The Two-Tails' Jinchūriki!

Before long, sounds came from outside the cave.

Kakashi and Naruto had returned.

They had successfully retrieved Gaara from Deidara, but the Kazekage had already lost every trace of life after his Tailed Beast was extracted.

At the sight, Naruto was overcome with grief and furiously confronted Granny Chiyo, demanding answers about Sunagakure's unjust treatment of Jinchūriki.

In the end, moved by Naruto's words and determination-or perhaps hoping to make amends for her past mistakes-Granny Chiyo made a decision.

She used the forbidden technique One's Own Life Reincarnation, pouring life back into Gaara's body at the cost of her own life force.

Ye Chuan quietly watched it all from the side.

After performing the technique, Granny Chiyo slowly collapsed with a faint smile of release, turning to dust.

Gaara opened his emerald-green eyes again. His gaze was no longer cold, but held a hint of warmth.

Ye Chuan merely watched, feeling little emotion.

To him, this was more like... an equivalent exchange.

With that, the mission to retrieve the Kazekage came to a successful conclusion.

Konoha, the Hokage's office.

Ye Chuan gave Tsunade a detailed account of the mission.

Of course, he still withheld the crucial details of his battle, saying only that he had accomplished it together with Granny Chiyo.

But at the end of his report, he casually revealed some details about the abilities of Akatsuki's members, and even the unusual being called Zetsu.

"Hmm... well done."

After hearing his report, Tsunade nodded in satisfaction, her gaze full of approval as she looked at Ye Chuan.

"Not only did you successfully rescue the Kazekage, you also killed Sasori, that S-rank rogue ninja, and even brought back so much intelligence on Akatsuki."

"Ye Chuan, you deserve the greatest credit this time!"

She stood up and walked over to Ye Chuan, a gratified smile on her face.

Tsunade reached out to ruffle his hair as she used to, only to discover that the boy had grown considerably and was almost as tall as she was. Her hand paused, and in the end, she merely patted his shoulder gently.

"You really have... grown up."

Looking at the handsome face before her, now stripped of its boyishness, Tsunade felt a little wistful.

In two and a half years, the brat who had once needed her protection had grown into a powerful ninja whom even she found somewhat hard to fathom.

Perhaps because only master and student were in the office and the mood was fairly relaxed, Tsunade made a rare show of dropping her Hokage airs and teased him:

"Come to think of it, you're a famously handsome guy in the village now, and you're strong, too. You must be popular with the girls, right?"

"Has anyone caught your eye? Want your Lady Hokage to introduce you to a few?"

As she spoke, she deliberately thrust out her impressive chest, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

The corner of Ye Chuan's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and he calmly looked away.

"Thank you for your concern, Teacher. Right now, I only want to focus on training."

"Tch, you boring brat."

Tsunade pursed her lips, then grew serious again.

"Back to business. According to our latest intelligence, Akatsuki has been getting more and more active."

She handed Ye Chuan an intelligence report.

"This is information the other squads and the ANBU recently gathered on another pair of Akatsuki members. They appeared on the border of the Land of Lightning."

Ye Chuan took the report and quickly skimmed it, understanding dawning in his mind.

They really were here!

Hidan and Kakuzu! Akatsuki's immortal duo!

One was a cultist lunatic who killed through curse rituals, and the other was a money-grubbing rogue ninja from Takigakure with five hearts.

"According to our analysis, their next target is very likely the Land of Fire," Tsunade said gravely.

"In other words, they may well enter the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha!"

"Understood." Ye Chuan put down the report, a barely perceptible sharp glint flashing deep in his eyes.

Hidan and Kakuzu? They were practically perfect experience packs.

Hidan, in particular, would be just right for testing whether his current slashes could truly kill him.

"I'll keep an eye on their movements," Ye Chuan said calmly.

"Good. Be careful out there." Tsunade nodded. She knew Ye Chuan knew his limits.

An enigmatic smile tugged at the corner of Ye Chuan's mouth.

All this time, he had merely followed the torrent of the plot, cautiously and passively accepting it.

But now, his strength was nothing like it had once been.

Perhaps... it was time.

Time to let his presence bring about some... more interesting changes to this world's plot.

Near a flooded cave.

A beautiful silver-haired woman was pinned firmly to the wall by several black spikes.

Her chakra was sealed, leaving her unable to move, and blood still lingered at the corner of her mouth. She had clearly suffered a crushing defeat.

Before her stood two figures wearing black robes with red clouds.

One was relatively short, his face covered by a mask, his entire body radiating a cold, sinister aura. It was Kakuzu.

The other was Hidan.

His chest bare, he carried a massive triple-bladed scythe on his shoulder and was fanatically performing some bizarre ritual. A bright red circular ritual diagram was drawn on the ground.

"Heh heh heh... feel the pain!"

"This is what happens when you disrespect Lord Jashin!"

"Your life will become an offering to Lord Jashin!"

Hidan licked the blood from his scythe, a sick smile on his face. The ritual seemed to be nearing its end.

"Tch, Hidan, hurry up and finish that boring ritual of yours!" Kakuzu urged impatiently beside him.

"Once we've traded this woman's head for money, we still have to get to our next target!"

"Shut up, Kakuzu! Show some reverence for Lord Jashin's ritual! You bastard, all you ever think about is money!"

Hidan retorted irritably, but still sped up the ritual.

While they were talking, neither noticed-

Shhhk-!!!

A piercing cutting sound rang out.

An incredibly sharp force instantly sliced a smooth opening through the cave's hard rock wall as though it were tofu.

"Who's there?!"

Startled at the same time, Kakuzu and Hidan spun around to look at the opening that had been cut into the cave!

A black-haired boy holding a pure-white katana slowly walked in through it.

"Oh? Lucky me. Looks like I'm still in time."

Ye Chuan's steps were unhurried, his gaze calm, as though he were merely dropping by a neighbor's house.

Yet the faint sharpness emanating from him sent a tremor through even Kakuzu and Hidan, two battle-hardened rogue ninja!

"Are you two Akatsuki's famous immortal duo?"

Ye Chuan's gaze swept over the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki pinned to the wall before settling on Hidan and Kakuzu, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Perfect. I just killed Sasori, that puppet player, but it didn't quite satisfy me."

He slowly raised the Wado Ichimonji in his hand, pointing its tip at the pair.

"I'll use you two to test the results of my two and a half years of training again."