At that moment, all of Amegakure was remarkably quiet-or, more precisely, remarkably silent.
Countless Amegakure ninja watched with expressions of shock, horror, or fear as Uchiha Minato led Nagato and the others slowly into Amegakure.
It rather resembled the return of a king.
In Nagato's and Deidara's hands, the Iwagakure commander Akatsuchi and the Kumogakure commander Darui were visibly bound tight, unable to use any ninjutsu, their faces filled with pain and frustration.
For some reason, upon seeing this, the residents of Amegakure could not help applauding and calling out in unison:
"Uchiha Minato, Amegakure's great hero!"
"That's right! Without Lord Uchiha Minato this time, Amegakure would probably have remained under the Land of Earth's rule for a long time!"
"They say Lord Uchiha Minato is one of Akatsuki's leaders. The Akatsuki we've been eagerly waiting for has finally returned!"
Countless Amegakure residents clamored to speak, their eyes brimming with gratitude and anticipation.
After all, in Amegakure, Akatsuki, which had always sought to achieve everything through peaceful means, had always enjoyed popular support.
Ever since Uchiha Minato had defeated Hanzo of the Salamander and Akatsuki had successfully occupied Amegakure, the citizens' lives had finally gotten back on track with help from Konan and the others, and they no longer had to worry about war.
But what the citizens of Amegakure had not expected was that the remaining factions within the village would secretly collude with the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and other countries, forcing Akatsuki's members to flee from place to place.
They had already lost all hope for their lives, yet unexpectedly, Lord Uchiha Minato had led Akatsuki's members back into the fray.
"Lord Feng, without your help this time, we members of Akatsuki really wouldn't have known what to do!" one Akatsuki member could not