"Oh? You finally showed yourself!"
The moment the rain stopped here, Uchiha Yasuo noticed at once. He immediately unleashed another Fire Release, forcing back the Ino-Shika-Cho and the others; then he once again dispelled Susanoo, leaped back, and set himself in a standoff with the Konoha shinobi at some distance.
Everyone looked up to see countless paper birds pouring down from the sky like a flock returning to its nest, descending between the two sides. As they unfolded, they merged together, fused, and reorganized, gradually outlining a human shape.
When the final sheet returned to its place, the red-clouded black cloak of the Akatsuki fluttered gently in the wind. Konan's figure appeared before them, her voice cold as she said: "Shinobi of Konohagakure, we already warned you before—do not cause any damage to the Land of Rain. Did you not understand?"
A ninja with a kekkei genkai?
According to the village's intelligence, there was no record of such a powerful individual existing in the Land of Rain!
Nara Shikaku's eyes flickered. He subconsciously stepped forward and said calmly: "Please don't misunderstand. We have no hostile intent."
"It's just that this Uchiha traitor before us seems to want to use your village's strength to escape Konoha's pursuit."
"If Amegakure is willing to help capture and kill this Konoha traitor, Konoha would be deeply grateful."
Konan waved her hand. A long white paper whip lashed out, carving a long mark across the ground between the groups and Amegakure's side. Her expression was cold as she said: "Amegakure has nothing to do with Konoha's affairs. As long as you do not advance further, whoever lives or dies is none of our concern."
"But I'll make the ugly words clear first—anyone who attempts to cross this line will be seen as provoking Amegakure. I will show no mercy."
Facing Konan's threat, Nara Shikaku felt quite dismissive in his heart.
For a mere ninja from the Land of Rain to dare issue a warning to Konoha—the foremost great village of the shinobi world—was truly laughable.
However, matters had their order of priority. The most urgent task now was to complete the mission, not to waste time bickering with shinobi from a small country like the Land of Rain.
So Nara Shikaku readily nodded and said: "Our mission here is solely to execute the traitor. As long as Uchiha Itachi does not cross that line, we will absolutely not overstep it."
After saying this, he turned his cold gaze toward "Uchiha Itachi" on the other side, his eyes filled with provocation.
You want to use the Land of Rain's power to escape the village's pursuit?
Now that the ninja of the Land of Rain have drawn the boundary—if you have the guts, go ahead and cross it!
Yet Uchiha Yasuo did not move forward at all. Instead, he stood where he was and let out a cold laugh.
"Well, of course I won't cross the line—but as for the people of Konoha, that's another matter entirely!"
After speaking, he flicked his hand and threw the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki he was carrying straight to the other side of the boundary.
"What?" Nara Shikaku's expression instantly changed.
Because of confidentiality, he had only said they were pursuing a rogue ninja, without mentioning anything about the Tailed Beast or the jinchūriki. Who could have expected that this "Uchiha Itachi" would be so despicable as to throw the Nine-Tails jinchūriki into the Land of Rain.
He hurriedly spoke up, adding, "Wait a moment, that child is one of our village's companions, kidnapped by this rogue ninja. Please hand him back to us."
Uchiha Yasuo, on the side, said mockingly, "What companion?"
"He's just an orphan!"
"Everyone in the village treats him like a jinx, full of disgust and curses. I couldn't stand the sight of it, so when I left, I just took him along."
"He…" Nara Shikaku opened his mouth, but since the most important secret could not be revealed, he couldn't find any words to refute and could only say, "He's a war orphan of the village. Naturally, the village will take good care of him. It's not for outsiders to interfere."
"An orphan?" Konan looked at them deeply, something stirred within her heart. She bent down, reached out, grabbed the unconscious Uzumaki Naruto by his clothes, and turned to leave.
"This child can stay in our village for now. After the matter between you is settled, you can come take him back."
"Wait—stop right there!"
The Konohagakure ninja all knew that Uzumaki Naruto was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki; how could they allow him to fall into the hands of shinobi from another country? At once, they disregarded any prohibitions.
Before Nara Shikaku could give the order, several ninja leapt across that border line and blocked Konan's path.
"Put down the child in your hands!"
"Is the Land of Rain trying to make an enemy of Konohagakure?"
Seeing the audacious Konohagakure ninja before her, Konan's expression darkened. Sheets of white paper once again fluttered up around her, circling her body.
"Looks like my words never even reached your hearts."
Nara Shikaku frowned slightly and also crossed the border line, saying in a deep voice, "We have no desire to clash with the Land of Rain. Please restrain yourself."
"Everything we said before was true, and we have already shown the Land of Rain ample respect. I hope your village won't bring misfortune upon itself."
Although Konan appeared ready to fight, Nara Shikaku had seen many such ninja before—those who seemed to value their village's dignity greatly—but when faced with overwhelming pressure, most of them would obediently yield in the end.
He had taken Konan for one of those "tough in appearance but weak inside" types of ninja, and thus, unconsciously, his words carried a tone of pressure.
That had the exact opposite effect!
"Respect?" Konan raised an eyebrow. "You call this respect?"
"Acting recklessly on the soil of my Land of Rain, disregarding my warnings, brazenly advancing toward our village's direction…"
"If this is what you call respect, then why don't you show me what you'd call disrespect?"
Before her words even finished, a torrent of white paper surged wildly from her body, shooting upward like a white waterfall defying gravity, transforming midair into the shape of shuriken.
Tens of thousands of paper shuriken spun rapidly in the sky, their edges gleaming with the cold light of chakra. The sharp winds they stirred up let out a fierce, whistling roar.
"Paper Shuriken Technique!"
As Konan's cold and furious voice fell, the countless paper shuriken suddenly accelerated like an army obeying a command, pouring down like raindrops, their shrill sound of tearing through the air covering the entire battlefield.
"How dare you!" The Konohagakure ninja had never imagined that shinobi from a small, insignificant country would dare attack them. They were instantly enraged, entering battle stance in a flash, swiftly forming seals to counterattack.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Only Nara Shikaku still maintained some restraint. While dodging, he shouted loudly, "You'd better think carefully—what you're doing is deliberately provoking war!"
"Don't think that just because you have Hanzō of the Salamander backing you, you can stand against the great nations!"
"As shinobi of a small country, you should be even more cautious in word and deed!"
This was the consequence of information asymmetry. He believed his tone neither servile nor overbearing, leaving enough room for negotiation—so much so that even if Hanzō of the Salamander were present, he wouldn't find fault with it.
In truth, if it really had been Hanzō of the Salamander here, he might already have backed down.
But the critical problem was… Hanzō of the Salamander had long been dead. The ones standing before him now were an entirely different group!
Gigantic fireballs spewed from the mouths of the Konohagakure ninja, the searing flames distorting the air as they collided head-on with the barrage of paper shuriken.
Wherever the fireballs passed, the paper shuriken ignited and carbonized, turning to ash like moths flying into flame.
A violent whirlwind swept in right after. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire borrowed the power of the wind, forming a massive flaming tornado.
The paper shuriken trembled violently within the combined Wind and Fire Release ninjutsu—many were forcibly deflected, scattering in all directions, while even more were directly ignited and burned to ashes.
Yet the following waves of paper shuriken came one after another without end, like an endless white tide surging down. Their speed was far faster than the ninja could perform their jutsu.
The Konohagakure ninja, unable to cast further jutsu in time, were forced to draw the short blades from their chests, blocking and dodging at the same time.
However, they didn't realize that these paper shuriken were different from real shuriken.
These paper shuriken were a special effect of the Secret Technique: Dance of the Shikigami. Just like Nara Shikaku's Shadow Possession Technique, every paper shuriken acted as an extension of Konan's limbs. Even when thrown, they could still be completely controlled by her.
The paper shuriken deflected by the ninja traced an arc through the air, then immediately looped around and shot back from behind.
Caught off guard, many ninja were struck before they could react.
Though made of paper, under the augmentation of the Secret Technique: Dance of the Shikigami, their edges were sharper than steel. Spinning at high speed, they were blades capable of slicing through even the black rods in Nagato's hand.
So what would happen when they struck flesh?
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---