The scorching sun hung high, its poisonous noon rays pouring down upon the desolate and majestic mountains.
However, the Hidden Stone Village (Iwagakure) felt none of the usual clamor and vitality expected at midday. There was only a deadly silence of ruin and an ever-present, lingering stench of blood and rot.
Iwagakure was built in a valley surrounded by rocky mountains. The entire village was nestled against the steep cliffs, layered one upon the other, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
But now, this fortified bastion presented a sight of shocking devastation.
The massive, dilapidated walls were riddled with dense, varying-depth chisel marks and cutouts, as if repeatedly scraped and pierced by countless sharp blades or drills.
A sickly sweet, strange odor hung in the air, impossible to dissipate. Puddles of viscous purple liquid could be seen on the ground, having corroded the rocks into pockmarked, honeycomb-like shapes.
Scattered everywhere were the wreckage of various bizarre, uniquely shaped humanoid puppets, mixed with the mutilated corpses of Stone Village ninja, silently recounting the battle that had just occurred.
In this silent ruin, Stone Village ninja wearing protective suits, thick masks, or simple gas masks were advancing cautiously.
"I sense survivors in that house, medical team prepare..."
"Watch your step, there's residual poison there..."
"Over here, Ipan, clear the way..."
The Stone Village Chūnin named Ipan was sweating profusely on his forehead. He formed hand seals and pressed his hands to the ground.
Earth Style: Excavation Technique.
As his chakra poured in, the ground before him rapidly sank, forming a channel about three meters deep and wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.
At the very front of the team, Akatsuchi's unusually massive figure was particularly noticeable. He formed hand seals, and a huge surge of chakra erupted.
Earth Style: Aggravated Weight Rock Technique!
Rumble!
The ground in front of him rose up. A large mass of rocks quickly converged and shaped, forming a crude stone golem.
The golem walked ahead of the team, clearing the path for the following members and removing dangerous puppet wreckage.
As the Stone Village ninja swept their eyes over the purplish, terribly deceased corpses, their eyes were filled with an uncontrollable mix of grief and sorrow.
"Akatsuchi-senpai."
Ipan wiped his sweat and looked up at Akatsuchi ahead. His voice, muffled by the mask, sounded heavy: "Is Han-dono really alright? Rōshi might have already..."
His voice carried worry and a faint, undetectable hint of fear.
After the two invaders attacked Iwagakure, they learned that the Four-Tails Jinchūriki Rōshi, due to disagreements with Ōnoki's personality, lived outside the village, and so they left immediately.
Han, the returning Five-Tails Jinchūriki, had already taken a few teams of Stone Village ninja to reinforce him after learning the situation.
Regardless of Rōshi's disagreements with Ōnoki, he was, in the end, Iwagakure's Four-Tails Jinchūriki.
But, the strength of the invaders...
Bang!
Akatsuchi controlled the golem to push aside the rubble. Without turning his head, he spoke with a booming voice: "What we need to do now is quickly find and move all survivors, and clear the poison mist and traps."
He paused, then turned his head to look at Ipan and the other Stone Village ninja, saying: "If Han were alone facing those two, it would indeed be very troublesome."
"After all, those are Sasori of the Red Sand and Salamander Hanzō, the Poison Weapon."
His words made the Stone Village ninja's hearts clench, but Akatsuchi immediately continued with a relaxed tone: "However, there's no need to worry now."
"I didn't tell you before, but the Tsuchikage-sama and the others actually returned with Han. They were just hidden among the team Han assembled."
"Otherwise, knowing the enemy's target is a Jinchūriki, how could we possibly let Han walk into a trap? It was precisely to catch the opponent off-gua—"
Boom!!
As if to confirm Akatsuchi's words, a roaring sound, loud enough to shatter mountains, suddenly came from a distant location far from Iwagakure. The ground under their feet trembled.
Accompanying this massive sound, a huge cloud of dust shot up into the sky.
At the same time, in the barren rocky clearing where the dust cloud rose:
A fierce explosion reverberated across the vast, rocky terrain, and the stirred-up smoke and dust churned like a yellow tidal wave.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two figures were thrown backward rather roughly from the swirling smoke and dust.
They were Hiruko—which had sustained damage—and Hanzō, riding on the Salamander Ibuse.
"Damn it, how did Ōnoki get back so fast? We only had enough time to extract the Four-Tails..."
Hanzō's brow was tightly furrowed. The salamander beneath him let out a faint hiss. Its tough skin had several burn marks.
"Hmph, who cares about the Four-Tails or Five-Tails now? We might both die here!"
Sasori's serious and angry voice came from within Hiruko: "What in the world is Pain doing? This situation is completely different from the plan!"
Because he had joined the Akatsuki organization earlier than in the original story and was executing the Tailed Beast capture plan sooner, he hadn't yet managed to transform his body into a human puppet.
Even so, this should have been a foolproof operation. After all, Iwagakure's Ōnoki and Kitsuchi were both absent. He, Hanzō, and Pain's Animal Path should have been more than enough.
The result was unexpected: Pain's Animal Path, who was with them, suddenly went silent, and the summoned creatures abruptly disappeared. What was even more unexpected was how quickly Ōnoki returned...
Whoosh!
Without giving the two time to discuss countermeasures, Deidara, riding on a clay owl, rushed out of the smoke right behind them.
Clay spiders rained down on the two figures below. Deidara grinned, formed hand seals, and shouted: "Katsu!"
Bang! Bang-bang!!
Continuous small-scale explosions erupted around Hanzō and Sasori!
Though the power of a single explosion was small, their large number and wide coverage were effective. The scorching heat waves and scattered gravel constantly impacted them.
"Annoying brat."
Hanzō commanded the salamander to swing its thick, powerful tail in front of him, swatting most of the clay spiders out of the air. Flames and smoke obscured the vision ahead.
However, in this brief moment of obstructed sight:
"Earth Style: Earth Release Barrier Technique!" A loud cry filled with rage came from afar.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The ground beneath Hanzō and Sasori let out a groan of being overwhelmed. The once-flat rocky ground on both sides was violently ripped and lifted.
Two massive, hemispherical rock masses closed in on Hanzō and the salamander in the center from the left and right!
Hanzō and Sasori, inside Hiruko, narrowed their eyes, abandoning the salamander without hesitation and creating distance.
Thud!!
A dull, heavy sound exploded. The two massive hemispherical rock masses clamped the salamander Ibuse tightly in the middle, causing the beast to let out a sharp shriek and struggle violently.
Meanwhile, the smoke in the distance gradually dissipated. Large patches of broken puppets were scattered on the ground, their surfaces exhibiting an abnormal dark purple mottling, like festering sores.
Numerous figures slowly emerged. They were all Stone Village ninja wearing tight protective suits and gas masks, clearly fully prepared to counter Hanzō's deadly poison.
At the front of the team, Kitsuchi, carrying a huge axe on his back, knelt on the ground, his hands pressed on the surface. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his entire body pulsed with surging chakra.
Clearly, it was he who had executed that Earth Style Ninjutsu, intending to first incapacitate Hanzō's Salamander Ibuse.
"Hiss! My back..."
Ōnoki sat on Kitsuchi's broad shoulder, clutching his lower back with one hand, grimacing and sucking in sharp breaths.
He had first thrown his back out in the Land of Demons, and then aggravated it again while rushing back.
Not far from Kitsuchi and Ōnoki, the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, stood quietly, looking at the corpse on the ground.
It was Rōshi's corpse, his face a grotesque purplish-blue, contorted in agony and suffering. Dried black blood stained his nose and mouth, indicating he had died in extreme torment.
Han, being a Jinchūriki himself, could feel that the Four-Tails had already been extracted from his body.
"In the end, were we too late?"
Han exhaled deeply, as if trying to expel the pent-up frustration and grief from his chest.
Scorching, high-pressure steam hissed uncontrollably from the seams of his specialized steam armor, forming a swirling white mist around him.
He slowly pulled his gaze away and looked at Hanzō and Sasori in the distance. His normally steady eyes were now filled with a chilling, murderous intent.
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