Darui's Team

The fact that Kumogakure invited Konoha to return the visit was not deliberately kept secret.

So the news spread quickly and naturally reached the Stone Ninja.

The Stone Ninja were shocked—no, they didn't.

Because they made the same decision.

Since the Kumogakure Ninja and the Stone Ninja can't unite, then of course they should join the alliance with the Konoha and have four of them take on the remaining Stone Ninja / Kumogakure Ninja! It's surprising how well these two villages, who have been locked in a love-hate relationship for so many years, have developed such a tacit understanding.

Tsunade was delighted. Her painstaking efforts to invite the observation teams from Kumogakure Ninja and Stone Ninja to flex her muscles had yielded immediate results. At this time, she was unaware that the Two-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki had been taken by Akatsuki. Akatsuki's two slaps to the Raikage and Tsuchikage made them realize the truth and decisively came to huddle together for warmth...

What a painful realization!

Don't laugh at these people's stubbornness; in the original story, the Five Kage Summit was only held when only the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails remained among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. That's when they swallowed their tears even when they were facing death!

Of course, the Five Great Shinobi Villages currently have no intention of uniting to fight Akatsuki—although they know that cooperation would be beneficial, forming an alliance always involves many things that can cause disputes: should it be loose and temporary, or tight and long-term? How much manpower and resources should each village contribute? Who should take the lead and who should just play a supporting role? Unless things reach a critical point, given the inherent weaknesses of human nature, these issues will not be resolved anytime soon.

Even the three villages of Konoha, Sand Ninja, and Mist Ninja, who were just entering their honeymoon period and had an extremely close relationship, had disagreements on these issues: after all, although Sand Ninja had bowed to Konoha, Mist Ninja had not! Mei Terumi was unwilling to be bossed around by an old woman who could be her mother but looked younger than her—jealousy made her heart ache.

The issue of dominance is particularly crucial.

Just because Konoha brought everyone together doesn't mean it can automatically become the leader; at least, that logic doesn't apply to the Raikage.

"Konoha, Sand Ninja, Mist Ninja, and Stone Ninja all have missing-nin who have joined Akatsuki, but we, Kumogakure Ninja, are the only ones who are relatively united and haven't had any high-ranking ninja defect to Akatsuki! Just for that reason alone, we are more qualified to be leaders than other villages!"

The Raikage addressed his subordinates in a loud voice.

Standing in front of him were several members of the Darui's Team.

Leading the group was Darui, a man with the dark skin typical of Kumogakure Ninja, thick lips, wearing an off-the-shoulder armor vest and bell-bottoms. The characters "Lightning" and "Water" were tattooed on his shoulders, representing the two Release Techniques he was skilled in and their combined Kekkei Genkai: Storm Release.

The word "Darui" means lazy in the slang of the Kumogakure Ninja. The Kumogakure Ninja have interesting names, and people named "Lazy" are generally lazy in personality. Darui's catchphrases are "boring" and "sorry". His personality is a rare cynical type among the Kumogakure Ninja admire muscle and violence, making him an anomaly.

He's a very lazy but incredibly strong ninja—I really don't know how someone so lazy could cultivate such strength.

"Understood, Lord Raikage ~~~" Darui drawled out the last syllable, speaking casually.

Raikage A had seen Darui's lazy attitude many times before and didn't mind, continuing, "Especially some villages that have repeatedly hired Akatsuki to fight. Those villages are not trustworthy; they never had the strength to compete for dominance from the start!"

"In short, listen to all of this carefully! When you meet Tsunade, don't forget to tell her what I've said. The Kumogakure Ninja can join the alliance formed by the three kingdoms, but the responsibility of leadership should be borne by the Raikage! Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Raikage ~~~"

Darui's lazy tone sounded quite unreliable, and the Raikage's rugged features twitched. For a moment, he hesitated whether he should send someone else to Konoha.

"Fine, it has to be him." After considering it for a while, the Raikage gave up on the tempting idea. The more important thing about this mission was to demonstrate the strength of the Kumogakure Ninja, as a response to Konoha's previous display of power. Therefore, Darui, as the only successor of the Third Raikage and a man of great strength, was the only choice.

However, one of Darui's teammates couldn't stand it anymore. A fair-skinned, beautiful, busty, and curvy female ninja secretly kicked his leg. "Be serious, Captain!"

Her name is Samui —a word that means "cold" or "ice" in the Kumogakure Ninja dialect, which matches the girl's calm and taciturn personality.

"Samui," Raikage said somewhat helplessly, "You'll have to help Darui out on this mission."

As an outstanding Jonin of the Kumogakure Ninja, Samui differed from the impulsive and reckless Kumogakure Ninja. She was knowledgeable, cautious, and skilled with a short sword, making her another anomaly among the Kumogakure Ninja. Therefore, she enjoyed the Raikage's trust, at least more than the unreliable Darui. Of course, her fair skin and calm, intelligent demeanor were nothing special—

Her most distinctive feature is...

Big.

"Yes!" Samui's answer was concise and forceful.

"Besides the overt mission of delivering messages," the Raikage unfolded a scroll and handed it to Darui, continuing, "Pay close attention to the Konoha Ninja mentioned in this scroll, and if possible, get as close as possible to them to confirm the accuracy of the information in the scroll."

Those were sheets of paper filled with intelligence records from the observation team.

The Raikage tapped the scroll forcefully, right where the information about Sakura Haruno was located.

"Especially this person."

If there's no opportunity, then so be it; don't make it too abrupt.

Let's go!

Samui followed Darui out of the Raikage's Office, rubbing her shoulders. Her physique meant her shoulders were bound to bear a heavy burden—after all, being a woman is tiring.

When Darui arrived in Konoha with Samui, Omoi, and Karui, Sakura Haruno happened to have returned to the village to resupply daily necessities and food.

As an aside, Omoi and Karui mean "heavy" and "light" in the Kumogakure Ninja community, as both were disciples of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. The name Azhong doesn't mean Omoi's fat or heavy; he's a traditional Kumogakure Ninja man with brown skin, skilled in swordsmanship, and a strong physique. However, the name Aqing does hint at something... after all, he's missing a few ounces of flesh on his chest.

In the Hokage's office, Sakura Haruno met the visiting Cloud Kumogakure Ninja delegation.

"Sakura, is your training over?" Tsunade, somewhat puzzled.

"No!" Sakura shook her head and said, "I just came back to replenish some supplies, including food."

"Oh," the Fifth Hokage replied simply.

With ninjas from other villages present, she couldn't inquire too much about the girl's training progress, so she briefly mentioned it before abruptly ending the conversation.

"Let me introduce you," Tsunade said with a smile, "These are messengers from Kumogakure). They have been sent by the Raikage to deliver a message to me."

"This is Darui... Samui... Omoi... and Karui." She pointed to the Kumogakure Ninja standing to one side, whose style was clearly different from that of the Konoha Ninja.

"This is Sakura Haruno, Jonin Konoha, and also my student."

When it was Sakura's turn, Tsunade's face clearly showed a hint of pride.

The Kumogakure Ninja were all somewhat surprised.

They were surprised to have encountered the person the Raikage had specifically asked them to keep an eye on so quickly, and even more surprised by Sakura Haruno's youth.

Although her age was stated in the information, seeing such a slender and young girl manage to defeat members of Akatsuki one after another, and even manage to kill one of them in a battle a month ago when she fought two against one...

"Hello, Sakura Haruno... I've heard so much about you."

The nonchalant expression on Darui's face suddenly vanished, and a light seemed to suddenly appear in his otherwise lifeless eyes.

He stepped forward, extended his right hand, and made a handshake gesture.

This behavior is actually somewhat impolite. When a boy offers to shake hands, some people may perceive it as an attempt to take advantage of the girl, especially when it comes to a cute young woman.

Sakura Haruno, on the other hand, wasn't so formal or pretentious. She shook hands with him readily and said with a smile, "Hello. Welcome to Konoha. Have a great time."

Darui's hands were strong, and the calluses on his palms indicated that he was a master of Taijutsu. His Chakra senses were very active, suggesting that he was also quite accomplished in Ninjutsu. Sakura Haruno subconsciously analyzed.

The well-prepared Darui also gleaned a great deal from this encounter.

Her hands were soft and delicate, without calluses, indicating that she rarely used ninja tools and preferred unarmed or Ninjutsu- based combat. Her fists were flat, her fingers strong, and the knuckles of her middle finger showed signs of wear—typical of someone who frequently used Monstrous Strength Technique ...

The information about Sakura Haruno on the scroll given by the Lord Raikage is basically consistent with the facts.

As the Kumogakure Ninja sized up Sakura Haruno, the girl was also carefully scrutinizing them.

The ninjas of the Kumogakure Ninja all seemed to have the same dark, rough skin, and carried a long sword on their backs—except for Samui, whose skin was snow-white, as smooth and delicate as the finest white porcelain, so fine that no pores could be seen. She did not carry a long sword, but instead had a short sword hanging at her waist.

Of course, what's most striking about Samui isn't her flawless skin, but rather her breasts; it's the first time Sakura has ever seen a woman whose bosom rivals her master's!

As for Darui, the captain, he could sense that Darui was very strong, and Sakura Haruno could even vaguely feel that he possessed Kekkei Genkai...

As for the other two, they were probably just there for show and not worth mentioning.

"Tsk... Well then, you guys chat first." Sakura Haruno released her hand, chuckled softly, and said, "I'm leaving now."

She came over here simply to Teuchi.

The training in the Shikkotsu Forest wasn't finished yet— the Katsuyu's comment that the difficulty was higher than she had imagined wasn't just a casual remark. After replenishing her supplies, Sakura Haruno went to the secret base to get some things and immediately returned to continue her training...

Around the same time.

In a certain underground cavern in the Land of Rain.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path stood silently in the pitch-black space, its hand outstretched, palm open, and ten fingers bent downwards.

A faint light flickered in the cave; it was the Magic Lantern Body Technique, which allowed the members of Akatsuki to gather here together, each projecting their image onto a finger.

The number of people is not large.

Orochimaru left, and Deidara Kisame Hoshigaki died.

This summer, Xiao's gathering was a bit lonely.

[I misspelled Killer B's name in the previous chapter, just so you know.]