First Encounter with the Akatsuki!

"Hmph, that Jiraiya guy, I'll teach him a lesson next time I go back to the village." Tsunade put down the letter, her cheeks flushed with anger, and spat out a curse. She looked up, as if thinking of something, but found her master holding the intelligence letter, his face grave.

"Master, what's up there?" Tsunade asked seriously, her slightly annoyed expression fading.

"It contains some intelligence about Akatsuki." Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly skimmed through the last few sentences, then handed the letter to Tsunade. His smile faded, concealing the kind old man's demeanor, and the aura of a legendary Shinobi Hero subtly revealed himself.

The Third Hokage asked solemnly, "Tsunade, are you really sure that the person who targeted Orochimaru was Danzo's men?"

"No, this is just our speculation. To deal with Orochimaru, you need at least a ninja close to the 'Kage' level. I think Danzo probably can't find a ninja of that level who also has strong hostility towards Orochimaru to deal with him, right?" Tsunade said, frowning as she quickly flipped through the short intelligence letter.

Then, very quickly, Tsunade's expression also became as solemn and gloomy as the Third's.

It was as if a layer of frost had formed on his face.

"Orochimaru... joined the Akatsuki more than ten years ago, and then left for unknown reasons eight years ago, thus becoming a long-term target of the Akatsuki..."

She read it softly.

Tsunade raised her head and met the Third Hokage's gaze.

"So the one who targeted Orochimaru wasn't Danzo's Root... This explains why we didn't know Danzo had such strong ninjas under his Danzo —it's because they weren't from Root, but from Akatsuki!" Tsunade said in a deep voice. "Similarly, this also explains why Orochimaru hastily moved away from the base."

"Besides hiding from us, he was mostly trying to evade Xiao's pursuit!"

"As for why Akatsuki would cooperate with Danzo, I think there must be some kind of deal behind it." Her eyes suddenly turned cold. "Danzo... could he have betrayed Konoha?"

"..." The Third Hokage silently puffed on his pipe, his eyes narrowing.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the flickering Kakkō from the burning tobacco cast a vacant glow on the old man's eyes.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Danzo... isn't that kind of person. He wouldn't harm Konoha."

"The problem is, what actions are beneficial or detrimental to Konoha is always a matter of his own judgment!" Tsunade said coldly. "What we see as detrimental to Konoha might be beneficial in his eyes?"

The Third Hokage tapped the table lightly with his pipe and calmly said, "We can discuss this later. The most urgent matter right now is—"

"It's an alert to the Anbu you sent out; they're to be withdrawn and await reports from the reconnaissance team!"

The old man stared intently into Tsunade's eyes.

The Lord Fifth Hokage lowered his eyes, and after a moment's thought, he realized that since the Akatsuki members were also chasing Orochimaru over there, they were very likely to run into the Anbu squad that was on a mission!

"No... it's to send an alert to them, order them to stay put, and then send reinforcements!" She slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly. "This time, we're going to catch Akatsuki by the tail!"

The Third Hokage lowered his eyelids, glanced at the triumphant Tsunade, and put on his Hokage hat.

What a spirit!

If he were twenty years younger and in good health, he would probably have made the same decision.

However, he is now listless and lethargic. Faced with this situation, his first reaction is to seek stability by removing his subordinates.

Being conservative is not wrong, but excessive conservatism will only cause Konoha to lose its ambition.

It was precisely because he realized this that the Third Hokage made the decision to abdicate, even though he hadn't been injured after the Chunin Ninja Exams.

He turned his head to look out the window, and the rising sun shone through the window onto him, carrying a warm, almost scorching temperature.

The Fourteenth Squad, having finished collecting the data, was unaware of the situation at the Hokage's office.

No one realized that while they were wandering around, the most likely person they would encounter was not Orochimaru, but the Orochimaru's Zombie Combo who had been searching for him.

Unbeknownst to them, two people were staking out near Orochimaru's main base, hoping to catch a glimpse of Orochimaru...

When the Fourteenth Squad left the underground base and stepped onto the surface, Shino was the first to notice something was wrong.

"Makoto Inuzuka! Where are you?" he called out in a low voice.

However, the reply received was from a completely different, unfamiliar voice—

Is this the person you're looking for?

A tall man wearing a black trench coat with red cloud patterns said coldly.

Sakura Haruno recognized the enemy immediately from their distinctive clothing; they were members of Akatsuki.

The man kicked a body at his feet. The Inuzuka clan's scout ninja lay lifeless in a pool of blood, motionless.

He's obviously dead.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she saw Kotaro's corpse again. His upper body was next to Makoto Inuzuka, while his lower body was cruelly trampled underfoot by another Akatsuki ninja.

The girl remained silent, but a murderous aura gradually emanated from her.

"You missing-nin dare to kill Konoha Ninja? Do you want to become enemies of Konoha?" Shino said coldly.

The atmosphere became heavy.

Since the other side killed their comrade, this matter can absolutely not be resolved peacefully...

"I'm sorry, we didn't intend to take action..." The tall man shrugged, his murky, lifeless eyes showing no trace of apology. "But he found us, didn't he?"

"Hey, Kakuzu, what are you still babbling about? Since these people are the companions of that ninja walking the dog, let's just chop them all down!" The silver-haired youth said impatiently, brandishing his scythe.

Kakuzu? Sakura Haruno felt the name sounded vaguely familiar.

No, she was certain that the name hadn't appeared in any of the original works she had read. Perhaps she had seen it in a post online or in a book in her previous life, but she couldn't recall any information about his abilities, so it was meaningless.

Of the two opponents before him, the silver-haired youth with the scythe was somewhat better, as he seemed to follow the path of Taijutsu and did not have the oppressive aura of Kage Level.

That Kakuzu had a terrifying aura, and the Chakra he sensed was extremely complex and dense; he was a true "Kage" level ninja!

Sakura Haruno slowly increased the level of Chakra within her body, activating Cherry Blossom Impact: State Two.

We are ready for battle.

She stared intently at Kakuzu, watching him turn and scold the silver-haired youth, "What do you know, Hidan, you idiot! I need to figure out if those guys are really ninjas on the bounty list, otherwise what if they destroy their bodies when the fight starts!"

"An opportunity!" Sakura thought instinctively as she watched the two arguing.

In her Cherry Blossom Impact state, her reaction speed was extremely fast; almost the instant the thought arose, her hands had already begun Hand Seals—

Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm!

The gleaming ice darts spun wildly, hurtling towards the bickering Akatsuki duo like a Hayate!

However, the Akatsuki duo were also battle-hardened ninjas. Even if they seemed to be chatting casually without any guard up, how could they possibly have truly let their guard down?

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"

A thick and solid earthen wall rose rapidly in front of Kakuzu!

(Bonus chapter for Ice Scar! Please recommend! Please vote! Please subscribe! And please comment!)