In a room on the seventh floor of Amegakure's tower.
Naruto stood before the mirror, studying himself in the flame-cloud cloak, and smiled in wonder. "I never thought I'd wear this outfit one day."
"All right!"
Clap! He struck his palm with his fist, turned with his cloak billowing, and strode out of the room.
In the corridor, Konan leaned against a window. Her orange eyes brightened as she watched Naruto approach. "That cloak suits you."
Naruto waved a hand and smiled faintly. "Don't tease me..."
"This is for you."
Konan opened her palm, revealing a ring.
Naruto took the ring, which still held the warmth of Konan's palm. At its center, the character for "zero" was engraved against a pale blue background.
"Zero." His gaze sharpened slightly.
Konan said seriously, "Akatsuki operates in pairs, and every full member has a code name. Pain's old code name was Zero, symbolizing nothingness. I hope you'll inherit it..."
As she spoke, Konan turned her hand over. A ring with a white character on a white background adorned the slender middle finger of her right hand.
"Incidentally, my code name is White, symbolizing the White Tiger."
"I understand."
Naruto nodded and solemnly slipped the ring onto his left thumb.
Seeing this, Konan's lips curved into a faint smile.
"And..." She reached to her waist, took out a bulging pouch, and handed it over. "These are soldier pills. I checked the ones you had, and they'd gotten damp."
Naruto scratched his head. "Ah, I spent a long time hiding underground in the damp when I went to pick up Kisame."
Konan said, "Throw those away. Eating them won't be good for you."
Naruto accepted the soldier pills and said earnestly, "Thank you, Konan, my senior fellow student."
Konan said, "You and I walk the same path. There's no need to stand on ceremony."
A few minutes later, the two left the tower together. Orochimaru and Kisame had already been waiting in the rain for some time.
Naruto considered the situation carefully. "We may not have been able to keep our arrival in Amegakure a secret. To be safe..."
He raised his hands and formed hand seals.
Poof!
A shadow clone appeared.
"I'll leave my shadow clone here to watch over our base. If anything unexpected happens, I can return immediately with Flying Thunder God."
Kumogakure lay over ten thousand miles from Amegakure. They would have to pass through the Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Iron, the Land of Sound, the Land of Hot Water, and the Land of the Moon before reaching the Land of Lightning, where Kumogakure stood!
Even at a jōnin's pace, the journey would take ten to fifteen days.
But Naruto could use Flying Thunder God to reach the Land of Iron, which he had marked beforehand, cutting out more than half the journey. He could even leave Flying Thunder God marks along the way and travel back and forth to Amegakure.
That was the power of Space-Time Ninjutsu.
"The Raikage fought Kisame at the southern border of the Land of Waves. To return to his village, he'll have to cross that vast country from south to north. Besides, the Land of Waves has plenty of waterways, which will increase his chakra consumption without him realizing it. He'll have to rest along the way. We might be able to reach the village before he gets back..."
Naruto slowly put on his mask, and his presence changed at once!
Konan placed a hand on Naruto's back, while Naruto rested his hands on Orochimaru's and Kisame's shoulders.
"Let's go..."
Before they departed, Orochimaru looked at the open space outside the tower. "Once we return from this trip, I should start preparing to build my laboratory..."
At that moment.
Amid the wind and snow in the mountains behind the Land of Iron.
"Aaargh...!!" Two patrolling samurai fell to the ground with screams.
Clang!
Hozuki Suigetsu planted the Kubikiribōchō upright in the ground and grinned, baring his sharp teeth. "I left one alive for you. Now's your chance..."
Jugo, who had taken on the appearance of a child, walked coldly toward the samurai lying on the ground, still clinging to life.
The samurai gritted his teeth. "Y-you're... ninja!"
"If you want to blame someone, blame that blond ninja for turning me into this...!"
Jugo straddled the samurai's back, covered his mouth and nose, and activated the power of his Cursed Seal.
"Mmmph...!"
With muffled cries of anguish, the samurai's body rapidly shriveled away, leaving nothing but an empty suit of armor.
Having absorbed all the samurai's life essence, Jugo regained his young adult physique.
Suigetsu laughed. "Talk about a thrill. If we get caught after doing this, we're definitely getting thrown onto death row~!"
With a hiss, the Cursed Seal slowly receded. Jugo said darkly, "Let's get back to Sasuke quickly. I feel my urge to kill about to flare up again..."
Earlier, while the Five Kage confronted Naruto, the two had slipped away. Instead of leaving the Land of Iron immediately, they had disguised themselves as samurai and waited for an opportunity.
"Hey, Jugo, Suigetsu. We meet again so soon..." Just as the two turned to leave, an amused voice suddenly sounded behind them.
Whoosh!
They whirled around and braced themselves.
Naruto had appeared there without them noticing, with Konan, Orochimaru, and Kisame behind him!
Suigetsu thought in alarm, There was a dead end behind us just now. How did he appear there?!
Jugo said grimly, "He has the ability to leap through space! But why now, of all times? What terrible timing!"
Indeed, life really could be that coincidental!
"..." Naruto glanced at the samurai's corpse and the emptied armor on the ground, then looked away.
Better not provoke a monster who can pin Sasuke to the ground and wipe the floor with him. Wait! That outfit, and Senior Kisame! Has he joined Akatsuki too?!
Suigetsu's thoughts raced. "We're on the same side! Don't attack!"
Naruto said teasingly, "Aren't you Taka?"
Suigetsu said, "Taka and Akatsuki are allies..."
Naruto smiled faintly. "Unfortunately, we aren't Akatsuki..."
Jugo asked, "What do you want? Did you come specifically to find us?"
Naruto said, "We really were just passing through. But since we've met here, it must be fate. Come with us, or..."
The aura faintly emanating from him made Suigetsu's hair stand on end!
"..." Jugo's gaze grew grave. He had no desire to abandon Sasuke.
Suigetsu kept signaling with his eyes: Hey, staying alive comes first at a time like this!!
Naruto's gaze darkened. "Jugo, finding Sasuke will take some effort. You don't want your Cursed Seal going out of control and hurting innocent people and animals, do you? Until you see Sasuke, perhaps I can be your restraint!"
As he spoke, Naruto slowly removed his mask, revealing the three striking tomoe in his left eye!
"The Sharingan..." Jugo's gaze abruptly sharpened. "All right. Though I don't know what you're after, I can stay with you for now. But I will never betray Sasuke!"
Naruto pointed at the mess on the ground. "Suit yourself. But in exchange for covering up what you've done, you'll have to help with Bright Akatsuki's operation!"
Jugo considered it, then said, "Deal..."
"Whew." Suigetsu let out a long breath and joined Jugo behind Naruto.
Orochimaru said with amusement, "Suigetsu, my adorable subordinate. You were drawing your sword against me not long ago. Who would have thought we'd be working together again so soon..."
Suigetsu rubbed his hands together and flattered him. "Exactly! I've always felt that Lord Orochimaru was the one I was destined to serve!"
Naruto put his mask back on. "Let's keep moving. To Kumogakure!"
Infiltrate and search. Find the scroll containing Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode Secret Technique and take it!
Overall difficulty rating: beyond S-rank.
After this tense little encounter, Naruto's party of six set out from the Land of Iron toward Kumogakure!
Before you continue