Uehara Naraku eagerly greeted them.
However, not a single person in the Hidden Mist Village dared to respond to his greeting, nor did anyone dare to relax. Everyone looked at their figures with tense expressions.
The Akatsuki had only sent four people.
Yet, these four individuals faced the increasingly numerous Mist Village Ninja around them as if they were nothing, showing not an ounce of weakness in their demeanor.
The Mist Ninja held an advantage in numbers, but facing this group of Akatsuki members, they didn't dare to make any rash moves because recently, they had heard about how the Akatsuki had taken down another great nation, the Hidden Sand Village, leaving the entire village in ruins.
The breath of every Mist Ninja involuntarily began to tighten as they gazed at those four figures clad in cloud-black robes, not daring to even make a sound.
As a high-ranking member of the Hidden Mist Village, Ao was the first to arrive at the scene.
His eyes briefly swept over the four members of the Akatsuki, his face growing gloomier as he recalled the information about the Akatsuki that had been obtained from Konoha.
"Hidden Rock S-Class Traitor Deidara!"
Ao looked at the most flamboyantly smiling blonde ninja among the four Akatsuki members sent, his expression becoming increasingly serious: "Deidara, involved in the Akatsuki's attack on the Hidden Sand Village, personally took action to capture the Fifth Kazekage Gaara."
Solely the first individual was already difficult to deal with.
Ao's gaze shifted from Deidara, slowly turning towards the red-haired, young-looking ninja: "Hidden Sand S-Class Traitor Sasori, involved in the Akatsuki's attack on the Hidden Sand Village, once singlehandedly took down a country..."
This guy was even tougher to handle.
As someone who had participated in the Ninja World Wars, Ao was well aware of how much devastation a Puppet Master of Sasori of the Red Sand's caliber could cause on the battlefield.
Ao's gaze then moved from Sasori to Momochi Zabuza, his face becoming even graver: "Hidden Mist S-Class Traitor Momochi Zabuza, the killer of the Fourth Mizukage and the hero who ended the Bloody Mist Era..."
To be honest.
The Hidden Mist Village still held a good impression of Momochi Zabuza.
Although Momochi Zabuza had killed the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, he had also ended the Bloody Mist Era, thereby opening a new chapter for the Hidden Mist Village.
In the end, Momochi Zabuza defected.
Not only that, but the only three remaining members of the Seven-swords Ninja of the Hidden Mist from that time all defected, leaving no powerful force besides Terumi Mei.
It was...
Quite unexpected.
Ao's gaze finally settled on the last member of the Akatsuki, who was wearing a hood. This was recognized as one of the Akatsuki's strongest members.
Anyone wearing a hood was undoubtedly among the most powerful.
"Byakugan·Open!"
Ao's expression suddenly changed, his Byakugan opening sharply as he stared at that figure: "Let me see who you really are... Is this..."
"Kill him."
A cold voice resounded in the crowd's ears.
The hooded ninja slowly extended his finger, pointing at Ao, who had activated the Byakugan.
It was Uehara Naraku.
He almost forgot that there was a hidden Byakugan Ninja in the Hidden Mist Village.
If Ao could see through his whereabouts, wouldn't that make his lurking meaningless? Uehara Naraku simply commanded the Ancient Giant Dragon to launch an attack!
"Roar!"
The next moment, the Ancient Giant Dragon in the sky opened its mouth and spat out a massive fireball towards Ao's position, descending directly into a group of Mist Ninja!
Each of the Mist Ninja panicked, trying frantically to evade the huge fireball's attack!
As the fireball in the sky gradually grew larger in their view, several Jonin desperately shouted at their subordinates to react: "Everyone, immediately release the Water Release: Water Rushing Wave above your heads!"
"Water Release: Water Rushing Wave!"
Every Mist Ninja who had time to react immediately joined their hands together, opening their mouths to jet out a massive stream of water, each stream rapidly rising into the sky to form an enormous canopy waterfall!
At this moment, they no longer cared about the potential damage the waterfall above might cause when it fell, their only concern was to block the massive fireball falling from the sky!
Evidently, at this moment, the collective Ninjutsu unleashed by hundreds of Mist Ninja succeeded; the enormous canopy waterfall formed a barrier that blocked the fireball coming from the sky!
The fireball spewed out by the Ancient Giant Dragon in the sky was surrounded by endless sprays of water, gradually evaporating and turning into a cloud of steam in the sky...
All the Mist Ninja finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They had blocked the attack from that Akatsuki monster.
If that fireball had fallen, those who could survive would certainly be very few, and this area would undoubtedly be reduced to ashes.
Uehara Naraku watched this scene, a deep and meaningful smile appearing beneath his hood, the corners of his lips curving slightly up: "Heh... blocked it, huh?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha..."
Deidara looked at the gradually relaxing expressions of the Hidden Mist Ninja and couldn't help but let out a burst of wild laughter: "What a naive bunch! Did they really think your Summoning Beast could only spew out a single fireball?"
"We can't be too harsh."
Uehara Naraku chuckled, continuing: "After all, this is the remote and backward Hidden Mist Village. It's inevitable for them to have outdated information; they're just like frogs trapped at the bottom of a well..."
"Hmph!"
Momochi Zabuza couldn't help but snort coldly.
This was the awkwardness of the Akatsuki; whenever they mocked a village, one of their companions from that village would undoubtedly be nearby.