Shizune stepped back in response, and the footsteps gradually faded away in the corridor.
Tsunade leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers on the table unconsciously.
She needs to clear her mind.
Sasuke, the Uchiha brat who left Konoha, has now grown to the point where he can join forces with others to kill Akatsuki members.
The identity of the white-haired Ice Release ninja is still a mystery, but judging from Hidan's memory, the two have a tacit understanding and have been working together for a long time.
About half an hour later, there was a knock on the office door.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open and a group of people filed in.
Walking at the front was Naruto. His training clothes had several holes in them, his sleeves were missing, his trouser legs were stained with mud and water stains, and there was a band-aid on his face, but his blue eyes were still bright and full of energy.
"Tsunade Mother-in-law! What do you want us to do?"
He was shouting as he walked, completely unaware of the solemn atmosphere in the office.
Yamato followed behind him, with a calm expression and neat clothes. He held a kettle in his hand. He obviously had a very leisurely time after supervising Naruto's practice.
Kakashi was walking to the side, still holding the book <Make-Out Paradise> in his hand.
But the moment he entered, he closed the door, walked silently to the wall, and stood up straight.
Jiraiya walked in at the end, with a rare smile on his face, arms folded, and walked in unsteadily.
He glanced at Tsunade's expression, his brows moved slightly, but he said nothing.
Haruno Sakura and Sai are already waiting in the office.
Sakura was wearing everyday casual clothes, with pink hair tied back. When he saw Naruto's shabby outfit, the corners of his mouth twitched and he resisted the urge to complain.
Sai stood by the window, with that iconic fake smile on his face, but his eyes fell on Naruto and then looked away.
"Everyone is here."
Tsunade glanced at everyone, cleared his throat, "Let's get down to business."
Naruto stood up straight, Yamato leaned next to Kakashi, and Jiraiya stood behind Tsunade.
Sakura and Sai stand side by side with Naruto, standing straight.
"Yesterday afternoon, a large-scale battle broke out in Land of Fire."
Tsunade's voice is deep and serious.
"The warring parties are Akatsuki members and unknown ninjas.
The result of the battle.
Akatsuki member died and one was injured."
Naruto's eyes widened instantly.
"Akatsuki? Where? Who did it?"
Tsunade glanced at him and did not answer directly.
Because she knew that if she answered now, she would basically not be able to say anything later.
So she could only continue.
"When our people arrived, the fighting was over.
There were only two bodies left at the scene... to be precise, a corpse and a living person with severed limbs.
The body has been brought back and the survivors have been controlled."
"Can you still survive after your limbs are cut off?"
Sakura's brows furrowed. As a medical ninja, she instinctively felt something was wrong.
"That guy is immortal."
Tsunade The tone is calm.
"The interrogation results show that he will not die even if his limbs are chopped off. He is a troublesome guy."
Jiraiya heard the words "immortal body", his brows moved slightly, but he did not interrupt.
Tsunade continued to explain the battle and the information obtained during the interrogation one by one.
From Kakuzu's five hearts and lifespan of hundreds of years, to Hidan's immortal body, the sacrificial ceremony, and then to the scattered information about other members of Akatsuki.
"Based on the portraits and information provided by Inoichi Yamanaka, we have learned the appearance and characteristics of some members of Akatsuki."
Tsunade picked up a document on the table and opened it. On it were several portraits drawn from memory.
"The leader, Pain. The characteristic is the eyes. It is said to be a kind of pupil technique that has never been seen before."
"Konan, Pain's partner, a woman, can turn her body into paper."
"Sasori of the Red Sands, Sunagakure rebel, puppet master, a person who is said to transform his body into a puppet"
"Kisame, Kirigakure rebel."
"Deidara, Iwagakure rebel."
"You all know these two, so I won't elaborate further."
"Jue, a weird guy in black and white. He can travel freely on the ground and has extremely strong intelligence gathering capabilities."
"Tobi has the least information. He wears a swirling orange mask with only one eye exposed. You have seen this before.
Judging from Hidan's memory, this guy seems to be just a substitute member, but why he was able to enter the core layer is unknown."
And...Uchiha Itachi.
Tsunade After reading the last name, the office fell into a brief silence.
Jiraiya stood behind Tsunade, his eyes falling on the blurry portraits drawn from memory.
His eyes stayed on the portrait "Konan" for a moment.
Duplicate name?
No, that paper-shaped ability is clearly that of that girl back then.
But when he saw the portrait of Pain, his whole body felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
Those eyes.
Rinnegan.
Those are Nagato's eyes.
And that face, although the portrait is blurry, the outline is clearly Yahiko.
Jiraiya's pupils shrank suddenly and his fingers clenched tightly unconsciously.
Pictures from that year flashed rapidly in his mind.
Amegakure, three children, he taught them ninjutsu and how to survive in this cruel world.
Yahiko, Nagato, Konan.
Later he left, and later, I heard that they were dead.
But now, Yahiko's face, Nagato's eyes, Konan's abilities... this person who should have been dead actually appears here as the leader and member of Akatsuki?
Jiraiya Take a deep breath and force yourself to calm down.
This matter cannot be discussed here, he needs to talk to Tsunade alone.
He slowly loosened his grip on his clothes, and his usual lazy expression returned to his face, as if the gaffe at that moment had never happened.
But his eyes moved away from the portraits of Pain and Konan and fell on the other two portraits.
Absolutely.
Tobi.
One is a weird guy in black and white who can travel freely on the ground.
The other wears a swirling orange mask with only one eye exposed, has minimal information, and looks like an inconspicuous understudy.
But Jiraiya's combat intuition told him that these two guys were anything but simple.
Jue's ability is too weird.
Being able to travel freely anywhere means that all the information about Akatsuki may be mastered by this guy, which means that every move of Konoha may be exposed to the other party's sight.
As for Tobi... how can a substitute enter the core layer of Akatsuki?
Jiraiya's brows wrinkled slightly.
He has seen too many examples of inconspicuous little people eventually becoming key roles. This Tobi is either really an insignificant substitute, or... he is the one who hides the deepest.
He remembered these two names in his heart and did not speak.
Kakashi stood by the wall, his eyes swept from Pain's portrait, then landed on Konan's portrait, and finally stopped on Ze's portrait.
He could see Pain's eyes and the changes in Lord Jiraiya's expression, but he did not ask further questions.
He had never seen those eyes in any information.
Konan, the ability to turn into pieces of paper, this kind of technique has never been heard of by him.
Scorpions are good at puppets and poison, so they may have deep cards.
Absolute, free travel, intelligence collection - this ability is most suitable for surveillance and penetration. Konoha's every move may be seen by Akatsuki.
As for the other ones - Kisame, Deidara, Uchiha Itachi, Tobi, he has been exposed to them all, so he doesn't care.
And there is no need to care about a dead person and a captured person.
He only cares about the things that are still alive and unknown.
Yamato approached Naruto, his eyes sweeping over each portrait in turn.
Pain. Konan. Kisame. Scorpion. Deidara. Kakuzu. Hidan. Jue. Tobi.
And Uchiha Itachi.
From beginning to end, he wrote down every person's appearance and characteristics.
As a member of the "Root" organization, he understands the importance of information.
Akatsuki, this organization is composed of S-class rebellious ninjas, each of whom has the ability to destroy a small country alone.
And if their plan to collect Tailed Beasts succeeds, Five Great Nations will face disaster.
After a while.
"Sasuke and that Ice Release ninja killed Akatsuki's person?!"
Naruto's voice suddenly rose, breaking the silence.
His eyes were wide open, and his blue eyes were full of shock, but the corners of his mouth turned up involuntarily.
Sakura was equally shocked. She subconsciously covered her mouth, and the figure of Sasuke appeared in her mind.
The boy who left Konoha has now grown up to the point where he can kill the members of Akatsuki.
"And Sasuke is within the territory of Land of Fire!" Naruto clenched his fists fiercely, with uncontrollable excitement and urgency in his voice.
"Then let's go now--!"
"Naruto!" Tsunade shouted loudly and slapped his hands on the table, making a dull sound.
"Calm down!"
Naruto's words were blocked abruptly.
He opened his mouth, looked at Tsunade's serious face, and finally closed his mouth unwillingly.
Sakura stood beside him, with the same emotional ups and downs, but she was not as impulsive as Naruto.
She just clenched her fists and bit her lips trying to calm down.
Sasuke is within the territory of Land of Fire, and just yesterday, it was not too far away from Konoha.
This news made her feel mixed emotions - the anticipation of seeing Sasuke, the shock at his strength, and a hint of... uneasiness that even she didn't dare to admit.
Sai stood by the window, listening to the information read out by Tsunade, with the smile still on his face, but his heart was racing rapidly.
Pain. Konan. Kisame. Scorpion. Deidara. Kakuzu. Hidan. Jue. Tobi.
Uchiha Itachi.
Akatsuki, ten members, now one is dead and one is useless.
He silently recorded this information in his mind.
According to past practice, he should report this information to Danzo as soon as possible.
But at this moment, Sai looked at the orange figure in front of him, looked at Naruto's eyes that were bright with excitement after hearing the news from Sasuke, and fell silent.
After spending so long with Naruto, he found that he was beginning to look a little different.
He couldn't tell how he felt, but he just felt that... he didn't want to report the news to Danzo.
Tsunade raised his right hand, palm facing down, and pressed down.
"Be patient and don't be impatient."
Her voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable power.
The office became quiet again, and everyone's eyes were focused on her.
Tsunade stood up slowly, put his hands on the desk, and scanned the faces of everyone present.
"Sasuke is within the territory of Land of Fire, and just yesterday, it was not too far from Konoha."
Her voice was calm and determined.
"Since he dares to take action on our territory, there is no reason for us to let him leave like this."
Tsunade stood up straight, folded his arms, and looked at Naruto.
"Now, I declare an urgent mission."
Naruto's body straightened instantly, and fighting spirit ignited in his blue eyes.
"Set up a search team immediately and set out to capture the traitor Uchiha Sasuke."
Tsunade paused and looked at Kakashi standing by the wall.
"Kakashi, you serve as the captain of the search team."
Kakashi nodded slightly and said nothing more.
"At the same time, ask Team 8 to assist in the search."
Tsunade After saying this, he paused, and the mission reports he had received in the past few days suddenly flashed through his mind.
Neji.
Since the last Sky Ninja incident, Neji has been out in the field significantly more frequently than before.
Hinata's father, Hyuga Hiashi, seems to be willing to let Branch Family's child accumulate enough mission experience in a short period of time.
She thought for a while and then added:
"Call Hyuga Neji from Team Three as well."
Naruto was stunned for a moment and looked at Tsunade. Neji with some confusion? Why did you suddenly call him too?
But he didn't ask any more questions, because Tsunade's next sentence left him no time to think about anything else.
"You have two tasks."
Tsunade Hold up two fingers.
"First, capture the traitor Uchiha Sasuke.
Second, during the search process, collect as many intelligence clues as possible on Akatsuki."
She put down her hands and glanced at everyone present.
"Above."
"Now, let's go."
Afternoon.
Konoha Gate.
Izumo Kamizuki was leaning against the door frame, holding an entry and exit register in his hand, flipping through it boredly.
Kotetsu Hagane stood beside him, with his hands in his sleeves, squinting at the figures approaching in the distance.
"Coming."
Izumo Kamizuki Close the register and stand up straight.
Kakashi walked in the front and lazily raised Teuchi to say hello.
"Hey, you two."
"Kakashi, this mission is not easy."
Izumo Kamizuki's eyes fell on the people behind him, with a hint of concern in his tone.
"Well, it's okay."
Kakashi closed the book, put it in his arms, and stepped aside to get out of the way.
Naruto followed him, his blue eyes filled with impatience.
He had put on clean clothes and arranged them neatly. Ninja Tool Pouch was tied around his waist and Forehead Protector was worn neatly on his forehead. He looked very motivated.
"Naruto, don't be too impulsive."
Sakura came up and reminded him in a low voice.
"I know, I know."
Naruto promised, but his eyes were already looking into the distance, as if expecting something.
Sai stood beside Sakura, with that iconic fake smile still on his face, but his eyes quickly swept through the crowd, keeping everyone's position and status in mind.
Yamato walked at the back with a slightly serious expression.
After all, if you are not lucky, you will have to face Akatsuki.
The three people from Team 8 arrived a little later.
Ya rode Akamaru and ran all the way over.
Behind him, Shino Earth Flow was standing leisurely, his windbreaker swaying slightly, his hands in his pockets, and his expression could not be seen clearly behind his sunglasses.
Hinata walked at the back, clasping his hands in front of him, and twisting the corners of his clothes unconsciously with his fingers.
Her eyes quickly glanced at the crowd, and then settled on that orange figure.
"Ming...Naruto-kun..."
She raised Teuchi to greet Naruto in a low voice, with two faint blushes appearing on her cheeks.
Naruto turned his head, saw Hinata, grinned, and raised his hand carelessly.
"Yo, Hinata! You're here!"
Hinata's face turned redder, lowered his head, and whispered in response.
"Well... please give me some advice..."
Ya stood aside, watching this scene, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he opened his eyes Earth Flow.
Shino pushed up his sunglasses, stood there in silence, and used Transparent Release.
Kakashi chatted with Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane for a few words, which were nothing more than polite words such as "be careful on the road" and "pay attention to safety".
Izumo Kamizuki handed over the entry and exit register. Kakashi took the pen, signed his name, and handed it back to Izumo Kamizuki.
"Okay, is everyone here?"
Kakashi turned around and scanned the assembled team.
There are three people Team 8, four people Team 7, plus himself, there are eight people in total.
No, one more is missing.
"Hyuga Neji hasn't arrived yet."
Yamato reminded behind him.
As soon as he finished speaking, a white figure appeared at the end of the street.
Neji walked not fast, looking slightly tired, and his white eyes looked calmly ahead.
Everyone saw him approaching and were about to say hello, but suddenly they noticed something was wrong.
Neji's expression... is strange.
It's not indifference, it's not calmness, it's something inexplicable.
His brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was suppressing something or thinking about something.
"Neji!" Ya raised his hand and shouted carelessly.
"Why did you come here? You took your time!"
Neji did not respond.
He walked to the edge of the team, stood still, and scanned everyone's faces.
When he saw Naruto, his eyes paused slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded slightly.
Naruto was a little confused by his look, scratched his head and didn't think much about it.
Kakashi's eyes stayed on Neji for a moment, and he squinted slightly, but didn't ask any more questions.
"Now that everyone is here, let's set off."
Kakashi turned around and walked towards the outside of the gate.
Everyone follows.
Hinata was walking in the middle of the team and couldn't help but glance sideways at Neji.
Neji still looked silent, not squinting.
But Hinata always feels that today's brother Neji is different from usual.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but in the end she didn't dare to speak.
The team passed through Konoha Gate and walked into the sunshine outside.
Neji was walking at the end. He raised his head and looked at the continuous mountain forest in the distance, with a trace of complicated emotions flashing in his white eyes.
Naruto Those words still echoed in his ears.
"A person with white hair and a mask knows how to Ice Release..."
Neji lowered his eyes and clenched his fists.
"Byakugan!"