"The Seireitei? You mean the Land of Demons?" The question hung in the air, confusion on everyone's faces.
Three months ago, the Land of Demons had announced its name change to the Seireitei. As a small, weak nation, it had never been on the radar of the other great ninja villages. So, when it changed its name and closed its borders, no one paid any attention. If anything, they felt a sense of pity. For such a small country to isolate itself was a clear path to ruin.
But now, to their shock, this Kage-level powerhouse claimed to be from the Seireitei. Suddenly, everything became much more intriguing.
"This guy is not simple. Deidara, take Gaara and go," Itachi's expression hardened, a sense of crisis welling up inside him as he made a split-second decision.
Deidara knew this was no time for games. He quickly slung Gaara over his shoulder and took to the sky.
"I'm sorry, but this is the Seireitei's first public appearance. We must complete our mission perfectly," Haku said with a faint smile, his Zanpakuto suddenly erupting in a brilliant, snowy light.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."
The entire world was instantly enveloped in a swirling blizzard. The temperature plummeted, and even Kage-level shinobi like Deidara began to feel the chill.
What shocked them even more was that Haku, standing high in the frosty sky, had transformed into a white-haired woman—coldly beautiful, proud, elegant, and noble.
"Such an ability, such a chakra fluctuation... who in the world is this guy?" The Akatsuki members were all on high alert.
Itachi's eyes flickered. Releasing a sword's power with an incantation... the ability was somewhat similar to Uzumaki Naruto's. Could it be... this is an organization founded by Uzumaki Naruto? Is Uzumaki Naruto in the Land of Demons?
"First Dance: White Moon." Haku pointed a finger toward Deidara's position in the sky.
The next moment, a giant white circle appeared, and the snow within it swirled violently, instantly freezing the wings of the clay bird. But Deidara was a seasoned Kage-level shinobi. He decisively detonated the bird, using the force of the blast to leap out of the icy circle of the White Moon. He then summoned another clay bird and hovered in mid-air.
Looking at the desert below, which was now completely covered in ice and snow, Deidara couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. The intense cold seemed to ignore the baking sun, freezing even the swirling grains of sand. If he hadn't dodged in time, he might have been instantly turned into an ice sculpture.
Crack, crack, crack. Suddenly, a giant hand made of ice and snow formed within the White Moon, shot out, snatched Gaara, and placed him in front of the Sunagakure ninja. The Suna medical-nin rushed forward to help, their eyes filled with reverence as they looked at Haku. The Akatsuki members, who even the Kazekage had struggled to stop, had been so easily thwarted by this single individual.
"Damn you!" Deidara clutched his shoulder, his face contorted with rage. His right arm had been caught in the attack and was now covered in a layer of frost. If it wasn't treated immediately, the tissue would die.
"What a terrifying opponent. Deidara, you should retreat. Leave this to us," Itachi said gravely. With one arm temporarily useless, Deidara's strength had plummeted, and he needed immediate medical attention. He was clearly unfit to continue fighting. This meant their opponent had taken out a Kage-level shinobi in a single exchange.
Itachi stared at Haku, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning once more. The price of using it was great, but from the looks of it, their opponent was no pushover.
Just then, Gaara, having received medical treatment, regained consciousness and looked at Haku in a daze.
"Lord Kazekage, the Seireitei has accepted your request. Please remember to leave a good review later," Haku said with a light laugh.
Gaara understood immediately, a sense of relief washing over him. The Seireitei's reinforcements had arrived incredibly fast.
"Heheheh, the great me has arrived!!!" A violent sandstorm suddenly brewed in the distant desert, and a figure shot out from within.
"Little Shu!" Temari and Kankuro cried out in surprise. In their eyes, although the kid "Little Shu" spent money like water and was naive and childish, he was always reliable when it mattered most. "We're counting on you, Little Shu," they said, tears in their eyes.
"Hmph, leave it to me," Shukaku said, walking up to Gaara with a look of disgust. "You're pathetic, kid. You can't even deal with these losers." He then looked at Haku. "Haku, you take one, I'll take two. No problem, right?"
"No problem," Haku nodded with a light smile.
"Then let's finish them off quickly. Shion and the others will be here soon," Shukaku said, rubbing his nose with excitement.
"More reinforcements?" Hearing this, the Akatsuki members felt the pressure mount. Haku's simple attack had already injured Deidara, proving he was undoubtedly Kage-level and could easily tie up one of them. The other newcomer had a track record of defeating both Deidara and Sasori. And on their side, Kisame couldn't use his full power in the desert. A fight under these conditions was not in their favor.
They exchanged a look, the thought of retreat entering their minds.
"Hey, hey, hey! You're not thinking of running, are you?" Shukaku shouted with a malicious grin. "I'm the One-Tail you're looking for, you know."
His words caused an uproar.
"What? Little Shu is Shukaku?"
"Isn't Shukaku supposed to be sealed inside Gaara?" the Suna ninja were all in shock. They looked at Shukaku with extremely complicated expressions. They feared and loathed Shukaku, just as the Konoha villagers had once cursed Gaara. But they loved and protected the little boy, "Little Shu." In their eyes, he was just a lonely, mischievous, but ultimately kind-hearted child. The villagers had been so good to him that even Shukaku had developed an affection for Sunagakure.
But now, to learn that Shukaku was Little Shu... that the boy they adored was the One-Tail they despised... the feeling was indescribable.
Gaara sensed the change in the ninjas' emotions and said to Shukaku with gratitude, "Shukaku, thank you for coming in time. If you hadn't, I might have been captured. Just like before, you've protected Sunagakure again. Thank you."
Hearing Gaara's words, the Suna ninja had a sudden realization. No matter who Shukaku was, the fact that he had protected their village was undeniable.
"Go, Shukaku!" As more cheers erupted, Shukaku actually felt a little embarrassed. He puffed out his chest, put his hands on his hips, and taunted the Akatsuki. "Come on, you brats! Bring it on!"
"Sasori, you hold off Haku. Kisame, we'll take down Shukaku as quickly as possible," Itachi immediately gave the order.
Swish. Sasori, already prepared, launched a fierce attack on Haku with his puppet. "Hiruko: Needle Eight Waves." The Hiruko puppet spewed a dense cloud of poison needles.
A wall of ice appeared in front of Haku, blocking the needles with a continuous "ding, ding, ding" sound. Swish. The scorpion tail of Hiruko shot out from behind, bypassing the ice wall and striking at Haku.
Haku didn't dodge. With a crisp sound, the tail struck his body but felt as if it had hit a block of solid ice. It was repelled, and a thick layer of frost instantly formed on it. Crack. The tail shattered.
Haku smiled faintly and swung his Zanpakuto. "Second Dance: White Ripple." He plunged the blade into the sand, and the next moment, a powerful wave of cold air, like an avalanche, surged toward Sasori. Such terrifying cold could instantly freeze a puppet solid.
Faced with the Ice Release, Sasori felt a sense of powerlessness. "Scroll: Flame Purgatory Jutsu." He no longer held back, revealing his true form: a handsome, red-haired young man whose body had been completely converted into a puppet.
"He even turned himself into a puppet," Kankuro said in horror.
Sasori took out a fire scroll and shot a torrent of intensely hot, corrosive flames from the pipe in his palm. The fire and ice collided with a deafening hiss.
"Performance of a Hundred Puppets." After fending off the cold, Sasori took out a space scroll. Boom. A hundred puppets instantly surrounded Haku.
"He can control a hundred puppets at once?!!" Kankuro and all the other Suna ninja were aghast. Puppet mastery was a unique art of their village. The principle was to control puppets with chakra threads extending from one's fingers. A puppet master's skill was measured by the number of puppets they could control, and since a human had at most ten fingers, the number was limited. But Sasori had defied tradition, broken the limits of humanity, and could control a hundred puppets simultaneously. His mastery of the art was clearly at its peak, a level Kankuro could only dream of reaching.
However, faced with such a terrifying assault, Haku's expression remained as cold and beautiful as ever.
"Absolute Zero." The desert beneath Haku's feet instantly froze, and the falling snow brought the temperature down to freezing. The Suna ninja, accustomed to the heat, quickly retreated, many of them shivering and sneezing.
"Cliffs of Ice." Countless ice spikes shot out from the ground and into the midst of the hundred puppets. The spikes hung suspended in mid-air, forming a pentagram.
"Third Dance: White Sword." With those indifferent words, a giant pillar of ice shot up from within the pentagram, reaching for the clouds. The entire area was completely frozen.
Bang. The frozen parts of the countless puppets fell from the sky, shattering on the ground.
Gulp. The sound of swallowing could be heard as the Suna ninja took another few steps back. The biting cold was terrifying. It also made them thankful. Thankful that Haku was on their side.
"My Performance of a Hundred Puppets... was broken just like that?" Sasori's mouth was dry, and for a moment, he was speechless.
"Compared to Lord Naruto, you are far too weak," Haku said, his expression emotionless, his tone proud.
"Naruto? The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is that strong?!" Sasori's heart was filled with dread. Naruto was another one of the Akatsuki's targets. Haku was already incredibly powerful, but from what he said, it seemed Naruto was far stronger than even the power Sasori had just witnessed. A powerhouse like that could perhaps only be dealt with by the leader of the Akatsuki.
The battle on the other side was also raging. Kisame charged forward, using Water Style to wear down his opponent. Shukaku, in his element in the sandstorm, effortlessly manipulated the sand to block the attacks, looking completely at ease.
Itachi formed hand seals and released a Great Fire Dragon. The dragon shot toward Shukaku but was instantly crushed by a hand of sand.
"Too weak. You're both far too weak," Shukaku mocked mercilessly, immediately sending a wave of sand crashing toward Itachi and Kisame. They hastily dodged.
Boom! The sand fell like a tsunami where they had been standing, with a deafening roar. The force was like a tidal wave crashing into a city, sending sand and dust flying everywhere. Fortunately, Itachi and Kisame had dodged in time and were not seriously injured, but they were covered in sand and dust, looking a bit disheveled.
"How is the One-Tail so strong?" Kisame said in fear. As one of the weaker Tailed Beasts, a single Akatsuki member should have been enough to subdue him. But the current Shukaku possessed such terrifying power.
"We can't let this sandstorm catch us, or we won't be able to escape," Itachi said warily. "Tsukuyomi." Faced with the tsunami of sand, Itachi didn't hold back, pulling Shukaku into the world of his genjutsu.
Looking at Shukaku bound to a cross, Itachi's expression was extremely cold. "In this space—"
"Blah, blah, blah. You're so noisy," Shukaku interrupted him viciously. To Itachi's horror, a shocking wave of Reiatsu erupted from Shukaku's body. Itachi's own body couldn't help but tremble. The Tsukuyomi was still active; although Shukaku's Reiatsu was powerful, it wasn't so easy to break his genjutsu.
"Damn Sharingan. What a disgusting Kekkei Genkai," Shukaku grumbled. After his Shinigamification, his strength was considerable, but he was somewhat helpless against such a cheap jutsu.
Swish. Just then, a tear was ripped in the space of the Tsukuyomi, and Shion stepped through, barefoot and with a cold expression. "It's time to go, tanuki," she said coldly.
Pfft. Itachi coughed up a mouthful of blood, and tears of blood streamed from his Mangekyo Sharingan. The entire Tsukuyomi space began to collapse. He looked at Shion in horror. The priestess of the Land of Demons, Shion, who could predict the future and seal Moryo. She had no talent for being a ninja and no combat ability. But everything she was showing now completely contradicted the intelligence reports. Not only could she easily invade the Tsukuyomi space, but the pressure she exuded was unprecedentedly terrifying.
"Uchiha Itachi... it is not yet your time to die. So take your comrades and flee. Otherwise, they will all die," Shion stared at him coldly, and several soul-stealing phantoms appeared behind her.
Shion was different from a ninja. Even as a human, she possessed immense spiritual power. In other words, her soul was far stronger than that of an ordinary human. So, after becoming a Shinigami, her soul's strength converted into Reiatsu, and her power instantly jumped to the captain level. It was no exaggeration to say that her strength was second only to Naruto's. Neither Minato nor Kurama was a match for her.
Boom! The moment the phantoms appeared, the Tsukuyomi space collapsed a second time.
"Hmph, so it's the frigid old hag," Shukaku said, easily breaking free from the cross and giving Itachi a smug look.
The Tsukuyomi space suddenly shattered, and in the real world, Itachi coughed up another mouthful of blood from the backlash. To Kisame's shock, Itachi's body swayed, and he looked weak.
"Go! We have to go now!" he said weakly.
Kisame had never seen Itachi's Tsukuyomi be broken. In his eyes, those forbidden eyes were invincible. He looked across at Shukaku and Shion, who were watching them like tigers stalking their prey.
Boom! A flash of frost reflected the sunlight, and the next moment, Sasori was sent flying into the distant desert.
"Go!!" Kisame made a split-second decision, grabbing Itachi and fleeing into the distance. Sasori, having been blasted into the desert, had already taken the opportunity to escape. Half his body was frozen, and he could barely move. "Damn you! Damn Seireitei! I will have my revenge!" he snarled, looking at Haku in the frosty sky.
Haku and the others didn't stop them, just quietly watched the Akatsuki members leave.
In the direction the Akatsuki had fled, the Konoha ninja, led by Sasuke, were approaching. Through the swirling sand, they saw two figures who looked like ninja. One was supporting the other.
"Is that... Itachi?!"
"Sasuke?!"