A dilapidated temple ten kilometers away from the "Akatsuki" organization's stronghold.
The broken Buddha statue looked particularly hideous in the dim light. There was a bonfire burning in the corner of the temple, which dispelled some of the chill.
Senju Chen put away the paper umbrella and walked into the temple.
Beside the bonfire, Kakuzu was carefully counting a thick stack of banknotes with the help of Kakkō, still mumbling something. Hatake Sakumo was sitting cross-legged on a piece of bluestone.
"Boss, you are really good at this show." Kakuzu said without raising his head, flicking the banknotes with his fingers skillfully, "However, those little devils are quite easy to fool. You treat them as gunslingers, and they are grateful to you."
"This is called investing. You are immortal." Senju Chen walked to the fire and sat down, picking up a branch and flicking the charcoal. "They have their value. As long as they can survive this period of time, the future Land of Rain may be decided by them."
As Senju Chen's words fell, the soil on the temple floor suddenly surged. A pale half-length figure slowly emerged, it was White Zetsu who was responsible for surveillance.
"Sir." White Zetsu's hoarse and strange voice echoed in the empty temple.
"How is the situation?" Senju Chen threw away the branch in his hand.
"Shimura Danzō is still cowering in that place. He has not stepped out of the house in the past few days." White Zetsu reported, "However, the ninjas around him may have noticed something is wrong. They have deployed a large number of Explosive Tag traps outside the village and set up five hidden sentries to form a cross-sensing defense network. Any disturbance will immediately arouse their vigilance."
Senju Chen sneered, "The trapped beast still fights. Does he think that with a few hidden stakes, he can stop Death God?"
He turned to look at Hatake Sakumo and Kakuzu, with an unquestionable chill in his tone. "Uncle Sakumo, Kakuzu. Today Night is the time for Shimura Danzō to die. I'll leave those secret sentinels on the outside to you. Remember, don't make too much noise. I want him to slowly feel despair on this 'isolated island' he built himself."
A trace of complicated emotions flashed in Hatake Sakumo's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by cold murderous intent. He had no mercy for the conspirator who stabbed him in the back and ruined his reputation.
"Understood."
Kakuzu put the banknotes in his arms, stood up, and the bones all over his body roared, "Hey, the head of an S-class rebel ninja... I like this deal."
Night fell again, and Land of Rain's heavy rain came as expected.
The strong wind carried large raindrops, hitting the muddy ground crazily, making a deafening noise. This kind of bad weather was an excellent cover for sneak assassinations.
Valley Village, a remote village with only a dozen or so households, has now been completely taken over by Root ninjas. The original villagers have long since disappeared, and there is a chilling atmosphere in the air.
In a dense forest five hundred meters away from the village.
A Root ninja is lurking on a thick tree trunk. He wears a special animal mask, and his whole body blends into the surrounding tree bark. His breathing is suppressed to the extreme, and his eyes are fixed on the road ahead.
Suddenly, an extremely subtle sound of electricity sounded in the rainy night.
Before he could react, a dazzling white light suddenly appeared in the darkness. It was an extremely fast sword light, like lightning tearing apart the night sky.
"Chi--"
The sound of the sharp blade cutting flesh and blood was perfectly masked by the sound of the heavy rain. The Root ninja's head instantly rose into the sky, and hot blood spurted out like a fountain, sprinkling into the muddy water below.
The figure of Hatake Sakumo appeared on the tree trunk for a moment, and then turned into a blurry afterimage again, disappearing into the rain. When White Fang was unsheathed, blood would seal its throat.
At the same time, at the edge of a swamp on the west side of the village.
Two Root ninjas responsible for cross patrols are communicating with hand gestures. They are very cautious and keep a distance of about ten meters between each other to ensure that if they are attacked, the other person can immediately sound the alarm.
However, the muddy water beneath their feet was quietly changing.
Several thick black tentacles, like poisonous snakes lurking in the deep sea, emerged from the mud without warning.
"What?!" One of the ninjas exclaimed. Just as he thought Hand Seals, the black tentacles wrapped around his ankles with thunderous force and dragged him fiercely into the mire.
Another ninja was shocked when he saw this. Just as he was about to take out the flare from his ninja tool bag, a face wearing a sutured mask suddenly emerged from the tree trunk behind him.
Kakuzu's green eyes were full of cruel smiles. One of his hands had turned into countless thin black threads, directly penetrating the ninja's heart from behind.
"Too slow." Kakuzu coldly withdrew his hand and let the body fall limply into the muddy water.
The fourth secret sentry is hidden in an abandoned mill.
This ninja is a perceptive type. He was closing his eyes and spreading Chakra to the surrounding ground. Suddenly, he opened his eyes suddenly and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"There is an enemy invasion! Extremely fast!"
He Hand Seals his hands quickly, preparing to activate the Explosive Tag formation that had been deployed around the mill.
As a result, a short knife was suddenly stabbed into the back of his head, and he lost his life on the spot.
Hatake Sakumo walked in through the hole in the wooden wall, pulled out the short knife, and didn't even look at the body on the ground.
Only the last secret whistle is left.
That was the captain-level figure in charge of the main entrance of the village. He had obviously noticed the abnormal fluctuation of Chakra and was ready to warn Danzo.
But in the face of the absolute strength gap, all struggles are in vain.
"Fire Release·Searing Migraine!"
"Wind Release·Press!"
Two black monsters wearing masks emerged from the ground and opened their mouths at the same time. The violent hurricane enveloped the blazing sea of fire, forming a destructive fire storm that instantly devoured the former Root captain.
There was not even a scream, and the captain and several big trees around him were burned to ashes in an instant.
At this point, Shimura Danzō's five hidden sentries placed outside the village were completely removed in less than three minutes. The whole process was clean and tidy and did not cause any large-scale commotion.
In the center of the village, in the strongest stone house.
Shimura Danzō was still sitting behind the rough wooden table. The dim candlelight flickered, making the sinister look in his one eye even more terrifying.
He stared intently at the empty secret box on the table, the joints of his fingers turning white from excessive exertion.
Seven days have passed and still no news.
The fear of being isolated from the whole world was gradually eating away at his proud sanity.
Suddenly, Danzo's ears moved slightly.
The rain outside was loud, covering up many subtle sounds. But as an old conspirator who had spent most of his life crawling around in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, his intuition about danger had long been ingrained into his instincts.
The smell of blood.
An extremely weak, but extremely pungent smell of blood in this humid environment floated in through the crack in the door.
What frightened him even more was that the Chakra reactions of the few confidants he had left outside had all disappeared at that moment!
"Who is it?!"