Akatsuki Becomes Known to the World

A disheveled ninja hawk flew across mountains and rivers, enduring wind and snow, and finally arrived at Kumogakure after soaring for four days.

This was two full days later than expected.

After the ninja in charge of communications received the secret letter marked with an urgent message, it underwent multiple checks before finally being delivered to the Fourth Raikage A, A.

Raikage's Office.

"Hahahaha, hearty laughter echoed throughout the entire Raikage Building, and even passersby downstairs couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound."

What good thing happened to their Raikage today that he's laughing so happily?

"Those water monkeys from Mist Village were so careless that they let someone control their own Mizukage. And that Mizukage is an idiot; he's utterly disgraced the title of Kage."

The Fourth Raikage A slammed his fist on the table, unleashing a torrent of sarcastic remarks.

Mabui listened curiously from the side, and gradually understood what was going on.

But it is precisely because I understand that I find it even more incredible—this world is too crazy; a mouse broke into a cat's lair, killed the cat's leader, and then left safely.

Even novelists wouldn't dare write something like this, yet it actually happened in reality.

The Fourth Raikage A took the letter and read it through from beginning to end again.

But the more he looked at it, the more his brows furrowed.

The Akatsuki not only controlled the Fourth Mizukage, but also took the opportunity to secretly replace the Moryo seal preserved by Mist Village.

If these are all established facts, and Konoha is sharing information, then what follows is Konoha's solemn warning.

The Akatsuki's ultimate goal is the Tailed Beast, and Konoha has surprisingly discovered traces of the Akatsuki in the Land of Hot Water.

Even though Konoha didn't explicitly state it in the letter, the Fourth Raikage A, A, understood that most of the Akatsuki members from the Land of Hot Water were there because they Cloud Village.

"Bang!"

The Fourth Raikage A slammed his hand on the table again, this time in a fit of rage. The desk couldn't withstand the blow and shattered, marking the end of its mission.

"Lord Raikage?"

Mabui was completely bewildered, not understanding why things had changed so suddenly when everything was fine just a moment ago.

"Akatsuki, what an Akatsuki! Do you really Cloud Village is as useless as Mist Village? Daring to cause trouble in Cloud Village!"

We must make sure they never return.

After venting his anger, the Fourth Raikage A finally calmed down.

He handed the letter to Mabui beside him and then asked, "Where are Yugito and Killer B now?"

Mabui glanced at the letter that was handed to him, then replied without looking up, "Yugito took on a mission to the Land of Frost and hasn't returned yet. Killer B has been training in the Yunlei Gorge."

"Are you on a mission?"

The Fourth Raikage A frowned, and just as he was about to ask something else, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Ai's voice was full of impatience.

The person who came in was a middle-aged ninja. Ai recognized him; he was the person in charge of the Mission Hall today.

Upon seeing him, Ai suddenly felt a bad premonition.

"What is it? Speak quickly!"

The middle-aged ninja swallowed hard, looking at the shattered desk on the floor, and suddenly realized that he had come at the wrong time.

But there was no other way; the situation was urgent, and I still had to report it.

"Lord Raikage, the Yugito Nii received their escort mission to the Land of Frost. They should have returned to the village yesterday, but there has been no news of them since. This concerns the Jinchuriki, so I have come to report."

"You're saying— Yugito is missing?" The Fourth Raikage A's eyes reddened as he stared at the middle-aged ninja, squeezing out each word slowly and deliberately.

"It's still not certain, because there have been times when we've returned late. It's only because of your Yugito Nii that we've come to report."

The middle-aged ninja had started to stutter. Although he didn't know why the Lord Raikage had suddenly become so angry, it seemed that something was really wrong with Heiji.

"Investigate! Investigate immediately! Follow the mission's route, search every inch of the path, and find out Yugito is!"

With a roar from the Fourth Raikage A, the middle-aged ninja hurriedly left the office and quickly dispatched people to search the village.

Ai's face was burning hot. How embarrassing! He had just been mocking the Mist Village, and now it was the Cloud Village's turn.

Isn't this karma coming a little too fast?

"Lord Raikage, the situation may not be as bad as it seems."

"You don't need to comfort me, Mabui. I know Yugito's personality; she wouldn't postpone her return to the village. Something must have happened to her."

A brief silence fell over the office. Mabui understood that the Raikage was right; Yugito might indeed have been captured by the Akatsuki.

"Go, arrange for the Anbu to track them down immediately. Perhaps we can still rescue Yugito."

Also, have Killer B return from Yunlei Gorge and stay in the village during this time; he can't go anywhere else.

"Yes, I'll take care of it right away." Mabui accepted the order and immediately left the office.

The Fourth Raikage rose, went to the window, and looked at the peaceful Kumogakure, his fists clenching tighter and tighter.

"Akatsuki Organization"

He spat out those three words through Raikage teeth, his eyes blazing with Kakkou.

Ignoring the Raikage's anger, in fact, the Cloud Village was not the only place whose Tailed Beast had been stolen in the past few days.

Compared to the ninja hawks that took off for Cloud Village but were delayed for two days due to a blizzard, and Cloud Village being ambushed by Akatsuki without their knowledge, Iwagakure fared much worse.

The ninja hawks that flew to Iwagakure delivered the intelligence to Ōnoki in just one day.

While Ōnoki was dissatisfied with Kirigakure's Mist Village performance, he also felt a sense of empathy for them.

But the next moment he was enraged by the Akatsuki's arrogance. This was no longer just a terrorist organization; it was a challenge to the existing order of the entire Ninja World.

Unfortunately, Konoha's intelligence only stated that Akatsuki's presence was discovered in the Land of Hot Water, which was too far from Iwagakure. Otherwise, he would have definitely sent someone to kill this Akatsuki member.

"Someone, tell Han not to leave the village during this time."

On the surface, Ōnoki looked down on the Akatsuki, but in his heart, he was still quite wary of them. After all, Iwagakure had suffered losses, and he still needed to be on guard.

However, some things are simply beyond your control.

The day after receiving the message from Ninja Hawk, Zetsu used his Impersonation Technique to trick Han, who was training alone, into leaving Iwagakure.

Needless to say, what happened next was that the Moryo and the Blood Crow joined forces, launching a sneak attack and ambushing Han before he even had a chance to Tailed Beast Transformation, knocking him unconscious.

The timing of their successful capture was almost identical to that of Kakuzu and Hiruko.

Thus, in a short period of time, the Akatsuki successfully captured both the Two-Tails of Cloud Village and the Five-Tails of Iwagakure.

The news wasn't kept secret for long. After searching for a week on their own, both ninja villages readily revealed the information.

This caused an uproar throughout the entire Ninja World.

Some smaller ninja villages gloated, secretly mocking the Five Great Ninja Villages for being unworthy of their reputation, having been repeatedly defeated by a terrorist organization.

They succeeded in capturing all three locations.

Some smaller ninja villages are even more pragmatic. For them, an organization that can still exist after challenging the Five Great Ninja Villages is simply a natural enemy.

Of all these places, the one most anxious and uneasy was Takigakure.

This once glorious ninja village captured the Seven-Tails on its own during the First Hokage's time and even boldly sent ninjas to assassinate Senju Hashirama (Kakuzu: I just threw a Shuriken from 800 meters away).

But now, they only have a few big cats Little Cat left, and the whole village relies on natural geographical barriers and the legacy of their ancestors to deter enemies.

With such power, how could they possibly protect the Seven-Tails?

Meeting room in Takigakure.

All the high-ranking officials of Takigakure are gathered here.

The sixth-generation leader Kui Mu, knelt at the head of the table, flanked by four elders.

"Gentlemen, Iwagakure has now announced that all of their Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki have been killed, and Cloud Village has also announced that their Two-Tails Jinchuriki has been captured by Akatsuki."

I want to know if our Takigakure has the ability to protect our property.

The meeting room was silent; everyone kept their heads down.

When Chief Kui Mu saw that everyone was pretending to be dead, a surge of evil anger rose within him.

Normally, they'd argue like cats and dogs over the smallest things, but now that something's really going on, they're all turning a blind eye.

"Slap"

Chief Kui Mu slammed his hand on the coffee table next to him, spilling a perfectly good cup of tea.

The four elders instinctively raised their heads and immediately saw the leader Kui Mu's, dark face.

"Cough cough."

The First Great Elder, who was kneeling on the right, coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.

"Chief, there's no need to worry. Takigakure has always been secluded; no one outside knows Waterfall Village exact location. With the help of the Hero Water, as long as there are no traitors within the village, our defenses are absolutely impregnable."

Leader Kui Mu glanced at the Great Elder but completely ignored him.

Everyone here knows these things; do you really need to repeat them?

No matter how strong Waterfall Village, can it be stronger than Iwagakure and Cloud Village? The Akatsuki still managed to steal their Jinchuriki.

"Pah! If you're all too embarrassed to say it, then I'll say it."

The Fourth Elder, sitting at the back, couldn't stand it any longer. He straightened up, pointed at the Great Elder, and started cursing.

"What the hell is this 'Hero Water'? When the enemy comes, who will drink it—you or me? It'll be those tough village lads who get to drink it."

"The Takigakure is getting worse with each generation. I think it's all because of the Hero Water, or rather, because of us old folks who hold high positions but refuse to die."

"You think you can stop an opponent like the Akatsuki by relying on geography? You've probably forgotten just how powerful Kage Level ninja really is."

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"Or perhaps you want Fu to take her place. Fu is still so young; she can't even control the Tailed Beast Chakra yet. If the Tailed Beast goes berserk, the entire Takigakure will be wiped out."

The Fourth Elder's mouth rattled off like a machine gun, leaving the Great Elder utterly humiliated.

The other two elders also looked embarrassed, but they nodded to each other secretly.

The Fourth Elder's words, though rough, were reasonable; he said what they wanted to say but dared not.

"I think we should find outside help."

"Yes, yes, let's find some outside help."

With the Fourth Elder explaining everything clearly, the Second Elder and Third Elder followed suit, all looking rather timid.

They've all grown old and no longer have the courage they had when they were young.

Leader Kui Mu then turned his gaze to the Great Elder and asked, "Great Elder, what do you think?"

The Great Elder's face turned from green to purple in turns, as if a dye shop had been opened.

He raised his hand and pointed tremblingly at the other three elders, even stuttering as he spoke.

"You—you people, you've utterly betrayed your ancestors Waterfall Village! What does Waterfall Village rely on to stand firm? It's this natural geographical barrier! You've brought in outside help today, and tomorrow the entire Ninja World will know Waterfall Village's location. That will be the time when Waterfall Village truly perishes."

The other three elders were momentarily speechless at his words.

To be fair, Waterfall Village wasn't initially worried about the village's location being exposed; at that time, Waterfall Village truly had the ability to protect himself.

However, as the number of talented individuals in Waterfall Village dwindled with each generation, this barrier became increasingly important.

Seeing that the four elders remained silent, Chief Kui Mu finally began to express his opinion.

"Waterfall Village's strength is indeed insufficient to protect the Seven-Tails from being taken by the Akatsuki, so we still need to find outside help."

"Chief, you can't—"

"Let me finish." The Great Elder was about to object when Chief Kui Mu Teuchi. "Great Elder said makes sense. The safety of Waterfall Village is extremely important. Therefore, I have decided to find a secluded location outside the village for Fu to live in. As long as she is not in the village, we will not have to worry about the village's location being exposed."

The Great Elder, Second Elder, and Third Elder's eyes lit up. This was indeed a great idea! Why hadn't they thought of doing it this way before?

Only the Fourth Elder, looking gloomy, opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing the excited expressions of the others, he swallowed his words.

The next step was to discuss who should be brought in as the external helper.

This is no small task.

They are facing a terrifying organization that has already snatched teeth from the jaws of Iwagakure and Cloud Village, and this is very likely to be a long-term mission.

Both one's own financial pressure and the capabilities of the task provider must be carefully considered.

Finally, after some discussion, they abandoned Iwagakure, which no longer had any Tailed Beast to protect, and chose Konoha, which was more expensive.

They hoped to use money to protect their Tailed Beast from being taken by the Akatsuki.

This scene in Takigakure is just a microcosm of the many ninja villages, large and small, in the Ninja World.

As the Akatsuki began its operations, traces of the Akatsuki were discovered in more and more places.

Their actions were no longer limited to capturing Tailed Beast. As their reputation grew, they began to take on missions that were previously only available at Exchange Shop or came from less honorable countries.

But here, there are more imposters, people who use others' names to intimidate others.

This also makes it more difficult for the Five Great Ninja Villages to capture the Akatsuki.

Those powerful and wealthy individuals, and those desperate criminals, don't care what's really going on in the Ninja World.

Anyway, the world won't end. As long as they're doing well, nothing else matters to them.