Three Parties Converge

Daimyo Mansion, Land of Fire.

Under the "diligent governance" and "monetary power" of the new Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Enshi Shu, the entire nation had begun to flourish once again. He had also successfully won over the remnants of the former Daimyo's forces, represented by the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Just as everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, a reminder from Shendu caused Enshi Shu to furrow his brows.

Although he already possessed the Rooster, Ox, and Snake Talismans, Shendu was not satisfied. His perception told him that another talisman, the Horse Talisman, was currently in the hands of someone else.

"It seems the power of the Shadowkhan alone is not enough..."

Enshi Shu pondered for a moment and finally decided to summon the Twelve Guardian Ninja, who were "absolutely loyal" to the Daimyo—that is, to him.

Although they had been labeled as useless and ostracized by everyone after the assassination of the previous Daimyo, they were still among the few high-end combat forces in the capital and could still be put to use.

Thus, with a wave of his hand, he gave these men a chance to "resume their posts," provided they could help Shendu retrieve the talisman.

On the road from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain, the Twelve Guardian Ninja, including Beizi, Nanwu, Xidu, Dongmao, and Hema, were marching tirelessly.

Because Sarutobi Asuma and Chiriku were not yet of age, the current Twelve Guardian Ninja were technically "understaffed." However, in order to show their loyalty to the new Daimyo, the headcount was no longer a concern; they only knew that as long as they retrieved the talisman for the Daimyo, they would be restored to favor.

Half a day passed, and Uncle had finished crafting a new Magic Spell Locator, while the Twelve Guardian Ninja had followed the guidance of the Talisman Tracker all the way to Amegakure.

To everyone's surprise, although the Land of Rain was just a small buffer state, Amegakure was, after all, its second capital, right? They hadn't expected it to be so easy to sneak in.

Was the defense really that weak?

But what they didn't realize was that the raindrops falling from the sky were no ordinary water; they were the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, developed by Nagato after the "Salamander Hanzo betrayal incident."

The moment the foreign chakra entered Amegakure, it was detected by Nagato, who had relocated the Akatsuki base to the second-highest tower in the village. Naturally, this detection also included Orochimaru.

"Yahiko, they have entered the village." Nagato slowly opened his eyes and spoke to Yahiko, who was sitting at a desk piled high with documents.

"People from Konoha... and the Guardian Ninja of the Land of Fire? Strange... what are they doing in our Amegakure?"

Having just experienced a joint assault by the forces of Danzo and Salamander Hanzo, the members of Akatsuki held extremely low opinions of Konoha. However, with a leader like Yahiko, whose "love knows no bounds," they did not display much hostility.

Indeed, after surviving, Yahiko had naturally become the leader of Amegakure. It must be said that being a good leader is truly difficult...

The village had just been reborn; he had to manage relations with the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, purge the remnants of Salamander Hanzo's forces, and rebuild the towers destroyed by the Shadowkhan...

As for why they didn't use the Horse Talisman? Since none of them understood Qi Magic or recognized the inscriptions on the back of the Horse Talisman, they believed it only possessed healing powers.

With internal remnants of Salamander Hanzo yet to be cleared and external problems that could escalate into "diplomatic incidents" at any moment, Yahiko scratched his head like a student unable to solve a math problem.

"Send someone to interrogate them about their intentions?"

That was clearly impossible... The Twelve Guardian Ninja and Orochimaru were none of them easy to deal with; each was a ruthless character at least at the Jonin level. Sending people to interrogate them was undoubtedly suicide.

As for launching a direct attack, that was even more impossible. First, it went against the philosophy of Akatsuki, and second, as mentioned before, who could attack them and walk away unscathed? At the very least, Amegakure lacked such ruthless characters...

"Yahiko, let me go."

Just as Yahiko was in deep distress, Nagato stepped forward to volunteer.

Indeed... possessing the Rinnegan and having mastered six types of chakra nature transformations, including Yang Release, Nagato could be considered the highest combat power in Amegakure.

"Be careful!"

"Mm!"

After listening to Yahiko's instructions with a smile, Nagato was about to walk out the door when Yahiko called him back. "Just in case, take this with you!"

"This is... the Horse Talisman?"

"Yes, although solving problems peacefully is best, one must still take precautions!"

Taking the Horse Talisman and a group of Akatsuki members responsible for evacuating the civilians, Nagato used the Body Flicker Technique repeatedly and soon arrived near Orochimaru and the others.

"That is... the Twelve Guardian Ninja?!"

"Orochimaru?!"

Both sides sensed each other's chakra and met shortly after. Just as both parties were feeling puzzled, Nagato arrived with a group of Rain Ninja.

"Anbu of Amegakure...?"

"This is troublesome..."

Although they didn't know why they had been discovered despite their disguises, the act of sneaking into another village was considered an act of espionage, which had always been despised in the Ninja World.

However... it was only despised on the surface. After all, no village could claim, "We have absolutely never sent spies to other countries."

"...That face... it looks a bit unfamiliar?"

Wasn't the right-hand man of Salamander Hanzo a man with a very ferocious appearance—Salamander Shinda? How could it be this red-haired kid?

"Wait! Those eyes are?!"

"The Rinnegan?!"

Staring at Nagato's face for a long time, everyone finally discovered the eyes flickering with a faint purple light.

As the "eyes that control life and death" possessed by the legendary Sage of Six Paths, stories about the Rinnegan had been passed down in every village in the form of legends.

If it weren't for the crowd around them, and if Orochimaru hadn't been in a position where he couldn't act without concern, he would have already rushed up to try and gouge them out.

"Your Excellency, we mean no harm. There is only one reason we have entered your village: to recover the heirloom stolen from the Daimyo."

Beizi, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, spoke up. Since this was not their own territory, it was best to remain respectful.

"The Daimyo's heirloom?"

Orochimaru was puzzled. As someone born in the Land of Fire, how could he not know that the Daimyo possessed an heirloom? Furthermore, when a Daimyo loses something, it is as grave a matter as an emperor losing a treasure in a feudal dynasty; they would scour the entire country and turn it to ash to find it, yet he had never heard of such a thing.

Are they hiding something...

Orochimaru thought to himself.

"Uncle's goal is simple: to find the talismans scattered across the world before the Shadowkhan do."

"Talismans?!" Uncle's words drew everyone's attention.

The Twelve Guardian Ninja all frowned. Why would the people of Konoha want their Daimyo's heirloom?

Indeed, as the "Daimyo's Blades," they had believed without reservation when Yuan Shixiu lied and claimed the Twelve Talismans were his family heirlooms. Their loyalty to the Daimyo told them that their lord would never lie.

"So they are all here for the talismans..." Nagato whispered. Could the reason Jack handed the talismans over to the Akatsuki be to sabotage the relationship between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire...?

It made sense for Nagato to have such a unique train of thought. In his eyes, the Twelve Guardian Ninja spoke with such righteous conviction that they appeared incapable of lying. Besides, the idea of a national leader possessing an ancestral artifact was perhaps easier to accept than the Horse Talisman being nothing more than a stone that could cure all diseases...

Perhaps this was the "celebrity effect?"

However, there was one more thing that truly troubled Nagato: what did the words of Orochimaru, Uncle, and that oddity Chixing mean? The Shadowkhan?