Enemy from Konoha

"Konoha's pretty fast. Only a few days in, and they've already sent spies."

Uchiha An finished today's treatments, grinned, and leaped down from the high tower, heading in the direction Pain had pointed.

Killing Konoha ninjas—Uchiha An loved it. This game never got old.

The rain above still pattered down endlessly. On the streets, people wore straw rain capes and bamboo hats, their faces hidden in the shadows of the brims, blending into the crowd. It was indeed hard to spot anyone.

But unfortunately, the Land of Rain didn't catch spies with its eyes!

Under the "Rain Tiger At Will Technique," no one could infiltrate.

Uchiha An swaggered straight toward his target—a man dressed like a merchant who had entered the village with a trade caravan. But the chakra aura on him had completely given him away.

An arrived in front of the caravan, pointed a single finger, and shouted loudly:

"Hey, you. Yeah, I'm talking to you."

"Your cover's blown. Come with me!"

The spy's pupils abruptly contracted. He still stubbornly resisted, forcing a dry laugh as he reached out a hand with a pouch of money, smiling obsequiously:

"We just got into the village, haven't even started business yet. Wait until we're done—"

"No need to wait!" Uchiha An cut him off directly, waving a hand. "You're a Konohagakure ninja. Do you think I can't tell?"

"Be smart, and surrender quietly. Otherwise, I don't mind killing you on the spot and taking your head to settle the score."

The ninja's identity exposed on the spot, his expression shifted instantly. With a wave of his hand, a few pellets smashed into the ground. Bang! A thick cloud of smoke burst out.

But before he could seize the chance to escape, a fierce gust of wind struck. A foot slammed heavily into his right knee.

Crack! His right leg snapped. The broken shinbone pierced through the skin, gleaming with a pale, bone-white luster.

The ninja pitched forward involuntarily, like a felled cedar tree.

"Ah—" He barely let out half a scream before a hand reached out, grabbed his chin, and dislocated his jaw joint.

An's fingertip flicked, and a poison sac the size of a fingernail flew out along with his molar.

An casually pulled out the poison tooth from his mouth as well.

He still stubbornly resisted, his hands darting quickly into his pouch. But before he could pull out his shuriken and short sword, a pair of large hands pressed down on his shoulder joints. With a light shake, both his arms were dislocated too.

This whole sequence flowed like water, as if dismantling an exquisite puppet toy.

Uchiha An knew his combat style even better than he did. Everything was like it had been rehearsed many times, coordinated with flawless precision.

After easily subduing this spy, Uchiha An grabbed the man by the back of his collar with one hand and casually tossed him to a Rain Ninja standing by the roadside.

"Hey, take him to the high tower and hand him over to the people there for interrogation. I've got another shift to catch."

"Oh, yes!" The Rain Ninja hastily stood at attention and saluted, reaching out to take the spy.

"Hey, keep an eye on him. Don't let this guy kill himself. Dead ones can still give intel, but live ones are worth more."

"Understood! Please rest assured!"

After handing the man over, Uchiha An leaped onto the rooftops, turning into a blur as he dashed off in another direction.

Unlike the original story, where Jiraiya went in alone and took risks, this time Konoha had sent quite a few people, all infiltrating through different routes.

Once inside, these people each used their own skills to their fullest.

Some snuck into homes and replaced ordinary villagers. Some transformed directly into local ninjas. Some stayed hidden and released ninja beasts to run around everywhere. And some even blatantly appeared as ninjas, escorting trade caravans into the village.

The first few were all easily subdued by Uchiha An and handed over to other ninjas to take back for interrogation. Only the last one—the ninja who openly appeared with the caravan—was a bit troublesome.

According to the current rules of the ninja world, even if two countries were at war, they wouldn't touch ninjas escorting merchant caravans on missions.

After all, every country needed ninjas to take missions and earn rewards. If they all started killing each other indiscriminately, the economy would collapse.

The usual practice was for a merchant caravan to hire ninjas from one country to the border, then have ninjas from the other country take over for the second half of the journey.

But this practice was generally limited to the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Small countries like the Land of Rain weren't considered within the scope of such handovers.

So if Konohagakure took a mission to the Land of Earth, they'd escort it all the way to the Land of Earth's border and hand it over to Land of Earth ninjas, rather than pulling back at the Land of Rain.

Because of this unspoken rule, the ninja escorting the caravan dared to swagger openly into the Land of Rain.

Usually, someone this exposed would be kept under tight surveillance until they left the country.

Whether this person could actually get the intel they wanted depended on who was more skilled.

If he could fool the Rain Ninja monitoring him from outside, slip away quietly, and gather the information he needed, then he'd win.

But if he got caught, he'd have to bear the consequences and be secretly disposed of.

That was the general case. But running into someone like Uchiha An, who didn't play by the rules, meant he was out of luck.

Uchiha An couldn't care less about unspoken rules. He didn't care if the Land of Rain's economy collapsed either.

Your Land of Rain's economy—what's that got to do with Uchiha An?

War was about to break out anyway. After it was over, who knew what the ninja world would look like? Who cared about you!

"Hey, you. Konoha ninja. Come with me!"

Faced with Uchiha An's blatant hostility, that Konoha ninja was clearly stunned.

"You—this is against the rules."

"Rules?" Uchiha An let out a cold laugh. "From today on, the Ninja World's rules are ours to decide!"

He didn't waste words with that ninja. With a flicker of his form, he was beside the man, kicking straight at him.

Cripple his mobility first; the rest would be simple.

But to Uchiha An's surprise, the ninja leaped backward sharply, dodging his attack.

"Oh, not bad reflexes!" Uchiha An's eyes lit up, interest finally stirring. "I wasn't going all out, but an ordinary ninja couldn't dodge that."

"With speed like that, you're at least an elite Jōnin."

"Still, your face is unfamiliar. Could you be one of Danzo's dogs?"

"Haha... no matter who you are, since you're here, don't think about leaving!"

Uchiha An laughed, drew his Short Sword, and closed in for close combat.

Though healing Nagato had drained him considerably, he still had the power to activate Susanoo. But this was still within Amegakure, surrounded by houses—he had to be careful not to cause collateral damage, making it inconvenient to go all out.

So if he could settle things with taijutsu, he'd avoid using Ninjutsu.

The ninja opposite him, for whatever reason, also refrained from using Ninjutsu. Instead, he turned and fled toward the village's outskirts.

Luring the snake out of its hole?

That thought flashed through Uchiha An's mind, then he dismissed it.

No matter.

It was inconvenient to go big inside the village anyway. Getting out there and raising hell suited him just fine.

He followed behind the ninja, not rushing to catch up, keeping a leisurely pace.

The two went one after the other out of Amegakure, arriving at an Open Ground, where the ninja finally stopped.

Uchiha An halted as well, landing not far in front of him. He looked around and sneered:

"Alright, call out your ambush!"

"Let me see what kind of characters showed up!"

Sure enough, no sooner had he spoken than two Human Figures emerged from the nearby woods with a rustle, flanking the first ninja to surround Uchiha An from three sides.

Uchiha An glanced left and right.

Oh ho, all familiar faces.