Sunagakure.
The Fourth Kazekage is secretly summoning his trusted lieutenant, Fuki, to his office.
"This is intelligence obtained by our spies. Take a look."
After Fuki opened and read it, he froze on the spot, "Is this real?... Sasori actually... Elder Chiyo's side..."
"Keep it quiet for now. Elder Chiyo has long since stopped interfering in village affairs, so let's not disturb her. This matter must be handled in secret."
Rasa waved his hand. Chiyo brother held a very important position in the village and had made great contributions to the village. Their son and daughter-in-law had also sacrificed for the village.
It was precisely because of her that, even though Sasori had slaughtered many villages in the Land of Wind over the years, Sunagakure had never actually sent anyone to hunt him down.
But this time the situation is different.
"What does Lord Kazekage mean...?"
"Take the Anti-Puppet Squad immediately to verify the intelligence. If possible, capture Scorpion."
"Hi!"
Aoki Tsuki's investigation is ongoing; Konan has given him a total of three verification tasks.
The last one is in the Land of Rivers. Unlike the previous two, which have already occurred, the mission that this intelligence touched upon has not yet taken place.
If this goes wrong again, he will send his investigation report back.
This mission, issued privately by the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers, was to assassinate the rebel leader. As a high-level mission, it was to be completed by Juzo Biwa, a core member of Akatsuki.
Jūzō was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, specializing in carrying out high-risk missions for the Mizukage; assassination was his specialty.
Since it hasn't happened yet, it's highly likely that he's still using his clone to keep up, and he can no longer investigate as he did before.
The existence of Absolute cannot be detected by conventional means.
Aoki Tsuki entered Sage Mode, using Natural Energy in conjunction with the Barrier Ninjutsu: Boundless Mind Domain to conduct a detailed scan of the area around the target.
'Wait, how does Konan know I'm qualified for this job?'
It was only then that he belatedly realized that he had never demonstrated his sensory abilities to Konan.
It was as if the other party knew he had this ability.
'Well, if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet eventually. You know it, you know it.'
Just as Konan knew that he knew Pain's true identity, the two tacitly avoided this sensitive topic each time.
After a day of searching, we finally found the target in the canopy of a tree next to the camp.
As darkness fell, a person walked into the camp, pretended to urinate next to a tree, reached out and leaned on the tree, and quickly turned back to the camp.
"Wait, could this guy also be...?"
Aoki Tsuki remembered that Zetsu's clones could transform into the appearance of other ninjas.
The other party had transformed into a patrol member of the rebel army, openly monitoring them; they were most likely out delivering intelligence.
The intelligence report sent to Xiao stated that the rebel leader was accompanied by five guards, but in reality there were ten, because there were five more hidden in the shadows.
Judging from the target's Chakra feedback, this rebel leader is an elite Jonin.
If Juzo Biwa up in this lineup and gets bogged down, even if he manages to escape in the end, he will be in a very miserable state once the others surround him.
Through a series of investigations, Aoki Tsuki realized that Zetsu was deliberately creating perfectly timed intelligence errors.
It can inflict some damage on the members of Akatsuki, but not kill them.
It can be basically confirmed that Obito was using intelligence control to compete with Pain for control of the organization and to demonstrate his presence.
It might be due to the wariness caused by the loss of one of Zetsu's clones last time, or it could be a counterattack against Pain for secretly building up his team while he was away.
Things are never that simple. Given Obito's personality, he either doesn't act at all, or when he does, he's ruthless.
Just then, the White Zetsu Clone hidden in the trees moved, seemingly to return and report that the assassination was scheduled for tomorrow.
Aoki Tsuki thought for a moment, then carved the shape of a Rinnegan on the trunk of a tree near the camp and drew a cross on the eye.
After doing all that, they quickly chased after the White Zetsu clone and left.
During the pursuit, he finally understood why White Zetsu was a natural intelligence expert; his speed in traversing the mountains and forests alone could easily defeat most ninjas.
If it absolutely had to be given a name, it should be called 'Wood Body Flicker Technique '.
It can move instantly in any place covered by flowers, grass, and trees, and the distance it can travel in one go can even reach more than three kilometers.
The speed is slightly slower inside the mountain soil.
Aoki Tsuki used all his strength to barely keep up with Zetsu, and just before dawn, Zetsu's speed finally slowed down.
We entered a border town between the Land of Rivers Land of Wind.
"Damn, if we don't stop soon, I'm going to die of exhaustion."
After catching his breath, Aoki Tsuki disguised himself and entered a small restaurant in the town, eating while keeping an eye on the other party's movements.
I don't think this thing is human. It doesn't need to eat. Maybe it can survive a day by drinking tree sap or eating dirt.
He's not good enough.
Fortunately, after arriving in the town, the other party went into a general store and then remained silent.
After showing off a huge table of food, he waved for the restaurant owner to clean up.
The shop owner was a very hospitable person. While clearing the table, he said, "Sir, you have a really big appetite! I haven't met anyone who can eat as much as you in a long time."
"I can eat my fill for one day and not be hungry for three, haha... We ronin samurai can really eat!"
"That's true. A group of people came to town yesterday, they seemed to be ninjas. I overheard my colleagues talking about them, and they all have big appetites."
"Oh, a ninja has come here?"
"Yeah, I can smell the blood on them, and those eyes... tsk tsk, they must have killed a lot of people." The shop owner clicked his tongue repeatedly.
"Oh dear, that was scary! I was planning to stay a few more days, I'd better get out of here quickly."
"Yes, yes, let's hurry up and go. This is the age of ninjas now," the shop owner advised.
"Hey bro, what's the name of this place? How do I get to Oda...?"
In this area, Aoki Tsuki remembers there's a large city called Oda.
"This is Onomichi. If you leave the town and continue south, you'll reach Oda in about 20 kilometers."
Thank you.
Not long after, a white pigeon flew straight towards the Land of Rain from the woods outside the town, and landed on a tower in the western district of Amegakure a few hours later.
Konan kept a flock of pigeons here, specifically for relaying messages.
" Oda?!... Sasori..."
At this moment, dozens of kilometers away from Oda, Sasori and Orochimaru walked side by side, wary of each other.
"Hey, you stinky snake, this was agreed beforehand, all the corpses from this mission are mine."
We lost so many puppets in the last battle with Orochimaru, and we still haven't been able to replace them.
"The dead are yours, the living are mine," Orochimaru replied. He also needed experimental subjects, and opportunities to openly collect living individuals like this were rare.
"Hmph, I guarantee I won't leave a single one of you alive."
Orochimaru caught a glimpse of a mark on a roadside rock out of the corner of his eye, and a smile curved his lips.
"Hehe... I hope you'll have that opportunity, Scorpion."
The mission's objective is to assassinate a family belonging to Oda, located on the border of the Land of Rivers. The client has requested the complete annihilation of this rival family.
Intelligence indicates that this family, as a powerful local clan, employs a large number of ninjas and samurai as bodyguards.
S-rank difficulty, high reward, to be carried out jointly by Sasori and Orochimaru.
Under the cover of darkness, two figures evaded the patrol officers and sneaked into a mansion, searching several houses without finding their target.
"This is too inefficient. Why don't we split up?" Orochimaru suggested.
"Alright, let's see who has the best skills."
Sasori continued searching for the main target, knowing full well that Orochimaru didn't care about the success of the mission; he was only interested in gathering useful information.
Indeed, after separating from Sasori, Orochimaru couldn't resist attacking the patrol officers.
The patrolmen were no pushovers; after losing several squads, they finally discovered the intruders, and alarms blared throughout the entire mansion.
This also caused the scorpion a lot of trouble.
"Tch! That stinky snake..."
Just as Sasori found the entrance to the main target's hiding place, Orochimaru made a mess of things.
Not daring to waste any time, he quickly used his scorpion tail to smash through the door and rushed towards the underground chamber. Unexpectedly, the interior was well-decorated and the space was quite large.
The target had already heard the alarm and jumped out of bed in a panic.
"Guards! Guards!"
The four ninjas, who were hiding in the secret room providing close protection, cursed under their breath and had no choice but to come out of their hiding place and face the enemy head-on.
Swish swish swish...
The four men, wielding Kunai, launched their attack almost simultaneously.
Ding ding ding...
The steel scorpion tail is really useful; it extends and retracts freely, is flexible and versatile, and combines offense and defense, easily intercepting the attacks of several people.
call out!
Taking advantage of the gap, a Kunai carrying Explosive Tag pierced through the scorpion's tail and shot into Hiruko's back.
boom...
The Kakkō enveloped Hiruko, illuminating the entire secret chamber.
"Got him!" the guard exclaimed in surprise, but his smile froze the next second.
The steel scorpion tail pierced his abdomen instantly, lifting him into the air.
"You're getting too cocky..."
At this moment, Hiruko was completely naked, with only a thick, ghost-face-shaped carapace welded intact to her back. Her scorpion tail was the tongue sticking out of the ghost face's mouth.
Explosive Tag and the like can't break through the defenses at all.
Thud...
With a gentle flick of its tail, the scorpion tossed the guard's corpse onto the target's bed, causing the latter to scream in terror.
He's deliberately trying to break Fang's spirits.
Upon seeing this, the remaining three guards unconsciously took a step back, exchanged glances, and then turned and ran towards the exit.
The newcomer was clearly a formidable figure; anyone who stayed would surely die.
"Hehe... you're all my collectibles, and none of you will escape."
Sasori sneered, about to make a move, when Chakra fluctuation came from the entrance, causing Sasori to subconsciously stop.
A cold voice rang out: " Wind Release: Wind Blade "
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
"Ah... ah... ah..."
The three escaped guards were blocked at the doorway, facing a relentless barrage of blades that cut them down as if they were being slowly sliced to death.
When they fell to the ground, not a single patch of their skin was intact.
"Help..." The assassination target, thinking reinforcements had arrived, cried out urgently.
puff!
The steel scorpion tail pierced his neck. Just in case, Scorpion decided to kill his target first and complete the mission.
Accompanied by footsteps, a group of ninjas dressed in Sunagakure vests appeared in the underground chamber.
"Oh? It seems there's a surprise in this mission!" Scorpion said slowly.
"It really was you, Scorpion. I heard you joined an international terrorist organization. Why did you do that?"
As the team leader for this mission, Fuki has come to verify something.
Scorpion was fully aware of this. "If I had to give a reason, it would be that I'm utterly disgusted with this boring world and want to find some fun."