A Conversation Before the Storm

Lord Fifth Hokage:

"...

The existence of the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki has been confirmed.

"She is a female Waterfall Ninja. She is estimated to be between fourteen and sixteen years old. She has short green hair, orange eyes, and dark skin. She is about 1.6 meters tall and has a slender figure. Her clothing is rather bold and avant-garde. She wears a two-piece crop top, an off-the-shoulder top, a short skirt over a top, and a mesh bra underneath. She carries a large black scroll on her back."

"It can partially Tailed Beast Transformation, growing butterfly-shaped wings on the back of its waist, allowing it to fly in the air at extremely high speeds."

"It is still unknown what Tailed Beast Secret Technique she has mastered."

"He has a strong control over the Tailed Beast. You can't feel the Tailed Beast Chakra on him when he's in normal situations. Even when he's partially Tailed Beast Transformation, you have to be very careful to detect the Seven-Tails 'Chakra. He is a very successful and stable Jinchūriki."

"Outgoing and lively personality, but a bit frivolous."

"He has shown interest in this year's Chunin Ninja Exams and may come to Konoha to participate in Chunin Ninja Exams, thus avoiding Akatsuki's pursuit."

They are extremely wary of Konoha and suspect that we also have ulterior motives towards the Seven-Tails. However, they believe that we will not be able to discover the identity of the Jinchūriki, so they are somewhat complacent.

"Above.

"Konoha Ninja Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha. June 10th, Konoha Year 6."

After finishing writing the intelligence letter, Sakura Haruno unrolled the scroll, read it through, nodded in satisfaction, put it away, and stuffed it into Ninja Hawk's leg pocket.

Sasuke fed the Ninja Hawk with dried meat while asking, "Is this really okay?"

"Hmm?" Sakura was squatting on the ground, carefully tying the foot bag to the Ninja Hawk's feet, and responded without looking up. Tying the string was a delicate task for the pigeon, requiring her full concentration to do it well—because if it was tied too loosely, the foot bag would fall off, and if it was tied too tightly, the Ninja Hawk would get injured.

"I just let the Waterfall Ninja deal with their Seven-Tails Jinchuriki like this. I wonder what measures they will take." Sasuke gently stroked the Genin hawk's head and said calmly, "If I had used Genjutsu earlier, wouldn't I have been able to control her directly? Then I could have taken her back to the village to protect her."

"You..." Sakura Haruno trimmed the excess thread from the Ninja Hawk Leg with her Chakra Blade, then looked up and said, "There are two problems. First, isn't what you're doing showing a lack of respect for our allies?"

"Hmm..." Sasuke had finished feeding all the jerky in his hand, wiped his hands clean, glanced back at his companion, and remained silent in thought.

As a ninja from a great nation, he often unconsciously overlooked the feelings of the ninja village, just like everyone else.

If they use Genjutsu to take the Seven-Tails away, how would the Waterfall Ninja be any different from the Akatsuki?

The Waterfall Ninja couldn't possibly believe that Konoha would voluntarily return the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki after the storm had passed!

"You thought of that too, didn't you?" Sakura Haruno nodded. "Then we'll be facing the entire Takigakure, just like Akatsuki!"

She thought about it; aside from the Seven-Tails, the fighting strength of the Waterfall Ninja was quite average. If a battle really broke out...

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like we can't beat them..." Sakura murmured, stroking her smooth, delicate chin.

"But that would completely ruin Konoha's reputation." Sasuke scoffed. "The alliance between Sand Ninja and Mist Ninja —would fall apart. Okay... what's the second question?"

"The second one."

The girl released the ninja hawk and watched it fly away. After a long while, she turned to Sasuke and said, "Without reaching the level of the Mangekyou Sharingan, even the genjutsu cast by the three-tomoe Sharingan cannot be maintained for long against a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast. Especially since you are not a genjutsu specialist to begin with."

In fact, in the original work, Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, failed to defeat the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki even with Genjutsu. Instead, his overconfidence nearly led to his own death.

The black-haired boy was stunned, staring at Sakura with a somewhat incredulous expression.

"Impossible! Naruto often falls for my Genjutsu!" he immediately retorted.

Sakura Haruno shook her head.

"That's because Naruto couldn't communicate with Nine-Tails before," she said, holding up an index finger. "Jinchūriki are extremely special ninjas; they are beings with two spirits in one body. Even if Genjutsu works on Jinchūriki, the Tailed Beast within the Jinchūriki can still immediately awaken it."

"You see, I'm almost completely unaffected by your Genjutsu," Sakura added.

Sakura Haruno's situation is somewhat similar to that of Jinchūriki, but she is more unique. She originally had two spiritual cores, and then the transmigrator merged into them, forming a special three-core structure. Her resistance to Genjutsu is very strong, which is due not only to her extraordinary mental strength but also to this reason.

Seeing that Sasuke's expression still showed no sign of being convinced, she shrugged and said, "Forget it, it's fine if you don't believe me. You can try it on Naruto later. In any case, be careful when dealing with Jinchūriki."

The released Ninja Hawk had become an unreachable black dot, and soon disappeared completely from the sky.

The two stood atop the mountain, enjoying the cool breeze blowing from above. Takigakure lay below them, its old-fashioned buildings no bigger than matchboxes.

"We're leaving soon. I hope Takikage and the Waterfall Ninja can recognize the current situation in time and make a wise decision that benefits them!" Sakura Haruno stepped on the stone and looked down at the village below that seemed to have remained unchanged for decades.

"What if they remain stubborn and refuse to take Akatsuki seriously and cooperate with us?" Sasuke stepped forward, standing beside Sakura, and looked at her profile.

Sakura Haruno glanced back at Sasuke, but her eyes, unlike their usual gentle smile, were now cold as frost.

"That's a pity..."

She said calmly.

Unfortunately, Sasuke couldn't understand what she meant for a moment.

"Let's go," Sakura urged.

After she finished speaking, she took the lead and jumped down, disappearing in a few swift movements into the towering mountains surrounding Waterfall Ninja.

Sasuke followed, leaping and accelerating to catch up with the agile and lithe figure ahead, rushing to a position where he was running alongside the girl.

"What exactly do you mean?" he asked, turning his head to the side.

It would be regrettable if Konoha disregarded the opposition of Waterfall Ninja and took forceful action; it would also be regrettable if Konoha did nothing and watched as Waterfall Ninja was attacked by Akatsuki and the Seven-Tails was taken away.

He gazed at Sakura's profile and the soft strands of hair fluttering beside her ears, trying to find the answer in her indifferent eyes.

"The threat from Akatsuki is imminent. Anyway, I won't stand by and watch the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki be kidnapped right under my nose..." Sakura Haruno glanced at Sasuke and said coldly, "What do you think?"

Sasuke remained silent.

The color gradually darkens.

Along the border of the Land of Waterfalls, someone lit a bonfire in the wilderness.

The two men sat around the campfire and set up a makeshift campsite.

A stern-faced young man sat quietly, gazing indifferently at the blazing fire before him, without uttering a word.

"Just a little further ahead is the border of Waterfall Ninja." The burly man with a large sword beside him broke the silence, grinning an ugly smile, and said, "Itachi, we'll be able to collect our first Tailed Beast soon..."

"..." Uchiha Itachi turned to look at him, his expression unchanged. After a moment of silence, he replied expressionlessly, "Kisame, don't be too careless. Also, Sasori's group should have already completed the Five-Tails retrieval mission. They were the true Akatsuki's first strike."

"Heh heh, the Five-Tails is in the hands of Iwagakure, after all, their opponent is one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. And Sasori-senpai's group only consists of him and that newbie Tobi, so it won't end so quickly." Kisame poked at the fire with his long sword, sending countless sparks flying into the air, and said slowly.

Itachi stared blankly at the sparks flickering above the fire, and murmured, "Whatever you do, don't look at Tobi..."

He's a formidable figure.

Before Itachi could finish speaking, Zetsu, who suddenly emerged from underground, interrupted him.

Kisame sensed that Itachi wasn't finished speaking, and a fleeting doubt crossed his mind. He didn't press further, but instead turned to ask, "Zetsu, did you find anything?"

"What a coincidence." Zetsu's lips curled into a malicious smile. "According to intelligence, the envoy from Konoha happens to be a guest in Takigakure!"

"Just an envoy..." Kisame grinned menacingly, revealing all his sharp teeth. "Just chop them all down!"

Itachi's eyes flickered, then he asked calmly, "Who are the people from Konoha?"

"They're all old acquaintances!"

Zetsu licked his lips and sneered, "One of them is Sakura Haruno, a ninja who has dealt with Akatsuki many times."

"Hmph, it's her again?" Kisame gripped Samehada tightly, slamming the sword into the ground with tremendous force, creating a deep crater. "That annoying fly, she should have been eliminated long ago..."

"Leave her to me!" he said, his killing intent palpable.

"Kisame- san, don't underestimate her," Zetsu said, getting up from the ground and sitting by the fire. "That girl who uses Ice Release gave Sasori a lot of trouble, even Deidara was instantly killed by her! When I went to scout ahead, she almost discovered me..."

Kisame snorted coldly, staring straight at the fire in front of him, remaining silent. He wasn't easily angered; although Zetsu's words sounded like an underestimation of his fighting ability, they were ultimately a well-intentioned reminder, and Kisame didn't want to argue.

To outsiders, the members of Akatsuki were all unruly S-rank missing-nin; each one was despair-inducingly strong, exceptionally powerful, and ruthless, making it difficult to distinguish their strengths. However, in Kisame's view, the strength hierarchy among the Akatsuki ninjas was quite clear!

Deidara's strengths and weaknesses are too obvious, so classifying him as a "Kage" is a bit of a stretch. His being easily defeated by Sakura Haruno can only be attributed to his inexperience. Sasori is strong, but as a puppeteer, he is countered by Monstrous Strength Technique, and he is restrained and unable to unleash his true fighting power when facing Ice Release Girl.

Even so, Sakura Haruno still had a tough time against them.

In contrast, Kisame is fully confident that he can easily defeat Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand if they were to face them!

"Then, what about the other Konoha Ninja?" Itachi asked calmly.

"The remaining person..."

Despairing, Uchiha Itachi sneered and slowly said:

"It's Sasuke Uchiha."

The black-haired youth's eyes suddenly turned crimson.

(Second update, making up for yesterday's missed update.)