Chapter 161: Encountering the Akatsuki
In Konoha 43, the great war that had engulfed almost the entire ninja world was still raging.
Not only were the major powers frequently attacking each other, but even many small countries and villages had begun to cause trouble in the chaos. One day, you'd dress up as a rogue ninja and plunder my territory; the next, it would be my turn to go to another country and do some thieving.
Normally, they wouldn't dare to do this. After all, the major powers needed to maintain their rule, and no one would allow the surrounding forces to cause trouble. But now, these major powers were too busy to care about such things.
What Kyosuke had seen and heard in the Land of Grass over the past few days almost all confirmed this situation.
Although he was now over nine years old, there were probably not many in the entire ninja world who dared to wander around at this age. So, in the past few days, Kyosuke had encountered almost everything, from robbery to kidnapping. Of course, all these people had died at his hands in the end.
But even if Kyosuke had killed a pile of these scumbags along the way, it wouldn't be long before others would come to take their "jobs."
Killing alone was not enough. The reason for this situation was ultimately caused by the mutual vigilance, sabotage, and wanton plunder of resources between the major powers. If they wanted to completely eliminate this situation, there was only one way: to unify the laws and enforce them with severe punishments.
Of course, this seemed like a joke now. Not to mention managing others, even many of the major powers' own hands were not clean. So, Kyosuke was just thinking about it.
But if one day he held great power, he wouldn't mind changing the fate of these small countries.
"After three days of forced march, I should be close to the Sand ninja's alert line now," Kyosuke, dressed in a standard black cloak and mask, muttered to himself, looking into the distance.
Usually, when a ninja army was encamped somewhere, they would set up a wide-range sensory barrier around them to prevent anyone from bypassing them for a sneak attack. So, he was now considering whether to carry out another infiltration operation.
But in the end, Kyosuke gave up on this idea. After all, the war had reached this point. It was no longer a matter of winning with a single clever move. More importantly, they had to defeat the enemy on the front lines and inflict heavy damage. Otherwise, the enemy would just regroup and launch another counterattack.
Having figured this out, he directly bypassed the Sand ninja's alert line and headed for the main battlefield.
Unfortunately, even if Kyosuke himself didn't want to cause any trouble at this time, it didn't mean that trouble wouldn't find him.
At this time, on the border of the Land of Rain, a small-scale battle was taking place fiercely.
"Water Release: Water Trumpet."
A boy with orange hair launched his attack on a group of rogue ninja in front of him.
"Damn it, I can't get close to him," a middle-aged man with a scar on his face thought to himself, looking at the water pillars surrounding the boy, trying to figure out a way to deal with it.
They had come here today to deal with this small village. But who would have thought that these people would have the guts to hire this group of mercenaries to protect them? Weren't they afraid that they would turn on them later?
It had to be said that these small mercenary groups did not have a very good reputation in the entire ninja world. When they had a commission, they might be a bit more reliable. But when they had no income, these people could turn into bandits at any time.
The scar-faced man's group had done this kind of business of attacking their employers before, so he was a bit puzzled by the village's choice.
But what he didn't know was that this group of mercenaries in black and red cloaks was not the same as them. These people had a relatively good reputation and credibility around the Land of Rain, so it was only natural that they would be trusted.
Needless to say, this group was naturally the Akatsuki, led by Yahiko.
After gaining the appreciation of the leader of the Village Hidden by Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander, the Akatsuki had officially begun to expand. Although due to financial and other restrictions, their development had been a bit slow, but up to now, they had grown to a scale of more than twenty people.
Although the number was not yet large, they were already eager to start their dream of changing the ninja world. Today's battle was a case in point.
The scar-faced man thought that these people were hired by this village. Little did he know that the Akatsuki had come here uninvited after getting the news. Even the villagers who were trembling in their homes did not know why someone would step forward to protect them. But that didn't stop them from remembering these ninja in black and red cloaks.
"Damn it, how are they so strong?" The scar-faced man, seeing that his side was no match, was already beginning to think of retreating. After all, these guys couldn't possibly stay here forever. At worst, they could just come back later.
Thinking of this, he directly let out a roar and prepared to retreat.
Not far away, Konan, who had been watching, timely noticed the enemy's intention. After a moment of hesitation, she directly made a move to stop the enemy.
"Secret Technique: Paper Shuriken."
With her soft cry, a dozen shuriken made entirely of paper suddenly surrounded the enemy leader.
The scar-faced man looked at the dangerous objects floating around him, and his throat couldn't help but bob.
"What... what do you want?" he asked, trying to sound calm.
This question, however, stumped Konan. The reason she didn't want the enemy to leave was because she was afraid that they would come back. At that time, this village would still be unable to escape the fate of being bullied.
But since these things had not yet happened, the kind-hearted Konan couldn't just kill them. For a moment, she couldn't help but stand there in a daze.
Just then, it suddenly began to rain. This was not uncommon in the Land of Rain, so Konan and the others didn't pay any attention.
But when the scar-faced man saw that the floating paper was softened by the rain, his heart suddenly stirred.
"Hey, since you've interfered, we won't come here again," the scar-faced man said, trying to attract Konan's attention with his words, while reaching behind him.
"Are you serious?" Konan asked with a joyful expression.
"Of course..." the scar-faced man first muttered in a low voice, then suddenly stepped forward and thrust the kunai in his hand with all his might. "Impossible!"
"Ah!" In a panic, Konan was about to control the paper to attack the enemy, but unfortunately, the paper had already been eroded by the rain and was completely useless.
At the critical moment, it was Yahiko, who was on the side, who arrived in time.
Thump!
He kicked the scar-faced man away, and without paying any attention to the fleeing enemy, he looked down at Konan with a nervous expression. "Konan, are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you, Yahiko," Konan said, although she was frightened, her bright smile did not change.
"Whew, as long as you're alright," Yahiko said, then turned to look at Nagato on the side, nodded with force, and the three of them chased after the fleeing scar-faced man.
As for the remaining rogue ninja, the other comrades could take care of them.
"How dare you hurt Konan? I'll never let you go," at this time, this thought simultaneously rose in Yahiko and Nagato's hearts.
"This damn weather in the Land of Rain. It really rains whenever it wants, without any warning," Kyosuke thought, feeling a bit annoyed as he walked on the road.
At this time, he was walking along the border of the Land of Rain toward the Land of Fire, preparing to take a detour back to the battlefield.
But what he didn't know was that an unexpected battle was waiting for him.
"Whew... damn it, do you have to chase me so hard?" the scar-faced man said, looking at the faintly visible figure behind him, a hint of despair on his face.
Just then, a white arm suddenly shot out from the ground below him and directly dragged him into the ground.
After a long while, a strange white "figure" suddenly drilled out from the ground. "He" looked in the direction of Yahiko and the others, and a light laugh couldn't help but escape his lips.
"The show is about to begin."
Kyosuke, who was in a hurry, suddenly sensed someone rapidly approaching him. For some unknown reason, a bad premonition suddenly rose in his heart.
But with his skill and courage, he still decided to see who would bring him this sense of threat.
But just a few minutes later, Kyosuke regretted his recklessness.
"What... what is this situation?" he said, looking at the three people who had come before him with anger, a sense of strangeness in his heart.
"How could these three be here? And from the looks of it, they're preparing to attack me?" Kyosuke, in a state of confusion, was about to ask what was going on.
Before he could speak, the furious Yahiko spoke first.
"Finally caught up to you. How dare you hurt Konan? I'll never let you go today," Yahiko said, his eyes bloodshot.
"I don't quite understand what you mean. Calm down first. Is there some misunderstanding?" Kyosuke's strange feeling grew stronger, but the top priority was to clear up the misunderstanding.
After all, these three were not easy to deal with. Yahiko's Water Release, Konan's Paper Secret Technique, and Nagato's Rinnegan, as well as the six chakra natures including Yang Release—these abilities were more tricky than the last. Even if he had mastered Sage Mode, he didn't want to fight a battle for no reason. Not to mention, it was possible that White Zetsu's clones were still... wait, White Zetsu?!
Kyosuke vaguely seemed to have grasped something, but before he could think about it, the angry Nagato on the side made the first move.
"Misunderstanding? Your clothes and voice can change, but your chakra fluctuation can't hide from me. Die!"
With that, Nagato held his palm out to him.
Instantly, a huge gravitational force enveloped Kyosuke.
"Universal Pull."
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