In the Land of Rain, unending rain beat against crumbling eaves and rusted pipes, producing a monotonous, oppressive sound. The air was thick with dampness, rust, and the faint sense of chakra surveillance, enough to make it suffocating.
Team Hawk slipped through the abandoned districts and pipe networks, following Tobi's vague intelligence toward the Abandoned Temple area by the eastern Inland Sea. Sasuke led the way, his face paler than usual, his presence colder and more restrained. He had to devote part of his attention to constantly suppressing the dark power stirring within him. The struggle between Indra's chakra and the Sacred Lord's residual power never stopped, like ice and fire entwining through his chakra pathways, bringing a persistent dull ache and mental torment. Tobi's words about hatred being a breeding ground echoed in his mind from time to time like a curse.
"Lord Sasuke, there's an Amegakure patrol ahead, at three o'clock. Their chakra signatures... are very rigid, as if some force is controlling them all." Karin gave the warning quietly through the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. Her perception suffered considerable interference in this region covered by the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, but she could still provide crucial information.
Sasuke gave a hand signal, and the team immediately concealed themselves in the shadow of a broken wall, like drops of ink dissolving into the rain. As he watched the Amegakure ninja pass along the street ahead, their eyes vacant but their movements perfectly synchronized, a trace of gravity flashed in his Sharingan. Pain's control over this country was even tighter than he had imagined.
I have to find Itachi as soon as possible, Sasuke told himself. It was not just for revenge, but also to seek an answer-about this power, about the truth behind the Uchiha, about...