Within the Land of Earth.
Beneath the azure sky stretched a desolate land.
A gust of wind swept by, carrying tiny pebbles that struck the eroded giant stone pillars with a crackling sound.
Not a blade of grass grew across the barren land. Aside from the mountain rocks, weathered by the wind day and night, there seemed to be no other color here.
"Tap!" "Tap!" "Tap!"...
Just then.
Rhythmic footsteps sounded across this desolate, uninhabited land.
Four figures slowly appeared on the horizon. They strode along with tall, imposing frames and calm demeanors. They were Aizen and his companions, who had killed the Kazekage a dozen days earlier.
Sasori had now left Sunagakure for good. Though he could have continued hiding there after obtaining the Third Kazekage's corpse, for some reason, he had chosen to follow Aizen.
"Lord Aizen, are you sure you want to work with Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage?"
Minato, walking behind Aizen, asked quietly. A trace of confusion showed on his face.
Not long after Aizen founded Las Noches, he had decided to make it a temporary mercenary organization.
Of course, the payment for its missions wasn't money. With Tamako's support, Aizen would never be short of funds.
Las Noches accepted rare and secret treasures that its clients could provide as payment for each mission.
These included ancient scrolls documenting hidden ruins, valuable intelligence, and various spiritually imbued objects.
This was also thanks to Kakuzu and Minato, who were both familiar with the underground black markets in various places. They had established a network of contacts through them.
Whenever a difficult bounty notice came along that no one could complete, the mission would be handed over to Las Noches.
Gradually, though Las Noches received few missions, they were all exceptionally difficult. Its reputation naturally spread through certain shadowy