Traces of Akatsuki

Kumogakure.

Two documents were placed in front of the Fourth Raikage A.

One of them was an invitation from Konoha to convene the Five Kage Summit.

One letter came from the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, urging the Raikage to annihilate the Akatsuki as soon as possible.

A rare blush appeared on the bronze face of the Fourth Raikage A, whether from anger or some other reason was unclear.

"Lord Raikage, Konoha has proposed holding the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron. How should we respond?"

Mabui, standing beside the Raikage, saw that his Raikage was lost in thought again and assumed he was missing Killer B, so he couldn't help but remind him.

The Fourth Raikage A, glanced at his secretary but didn't correct her opinion. He simply picked up the document from Konoha that was on the table.

"Heh, go? Why wouldn't we go? My Cloud Village has already been attacked on the head. If we could still tolerate this, wouldn't we be like turtles?"

The Fourth Raikage A, A, slammed the document on the table and roared, "Tell Konoha that Cloud Village has agreed!"

The same thing happened in Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Mist Village. This time, no one caused any trouble, and everyone agreed to the Five Kage Summit.

The date was set for May 29th, Konoha 53, and the location was Mifune Castle in the Land of Iron.

By the time Taiichi learned of this, everything regarding the Five Kage Summit had already been decided.

As the proposer of this meeting, and given the significance of the Five Kage Summit, it was natural for Konoha to send its Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, to attend in person.

However, this contradicts their previously established strategy.

This wouldn't have been a difficult task; even if Minato went, with his abilities, he wouldn't have faced much danger.

However, when Kushina and Naruto are involved, things become less predictable.

The Akatsuki have gone mad. In order to take down Minato, they are very likely to attack Kushina and Naruto in order to threaten Minato.

If they're all in Konoha, their safety is definitely not a problem, but once they leave Konoha, things can get complicated.

And so, conflict arose.

When Kushina learned that Minato was going to the Five Kage Summit, her first concern was for Minato safety. She even suggested that Taiichi accompany Minato and serve as the Hokage's bodyguard.

However, in Minato's view, if he and Taiichi left, then Kushina and Naruto remained in Konoha, would be in real danger.

They had both witnessed the Akatsuki's modus operandi and Obito's unpredictable Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Aside from him and Taiichi, there aren't many people in Konoha who can reliably block them.

The two then started arguing about it, and the argument became quite heated.

Taiichi was summoned under these circumstances.

After listening to the Third Kazekage's account of the previous argument, Taiichi was speechless, never expecting that this matter would involve him.

He turned and looked at the couple, who were now turning their heads away from each other, and it really gave him the feeling of children arguing and having a tiff.

Perhaps this is what they mean by being too concerned and losing your temper.

In fact, Taiichi didn't need to worry too much about Minato's safety. He was safer acting alone than with a Shadow Guard Unit. This is similar to the Second Hokage.

As for Kushina and Naruto, they are in even greater danger.

Having figured this out, Taiichi didn't say much. He walked directly to the two of them and, in front of Kushina, took out a dozen Special Kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed them to Minato.

Taiichi's Special Kunai is a secret even in Konoha, after all, such a life-saving kunai that can summon Taiichi Kunai.

One possible use is as Taiichi that traps and Kunai.

So even Kushina only knew that Taiichi had initially proposed this idea and had studied it for a while, but she didn't know what happened afterward.

"Kushina, don't worry. With this, even if I'm in Konoha, I can get to Minato's side immediately. It's you and Naruto who need to be safe now."

Now, Kushina had nothing more to say. She looked at Minato, then at the stack of Flying Thunder God Kunai in his hand, and finally threw herself into Minato's arms and began to sob.

Taiichi and the Third Hokage exchanged a glance, wisely choosing to leave silently, leaving the couple inside alone.

Today's scene is just a brief interlude; the Five Kage Summit is still almost a month away from officially starting.

Taiichi will not waste this month; he is currently in a period of rapid progress after breaking through to the Six Paths Level.

It's not just about a deeper understanding of attribute changes, but also the continuous strengthening and enhancement of the body by the power of the Six Paths Level. It can be said that Taiichi is getting stronger every moment now.

Beneath the surface of peace in the Ninja World, fierce undercurrents are surging and turbulent.

Each village is quietly making preparations.

This was not only due to the urging of the Daimyo of various countries, but also due to the actual losses suffered by each village.

Training a Jinchuriki is incredibly difficult; the death of even one is a devastating blow to a major ninja village, let alone the fact that some villages lost two.

However, people's understanding of the Akatsuki is still somewhat conservative.

Calling him the Akatsuki is a euphemism for dealing with people.

Even though Konoha had already informed them of some information about the Tailed Beasts and the Ten-Tails.

Without a clear understanding, they only thought that it was at most a monster slightly more powerful than Moryo.

As for being even stronger, sorry, they don't have that concept, nor can they imagine what that would actually be like.

Taiichi was speechless, as were the high-ranking officials of Konoha.

But what can be done? After all, it's not their own village or their own country. They've already given all the necessary warnings. Now it's up to fate to decide who gets the better of them.

The Land of Grass, Kira Castle.

This is a commercial city, one of the few prosperous cities in the Land of Grass.

More than half of the caravans traveling between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth transit through here.

Therefore, in this city, apart from the people of the Land of Grass, you will see mostly Merchants from the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire.

Since he stopped Jigen at the Akatsuki's gate last time, Natsuki doesn't know whether he's been relegated or promoted.

Now, Natsuki is no longer a gatekeeper; he is now in charge of the Akatsuki's external procurement of supplies.

This used to be a really good job. No matter how big or small an organization is, its logistics department is always the one with the most intricate relationships. It's an easy place with plenty of benefits to be made, and it's often the perfect place for the organization's upper echelons to place their cronies.

Unfortunately, that was all in the past. Ever since the whole world started calling for the destruction of the Akatsuki, the logistics department has truly become a den of dragons and tigers.

As far as Natsuki knew, three teams responsible for logistics and procurement had their identities exposed for various reasons, and the outcome was predictable.

Natsuki is now dressed in ordinary clothes, pretending to be a Merchant from the Land of Fire who has come to buy food.

Although the Land of Fire is a large plain, it has its own internal differences. In some areas, the food production is not even enough to feed the local population.

Looking at the Land of Grass, although it is a small country, its grain production is exceptionally abundant. The grain produced is often exported to other countries, and grain exports are a stable source of revenue for the Land of Grass.

One of the main reasons why the Akatsuki chose the Land of Land of Grass was the abundance of food.

Natsuki entered a grain store and expertly dipped his hand into a vat of rice, carefully examining its quality. He then looked up at today's rice price displayed on the wall.

40 taels/jin.

"Hey buddy, this is a large quantity, give us a fair price, we won't waste your time."

Natsuki said this quite naturally, though a hint of impatience was evident in her voice.

Upon hearing this, the shop assistant knew a big order had come his way, and quickly said, "Wait a moment!" before turning and going into the back room to find the manager.

A short while later, a shrewd-looking shopkeeper came out.

He first sized Natsuki up and down, then a businessman's signature warm smile appeared on his lips.

"This customer wants to buy rice. How much do you want? I'll give you a fair price!"

The shop owner seemed to understand Natsuki's impatience and didn't beat around the bush, offering a discount right away.

"5000 jin!"

"Alright! Then I'll offer a sincere price: 38 taels per catty. What do you think, sir?"

The shop owner was indeed sincere. Grain prices in the Land of Grass were already cheap, and this shop owner gave a further discount of two ounces, so the shop owner didn't make much money at all.

Of course, that's the boss's business, but Natsuki herself is still very happy.

The two parties quickly finalized the deal, but the granary was not located in the city, so Natsuki had to go outside the city with the shop assistant to pick up the goods.

As soon as Natsuki disappeared, the boss's expression changed immediately, even though he had just been wearing a warm smile.

He pulled his servant over, told him to watch the shop at home, changed his clothes, slipped out of the back door, and ran towards the City Lord's Mansion.

Before long, two ninjas rushed out of the City Lord's Mansion and ran towards the grain warehouse outside the city.

At the same time, a message was reported up the chain of command, from the City Lord's Mansion to the Daimyo's Mansion, and then from the Daimyo's Mansion to Kusagakure.

At this time, Natsuki had already set off on her way back to the base with the food supplies.

As a ninja, he certainly possessed the necessary counter-surveillance techniques.

He Earth Flow stopping and starting along the way, taking many detours, and only started Earth Flow after confirming that there was no one behind him.

Unfortunately, he was unaware that the person following him was no ordinary individual; it was none other than Kitsuchi from Iwagakure.

Kitsuchi Tu had just finished his mission at Kira Castle and was handing it over at the City Lord's Mansion.

Upon hearing reports of suspicious individuals, he offered to come out and Scout without hesitation.

Sure enough, they caught a big fish this time.

The person who came out to follow along with Kitsuchi was a Grass Ninja, a guard that the Grass Village had placed in the City Lord's Mansion.

He looked at the target ahead, who was particularly aware of being tracked, and felt fortunate.

Fortunately, he Jonin with this Iwagakure. If he had been alone, he probably would have been discovered by the target long ago.

What terrified him even more was that he discovered his target was actually stronger than him, meaning the Rock Ninja beside him had saved his life.

Therefore, the Grass Ninja cooperated exceptionally well along the way, and the two of them followed him all the way, making it quite easy to approach Akatsuki's base.

Once they arrived here, Kitsuchi dared not bring the Grass Ninja along anymore. He could clearly feel that there were more Detection Barriers here, and even he himself found it quite difficult to face them.

"Go back immediately and report the situation here directly to the higher-ups at Grass Village. The area ahead is very likely an Akatsuki base."

The Grass Ninja was now flushed with excitement. Akatsuki Base! This was incredibly important intelligence; the village would surely reward him handsomely.

"Don't worry, Lord Kitsuchi, I will bring the intelligence back even if it costs me my life."

The Grass Ninja spoke so fiercely and resolutely that Kitsuchi was completely confused.

He naturally wouldn't understand how fierce the internal competition is in a small ninja village like Kusagakure.

For this Grass Ninja, this information is now money, a stepping stone to advancement.

Everyone says that blocking someone's money is like killing their parents, so how could Grass Ninja not fight desperately!

Kitsuchi watched as Grass Ninja left, and then he began to act freely.

His Earth Style was quite good, and his Subterranean Voyage Ninjutsu was even more masterful. He followed the man's footsteps underground, passing through Barrier after barrier in sync, without attracting the enemy's attention.

Finally, Kitsuchi discovered the entrance to the Akatsuki Base deep in a dense forest. As for why he was so sure, it was because he saw a formal Akatsuki member who had also returned from an outing. His Black-bottomed Red Cloud Robe was very easy to recognize.

Kusagakure, a small Kusagakure nestled between Iwagakure and Konoha, has its own way of surviving.

Their political tactics involve playing both sides and using others' strengths against them; their methods of amassing wealth include gathering information and selling intelligence.

When news came from the Daimyo's Mansion that members of Akatsuki had been discovered, they initially didn't pay much attention, since they had received many similar reports recently.

There are two instances of true intelligence here, but unfortunately, all Akatsuki members are Curse Mark, meaning they will fight to the death once captured, and no one is ever left alive.

However, all of this changed the next day.

"What?! You said you found the Akatsuki's base?!"

"Yes, leader, it's definitely Akatsuki's base. I swear on my life."

The more the Grass Ninja said this, the less the Grass Village Leader believed it. He knew perfectly well what kind of people his own ninjas were.

If the other party had actually managed to reach the Akatsuki Base, he would definitely not be standing here now; he would probably already be in the belly of some wild beast.

"Are you hiding some information?"

The Grass Village Leader asked suspiciously, but seeing that the other party was about to refute, he immediately emphasized his tone.

"You'd better think carefully before you speak. Concealing details of intelligence will not only not bring rewards, but you know the punishment you'll face!"

Grass Village finally dared not hide it any longer and could only tell Huang Shi's information in detail.

Instead of being pleased, the leader of the Grass Ninja slapped him across the face.

"Damn it, how dare you hide something like this?"

After slapping his subordinates, the leader of the Grass Ninja paced back and forth, muttering to himself.

"No, this information is no longer exclusive. We must act quickly, or we won't even get a sip of the soup."

He whirled around and roared at his Genin, "Go! Notify the intelligence agents in the major ninja villages! Ask them if they want 1 million ryo if they have intelligence on the Akatsuki Base!"