A large force of Iwa-nin marched swiftly through the damp forests of the Land of Rain.
When word came that the vanguard had captured the country's largest steel storage warehouse, Ōnoki was overjoyed. This haul of steel would be more than enough to support the Stone Village's military supplies for the next two years.
In his delight, Ōnoki casually shared the news with Nara Shikaku of Konoha. After all, the two sides had an agreement—this region had been assigned to Iwa-nin. Still, Shikaku was caught off guard by how quickly Amegakure had surrendered. It seemed they hadn't even attempted to resist.
Shikaku was accompanied by Aburame Shikai and Hyuga Himon. Upon hearing the news, the two exchanged awkward glances.
"Shikaku-senpai, we might've been better off taking this mission ourselves."
Shikaku sighed and shook his head. "Who would've guessed Amegakure wouldn't respond at all? This is nothing like how they acted during the Second Shinobi World War. And then there's the Rinnegan leader..."
He paused. It wasn't that he doubted the intelligence; he just couldn't figure out what the Rain Village leader was planning. Even after suffering such massive losses, he had yet to show himself—
Boom!
A deafening explosion cut through Shikaku's thoughts.
The three exchanged glances and immediately rushed toward Ōnoki's position.
"Himon," Shikaku said in a low voice.
"Understood, Shikaku-senpai. Byakugan, activate!"
Hyuga Himon formed a hand seal and activated his Byakugan, directing his gaze toward the source of the explosion.
His expression quickly shifted to one of shock.
"What... what is this?! Rinnegan? Why are there six people?!"
His outburst drew surprised looks from Shikaku and Shikai.
"Shikaku-senpai, there are six individuals ahead of the Iwa-nin force—all with Rinnegan. And they—"
Himon quickly described what he saw, leaving Shikaku stunned and speechless.
"Six pairs of Rinnegan..."
When had the most mysterious of the Three Great Dōjutsu, one unheard of for centuries, suddenly multiplied like this?
"No... this must be a Rinnegan technique."
Shikaku's mind raced, piecing together the information. He soon reached a likely conclusion and turned to Himon and Shikai.
"I'm going to inform Ōnoki and negotiate permission to observe. Himon, Shikai—record everything about the Rinnegan you can."
Shikaku couldn't shake the feeling that the Iwa-nin wouldn't stand a chance against the Rain Village leader.
He hurried to find Ōnoki and, before the frontline scouts returned, quickly shared Himon's report.
"Lord Tsuchikage, the individuals ahead are from Amegakure, likely their leader among them. But there are six of them, and they all have Rinnegan. It seems to be a technique related to the Rinnegan."
At that moment, a messenger ninja returned from the front lines.
"Lord Tsuchikage! Several Rain-nin are blocking the way. Their abilities are strange, and the vanguard has already taken heavy casualties!"
"Have Kurotsuchi take command and use the third combat strategy."
After giving the order, Ōnoki glanced at Shikaku.
"If you want to watch, go ahead. But stay back. Don't interfere with Iwa-nin operations."
Since Shikaku had come forward with intelligence, and given their current cooperation, Ōnoki saw no reason to refuse.
"Understood. Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage."
Shikaku hadn't expected Ōnoki to agree so readily. Normally, revealing battle tactics to outsiders was unthinkable. It was likely Ōnoki appreciated his swift sharing of critical information.
"Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this?! Every time we approach him, our ninjutsu gets repelled!"
And that wasn't the only problem. There was that bizarre suction technique, unpredictable summoning, and those strange body modifications. Two of the enemy hadn't even moved, yet the Iwa-nin had already suffered major losses.
The frontline commander cursed as he looked over more than twenty fallen Iwa-nin. The enemy had taken no visible damage.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The Animal Path summoned two massive birds, each seven to eight meters long. To their shock, even the summoned beasts had Rinnegan.
"Another summon! Use Earth Release to attack!"
But before they could respond, the birds dove in at incredible speed—too fast for a coordinated jutsu.
"Damn it!"
The commander's eyes widened—but then he heard a familiar voice.
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A white beam shot down from above, too fast for the summoned birds to react. Both were obliterated mid-air by Ōnoki's Particle Style.
Boom!
The two summoned beasts didn't vanish as typical summons would. Instead, they crashed lifeless to the ground—split into four segments.
"Third Tsuchikage—Ōnoki."
Tendō Pain calmly looked up at the floating figure.
"So that was Particle Style... Impressive. A technique powerful enough to kill a summon outright without even breaking the summoning contract."
"You... you're Pain, leader of Amegakure!" Ōnoki shouted from above.
Seeing the corpses of his fallen comrades filled him with rage.
"You sheltered the ones who attacked us and caused massive Iwa-nin casualties. Looks like we no longer need to hold back against the Rain Village!"
Pain's gaze turned cold at the shameless accusation.
"The shamelessness of a Great Nation's shinobi truly surpasses expectations. Ōnoki... once you've experienced true pain, perhaps you'll understand what small nations go through. Without shared suffering, there can be no shared understanding."
While Ōnoki and Pain exchanged words, Kurotsuchi arrived at the front lines and took command. He organized the Iwa-nin into three-man squads and had them secure key positions.
From a distant vantage point, Shikaku, Himon, and Shikai prepared to observe and gather intelligence.
"Iwa-nin really move fast. Shikaku-senpai, if they trap someone like this, it'd be nearly impossible to escape without space-time or flight ninjutsu, right?"
Himon watched their formations with his Byakugan. Combined with Earth Release, once you were surrounded, it was practically a death sentence. That's probably how the Third Raikage had died.
"Focus on intelligence. Our top priority is the Rinnegan's abilities."
Shikaku spoke gravely. The legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—learning their secrets took precedence over anything else.
"The Rain Village leader dares to face so many Iwa-nin. He must have something we don't know. Maybe today we'll finally see the most mysterious of the Three Great Dōjutsu—the Rinnegan."
(End of Chapter)