An ancient giant dragon roared through the sky.
The ancient dragon slowly landed on the ruins of the Tsuchikage Tower. Deidara stood atop the dragon's head, pouting with dissatisfaction, "I wanted to demolish this building when I was a kid. Why couldn't you leave it for me to destroy?"
"You're too slow."
Uehara Naraku frowned, glanced at the people on the ancient dragon, and saw Uchiha Sasuke was there along with the Five-tails Jinchuriki. Since the objective was achieved, staying in the Hidden Rock Village was no longer necessary.
"Let's go!"
Uehara Naraku leapt onto the ancient dragon, softly instructing, "Kabuto, recall the Second Tsuchikage. We can leave now."
"Yes."
Yakushi Kabuto raised his finger.
The Second Tsuchikage, who was still tangled with the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, immediately flew toward the ancient dragon and landed on its back.
Upon witnessing this, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki turned and rushed toward the ancient dragon, floating above it with a somber expression, "You invaders of the Hidden Rock Village still hope to leave here?"
Honestly, the situation in the Hidden Rock Village is much better compared to when the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist Villages were invaded, but these actions were still a slap in the face to the Third Tsuchikage!
Yakushi Kabuto adjusted his glasses, controlled the Second Tsuchikage Wu to fly into the air, and laughed softly, "Oh, Tsuchikage-sama, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
"Hmph!"
Deidara snorted coldly, "Old man, I saw you fleeing miserably when the Second Tsuchikage was beating you! Seems like you're more cautious with age, huh?"
"Shut up!"
Onoki glared at the little traitor Deidara and said in a deep voice, "I wasn't fearing death earlier, but it was about necessity... Now, with all of you here, it doesn't matter anymore!"
Previously, the members of Akatsuki were scattered, Onoki didn't dare to exert himself fully, fearing that if he lost or even died, there would be no one left to rid the world of the Akatsuki members.
But now, everyone was gathered, giving him the opportunity he needed!
After speaking, Onoki slowly clasped his hands together, urging the Dust Release Chakra within him, clenching his teeth, "You all will remain here!"
"I'll hold him off, you all go!"
Deidara reached into his pocket for the Clay Giant Bird.
Wonder where Deidara finds his confidence!
Uehara felt that Deidara was throwing himself into harm's way, which was unacceptable.
Uehara Naraku extended his hand, instantly smashing the Clay Giant Bird in Deidara's hand with a jet of water, commanding loudly, "Kabuto, use the Reanimation Body of the Second Tsuchikage to hold him off while we leave!"
Deidara sat on the ancient dragon, puffing his cheeks, dissatisfiedly looking at Uehara Naraku, "Don't always destroy others' art so casually, you!"
"Shut up!"
Sasori of the Red Sand rubbed his forehead.
Under Uehara's command, the ancient dragon roared and flew away, leaving the sky over the Hidden Rock Village, leaving devastation in its wake.
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki looked grimly at the departing ancient dragon, then at the Second Tsuchikage still floating in the air keeping him at bay, reluctantly accepting reality.
This invasion by Akatsuki was a huge humiliation for the Hidden Rock Village.
After a Dust Release duel, the Second Tsuchikage Wu, under Yakushi Kabuto's control, left the Hidden Rock Village. The Third Tsuchikage Onoki chose not to pursue.
The members of Akatsuki had all left. Facing a Reanimation puppet, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki wouldn't risk it all; it wouldn't be worth it.
Now Onoki needed to preserve himself and find a way to reclaim the Jinchuriki taken by Akatsuki and appease the ninjas in the village for rebuilding.
This invasion indeed caused significant losses.
Even with just an approximate tally, Onoki found that at least several thousand ninjas were seriously injured or killed, though not many civilians were affected.
The most significant loss, undoubtedly, was the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han being captured.
With Roshi gone before, now the entire Hidden Rock Village had no Tailed Beasts as strategic weapons.
"Perhaps, that guy Roshi has already been captured by Akatsuki."
Huang Tu held his arm wounded by a Water Dragon Bullet, standing before Onoki, saying deeply, "Judging by Akatsuki's pattern of attacking major ninja villages and capturing Jinchuriki, they probably captured Roshi first and then came for the Five-Tails!"
"Who told that idiot Roshi to run off on his own!"
Onoki clenched his small fist, cursing under his breath.
That's the temperament of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, stubborn and tough.
Huang Tu internally grumbled about his father's stubbornness and asked, "Should we ally with other ninja villages to track Akatsuki's trail? Akatsuki is no longer our ally, but our enemy now."
"Let me think…"
Onoki shook his head, holding his painfully aching lower back, speaking, "A few years ago, during the Land of Grass incident, we collaborated with Akatsuki members to attack Konoha. How could they trust us easily now…"
"Hmm…"
Huang Tu's expression was unpleasant as well, he sighed, "Even without these issues, there's still enmity from the previous ninja world war."
After speaking, Huang Tu added, "As a Kage, Tsunade of Konoha shouldn't be that shortsighted."
"Women can be quite vengeful though."
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki shook his head and softly asked, "Do you still remember that Akatsuki member who contacted us back then?"
"Yes."
Huang Tu nodded, his voice deep and gruff, "It was a woman with blue hair, she seemed very skilled at using paper in battle. When one of my subordinates tested her back then, he was nearly killed..."
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki immediately slapped the table in front of him and scolded his son, "Since you remember this, stop thinking about all those unnecessary things and quickly send someone to investigate Akatsuki's information!"
"Wait..."
Huang Tu's face showed a hint of hesitation, and he spoke in a low voice, "If I'm not mistaken, that woman never appears among the active members of Akatsuki. Maybe we can use this information to test Konoha."
As the son of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki and a high-ranking official of the Hidden Rock Village, Huang Tu had access to the same information as Onoki.
A gleam of light flashed in the eyes of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, and he said in a serious voice, "Then send someone to Konoha for a mission. Don't expect us to achieve cooperation in combating the Akatsuki organization, but we can conduct some information exchanges with them."
Information exchange is quite normal.
The Great Ninja Villages often engage in information exchanges. The Hidden Rock Village and Konoha often like to exchange information they have on the Hidden Sand Village.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm..."
After Huang Tu hurriedly nodded, he continued, "Actually, we can also try to deepen cooperation with Konoha, perhaps..."
"Get out!"
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki slapped the table, driving his son away with a scold.
This son of his, despite looking simple and honest, always stubbornly refused to listen and instead liked to offer some self-righteous suggestions.
For the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, until he sees Konoha's sincerity, he will absolutely not cooperate with them easily.
On the other side.
Uehara Naraku was also reviewing his gains.
In addition to receiving rewards for defeating the Five-Tailed Jinchuriki, the attack on the Hidden Rock Village also resulted in the acquisition of the talent divine power skills of Earth Power, Wood Power, and Magnetic Power after destroying the village, along with the generous rewards brought by Dark Harvest.
The casualty data that the Third Tsuchikage Onoki did not obtain, Uehara Naraku could easily estimate based on the accumulation from his Dark Harvest.
Dark Harvest: After defeating a ninja, a portion of power is gained from the enemy, increasing life energy by 10 points, Chakra energy by 10 points, and natural energy by 10 points each time. Currently, it has cumulatively increased life energy by 249610 points, Chakra energy by 249610 points, and natural energy by 249610 points.
Name: Uehara Naraku.
Life Energy: 323731
Chakra Energy: 321590
Natural Energy: 321590
Life Energy Recovery: 216 points/second
Chakra Energy Recovery: 108 points/second
Natural Energy Recovery: 216 points/second
Skill Cooldown Reduction: 100%
Remaining Gold Coins: 6630
Uehara Naraku tapped his fingers slowly, this value might rival that of Uzumaki Naruto.
After all, according to Hatake Kakashi, his highest Chakra level is at the Kage threshold of a minimum of three thousand points, and Uzumaki Naruto, when suppressing the Nine-tail, is four times that; if Naruto doesn't suppress the Nine-tail, it is a hundred times Kakashi's Chakra.
The protagonist is truly terrifying!
Uehara Naraku, after working hard for such a long time, could perhaps barely match the Chakra within Naruto.
Fortunately, Uehara Naraku has already obtained the extreme transformation of three Chakra attributes and three Kekkeigenkai, which is not too shameful.
Akatsuki's base.
Uehara Naraku's team was still the fastest to return.
Kakuzu's team had already entered the Land of Waterfall in search of the Seven-Tailed Jinchuriki and would probably capture the Seven-tailed Jinchuriki soon.
Nagato with the Pain of Six Paths went to capture the Six-Tailed Jinchuriki, and quickly arrived at the destination riding the Summoning Ancestor Bird, having already captured the Six-tailed Jinchuriki Utakata, and should soon return.
However, Nagato encountered trouble during this capture of the Six-Tailed.
"Someone saw the Deva Path of Pain."
While communicating with Uehara Naraku, Nagato softly said, "Hidden Mist Village and Konoha had over a hundred ninjas ambushing near the Six-Tailed Jinchuriki; even though I killed some of them, there were still quite a few who escaped."
Nagato didn't mind, he continued in a soft voice, "However, even if they discovered it, it doesn't matter. We only need the Eight-tails and Nine-tails now."
"..."
Uehara Naraku's heart couldn't help but sink.
If Konoha and the Hidden Mist Village discovered it, this information would soon reach Tsunade's desk and also fall into Jiraiya's hands. They will surely know what the existence of the Rinnegan means!
"Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead, "I've praised Master Hanzo so much in front of them, would Jiraiya really doubt me?"