Escape From Konoha

Grayness is the tone of the entire Rain Country.

In this country, there are few sunny days throughout the year.

Even Aegakure, which is the military center of the entire Kingdom of Rain, only gets a brief day of clear skies under the guidance of 'gods' every weekend.

Because of the previous operations, the Akatsuki organization with Amegakure as the core achieved some results in the confrontation with several powerful ninjas. However, the number of core members began to decrease sharply. How to replenish the organization's strength as soon as possible? New members are no longer the biggest problem at present. How to ensure that the organization can operate normally is an urgent matter.

While the leader Nagato was in 'sleep', the entire operation of the organization was basically carried out through consultation between Black Zetsu and Konan.

Although Konan didn't really like this weirdo who was all in pitch black, for the sake of Nagato and Amegakure, she had no choice but to tolerate her caution and discuss with him the next actions.

"After Uchiha Sasuke made such a fuss, the relationship between Konoha and the Kingdom of Demons has become more and more tense. However, judging from the attitude of the Daimyo Mansion in the Kingdom of Fire, they have not yet planned to enter into conflict with the Kingdom of Demons. Preparations for the Fifth Ninja War."

Black Jue is grasping the information collected by White Jue. At this time, it is alone, and its other half, White Jue, is not by its side.

He was not wearing a coat with a black background and red clouds. He just maintained a dark basic human form. Under Xiaonan's surprised gaze, he sat on the sofa opposite and spoke.

In the course of Akatsuki's shrinking operations, the outbound reconnaissance work is completed by countless individuals of White Zetsu.

As for the peripheral personnel recruited, they have been given up by Hei Jue.

It's not that they are afraid of the Ghost Country, but they are worried that the other big countries will suddenly give them something to do.

After all, the Ghost Country's understanding of their organization is far superior to that of other major countries.

The reason why he has not taken any action against Yugakure is probably because he is not sufficiently prepared.

The power of the Samsara Eye is completely unknown to them.

Even for everyone in the organization, it is still unknown to what extent Nagato's true strength has reached.

Black Zetsu only knew that Nagato could rely on his own chakra and the power of the Samsara Eye at this time to communicate well with the will of the Ten-Tails body, the heretic demon.

Compared with the Ninja God in its heyday, whether it is comparable to or surpasses it is difficult to guess.

"If there is no friction between them, it will be difficult for us to find an opportunity to intervene. If I remember correctly, in addition to beings like the Hokage and the Sannin, there is also a Jonin named Metkai in Konoha. The organization’s key observation goals.”

Xiaonan remembered something.

Konoha was controlled by the Kingdom of Demons, so she had naturally heard of such things.

Even so, Konoha's power is still strong.

The Hokage is still alive, and Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, is out collecting information and acting as Konoha's 'eyes'.

In addition, there is also an extremely dangerous martial arts sect like Danzo. At critical moments, his presence is more impossible to ignore than the Hokage and Sannin.

"According to the sequence of actions, Nine-Tails is the last target of the organization. Before that, we must collect the remaining tailed beasts."

As he said that, Hei Jue raised his eyes slightly, creating a clear picture like a projection in the void in front of him.

It was a scene of two ninjas fighting in the desert.

A female ninja who was driving the fourth stage of Susanoo was fighting a Konoha ninja whose whole body was burning with blood-colored steam.

"This is the scene when Uchiha Ruri fought with the Konoha ninja Metadai more than ten years ago. I used the pupil technique to record their battle at that time. From the perspective of the level of the battle, this is worthy of surpassing the five Kage today. Level of power. According to my calculation, his son Metkai has also mastered the last of the eight gates of Dunjia. Moreover, he is probably already better than the master. "

Although such a move can only be used once in a lifetime, such a burst is enough.

"Nagato is invincible."

After seeing such a scene, Konan said this sentence, full of trust in Nagato's strength.

Black Zetsu didn't refute and said: "Of course I believe that Nagato-sama will not be defeated by anyone, but it doesn't hurt to be careful. When facing an Eight Gate Dungeon ninja who is better than his master, you should still be cautious. Fortunately, in a short time , we will not have direct conflict with the people of Konoha for the time being, and we do not need to consider such additional factors."

"What are your plans next?"

"According to the original order, we are currently focusing on collecting the three-tailed and six-tailed beasts. The reconnaissance situation of Kirigakure on Bai Zetsu's side has begun to turn good. After a while, we can go directly to capture the two tailed beasts. In that case, we There are six tailed beasts here, and more than half of the tailed beasts have been recovered."

Black Jue Regulation said analytically.

When Akatsuki recovers the six-headed tailed beast, her power will inevitably increase dramatically at that time, giving the heretic golem more vitality.

"However, that time will further stimulate the big countries that have tailed beasts. At present, they have secretly set up a special operations team in Konoha with the purpose of taking the tailed beasts away from us."

Xiaonan's worries are not unreasonable. With only four tailed beasts, these big countries have begun to unite. If two more tailed beasts are added... it will inevitably prompt them to further unite. Before that, they must make more complete preparations. measure.

"It's nothing more than the start of the Fifth Ninja War."

Hei Jue's gaze was dull, without any emotion in his eyes.

"So, we are going to capture the remaining tailed beasts based on the assumption that the Fifth Ninja War will definitely break out in the short term."

Xiaonan didn't say anything, just pursed her lips and looked at the pattering rain on the outdoor platform outside.

Hei Jue also fell into silence. He and Xiaonan admired the rain curtain outside, and fell into a brief thought. Then his body merged into the ground and disappeared from Xiaonan.

…

"It's rare to see you come out. Why, are you suffocating in the laboratory?"

Under the eaves of the outdoor platform on one floor of the tower, Kisame found Beiruhu who was watching the rain scene under the eaves.

He is very short, like a boy of thirteen or fourteen. In terms of height, even Xiao Nan, a woman, is taller than him.

However, as far as Kisame knew, the Hirohu who was in Konoha in the past should have been a handsome and tall young man, not such a peacock figure.

The sequelae of the forbidden technique? Kisame thought so.

"Yes, the atmosphere within the organization has become increasingly deserted recently. In the past, I could still go to Orochimaru and Xia for research discussions... Before I knew it, so many years had passed since I joined Akatsuki."

Bi Liuhu's eyes looked a little melancholy.

He is not a sentimental person. At most, it is a pity that no one in this organization has a common language with him.

Although the core members of this organization are not good people, there are even more evil people everywhere.

This is the case with Kisame in front of him. He was an S-class rebellious ninja who assassinated the previous Daimyo of Water Country. He can be said to be a notorious existence.

Another example is the sacrifice of Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi, and the Scorpion of Red Sand. Their hands are also full of blood debts, including him, the former Jounin of Konoha who left Konoha in order to study forbidden arts.

Even so, he could find a strange feeling of 'home' here.

Probably because birds of a feather flock together and people flock together.

"That's right. You are the veteran who joined the organization before me. Now the organization has suffered many blows, and only a few of us are left. I kind of miss Deidara now. At least he and A Fei While you’re here, you can also liven up the atmosphere.”

Kisame shrugged.

Now in every meeting, everyone is taciturn and has a long-faced look on someone who owes him a huge sum of money and has not paid it back.

He and Beiruhu are not talkative people, Hei Zetsu also doesn't like to say warm-hearted words, and Konan even keeps her mouth shut and does not put the other members first at all. As for Bai Jue... all he told were nonsensical jokes, which most of the time made the atmosphere of the meeting even more tense.

"Judging from the attitude of the Kingdom of Ghosts in capturing him alive, he should be interested in his secret explosive escape technique. Maybe you can see him doing blasting work on the construction site of the Kingdom of Ghosts."

Bei Liuhu said this cold joke.

But in fact, there is evidence for such a thing.

For prisoners, especially those with ninja abilities, the Kingdom of Ghosts will mostly supervise them to go to places that need construction to do hard work, calling it 'labor reform'.

Many people go to those construction sites and see acquaintances they haven't seen for a long time.

Not surprisingly, Deidara's secret explosive escape technique should be valued by the Demon Country's construction troops to some extent.

After all, the Iwagakure Demolition Force is a special force well-known in the ninja world.

Deidara is one of the best.

"It seems there is no hope of getting him out for the time being."

Kisame didn't know what he thought of, and chuckled, then he and Beiruhu looked at the rain curtain outside the corridor. The rain was more rapid than usual, and there was a heavy feeling in their hearts, which made Kisame and Beiruhu Hu's face was silent at the same time.

"A storm is coming..."

◎

The land of fire, Konoha.

Konoha Village, which had been attacked by Sasuke, began to recover in some areas due to the continuous work of the construction team throughout the night.

Among them, the most severely affected area was in the northwest of the village where the consultant originally lived. Several streets were completely reduced to rubble. Streets further away were also affected, and the extent of damage was as far away as the school and the Hokage's office building.

Even with a top-notch construction team, bringing this place back to life is not something that can be accomplished in a short time.

Moreover, the villagers and ninjas who have lost their residences need to find a place to resettle them before the northwest region recovers.

There are many people in this department, but fortunately Konoha now has sufficient reserve funds. As long as the development funds in other areas are slightly squeezed out, it will not be a problem to survive this difficulty.

Looking at the various construction projects in full swing in the village, Tsunade, who was standing at the window of the ANBU building office, felt a little depressed and sighed melancholy more than once.

Depending on where you stand, the things you consider will naturally vary.

Strictly speaking, the trauma Uchiha Sasuke brought to Konoha was not very serious, and the damaged buildings could be rebuilt with the support of the Daming Palace.

But after the other party made such a fuss, not only the external negotiation pressure, but also the internal voices became confused.

In any case, Uchiha Sasuke caused hundreds of victims. The families of these victims prayed and wrote letters, hoping that the Hokage could bring such traitors to justice as soon as possible and execute them with capital punishment to comfort the victims. The spirit in heaven.

Not only that, some of the forces that had followed the advisory group also began to sign a letter, hoping to capture the traitor Uchiha Sasuke as soon as possible and bring him back to the village for trial.

Nowadays, whenever the topic of Uchiha Sasuke comes up in the village, it can almost be described as a state of outrage.

But in this way, all the pressure was on her side.

Tsunade didn't know if someone else was deliberately guiding her to put pressure on her, but this heavy pressure could not be faked.

Tsunade could understand the anger of the villagers and ninjas in the village.

But from a practical point of view, the execution of Uchiha Sasuke still needs to be considered in the long term.

To put it more simply, with Konoha's current strength, it is simply impossible to do this.

The Daming Mansion is also conservative. This matter can be over with a little patience at this time. There is no need to make a big show of confrontation with the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Nowadays, the main focus is to continue to develop military power. These humiliations will be recovered from the Kingdom of Ghosts in the future.

Therefore, Tsunade felt extremely troubled by the extremely angry situation in the village.

"Hokage-sama, the detailed loss report has been calculated. Do you want to take a look now?"

Shikaku walked in and delivered a detailed loss data of the attack.

"No, just put it on the table. I'll look at it later."

"yes."

Shikaku placed the document on his desk.

"Are you worried about the troublemaking villagers in the village?"

Shikaku understood Tsunade's difficulty at this time.

"Ah, it's not that it's difficult. I can completely understand their desire to avenge their loved ones."

Just like when her brother and lover died, in addition to pain, she also had long-term thoughts of revenge.

Tsunade has also experienced the pain and hatred of her relatives being killed, so she is very clear about the pain in these people's hearts and their hatred for Uchiha Sasuke.

From another perspective, Uchiha Sasuke also came in the name of revenge. As Hokage, she can arrest or even eliminate the opponent for assault, but blaming him for revenge is really untenable.

Besides, it is no longer a question of revenge or not. The crux of the matter gradually escalated to the conflict left over from the history of Konoha and the Kingdom of Demons. After all, the three people who controlled the military, political and commercial circles of the Kingdom of Demons all once separated from Konoha in the name of 'rebellious ninja'.

Uchiha Sasuke, in Tsunade's view, was just a pawn used by the three of them to test Konoha's strength at this time.

"Even so, it is temporarily impossible to get them to let go of their hatred."

Shikaku replied.

And time may smooth everything, but it can also make hatred stronger in the heart.

"Let's do this for now, let them make a fuss and vent their emotions."

Tsunade sighed. She wanted to fight back immediately, but her lack of strength at this time made her unable to do anything.

If she wanted to regain all the power of Konoha, she wouldn't mind wrestling with Shiraishi.

But now that Konoha is divided, if it wants to fight the Kingdom of Demons head-on before it can be unified, the result will most likely be like the previous Fourth Ninja War, with heavy losses.

"In addition, regarding another matter, I will ask the Intelligence Department to conduct a key analysis."

Tsunade remembered something and said to Shikaku.

"What's up?"

Shikaku blinked curiously.

"Eternal Kaleidoscope...Have you ever heard of this title?"

Tsunade turned around and stared at Shikaku with serious eyes.

"Eternal Kaleidoscope..."

Shikaku chewed on such words and shook his head, saying that he had never heard of such a thing.

"I also learned something about it through the records in some files left by my second grandfather. Although the ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan is powerful, it will be accompanied by overuse and the risk of blindness. Therefore, in order to avoid such defects, , and in order to make the power of the Mangekyō's eyes stronger, it is necessary to further improve the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Go further?"

After hearing this, Lu Jiu suddenly felt something in his heart and had a bad premonition.

"Hokage-sama, I want to know, the key to making the Mangekyō Sharingan go further is..."

The power displayed by the Mangekyou Sharingan is already so terrifying. If it goes one step further, can Konoha really be able to resist it with its current power?

"Another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan is needed, preferably one with direct family ties."

Tsunade said this, leaving Shikaku speechless for a long time.

Tsunade ignored Shikaku's increasingly ugly expression and continued: "The previous ANBU investigation into the Land of Forest made me interested. Coupled with some of the evidence you got from the root, I think Uchiha Itachi is probably Already died at the hands of Uchiha Sasuke."

In other words, if Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan also falls into the hands of the Demon Country, then Uchiha Sasuke already has the possibility of birthing an eternal Mangekyō.

Although it was a lucky chance that the Oni Country did not obtain Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan, for example, the opponent destroyed his eyes before his death... but the possibility was slim.

In terms of information on the Sharingan, except for the various information left by her second grandfather Senju Tobirama, Konoha's research on the Sharingan has not been updated for decades.

However, in the Kingdom of Demons, there are physical objects like the Mangekyo Sharingan for direct research, and the completeness of the Sharingan research data is even greater than that of Konoha.

The other party must also understand the Eternal Kaleidoscope, and even understand its principles better than Konoha. After understanding this power, it is impossible for the military of the Kingdom of Ghosts not to make corresponding arrangements.

"What level the Eternal Kaleidoscope's power will reach, I cannot directly give intuitive data. However, I know that the last Uchiha ninja with such eyes was Uchiha Madara."

Once the name 'Uchiha Madara' was spoken, the atmosphere in the office became completely silent.

As the Hokage and the Jonin squad leader, they must take this worst possibility as the premise to deal with the future attitude of the Kingdom of Demons.

◎

After leaving Tsunade, Shikaku's worries in his heart were not relieved by the end of the matter, but instead became even more nervous.

The Eternal Mangekyo, the advanced Sharingan, Uchiha Madara, the battle at the Valley of the End... all kinds of information filtered through Shikaku's mind quickly, and he finally found that it was impossible to prevent such a thing from happening.

It has long been a clear fact that Uchiha Itachi possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Uchiha Sasuke also demonstrated the power of the Mangekyō when he attacked Konoha.

At this time, the Kingdom of Demons probably has two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan that are very close by blood.

An Uchiha ninja who might be more terrifying than Uchiha Ruri would be born in the land of ghosts.

The thought of such a gloomy future just starts to rub salt into Konoha's wounds.

The Jounin of Konoha who passed by Shikaku wanted to say hello to him, but found that Shikaku's face was dull and gloomy, so he gave up the idea and wondered why the other person became like this as soon as he came out of the Hokage's office. Like this.

Isn't the village at this time bad enough?

Lu Jiu ignored the doubts of these colleagues. His mood was indeed not relaxed at this time.

Compared with the information obtained from the Hokage, Uchiha Sasuke's previous attack on Konoha was not a big threat.

All the way to the third floor ward of Konoha Hospital, Shikaku calmed down the worried look on his face and entered directly without knocking.

His son Shikamaru, who had just woken up, looked weaker than expected.

The other person was sitting on the hospital bed, his head turned slightly, and his eyes glanced out the window. Hearing the sound of the door opening and footsteps, he turned his head and met Shikaku's eyes.

"Dad, I..."

Maybe he had been asleep for several days, so when he opened his mouth, his voice was very hoarse.

Shikaku, who wanted to say something serious, inevitably felt a little soft-hearted when he heard Shikamaru's hoarse and weak voice, but he still said with a straight face:

"As for your rash action this time, there will be relevant punishments in the future. Just be mentally prepared."

"Yes. These punishments, I will..."

Shikamaru did not refuse. As smart as he was, he naturally knew that his behavior of colluding with Danzo was unforgivable in the eyes of the Hokage faction and those who regarded him as the heir to the family.

However, before he could finish his words, a cold and old voice sounded in the ward, interrupting the communication between their father and son:

"Young people will inevitably make mistakes. A little reprimand is enough. If you punish me severely, wouldn't it seem inhumane? I wonder, Shikaku, if you are willing to give me some face?"

Hearing this voice, the creepy breath sent a chill down Shikaku's spine. He twisted his body stiffly and looked at the old man who had appeared in the corner of the ward without knowing when, leaning on a cane.

——Shimura Danzo.