The sky over Amegakure was perpetually gray.
Lead-colored clouds hung so low they nearly brushed the tops of the village's strangely shaped towers.
A fine, unending rain fell over everything.
It struck the sheet-metal rooftops, the waterlogged streets, and the faces of every intruder who dared enter the village, producing a quiet, icy patter.
Teizawa stood in the shadow of an abandoned tower.
He looked up at the murky sky and suddenly smiled.
"It's going to rain."
Standing beside him, Mei gave him a puzzled look.
"Isn't rain normal in Amegakure?" she asked. "It rains here all year round. A day without rain would be the strange thing."
Teizawa did not explain.
He wasn't talking about the weather, of course.
This was Nagato's Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
By infusing his chakra into the rain, Nagato could sense everything touched by every single raindrop.
As long as someone stood beneath the rain, he could perceive the location and number of every intruder—even gauge their approximate strength.
In other words, they had been exposed the moment they crossed Amegakure's border.
The infiltration plan had been a failure from the very beginning.
But that didn't matter.
These people had always been nothing more than pawns he intended to use to keep Pain occupied.
Kakashi, Darui, Akatsuchi, Yugito, and the elite shinobi from the other villages…
He didn't care whether they lived or died.
As long as they drew Pain's fire from the front, Teizawa would have an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
Boom…
An explosion echoed in the distance.
Then another.
It wasn't a single blast, but a continuous chain of them.
Flames erupted behind the curtain of rain, dyeing half the sky a deep crimson.
Then came the radiance of ninjutsu.
The silver-white of Lightning Release, the scarlet glow of Fire Release, and the blue-green light of Wind Release intertwined like a magnificent yet deadly fireworks display.
Mei narrowed her eyes, her expression darkening.
"It seems our allies have been discovered."
The corners of Teizawa's lips rose.
"We should worry about ourselves first." He paused. "We've been discovered too."
Mei's pupils contracted slightly.
Teizawa raised his chin, indicating that she should look ahead.
Countless white sheets of paper drifted toward them through the rain from every direction.
They resembled snowflakes, butterflies, or part of some bizarre ritual.
They spun through the air, gathering and overlapping until they gradually formed a human figure.
Blue hair fluttered in the wind.
A folded paper flower trembled faintly in her hair.
Her dark orange eyes were cold and utterly devoid of emotion.
The Akatsuki cloak, black with crimson clouds, stood out starkly against the rain.
"Konan," Teizawa murmured.
Mei's brows drew together.
She had seen that name in the intelligence scroll.
Konan was one of Akatsuki's founders, possessing the ability to manipulate paper. She was known as the Angel.
Mei hadn't expected them to encounter her so quickly.
Konan floated in midair, looking down at them from above.
Her gaze swept over Teizawa's face, then Mei's, before passing across the elite shinobi from Sunagakure and Kirigakure.
Her expression did not change in the slightest.
"The Kazekage of Sunagakure…"
Her voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.
"And Kirigakure's Mizukage candidate… You should not have come to a place where you do not belong."
Teizawa raised his head and looked at that frost-cold face, the corners of his lips curling upward.
"We've already come all this way. We can't exactly return empty-handed."
He paused.
"Besides, Akatsuki still owes me a debt, and it's time we settled it."
"A debt?"
Konan's brow shifted slightly.
"Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori… Your people have come looking for trouble with me again and again."
"First you placed a bounty on me, then you tried to assassinate me. I haven't even come to settle accounts with you yet, and now you're questioning me?"
Teizawa spread his hands, his tone perfectly innocent.
"I've always believed in returning courtesy in kind. I treat people exactly the way they treat me."
"You attacked me, so naturally I'm going to hit back. It's fair, reasonable, and completely justified."
A cold glint flashed through Konan's eyes.
"You? With this handful of people?"
"You think it isn't enough?" Teizawa smiled. "Then let's find out."
He raised one hand.
A torrent of pitch-black Iron Sand poured from his sleeve and gathered before him, forming an enormous shield.
Mei prepared for battle as well.
Lava Release chakra surged into her palm, ready to erupt at any moment.
"Paper Person of God Technique."
Konan's voice was as cold as ice.
Countless sheets of paper transformed into shuriken, kunai, and senbon before shooting toward them in an overwhelming barrage.
Every paper shuriken tore through the air with a razor-sharp whistle.
Every paper kunai gleamed with a frigid light.
The Iron Sand shield blocked most of the attack, but many of the paper shuriken curved around it from the sides and flew straight at the elite shinobi from Sunagakure and Kirigakure.
Screams rang out.
Some were slashed by paper shuriken, while others had their shoulders pierced by paper kunai.
Teizawa frowned slightly.
Konan was every bit as troublesome as he had expected.
Her paper wasn't ordinary.
It had been reinforced with chakra, making it as hard as iron and as sharp as a blade.
Worse, there was simply too much of it.
The paper filled the sky, seemingly endless no matter how much they destroyed.
"Teizawa…"
Mei's voice came from behind him.
"I'll deal with her. You go find Pain."
Teizawa shook his head.
"You're no match for her."
Mei bit her lip.
Was he looking down on her?
She said nothing more.
Lava Release chakra gathered in her palm, transforming into a mass of scorching molten rock.
With a forceful sweep of her hand, she hurled the lava at Konan.
Konan's body scattered into countless sheets of paper.
The lava passed through them and struck the ground, burning out a large crater that released clouds of white steam.
The paper gathered in the air once more.
Konan's body reformed, completely unharmed.
"I told you, you're no match for her."
Teizawa extended an arm, shielding Mei behind him.
"Her body is made of paper. Physical attacks are practically useless against her."
"You need an elemental advantage to counter her. Fire Release can burn the paper, Wind Release can blow it away, and Lightning Release can conduct through it."
"But ordinary Fire Release and Wind Release won't do much. You need sustained high temperatures and pressure, or an attack capable of covering an enormous area."
There was one other thing he chose not to mention.
He was genuinely afraid Konan might lose her temper and unleash six hundred billion explosive tags, sending Mei straight to her grave.
That would be far too great a waste.
Across from them, Konan narrowed her eyes slightly.
This man knew far too much about her abilities.
"Who… exactly are you?"
"I already told you…"
The corners of Teizawa's lips rose.
"I'm just someone your organization managed to piss off."
He paused.
"And you'd better not waste too much time fighting me here."
"Your leader, Pain, should already have his hands full elsewhere."
(End of Chapter)
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