The Three Parties Converge

The Land of Fire's capital, the Daimyo Mansion.

Thanks to the new Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Enshi Shu, "governing with diligence," and the power of money, the entire country had begun to prosper once more. He had also successfully won over the former Daimyo's old retainers, represented by the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Just as everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, Shendu's reminder made Enshi Shu furrow his brow.

Although he already had the Chicken, Ox, and Snake Talismans, Shendu wasn't satisfied. His senses told him that another Talisman—the Horse Talisman—was in someone else's hands.

It seems the Shadowkhan alone aren't enough...

Enshi Shu pondered for a while before deciding to summon the Twelve Guardian Ninja, who were "absolutely loyal" to the Daimyo—or rather, to him.

After the former Daimyo was assassinated, they had been branded as useless and ostracized by everyone. But as some of the few high-level fighters in the capital, they could still be put to use.

So he waved a hand and offered them the chance to "regain their former positions," on the condition that they help Shendu retrieve the Talismans.

On the road from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain, all of the Twelve Guardian Ninja—including Beizi, Nanwu, Xidu, Dongmao, and Hema—were hurrying along without showing any signs of fatigue.

Since Sarutobi Asuma and Chiriku were still too young, the Twelve Guardian Ninja were currently short of their full complement. But this wasn't the time to worry about numbers. They wanted to prove their loyalty to the new Daimyo, and all they knew was that if they recovered the Talismans for him, they would be entrusted with important duties again.

Half a day later, Uncle's group had remade the Magic Spell Locator, while the Twelve Guardian Ninja had followed the Talisman Tracker's guidance to Amegakure.

To everyone's surprise, although the Land of Rain was only a small country wedged between larger nations, Amegakure was still the country's second capital, wasn't it? Yet they had infiltrated it with such ease.

Wasn't its security far too lax?

What they didn't realize was that the raindrops falling from the sky weren't ordinary rain. They were part of the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, which Nagato had developed after the "Hanzo's betrayal incident."

As soon as the unfamiliar chakra entered Amegakure, Nagato noticed it. He had moved the Akatsuki's base to the village's second-tallest tower. Of course, he also noticed Orochimaru.

"Yahiko, they've entered the village." Nagato slowly opened his eyes and spoke to Yahiko, who sat at a desk buried beneath a mountain of paperwork.

"People from Konoha... and the Land of Fire's Guardian Ninja? Strange... What are they doing in Amegakure?"

Having just been caught in a two-sided attack by Danzo and Hanzo's men, the Akatsuki members had very little goodwill toward Konoha. But with a leader as magnanimous as Yahiko, they hadn't shown much hostility.

That's right. After surviving, Yahiko had naturally become Amegakure's leader. It had to be said: being a good leader was truly difficult...

Amegakure had just been given a new lease on life. Yahiko had to build relations with the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, clear out Hanzo's remaining followers, and rebuild the towers destroyed by the Shadowkhan...

As for why they didn't use the Horse Talisman, none of them understood Qi Magic or recognized the inscriptions on the Talisman. They believed it had healing powers and nothing more.

With Hanzo's remaining followers still lurking within the village and a potential "diplomatic incident" threatening from outside, Yahiko was at his wits' end, like a student struggling with a math problem.

"Should we send someone to ask what they're here for?"

That was obviously impossible... None of the Twelve Guardian Ninja or Orochimaru were easy opponents. Every one of them was a ruthless fighter at least at the jōnin level. Sending someone to question them would be no different from sending them to their death.

Launching a direct attack was even less of an option. For one thing, it went against the Akatsuki's ideals. For another, as above, who could attack them and walk away unscathed? Amegakure certainly didn't have anyone that formidable...

"Yahiko, let me go."

As Yahiko struggled with what to do, Nagato stepped forward and volunteered.

Indeed... With the Rinnegan and mastery of six Chakra Nature Transformations, including Yang Release, Nagato could be called Amegakure's strongest fighter.

"Be careful!"

"I will!"

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

"This is... the Horse Talisman?"

"Yes. Settling this peacefully would be best, but we still have to be prepared."

Taking the Horse Talisman with him, while the other Akatsuki members took responsibility for evacuating the civilians, Nagato used the Body Flicker Technique in quick succession. He soon reached the area near Orochimaru and the others.

"Those are... the Twelve Guardian Ninja?!"

"Orochimaru?!"

The two groups sensed each other's chakra and soon came face-to-face. As they looked at each other in confusion, Nagato arrived with a group of Rain Ninja.

"Amegakure's Anbu...?"

"This is troublesome..."

They didn't know why they had been discovered despite their disguises, but sneaking into another village without permission could be treated as espionage, an act universally condemned in the Ninja World.

Though... that was only on the surface. After all, no village could honestly claim, "We've absolutely never sent spies into another country."

"...That face... looks a little unfamiliar?"

Wasn't Salamander Hanzo's right-hand man supposed to be Salamander Shinda, a man with a hideously fierce appearance? How had he become this red-haired kid?

"Wait! Those eyes?!"

"The Rinnegan?!"

After studying Nagato's face for a long time, they finally noticed his eyes, which glimmered with a faint purple light.

The Rinnegan was said to be the "eyes that controlled life and death" possessed by the Sage of Six Paths. Stories about it had been passed down as legends in every village.

If there hadn't been so many people around—and if Orochimaru hadn't had to worry about the consequences—he would have rushed over and tried to pluck them out already.

"Sir, we mean no harm. We entered your village for one reason only: to find the family heirloom stolen from the Daimyo."

Beizi, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, spoke up. They weren't in their own territory, so it was best to show some respect.

"The Daimyo's family heirloom?"

Orochimaru was confused. As someone from the Land of Fire, why had he never heard of the Daimyo having a family heirloom? And... when a Daimyo lost something, it was like an emperor in a feudal dynasty losing something. It was a grave matter. They would search the entire country for it, even if it had been reduced to ashes. Yet he hadn't heard anything about it.

Are they hiding something? Orochimaru wondered.

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

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

The Twelve Guardian Ninja all furrowed their brows. What did Konoha's people want with their Daimyo's family heirloom?

That's right. As the "Daimyo's blades," they had believed Enshi Shu without reservation when he claimed the Twelve Talismans were his family heirlooms. Their loyalty to the Daimyo told them that their lord would never lie.

"Are they all here for the Talismans...?" Nagato murmured. So Jack had given the Talismans to the Akatsuki in order to ruin relations between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire...?

There was a reason Nagato had come up with such an unusual theory. The Twelve Guardian Ninja had spoken with such conviction that they didn't seem to be lying. Besides, the idea that a nation's ruler might possess an ancestral artifact was perhaps more believable than the idea that the Horse Talisman was merely a stone capable of curing every disease...

Perhaps that was the "celebrity effect"?

But... there was another thing that left Nagato puzzled. What did Orochimaru, Uncle, and Chixing, that strange character, mean by all this talk of the Shadowkhan?