A massive water dragon flew out of the mountain ravine, its gaping jaws lunging at the three who had been caught off guard.
If Nagato had not warned them in advance, the three would likely have walked straight into the ninja's ambush.
Now that they had put some distance between them, the three had time to respond to the Water Dragon Bullet.
A Water Dragon Bullet of this scale could be controlled to track its targets, so it was not easy to dodge.
Yahiko was the first to react.
He used a short Body Flicker Technique to move in front of the others, forming Hand Seals with both hands:
"Water Release-Water Formation Wall!"
As he formed the Hand Seals, he spat out a stream of water that became a wall in front of them.
Konan reacted as well. She waved both hands, sending more than a dozen sheets of paper flying out, rapidly folding into Shuriken in midair:
"Dance of the Shikigami-Paper Shuriken!"
Konan's Paper Shuriken did not attack the onrushing Water Dragon Bullet directly.
Her target was the ninja controlling the water dragon!
Only then did Nagato react.
Through his long red hair, Nagato nervously formed Hand Seals, getting one wrong on his first attempt.
The disrupted Chakra caused a tightness in his chest.
Fortunately, he finally succeeded in forming the seals on his second attempt:
"Earth Release-Earth Style Wall!"
The earth shook, and a grayish-yellow earthen wall rose from the ground in front of the three.
But this small Earth Style Wall was no match for the enormous Water Dragon Bullet.
The surging water dragon smashed straight through Nagato's earthen wall. Having lost less than half its size, it crashed into Yahiko's Water Formation Wall.
Boom!
The now smaller water dragon slammed into the three children, knocking them backward through the air.
The Earth Style Wall and Water Formation Wall were both good defensive techniques,
but the difference in Chakra reserves meant the Water Dragon Bullet still smashed straight through them.
The current knocked the three to the ground, sending them flying more than two meters back.
"You three brats learned a few third-rate Ninjutsu and dared to covet my Moon Sake Town?
Tell me who's behind you and who else is working with you.
Come clean, and I'll give you a quick death!"
The burly ninja who had emerged from the ravine had originally been a member of an Amegakure assassination squad.
He had been separated from his squad during the Second Shinobi World War and had hidden in Moon Sake Town to recover from his injuries.
Afterward, he gathered these rogue ninja around him and gradually took control of the town, whose industry was brewing sake.
After receiving an urgent message from his accomplices, he had taken a shortcut to cut Yahiko, Konan and the others off.
As the gang's leader, Kurosawa Ichirō was not as stupid as his underlings.
If these three brats had someone backing them or a gang behind them, what good would simply killing them do?
Konan's Paper Shuriken pierced Kurosawa Ichirō's body, which turned into a puddle of clear water.
The one directly ahead was no longer the real one, but a Water Clone!
"The real one's over there!"
Nagato pointed north, and Yahiko, moving in perfect coordination with him, spat out three Water Guns in an attempt to disrupt the other's movements.
Meanwhile, Konan gripped the cylinder, which no longer held any electrical charge, and channeled her Chakra with all her might.
With the help of the Chakra Metal, the cylinder still had a considerable Ninjutsu amplification effect.
"Shikigami-Flowering Waltz!"
The cylinder flashed, and a dense tornado of tough paper sheets swept toward her opponent.
The sheets folded themselves into blades in midair, spinning violently as they flew.
Inside the tornado of paper was a lethal shredding trap!
Every paper blade in it was like a knife!
The ninja who had flickered north was only a step too slow, but he lost the initiative.
He had not expected one of the three brats to be a sensory ninja.
Caught off guard, Kurosawa Kazuo was engulfed by Konan's Flowering Waltz.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
A flurry of cutting sounds rang out. Just as the three were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a puff of white smoke rose from within the Flowering Waltz.
All that remained inside was a wooden log covered in cuts from the folded paper blades.
The Substitution Technique!
"You little brats have plenty of tricks!
I nearly slipped up.
But that's the last of your struggles.
Now that I'm getting serious, you won't have the slightest chance!"
Kurosawa Kazuo's sinister voice came from a puddle to the west.
Rising from the puddle, he wiped a hand over the cuts on his face, still shaken.
With the strength of a Special Jōnin, he had nearly been killed by three children, and he felt utterly humiliated.
He could already hear his idiot underlings in the distance. He could not let them see their boss in such a sorry state.
"Water Release-Water Gun Technique!"
Kurosawa Kazuo rapidly formed Hand Seals and spat out a dense barrage of water balls.
These fist-sized balls of Chakra-infused water were exceptionally tough. Whistling through the air, they smashed through the Earth Style Wall Nagato had barely managed to raise.
Then the rapid-fire water balls struck the three, who could not dodge in time, like heavy punches.
Nagato was hit three times in the face and knocked unconscious to the ground.
Hearing the cries of pain from the three he had knocked down, Kurosawa Kazuo finally stopped his Ninjutsu.
Seeing that his underlings had surrounded the area, Kurosawa Kazuo calmly folded his arms and said coldly:
"You little brats had enough?
Come clean. Who sent you?
Who else is working with you?
Where are they all hiding?
I saw you passing messages, and I heard you mention the Akatsuki.
Tell me everything honestly, and I might still let you go.
Otherwise, this is where you die!
My men will torture you in a hundred different ways!"
When his underlings saw their boss appear and the three cunning brats knocked to the ground and unable to move, they all began to flatter him:
"You're mighty, boss! Just as I thought, there's nothing you can't handle!"
"I told you there was nothing to worry about. Those three little rats were never going to get away!"
"Boss Kurosawa, leave these three brats to me!
I'll make them regret being born into this world!"
"Don't hit the girl. She's a little young, but she's already a beauty in the making.
Capture her and sell her in the Land of Hot Water's pleasure district. She'll fetch a good price!"
Seeing that the outcome was settled, Kurosawa Kazuo enjoyed his underlings' flattery and flicked a Kunai into the ground in front of Yahiko.
"Hey, brat, did you hear me?
If you don't talk, I'll start cutting you up first!"
Yahiko wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and got up, shielding Konan and Nagato behind him.
"You're a ninja of Amegakure too. Why are you so cruel to the people of your own country?
Those hardworking brewers only accidentally broke a few sake jars,
and your men killed them for it!
The people of this country have already suffered so much from war,
and you ninja, who should have been protecting the village,
have started hurting them too. Doesn't your conscience hurt?
We don't have any accomplices, and no one sent us.
We founded the Akatsuki because we hope the people of this country and the ninja of this village can all unite
and resolve every conflict through a belief in peace and through negotiation.
We want to negotiate with Konoha, Sunagakure and Iwagakure,
sign treaties of friendship, and use mutual understanding to save this country that has always been weeping!
To stop this miserable country from suffering through war!
Will you join us and make that wish come true together?"
Yahiko had barely managed to stand, but his golden hair shone like a little sun even amid the endless rain.
His impassioned speech was stirring, and Nagato looked at Yahiko with reverence from behind him.
"Join you? Resolve conflicts through negotiation?"
Kurosawa Kazuo murmured.
He walked over as he spoke.
Yahiko nodded and was about to continue trying to persuade the rogue ninja when a sudden pain struck his abdomen.
Kurosawa Kazuo raised his knee and drove it hard into Yahiko.
The heavy blow to his abdomen sent Yahiko collapsing to the ground on top of Nagato, who was beside him.
"You little brat, you dare try to persuade me to join you with those ridiculous ideas?
Since no one sent you, wouldn't it be better for me to kill you two brats and sell the girl?
Why would I listen to you prattle on?"
Kurosawa Kazuo drew the Ninja Blade from his back and slashed at Yahiko and Nagato, who could not move.
Just then, Konan, who was beside them and had exhausted too much Chakra, suddenly flickered in front of the two to shield them.