This person, relying on his perception abilities, had been hiding in the shadows, clearly intending to ambush Uchiha Nagi. However, Uchiha Nagi now possessed Xiao Zhuzhu's beast sensing ability; while not as good as theirs at long range, it was stronger at close range.
"Nagi-sensei, are you alright?"
Kimimaro jogged over and supported the swaying Uchiha Nagi. Because he hadn't participated much in the battle, or perhaps due to the Shikotsumyaku's high resistance to Nano-Poison Insects, Kimimaro, though pale, could still move.
Uchiha Nagi shook his head, "I'm fine. I just need to get the poison dispelled as soon as possible..."
Then, he dragged the Ninja who was caught in a genjutsu to Aburame Torune.
He placed a scroll, got some of Aburame Torune's blood on a Kunai, and began casting.
"Edo Tensei Jutsu—"
"Ah..."
"Ah..."
Two screams rang out simultaneously; one died and came back to life, the other wished he were dead.
A short while later, talismans flew up and affixed themselves to the Root Ninja of the Yamanaka clan, and he slowly began to transform into Aburame Torune.
"Ah... Hmph... Hmph... What's going on? I, wasn't I dead?" The newly resurrected Aburame Torune was still confused.
"Long time no see. No, we meet again, Aburame Torune." Uchiha Nagi smiled, "I told you, there's no jutsu that can't be undone. See, it's solved now."
"This is..." Aburame Torune looked in horror at a familiar corpse on the ground—his own. "The Second Hokage's Edo Tensei Jutsu! How did you learn it? Wasn't that jutsu incomplete?"
"You don't need to know that. Come and dispel the Nano-Poison Insects for me," Uchiha Nagi said indifferently.
"You wish! I'd rather die than help you. I must eliminate you for Konoha."
"That's not up to you—" Uchiha Nagi sneered, picked up a Kunai with a talisman wrapped around it, and plunged it into his brain.
With that, Aburame Torune was completely controlled by him. Under the caster's command, he obediently dispelled the Nano-Poison Insects from Kimimaro and Uchiha Nagi.
"Let's go." Uchiha Nagi and Kimimaro prepared to leave. Before departing, he glanced towards the Old Guide.
He was surprised to find that the Old Guide was still alive, merely staring blankly while holding a child.
His grandson, Saburo, had his throat slit by the Root members, yet he had miraculously survived.
Perhaps at that moment, Aburame Torune had a change of heart, or his conscience wasn't entirely gone, and he stopped his subordinates from killing the Old Guide. Or perhaps he felt he was already exposed and couldn't be bothered to kill him. In any case, the Old Guide was fortunate to survive... Uchiha Nagi sighed and said to the Old Guide, "I'm sorry such an unfortunate thing happened. This mission ends here. I will give you ten times your payment as the only compensation I can offer..."
Little Kimimaro also silently looked at the child, who was the same age as himself. The Ninja world, at this moment, seemed so ruthless... When Uchiha Nagi cruelly performed Edo Tensei on Aburame Torune earlier, he had merely watched silently. Since he was his Nagi-sensei's enemy, he was his enemy. Kimimaro felt no pity for Aburame Torune.
But for this innocent child of the same age, there was inevitably a different feeling... After a long silence, the Old Guide, utterly disheartened, finally came to his senses and said sadly, "I'm sorry, sir, I will take Saburo back to our hometown..."
"However, I will tell you about the map and some dangers along the way."
The Old Guide took out a map and pointed out dangerous quicksand areas and places prone to sandstorms one by one to Uchiha Nagi, explaining them in detail. "Excuse me, do you know a place called Rouran Country?" Uchiha Nagi suddenly asked.
"Rouran Country? Yes, many years ago, when I was young, I heard my grandfather talk about it. It used to be a small country affiliated with the Land of Wind, very prosperous, but it was later swallowed by sandstorms..."
The Old Guide slowly told Uchiha Nagi the history of Rouran Country. A long time ago, just as the Land of Waves was affiliated with the Land of Water, its geographical location dictated that Rouran Country could only be a subordinate of the Land of Wind, paying tribute every year.
Then suddenly one day, for unknown reasons, the entire country disappeared. To call it a country might be an overstatement; it was merely a relatively large area with many oases, as the Land of Wind is the largest of all countries.
After its disappearance, the Land of Wind even sent people to investigate, but for such non-human natural disasters, Ninja were powerless. They couldn't dig out the oasis buried by the desert again, and so it faded into obscurity... Later, it was only known that some surviving commoners of Rouran Country wandered among the populace.
As for the location of Rouran Country... it was originally a small country, even smaller than the Land of Waves, and the Land of Wind constantly had unpredictable sandstorms blowing everywhere. Without the oasis for navigation, gradually few people remembered its location.
"However, even after so many years, Sunagakure definitely still has a detailed map of Rouran Country..."
"Alright, thank you..."
Uchiha Nagi did not go back on his word, nor did he intend to silence him. He merely quietly activated his Sharingan and modified the Old Guide's memory of his and Kimimaro's appearances.
When it was time to kill, he would not show mercy, but for ordinary people, those who shouldn't die, even if they might pose a danger to him, he still wouldn't kill them. These were some of his remaining principles as a human being.
Once a bottom line is crossed for the first time, there will be a second time, and eventually one will unknowingly fall... — — — —
Two days later, a team of Ninja wearing Sunagakure headbands arrived at the town. The massacre in the small town on the border of the Land of Wind certainly required Sunagakure to investigate.
Although it was a small town of a few hundred people, it drew their attention. It might even be an enemy's sneak attack...
"Captain, traces of battle have been found nearby," a Sunagakure Anbu reported.
"Go, everyone, let's take a look—" The leading squad leader waved his hand, and several people instantly vanished, heading to the location where Uchiha Nagi and his opponents had fought.
Upon arrival, they first saw the merchant caravan that had been wiped out by Root's explosive tags, followed by the place where Uchiha Nagi and Aburame Torune had fought.
"Be careful, those corpses seem to be poisoned..."
In the desert, a gentle breeze blew, not only stirring up the sand on the ground but also carrying invisible Nano-Poison Insects.
And on two of them, a few Nano-Poison Insects silently adhered to their exposed skin... Afterwards, the Sunagakure Anbu squad returned without dealing with the bodies here. It wasn't that they weren't cautious; they had used clones for inspection and only thought the bodies had toxins, not considering they were Nano-Poison Insects.
As they returned to Sunagakure to report to the Kazekage, one Ninja suddenly coughed a few times.
"Hey, hey, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Maybe the temperature difference between night and day in the desert is too great; I might have a cold."
"Hahahaha, did you expend too much energy on women?"
"Get lost! Am I that kind of person? I can easily handle ten women."
"Boasting..."
Unbeknownst to them, the Nano-Poison Insects, with his cough, began to spread within Sunagakure. In ancient times, this kind of thing had a word: plague...
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