Jigen

The Land of Rain.

Compared to the reign of Hanzo of the Salamander, the Land of Rain at this time clearly had a more vibrant atmosphere of daily life.

The people no longer had to live in constant fear, nor did they have to worry about ninjas suddenly bursting into their homes and forcing them to pay all sorts of taxes.

Although some people still miss the young Akatsuki Organization, life goes on, and all they can do is reminisce a few times during their leisure time.

A light rain pattered on the ground, and most people huddled under awnings, watching curiously as a tall man strolled through the rain.

The man was dressed in a white haori, with a long braid at the back of his head, and upon closer inspection, a "Ⅳ" symbol was imprinted on his face.

The appearance of such a strange individual in the Land of Rain, a place with a level of secrecy comparable to Kirigakure, quickly attracted the attention of the Rain Ninja.

"I see, is it in that place?"

Before Yu Ren could even step forward to ask, the man abruptly turned his head toward the tower, let out a soft chuckle, and then waved his hand seemingly casually.

"This is--"

The Rain Ninja were stunned by what they saw.

A black and red circular unidentified object appeared as the man waved his hand. Before everyone's eyes, the man stepped into it and disappeared completely.

The next second, he appeared in front of Uchiha Yaowan.

"Who?!"

Yaowan was furious about the loss of the Rinnegan. He thought he had done everything perfectly, but someone was one step ahead of him.

The disappearance of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu proved that the real culprit was the one who stole the Rinnegan. However, the culprit possessed the Mayfly Technique and knew how troublesome this technique was for stealth and concealment. Yaowan simply did not have a suitable means to find the culprit in a short period of time.

You can call me Jigen.

A man's magnetic voice rang out as he looked down at Yaowan with his head held high.

"Never heard of it, but what's the purpose of your visit—"

Yaowan watched the other party warily, wondering if it was another contingency plan left behind by Madara Uchiha.

"Loosen your guard. I can take your life anytime I want."

A man named Jigen summoned a huge stone chair from another dimension in front of Yaowan, crossed his legs and sat on it, a glass of red wine appearing in his hand at some point.

"Arrogant fool, how dare you look down on the Uchiha?!"

Skeletons appeared around Yaowan, and a huge skeletal arm slammed down on Jigen.

"Snap."

Jigen took a sip of red wine, then waved his free left hand, sending three Black Rods piercing through Susanoo with a cracking sound, which then embedded themselves firmly into Yaowan's body.

Ignoring the pain, Yaowan, who had been slammed against the wall by the powerful force of the Black Rods, struggled to remove Black Rods from his body.

Before he could finish his action, Yaowan felt a Jigen before his eyes. Cixian, who had just been drinking, delivered a knee strike to his abdomen, causing a large amount of saliva to spray out uncontrollably from the impact.

"Snort."

Jigen snorted coldly, removed the Black Rods from Yaowan's body, and reappeared in the previous seat, without even changing his posture.

That's fast!

Lying on the ground like a dog, Yaowan struggled to lift his head, looking at the man in front of him with apprehension.

That's terrifying; even the Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't detect the opponent's movements.

Even Susanoo, renowned for its absolute defense, was easily pierced by the opponent; such power...

"Who exactly are you...?"

Yaowan dared not make a move easily. Just as the other party had said, if he wanted to, he would have been killed long ago.

"I had no intention of interfering in what you call the affairs of the Shinobi World, but recent events have far exceeded my expectations..."

Seeing that Yaowan had truly lost the will to act, Jigen gently placed the wine glass on the armrest of the chair, preparing to tell Yaowan a history far beyond his imagination.

Not far away, the lifeless Demonic Statue of the Outer Path stood silently, listening to that history along with Yaowan.

"I've had enough of this kind of life."

On the border of the Land of Wind, a Stone Ninja released his Ninjutsu and looked at the pool of red stuff crushed into a paste by the rocks. An unprecedented feeling of nausea welled up in his heart.

I'm getting old, and I can't stand the strong smell of blood anymore.

"That's not true, Captain Tsuchihiko. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to capture this Puppet Master so easily."

A female Stone Ninja approached the other person and spoke in a coquettish tone.

"No, I really can't take it anymore. It was okay when I was younger, but now I really can't stand this kind of thankless and tedious work."

Tsuchihiko glanced at his subordinate, who was about the same age as his daughter, and his expression darkened even more.

"War will never end, so it's better to retire early. My teacher opened a restaurant when he was in his fifties. I'll do the same after this mission."

Frowning, Tsuchihiko cleaned up the mess in front of him and beckoned the other member of his team to catch up.

"Hey, I'll go too!"

The girl raised her hand, her face beaming with excitement.

"What about you, Gry? Do you want to go with Captain Tsuchihiko?"

"I don't care."

The Chunin known as Gry finished off the corpse of a Sand Ninja and slowly approached them.

"Hehe, this way the three of us can—"

Before the girl could say anything more, Tsuchihiko's expression suddenly changed, and he slammed his hand on the ground.

"Get away! Sakuraen, Earth Release: Earth and Stone Barrier!"

The moment the thick stone wall rose from the ground, several Kunai with Exploding Tag pierced into it, followed by a violent explosion.

Are there any remaining ones? But I didn't sense any other presences before.

Carefully observing the direction from which the attack was launched, Tsuchihiko's mind raced.

Using Exploding Tag Kunai to launch an attack, is the opponent Puppet Master?

"Foolish fellow."

Before Tsuchihiko could figure out the details, a cold voice rang out from behind him.

"Who?!"

Before Tsuchihiko could react, he was punched on the head by the person behind him. After colliding with the stone wall he had created, he bounced back to the enemy's hand.

Sakuraen, who was standing to the side, reacted and was about to make a move when the man kicked her away, sending her crashing straight into a naturally formed ruin behind her.

That was a lot of force.

The sound of crumbling walls echoed, indirectly confirming the strength of the intruders.

"Earth Release - Earth Rush--"

Just as Gry arrived quickly and was about to use Earth Release to save his captain, the opponent grabbed Tsuchihiko's head and flung him directly in Gry's direction.

With no other choice, Gry stopped the hand seals he was performing and reached out to catch the bleeding Tsuchihiko.

Then, to his horror, he discovered that two large hands had appeared in his field of vision, gripping him and Tsuchihiko's throats tightly.