The Land of Rain, the base of the new Hidden Rain Village.
Uchiha Kaede wore the signature red-cloud black cloak of the Akatsuki organization, quietly watching the Rain ninjas as they underwent various primitive forms of training.
Hoshigaki Kisame, carrying the Samehada on his back, strolled up slowly. "The basic environment for the Rain ninjas is far too poor.
But even under these conditions, they still represent a formidable combat force, second only to the Five Great Shinobi Villages."
Setting aside a comparison with Sunagakure, the training model of the Rain ninjas remained incredibly simplistic when compared to Konoha or other shinobi villages.
Despite this, throughout successive shinobi world wars, the Rain ninjas had relied on sheer grit to carve out a bloody path for themselves in the ninja world.
Iwagakure's insulting demeanor had caused the Rain ninjas to suppress a raging fury. Compared to Sunagakure's previous devastating strike, Iwagakure's current attitude filled them with even greater indignation.
For Uchiha Kaede, the timing was not yet right to lead the entire Rain faction to defect to Sunagakure. After all, the Kazekage had recently obliterated their village in a single strike.
Although most of the Rain ninjas present at the time had been captured or killed in action, nobody except Hoshigaki Kisame knew that Kaede had also participated in the plot against Nagato.
Ultimately, he was the one leading the Rain ninjas now. The current situation was exceptionally difficult, essentially forcing the Hidden Rain Village to walk a tightrope; a single misstep would drag them into the total annihilation of a full-scale Ninja World War.
"So this is the shinobi world..."
A trace of bewilderment and weariness surfaced in Kisame's eyes. Years of wandering and displacement had long left him physically and mentally exhausted. After fleeing the Land of Rain initially, he had discovered that this shinobi world offered no real place for him to belong.
The small mercenary groups he had joined suffered catastrophic losses after just a few missions, turning him into the sole surviving "veteran" each time.
It was precisely because of this that Kisame eventually chose to rush back to the Hidden Rain Village and cooperate with Uchiha Kaede.
During the past rebellion in Kirigakure, Kisame had utterly despised Sunagakure for conspiring against his home village. Yet, through these years of drifting, he perhaps desired more than anyone for the unified shinobi world that the Kazekage spoke of to finally arrive.
"Kisame... Iwagakure is highly likely to make a move soon," Kaede said, looking up at the continuous downpour in the sky, his voice tinged with a low undertone.
Even after enduring a battle of that magnitude, the Land of Rain remained the Land of Rain. The heavy rain had been falling continuously for months, gradually washing away the vast silver sands that had covered the ruins of the old Hidden Rain Village.
Taking a large gulp from a cup of tea, Kisame revealed a satisfied expression. "Are you saying that old man Onoki is about to strike?"
"Not just Onoki. The two Jinchuriki will be there as well."
"Isn't that just perfect? We can wipe them all out in one fell swoop."
Kisame grinned, and the Samehada in his hand seemed to grow restless as well. Looking at this battle-hungry fellow, Kaede's eyelid twitched slightly as he stared into the distance, falling into deep thought.
The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, was a ninja from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. Just like the Tsuchikage, he was a stubborn old man, which was precisely why he was on bad terms with Onoki.
He wore purple clothing paired with a chest armor shinobi rig, and his hair was tied into a small topknot resembling a ponytail at the back, complemented by a large beard.
In the past, his relationship with Onoki had grown so tense that he left the village to become a traveling monk. He trained rigorously every day to control the Four-Tails, successfully mastering specialized ninjutsu executed in coordination with the beast.
With the onset of the Ninja World War, Roshi had returned to Iwagakure, willing to serve as a vital piece of Iwagakure's military power.
Similarly, a Jonin of Iwagakure, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, had the Five-Tails Kokuo sealed within his body.
He was a heavily built, tall man who wore a conical straw hat resembling an umbrella, a brown cloth mask over his mouth, and a yellowish-brown armor set across his torso.
By manipulating steam, he significantly enhanced his taijutsu parameters for combat, boosting both his physical strength and velocity, which earned him the title of the Steam Ninja.
During the Third Shinobi World War, he had shared a brief clash with Shiraishi, proving himself to be an even more troublesome powerhouse than Roshi.
Because Han was younger than Roshi and had trained even more rigorously over the years, his internal steam power had become progressively more violent and fierce.
This immense power allowed him to maintain an entirely unperturbed expression, capable of suppressing his opponents and crushing their willpower through sheer presence.
His combat style was highly unique; manipulating steam allowed his prized, monstrous physical strength to amplify exponentially. He had achieved numerous military successes, spreading his renown as the Steam Ninja across the entire shinobi world.
Finally, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was a literal living fossil of the entire shinobi world. The combination of these three individuals represented the strongest combat configuration Iwagakure currently possessed.
Their full-scale invasion of Rain indicated that they intended to completely seize control of the Hidden Rain Village in a single blow.
In Sunagakure, Pakura, as Shiraishi's wife, was currently hosting two very distinct guests inside their home: Unohana Retsu and Kikyo...
Pakura had met Unohana Retsu during their previous encounter. As for the other woman, Kikyo, who possessed an exceptionally classical aura, her origins seemed highly mysterious. According to her husband, she was a shrine maiden.
A shrine maiden?
A title almost completely forgotten by the continental shinobi world had reappeared right before Pakura. However, despite being a priestess, Pakura's own sensory abilities told her that this white-robed shrine maiden was by no means weak.
As for any other matters regarding Shiraishi and Kikyo, Pakura did not overthink them. The pure, holy aura radiating from Kikyo was visibly incompatible with her husband's energy.
To be precise, Pakura didn't think their overall art styles meshed well at all, so she simply hosted her as a powerful shrine maiden. The same logic applied to Unohana Retsu.
The only person Pakura genuinely found annoying was that White Snake Princess woman... it seemed the temperaments of those two were naturally completely incompatible, and that deep-seated internal dislike was simply impossible to dissolve.
Particularly since Master Pakura had taken a liking to running off to the White Snake Dwelling over these past few years.
"Thank you for your hospitality, ma'am."
The two had come to Shiraishi's home because they had been invited over to sample the afternoon tea prepared by Shiraishi himself.
Although Lord Kazekage had not personally made desserts for many years, his culinary craftsmanship remained unparalleled in the shinobi world. In particular, the various pastries and small snacks prepared for this occasion greatly stimulated the appetites of the three beautiful women.
Unohana Retsu took a bite of a white jade pastry, revealing an exceptionally satisfied smile. "I truly did not expect Lord Kazekage's pastry-making skills to be this outstanding..."
"Before we got married, he used to make desserts for me every single day," Pakura replied with a smile. "Now, I am the one preparing meals for him daily, he wouldn't even bother to eat a single bite."
Shiraishi was currently the busiest Kage among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The accumulated tasks he had to handle daily formed a massive mountain, leaving him with very little time to eat, which required Pakura to look after him from every possible angle.
Compared to Unohana Retsu and Pakura, Kikyo sat very quietly by the side, staring at a purple rice cake in front of her. After a brief moment, she gently picked it up to taste it.
The taste of food...
Previously, she had existed as a living corpse and had only recently been restored to a living human. Due to her spiritual cultivation system, she rarely needed to consume sustenance on regular days, but this time, she unexpectedly took several bites.
Even the fat orange cat tried to sneak up and steal some food, only to be caught red-handed by Shiraishi, who brushed it off with a single can of cat food.
"Kikyo, I'll trouble you with the fat orange cat."
During this time, Shiraishi requested Kikyo to perform a memory examination on the fat orange cat. Compared to the heavy, fearful reaction the fat cat showed when it saw Unohana Retsu, it very much enjoyed clinging to Kikyo.
Gently and softly channeling her spiritual energy into the fat cat's body, Kikyo quickly shook her head. "Its memories are very blurry and disorganized..."
As the former pet of Otsutsuki Asura, Kikyo's investigation revealed that after leaving the Forest of Asura, the fat cat's memory retention had deteriorated severely.
It only remembered the timeline before entering the Forest of Asura—which consisted of its memories spending time with the old snake a thousand years ago.
However, its memories regarding the thousand years spent inside the Forest of Asura were exceptionally vague.
It was clearly the work of a high-level sealing jutsu, compressing and suppressing a specific portion of the fat cat's memories...
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