless, "Although that person did not seem to be a member of either Akatsuki or Amatsukami, he was by no means a simple individual… What's more troublesome is that he seemed to have an immortal body… he claimed that someone called 'Jashin-sama' had granted him an immortal body, and I confirmed it, he did not die even after I punctured his heart with a Kunai… No number of injuries could kill him…"

"Immortal Body…? 'Jashin-sama'?" – Guy and Shisui exclaimed at the same time.

Kakashi nodded, "I am not sure whether what he said about 'Jashin-sama' is true or not, but he did have an immortal body, and he also seems to be someone religious if you could call that twistedness to be religious behavior… he seemed to have a special knack for sacrificing people to the 'great Jashin-sama'. If you ask me, he is somewhat similar to Yomi, just like Yomi, he also had some sort of technique that probably allowed him to heal his injuries…"

Kuroto thought, 'Well, that's most likely Hidan… of the Zombie Combo. It's really a miracle that Kakashi managed to escape from Hidan on the first encounter, but that's probably because Hidan may not be as strong as he was in the canon.'

Shisui asked, "So, what happened at the end?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Understanding that he stood no chance, he retreated… I did follow him, but only to check whether he had any connection with Akatsuki or Amatsukami, but it was pointless… he seemed to be completely unrelated to either of them… and only acting for the so-called 'Jashin-sama' and since I could not think of any method to break through his immortality, I let him go…"

Kuroto sighed hearing Kakashi's words, 'If only it had been me there, Hidan would have either joined Amatsukami or buried two hundred meters under the earth.'

Kakashi and the others did not notice Kuroto's thoughts. After the matter of Hidan, Kakashi spoke further, but he too did not obtain any clue on Akatsuki.

Now it was Kuroto's turn, Kakashi asked, "Kuroto, were there any gains from your side?"

Looking at the gazes of the three gathered on him, Kuroto nodded with a serious face, "Mm-hmm, I found much shocking news and intelligence, it would be best to report all of them to Sandaime-sama."

Seeing Kuroto's serious gaze, Kakashi's droopy eyes condensed, and he asked, "What intelligence?"

Kuroto did not waste time speaking everything, he just took out a scroll, and passed it on to Kakashi, "Everything is summarized in this report."

Kakashi immediately unfolded the scroll, and he along with the other two started reading the report. The first few lines, already shocked Kakashi, and Guy.

Realizing that the location of Akatsuki's base is located in Amegakure, Guy spoke, "It's great, we finally found their base!"

But Kakashi was more puzzled, "How could the base of Akatsuki be in Amegakure? Hanzo is the leader of Amegakure… he would not allow an organization like Akatsuki to take root in Amegakure… is it possible that Hanzo too is part of Akatsuki, or maybe he is the leader?"

Kuroto shook his head, and explained, "No, Hanzo is long since dead, killed by the leader of Akatsuki, someone who is referred to as 'God' by the people of Amegakure."

Kakashi and Guy took a deep breath upon learning of Hanzo's Death.

Who is Hanzo? One of the strongest Shinobi to have ever lived in this Shinobi World! The three Sannin may shake the entire Shinobi world, but they were named Sannin by none other than Hanzo himself.

And the three of them still carry the title, a title that is a reminder of their defeat at the hands of Hanzo, a reminder of Hanzo's mercy.

The thought that someone like Hanzo, who was akin to a 'Demi-God' died and not even the voice of his dying breath was ever heard by anyone outside of Amegakure nerved Kakashi… The fear of Akatsuki deepened again.

Reading further of the information, Kakashi couldn't help but have a solemn face, "Hanzo died prior to the time when Akatsuki started recruiting rogue-nin, meaning that the leader of Akatsuki had no support against Hanzo… The leader of Akatsuki… is at least superior to the level of Hanzo…"

Kuroto nodded, while Shisui was silent.

Kakashi continued, "We have to report this information to Hokage-sama without any delay… let's go back to the village!"

The other four nodded and rushed towards Konoha.

ON the way, Shisui lightly whispered to Kuroto, "Kuroto-san, are you okay?"

Kuroto asked with a confused expression, "Hmm, what would be wrong with me?"

Shisui said, "I don't know why… but for some reason, you look very tired to me…"

Kuroto smiled, "Hahaha… don't worry… I was just doing some training with Tsukihi… so maybe a little tired."

Because Kuroto is currently using his main body, therefore, no direct physical exhaustion seems apparent. But for the past two months, he has been continuously training the Tsukihi Clone… so the spiritual body is indeed exhausted.

After all, continuous training for two months, using hundreds of Shadow Clones at the same time is no easy task… continuously using Mangekyou Sharingan is obviously burdensome for Kuroto, even with Ryuumyaku.

Putting aside the matter of whether he is exhausted or not, Kuroto is really surprised that Shisui was able to see through this so easily.

Guy and Kakashi may have not noticed his spiritual exhaustion to such an extent, but Shisui did… indicating that even if Shisui's vision is declining, his visual prowess and insight is increasing… already touching the realm of soul…

Thinking so Kuroto thought, 'Perhaps I should start preparing and testing for Hashirama Cells for Shisui, he would need Hashirama Cells Transplantation soon enough as his vision would soon diminish completely…'

With this thought in his mind, Kuroto made a mental note for another task to be performed… on his way to Kuroto.

…

The next day, Hokage Office.

Even with all the troubles, Konoha is facing, the Hokage office is still the same as it was a few years ago… the only change would be the heavier pile of documents and the more wrinkled face of Sandaime.

Seeing that team-11 had returned from their two-month-long mission and came to report the progress, Sandaime did not even look up, he just signaled for Kakashi to proceed with the report while Sandaime's eyesight still remained on the pile before him.

Kakashi did not speak anything, he just passed on the scroll given to him by Kuroto.

Sandaime frowned and took the scroll from Kakashi's hands. With tired eyes, he unfolded the thread on the scroll and went on to read the content.

With his tobacco pipe in his mouth, Sandaime took a puff of smoke… as he started reading the first line… But just as he read the first line, all that tiredness was washed away, his eyes instantly shot open…

The next thing he did was to put down the tobacco pipe and clear both of his eyes with his hands… just to make sure that he was not daydreaming… confirmed that he was not, Sandaime ordered for all the Anbu members on the watch to retreat and activated the silent seal, a seal that would block all the sounds and everything to escape out of this room.

With that done, he asked, "Are you sure that the location of Akatsuki's hideout is Amegakure?!"

Kakashi said, "As mentioned, it is Amegakure, it was discovered by Kuroto."

"Amegakure…!" – Sandaime chewed out the few words. Similar to Kakashi, he too was puzzled about Hanzo, before any further questioning, Sandaime continued to read the report and he landed on the line that mentioned Hanzo's death… "Hanzo is dead…?" – he muttered.

Kuroto nodded, and explained, "Yes, Hanzo died at the hands of the leader of the Akatsuki Organization. A few years ago, a civil war broke out within Amegakure, the winning side was led by the leader someone by the name of Pain… He killed Hanzo… and after Hanzo's death, he became the leader of Amegakure… as well as established the Akatsuki Organization to what we know it is today. Although some supporters of Hanzo come out from time to time, they are unilaterally neutralized by Pain."

If it is said that Sandaime was just shocked then that would be an understatement… astonishment was clearly apparent from his face… someone like Hanzo died and nobody outside Ame did not even hear the whispers of his death? A civil war broke out within Ame and none of the great shinobi villages ever heard of it?

Calming down his nerves, Sandaime thought a lot, then asked, "What is the credibility of the information?"

Kuroto said, "I personally tortured it out of some high-level Ame Shinobi, so the information is more than credible. In fact, the only reason why nobody ever heard of Hanzo's death is that the shinobi of Ame are instructed to treat as if Hanzo is still alive when they are out of Amegakure for missions but in reality, Hanzo has long been dead."

At this time, Sandaime got up and walked towards the window, he had a distant look in his eyes, "Even someone like Hanzo die so silently… sigh, the shinobi world we live in is really cruel…"

Neither of the four had anything to say to Sandaime's words. Each of the four members has had their individual losses.

One lost his parents, other lost his father.

One lost his friends, while the last one lost his father, friends, as well as teacher…

The pain one suffers is not calculated based on how much one has lost, it is calculated based on how much one valued what he has lost.

Everyone's suffering… This is one hard truth of this war-littled Shinobi World.

Sandaime took a deep breath, then turned towards the Kuroto and asked, "And the mention of Iwagakure and Kirigakure?"

Kuruto suppressed the sadness in his heart and answered, "Although it is not clearly apparent, however, there is some sort of cooperation between Iwagakure and Kirigakure… Probably involving the dirty work that they wouldn't want to take the blame on… so if we want to deal with Akatsuki in the form of a surprise attack these two villages can not be involved."

Sandaime considered Kuroto's words and after a long time of weighing out his own thoughts, he returned to his chair and wrote something in two scrolls.

After writing it, Sandaime neatly folded them and sealed them inside two different cases.

Next, he handed one scroll to Kakashi, while the other two Kuroto, with the instructions, "Hatake Kakashi, and Might Guy, deliver the scroll to Raikage in Kumogakure, while Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Shisui will deliver the scroll to Kazekage in Sunagakure."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" – All the four nodded, and then left on their next missions.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 589 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 336: To Sunagakure

A few days later.

Amidst the howling wind that swept the yellow sand into the sky, turning the entire sky dim, two travelers were walking on the sand dunes, walking through the sand storm… compared to the occurring sandstorm both of them seemed to be very small… just like two inconspicuous grains.

These two travelers wearing a black hooded cloak that covered them entirely are obviously none other than Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Shisui.

There was no need to emphasize the danger of the Akatsuki Organization to Sandaime-sama, after hearing the fact that the leader of Akatsuki is probably multiple times stronger than Hanzo. With his experience, Sandaime naturally understood that if you want to launch an effective surprise attack on Akatsuki, then secrecy, surprise, and timing are of key importance here. The entirety of success and failure depends on these three key factors. Two ensure the latter two key factors, the first is of more priority. And to maintain secrecy, it must be ensured that intelligence does not leak from any source.

For this reason, Sandaime did not arrange other Anbu squads to pass on the message to Raikage and Kazekage. Sending Anbu team-11 for this task who had just reported the location of Akatsuki's base, limits the number of hands and ears involved in the matter. So, it further ensures that the number of mouths and brains who would be aware of the intelligence would be highly limited. Thus, narrowing the scope of people involved.

To contact two villages at the same time, Team-11 had to be split into sub-groups. And after years of work of the four in the Anbu department, Sandaime is also aware of Kakashi-Guy and Kuroto-Shisui duo, so he naturally split the team into these two teams.

The purpose of not sending Shisui and Kuroto to Kumogakure was also to ensure that Raikage does not lose his temper upon being reminded of the events of the Valley of the Land of Lightning as well as the Hyuga affair…

As such, Kakashi and Guy are on their way to Kumogakure, meanwhile, Kuroto and Shisui are on their way to Sunagakure.

The raging sandstorm made it difficult for normal shinobi to open their eyes, but these two are obviously not normal. Shisui squinted his eyes, then asked Kuroto aloud, "Kuroto-san, our direction is not wrong, right?"

To ensure the secrecy of this mission, Kuroto and Shisui did not take the commercial road or any other common routes but took a very uncommon route that no one travels on because of the frequent raging sand storms occurring here.

Byakugan…

Activating his Byakugan, Kuroto looked around.

However, all he saw was endless desert and sandstorms raging on this endless desert.

So, determining the right direction was difficult, even the Sun is not clear so determining the direction of Sunagakure using the movements is difficult.

Using Byakugan to locate Sunagakure doesn't seem to be possible.

Sighing slightly, Kuroto closed his eyes, then opened them again, this time his pupils changed into beautiful royal blue, it was obviously Tenseigan.

After activating Tenseigan, Kuroto formed some Hand Signs, and instantly purple dragon wings made of Chakra sprouted on his back.

With Ryuumyaku Wings on his back, the next Kuroto controlled Rein Wheel Interactive Force to form was silent zone around him. Within this silent zone, the raging winds of Sandstorm stagnated, forming sort of a low wind zone.

Next, he flapped the Chakra wings on his back and flew vertically high, then looked at the direction they were moving in.

Not long after, he landed back and dispersed the Chakra Wings, and said to Shisui, "The direction we are moving in is correct, but the area that these sandstorms cover is vast, so it would take a few more hours for us to make out of it, then a few more days to reach Sunagakure."

Shisui nodded, and they both started traveling.

While walking next to Kuroto, Shisui can't help but think, 'I must get stronger, with the way I am, I am only dragging down Kuroto-san.' – Although the previous display of techniques by Kuroto was nothing big, it still made Shisui feel powerless…

Shisui knows that with just a wave of his hand, Kuroto-san can easily disperse the sand storm. In fact, he doesn't even need to travel to Sunagakure on foot when he could just fly there!

It is only because he is with Kuroto that Kuroto is using this method.

With these thoughts in his mind, Shisui suddenly remembered something that Tsukihi once said, 'Those eyes are Tenseigan and they hold the potential to be on the same level as the Rinnegan.' And he can't help but be curious, "Kuroto-san, the leader of Akatsuki has Rinnegan, the eyes of Rikudo Sennin, and Tsukihi said that your Tenseigan holds the same potential as the Rinnegan, so what do you think, which dojutsu is superior of the two, Pain's Rinnegan or your Tenseigan?"

Kuroto was surprised by Shisui's sudden question, he thought about it a little then replied. "I have never fought against someone with Rinnegan before so I can't be sure which dojutsu is superior. But if you ask me potentially both of them are of equal caliber. The outcome of a battle between the two Dojutsu users would depend on the strength of the wielders of the said eyes, not on the dojutsu themselves."

This is Kuroto's belief. For analogy's sake, the same weapon would show different performance when it is in the hands of an amateur, or when it is in the hands of a master.

The strength of Rinnegan displayed by Nagato was much inferior compared to what Uchiha Obito displayed with just one Rinnegan, and that was also much inferior to what Uchiha Madara displayed.

The Rinnegan itself was the same in the eyes of the three, the difference lied in the abilities of the three.

Tenseigan too holds the potential of being on the same level as Rinnegan and compared to the level he started at the time of awakening it, Kuroto has come too far ahead.

What worries Kuroto now is that his personal growth curve has started to slow down.

Time has been passing but there is not much change. And what worries him, even more, is that he has no idea why he has fallen into such stagnation.

Kuroto has of course made many theories to understand this, but only one of them seems reasonable.

He feels that this is because of his lack of understanding of Senjutsu, to cross the realm of Super Kage and to ascend to the Rikudo Sennin realm, he has to learn to use Rikudo Sennin Mode. But is that easy? Obviously no! Even after awakening Rinnegan, even after being in contact with Gedo Statue for so long, Madara still needed to become Juubi's Jinchuriki to learn to use Rikudo Sennin Mode.

At this time Shisui said, "I believe that you will not lose Kuroto-san."

Kuroto smiled and nodded.

Tendo Pain's Shinra Tensei could flatten the entire Konoha in one shot, Rikudo Pain then fought against Uzumaki Naruto in the Sennin Mode as well as toads of Mount Myoboku. Then he also fought and held off against the berserk Kyuubi whose eight tails were liberated. And even after that, he still had enough chakra to bring thousands of Konoha Shinobi back to life.

So, Nagato is also no joke.

Kuroto believes that he is not weaker compared to Nagato, and if the two were to engage in a life and death fight, then it would definitely be him who would survive, that is to say, Nagato would ultimately die at his hands. That is if they do engage in a life and death fight.

Seeing Kuroto's nod, Shisui said, I just hope that we can completely solve Akatsuki this time… so that the village will remain safe…"

Kuroto thought a little and said, "Don't hold too high expectations, the success and failure will entirely depend on Akatsuki Organization's response. If they do not make any mistakes, it will be very difficult to eliminate them all at once."

Shisui nodded.

And the two continued their casual conversation along the way. Soon they passed through the sandstorm and successfully reached Sunagakure after a few more days of travel.

As soon as they entered the territory of the Sunagakure they were spotted by Suna shinobi, then stopped the two, and asked, "Who are you two and your purpose?"

Both Kuroto and Shisui lifted their hoods at the same time and revealed their Konoha's Shinobi forehead protector, following which Kuroto said, "We are Konoha Shinobi, and we are here upon Hokage-sama's order to pass on a message to Kazekage-dono about the matter of Joint Chunin Exams"

The shinobi looked at each other and nodded, but they still did not drop their Kunai and asked again, "Verify your names?" "Hyuga Kuroto." "Uchiha Shisui."

The captain of the team noted down the details and then said, "Two of you, please follow me."

Kuroto and Shisui nodded and followed the leader.

Konoha and Suna are in an alliance, so it is somewhat normal for the Shinobi of one village to travel to another village because of many different matters. Moreover, Joint Chunin Exams is a topic that has been in talks for a while now, so the leader of the team was not too surprised by the arrival of Konoha shinobi.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 590 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 337: An ongoing test in Sunagakure

Led by the patrol team of Sunagakure, Kuroto and Shisui entered into Sunagakure through the narrow cleft between the two cliff faces.

As one of the five great Shinobi villages, Sunagakure is naturally not small in size. Being surrounded by the Desert on all sides, Sunagakure lies in a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, with only a single passage in and out of the village, making it a very hard target of invasion by foreign enemies.

Inside the village, the houses are made up of clay or stucco which help them keep a cool internal temperature, there are some small and large oasis nearby that makes survival in this scorching hot desert possible.

Walking through the village, Kuroto's first impression of the village was a depressive atmosphere.

Although the desert's geographical location does give Sunagakure a natural deterrent against invasion, there are also many negative effects. The main cons of the desert environment are obviously the lack of a proper crop and habitable environment. As a result, Sunagakure is very poor when compared to the other Shinobi Villages, especially when compared to Konoha.

Because of the unsuitable natural environment, Land of wind is one of the poorest countries among the elemental nations, even with it being the country with the most land area.

Because of its weak economy, Sunagakure's strength is also the weakest among the five great shinobi villages.

Although the average strength of its shinobi is higher when compared to some other villages, however, because of the lack of resources, the number of Shinobi Sunagakure can cultivate is limited. Leaving the Kazekage no choice but to adopt the elite route.

In fact, there are also rumors that the Daimyo of Land of Wind has limited economic support to Sunagakure. Which has further increased Sunagakure's troubles.

In fact, there are speculations that even after its decades of turmoil and civil war, the strength of the current Kirigakure is still higher than the current Sunagakure.

This fact is also clearly evident from the distribution ratio of the nine Bijuu.

Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure, each has two Bijuu, meanwhile, Konohagakure, Sunagakure, and Takigakure have one Bijuu each. The reason why Konoha has only one Bijuu is courtesy of the Shodaime Hokage's foolishness.

Regardless, Konoha still has Kyuubi, the strongest of the nine Bijuu, but the focus here is Sunagakure, which is a great shinobi village yet it has only one Bijuu.

Even at the time of distribution of Bijuu, the then Kazekage demanded part of arable land from Konoha and thirty percent of Bijuu purchase prices from the rest of the four great nations, clearly accentuating the poor condition of Sunagakure.

So overall, Sunagakure is pretty poor, and this fact is still visible.

Under the leadership of the captain of the patrol unit, Kuroto and Shisui made an immediate request to meet the Kazekage-dono.

The captain of the patrol unit obviously agreed and asked Kuroto and Shisui to wait at the guesthouse while Kazekage-sama is informed of the news of the arrival of two Konoha Shinobi.

Sitting in the room of the guest house, Shisui whispered lightly, "Kuroto-san, Sunagakure's situation doesn't seem good, I would say that it is even more terrible than the last time we visited here."

Kuroto nodded and said, "It seems that the rumors about Daimyo cutting funds are true…"

Shisui nodded, of course, he is also aware of this information, "But doing so is sort of foolish on Wind Daimyo's part."

Anyone with discerning eyes can see that Sunagakure is getting weaker by the years. And if Daimyo also decreases the support, then Sunagakure will become nothing more than a lamb to be slaughtered and distributed among four sides, each one fighting for the biggest piece of the treat.

Kuroto said, "Daimyo probably thinks that because Sunagakure is in alliance with Konoha, so other nations will not dare to declare open war against the Land of Wind. Without the pressure of external threat, Daimyo will obviously save what he can here and use those funds on other matters"

Shisui sighed, "However, this is short-sighted behavior."

Kuroto nodded, "Hmm, it is indeed short-sighted behavior." – After a pause, Kuroto continued, "But this is because of the Land of Wind's basic problem."

One of the main reasons why Sunagakure is still intact is because of the current Kazekage's Kekkei Genkai. Yondaime Kazekage's Magnet Release is based on Gold Dust, which is essentially gold… so with the help of his Magnet Release, Kazekage Rasa contributes to the village finances.

Kuroto also once thought of this approach but it resulted in a major failure. The nature of Magnet Release is not a standard one, with different variations appearing with different users. Because of this, Sandaime Kazekage uses Iron Sand, while Yondaime Kazekage uses Gold Sand.

Similar to how Uchiha Sasuke's Blaze Release is based on Amaterasu, while Uchiha Tsukihi's Blaze Release is based on Amenooshihomimi.

Therefore, Sandaime Kazekage's puppet was unable to collect Gold Dust effectively, as effectively as Kazekage Rasa.

To be honest, Kuroto really hoped that Sandaime Kazekage can master to control Gold Dust, as this is the most profitable Kekkei Genkai. Can instantly make you rich. But alas, it doesn't seem to be possible.

…

Kazekage Office.

After dropping Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Shisui at the guest house, the captain of the patrol guard came to Kazekage Office, to inform Kazekage-sama of the arrival of two Konoha Shinobi.

"Kazekage-sama, Uchiha Shisui, and Hyuga Kuroto of Konoha have arrived with the message from Konoha's Hokage regarding the joint Chunin Exams." – said the captain of the patrol while he kneeled before Kazekage.

But it seemed as if Kazekage Rasa was busy in some thoughts, he didn't pay any particular attention to the words of the captain and just waved his hands, signaling him to leave.

The captain nodded and left the Kazekage Office.

With the message delivered, his job here was done and he had to return to his post.

After a while, one of the elders of Suna, named Chiyo came to the Kazekage Office. Realizing the deep look on Kazekage Rasa's face, Chiyo asked, "Have you decided?"

Brought out of his thoughts by Chiyo's words, Rasa gazed at the village, then nodded, "Tonight is the day… if he can pass the test, he will live… otherwise, I have no other choice than killing him as the way he is, he is a threat to the village…"

Chiyo sighed softly, then asked, "Who are you going to entrust with this task?"

Kazekage Rasa did not turn back and said indifferently, "Yashamaru!"

Chiyo was surprised, "What ?! Do you intend to appoint Yashamaru with this task? He is Karura's Otouto, moreover, will he really be able to do something so cruel to the child?"

Kazekage Rasa said, "He is the only one who can do it… After all, Yashamaru is the one who can do it… after all, he is the caretaker of that child! For the sake of the village, this test must be conducted."

Listening to these words, Chiyo can only shake her helplessly. She then left the office and gave Rasa the silence he needed. After all, hardening the decision to kill your own child is not an easy matter.

…

On the same night, Guest House where Kuroto and Shisui are staying.

Both of them are waiting for the summons from the Kazekage since morning, however, the Sun has already set, and the sky has darkened but there is still no response from the Kazekage.

Even the Shinobis around have no idea what's keeping the Kazekage occupied.

After taking a sip of green tea, Shisui asked, "Kuroto-san, is it possible that Kazekage is not in the village currently?"

Kuroto lifted his from the book his reading, then replied, "It's possible." It stands to reason that Kuroto and Shisui are here with Hokage-sama's personal message for the Kazekage. So, in a way, they are here representing the Hokage, yet Kazekage has not responded, this is obviously strange. The only possibility that might be keeping him away could be his current absence from the village, otherwise, why would he allow two shinobi from another shinobi village to stay inside his village for so long for no reas-….?

Kuroto's words came to a sudden halt, as he looked towards the window with a frowned expression.

Shisui also put down the teacup, and immediately stood up while asking, "Do you sense that Kuroto-san? Such powerful Chakra fluctuations…!"

Kuroto nodded, and he also stood up, "Mm-hmm, I would be strange to not feel this chakra… it reminds me of a Bijuu… and why is it coming towards us…?"

…

Kazekage Office.

With sudden sounds of flashing, an Anbu appeared in Kazekage Office, he knelt and reported to Kazekage Rasa, "Kazekage-sama, Yashamaru is dead."

However, the Kazekage, who had one of his hands over his left eye did not show any reaction even after hearing the news of Yashamaru's death. Not even a trace of flicker in his right eye.

In fact, there was no need for the Anbu shinobi to report. Kazekage with his 'Third Eye Jutsu' had already witnessed the suicide of Yashamaru. And knew the direction in which that monster is going, and ordered, "Evacuate residentials of the third section…"

The Anbu hurriedly asked, "And what about the two Konoha shinobi staying in the Guest House of Section-3?"

Kazekage's frown deepened, and it was only now he remembers something about two Konoha Shinobi coming to the village with Hokage's message regarding the Joint Chunin Exams, realizing the emergency of the situation, Kazekage hurriedly said, "Guide them to the second section… Oh no, it seems to be late… I have to go to the third section as soon as possible otherwise both the Konoha Shinobi will most likely die at the hands of that monster!"

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 591 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page; /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 338: Kid, I will be using you for now!

Pakura, the leader of Sunagakure's Anbu Squad had just returned to the village after completing a task and was now on her way to the Kazekage office. However, before she could enter, the gate of the Kazekage Office opened, and Rasa walked out hurriedly and almost collided with Pakura.

Seeing the look on the Kazekage's face, Pakura immediately understood that some kind of emergency situation has arisen, and the first thing she could think that would make Kazekage so much panicked was obvious, "Gaara lost control?"

Rasa nodded with a disappointed expression.

This test was supposed to determine how much control Gaara has over his sand and Ichibi's power… but it seems that everything was useless, Gaara failed the test… and it appears that he has even gone berserk…

At this time, Chiyo and Ebizo of the Suna elder Council also rushed over.

Everybody could feel the violent and raging Chakra of Ichibi, and worried about the village's safety Chiyo said to Rasa, "Ichibi must not be allowed to go on a rampage… We are not Konoha, we can not recover from such a wound as Konoha did…"

Rasa nodded and started running towards Gaara.

Chiyo, Ebizo, Pakura, and other Anbu shinobi obviously followed.

Because of their combat style, Chiyo and Ebizo are not suitable to suppress a Bijuu class monster.

Even someone as strong as Chiyo is helpless in the face of a Bijuu, she can very well protect herself but can not fight and suppress a Bijuu.

Pakura is not so helpless anymore, she has tried to counter this weakness of hers in the past few years, after all, the encounter with Moryo the demon did give her insights on her weaknesses, and she has worked her butt off to eliminate this weakness. But it is hard to tell if she will be able to suppress Ichibi in its home environment.

So, the Kazekage Rasa is obviously the best choice, in the entire Sunagakure, he is the only one who can successfully suppress Ichibi using his Magnet Release.

While running towards Gaara, Kazekage kept the use of his 'Third Eye', but it was soon noticed by something and was repeatedly destroyed by emerging sand. Rasa would control Gold Sand to create a new eye, but it would be destroyed within a second by Sand.

Realizing this, Rasa's expression only turned gloomier.

Pakura asked, "What's wrong?"

Kazekage replied, "For one, he has noticed my 'Third Eye' and is repeatedly destroying it Sand, so it's no point keeping it active anymore. And second, he is moving in the direction of the Guest House of the third section!"

"The Guesthouse of the third section…?" – After a pause, Pakura continued, "So what's wrong with that, at least he is not directly attacking the civilians, besides, there should be no major issue even if goes inside the Guest house, it's not like anyone is staying there, right?!"

Kazekage shook his head and did not bother to answer.

One of the Anbu shinobi following the four hurriedly filled in the details to Pakura, "Captain, two Konoha Shinobi are staying in the Guest House of the third Section…"

"What?!" = Pakura was taken aback and realized the seriousness of the matter.

Gaara may be as young as six years old, but he was able to fatally wound Yashamaru. Clearly signifying his danger level. After all, Yashamaru was an elite member of Anbu, as well as, Kazekage's right-hand man, so he was by no means a pushover!

So, Gaara's strength even at such a tender age is no joke, especially now that he has lost control. It would not be wrong to say that anyone below the level of Kage level strength stands little chance in the face of Gaara's rampage.

And since Pakura does not know the identity of the two Konoha Shinobi, so she is now worried. If Konoha Shinobi who are here to deliver Hokage's message to Kazekage were to die from Ichibi's rampage, then the responsibility would obviously fall on the heads of Sunagakure. And Suna would have no suitable explanation for Konoha. The situation would become very complicated.

Kazekage knew of his mistake, and he couldn't wait anymore, he instantly brought some Gold Sand out of the Gourd. He as well as other followers stood on the Gold Sand platform and rushed towards the Guest House.

…

In the Guest House.

The main gate of the House was flung open and later crushed by Sand. And in came a child probably around six- years old with red hair and a conspicuous wound on his forehead. It seems the iconic Kanji symbol that translates to 'Love' was just now etched on the forehead using the sand, the kid also did not have any eyebrows (perhaps because of being born prematurely?) but he did have heavy dark circles and eye bags under his eyes.

'Gaara, Gaara of the Sand…?' – thought Kuroto as he observed the child. Kuroto was curious as to why did the child come here…?

Shisui was on guard, and after a bit of silence, he whispered to Kuroto, "Kuroto-san, this child is…"

Kuroto nodded, "Mm-hmm, he is the Jinchuriki of Ichibi…"

A fool can judge that Gaara's situation is abnormal. At this moment a hideous face with a twisted expression had taken over the child's face. The child is laughing maniacally, with saliva overflowing from the corners of his mouth. All his expression, as well as behavior, makes people shudder.

But Shisui and Kuroto obviously realized that the kid is a Jinchuriki, and has probably lost control over the Bijuu…

Gaara looked at the two, then muttered coldly, "Both of you will die here…!"

Following his words, Sand surged from Gaara's feet and as if being telekinetically controlled, it rushed towards Kuroto and Shisui.

Rush… Boom…!

But before it could even touch either of the two, Kuroto extended his right hand, with his palm facing towards Gaara, and immediately a force field appeared around the two. The force field easily blocked all the Sand that came towards the two.

Realizing the change in expression of Gaara, Kuroto muttered, "It seems that he has not completely lost control…"

Kuroto also saw the pain and anger in Gaara's eyes, and realizing this, a thought flashed in Kuroto's mind, 'This seems to be a good opportunity to make Sunagakure owe some favor to me…'

The next moment a smirk appeared on Kuroto's lips. Gaara is is the Jinchuriki, Kuroto does not know what exactly happened that caused Gaara to suddenly run amok, but it is probably related to the back story Gaara.

With his current condition, it seems very likely that Ichibi is going to go on a rampage.

Kuroto doesn't even need to make up some excessive or believable excuse, the act of legitimate self-defense alone is more than enough to make up for what he is planning to do. And Kazekage would obviously not be able to put any blame on the two because of their heroic act of saving the village.

After making up his mind, Kuroto's smirk widened. The best way to stimulate Gaara is to make him bleed.

To make Gaara bleed, Kuroto used Rein Wheel Attraction on Gaara.

Under the traction force, Gaara instantly flew towards Kuroto and was held off by the neck, at the same time, his Sand Armor instantly broke and all the sand landed on the ground.

Although he had started to lose control, Gaara still had some consciousness, more accurately his consciousness was still the dominant one, as such when he realized the situation he was in; when he realized that his Sand Armor was broken so easily and he could no longer control the Sand that has always danced as per his thoughts, various emotions appeared on his face.

It started with a surprise, then shock, following which anger, and finally fear.

Kuroto did not pity Gaara, he just said, "Sorry kid, I am going to be making use of you, for now, maybe I will compensate you in the future if I feel like it."

Then Kuroto took a Kunai out of his shinobi bag and put it over Gaara's shoulder, who was struggling to break free but was unable to do so.

Before making the final cut Kuroto instructed Shisui, "Shisui, get ready to suppress a fully liberated Bijuu…"

Shisui nodded and activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Gaara's heart shuddered when he looked at the sharp light of Kunai, without the protection of his Sand Armor, Gaara was nothing more than a lonely and tortured six years old kid, who lacks love and care, he was really afraid, and helpless.

But did Kuroto care? Obviously no! Without any pity, Kuroto pierced the Kunai the very next moment.

Pierce…

Drip… Drip… drip…

Blood dripped through the wound, it trailed along the blade on Kunai, dying Kuroto's hand red, then fell on the floor

Feeling the physical, Gaara's struggle suddenly came to a halt.

His eyes landed on the red liquid on Kuroto's hand, and the dripping sound.

Gaara is obviously no stranger to blood, but this is the first time he has seen his own blood, so he was a little dazed.

Kuroto felt that the impact was less, and he moved the Kunai a little to increase the size of the wound.

After he was sure that Gaara would have definitely felt it, he drew out the kunai following which the blood flow increased.

All the while Gaara's eyes were on the red liquid.

When the amount of blood increased, finally there was a scream, "Ahhhhh!!!"

Finally realizing that he was hurt more emotions started appearing on his face, and his eyes changed.

The very next moment, his body structure started changing, indicating the signs of Ichibi taking full control, and Gaara losing consciousness.

At this time, Kuroto led go of Gaara… who has started to change into Ichibi.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

With loud explosive sounds, the Jinchuriki of Ichibi had finally gone berserk, Ichibi has taken control, and what awaits now is the destruction of Sunagakure, just like Konoha suffered at the hands of Kyuubi!

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 592 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 339: "This" or [That]

"Normal Conversation" [Secret words hidden in that conversation.]

…………………………………………………………………………….

Halfway through his way to the guest house of the third section, Kazekage could already see the huge figure of Ichibi raging all over. Realizing his mistake, he sighed, 'It seems that we have no other choice now!'

The appearance of Ichibi implies that Gaara truly failed the test.

Now the biggest problem that Suna will be facing is not only the obvious suppression of Ichibi that is raging and causing destruction but also figuring out how to pass on the news of the death of two messengers to Konoha.

The two messengers have obviously been considered to be dead by now, after all, surviving the attack of a Bijuu is not something just anyone can do! If anything, those two shinobi might as well have been eaten by Ichibi, so finding their corpse would also be next to impossible. This further complicates the problem.

Everyone was worried, even more, worried about the safety of two Konoha messengers rather than the lives of villagers who were in the midst of that chaos caused by Ichibi.

Every time an attack from Ichibi destroyed houses, the earth shook, both people were being trampled on like ants and property was being damaged relentlessly.

Roar!

With another roar, one more block collapsed into ruins.

Just as everyone was about to close in, the figure of Ichibi suddenly came to a halt, he no longer destroyed anything, only a second afterward the figure of Ichibi began to shrink and gradually disappeared.

"What's happening, is Gaara regaining control over Ichibi?" – Including Kazekage, everyone was surprised. That was the only logical conclusion, but neither of them was sure as there were still many buildings obstructing their view as such, they can't know the exact situation.

"Hurry up, maybe the situation is still salvageable." – Everyone nodded to Pakura's words and hurriedly.

The Guest House was already completely destroyed, and the entire third section was a burning mess. But strangely enough, not many corpses were present here, a few were there but that number was too low, probably around a dozen at max.

The number of injured was quite a lot, but those injuries mostly seemed curable, nothing too much.

Everyone was confused, this situation was beyond their cognition. They heard that when Kyuubi went violent in Konoha, or when Hachibi went rogue in Kumo, the number of deaths was astronomical, but only about a dozen here? Such a number was too low, so doubts started to sprout.

One of the Anbu shinobi asked a villager who was conscious, "What happened here, where did the Ichibi go?"

The villager didn't speak much, he just pointed his hand forward.

Chiyo frowned but she did not pressure the guy who might have witnessed the horror of a Bijuu up close.

Everyone rushed in the direction pointed by that villager, and they were highly surprised by what they saw there.

Surprised because hundreds of villagers stood in a semi-circle around a crater, around the same crater at the center of which young Gaara lied unconscious, maybe he was asleep? But also surprised because there stood two shinobi in non-Suna shinobi gear who seemed to be analyzing Gaara's condition.

From their forehead protector, it wasn't hard to judge that these two are Konoha Shinobi.

The expression of both of them seemed very calm, as whatever happened just a few minutes ago did not faze them at all.

Pakura immediately recognized the identity of the two and nodded to herself in understanding why Ichibi was so easily suppressed. Easing her worries, she muttered, "Figures, if the two messengers who came to the village were none other than Uchiha Shisui and Hyuga Kuroto."

The expressions of others were not as calm as hers, but they did not have much time to think things through.

The arrival of Rasa was obviously noticed by everyone, and they all immediately ignored Gaara and looked towards their Kazekage, demanding an explanation why such a monster suddenly appeared in the middle of the village, and in the middle of the night no less.

Meanwhile, Pakura took the charge and instructed all the Anbu and Suna Shinobi to clean things up, and Chiyo went to the villagers to explain the situation and take care of their injuries, Kazekage Rasa, himself walked towards the crater.

Perhaps it was because he had forgotten who Uchiha Shisui is that he panicked a little too much.

In the Shinobi world, the name of Uchiha Shisui is currently very loud, much more loud compare to the other three members of Konoha Anbu Team-11.

After all, Uchiha Shisui is undoubtedly one of the strongest Konoha Shinobi. And that's why Rasa too can understand what exactly happened here, and why exactly was Ichibi suppressed before it could cause too many losses to Suna.

At the same time, he can't help but have a deep fear of Mangekyou Sharingan.

Bijuu and their Jinchuriki are the strategic weapons of various Shinobi Villages, and those same strategic weapons that are feared by everyone, including the host villages themselves are nothing in the face of an Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan.

Suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, Rasa came over at the center of the crater and glanced at the figure of Gaara was lying unconscious. Only for a moment, his eyes lingered on the wound on Gaara's shoulder then he turned towards Uchiha Shisui and Hyuga Kuroto who stood in silence.

Kazekage Rasa bowed and spoke, "Please forgive me for what happened tonight, I did not expect that the Jinchuriki would suddenly lose control and cause havoc."

Shisui waved his hands to and fro with a flustered expression, "No-no-no, no need to worry Kazekage-dono, a Kage must never bow his head to anyone, much less shinobi of some other village, we of Konoha perfectly understand the risks that come with a Jinchuriki, there is always a possibility that they will lose control and the Bijuu sealed inside will take over, besides, Suna and Konoha are allies, so that's no big deal, we should be glad that nothing too serious happened."

Kazekage nodded with a serious expression, "Indeed, I am grateful for your understanding Shisui-dono, and despite this being a matter completely unrelated to the two of you, and despite not having any need, the two of you suppressed the Ichibi and saved many lives for my village, for that, I, no, for that, Sunagakure will always be grateful of the two of you."

Shisui shook his head, "Ahh, the lives of people were saved by Kuroto-san, I only suppressed Ichibi, the lives of people were saved by him, so if anyone that Kazekage-dono should be grateful to for saving the lives of the people of your village then it is him, not me."

Kazekage looked at Hyuga Kuroto with a surprised expression but bowed nonetheless.

Kuroto nodded and deliberately pointed out indirectly, "It's alright, it was somewhat my fault that the kid lost control in the first place if I hadn't injured him in the act of self-defense, maybe he wouldn't have lost control, so I too apologize for that."

Initially, Kuroto wanted to use Ichibi to cause mayhem over the entire Suna leaving extremely deep scars over the village, similar to what Obito did to Konoha using Kyuubi but considering the upcoming planned raid on Akatsuki Kuroto decided not to. If Suna were to suffer here as seriously as Konoha did, and that too at such a time, then there's no telling what would be Iwagakure's move. The hostility between Suna and Iwa is pretty clear, so the raid planned on Akatsuki might just get limited to Konoha and Kumo, and that would result in failure without a doubt.

So instead of causing any large-scale loss of lives of the people of Sunagakure, Kuroto made sure that Ichibi causes a lot of damage to the property, making things more believable, and Suna still being grateful to the two, besides this way Kuroto and Shisui can play a hero in the hearts of a greater number of people.

People who have faced death up close will always be more grateful to the ones who saved their lives in the face of death.

Hearing Kuroto's words, Kazekage had an awkward expression.

Kazekage expected this to be Uchiha Shisui's work alone, but now it seems that Uchiha Shisui only suppressed Ichibi with a Genjutsu, meanwhile, it was Hyuga Kuroto who did all of the work of saving the lives of the residents.

At the same time, Kazekage's last bit of hesitation in regards to Gaara also disappeared when he looked at the state of the third section.

Next, he instructed two Anbu Shinobi to seal Gaara's Chakra and put him in a prison cell.

With that out of the way, Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Shisui were led to another Guest House, where they patiently waited for the Kazekage to take care of all the matters and then visit them.

Kazekage Rasa did not make Kuroto and Shisui wait for too long, and soon after dealing with all the matters as well as passing on the instructions to Pakura as well as other elders, he came to the Guest House.

"Thank you for waiting." – Rasa said.

Kuroto and Shisui nodded, "It's alright… we are thankful that Kazekage-dono can make some time in his schedule."

Kazekage nodded, and then questioned, "So, I was informed that you both are here with Hokage-dono's message regarding the Joint Chunin Exams, is that right?"

Kuroto and Shisui looked at each other, then Kuroto took out his scroll from his shinobi bag, and passed it on to Kazekage, "This scroll enlists the details of the Joint Chunin Exam proposed by Hokage-sama."

Rasa nodded and took the scroll from Kuroto's hands. After making sure that the Scroll was not rigged, he made a particular hand seal that lifted the seal on the scroll. Next, he unfolded the scroll and read the content.

As he read through the content, Kazekage's face showed a mix of a lot of expressions, from his initial confusion to a serious expression, then to a surprise which soon turned into shock.

Rasa was most surprised by the news of the death of Hanzo of the Salamander.

Why are other Shinobi Villages unwilling to provoke Amegakure? Obviously because of the existence of Hanzo, even if the man might have gotten old compared to his youth, but he still had enough name and fear that nobody wants to cause trouble in Amegakure if they don't have to.

And now Kazekage is learning that Hanzo is dead, dead for quite a few years, and dead at the hands of the leader of the Akatsuki Organization, it is natural for him to be shocked.

With a serious expression, Rasa lifted his head, and asked the two, "Is the news true and verified?"

Kuroto and Shisui nodded, "The news is true and verified, for this reason, Hokage-sama has the following plans that are enlisted in the scroll, please read them carefully, we must hurry as soon as we can, otherwise it will be too late."

Kazekage nodded and continued reading the information.

Because of the existence of Sasori, there is simply no possibility of reconciliation between Sunagakure and Akatsuki.

For one, Sandaime Kazekage was his Sensei (Assumed) so avenging his Sensei's murder is necessary, as such he must get rid of Sasori.

After reading the entire information on the scroll, Rasa destroyed it immediately then spoke after some consideration, "So aside from us and Konoha, only Kumo is in talks with in regards to the participation in the joint Chunin Exams?" [So aside from us and Konoha, only Kumo will be part of the raid on Akatsuki?]

Kuroto nodded, "The reasons for not approaching Kirigakure and Iwagakure, as well as other shinobi villages for the joint Chunin Exams, should have been described in the scroll." [The reason why Kirigakure and Iwagakure as well as other shinobi villages are not to be approached should have been described in the scroll.]

Rasa nodded, there was no further need to describe. He has already read that there are details of Akatsuki having some contacts with Iwagakure and Kirigakure, so neither of these two shinobi villages can be trusted for Hokage's plans.

"And is the matter of 'Hiding like a Mole Technique' true? Who is going to be the candidate?" [Is the information about spies true? Who is Sasori's spy in Suna?]

"Unsure, but Hokage-sama hopes that one of the Jonin of Suna can do so." – answered Kuruto. [Not exactly sure, but is one of the Jonin of your village.]

Kazekage nodded, "I will think about it." [I will check and confirm.]

Shisui said, "Please do not reveal the matter of 'Hiding like a Mole Technique' to anyone before the Chunin exams commence, we want to keep it a secret until the first round of Chunin exams is finished" [Please do not reveal the matter of the spy until the raid on Akatsuki is over, we do not want to alert Akatsuki before that by any means.]

Kazekage thought about it and nodded, "It seems reasonable, alright." Then Kazekage took out a scroll and after writing a response on the scroll he sealed it and passed it on to Kuroto, "Pass on this scroll of Hokage-dono, we of the Suna agree to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams, for some further discussions I will personally meet Hokage-dono at the agreed time and place to discuss the specific action plan." [Alright we of Suna agree to participate in the Raid against Akatsuki, and to discuss the specific action plan I will personally meet Hokage-dono.]

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 593 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 340: Gaara's Execution

Next Morning, Sunagakure.

Inside a dark prison cell, a young kid sat in the shadows with his hands around his knees and his face buried between his legs.

This kid is obviously Gaara, the youngest child of Yondaime Kazekage, the Jinchuriki of Ichibi.

After his maternal uncle's failed assassination attempt and the poisonous words from him, Gaara fell into darkness and swore to live only for himself, to only love himself.

It matters not if he was hated by the world for being a monster…

If they think he is a monster then he will be the worst monster they could have ever imagined.

When the two messengers from Konoha came to Sunagakure Gaara once spotted them from afar. From the way they were being treated it seemed as if both of them are pretty important. And when Gaara wanted to destroy Sunagakure he thought to start with by killing the two important Konoha Shinobi, this way even if he fails to destroy the village on his own, Konoha will obviously not forgive Suna.

But unfortunately, his big plan stopped even before it began. His impenetrable sand armor was easily broken through by one of them while the other suppressed him using a mere Genjutsu.

What happened today made Gaara feel powerless and hopeless, with the utter defeat Gaara even lost the qualifications to be a monster that he is feared as.

At the same time, he fell into confusion… He is unable to think anything, he can't understand why he was born? What is the purpose of his existence? If he doesn't have any qualification to be loved and also doesn't have the qualification to be hated, then why does he exist in the first place?

Does it really matter whether he is alive or dead???

Gaara can't think of anything, nothing matters to him anymore… life, death, love, hate… nothing… he felt empty within… it's as if his spiritual sustenance has already collapsed.

If Gaara was in such turmoil then why did Ichibi not take over?

Two reasons:

First, because Gaara's chakra is currently sealed, and until that seal is lifted nothing can be done, not even the Bijuu's chakra can be accessed.

The second reason, Ichibi was obviously afraid of the Mangekyou Sharingan of the shinobi named Uchiha Shisui, so he dared not take over the boy's body and silently sat within while he also watched the boy's thoughts who seemed to be in deep thoughts pondering over the purpose of his existence.

At this moment, the gate of the cell was opened and Kazekage Rasa walked in.

Nobody followed him, he wanted some time alone with the child.

Gaara heard the sound of the cell opening but he did not bother to raise his head to see who has come, it didn't matter to him.

Kazekage looked at Gaara, who was curled up in a dark corner, it seemed that the child had already blended with darkness, became part of the emptiness.

Rasa had a surge of various emotions on his face, for a moment there was a cold face, filled with killing intent to execute Gaara here and now, then at the next moment, there were traces of hesitation.

Rasa's responsibilities as the Kazekage were conflicting with his identity as Gara's father.

Gaara's loss of control over his emotions disappointed him, and the disappointment was only worse when he was casually suppressed by Uchiha Shisui alone.

As the Kazekage, Rasa knows that Suna can no longer afford Gaara's existence. Every time Gaara rampages it brings great losses to Suna. The only excuse he has been using to keep Gaara alive was his worth as a weapon… but that too seemed useless.

'It's time to finish this all!' – Rasa suppressed his parental side for his duties of the Kazekage, for the sake of his village Gaara can no longer be allowed to live.

With his expression turned into indifference, Rasa asked Gaara, "Are there any lasts words that you have?"

But Gaara was silent, he did not even bother to lift his head, nor did he care, or perhaps he did not even notice Rasa's existence because his mind was clouded with emptiness.

Rasa waited, but receiving no reply from Gaara, he turned around and left.

Around half an hour later, a team of Anbu came to the prison cell and took Gaara outside. The indifferent Child posed no resistance, nor did he have any power to resist.

Being dragged along all the way, the team of Anbu brought Gaara outside the village and tied him to a wooden pillar in the middle of the desert.

On a distant Sand Dune, Rasa, Chiyo, Ebizo, Pakura as well as some other elders of the Suna Council stood, looking at the child tied to the wooden pillar.

This part of the desert is Suna's execution rounds, and Gaara is brought here to be executed of course.

If it was a few days ago, even if Gaara had failed the test, Rasa might not have been so much anxious to execute Gaara, but with him agreeing to participate in the "Joint Chunin Exams" Suna will make declare open enmity towards Akatsuki Organization, and who knows how much troubles will be followed then. In such a Suna can not keep Gaara who can so easily lose control over himself alive, the danger of Uchiha Shinichi is too much. Moreover, with one of the Jonin being a traitor, there is no telling what might happen. So Gaara has to be executed.

After tying Gaara to the wooden pillar, the Anbu team immediately rushed back.

At this time, Rasa spoke out loud for Gaara to hear, "Gaara, for the act of killing shinobi and the people of the village, you are to be executed, are there any last wishes that you have before y our death?"

"…" – No response.

Rasa waited for exactly two minutes and receiving no reply from Gaara, he signaled towards the Anbu vice-captain, "Execute him!"

The vice-captain of the Anbu nodded and signaled the team of Anbu waiting for the call.

Sunagakure's method of executing people is very simple.

The method involves tying the person at the wooden pillar then raining hundreds of Shuriken on him.

The Anbu upon receiving the signal immediately shot hundreds of Shuriken on Gaara.

Gaara who stood alone in the middle of the desert did not even flinch upon noticing the incoming rain of Shurikens and there was even a trace of relief on his face, 'Perhaps death is the only meaning left for me.'

But the Bijuu sealed inside him did not think the same, he did not want to die… even if nine Bijuus are masses of Chakra and will eventually come back to life but this does not mean that they are willing to accept death.

Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…

Feeling threatened for his life, Ichibi roared, cursed, threatened, and struggled so much, but ultimately to no avail. He was unable to take control of Gaara's body.

Pierce… blood-splattered… cut… tuk… tuk… pierce… pierce… pierce… pierce…

First the heart… then at the hands… legs… chest… in the left eye, then the right eye… left thigh, right thigh… one after another Shuriken pierced through the child, cutting through the flesh, splattering blood… over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and… leaving no part of his body intact.

But no trace of struggle… Only a relief as his breath ceased to exist, all signs of life disappeared…

"It's over…" – murmured Rasa.

But it was far from over… as soon as Gaara died, raging winds started blowing all over the desert… soon a storm started with that wooden post as the center started… the storm soon turned into a sand storm… so large and so massive that it seemed that nothing would survive in it, yet it was not doing any damage… but the storm was uncontrollable.

"What's happening…? Did he not die?" – one of the elders questioned while trying to maintain his balance amidst the raging storm winds.

Pakura who was nearby sensed and then said, "No, he is dead… Look around, the Sand storm is not doing any damage… nor…"

Chiyo said, "Perhaps it's the result of Ichibi's death? Bijuus are forces of nature… and it's possible that there are some effects upon their death… So, it's possible that the desert is mourning Ichibi's death."

Following Chiyo's words, everyone thought about it and it seemed reasonable…

After some time passed, the sandstorm subsided and the surroundings returned to silence.

Kazekage instructed the Anbu, "Verify if he is dead or not."

The Anbu captain nodded and went forward with a team of Anbu following behind her.

Pakura went forward and verified, Gaara was still tied to the wooden pillar was indeed dead… his body no longer had any signs of life.

After verifying this, she returned back and nodded, "He is indeed dead…"

Rasa sighed and spoke with some complex emotions, "Burn his body… do not even leave the ashes…"

Pakura nodded and signaled the Anbu shinobi to do so.

With that out of the way, Kazekage and several others turned around and left.

Nobody noted the cold smirk that Pakura had at this moment, 'Manipulating the Suna elders to execute Gaara?! I hope you know what you are doing Kuroto-sama!'

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 594 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 341: What's the worst that can happen?

Two days later, in a cave somewhere in the Land of River.

Kuroto sat on a small rock; throwing dried branches in the bonfire. This cave is around the border of the Land of Wind, as such the terrain is still deserted. For this reason, the temperature at night is extremely cold. And he is in no mood to bear the cold right now.

Staring at the fire in front of him, Kuroto had a smirk.

'Heh, Kotoamatsukami is really useful… now I have Pakura, the commander of Sunagakure's Anbu department as my spy to fill me on everything I want to know happening in Sunagakure. And the biggest benefit is obviously acquiring… him…' – thought Kuroto while he picked up sand on the ground on the floor as he stared at the unconscious figure lying on the other side of the bonfire.

A few hours later there were some movements from him, "Uh…"

Lazily rubbing his eyes, the boy got up with a sleepy expression.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he was no longer in the prison cell… moreover his head felt heavy… but slowly and steadily images started to clear up… the last thing he remembers is being stared at by three pairs of eyes, each of a different color… they were orange … and red with black pattern in them… and… and finally… shining blue with a white flower pattern… after that everything is gone… "Whose eyes were they…?"

But there is some clarity… 'Before seeing the three pairs of eyes, Otou-san came to visit me… and he said that I will be executed soon enough… and then those Anbu shinobi came to the cell and took me to take me for the execution… right execution! Does that mean I am already dead?'

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the kid noticed a person sitting on the other side of the bonfire and asked, "Ano… am I… am I already?" – But he did not look at the face of the other person… because if he did, he might have realized that this is the same person who made him bleed for the first time.

Kuroto raised an eye at the question and asked, "Don't you remember what happened after you were taken out of your prison cell?"

Gaara shook his head, "No… there are only vague images of three pairs of eyes staring down at me… and nothing more."

Kuroto thought, 'Maybe the Genjutsu Shisui used to put Gaara in sleep was too strong for the kid to bear with his chakra sealed… or perhaps it is because this is the first time Gaara might have had a peaceful sleep ever since his birth?'

Nodding at his conclusion that seemed reasonable, Kuroto said, "Well it doesn't matter if you don't remember, long story short, I saved you…"

That entire execution was designed by Kuroto, the moment Gaara was taken out of the cell. Kuroto along with, Shisui, and Pakura (now loyal to Amatsukami because of being tortured by Kuroto and then being controlled by Shisui's Kotoamatsukami) acted together.

Since Pakura is the Anbu Commander so things were very easy, the Anbu Shinobis taking Gaara were instantly put into a Genjutsu by Shisui, after that Shisui disguised as one of the Anbu, while one of the Anbu that Shisui disguised into was turned into Gaara by Kuroto with the use of 'Shapeshifting Technique'.

Shisui who was disguised as one of Anbu made sure to continue using his Kotoamatsukami on all the elders present nearby, eliminating any chance of discovery, and when 'Gaara'(or the person who tied to the wooden pillar in the shape of Gaara) died, his body was burnt into nothing more than ashes by Pakura.

All the while the entire ordeal took place, Kuroto and Kazekage Puppet observed the entire thing from the sky.

As for the Sandstorm? It was the result of Shisui's Genjutsu, Kazekage Puppet's mastery of Wind Release… Although causing such large storms is not easy even for the Kazekage puppet, but thanks to the high level of Ryuumyaku Chakra, and the near mechanical state of the Puppet such a thing became possible. For this reason, even though there were heavy winds and raging sandstorms yet there was no damage.

Kuroto did this all to make the death of Ichibi and its Jinchuriki more believable.

Gaara was stunned, and it was at this moment when he recognized who this person was… "Why… why did you save me?"

Kuroto thought about how to answer this question without revealing many things, but he first asked curiously, "Before I answer your question, I want to ask, why do you want to die?"

Gaara was silent after hearing Kuroto's question, he did not know why but for some reason he simply couldn't resist it anymore and started speaking "My Oka-san hated me, she did not even want to give me birth… my Otou-san wants to kill me… my siblings don't like me, everyone in the village fears me… even… even, Yashamaru said that… said that he really hated me… said that my Oka-san named me from a phrase 'a self-loving carnage' to reflect her undying hatred towards the village and the monster that I am… since… since everyone treated me as a monster, I decided that I will be a monster… but I couldn't even be a monster… I can no longer find a purpose to live, isn't death better than a life with no purpose, I no longer want to feel this emptiness… it's better to just die and disappear… it's not like anyone is ever going to mourn my death… it's not like I am wanted…"

Kuroto stayed silent while Gaara revealed the pain buried inside him… midway through that Gaara also burst into tears… Kuroto let him speak, he let Gaara cry… He allowed Gaara to let it all out…

Even though it is said that only weak people cry but Kuroto doesn't believe that… Sometimes being able to cry… being able to let out all the pain, frustration, and sadness buried inside is never a sign of weakness… in fact, there are very few people who have such a luxury. Otherwise, people are sad, angry, and frustrated but they are unwilling to let it all out and hardly grow as a person.

While Gaara let out everything, Kuroto also thought about Gaara's mother. Not much was revealed about her aside from the fact that she loved Gaara too much and had an incredibly strong will to always protect her son. Perhaps it was because of this, her spirit took the form of Sand, always protecting Gaara.

But here Kuroto has a lot of information about her, more so when Pakura is already his spy. Gaara's mother was one of the strongest Kunoichi of Sunagakure, she used Sand Release Kekkei Genkai (We are assuming that Sand Release is not just associated with Ichibi), but the awakening of Sand Release in Gaara was too early. From a very young age, the kid has already been able to use Sand Release which has made everyone believe that this is because of Ichibi being sealed inside him, not because of the Kekkei Genkai he inherited from his mother.

It might be because of both reasons, but what matters here is that her spirit took the form of the Sand Armor around Gaara. Perhaps for this reason Gaara's chakra is not ordinary.

As for what Yashamaru said? That's obviously all a lie, as per the instructions of the Kazekage.

"I understand your reason… and to be honest kid, I think you are too young to figure out the purpose of your existence… I won't say that I know what your hardships have been, and even if I know what kinds of things you have gone through, I will never truly be able to understand them… but from my experience, you know too little of this world to determine anything. You asked me why I saved you, right? I will answer your question, it is nothing as fancy as you being the child of destiny or whatnot, the only reason I saved you is that I saw the potential within you… potential to become one of the strongest shinobi to walk through this shinobi world… it would have been a waste to let you die out there so silently when you could have become something more… And if you need a purpose to live, you can find it along the way… as long as you are still alive you will have a long time to figure things out… to figure out the meaning of your existence." – said Kuroto.

Gaara kept wiping the tears running through his eyes and shook his head after Kuroto finished, "But I cannot… I can no longer bear this thing anymore!"

Kuroto thought about it and said, "The 'thing' you speak of is Ichibi, right? You do not have to worry about him anymore… if I have saved you, so naturally, I will not allow the tanuki to waste my effort… I will make him silent, and unless you on your own accord want to communicate with him, he wouldn't even be able to lift his finger or utter a single word much less taking control over your body."

In Kuroto's view, the people of Sunagakure are stupid… making a young child who is housing Shukaku of all Bijuu inside him to go through such a torturous experience.

The fact that Gaara can resist Shukaku taking control over the boy from such a tender age alone shows the kid's talent. And what are they doing? Instead of training the kid mentally as well as physically… they are imposing tests to check whether he would lose or control his emotions?

In this aspect, Konoha is still far better compared to Suna, although Naruto similar to Gaara is hated by all the villagers, he is still not forced to go through such tests. In fact, they did not even inform Naruto of the Kyuubi being sealed inside him until the Mizuki event.

After all, both kids are the same, suffer from the same treatment from the fellow villagers. But when it came to Naruto, Kyuubi could not even communicate with Naruto, much less affecting Naruto as Ichibi does to Gaara.

It was just that since no one trained Naruto to control his chakra that was influenced by Kyuubi's chakra because of the way Yondaime designed the seal, so Naruto was left at the bottom of his academy class.

Gaara pondered on Kuroto's words then asked a hesitation, "Can you really silence him?"

Kuroto smirked, "Don't you remember what happened the last time we met? He wasn't able to do anything…"

Gaara recalled it, and indeed, Shukaku wasn't able to do anything on that night, but Gaara was still a bit doubtful…

Kuroto sighed, he got up from his position and walked towards Gaara, then he lifted off the robe on Gaara's upper body.

Next, he analyzed the existing seal, after doing so… he weaved the hand signs and placed his hand on Gaara's stomach.

With that, the existing seal that sealed Shukaku was gone, and instead of that a newer one appeared, this was obviously Four-Symbols Seal, immediately afterward, an instant imprint of the seal appeared over Gaara's entire body like crawling snakes, then it disappeared and was left with the Four-Symbols Seal pattern over Gaara's stomach.

After doing so, Kuroto questioned, "How is it? Is it better now?"

Gaara immediately nodded, "His… his voice is gone!"

Kuroto thought a little and said, "That's good, this seal can work for now, and later we can use a better seal."

Gaara nodded.

The Four-Symbols Seal is good, and it has completely isolated Shukaku, but it has also made it impossible for Gaara from extracting Shukaku's chakra. If a Jinchuriki cannot even take chakra from the Bijuu sealed inside them then there is no point in having a Bijuu sealed within you.

So, Kuroto will obviously change the seal, Four-Symbols Seal is nothing compared to the Eight Trigram Sealing Style, or the Torii Seal which is probably one of the most powerful and best Fuinjutsu to seal a Bijuu inside the Jinchuriki, and Kuroto plans to use that Seal on Gaara.

Next Kuroto asked, "With that out of the way, are you going to come with me?"

Gaara looked at Kuroto with a bit of hesitation…

Kuroto noticed Gaara's hesitation, and thought, 'The kid probably still has some reservations… and it's understandable… I guess I need to push it a little.'

Thinking so, Kuroto shook his head and said, "Or let me rephrase what I said just now, are you going to willingly come with me, or do I have to take you anyway? You should understand that I have already sealed Shukaku, so he wouldn't be able to do anything… and without Shukaku, even if you can control sand, you are just a helpless kid in front of me… when you couldn't resist even with Shukaku what can you do without him? In simple words, you do not have a choice here kid… you are coming with me regardless of your willingness."

As soon as Kuroto finished his words, he stretched out his hand.

Under the traction force, Gaara obviously couldn't put any resistance, and before he could even realize it, he was already flying high in the sky.

Gaara did not put any resistance. He realized it full well that doing so was meaningless. Besides he couldn't detect any trace of hostility from this person, so maybe this is fine, right?

What's the worst that can happen? Death? But is that something Gaara fears? Not really! A few minutes ago, he had already accepted his death, so it's not like anything beyond that can happen to him, right?

Besides, he was currently enjoying the flight, it's the first time he has got to fly, although it's not on his own it is flying nonetheless and it feels amazing.

Coming out of the cage of Suna, Gaara probably felt relief.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 595 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 342: A new purpose to live

After flying all the way to Ancor Vantian for a few hours, Kuroto temporarily placed Gaara in an empty room and said, "Get comfortable here kid, I have to leave for a while because of somethings, in the meantime, I will be sending someone here, she will be the one to place the new seal."

Gaara nodded and silently sat in the room while Kuroto left.

With him now left alone, Gaara had some time to process all the events that have happened since Yashamaru's death.

On the other side, after Kuroto left, he went to his laboratory room and used Tenseigan Soul Descend to transfer his soul into the Tsukihi Clone. Kuroto does not have any plans to reveal all the abilities to Shukaku, who knows if he can communicate with other Bijuu, so unless the Torii seal is placed on Shukaku all the abilities of Tenseigan will not be revealed.

With the soul transferred, Tsukihi made some preparations and then went back to the room Gaara was in.

Tsukihi looked at Gaara's thoughtful look and said, "So you are the one Kuroto-sama mentioned?"

Broken out of his thought, Gaara looked at the opposite Onee-san and asked, "You are?"

Tsukihi smiled, "I am Uchiha Tsukihi, you can call me whatever you feel like, and I will be the one to change the seal of Bijuu sealed within you."

Gaara asked, "Can you really do that?"

Tsukihi smirked and directly activated her Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, "How about I show you?"

Gaara was shocked, those eyes are similar, yet different to the ones that the other person who was with him had, "Your eyes? They are similar to the other one?"

Tsukihi nodded, "Hmm, you are probably talking about Shisui, the ones he has are called Mangekyou Sharingan, dojutsu that only the people of the Uchiha Clan can have, few exceptions aside, my eyes are a bit different, but anyway, let's get started as I don't really have much time."

Without waiting for Gaara to react, Tsukihi entered into Gaara's subconscious plane.

Tsukihi of course made sure to cast a Genjutsu over the soul body in order to not give away the obvious identity.

The purpose of using Tsukihi Clone is simple, that is to not reveal all the abilities of Tenseigan to Shukaku.

Anyway, after entering Gaara's Subconscious plane, Tsukihi looked around.

She wasn't much surprised with the state of Gaara's subconscious plane, after all, the seal placed on him earlier was too to actually seal a Bijuu safely.

Compared to what was shown about Uzumaki Naruto's subconscious plane Gaara's subconscious plane is much worse.

It seemed to begin at a cave filled with thorns and pointed stones all around… Tsukihi curiously watched everything, purple vines, walls filled with holes, sand all around, and whatnot. Overall, it wasn't a pleasant sight to behold.

'Subconscious plane is the clear indication of one's mental state, this devastated plane showcases Gaara's devastated psychological state, it might take quite a while to heal the kid of these psychological wounds. Perhaps a friend can help?' – mused Tsukihi.

After some time of walking, she finally came to the middle of the cage the cave where the main part of the mental plane exists.

The main plane was further divided into two caves, Tsukihi does not yet know what's inside of the first cave, but she can see the young figure of Gaara curiously looking at the inside of the other cave, which means that Shukaku is sealed there.

This other cave is obviously noisy… because it houses none other than Shukaku, and Tanuki's continuous shouts even made Tsukihi feel annoyed.

Tsukihi walked towards Gaara, and said, "You want to look at the state of Shukaku, right? Come on, follow me, as long as I am here, the Ichibi wouldn't be able to do you anything." – Leaving this sentence, she did not wait for Gaara's response and continued walking forward.

Gaara seemed to have some hesitation, if it were up to him, he would rather always stay away from Ichibi but upon looking at the confident expression of her, he somehow summoned up the courage and followed her silently.

Upon walking inside, the two finally got the sight of Shukaku.

The Tanuki was restricted within this cave as there were specific seals designed at the entrance of the cave that restricted Shukaku to come outside, and being restricted here was obviously unacceptable to him, so he kept shouting and raging out loud.

Perceiving the arrival of intruders, he roared and rushed over towards Tsukihi and Gaara.

As he moved, the entire cave shook, and dust rose.

Compared to the huge size of Shukaku, the Tsukihi figure was too small, yet there was no sign of fear within her eyes. She looked at the incoming Tanuki condescendingly.

Shukaku noticed Tsukihi's eyes, and his tail immediately rushed towards Tsukihi as he shouted, "I am so gonna kill you Uchiha!"

The immensely large tail of Shukaku fiercely rushed towards Tsukihi and Gaara.

But Tsukihi's face remained unchanged, she weaved hand signs at an extremely fast speed, and as soon as she completed, Torii gates fell from out of nowhere.

Two gates fell on Shukaku's tail, then three large gates fell on the main body of Shukaku.

With the Torii gates placed, Shukaku's all movements were instantly restricted, he couldn't even move, but that was not the end, as an extra-large structure of Torii gates kept forming that completely isolated Shukaku even inside this cave.

Being suppressed instantly, Shukaku raged and tried whatnot, but Tsukihi paid him no mind, in fact, she completely ignored him and further observed Gaara's subconscious plane.

Gaara's subconscious plane was indeed a mess, completely different from Naruto's, where large iron doors isolated Kurama, 'It seems that his psychological care has to be put to focus at first.'

"I am going to kill you, kill you, this seal will not last permanently, I am going to break this and then I will take over his body, after that, I am going to kill you!" – Shukaku's roar.

Tsukihi shook her hand, and said, "Yeah, go ahead and try all you can, but you won't even be able to put a single scratch on these Torii Gates… even Kyuubi is helpless in the face of these high-level, and you are just a measly Ichibi, the Bijuu with the least amount of Chakra…"

However, it seemed that Tsukihi's words fell upon a deaf ear, Shukaku kept roaring and struggling but to no avail.

However, those shouts have started to tick off Tsukihi, she snapped her fingers and suddenly chakra chains extended out of the several Torii gates and entwined around Shukaku's mouth. These chakra chains seemed to be a combination of countless small Torii gates joined together.

With the chains entwined around Shukaku, he no longer had the freedom to even open his mouth, so the cave entered a silence.

With everything returned to silence, Tsukihi sighed, "Like seriously, do you even know just how annoying you are? Now stay there quietly or else your state will only worsen, then more struggle you put, the more you will be restricted, behave like the good giant dog you are, do your job that you are supposed to do, the job of being a chakra battery and you will be allowed to exist, otherwise, only death awaits you!"

It seemed as if Tsukihi was casually speaking these words, but given the serious look in her eyes and the burning temperature in the cave, it did not feel as if she is simply joking.

Honestly, Tsukihi was really surprised at just how annoying this tanuki is, at the same time she is really glad that her Ryuumyaku is a good and honest Dragon who mostly sleeps if he doesn't have to give out chakra. If Ryuumyaku had been like Shukaku, then Kuroto would have always had a headache.

After dealing with Shukaku, Tsukihi turned towards Gaara, who was shocked looking at everything happening before him. He honestly isn't himself, overnight, his entire world has started to change, and whatever he believed has started to crumble.

Ichibi, who is feared by all the people of Sunagakure was called a pet? A battery? If that's not hilarious then what is? The fact that Tsukihi so easily subdues Shukaku?

Putting no mind to Gaara's shock, Tsukihi questioned, "Do you know how to become a perfect Jinchuriki?"

Gaara looked at Tsukihi with a complicated expression, then shook his head, "No, I do not."

"Communication with the Bijuu and gaining his acceptance. These things are critical to becoming a perfect Jinchuriki… to perfectly use the Chakra Cloak, the Jinchuriki and the Bijuu must be in sync, a bond of trust with one another is necessary." – Taking a pause, Tsukihi waited for Gaara to digest the information, then continued, "Treat them as monsters they will be monsters, treat them as friends they will be friends… I know it sounds too cliché… but it's the hardcore truth… But even with all that true, you must make them understand that you do not fear them… make them understand that you too are not someone to be looked down on… A bond of trust can only be formed when both parties understand and respect each other as equals… if one party has a too high evaluation of the other while the other party has a too low evaluation of the other, an equal bond will never form… so before becoming a perfect Jinchuriki, you must make him realize that you are no weakling." – As Tsukihi said so, flames of Amenooshihomimi (Oshihomimi for short) suddenly emerged in Tsukihi's hand.

Gaara stared at the flickering golden flames on Tsukihi's hand, and for some reason, he felt instinctive danger from these flames.

Tsukihi paid no mind to Gaara's change and continued, "But that advice is for you, for me as well as most of the other people you will be meeting from here on, Bijuu may be considered terrifying and forces of nature but in our eyes, they are just batteries of Chakra, and there is no need to fear batteries, right?"

"But… but he is a sand demon…" – Gaara was puzzled, what Tsukihi said is completely different from what Sunagakure has taught him about Shukaku.

In Sunagakure, Shukaku is considered the strongest weapon and their ultimate trump card. He is kept in Suna as a necessary evil, one that you do not want but need to maintain deterrence against other villages.

"That's actually wrong perception…" – Tsukihi shook her head with a smile, "Their essence is Chakra, for this reason, they are even immortal and will be eventually reborn even after their death… how about I tell you a secret that is known to very few people, these Bijuu are in reality pets of a certain Oji-chan… so I am not really making things up… but anyway, they are nothing more than batteries for me." – as she said so, the flames of Oshihomimi were suddenly shot towards the trapped Shukaku in the form of a Fire Fist (The attack is a copy of Portgaz D. Ace's Fire Fist from the One Piece series).

Under Tsukihi's control, the flames of Oshihomimi completely engulfed Shukaku. His entire body was now full of golden fire.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

Bijuus are masses of chakra and the flames of Oshihomimi literally burns Chakra, as such, Tsukihi is the worst enemy for any Bijuu.

Being burned by the flames of Oshihomimi, Shukaku's struggle became more violent, and he frantically tried to break free of the Torii gates and escape but to no avail.

Looking at the frantically struggling and crying Shukaku, Gaara for once had an incredible expression.

After a while, Tsukihi turned around and squatted down to Gaara's eye level, then put both her and Gaara's shoulders and asked, "Do you see that? Shukaku is tied up, burning, he is even crying and struggling but still to no avail… now tell me, is there any reason to be afraid of someone like him anymore?"

The entire reason why Shukaku is being tortured is to completely wipe out the fear Gaara has of Shukaku. After if you are restricted by fear, then how can you grow? Fear is never a healthy motivation.

Gaara looked at Tsukihi for a while, then at Shukaku's pathetic state… and for a moment he felt numbed…

Tsukihi urged Gaara to walk forward and take a deep look at Shukaku, while she faintly spoke, "Look at that sight and burn it down in your memories… you have no need to be afraid of him… he can't do anything…"

After looking at Shukaku for a while, Gaara turned to look at Tsukihi and asked with an eager expression, "Will I… will I be able to do something like that in the future?"

Tsukihi thought for a while as she tapped her finger on her chin, all the while Gaara looked at Tsukihi with a nervous expression.

Looking at Gaara's nervous expression from the corner of her eye, Tsukihi chuckled, then spoke, "It depends on how much effort you are willing to put, although you wouldn't be able to do something like burning down Shukaku as your element is different… but if you truly try, you can definitely control the deserts, make sandstorms… and everything along the lines."

Gaara may not have understood what that really means, and what extent the power here reaches but for some reason, he had stars shining in his eyes.

He asked with a more eager expression, "R…really…?! Can I… can I really do something like that?"

Tsukihi nodded, "Kuroto-sama brought you here because he recognizes your potential, so obviously he has expectations from you… if you train and work hard, then you will eventually be able to attain such levels of strength."

Gaara turned back to look at the wailing and weak figure of Shukaku, the timidness, and uneasiness within his eyes started to disappear… and the flames of determination started to burn within him as he muttered, "I will not let him down, I will make sure that he never feels disappointed in me or regret saving me… I will become someone strong enough to control the deserts!"

This was the moment Gaara found himself a new purpose to live… and his eyes were no longer as empty as there were before.

Tsukihi just smiled looking at Gaara's changes that were also slowly affecting his Subconscious plane.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 596 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 343: Time to bring in an Assistant

This is only the first step to building up Gaara's Psychological advantage over Shukaku, this will work but for Shukaku to submit to him there is still a long way to go and in that regard, Tsukihi's role is not much, it will all depend on Gaara's own fortitude and perseverance.

However, even if that is the case, the gap in strength between the kid Gaara and Shukaku who has lived for nearly a millennia is too great.

Therefore, Gaara's path of growth has to be designed for stable growth so that he doesn't become overwhelmed in the face of power. Otherwise, the psychological advantage he might have gained over Shukaku will become meaningless.

'I suppose it is time to stop grilling the Tanuki…' – although Tsukihi thought so, she did not immediately stop.

After being burned by the flames of Oshinomimi Shukaku's struggle has gradually weakened…

Although the golden flames of Oshihomimi are not as overbearing as the black flames of Amaterasu that represent the Material World and Light, the flames of Oshihomimi still have their advantage. Even if inferior, they have the special attribute of burning chakra… that is to say, as long as a chakra source is present they can continue to burn indefinitely.

And what is a Bijuu? A Bijuu is nothing more than a large aggregate of chakra with consciousness, the point here is that they are 'nothing more than large aggregates of Chakra'.

As such, once the Golden Flames are ignited the flames will continue to burn indefinitely the Bijuu, there is no need for Tsukihi to do any extra hard work, the chakra of Shukaku will keep the flames lit.

Next, she waved her hand under the command of which the Torii chains that entangled over Shukaku's mouth loosened, finally giving Shukaku some ability to speak.

But it seemed that Tsukihi expected too much out of this annoying Tanuki, even if he was weakened and crying that did not stop it from cursing and shouting, "Damn you Uchiha… I will… I will not forget this… sooner or later I will-…"

Tsukihi did not wait for Shukaku to finish, she added the ocular power of her Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to intensify the golden flames while coldly saying, "It seems that you have yet to learn your place…"

"Ah… dammit-dammit-dammit… hot…!" – Immediately Shukaku's wailing and crying in pain intensified, the sounds echoed throughout the cave.

While Shukaku cried, Tsukihi asked Gaara, "What do you think, isn't he just a pet, or better yet, he doesn't even have the qualifications to become a pet unless he becomes honest and learns his true place?"

Gaara nodded nervously, but there was still excitement in his eyes.

With Gaara's nod, Tsukihi smirked at Gaara and said to him to deliberately incite the Tanuki, "You have to get used to this… do not fear him, if you fear something you will never be honest with him… treat the other party as what he is… Besides, such things will be common from now on."

Gaara asked curiously, "Does that mean you are going to punish him like this all the time?"

Hearing Gaara's question Shukaku's wailing stopped for a moment and he looked at Tsukihi, waiting for her answer… or rather her sentence for him…

Tsukihi cackled upon noticing Shukaku's resentful glare focused on her, and she revealed with a mocking tone, "I will let you know that these Golden Flames are called Oshihomimi, I bet you have already noticed this Shukaku, but these Golden Flames are not ordinary… they can continuously absorb and burn chakra… and you are a Bijuu, you are mass of Chakra meaning they will continue to burn endlessly unless extinguished, be that a month, a year, a decade, half a century, a century or even millennia. And the good thing is that I have set them in such a manner that you will never run out of chakra, meaning you will continue to burn for all eternity…"

Of course, that's a bit of an exaggeration, once he is freed of the Torii Seals, Tsukihi believes that Shukaku will be able to extinguish them but meh, Shukaku doesn't know this.

And since he doesn't know this, he suddenly started panicking and shouted, "D-damn it, extinguish them immediately!"

Tsukihi's intimidation obviously took effect, against someone who can subdue him so easily Shukaku did not seem to be as strong or dangerous as Gaara had previously imagined.

Tsukihi snorted coldly and said, "Is this the attitude to have when begging someone? Did no one teach you manners?"

Although Tsukihi has never been in Shukaku's place, she understands Shukaku's current state, and for some reason, it was giving her a unique pleasure, and she was really enjoying torturing Shukaku. She is also sure that Shukaku will soon give in, the only question is how long will he endure before finally submitting, and wag his tail like a good little dog.

At this time, Shukaku said with an unwilling expression, "W-well, Uchiha-san, you win, please just stop!"

Tsukihi said with an indifferent expression, "You seemed to be begging the wrong person here…"

Realizing what Tsukihi meant, Shukaku eyes widened but they soon changed into angered, he was furious, "What? You want me to beg this brat? He is nothing more than a mouse with a runny nose, he is not qualified!"

Succumbing to an Uchiha, who are the descendants of Rikudo Sennin is barely acceptable to him, he knows that all the Bijuu, including the strongest Kyuubi, are helpless in the face of the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. But begging to the kid Gaara? This is completely unacceptable!

Tsukihi folded her over her chest then laughed, "Hahaha, that's funny coming from you, because the last I checked you are the same in front of me! Nothing more than an annoying Tanuki You are not qualified to put forward your terms in front of me. Either submit or burn to eternity!"

Shukaku was bewildered by what the Uchiha girl said, and he tried to incite Tsukihi, "Kill the brat, become my Jinchuriki, you can have all of my Chakra."

Hearing Shukaku's words, Gaara looked at Tsukihi's face only to see her yawn in boredom, "Don't you have anything else to say? Anyway, I have no interest in acquiring your chakra…"

Shukaku looked at Tsukihi with a more shocked expression, "You-you…!"

Tsukihi interrupted Shukaku midway, "Decide fast, I don't have much time to waste on you, there are more important that I have to do rather than looking at your pathetic state… if you don't hurry then I will leave you as is." – After a pause, Tsukihi said coldly, "And once gone, who knows after how much time will I come back… so be fast, you only have ten seconds before I take my leave…"

Shukaku was now caught in entanglement, being burned for days and more is really unbearable… but begging a brat is also unacceptable to him.

"8"

"7"

"I…I wa-." – Shukaku tried to speak something but suddenly stopped.

"6"

…

…

…

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Zer-…" "Please wait!"– Before Tsukihi could count down the last digit, Gaara suddenly interrupted.

Tsukihi stopped and looked at Gaara with a curious expression. She was interested in what Gaara had to say.

"Please wait…" – speaking so, Gaara started walking towards Shukaku, and spoke, "Shukaku… I… I am no longer afraid of you… and I also understand that you do not want to accept me now because I am too weak. It's fine if you do not want to with the way I am currently, but I promise Shukaku, I will work hard and train, and finally gain your recognition, if one day, I personally defeat you, and also free you of all the cages, will you… will you recognize me? Will you help me then? Will you agree to lend me your strength then?"

'Heh, that's a surprise, but I suppose that's to be expected of the next Kazekage… and the best Kazekage…' – Tsukihi was a little surprised by Gaara's sudden actions, but not much considering Gaara's character.

Shukaku was also surprised by Gaara's sudden action, and he was silent for a while, afterward, he snorted, "Don't overestimate yourself brat…"

Gaara did not back down, and continued, "Answer my question Shukaku, whether it really happens or not is another matter altogether… but if it really happens, will you approve me to be your Jinchuriki or not?"

Shukaku was again surprised, and he suddenly laughed, "Hahaha… you will never become strong enough… but I suppose that there is no problem in agreeing with you… at least I will be able to watch you fail miserably!"

Gaara said, "It won't happen, I will not fail…!"

Shukaku finally sighed, and said, "And what happens if you fail…?!"

Gaara thought a little and said, "I will not fail, but if I do fail to gain your approval by defeating you within the next decade, I will do anything that you ask of me… I will do everything that you want, even if it means death and more!"

Shukaku was silent, he couldn't sense any trace of deception or lie in the brat's words, as such, he finally nodded after a long silence, "Fine… if such a day ever comes… then I will give all my strength to you… I will give you access to my entire chakra… but do not forget your condition kid, you only have as much as a decade as you said… anything more and you will fail!"

With Shukaku's nod, Gaara turned to look at Tsukihi and said, "Tsukihi-san, please extinguish the flames…"

Tsukihi hummed, "Since the kid is asking so I am forgiving you… but do not try to step out of your bounds. If I as much as hear that you are acting out of your bounds there will be no next chance, being burned to the eternity will await you!"

"…" – Shukaku was silent, he did not give any reply, but his eyes showed agreement to Tsukihi"s words.

Satisfied that her point is clear to Shukaku, Tsukihi extinguished the flames.

As soon as the flames were extinguished, Shukaku's burned-up state became visible, and he finally collapsed to unconsciousness.

Tsukihi did not care, she just said to Gaara, "Come on, let's go Gaara-kun."

Gaara nodded, then started walking towards Tsukihi, and then walked towards the exit of the cave.

While walking out, he took one final glance at Shukaku then left.

After coming out of the cave, Tsukihi spent some more time in Gaara's subconscious plane.

Kuroto is already quite familiar with many Subconscious planes, the last subconscious plane that Kuroto went into was of Pakura where he entered using Tenseigan, but that's a story of another time.

What's important here is that due to her familiarity with many subconscious planes, she has learned to develop an understanding of the state mind of a person based on their Subconscious plane, and as such, she studied Gaara's subconscious plane to design a proper healing course.

Finally, after determining everything, she and Gaara left his subconscious plane.

Recovering back to their senses, the first thing Gaara did was to bow towards Tsukihi, "Thank you for everything that you have done for me."

Tsukihi said, "It's fine Gaara-kun since you will be becoming a part of us, doing the bare minimum is obvious."

Gaara nodded, he was still more than grateful.

At this time, the gate of the room opened and Sandaime Kazekage puppet walked in.

With his arrival, Tsukihi said, "Alright Gaara-Kun, I have some things to do so I will be leaving, while I or Kuroto-sama are gone, he will be your caretaker."

Kazekage puppet bowed to Gaara.

Gaara also bowed lightly.

Tsuki said, "You can ask him anything you are doubtful about, and I think he should be able to answer most of your doubts, he is also the guard of this air fortress, so you do not have to worry about safety, while you are free to roam around the entire fortress Zone-D is an exception to it, that area is off-limits. So, do not go there, understand?"

Gaara nodded as he curiously looked at the newly arrived person who for some reason reminded him of someone. It's just that he has been unable to figure out who that really is.

Tsukihi continued, "Also, your basic training will start soon enough, so rest easy so that we can begin your training plans soon."

Gaara again nodded.

After that Tsukihi explained a few more things to Gaara, then soon left the kid in Kazekage Puppet's care.

The reason for not immediately starting his training is that she wants to give the kid some time for himself to process the sudden changes and accept that he is no longer in Sunagakure, along with many other things as these are all necessary.

After leaving the room, Tsukihi walked back to her lab, after transferring back her soul to the main body, Kuroto walked towards the exit of Ancor Vantian, and muttered, "Since I have taken Gaara under my wing, and since there is a need of a friend for him, so I suppose it's time that I also bring myself an assistant who can help me in all sorts of experiments…"

But the important matter is potential, Kuroto honestly doesn't have much time to search people, and most of the kids who have the potential are either part of some shinobi village or have already been taken in by Orochimaru.

At this point, Kuroto can only think of one person who might not have been taken in by Orochimaru yet, and that one person might even become useful in many of Kuroto's upcoming plans and can be a good lab assistant if taught carefully.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 597 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 344: To Kusagakure

Kuroto has obviously been planning to cultivate loyal subordinates for quite some time. If you want to run an entire organization like Amatsukami then a lot of members are required… After all, the Shinobi World is too big, and Kuroto alone can not do all things alone.

And Kuroto's clones alone won't cut out for it. After all, Kuroto has to be the one controlling them. But now it seems that now things have started to come along.

There are Shinichi, Shisui, Itachi, Pakura, Sandaime Kazekage Puppet, and he himself too, but that is still too less…

After all, there are still many things that they cannot do…

Well anyway, with Gaara and the next person he is going after; more things will become somewhat easy for Kuroto.

To be honest, Kuroto really respects his sensei Orochimaru in this regard, whatever kind of person he may be, but when it comes to finding loyal subordinates who would do anything regardless of how cruel or morally wrong it may be, Orochimaru is a master.

Most of his subordinates were exceptionally loyal to him, whether they were the Sound Four, Kimimaro, Kabuto, or any other subordinate, in fact, even Mizuki is loyal to Orochimaru.

Even when Orochimaru's hand was sealed by Sandaime-sama, and Orochimaru was greatly weakened they did not betray him, in fact, Kabuto was constantly present by Orochimaru's side.

Considering this, and many other feats of Orochimaru, it wouldn't even be wrong to say that other than the times when Orochimaru went after the bodies of Uchiha, Orochimaru seldom stumbled in his life.

In comparison to Orochimaru, the majestic Uchiha Madara is a complete loser in this regard.

Except for his younger brother Uchiha Izuna, Madara never had the true loyalty of any subordinate. Even after his disagreement with the Shodaime Hokage, when Uchiha Madara chose to leave Konoha, none of the Uchiha chose to follow the Patriarch.

Even later when he attempted to create Kuro Zetsu, he was fooled by Kuro Zetsu into believing that Kuro Zetsu is his creation, and not even a single one of the Shiro Zetsu was loyal to him either…

Even Obito to whom he had planned to leave as a subordinate to keep watch over Nagato, also betrayed him.

Nagato himself was never informed of anything, but that doesn't matter anyway.

Overall, all of Uchiha Madara's arrangements of coming back to life in his prime actually turned into nothing more than a joke.

If it was not for Kabuto, this unexpected person to suddenly appear with Uchiha Madara's Edo Tensei, then things would have been too different.

And how did Kabuto even obtain Uchiha Madara's cells for Edo Tensei? Obviously, because of Kuro Zetsu's lead who wanted Madara to be the Jinchuriki of Juubi to revive Kaguya with Madara as the sacrifice. If not for his usefulness for reviving Kaguya, Madara may have never even gotten the chance to return to the Shinobi World after he had ventured into the afterlife.

The experiences of both Orochimaru and Madara are a lesson for Kuroto. From Orochimaru, Kuroto has learned how to cultivate a loyal subordinate, and from Madara, Kuroto has learned what not to do in order to not dig his own grave.

Well anyway, after coming out of the Flying Fortress, Kuroto used the Tenseigan Chakra Mode to go towards the Land of grass, and specifically to Kusagakure in the Land of Grass.

Since Kuruto has made up his mind, so he will obviously act on it as soon as he can.

To train powerful Shinobi, proper training from a young age is very essential, all villages do so, and Konoha is no exception to this, with most of the children entering into the Academy by the age of eight years in the times of peace, of course, war times are another matter altogether and then there are also other exceptions like Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi.

But the official training as a shinobi can be commenced a few years earlier.

Gaara is at the right age for the start of his training, but the Kid's temperament is still not right, as he is more of a silent type, having a friend or two who are opposite to his character will not only improve his temperament, but it will also induce a competitive spirit.

Therefore, Kuroto's goal this time is Uzumaki Karin, who was one of the three last known descendants of the Uzumaki Clan.. actually, five if you count Senju Tsunade's quarter Uzumaki lineage.

But anyway, Uzumaki Karin not only has the lineage of the Uzumaki Clan but also a cheerful personality, overall, she could have been a pretty strong Kunoichi in the original story.

As a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, Karin's talent is unquestionable. Even if she did not receive any formal education as a Kunoichi from a young age that should have been given to an Uzumaki, and even under the extremely harsh growth environment where she was repeatedly abused of her ability to heal others, she was still pretty decent where she could use few of the most dangerous techniques like 'Chakra Suppression Technique', 'Adamantine Attacking Chains', 'Heal Bite', 'Mind's Eye of Kagura', 'Chakra Transfer Technique'. All these techniques show that Uzumaki Karin's talent is incredible, it's just that she never got the chance to bloom unlike the other Uzumakis of that time.

Heck, she could have been the best Medical-nin had she received Senju Tsunade's teachings.

So, with all that said, Kuroto finds her to be very useful, and she might even be able to become Kuroto's lab assistant… the same way Kabuto is to Orochimaru. After all, it would be a waste to let such an unpolished diamond remain buried.

As such Kuroto has come to Kusagakure.

In fact, Kuroto is also very eager to witness Karin's growth, he wonders what level of strength Karin can achieve in the future under his tutelage.

This is obviously not the first time he has come to Kusagakure, but this time the state of the village seemed a little different.

After disguising himself as a common citizen, Kuroto strolled through the streets of Kusagakure.

Having been to Sunagakure only a few days ago, Kuroto can clearly recognize that Kusagakure seemed to be more lively than Sunagakure.

Especially the mission commission center, shinobi were continuously coming and going to the mission commission center.

Driven by curiosity, Kuroto observed the Mission Commission Center and soon found out the reason for such a high number of commissions.

The fees of each commission are significantly lower compared to what fees Konoha as well as other great shinobi villages charge. In fact, it is as low as one-quarter of the average fees Konoha charges from its clients.

'Low price to remain in business, huh?' – After getting the answer, Kuroto was no longer interested. In the shinobi world, if a small village like Kusagakure wants to survive then lowering their commission fees is the only option they have.

But it must never be forgotten that Shinobis are not machines, once injured, they too require time to recover, raising new shinobi alone takes up a lot of time. Therefore, Kusagakure may be able to compete against great villages with such low fees for some time, but it will never last for too long. After all, compared to great shinobi villages, villages like Kusagakure lacks the necessary foundation as well as top-level combat powers.

Well, anyway, after taking his stroll around Kusagakure, Kuroto activated his Byakugan and soon noticed several chakra signatures that were distinct and powerful, at the level that a Jonin has.

But two specific chakra signatures caught his attention, both of them seemed very similar and reminded Kuroto of that distinct Uzumaki Chakra, out of these two, one of the Charka was somewhat less but it was brimming with vitality, while the other was not the same, it was losing all its vitality, and was on the verge of extinguishing… it seemed very close to death.

Following the direction of this particular Chakra source, Kuroto soon reached a dilapidated hut at one of the corners of the village.

Around the same time, Kuroto arrived near the hut, a shinobi that was dressed in the Kusagakure's combat uniform gone, and a bandage wrapped around his hand, walked outside with an annoyed look, "The effect seems to be worsening day by day… All my injuries haven't even recovered even after I took so many bites… what a waste!"

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 598 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 345: A Mother's Last Breath

Translator's Note: From this chapter onwards, most of the Jutsu and techniques will now be used in their Japanese Translations, except for the ones that do not have their Japanese names on Narutopedia (Naruto Fandom).

Also, we are changing the Rein Wheel techniques into the official names.

That is to say, Rein Wheel Push will be Shinra Tensei.

And Rein Wheel Pull will be Bansho Ten'in.

……………………………………………………………………………..

Hearing the words of this Kusagakure shinobi who just walked out of that hut, Kuroto squinted, upon observing carefully, Kuroto noticed that there were traces of foreign chakra present in his body, and this chakra is exactly the same as one of the two chakras Kuroto is sensing coming from inside the hut.

After this Kusagakure shinobi walked away, Kuroto quietly made his way inside the dilapidated hut.

The house was extremely small with only two rooms, one being the sanitary section while the other room is being used for all other purposes.

The first thing that greeted Kuroto's eye in the second room was a little girl probably around six or seven years old with a small bowl in one of her little hands, holding a spoon in the other through which she was feeding the adult lady with pale and faded red hair.

The lady wore disheveled clothes and looking at the parts that were uncovered with clothing all Kuroto saw were bite marks… large and small, of all sizes probably hundreds if not thousands of bite marks.

In fact, some bite marks still had traces of blood indicating that they were not healing.

Moreover, if Kuroto did not guess wrong, the age of this lady is probably in her thirties but looked much older… her face was pale and sickly, her eyes sunken inside, large dark circles under the eyes, and even her red hair that symbolizes her Uzumaki descent were pale and faded nearly white, her body was clearly malnourished as bones were protruding from her body…

Even Kuroto who has seen many kinds of scenes was left shocked looking at the state of this lady. The mere fact that she is still alive after suffering such horrendous treatment is already a big surprise.

Then Kuroto's eyes turned on the bowl held by the little girl with bright red hair… the bowl contained basic porridge that the poorest class eats, and the worst thing is that the porridge contained very few grains of cereals, directly showcasing the cause of malnutrition that the lady is suffering from.

Looking at the girl with spectacles trembling and controlling her tears Kuroto finally reacted and understood the entire situation.

Kuroto was curious previously, why is Kusagakure lowering the commission fees so much, and still maintaining their completion without sustaining heavy losses in the number of their shinobi… the reason is all too clear now.

This dying woman who is an Uzumaki, and also (most likely) Oka-san of Karin is giving Kusagakure the confidence to be able to do so.

Those bite marks are a clear indication that Karin probably inherited 'Heal Bite' from her Oka-san.

Karin's Oka-san's ability to heal other's injuries through 'Heal Bite' readily decreases the cost of medical care… as well as decreases the amount of time required by Shinobi to heal generally making it possible for Kusagakure to be able to maintain their task completion records even at such low commission fees.

'Sigh, they really are being a bit too extreme… rather than using her, they are exploiting her down to the death… Idiots, Kusagakure shinobi do not even understand the value of talent… no to be exact, they do not even regard her as a human being… but I suppose this is nothing new in this shinobi world, using and exploiting others is a common thing.' – thought Kuroto.

Even if Kuroto is already used to it, looking at the state of this woman Kuroto really felt pity for her…

While Kuroto stood there, the two Uzumaki did not even react to his arrival, they were already used to such intrusion… such a thing was nothing new…

But Kuroto could see fear in the eyes of the girl and indifference in the eyes of the lady…

Kuroto sighed and walked forward, he came by the bed, stood by the side of the little girl, and while lightly patting her shoulder he whispered little, "Let me see the condition of your Oka-san…"

Karin was visibly surprised and looked at Kuroto with widened eyes. She tried to speak something… but for some reason, she did not try to oppose Kuroto… perhaps it was because she could sense a very calm and gentle chakra she has ever felt from this person… And for some reason, it soothed her.

Kuroto went closer to the lady lying on the bed, and carefully checked her condition with Byakugan from up close. After a bit of observation… Kuroto finally shook his head.

Karin's Oka-san's vitality has almost run out… if anything, it wouldn't even be wrong to say that she is alive only by sheer will… all her body functions are on the verge of stopping.

If anything the most she can live is probably a day… or two at most, and that too if she doesn't heal others through 'Heal Bite', if she heals others with 'heal bite' then there is no telling how early she will die.

'If overused, 'Heal Bite' overdraws vitality from the source…' – If 'Heal Bite' is used properly then there is no problem considering Uzumaki Descent but otherwise, it will only lead to death.

At this time, a shinobi walked inside the house. He has black hair of shoulder length that was combed backward, with grey pupilless eyes, and he wore a Kusagakure forehead protector along with a Black Kimono.

He did not even bother to knock on the door, just walked inside as if he was in his own house… while walking into the room that Kuroto, Karin, and her mother were, he spoke, "Come on Katsumi (Assumed as Karin's mother's name.)… it's time… we have suffered heavy losses in a war… you have t-…" – and he suddenly came to a stop midway as he noticed a stranger.

And because the stranger was not dressed as a Kusagakure Shinobi but as a normal civilian, Zosui (name of this Kusagakure Shinobi) asked with a frown while he raised his guard against the other party, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here, civilians are not allowed here!"

Kuroto who was currently in a civilian's disguise did not bother to answer, as he just stretched out his hand towards Zosui and muttered, "Bansho Ten'in!"

Even before Zosui could make out the situation or put up a resistance, all he saw was a stinging coldness in those eyes looking at him with indifference before his neck was crushed with so much force that his head twisted backward… hanging. He was dead.

Plop…

After killing him, Kuroto released him and Zosui's corpse fell on the floor.

Both Karin and her mother were extremely surprised and shocked by what suddenly happened, the mother even pulled out a Kunai that was hidden beneath the pillow and got up to protect her daughter from this dangerous person. Positioning the Kunai over Kuroto's neck she asked vigilantly, "What do you want to do with us…?"

Kuroto did not try to resist and while raising his hands upwards in surrender, he said, "Don't be afraid, I am no one dangerous… and I am certainly not here to hurt either of you…"

"Says the guy who is in a disguise and killed a Jonin Class shinobi in less than two seconds that too without breaking any sweat. I am the one who decides whether you are dangerous to us or not… answer me… who are you? And what do you want from us?" – questioned Katsumi. Although she was on verge of death, when it came to her daughter's safety she was nothing short of the fiercest and dangerous tigress out there…

However, Kuroto did not panic, he just lifted off his disguise to show his true appearance and said, "My name is Kuroto. And I was here to save your daughter… I did not expect that I would find a mother here too if only I had come a few days earlier… maybe…"

Before Kuroto could complete his sentence, Uzumaki Katsumi interrupted her midway, "Why would a Konoha Shinobi, more so of the Hyuga Clan come here to save us? No, the better question is, how in the world did you even figure out about us being here in Kusagakure?"

Kuroto said, "Obtaining intelligence about Uzumaki being present was just a coincidence, as for the purpose of saving her… well, it has nothing to do with Konoha, for now at least. It is my selfish reason… and you should be very clear that if your daughter stays in Kusagakure any longer, she will end up just like you…"

Hearing Kuroto's words, Katsumi's hand that held a Kunai trembled and it started to cut through Kuroto's skin, but she regained her composure, and said, "No, she… Karin is much more talented compared to me… The leader of Kusagakure has promised that he would allow Karin to enter the shinobi academy… and she wouldn't end up like me… she will get to live… better… cough-cough… she will live a well enough life."

Kuroto laughed hearing her, "Hahaha… I wonder what's more funny, whether it is the fact that you decided to believe him, or the fact that you are not trying to convince me here but yourself…"

Hearing Kuroto's words she was suddenly silent, and her hand started trembling more and more, so much the Kunai in her hand further started to cut through Kuroto's skin and blood started to flow out, but Kuroto still did not panic, he was still standing there composed.

Now Katsumi was silent, she did not know how to retort anymore. For her who is on the verge of death, securing a home for her only daughter is the reason why she is doing everything. She knows that she would die within a few days anyway, if her death could ensure her daughter's safety, then she would give up everything to ensure that her daughter lives on.

This is the only thought that has been pushing her to stay alive as long as possible. Her daughter will become part of Kusagakure in exchange for her life, it is not a bad deal, right?

Kuroto sighed.

From a certain perspective, Uzumaki Katsumi did achieve her goal. Uzumaki Karin did become part of Kusagakure, but whether she was accepted within was another matter altogether.

Even after Katsumi's death, Karin's status did not change, she was treated as nothing more than a tool that only existed to be used by Kusagakure to heal their shinobi. Karin did not receive any formal Kunoichi training… nothing at all… stunting her growth and thwarting her potential.

The home Katsumi always wanted to give her daughter in Kusagakure was never given to her.

While Katsumi was busy thinking whatever, Kuroto looked at the little girl who looked completely helpless and asked, "So your name is Karin, right? Do you want to stay here forever or would you like to come with me? At the very least, I can guarantee that you will never be treated the way you are being treated here."

Normally, these words all sound too sweet and hardly believable, but because Kuroto was speaking the truth so there were no fluctuations in his chakra, as such Karin knew that this person named Hyuga Kuroto was indeed speaking the truth.

Besides, from beginning to end he did not attack either of the two, not even when the Kunai her mother put over his neck had already started to cut through his neck and was reaching up to the bone, which further reassured her, that he did not mean any harm to either of the two. After all, this person was able to kill a Jonin with little to no effort, so Karin knew that if he wanted he could have forcefully taken her away and neither she nor her mother would have been able to put up any resistance, there was no need to ask her.

But before she decides on anything, Karin asked one thing, "Will you take my Oka-san with you?"

Kuroto doesn't really have any problem with it and nodded without a second thought, "Of course, she can come."

Hearing a positive reply, Karin immediately urged Katsumi, "Oka-san, please let's go with him… you should also be able to sense that he is not lying… please, let's just leave from here…"

Katsumi looked at Karin with a tangled expression, firstly because she did not expect that her daughter hated Kusagakure so much, perhaps it was not surprising considering that this village has already killed her, and the second reason was that Katsumi knows that she is going to die soon…

This person may have been honest to both of them, but even Katsumi realizes that he knows that she would not live more than a few days…

'And if we really go, then all my life was meaningless… I did everything for-… no that's not the right way of thinking… before my death, I can still do one thing for Karin…' – thought Katsumi with a determined expression.

Kuroto noticed that change in expression and he was really curious what the dying mother is going to do.

Katsumi stared at Kuroto and asked with a serious expression, "Can you assure my daughter's safety until she is strong enough to protect herself?"

Kuroto nodded, "I can assure you… I can also assure you that after following me, she will get to live as a human being, not like a tool…"

Hearing Kuroto's reply, Katsumi nodded as her hand loosened and the Kunai in her hand dropped to the ground.

Next, she turned around and slowly walked towards Karin, then kneeled down to be at the same height as her daughter.

At this time, she had light tears flowing down her eyes. She held her daughter's cheek and said, "Oka-san is sorry Karin-chan, but she won't be able to stay with you any longer while alive, but you do not need to worry… Oka-san will always remain in your heart… she will always watch over… she will always protect you…"

Karin was confused for a while, she couldn't understand what Katsumi was speaking… after all, this person has said that they both can come with him… so why can't Oka-san stay with her?

And before she knew it Karin's eyes became wet, she did not want this… her Oka-san could finally live but-… but why… why always her?

Katsumi smiled gently and wiped away Karin's tears as she said, "Remember, strong Kunoichi do not cry…"

Karin nodded as he tried her best to hold her tears from flowing out of her eyes.

Katsumi nodded in approval, "That's my girl…" and caressed Karin's head. Then she hugged her daughter with all her strength, burying Karin's head in her bosom while Karin did everything she could to not cry.

While continuing to carcass her daughter's back, Katsumi tapped on Karin's neck with her index and middle finger immediately following which an Uzumaki Clan symbol appeared at the back part of Karin's neck.

Katsumi's action did not go unnoticed by Kuroto, and he was surprised to find that Katsumi's entire chakra and whatever lifeforce she had left was flowing inside that Uzumaki Clan symbol.

After a full two minutes of transfer, the Uzumaki Symbol glowed with a crimson light similar to Karin's hair, then soon vanished as if it did not exist at all.

Immediately, after which, all of Katsumi's hair turned pure white, and her hollow eyes lost the color of life, indicating that she was now dead, but just before her death, Katsumi whispered to Kuroto, 'Please protect my daughter.'

From Karin's reaction, Kuroto was sure that the little girl did not notice what her mother did.

Karin may have not felt what her mother did, but she did notice the loss of life from her mother's body. And with Katsumi's death, Karin broke down… but she did not cry… she is a strong Kunoichi. But… But… even if she had long expected that this day would come soon, she never expected that it would come so soon… just as things were going to change.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 599 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 346: A Name, huh?

After quietly taking away Katsumi's dead body out of Kusagakure along with Karin, the two buried Katsumi on top of a cliff in the land of Fire where people seldom venture.

Standing in front of the tree under which Katsumi's body was buried, Karin looked down silently.

Kuroto caressed her head and lightly said, "It's okay to cry it out…"

While choking and resisting tears, Karin shook her head, "Oka-san said that strong Kunoichi does not cry… I can't cry I… I have to become strong like Oka-san…"

Kuroto said lightly, "It's okay to cry today…"

As said before, weakness is a sin in this Shinobi World… but crying and mourning someone's death is not a sign of weakness…

Kuroto knows exactly what Karin feels, after all, he too lost his parents at an early age and had to rely only upon himself to survive.

It was Yui who taught him that crying is allowed… if we are sad… if it is hurting… then crying eases away our pain… it's never a sign of weakness…

For a little girl who is only about six years old, it is natural to cry after losing the only person who cared and loved her to death…

Kuroto said gently, "It's okay to cry today, I am giving you the permission."

With Kuroto's permission, Karin could no longer resist, and tears that she has been trying to resist for so long broke out at once.

And she cried, she cried hard, she vented out all her sadness and loneliness, all this while, the Uzumaki symbol behind her neck glowed and spread an unknown warmth in her heart.

Karin remembers this warmth, it's what she felt with her Oka-san by her side… and this warmth reassured Karin that even if gone, her Oka-san was still with her.

Kuroto curiously looked at the symbol, and he could perceive what was happening… but he did not speak anything. That Uzumaki Clan symbol stores Uzumaki Katsumi's Chakra as well as life force, and perhaps even a shard of her soul which is why she can perceive Karin's emotion and act on it.

After a while, when Karin had finally calmed down, she said to the stone tablet between the giant roots of the tree, "I will become the strongest Kunoichi in existence… and I will make you proud Oka-san… Until next time…"

Leaving this sentence she turned around and spoke to Kuroto, "Let's go Kuroto-sama."

Kuroto nodded while secretly glancing at the elusive image of Uzumaki Katsumi standing before the tree he was able to perceive.

He did not tell Karin about this because Katsumi signaled him to keep quiet, to which he nodded.

With Karin finally was ready to go, Kuroto took her to the Ancor Vantian.

Karin was honestly very surprised by looking at Ancor Vantian… it was like from those fairy tales… floating castles… it just that the appearance of the castle looked quite shabby… but she did not mind…

Karin repeatedly asked many questions from Kuroto, he did answer the ones that he was okay to let Karin know at this point… and did not answer the ones that he was not okay with.

The arrival of Karin surprised Gaara, and he was quite nervous now.

In Suna, Gaara's situation is similar to Naruto's, Gaara does not have any friends… he has always desired for others to acknowledge his existence and befriend him but unfortunately never have been.

So when Karin arrived at Ancor Vantian, Gaara was nervous about whether she will treat him the same way he was treated at Suna.

Karin obviously did not have any prejudices against Gaara. Besides, she was able to feel that Gaara's chakra gave her a protective feeling… And since Shukaku's chakra was completely sealed and since Karin is not yet proficient enough to sense such hidden chakra so she was unable to sense the evil chakra of Ichibi.

As such, she stared at Gaara curiously… but if you ask her, she was more curious about the Kanji character on Gaara's forehead than Gaara himself.

Kuroto said looking at the two children, "Alright both of you introduce yourselves…"

Karin was the first one to speak, "I am Uzumaki Karin, I want to become the strongest Kunoichi, nice to meet you…"

Karin's cheerful attitude towards him surprised Gaara and after a bit of hesitation he finally bowed and introduced himself, "I am Gaara, Jinchuriki of Ichibi, Shukaku… my dream is to become a strong Shinobi worthy of Kuroto-sama's recognition…"

Karin nodded, then asked curiously while tilting her head, "What's a Jinchuriki? And what's Ichibi?"

Gaara suddenly came to halt, he was not sure whether he should inform her of Shukaku… for that reason, he looked at Kuroto who has already started to walk somewhere.

Perhaps it was because Kuroto felt Gaara's gaze, he suddenly came to a halt and said, "It's up to you Gaara-Kun… if you feel like it, then you can otherwise you don't have to."

Gaara was silent, meanwhile, Karin turned towards the fourth person standing in the room and asked him, "What is your name Ojii-san?"

Asked by Karin, the fourth person who has been silent until now, tilted his head in confusion and said lightly… "I do not have a name…"

Karin was confused, "Why not?"

Gaara was also confused, he has yet to recognize who this person is even though he feels that this person is familiar.

Kazekage puppet was confused and after a while of silence, he said, "I was never given a name…"

"Why not?" – Karin asked again.

Kazekage puppet said, "I do not know, perhaps Kuroto-sama may know…"

"Why would he know? Don't parents give names to their children? He is certainly not your parent, so how can he know?" – Karin was getting more and more confused as she talked with this Ojii-san.

Now even Gaara was looking at the conversation of the two… he was also very curious.

While Kazekage Puppet looked at Kuroto for answers and explanations… he was too late as Kuroto had already left the room and gone somewhere else.

…

On Kuroto's side.

After having left the room to give some time to the two kids to befriend each Kuroto was now thinking of the training plan for the two.

Because of the early awakening of Sand Release within him, Gaara's starting point can be said to be second only to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Shisui of the same generation. Even if Kuroto does not interfere, it wouldn't be wrong to say that Gaara can naturally grow into a very top-tier Kage Class shinobi on his own.

But since Kuroto has taken Gaara under his wing, so obviously Kuroto is unsatisfied with anything below top-tier Super Kage Class.

After all, anything below the level of Super Kage is pretty much useless during the fourth great shinobi war. And Kuroto obviously needs Gaara to at least be on the level of Senjutsu enhanced Kurama Mode Uzumaki Naruto, below that is pointless.

With that intent in mind, and taking Gaara's fighting style in mind… Kuroto has to formulate a training plan.

After thinking a little, Kuroto decided not to go with any fancy training plans but instead started with training Gaara's basic Taijutsu skills with minimum reliance over Sand Armor…

Regardless of the natural abilities brought by Kekkei Genkai, two factors are what actually determine the strength of a shinobi.

One is fighting wisdom, the ability to fully display their own strength. Many people have the first ability, and yet not everyone has the ability to fully display their strength in a battle.

Take Hiruko as an example, even with five Kekkei Genkai, he lost and had to sacrifice his legs and hands, meanwhile, Yondaime-sama single-handedly with his Hiraishin no Jutsu and Rasengan became the most feared shinobi of the third great shinobi war.

So just having strength is not enough, training fighting wisdom is much more important.

The second factor is none other than Chakra control.

Chakra is the root of all Jutsu, so the better and finer Chakra control, the better a shinobi will be at all forms of combats.

And since Gaara has always been strong since early childhood, therefore, he does not have appropriate fighting wisdom. Gaara sure can overwhelm others with his superior strength, but when to put against someone of the same age and similar strength, there are very high chances that he will be the one to lose.

This is clearly displayed from his panic and shock when fighting Rock Lee, and Uchiha Sasuke. Although Gaara did not lose, when he was on the verge of losing as he was seriously overwhelmed.

Especially against Uchiha Sasuke, when Gaara was on the verge of losing control in the canon.

As such, Kuroto planned a physique training plan for Gaara.

Besides, Taijutsu combat is the best method to beat in fighting wisdom within someone. In a fast-paced taijutsu fight, one must learn to predict the opponent's next move, learn to use fakes, mislead others, look for gaps and opportunities, and also learn to figure out traps and all, so combat experience increases readily.

As such, Taijutsu is the best.

After Gaara's training plan was decided, the next up is Karin. And Kuroto plans to not train Karin for the time being.

This is not because Kuroto couldn't think up a training plan for Karin, but it is because while Karin lived in Kusagakure, she did not receive appropriate nutrition. As such, even though she is an Uzumaki, he physique is still quite weak.

Before starting to train, Karin needs to recover and come to a normal point otherwise there will be a negative sequela.

Of course, Kuroto isn't going to keep her free while she recovers.

With Karin's talent and her Uzumaki descent, Kuroto is of course unsatisfied if she ends up being just part of the support and logistics department. She has to be someone of the same level as Gaara. Someone who can fight alongside Gaara at the same level while also restrains him should Shukaku get out of control.

For this purpose, Kuroto is going to start her teachings in calligraphy and train her calculation abilities, which are extremely essential for Fuinjutsu.

Karin is an Uzumaki, so teaching her Uzumaki Fuinjutsu is obvious. But Fuinjutsu of course requires many things, which have to be taught to her.

Training her calculation abilities will not only be helpful in Fuinjutsu but also make a base for her when she starts learning biotechnology, as she will be Kuroto's assistant so that is a necessity.

With everything decided, Kuroto summoned the Kazekage puppet and instructed him on everything, who nodded ever so respectfully.

And with everything is taken care of, Kuroto was about to leave, just then Kazekage puppet suddenly spoke, "Kuroto-sama… why do I have no name?"

Kuroto was surprised by the sudden question, and asked curiously, "Why the sudden interest in a name?"

Kazkekage puppet narrated Karin's and Gaara's questions a while ago and then spoke after thinking a little, "Everyone has a name, Gaara-sama, Karin-sama, Itachi-sama, Shisui-sama, Pakura-sama, Shinichi-sama, only I don't, why is that?"

Kuroto was surprised, 'Suddenly asking for a name, huh? I wonder what will be the next change.'

Kuroto honestly never expected that the Kazekage puppet would suddenly ask for a name, it almost seems that he is turning into a living form…

After thinking a little, Kuroto said, "Now that you mention it, you do need a name… hmm, let's do it this way, since the two of them asked you, how about I entrust them with this… let the two of them work on a name for you… this will be their first challenge in their Shinobi path."

Kazekage Puppet nodded and then left to tell Gaara and Karin their first challenge.

With that out of the way, Kuroto smiled and started walking towards the exit of Ancor Vantian.

This time for the plan of bringing subordinates, Kuroto went on with his Sensei's approach. Intervening and helping the children when their hearts were most vulnerable and they were in the most critical situations of their lives.

Kuroto being their savior naturally earned him all of their trust, so Kuroto believes that as long as both of them are properly brainwashed, and treated with care either of the two will not hesitate to give up their lives if Kuroto asks. Which is the kind of undying and unquestionable loyalty Kuroto wants.

Satisfied, Kuroto walked flew out of Ancor Vantian, and went to the meeting place agreed on with Shisui.

In the past few days, everywhere Kuroto went, he used the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, so not many days have passed. As such Shisui, who was coming normally from the Land of Wind obviously did not reach Konohagakure yet.

After meeting with Shisui, both of them went to Konoha.

…

A few days later.

Konohagakure, Hokage Office.

When Kuroto and Shisui returned and passed on Kazekage-dono's scroll to Hokage-sama they also learned about the mission of Kakashi and Guy.

Both of them had already returned two days ago with the agreement from Raikage. And Raikage had obviously agreed to join the raid.

While Sandaime read the report, he was surprised by the act of Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Shisui of saving Sunagkure from Ichibi's rampage, as well as the execution of Ichibi Jinchuriki.

While Sandaime chose to not pay much attention to the execution of Suna's Jinchuriki, Sandaime especially commended Shisui and Kuroto for their decision to interfere to stop Ichibi's rampage. This will improve relations between Konoha and Suna to some extent, which is exactly what is needed at this point in time.

Next, Sandaime concluded the mission.

With that out of the way, put away both the scroll and then ordered the four shinobi of the Anbu team-11, "In the upcoming secret meeting, Team-11 will accompany me as my guards, is that clear?"

Sandaime has already attached great importance to eliminating Akatsuki, and because of the unclear identity of the spy, he has made sure to keep this raid a secret even from the other three elder advisors.

After all, Akatsuki has too many rogue-nin of Konoha, there is no guarantee who is a spy, it is better to only keep the people with the least number involved in the entire raid.

Sandaime can not ignore, the likes of Uchiha Shinichi, Hiruko, and Orochimaru to be part of Akatsuki.

In regards to Sandaime's order, neither of the four of Team-11 had any objections and they nodded at the same time, "Yes Hokage-sama!"

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 600 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 351: Happy B-day to me Again

Happy Birthday to me!'

I again wish myself a happy birthday coz' today I am officially 21 years old…

21, huh? Man if this isn't an achievement, I don't know what it… NO like, seriously… I am finally goddamn 21 years old!

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 347: Secret Meeting

One week later, somewhere around the western border of the land of Fire.

Inside an underground cave sat three people with three people around a round stone table, while a single person stood at the back of each of the three. The flickering flames of the candles made their shadows sway back and forth.

These three people sitting around the round stone table are none other than the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, Yondaime Raikage of Kumo, and Yondaime Kazekage of Suna.

While the people standing behind them are Nara Shikaku, Mabui, and Baki respectively.

After a long silence, Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was the first one to break the silence… while holding his tobacco pipe in one hand, he passed on all the information Konoha has collected of Akatsuki to the other two Kages, and said, "Please look at this."

Receiving the information, Kazekage briefly glanced at the data collected by Konoha, and his face can't help but become gloomy.

Smack… Crush…

While Raikage on the other hand smacked the table and shouted, "Akatsuki Organization has grown to such a degree… Hokage… your Konoha has inescapable responsibility in this…"

Hokage nodded and said lightly, "I do not intend to shirk the responsibility that Konoha bears… but right now our top priority is to get rid of the threat of the Akatsuki Organization that is destabilizing the shinobi world by tilting the balance of power."

Kazekage said, "Uchiha Shinichi with Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasori with hundreds of puppets which also includes the puppet of the previous Kazekage, Immortal Kakuzu of Takigakure with five hearts, Hiruko with five Kekkei Genkai, an unknown individual with Space-Time Jutsu, Biwa Juzo one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Kirigakure wielder of Kubikiribocho, Shinno Jinchuriki of Demon Moryo of the destroyed Land of Demons, Orochimaru one of the three Sannin of Konoha and a plant-like creature, apart from these there is also that leader of Akatsuki…"

The more he read, the more worried Kazekage got and finally can't help but sigh, "I never would have expected that Akatsuki Organization would have grown to such a point… if they are allowed to continue anymore, they will soon subvert the pattern of the Shinobi World."

Nara Shikaku shook his head, and said "No Kazekage-dono." – while Hokage continued Nara Shikaku's words with a deep voice, "They have already begun to subvert the pattern of the shinobi world, one shinobi village cannot deal with Akatsuki Organization alone… combined power is needed."

Raikage said, "Who will be participating in this joint raid from your villages?"

Sandaime groaned and replied, "From Konoha, I will personally take action, then Jiraiya, additionally, Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Patriarch's too, and our most elite team consisting of, Hatake Kakashi Uchiha Shisui, Hyuga Kuroto, Might Guy will also be participating, finally a few other highly trusted Anbu will also be participating in the operation."

Kazekage said, "From Suna, I will personally participate, Honored Siblings, as well as Pakura and a few selected Anbu, will also be participating in the raid."

Seeing that both Hokage and Kazekage were coming in person as well as bringing some of their best men, Raikage nodded in satisfaction then said, "That's good, from Kumo I will personally participate, apart from me Bee and Yugito Nii, as well as some other highly trusted Anbu and Jonin will be participating together with me."

When Hokage and Kazekage heard the names of Bee and Yugito Nii participating in the raid, both of them showed an unexpected look.

This raid against Akatsuki is extremely dangerous, the fact that Raikage is willing to bring both of the Jinchuriki was surprising, this also shows Raikage determination to eradicate Akatsuki Organization.

…

Outside the cave where the three Kage were gathered, all the other accompanying shinobi were standing guard here.

At this time, Jiraiya came next to Kuroto and asked in a low voice, "Are you sure that the leader of the Akatsuki Organization has the Rinnegan dojutsu?"

Kuroto nodded, "The information I have obtained says so Jiraiya-sama… as for whether it is really true? I cannot be sure, but perhaps it is true as having the Rinnegan dojutsu might give the leader of Akatsuki Organization enough power to rein in individuals as strong as the members of Akatsuki Organization."

Jiraiya sighed and his face now had a tangled expression.

When Jiraiya learned the news about the leader of Akatsuki having the Rinnegan, the first person Jiraiya recalled was obviously that red-haired silent child named Nagato from the three children he taught in the Land of Rain during his three years stay in Land of Rain.

Even though Nagato did not have any special control over those Dojutsu back then, the ocular power that dojutsu had made Jiraiya believe that they are perhaps truly Rinnegan.

At that time, Jiraiya even believed Nagato to be the 'Child of the Prophecy' who would bring a great revolution to the shinobi world. Who can save this shinobi world, but alas that did not happen. After returning to Konoha Jiraiya heard of the death of the three… this news devasted him, and since then Jiraiya did not venture to the Land of Rain due to obvious reasons…

After a long silence, Jiraiya said with a said voice, "If… this information is correct… *haah* then perhaps I know… who the mysterious leader of the Akatsuki Organization is."

"What…?! Who?" – Kuroto exclaimed (faked) in a surprised look.

Jiraiya shook his head and does not seem to want to talk about this anymore, instead, he spoke, "Even Orochimaru has joined the Akatsuki Organization… I seemed to be able to save no one… Will you be able to fight against Orochimaru should he come after you during this raid?"

Kuroto said after a while of silence, "There is no other option… even if he was my Sensei… even if he taught me many things… but… he has betrayed the village and has joined hands with a criminal organization… as his former disciple and subordinate… if I have to fight against him, then I will do so without any hesitation."

This was of course a lie, Orochimaru has already betrayed Akatsuki long ago, but there was no need to inform others of this. In fact, Kuroto also did not inform the villagers of the betrayal and death of Shinno, the reason is of course to make everyone take this battle extremely seriously… the more awed everyone will be of the Akatsuki, the more cautious they will act, the more chances of success of this operation.

Jiraiya sighed after hearing Kuroto's words, it was his duty to bring back Orochimaru all along, but he failed and now this happened… as a teacher and a friend he is being proven to be a failure.

One disciple died and he couldn't do anything, the other has turned into the leader of a criminal organization. One friend is lamenting the pain of losing her otouto and lover while the other has taken the road of no return, and even joined a terrorist organization, and yet he couldn't do anything to save either.

If that's not a failure then what is?

Not wanting to talk anymore, Jiraiya turned around and walked away… perhaps he wanted to be alone for some time?

Kuroto knows that Jiraiya is struggling but he cannot take care of the old man… Right now, his entire focus is on Akatsuki Organization.

The people present here, make up a pretty strong lineup.

From Kumo's side, Kuroto easily recognized Killer Bee, Yugito Nii who was glaring daggers at Kuroto and the rest of the team -11, then there is young lazy Darui, C, Samui, and Mabui being present inside the cave.

From Suna, Kuroto could see Honored Siblings of Suna, Pakura, as well as Maki (Pakura's disciple), with Baki being present inside.

Lastly, from Konoha, there is, Jiraiya, Shisui, Kuroto, Kakashi, Might Guy, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Choza, and finally Shikaku Nara being present inside the cave.

While supporting his chin, Kuroto thought, 'Counting three Kages, Jiraiya-sama, Shisui, Jinchuriki of Hachibi and Nibi, Elder Chiyo, and finally Pakura. There are already nine Kage-Class individuals present here… Then if I count Ino-Shika-Cho Patriarchs, Kakashi, Guy, Elder Ebizo, Baki, Maki (who is surprisingly extra strong compared to the original story because of Pakura being alive here), Darui, C, Samui, and Mabui, there are more than twelve Elite Jonin Class Shinobi, and finally, I am also here…

So, I think the chances of us winning against Akatsuki, especially with an element of surprise are quite high…'

And this is obviously not the final raid… Suna may not have deployed many Anbu because of what recently transpired in Suna, but Konoha and Kumo are not the same… more of the direct Anbu will be participating in the raid.

'If nothing goes wrong, I might be able to take advantage of the chaos and take away the Rinnegan pair from the eyes of Nagato.' – this thought flashed in Kuroto's mind.

Kuroto is actually very interested in the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage Gamamaru. According to his prophecy, a revolution is inevitable, and such a revolution will be brought on by the 'Child of Prophecy' which means that in a certain way the resurrection of Otsutsuki Kaguya will happen regardless of other's actions.

So Kuroto is a little curious, what exactly will happen should the Rinnegan that can bring back Kaguya is obtained by him… will Juubi still be revived? Will Kaguya still come back or is it not going to be the case?

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 601 on * Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 348: Shikigami no Mai

Whether it is Hokage, Raikage, or Kazekage, each of them is very eager to destroy the Akatsuki Organization as soon as possible, so they soon reached a consensus.

In order to discuss a detailed plan of action for the raid, Hokage also summoned Jiraiya, and Hyuga Kuroto into the cave. Raikage summoned, Shee, and Yugito Nii, while Kazekage summoned elder Ebizo and Pakura.

Pointing at Kuroto, Sandaime introduced Kuroto to everyone, "I think everyone here knows him, and for those who don't, I will introduce him, he is Hyuga Kuroto… and it was him who discovered the base of Akatsuki Organization… if anyone has a question from him, they can directly ask him."

The Raikage was the first to question, "Is the news about Hanzo's death at the hands of the leader of Akatsuki Organization certain?"

Kuroto nodded calmly, "Yes, Hanzo died in a civil war within Amegakure, the leader of the winning side is someone who calls himself Pain… It is said that Pain went on to execute all the relatives and friends of Hanzo in order to stop the ones who would later come back at him seeking revenge… despite this, there are occasional appearances of supporters of Hanzo but they are all unilaterally crushed by Pain himself… Anyway, after taking control over Amegakure, Pain went on to establish Akatsuki Organization which we know is currently…"

Kazekage questioned, "And the news about the leader of Akatsuki having the Rinnegan dojutsu?"

Kuroto nodded, "I cannot be certain about this as I have never seen them personally, but I did hear some mentions of Pain having the Rinnegan dojutsu, so it should be true."

Elder Ebizo questioned, "The specific locations within Amegakure where the members of the Akatsuki Organization are in collective?"

Kuroto thought about it a little and said, "As I mentioned previously, the entire Amegakure is under Akatsuki Organization's control so the entire village is the base of Akatsuki, the members could be anywhere within the village if they are present in Amegakure…"

Yugito Nii who was leaning on the sidewall said, "Without a specific location how do we launch a surprise attack… the village is too big… particular locations have to be determined first… otherwise we will be discovered before we can reach up to the leader of Akatsuki!"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Yugito's words.

Everyone present is an experienced shinobi, so everyone understands that the importance of intelligence is extremely important, warfare between shinobi is majorly warfare of intelligence. If they do not know the accurate information of the point of attack then they cannot launch the surprise raid.

Looking at the crowd, Kuroto felt a headache. Of course, he also understands the importance of intelligence, but what he has said is already everything he knows.

Understanding everyone's doubts, Kuroto said, "I suggest that we gather all our forces and launch a surprise attack on Amegakure to ensure the success of the operation."

"Absurd!" – Shee immediately said.

Kazekage also shook his head, "The enemy we are facing is too dangerous… I think you understand this full well Kuroto-Kun, it is too risky to act without sufficient intelligence."

Nara Patriarch nodded in agreement, and even Sandaime-sama's expression was the same.

At this time, Jiraiya volunteered, "In that case how about I sneak into Amegakure for preliminary investigation of the exact location of Akatsuki Organization?" Driven by his sense of responsibility, Jiraiya felt that he has to go to Amegakure in person, and if possible, persuade Nagato to return to the right path.

Kuroto glanced at Jiraiya and sighed, 'Does he really have such an ardent wish to die at the hands of his student?'

Sandaime nodded, "All right, be sure to be vigilant." – After all, it was just a reconnaissance mission, and Sandaime believed that with Jiraiya's abilities there should be no problem to sneak into Amegakure and inquire their intelligence.

But Kuroto was so not having it, and directly interjected, "I object!" – Obviously he is not going to allow Jiraiya to just go to death, it's fine if the old man wants to die, but Kuroto is not going to allow Jiraiya to waste their entire operation.

It must not be forgotten that the current Amegakure is much more dangerous compared to the time when Jiraiya sneaked into Amegakure in the main Canon.

Currently, almost all the members of Akatsuki are alive, and coupled with Hiruko also being there, if Jiraiya is discovered then he will die for sure.

Jiraiya, as well as others, looked at Kuroto with a surprised expression, especially Sandaime, he has never seen Hyuga Kuroto act the way he was doing so here, feeling all the eyes upon him, Kuroto said with a deep voice, "Once the investigation is discovered, and if the Akatsuki Organization is alerted… the raid will fail without a doubt… and there might even be repercussions…"

Jiraiya waved his hands with a smile, and said, "Do not worry kid, my intelligence-gathering abilities are very good… I won't be discovered by th-…"

Before Jiraiya could finish his sentence, Kuroto interrupted him midway, "I am not underestimating your abilities Jiraiya-sama, it's just that this mission is too difficult." – With a pause, Kuroto swept his gaze at everyone, and continued, "I am afraid to say that no one here has this ability…"

Raikage grunted, "Mind your tone brat!"

While Yugito Nii snorted, "If you can discover the intelligence on Akatsuki, then why can't we?"

Asked by Yugito Nii, Kuroto immediately activated his Byakugan and said, "I have Byakugan… in terms of sensory abilities, and intelligence gathering abilities no one here is as good as me… Now prove me wrong!"

"You…!!!" – Yugito Nii stopped midway with anger clearly appearance on her face. More so because she did not have any retort, as when the mention of Byakugan came she was left speechless. After all, the reputation of Byakugan is undeniable.

Even the others couldn't support Yugito Nii's argument and just chuckled lightly.

With Yugito Nii silent, Kuroto continued, "I would like everyone here to know that the Rain of Amegakure contains a special type of Chakra that is very-very hard to perceive, I suspect that the rain is a sensory type ability through which the user can perceive the presence of foreign chakra sneaking into the village, I reckon that not even Amegakure Shinobi and even other members of Akatsuki are not aware of this, I was able to see through the rain because of the extraordinarily high perception abilities of my Byakugan… no one here can sense this… if you have sneaked in Amegakure without knowing this fact, then you would have been discovered even before you could collect any intelligence."

As soon as they heard this, everyone took a cold breath. And all they could think was that if without knowing this news anyone had sneaked into Amegakure they would have been discovered so easily.

At the same time, they can't help but wonder just who can use such large-scale ninjutsu.

After speaking this, Kuroto looked at the three Kage, if the three Kage agrees understands, and agrees to directly launch an attack, only then the raid against the Akatsuki organization would result in a guaranteed hundred percent success.

And if they disagree with Kuroto, and insist on carrying out a preliminary investigation in advance, then the results will become unpredictable, in fact, the coalition might even suffer if that happens.

But apparently, Kuroto expected too much, and Kazekage was the first to deny Kuroto's approach. "Investigation is essential, we cannot omit this step because of the level of difficulty of this mission… and as said previously by the Kumo Jonin, Amegakure is too big to directly rush there with no apparent directions and specific location in mind."

With Raikage's personality, he actually somewhat agrees with Hyuga Kuroto's suggestion but considering both the Jinchuriki will also be taking part in the mission, he can't bring himself to nod. After all, the survival of Kumo also depends on that, so he had to be cautious.

In the end, Hokage also shook his head, "Blind assault is too risky…"

Kuroto sighed and did not say anything anymore.

Kuroto understands that the success and failure of this operation completely depend on the element of surprise… but from the other's standpoint, rushing head fast into the base of the enemy without any prior information about the enemy's specific location is uncharacteristic for a shinobi.

Kuroto can understand the worry of the three Kage because of the deterrence of the enemy but Kuroto can no longer do anything about it anymore.

At this point, Kuroto has already lowered his expectations for this raid. Akatsuki Organization has a lot of hidden cards that even Kuroto is unaware of so there is no telling what other things they will find there.

Finally, an investigation team was made, and because of Kuroto's repeated insistence, the line-up was made to be quite good.

The team leader for the preliminary investigation team is Elder Chiyo, together with him is Elder Ebizo of Suna. From Konoha, Jiraiya, Hyuga Kuroto, and Yamanaka Inoichi, for obvious reasons, then there is Yugito Nii and Samui from Kumo.

As two top-level puppeteers, the abilities of the Honored Siblings are unquestionable, using their puppets they can carry out all sorts of infiltration and intelligence gathering, especially Elder Ebizo, who specializes in the use of infiltration type puppets and was a great addition to the team.

Then, Kuroto himself for already having ventured into Amegakure once, Jiraiya for his specialization in intelligence gathering, and finally Yamanaka Patriarch for keeping everyone sneaking into Amegakure stay connected with someone.

As for Kumo's side, Samui was fine because of her calm persona and level-headedness, however, Kuroto did not want Yugito Nii to participate but was helpless as the latter was adamant in doing so, and snorted at Kuroto's attempt.

Yugito Nii stated that her cat's sensory abilities provided by the Bijuu sealed inside her will make investigation much easier…

Finally annoyed at her behavior and arrogant attitude, Kuroto cursed under his breath, 'Fine, go ahead and offer yourself to Akatsuki for all I care!'

Time was pressing, with the investigative team established, the three Kage issued the order of secretly transferring their base nearby the Land of Rain.

Meanwhile, the Investigative team also sneaked into the Land of Rain… of course, the entire Land of Rain is not in range of the Rain Tiger at Will Technique so sneaking inside the Land of Rain was very easy.

Drip… Drip… Drip…

Looking at the gloomy clouds up ahead and the light drizzle, Elder Chiyo said, "Further ahead is Amegakure."

Jiraiya said, "I can sneak into Amegakure by using Ninja Toads, through the waterway."

Amegakure is densely covered throughout with a dense Waterway network, so sneaking inside the village through the Waterway is the best option, the concealment will be guaranteed, so Elder Chiyo did not take too long to think and nodded immediately.

As a result, the seven people went into the mouth of the Toad summoned by Jiraiya. The toad then sneaked into the Water channel of Amegakure and released them inside outside a sewer which was covered by a roof.

Byakugan…

The first thing Kuroto did next was to activate the Byakugan and observe if there were any traces of Chakra present in the raindrops.

As expected, it was there.

Elder Chiyo asked, "So?"

Kuroto nodded, "Chakra traces are present… which means the technique is activated."

Others also tried to sense but they could hardly sense anything, not even Yamanaka Patriarch could sense it, yet Hyuga Kuroto could see with his Byakugan…

Yamanaka Patriarch said, "I suppose that you were accurate in this Kuroto-Kun…!"

Jiraiya nodded, "Since no normal perceptual barriers are covering Amegakure, so it is reasonable that the leader of the Akatsuki organization is using the ubiquitous rainwater as a means of sensing intruders."

While everyone was talking Kuroto thought to himself, 'It stands to reason that Nagato can't always maintain this technique… it should be a big burden even for him… the only reason I revealed the existence of this technique to the alliance was to make them give up on the idea of preliminary investigation… but given the fact that the technique is active right now… is it just a coincidence or has he noticed something?'

Kuroto did not voice out his thoughts to others as everyone quickly came out of the sewer and hid inside a building without allowing the raindrops to land on them.

From their point of view, the streets of Amegakure seemed quite busy with hundreds of people passing through. After gaining a full view, Elder Chiyo said, "Everyone split up, remember to not let the raindrops touch you… and remember to shoot a signal flare if there is an emergency!"

Amegakure is too big, so to increase the efficiency of their actions it is natural to split up, therefore, the team was now divided into four sub-teams.

Nii Yugito and Samui are part of the first team, Elder Chiyo and Elder Ebizo of the second team, Hyuga Kuroto and Yamanaka Inoichi part of the third team, and finally, Jiraiya who will act solo.

With the four directions decided the sub-teams then split up into four directions.

"Well, Inoichi-san, shall we go?" – Kuroto asked politely.

Yamanaka Inoichi nodded and followed Hyuga Kuroto.

While walking next to, Yamanaka Patriarch asked, "Say Kuroto-Kun, do you mind if I ask a question?"

Kuroto shook his head, and said, "Not at all Inoichi-san, go ahead."

"How did you sneak in Amegakure the last time you came here?" Yamanaka Inoichi questioned.

Kuroto was surprised by the question of the Yamanaka Patriarch, then said, "I came from the front door as a businessman to issue a task commencement to Amegakure… while I came in, I left behind a Shadow Clone who used Chakra Suppression Technique to hide his Chakra. Since the rain only discovers foreign Chakra signatures, and since my Shadow Clone was using Chakra Suppression Technique it wasn't found by the rain."

"Chakra Suppression Technique? If I remember correctly, doesn't this Jutsu limit all the other abilities of the user…?" – Inoichi questioned with a frown.

Kuroto took out a rough map of Amegakure (Which he received from Shinichi since Kuroto didn't actually personally come to Amegakure.) and while studying it carefully, he said, "That is true, but using that had two other benefits, first, my shadow clone was able to roam around the village with a civilian's authority and second because the Chakra Suppression Technique was being used, therefore, the Shadow Clone I left behind could stay much longer than normal… During one of the casual walks as a civilian, my Shadow Clone discovered Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Juzo's duo, after discovering them and some silent digging around for about a month-long stay in Amegakure, my Shadow Clone was able to discover many things, especially related to Akatsuki. After discovering such shocking facts, the Shadow Clone lifted itself, and I received all the information while I was in another country carrying out my investigation in that country."

Yamanaka Inoichi was stunned and nodded with an awed tone, "It's rather remarkable… being able to use Chakra Suppression Technique alone is very difficult… I am convinced now; without a doubt, you truly are one of the best of your generation…"

Kuroto shook his head, and said, "I still have too much to learn, I am still too far behind Yondaime-sama, to become Hokage, I have to be much better… much-much better."

"Do you aspire to become the Hokage?" – Inoichi was rather surprised by Kuroto's words.

Kuroto nodded, and said, "I aspire to become someone like Minato-sama… thus I wish to become Konoha's Hokage in the future, is it strange, Inoichi-san?"

After a bit of silence, Yamanaka Patriarch said, "Well Yondaime Hokage-sama was one of a kind, his charismatic persona and that confident look was more than enough to bring a change in the morale of his followers if you aspire to become someone like him, then the road is still far ahead, perhaps you can become the Hokage, I am not the one to decide… but you still have a long way to go."

Kuroto nodded and said, "I understand, thank you for your advice Inoichi-san, I will that in mind to improve myself and become worthy of becoming the Hokage."

"I wish you good luck in that endeavor Kuroto-Kun, if you do become the Hokage, do not forget to visit the Yamanaka Flowers, it would be an honor to have you visit us." – Inoichi encouraged Kuroto. He did not touch the matter of Cage Bird Seal, which will be the biggest difficulty for Hyuga Kuroto as a member of the Branch Family, of course, Inoichi is not dense enough to understand not to touch on such sensitive matters.

Although the two people were talking, they did not forget the objective of their mission, all this while they were carrying it out very seriously.

Kuroto has already been to many shinobi villages, and perhaps, only Amegakure is somewhat peaceful compared to all the other shinobi villages, even Sunagakure and Kusagakure are not as peaceful as Amegakure is currently.

Perhaps even Yamanaka Inoichi felt this and sighed, this peaceful atmosphere will be destroyed as the raid on Amegakure starts.

Converging their mixed thoughts, Kuroto and Inoichi further tried to find leads on the location where the leader of Akatsuki could be hiding.

"Kuroto-Kun, do you have any leads where the leader of Akatsuki could be present in general…?" – asked Inoichi.

Kuroto thought about it a little, then looked towards the tallest tower of Amegakure.

Inoichi followed Kuroto's gaze and also looked in that direction, "That tower?"

Kuroto nodded, "I am not sure; however, it is the most likely place…" – To be honest, Kuroto doesn't remember much as to where exactly did Nagato stayed hidden while controlling Rikudo Rain, but considering the height of that tower it is the most likely place… as transmitting chakra from that height should be the best option. Moreover, Tendo Pain sits on the tongue sticking out of that face structure on the tallest tower.

It is conceivable that standing on that tower should give a good look over the entire Amegakure village."

Shot… whistle… Bang!

While Kuroto and Inoichi looked at the tower and were trying to figure out a few more things, suddenly they both heard the sound of a signal flare being fired.

Kuroto and Inoichi looked in the direction of the sound and were able to spot a green flare lighting up the sky below the clouds.

"Signal Flare… someone was discovered already?!" – Kuroto muttered with a frown.

Inoichi nodded, "It appears so, I will try to see who is it, and see if I can-…"

Kuroto shook his head, and said, "No Inoichi-san, the enemy has discovered our tracks, and since we are in their territory so that means they already have us on their radar; if you try communicating with them in such a situation, I am afraid our position will also be discovered, what we have to focus now is on retreating, we have to get out of this village as soon as we can!"

Inoichi saw the seriousness in Kuroto's expression and nodded.

Kuroto no longer cared about the scouting mission, after all, someone has been discovered just now, it is no longer possible to continue the mission, in fact, doing so is even meaningless… but before Kuroto and Inoichi could go, Kuroto was able to sense someone coming towards them…

Kuroto immediately alerted the Yamanaka Patriarch, "Inoichi-san, be ready we have company… and I suspect that since we have company, so the others are also being chased, now, one of us has to retreat, while the other has to stay behind, I will be the one to stay behind as I am already quite familiar with Amegakure, and since I have also mastered, 'Chakra Suppression Technique!', so I can find my way back to the retreat point without being noticed… so please retreat while I draw the attention of the enemy coming towards us!"

After saying so, Kuroto did not wait for the reply from the Yamanaka Patriarch… and directly ran forward while letting the rain fall on him.

Yamanaka Inoichi deeply looked at Hyuga Kuroto's back, then with a determined expression, he also made his way to the retreat point without drawing any attention upon him.

While Kuroto took another root to the retreat point, suddenly he saw hundreds of pieces of paper falling down near him, and soon those hundreds of papers took the appearance of a Konan, the Angel of Akatsuki, and Amegakure.

With Konan hovering in mid-air, Kuroto came to a sudden halt, and questioned, "Now what does this pretty lady want from someone like me?"

However, Konan does not seem to be in the mood of beating around the bush, and immediately questioned with a cold tone, "Show your true identity…"

Kuroto who was currently disguised as Yato from Noragami asked with a confused tone, "What do you mean pretty lady? I am just a wandering Samurai here to take in the sights of Amegakure and by the way, also challenge Hanzo-dono…"

"That was your only chance, now die!" – with a cold snort, Konan immediately fired.

Kuroto snorted and flashed away.

The other party is obviously not someone who can be dealt with so easily, in the original story, she was the one who recruited and defeated Sasori with his Kazekage Puppet.

And Konan may have been defeated by both Jiraiya and Obito, but this does not mean she is weak.

Jiraiya was only able to restrain her so easily because he had prior knowledge of the weakness of Konan's papers and thus used toad oil.

While Obito relied on Izanagi, which was something Konan never expected even in the countless stimulations of her battle with him.

So, her strength is very good but what's more dangerous is her analytical ability, being able to figure out the limits of Obito's Kamui proves this, and killing her won't be so easy, especially because Kuroto does not use oil and con not effectively restrain her papers from which she has created the unique Jutsu which is 'Shikigami no Mai'.

If he fights Konan, other Akatsuki members will be drawn here, so staying here is no longer an option, as Kuroto doesn't want to be surrounded and hunted by Akatsuki members.

'I don't think that I can kill her without entering into Tenseigan Chakra Mode.' – This was his judgment while looking back.

Konan indifferently looked at the running figure of this intruder, and muttered, "Pointless, you cannot escape."

As she said that, she waved her hand, and instantly papers from her paper wings flew at the running Kuroto at an extremely fast speed, and at a large quantity.

Kuroto immediately turned around and immediately drew the sword Kusanagi Sword tied around his waist, and while standing at his position, he waved his swords at an extremely fast speed, such that his hands or blade couldn't even be perceived by normal vision, there were multiple afterimages left behind.

Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish…

The piece of paper that was cut into an extremely small size fell on the floor, but soon they ignited…

'Damn, I did not take the hidden random exploding tags into account!' – since his Byakugan is currently deactivated, Kuroto was unable to distinguish between an ordinary paper and exploding tag.

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 602 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 349: Opposing the God?

'Seems like I have no choice…' – thinking so, Kuroto instantly activated his Byakugan and muttered, 'Hakkesho Kaiten', suddenly a protective shield of spiraling chakra surrounded Kuroto protecting him from the explosions of the exploding tags.

Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…

The sound of explosions resounded throughout the streets, alerting everyone around… who ran away from the battlefield as soon as they can…

Konan who was hovering in the air stared at the ground with an indifferent expression. Although the area where the intruder stood had been covered in flames and dust because of the explosions, however, she could very well sense the spiraling chakra that was quite conspicuous. Therefore, she was sure that the explosions just now caused by her attacks shouldn't have been enough to have killed him as such the intruder was not dead yet.

As soon as the explosions stopped, the spiraling chakra also stopped and along with it dust also cleared, the figure of the intruder came into full view, and as she expected, he was alive, in fact, he did not even have as much as a scratch on him.

Although expected, Konan was still surprised.

On the other hand, Kuroto's face did not change.

'Shikigami no Mai' is pretty baffling Jutsu, transforming the entire body as well as clothing into numerous sheets of paper lefts the opponent in a daze and confusion, and it is very difficult to tell which sheets of paper are explosive tags and which are simple sheets of papers.

Not only that, Shikigami no Mai gives Konan full leverage to turn her complete body into a stack of explosive tags, anytime, anywhere.

And this is undoubtedly a very tricky Jutsu, just think about it, a fierce battle is going on against your opponent, and out of a sudden, your opponent turns out to be a stack of hundreds if not tens of thousands of explosive tags, is that not shocking?

From this very brief confrontation, Konan seems to have realized some things and asked, "What is a shinobi of your caliber doing by sneaking into Amegakure?"

Kuroto lifted up his Kusanagi swords, and while tapping the flat part of it over his front-left shoulder, he replied casually, "I am Noragami Yato, and as I have mentioned earlier, I am a Samurai, do not disrespect me by mixing me with the lumps of you Shinobis who exists to only kill and destroy. Anyway, as I was saying, since I am a wandering Samurai, it is obvious that I like to wander around, as for the purpose of coming to Amegakure? It is very simple, I wish to challenge Hanzo-dono, but I have to say, this is not the kind of welcome I had expected to get, hey but I am not complaining… at least I get to see something interesting today."

While trying to distract Konan with idle chatter, Kuroto simultaneously also thought of countermeasures to make an escape out of here… 'Konan is a sensor class, so getting rid of her wouldn't be an easy task…I have to play this smart-…'

However, it seemed that Konan was not much interested in Kuroto's bullshit.

Boom…!

But just as the two sides were about to fight again, another explosion sounded not far away, following which there was a violent roar and then the earth trembled.

The explosion drew the attention of both the parties, as both Kuroto and Konan cast their gazes in the direction from where the explosion came.

While looking there, Kuroto thought, 'That is the direction from where the signal flare was shot…'

From the sounds of explosions and the trembling of the earth, it is not hard to guess that a fierce battle has broken out there.

Because of keeping his Byakugan deactivated, Kuroto couldn't perceive the exact status of the battle… but from the high amount of chakra he was able to sense in general, it wasn't much hard to guess that one of them was the Jinchuriki and since only one Jinchuriki was part of the investigation and infiltration team, so it is very obvious who that person was…

'Damn, I knew she shouldn't have been brought here!!' Kuroto cursed under his breath.

It was obviously Nii Yugito who was exposed. Kuroto did not want to bring her to the investigation, but she wasn't willing to listen because of her arrogant and overconfident attitude. So despite Kuroto's strong objection, she became part of the investigation team, and now this happens.

Unlike Kuroto's calm and indifferent look, Konan had a frown, it was rather strange to have someone with a Bijuu sneak in here… although she wasn't really worried about the end result, with this the Akatsuki has finally acquired their first Bijuu.

Suddenly there was a loud impact and instantly someone with an extremely fast speed with his sword drawn out slashed at Kuroto.

DING…

Kuroto immediately used his own sword to block the slash resulting in a loud ear-piercing metal collision sound to ring out throughout the street.

This third wheel to arrive before Kuroto and Konan was none other than Uchiha Shinichi, with his Mangekyou Sharingan activated and a maniac grin on his face.

Shinichi said to Konan while clashing swords with Kuroto, "Konan-chan, leave this guy to me, hahaha… it's been a while since I have had the opportunity to move my muscles, I would like to have a good battle so as to not get any rusty…"

"Alright, but make sure to kill him at the earliest." – Konan obviously has faith in Shinichi's strength, and with a confident nod, she left a few butterflies behind in case of need for assistance, then spread her paper wings and left the battlefield.

Shinichi did not turn back and nodded, "You got it Konan-chan!"

After Konan left, Shinichi used a Genjutsu on Kuroto to establish a mental link between the two parties, where the two could communicate without a need for direct speech. Kuroto obviously did not resist the Genjutsu and after the mental link was established, Shinichi hurriedly said while continuing his Kenjutsu and Taijutsu battle with Kuroto, "Say, what are you doing here? And what's up with all these intruders in Amegakure? Are you going to finally deal with the Akatsuki Organization?"

Shinichi has obviously recognized that the real identity of the samurai named Noragami Yato is none other than Hyuga Kuroto.

Kuroto did not really ask what gave away his identity. Since he has been using the Tsukihi clone for quite some time, therefore, he realizes that once an Uchiha fights with someone, he will never forget that person, not for their entire life, the Sharingan just don't give them this leisure, so the reason why Kuroto's disguise was useless in front of Shinichi was obviously that his fighting style was easily recognized by Shinichi.

Since Shinichi recognized that the other person was none other than Kuroto, he obviously intervened to help Kuroto get rid of Konan.

"What are the other hidden detection mechanisms present in Amegakure aside from the rain that I once told you about?" – Kuroto questioned Shinichi while giving him a Hard Kick in the chest which sent the other guy flying out of the street and enter the main road.

There have to be other methods of detecting the intruders than just Rain made by Nagato and Konan's paper butterflies.

While throwing dozens of Shuriken at Kuroto, Shinichi also thought about Kuroto's question, and as if he suddenly remembered something, he answered, "Well, I just got to Amegakure, so I am not so sure, but If I remember correctly, Hiruko seems to have taken an interest in creating more of his chimera beast, at the same time he has also taken three subordinates under his wings with the name Ich, Ni, and San, together with them, he has been creating a large number of Chimera Beasts, so some of those beasts may be responsible… Sasori has also started developing his puppets strangely, and he seems to be trying to control them without any need for Chakra threads, so maybe his puppets are also involved here?"

Kuroto sighed then jumped off the ground to the sidewall, running along the building wall to gain a higher altitude, and then jumped at Shinichi while adding, "You should have notified me of this."

Shinichi also jumped on the same wall, and while doing wall walking to catch up to Kuroto, he weaved the hand signs, while also said, "Hahaha… as I said earlier, I just came to Amegakure so I wasn't much aware of what changes were happening here… seems like Pain is planning something big, so he gave Sasori and Hiruko some instructions, while also summoned me and Biwa Juzo back to Amegakure… anyway, you didn't tell me what are you doing around here? And I am rather surprised that you were caught."

Kuroto dodged the fireball that was fired at him, and while sending sword winds towards Shinichi, Kuroto asked with a surprised expression, "Pain is planning something big? Planning what?"

Shinichi dodged each of those sword winds and while firing another Jutsu, he said, "I am not so sure, in fact, nobody is… we were just summoned to Amegakure out of the blue…"

Kuroto sighed and sent a massive sword wind that cut the Jutsu in half, then said, "Sigh, we were planning a surprise joint raid on Amegakure, to deal with Akatsuki in one shot… but all three Kage insisted on carrying out a preliminary investigation despite my objection, and here we are sneaking into Amegakure… now that we are exposed, I don't think this raid is going to be any effective."

Now again engaged in a Kenjutsu fight, Shinichi said with a frown, "Planning a surprise joint raid? Well, that's surprising, considering that the villages are always at one another's throat… anyway, you could have just asked me for the information, and I would have let you know…"

Kuroto denied while dodging a kick that came to his head, "But the last time I checked, you were not in the Land of This… so it was pointless… besides…"

Smash… "Hmm… that's true… argh that hurts… can't you go a bit easy?" – nodded Shinichi while receiving a fist on the gut as he puked out blood, then smashed his fist into Kuroto's gut.

Smash… "Huff… huff… Don't go joking around… Konan's butterflies are present around, your cover will be blown up if I go easy on you, or you go easy on me… Anyway, I have already killed Shinno, so obtaining intelligence from you or him, it's all the same anyway… but those damn-…"

Roar…

Suddenly there was a painful roar from a beast, it's just that the roar seemed more like a painful cry.

Kuroto sighed, it seemed that Nii Yugito is defeated already…

Shinichi asked casually, "The one over there doesn't seem to be able to hold on anymore… do you want to go over there and help?"

Kuroto shook his head, it was pointless anyway, as the Chakra of Nibi was disappearing, meaning that Nii Yugito is defeated, and Nibi is already in Akatsuki's hand.

Kuroto is not idiot enough to risk saving her…

Shinichi said, "Well that's fine with me, I don't really care what happens to anyone as long as you are alive, anyway, what are you going to do now?"

Kuroto said, "Nibi's Jinchuriki has been captured, saving her will be an act of foolishness, I am going to be retreating now…"

Shinichi asked, "And how do you plan to do that? I mean you don't really expect me to just let you walk away, right?"

Kuroto shook his head and said with a chuckle, "Even if you try to stop me, you really can't. I am mere a Kage Bushin, my original should have already taken a different route to the retreat point."

Shinichi's eyes widened, and he grinned suddenly, "Well I didn't see that one coming."

Kuroto smiled, and said, "So what are you waiting for? Just finish me already…"

Shinichi nodded and rushed towards Kuroto's Shadow Clone, while Kuroto's Shadow Clone did the same as it rushed towards Shinichi.

And just when the two parties were about to close in at each other, a light green Chakra covered Shinichi's body, and from that Chakra, a Chakra Blade extended and instantly pierced right through Kage Bushin's chest.

(Translator's Note: The conversation between Shinichi and Kuroto up to here has been through the mental link, now it will be normal)

"Hahaha… that's my win!" – Shinichi grinned.

Kuroto, "Don't be so sure… I commend that you have excellent skills, but if you think that you have defeated the great Samurai Noragami Yato, then you are too quick to judge…" and leaving that sentence, the Kage Bushin disappeared with a Poof… sound.

With the disappearance of Kage Bushin, Shinichi cursed, "Damn, just a Kage Bushin, huh?"

…

On the other side, after the Kage Bushin disappeared, Kuroto who was walking towards the retreat point received all the memories and muttered, "It seems that Nii Yugito is captured."

Not caring at all, he continued to the retreat point and soon arrived, there he met up with Yamanaka Patriarch, and both Elder Chiyo and Elder Ebizo were also there, but there was no trace of Jiraiya or Samui either.

Seeing that Hyuga Kuroto has returned safely, the other three breathed a sigh of relief.

Elder Chiyo said, "Nii Yugito and Samui were captured, I observed through my puppet, but I couldn't find any opportunity to rescue either of the two… we may have to abandon them…" – As an experienced Kunoichi, Elder Chiyo can obviously judge things.

Kuroto naturally did not care about the safety of either of the two, instead, he asked the Yamanaka Patriarch, "Inoichi-san, is there any news from Jiraiya-sama?"

Yamanaka Inoichi denied, "There is some sort of Chakra interference that is disrupting me from being able to communicate with others… so I did not try any longer…"

Elder Ebizo added, "Do not worry, Jiraiya did not intervene in the battle that the two Kunoichi of Kumo had with the Akatsuki members, he is probably hidden somewhere within Amegakure… he is wise enough to act cautiously, we should retreat now… if we delay any longer than the enemy will come after us."

Kuroto sighed in relief after hearing his, 'At least Jiraiya-sama was safe.'

Losing Nii Yugito and Samui was already a big loss, if something had happened to Jiraiya then this raid will become a total failure.

Then Elder Chiyo said with a solemn expression, "I have to admit that your previous judgment was indeed correct, Amegakure's security is much more stringent than I would have expected… the preliminary investigation mission resulted in a total failure… we must retreat immediately and pass on the intelligence of whatever we have found to the base."

Kuroto nodded with a disappointed expression, "Unfortunately, nobody listened to me…"

No longer wasting any more time, they all dived into the sewer and sneaked out of the village.

A few seconds after they have left, a few pieces of paper stuck out of the wall, then morphed into a butterfly shape, and flew towards the tallest tower of Amegakure.

…

At the Pain Tower.

Papers gathered from all over the village and took the form of Konan behind Tendo Pain who still sat on the tongue, indifferently looking at the village that was destroyed at many places.

With the appearance of Konan, Tendo Pain stood up and walked to the inner chamber while asking, "Status?"

Konan said, "They have left."

Suddenly a spiraling whirl appeared in the void, and Madara walked out of it, and at the same time, a venus flytrap emerged out of the ground.

Madara asked, "Nibi's Jinchuriki?"

Pain nodded, and said, "Captured as planned."

Konan said, "The shinobi that Uchiha Shinichi seems to be fighting was just a Kage Bushin… thus he has retreated."

Zetsu said, "Ah, that's too bad…"

Konan added, "Regardless of whether it was a Kage Bushin or not, his strength was quite good, Uchiha Shinichi wasn't able to take the advantage all along, and it seemed that even at the end, the Shinobi willingly got pierced."

Madara nodded, "Unexpectedly he could match Shinichi…"

Pain questioned, "Who was this Shinobi?"

Konan said, "Well, he claimed to be a wandering Samurai, but it should have been Hyuga Kuroto, one of the seven people that sneaked into the village to carry out their preliminary Investigation mission."

Madara asked, "And Hyuga Kuroto's Kage Bushin's strength could reach such a level?"

Konan nodded, and said, "He wasn't weak by any means…" – Although her fight with Hyuga Kuroto was very brief, Konan was somewhat surprised by the other party's strength, and she could feel that he was different, as he seemed all too calm about everything.

Zetsu said, "Hyuga Kuroto seems to have become rather strong… I reckon that his strength is only next to Uchiha Shisui in his team…"

Pain said, "It matters not…"

Madara thought to himself, 'Can a Hyuga really have such a level of strength? More so, Hyuga Kuroto of all Hyuga?'

Zetsu asked in wonder, "But I still wonder, how did Hyuga Kuroto figure out the location of our base?"

Konan said, "Is it possible that he obtained this intelligence from Orochimaru or probably from Shinno?"

Zetsu added, "Or probably from Yomi? As Yomi is dead, most likely to have been killed by Hyuga Kuroto considering that the daughter of Miko of Land of Demons is under Hyuga Kuroto's protection in Konoha."

Orochimaru, Shinno, and Yomi are the only three possible sources of information. And all three seem to be possible.

Madara said, "It doesn't matter from where he learned, for now, we have to focus on the plan."

Konan questioned, "Konoha, Kumo, and Suna have joined hands, are you sure that Iwa is not participating in this?"

Zetsu nodded, "Iwa is not even informed."

Konan said, "I wonder why the three villages did not approach Iwagakure and Kirigakure?"

Madara said, "Regardless, even if they did include, I am quite certain that Onoki wouldn't have agreed as he is still negotiating with us to obtain Hiruko's 'Chimera no Jutsu', perhaps Hokage was able to think this through and figured out our connection with Iwa, and Kiri."

Zetsu questioned Madara, "But why did you let them retreat?"

Madara said with a chuckle, "Nibi is already caught… if all of them were to be caught here and now, the three Kage will get scared and run away… But now that only two are caught, and since both of them are from Kumo, so Raikage will insist on coming here… so Hachibi who is together with the rest will also be captured at the same time…"

Konan questioned, "It will be difficult to resist all of them at once…"

Zetsu said, "Biwa Juzo and Uchiha Shinichi have already arrived, while Kakuzu, Sasori, Hiruko, are also here…"

Madara said, "We have our latest recruit too… and Tobi too will partake in the battle…"

Zetsu said, "The other reinforcements too will be arriving within half an hour…"

Konan nodded, "I suppose that should be more than enough, the civilian evacuation is already finished…"

With everything decided, Tendo Pain walked step by step to the tip of the tongue, overlooking the entire Amegakure like a God, and said, "Finish all the preparations, I will teach them the meaning of opposing the God!"

At the same time Tendo Pain said these words, Madara disappeared into a spiraling whirl, Zetsu went inside the floor, and Konan's body dispersed into papers.

…

At the Base of tri-Alliance.

Boom… Smash… "Damn Akatsuki! Damn Pain, I will eliminate them all!" – Raikage smashed the table to pieces as soon as Yamanaka Patriarch finished showing him memories of Elder Chiyo about what all transpired.

Nii Yugito and Samui were captured, there is no news of Jiraiya, everyone was left stunned, and Raikage was furious, his roars could even be heard from half a mile away.

Killer Bee asked Elder Chiyo and Kuroto, "Aw, with her strength, Yugito couldn't even retreat, hum, yeh?"

Elder Chiyo shook her head, and said, "You have already seen my memories of the fight."

While Kuroto was too lazy to speak anything. Jinchuriki and a Jonin of Kumo fell into Akatsuki's hands, now Raikage should be anxious, not him. Kuroto already did his part when he urged them to not waste their breath in a preliminary investigation mission, not listening to him was their mistake.

As Kuroto expected, Raikage could no longer wait and said, "I propose that we immediately launch a raid on Akatsuki!"

Sandaime nodded, the disappearance of Jiraiya also made Sandaime uneasy, although nothing should have happened to Jiraiya based on the memories of Chiyo, however, there is still no guarantee, so he also agreed to Raikage's proposal.

With Raikage's proposal, and Hokage's agreement, Kazekage discussed some things with his Anbu Commander Pakura, then finally nodded and agreed to follow along.

After everyone's united agreement Kuroto walked out of the cave.

As soon as Kuroto came out, Shisui arrived next to Kuroto and whispered, "Kuroto-san, I heard that the preliminary Investigation Mission failed?"

Kuroto nodded, "The best opportunity to carry out a surprise attack is now wasted… sigh, now the chances of success have decreased significantly."

Shisui thought a little, "Even if this opportunity failed, but if the joint raid is launched, it should still be possible right? After all, not all members of the organization are always present in Amegakure."

Kuroto shook his head, "I have confirmed, all the members of Akatsuki are present there…" With a pause, 'And Pain seems to have planned something big, I really have a bad feeling about this all.' Kuroto continued, "Itachi and Kazekage Puppet should have also arrived in the Land of Rain, stay in contact with Itachi."

Shisui nodded and questioned, "Amatsukami will also be participating here?"

Kuroto nodded, "If Amatsukami does not intervene, the village will suffer a very big loss, besides, I also have a special task for Itachi. It's about time Amatsukami that has been silent in the Shinobi World for such a long time show up again."

Shisui asked with a slightly curious tone, "So the leader of Amatsukami will finally be revealed to the Shinobi World?"

Kuroto nodded calmly, "It's about time, the leader of Amatsukami and Akatsuki have a 'little' face-to-face chat!"

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 603 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

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 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 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 ċhėst 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 pŀėȧsurė 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.

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 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.

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!"

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.

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 ȧssume 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: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 352: Pain

Inside Amegakure, after the start of the raid.

Having detected that battle has broken out on several fronts, Kuroto and Shisui left the sewers. Since the battles have already started so waiting any longer for information from Shinichi is meaningless now.

Instead of just staying hidden within the sewers, it is better to move to the tall buildings, as from there monitoring the situation of the entire Amegakure will become much easier compared to what it is now.

After leaving the sewer, when the two of them came to the ground level of Amegakure, Kuroto and Shisui noticed that not even a single soul can be seen on the roads or streets, or either of the buildings, meaning that they have already been evacuated before the war between tri-Alliance and Akatsuki breaks out.

As for where the people of Amegakure have been evacuated? Perhaps only the members of the Akatsuki Organization know this.

"Well, at least neither side will have to be restrained because of civilian security!" – Kuroto muttered to himself as he was now standing on top of a tall tower giving him a pretty good view of the Amegakure.

As for the problem of being found out? Well, let's just say that it wasn't going to be a problem as both Kuroto and Shisui were hiding under Shisui's Genjutsu, and considering how strong Shisui's Genjutsu is, Kuroto doesn't believe that either of the two will be noticed.

After taking their positions, Kuroto activated his Byakugan to observe the Amegakure.

He doesn't want to give out too strong Chakra Fluctuations as that would be easily perceived by Konan, considering that he is a sensor-class.

Anyway, after observing a little Kuroto soon found out that all the fights that were occurring were indeed occurring outside the village.

Shisui was a little anxious, he really hopes that this raid could wipe out Akatsuki for good but he is also worried that if the raid fails then the village would most likely suffer serious loss.

And for this reason, Kuroto could feel that Shisui's emotions are having some serious fluctuations.

Shisui muttered, "It's already been a few minutes… how come either of the three units has yet to enter Amegakure?"

Kuroto who was trying to locate some shinobi answered for Shisui, "Probably because the elite members of Akatsuki are personally fighting against all the three units at the outskirts of Amegakure."

Shisui frowned, "But their number is quite limited, they shouldn't have been able to hold off against all the fronts at the same time! Is Akatsuki also using the shinobi of Amegakure? And are there any high-level shinobi in Amegakure?"

Kuroto also feels that something is probably wrong here… As Shisui said, Akatsuki shouldn't have enough members to be able to completely stop all the battlefronts at the same time… unless Konan, Obito, and Pain Rikudo themselves also participate in the battle… which shouldn't have been the case, right?

Just when Kuroto was wondering over these issues, he was finally able to see some chakra signatures entering his field of vision, and he notified Shisui, "One side has finally entered Amegakure."

Based and the size of Chakra and the direction from which they were entering, Kuroto would say that these ȧssault troops are from Kumogakure.

Shisui finally heaved a sigh, "At least, one side is here, we can finally start to act!"

Kuroto said, "But it is still too early to judge… only some members of a single unit have arrived… and we don't even know if there are other Akatsuki members still left who are not yet deployed."

As soon as Kuroto's words fell, his speculation was soon fulfilled, the direction from where this Kumo unit was coming towards the Pain tower, there were some successive blasts clearly indicating that another battle has started there.

Looking at the flames and high rising smoke, as well as constant vibrations, Shisui asked, "Should we also make our move?"

Kuroto shook his head, "Until the leader of Akatsuki does not come forth, we are not going to act…"

No matter how upscale the battle goes or who all die here, Kuroto's mentality was not affected in the slightest, his objective is clear, and he knows what really has to be done.

To deal with Akatsuki Organization, it doesn't make much sense to waste your breath in dealing with the normal Akatsuki members.

If Akatsuki has to be eliminated, then that can only be done by eliminating the two current core figures of the organization. One is Nagato, and the other is Obito.

Eliminating Obito is very difficult even for Kuroto, because of Obito's Kamui and Izanagi.

Therefore, there is only one way to severely injure Akatsuki Organization, and that is to eliminate Nagato, and additionally destroy or seize the Rinnegan, this would temporarily put down Akatsuki's plans for good, and then you can take your time to figure out a method to seal Kuro Zetsu.

Although, Shisui nodded it is still somewhat hard for him to accept this, but he did wait as Kuroto said.

As the time passed seconds by seconds, the battlefield slowly shifted towards the center of Amegakure, and Kuroto was able to notice that the Kumo unit that has entered lacked a lot of its members.

And what made Kuroto more puzzled is that the unit was not being led by the Raikage, rather it was being led by Killer Bee who really sucks at teamwork.

Well, this unit was now intercepted by the duo of Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Juzo. But from what Kuroto can see, neither Uchiha Shinichi nor Biwa Juzo was fighting at their full strength, they were only suppressing the momentum and slowly guiding the unit led by Killer Bee closer and closer to the Pain Tower.

"Who could have stopped the Raikage?" – muttered Kuroto in wonder, then thought, 'To stop Raikage, it can only be a speedster… hmm, perhaps it was Hiruko with Jinton.'

After reaching this conclusion, Kuroto diverted his thoughts. To be honest, he did not really care about what happened to the Raikage, besides, with Raikage's strength killing him would not be easy even for someone like Hiruko.

So instead of wasting time worrying about Raikage, Kuroto focused on the surroundings, trying to locate the place where Nagato could be hidden.

Whoosh…

A few seconds later, another shadow appeared over the sky of Amegakure, wings spread wide open like an angel, overlooking the battle below with an indifferent expression.

As soon as he saw her, Kuroto's nodded to himself, "Konan has finally appeared, which means that…"

Konan's appearance ȧssured Kuroto that Pain Rikudo are also nearby, and Konan who is hovering in the sky has no intentions of intervening in the battle below. 'Her role must be observation… Hmm, I think I will let him try to deal with her.'

Next, Kuroto shifted his eyesight from Konan to the buildings of Amegakure trying to locate Pain Rikudo, and it didn't take him much longer to find a shinobi with orange hair tied up in a ponytail.

"He is…" – Instantly Kuroto recalled that this shinobi with orange hair tied in a ponytail is one of the Pain.

This Pain did not notice Kuroto and Shisui, instead, he pressed his hands on the ground violently.

Poof…

With a surge of white smoke, a three-headed dog with a black rod embedded on each of its heads appeared, the size of this three-headed was at least as large as several-story buildings.

"Summoning ability? This one is Chikushodo Pain (Animal Path)." – muttered Kuroto.

Now that Pain has appeared, Kuroto was a little nervous… The same nervousness and tension that Kuroto has not felt for quite some time.

With the appearance of the three-headed dog, even Shisui noticed Chikushodo Pain (Animal Path) standing atop the Pain Tower, and he hurriedly said to Kuroto, "Kuroto-san, look, the leader of Akatsuki Organization has appeared!"

"Yes." – Kuroto nodded half-mindedly while he was busy with some other thoughts.

"Uh… shouldn't we attack him?" – Shisui asked in a dumbfounded tone because of Kuroto's nonchalant response.

However, Kuroto didn't seem to notice Shisui's nonchalant tone, but he did shake his head, denying Shisui's idea, "Not yet…"

Shisui was puzzled, "What? But why not? The leader of Akatsuki has already appeared, if we wait any longer then everyone will be in danger!"

At this moment Kuroto recovered from his thoughts and said lightly, "That one is just a puppet being controlled by the real leader of Akatsuki…"

"Puppet?!" – Shisui was baffled and said with an incredulous expression, "But… but those eyes are the same one… it's that same ripple pattern as described by Shinno…"

Kuroto nodded, "Yes, it is, but it is still a puppet… wait a little longer and you will see more of such individuals… with the same ripple pattern in their eyes, all of them are puppets."

Pain Rikudo are just being controlled by Nagato through Chakra Receivers. Therefore, it doesn't really make much sense to reveal himself to the enemy just to eliminate a few puppets.

And the reason why Kuroto did not pass on the secret of Rikudo Pain to the village? Well, let's just say that it is because he doesn't want the element of surprise to go to waste. If there is already someone in the raid unit who knows the secret of Pain Rikudo, then Nagato will become more cautious. Besides, there is hardly anyone in the entire raid unit other than Kuroto who can defeat Nagato and his Pain Rikudo, so there is no point in revealing that secret anyway.

After being attacked, this splitting dog can keep splitting more heads, and each head can separate into individual dogs, practically there are no suitable methods to take down this dog other than to defeat Chikushodo Pain (Animal Path).

With the appearance of these Summoned Beasts, the situation of the battlefield soon became completely passive, and almost all the Kumo shinobi that were following Killer Bee decided to stay behind and a clear path for Killer Bee, to make sure that Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Juzo, as well as, these Summon Beasts do not hinder Bee-sama's path.

'Is it just me or are they stopping everyone other than Killer Bee?' – thought Kuroto with a frown, 'If Shinichi really wanted, he could have easily stopped Killer bee… but he did not… initially I ȧssumed that it's probably because he has no intention… but now that I see those Summoned Beasts also specifically targeting everyone other than Killer Bee, it makes sense now… at the same time I understand why Killer Bee could make it up to here… it's because he is being led to the center of Amegakure… does that mean Nagato wants to capture Hachibi too? But isn't this too soon for Akatsuki Organization to start capturing Bijuu? Or has this also changed because of the Butterfly Effect?'

"What am I even thinking? Of course, it has changed!" – Kuroto muttered while shaking his head.

At this time, four more figures appeared in Kuroto's field of vision.

These four figures were hiding in multiple places, one was Jiraiya hiding inside a toad, the toad was slowly approaching Chikushodo Pain (Animal Path), the other two were Kakashi and Guy, while the last one was a white snake.

All four of them were obviously attracted by the battle taking place here.

'Orochimaru is already here… I just hope that he doesn't do anything unnecessary…' – Kuroto thought then put attention on Jiraiya.

Jiraiya's plan wasn't hard to figure out.

When Jiraiya exhausts all his methods, he should be able to deal with the three weaker Pain… and with the ȧssistance from Kakashi, perhaps four Pain?

And combining them together with Killer Bee, the four of them together should be able to hold their own against Pain Rikudo for a little while at least.

'Now, if only I can locate the location where Nagato is hiding.' – with this intention, Kuroto focused on Chikushodo Pain (Animal path) and tried to study the chakra pathway that should give him the right direction of the location from where Nagato is remotely controlling the puppet.

While Kuroto tried to locate Nagato, Jiraiya on the other side also revealed himself.

…

"Ranjishigami no Jutsu!" – Jiraiya's white hair suddenly grew longer, and harder as steel wires and tied Chikushodo Pain (Animal path), in a close binding, restricting all of his moments.

Jiraiya then jumped closer to Chikushodo Pain (Animal path), intent on questioning the person.

Boom…

But before Jiraiya could land closer to Chikushodo Pain (Animal path), suddenly an explosion occurred and he flew out from his position and landed on the road, although he managed to keep up his balance and thus did not incur any injury.

When the smoke cleared, everyone could see two more shinobi other than Chikushodo Pain (Animal path), each wearing the Akatsuki cloak, both of them are fat with one being bald and the other having orange hair similar to Chikushodo Pain (Animal path). What's characteristic is that both of these also had the same eyes, with a ripple pattern which was other than Rinnegan, and these two are Shurado Pain (Asura Path) and Gakido Pain (Preta Path) respectively.

With the appearance of Shurado Pain and Gakido Pain, Kakashi and Guy also appeared next to Jiraiya by using 'Shunshin no Jutsu'.

Looking at the three Akatsuki members with the same ripple pattern eye standing at the top of the tower, Kakashi was shocked, "What… how could all three of them have the Rinnegan?!"

Jiraiya noticed the arrival of Kakashi and Guy next to him, but he was not in the right mindset to be able to respond to the arrival of the two.

Initially, Jiraiya could have believed that Chikushodo Pain might be Nagato. His appearance has changed a lot but Jiraiya could never forget those ripple pattern eyes.

However, with the simultaneous appearance of Shurado Pain and Gakido Pain who also have the same ripple pattern eye, he was confused and at a complete loss of any understanding of what was going on any longer.

Chikushodo Pain crouched down staring at Jiraiya with indifferent cold eyes, and slowly said, "Jiraiya-sensei, you shouldn't be here."

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 606 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 353: Hachibi Captured

Chikushodo Pain crouched down, staring at Jiraiya with indifferent cold eyes, and slowly said, "Jiraiya-sensei, you shouldn't be here."

Kakashi and Guy both stunned, immediately turned towards Jiraiya with an incredulous expression.

Obviously, the term 'Sensei' used by Pain to refer to Jiraiya was the last thing they expected. Never did either of them could have thought that the mysterious leader of the Akatsuki Organization would actually turn out to be Jiraiya-sama's disciple.

Jiraiya was still a bit confused and questioned with an uncertain tone, "You really are… Nagato?"

After three years of teaching the three kids, Jiraiya obviously remembers their appearance… but with the way, the other party referred to him, and those eyes only reminded him of Nagato.

And obviously, the other party referred to him by the suffix '-Sensei', therefore, he had to be one of those three children.

"So, I guess you are the one who became Pain, Nagato? Strayed from the path of goodness, what happened to you?" – can't help but ask in confusion. What could be the reason that prompted such a change within Nagato?

However, Chikushodo Pain only said, "You don't need to know… after all, you are an outsider!"

Jiraiya's face sank, "You really have changed… Nagato!"

He looked up at the Kunoichi hovering high above in the sky, observing the entire battlefield with an indifferent expression, did not even look at him or passed a greeting… Jiraiya's heart suddenly felt sad. 'Did everything I taught the three of them for three years mean nothing to them? If the one with the ponytail is Nagato, then who are the other two? And why do they also have the Rinnegan?'

Kakashi on the side could feel that Jiraiya's situation was not alright, and he asked in a worry, "Jiraiya-sama, are you alright? And about what Pain spoke…?"

Jiraiya sighed, and explained, "It was during the last years of the second great shinobi war. After the Sannin's battle with Hanzo of the Salamander, we were approached by three orphan children for food, and seeing that we were shinobi, one of the three kids asked us to teach them Ninjutsu, they wanted to protect themselves… and I did… I stayed in the Land of Rain for three years and taught the three of them… apparently, I never expected that they would stray from the path of goodness."

Guy asked, "So um, did all three of them have the Rinnegan?"

Jiraiya shook his head and said with a solemn expression, "That's what I don't understand, only one of them had the Rinnegan…" – After a pause, Jiraiya turned towards Chikushodo Pain and questioned, "Nagato, what happened to Yahiko?"

Chikushodo Pain spoke with a bit of melancholy, "Oh yes, there was such a fellow once, wasn't there? But he died a long time ago."

Jiraiya was shocked, "Nagato… what happened to you? The old you would never…"

Chikushodo Pain said lightly, "Nothing happened… nothing except for the war, too many people died in this land, all that pain forced me to grow up."

"What does that mean…?" – Jiraiya questioned.

"That even innocent foolish children will grow up in the face of pain… until their thoughts and beliefs are the same as ȧduŀts…"

"But abandoning once love for his friends and fellow man… is that really what it means to become ȧduŀts?"

"Oh sensei… you are still merely a man, however I? Mired an endless pain, have mȧturėd, and become much more than a man."

"What are you saying?"

"Yes, I've grown from a man… to a God. And since I am a God, all my words and thoughts have become absolute. Poor sensei… you are still only a human, it's not your fault if you don't understand what I am saying."

"Have you really become that twisted?"

"Things that I couldn't see when I was a human are clear to me now that I am a god, and being a God, I realize that there are things I can do which a mortal man cannot even dream of. Or to put it more simply, I have evolved beyond man."

"Just what exactly are you planning to do?"

"At last, I am going to put an end to this senseless war-littled world, this will be my sacred deed."

"All right, that's enough, all you are doing is spreading chaos and more war with the Akatsuki."

"It matters not if you, a human does not understand the words of a God… Your opinion is not taken into account, you are going to die anyway, Jiraiya-Sensei."

…

…

…

"To me, you are like a single-celled organism, who hasn't evolved at all."

"Hahahaha… 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' Imagine a kid treating me like a kid! Well, I have news for you kid… I am not human anymore either! These tears of blood, overflowing with rage! I went from Sannin to Sennin! The monstrous toad of Mount Myoboku! I am Jiraiya-sama… aa… argh…"

"You haven't mȧturėd at all Sensei… You are just as clumsy as ever!"

…

…

Even Kakashi and Guy did not know what to make up of this conversation…

Poof… Poof… Poof…

At this time Chikushodo Pain pressed his hands together, and three different white smoke explosions… when the smoke cleared, it revealed three different summon beasts, a giant snake Tailed Gecko, a giant bull, and finally a giant lion.

Seeing that the battle seems inevitable Jiraiya said to Kakashi and Guy, "Why don't you two deal with all those Kuchiyose and buy me some time?"

Kakashi and Guy looked at each other and nodded.

"Why does he have so many of these Kuchiyose in the first place?" – Kakashi can't help but mutter as both he and Guy ran towards them.

Jiraiya then continued "While I will teach this foolish disciple of mine some lessons that he has forgotten in the intoxication of power, Gamaken-san, against this foe there would be no fooling around… I am going to use Honored Sennin Mode."

"What…?! You don't mean?" – The toad Gamaken on top of whom Jiraiya was standing said.

"Yes indeed, I am summoning the two great toad sages! However, it's going to take some time to summon the two of them, and I cannot release my hands during that time. I'm counting on you, buy me some time until then!" – Jiraiya said, as his hands were clasped together in order.

"All right, clumsy as I am, I shall try!" – Gamaken nodded. Compared to Gamabunta, Gamaken is more suited for defense, which is necessary for now as Jiraiya has to defend against many attacks for a little while.

Around the same time, Chikushodo Pain also hid inside the gecko, while the Shurado Pain and Gakido Pain were also ready for the upcoming battle.

At this time, the giant bird that was flying high in the sky suddenly scooped down towards the group.

Gamaken blocked the bird with his Shield.

However, it seems that the momentum of the giant bird was too for Gamaken, not only did the floor beneath him collapse, even Gamaken was knocked to the ground.

Rumble… Rumble…

While Gamaken was down, the giant centipedes suddenly burrowed out of the ground and bit on the legs of Gamaken.

Gamaken couldn't take care of all those injuries, he immediately turned over and inserted the Susamata on the head of the centipede to the ground… trapping it in place, making it difficult for the centipedes to move.

On the other side, Guy's fighting spirit was over the notch, he was very eager to let his youth shine and this was clearly visible from the simultaneous powerful kicks he was raining on the bodies of the giant multiheaded dogs.

While Kakashi was dealing with the crab that can spit out soap water and the other centipedes.

The confrontation between Kuchiyose and Kuchiyose, and Kuchiyose and Shinobi was causing too much damage, the ground was shaking, walls collapsing, rocks flying everywhere.

Anyone below the strength of Jonin was not even suitable to be part of such destructive battles.

When Kakashi was about to finish off the crab with his Raikiri, he suddenly stopped, and in less than a second, he turned around to stab the enemy that suddenly appeared behind him.

As soon as he turned, Kakashi clearly saw that this person was one of those three Akatsuki Members each with a pair of the Rinnegan who stood atop the tower just a while ago.

And so close to the other party, Kakashi's attack was guaranteed to hit.

'At such a close distance, he shouldn't be able to escape!' – With this confidence, Kakashi proceeded.

But just as Kakashi's Raikiri was about to pierce through the opponent's heart, suddenly the high concentration Raiton chakra on his right hand disappeared completely… it seemed as if it was absorbed by something… and Kakashi's right hand that had lost its momentum was held by the opponent.

'My Chakra… it vanished… or was it absorbed?'

Guy immediately noticed Kakashi's predicament, his instinct kicked in and he instantly appeared next to Gakido Pain, to send him flying with a 'Konoha Goriki Senpu!'.

But Guy's 'Konoha Goriki Senpu!' was easily blocked by the opponent with his other hand.

The opponent is obviously other than Gakido Pain, he wanted to kill these two hindrances before Killing Jiraiya.

Kakashi saw that both he, and Guy were held, and instantly tried to again bring out more lightning chakra to take advantage of this situation and pierce through the opponent's heart, but apart from a few sparks, nothing more appeared, as all his chakra was being emptied out.

And this time, Kakashi saw it very clearly… he reached a clear conclusion, 'The previous one specializes in Kuchiyose, while this one absorbs chakra… question is, can he use the same Jutsu that he has absorbed like Hiruko to cast the same ninjutsu?'

Gakido Pain stared at Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy with an indifferent expression then muttered to himself, "Hmm, Hatake Kakashi, and Might Guy… Hyuga Kuroto is not here… I suppose"

Before either of the two could react, to the enemy's words, they were sent flying.

Heavily colliding with the walls, that almost broke the wall, Guy and Kakashi got up and stared at Gakido Pain.

Guy questioned, "You okay Kakashi…?"

Kakashi nodded, and said, "This one can absorb Chakra of any attack in an instant… Ninjutsu is probably ineffective against him."

"Is that so? In that case, it's time for the Blue Beast of Konoha to act!" – Guy said then instantly shouted, "Hachimon Tonkou: Keimon: Open!" and immediately a vapor of blue chakra burst out of Guy's body… like an upwelling vortex with such intensity that even the rain that fell upon them was scattered.

"Konoha-aaa… where… where did he go?" – Just as Guy was about to attack the enemy, Gakido Pain suddenly took a step backward and disappeared into thin air.

Guy's entire mood suddenly collapsed… he just opened 'Hachimon Tonkou', and the enemy had already disappeared.

Kakashi said, "Be careful, he has hidden inside the mouth of that strange Gekko."

Although Gakido Pain's speed was incredibly fast, it did not escape the insight of Kakashi's Sharingan, in just a moment he discovered that Gakido Pain has hidden inside the mouth of Gekko.

Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…

Just when Kakashi was telling Guy the location of the Gekko, suddenly missiles started coming towards them.

Guy looked up, and he knew that there is no way to counter so many of them at once… he instantly turned around, and ran out of the range of explosion while carrying Kakashi whose Chakra was absorbed by Gakido Pain.

But unexpectedly, the missiles all have a homing ability, and they continued to chase after Guy and Kakashi.

On the other side, Jiraiya was also having constant trouble as he had to face one Kuchiyose after another… but he persisted, and finally the two great toad sage, Fukasaku, and Shima appeared on Jiraiya's shoulder.

Looking at Chikushodo Pain and the ripple pattern in his eyes, Shima spoke, "So that's the Rinnegan, huh? It certainly does look like the one mentioned in the legends, doesn't it?"

"What nasty eyes! I can't believe that he is the 'Child of Prophecy'!" – Fukasaku spoke incredulously.

Jiraiya said with a bit of hesitation, "I still want to persuade him… he can still turn for a better leaf."

Toad Shima seemed displeased, "Is that even possible?"

Toad Fukasaku nodded, "Jiraiya-boy, that child has the Rinnegan, the fabled eyes of Rikudo Sennin, if we are any bit careless then it would mean certain death!"

It was at this very moment when Killer Bee finally got rid of all the entanglement and appeared next to Jiraiya, after a look at Jiraiya, Bee turned towards the direction they were all looking at, then asked, "So he is the leader of Akatsuki, got to do defeat him quickly, oh yeah!"

Jiraiya nodded, and questioned, "Where are Konoha and Suna units? I was informed that all units are rushing here, what happened to them? What are only Kumo ȧssault units here?

Killer Bee replied, "Oh, Akatsuki has deployed a lot, forces of powerful men outside Amegakure, even Brother stayed behind to fight, Konoha and Suna are in similarity, only I was able to infiltrate… now I must act on the intended, yeh!"

After giving an answer to Jiraiya's question, Bee then looked at Chikushodo Pain, and questioned, "Where are Yugito and Samui?"

Because Nii Yugito and Samui have been captured by Akatsuki Organization, Kumo's current priority is to recover Nibi at all costs… as such Bee has to first confirm where Yugito is.

However, Chikushodo Pain did not reply to Killer Bee, but muttered to himself, "Hachibi's Jinchuriki is finally here…"

Among the nine Bijuu, Hachibi's strength is second only to Kyuubi. Akatsuki Organization has specifically deployed its members on several fronts in such a manner that Hachibi will be the only one to manage to some inside Amegakure aside from the four of team-11. As for bringing in team-11, well it is obvious to have a chat with Hyuga Kuroto and extract his memories to understand how did he obtain the location of Akatsuki's base.

And well, Jiraiya was already present in the village.

Tap… tap… tap… tap… tap… tap… tap… tap…

Slowly and steadily the sound of someone walking over metal pipes came.

"Now that Hachibi is here… it's time to put an end to this farce…" Then the indifferent words reached everyone's ears… "Capturing Hachibi will be the second step to world peace…" – as Soon as those words were finished another shinobi with the Akatsuki Cloak and orange hair, and the same ripple pattern eye walked out and stood next to Shurado Pain.

This one is other than Tendo Pain.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed in shock, "Y-Yahiko?!"

'Oh yes, there was such a fellow once, wasn't there? But he died a long time ago.' These words of Nagato were repeated in Jiraiya's mind, 'Wasn't he supposed to have died?'

Killer Bee was stunned, "What-w-w-what is going on? How come another Pair of Rinnegan is coming on, bakayaro, konoyaro?"

Jiraiya shook his head with a solemn expression, "No this is already the fourth pair!"

While Jiraiya and others were talking, Tendo Pain clasped his hands together, and instantly, a black dot appeared between his hands. The black soon expanded and was released into the air by Tendo Pain.

The black Ball soon flew higher and higher and its power started to take effect.

"Chibaku Tensei!" – Tendo Pain's cold words reached everyone's ears.

Whether it was Jiraiya, or Fukasaku and Shima on Jiraiya's shoulders, or Killer bee, each of them felt an extreme threat from that.

It didn't take long for their fear to be fulfilled as the ground beneath that ball dot started to crack and started to rise above, it was as if something was pulling it up in spite of the acting gravity.

Toad Shima who started to rise in the air despite the resistance she put can't help but panic, "What's going here Pa?"

Toad Fukasaku was not much different from Shima, and he spoke, "It should be some kind of ability of the Rinnegan."

Killer Bee felt the crisis and Hachibi sealed inside Bee too felt it, he immediately said, "Bee… break free of the effects of that… otherwise we are done for!"

Jiraiya also found that his body was not under his control, "Damn!"

Under the high gravitational pull of Chibaku Tensei, everything was pulled towards it. Even the nearby tall buildings were no different for that matter.

Gradually its size grew and even the likes of Jiraiya in Sennin Mode and Killer were unable to resist being buried into the rubble and sealed inside it.

With the main troubles solved, Tendo Pain's body slowly hovered above and spoke indifferently, "Now stay there as you are while I get rid of everyone that has no use…"

.

.

Read up to Chapter – 607 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: /Milta_translations

Report chapter Comments