GSiN: Ch. 183

On the streets of Taki, Aoi strolled with a smile, casually greeting familiar comrades while subtly scanning her surroundings.

Once she was sure no one was paying attention, she quietly slipped into a deserted corner.

"Summoning Technique!"

Her hands quickly formed seals, and with a burst of smoke, a black beetle, almost the size of a small dog, appeared on the ground.

From her chest, she pulled out a small sealed scroll, tied it onto the beetle's horn, and then released the summoning.

With a "poof," the black beetle carrying the message vanished.

After finishing, she put back on her usual nonchalant expression, turned, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

---

In a dense forest within the Land of Waterfalls, Hanzō was leading nearly a hundred elite ninjas of Ame, dashing down the road toward Taki.

Suddenly, one of the ninjas running alongside him, a man with spiked black hair wearing a Taki forehead protector, stopped abruptly.

"Stop for now. Something's come up."

Hanzō frowned slightly, casting a cool glance at his so-called ally before raising his hand to signal the Ame ninjas to halt.

"What's the matter, Sōto?"

"What else? Obviously, my people inside Taki have sent me important intel."

As Sōto spoke, he quickly formed hand seals, slammed his palm onto the ground.

Poof!

A massive black beetle appeared.

He reached out, untied the scroll strapped to the beetle's horn, patted its hard head lightly, then released the summoning.

The beetle vanished into smoke. He unfurled the scroll, scanned its contents quickly, and his brow furrowed.

"This... could be troublesome."

Hanzō stood silently, and made no move to ask.

The reason was simple: Sōto's foul mouth was insufferable.

If his plans didn't require this idiot's cooperation, he would have killed him long ago.

Nearby, Sōto put away the intel scroll and cast Hanzō a suspicious look.

"What, don't tell me you didn't know? Ame's got 'ghosts' inside."

"Ghosts?" Hanzō frowned slightly, glancing over his men. "You mean I have traitors among them?"

"Of course! Two Ame ninjas rushed to Taki ahead of us and spilled our whole surprise attack plan. Brilliant, huh?"

Hanzō fell silent, stunned. After a pause, he asked in a low voice, "What do they look like? Any distinguishing features?"

Sōto snorted, clearly displeased, "A man with orange hair, and a blue-haired woman with paper flowers in her hair."

At this description, Hanzō quickly searched his memory.

"Orange hair... blue hair with paper flowers..." he murmured.

Ame had few ninjas to begin with, and such an obvious trait as paper flowers immediately reminded him of the names.

"Yahiko and Konan."

"I don't care what they're called. What I want to know is why they'd betray us. You can't even keep your own subordinates in line? Pathetic."

Hanzō forced down his killing intent, replying slowly, "They are the founders of an up-and-coming group within Ame, called Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? Never heard of it." Sōto frowned, unfamiliar with the name.

"Not surprising. They usually take on cheap, or even free, low-ranked jobs for ordinary people within the Land of Rain."

"So? What's the point? What do they gain from that?" Sōto pressed, unable to grasp the motive.

"Benefit...? Likely none. They're simply chasing a naive dream of peace."

"Got it. Idealists, then?"

"Idealists?" Hanzō narrowed his eyes. "Yes... you could put it that way."

At first, he had no ill will toward Akatsuki. When his subordinates first reported on them, he thought they were just a group of weaklings banding together for survival. But as time passed, Akatsuki's strength grew. Danzō personally approached him, urging him to crush Akatsuki before they challenged his rule over Ame.

Danzō's words muddled his mind. He even began planning to capture the blue-haired woman first, to force the others into suicide.

Yet just as he prepared to act, news arrived: Akatsuki's base had been attacked by unknown enemies. Many died, and even their strongest, Nagato, was captured, his fate uncertain.

The sudden event was confirmed by his scouts. Relieved, he decided against a risky purge.

After all, they were still Ame ninjas.

Even when Danzō later tried to persuade him again, he refused to act.

Years passed, and indeed, Akatsuki lived up to its motto. They showed no interest in seizing power in Ame, only focusing on helping Ame's citizens.

For any leader, having such a purely charitable group within one's borders wasn't necessarily bad. But now Akatsuki was extending its reach to other nations, even traveling far to block his war against Taki.

With nearly all Ame's forces mobilized, it was no surprise they were discovered.

Akatsuki... truly relentless in their pursuit of peace.

He sighed inwardly. He too had once dreamed of peace. But harsh reality taught him only overwhelming strength could keep Ame's fragile peace intact. He had once been that strength. Now he was old, and no new generation in Ame could replace him.

Thus, he must seize Taki's tailed beast.

Casting a cold look at Sōto, he decided not to argue further about Yahiko and Konan.

"They're too weak to threaten our plans. And since you got this intel, it means your people in Taki already stopped them, correct?"

Sōto didn't deny it.

"My men have already imprisoned these fuckers inside Taki. For now, no one will know they're there."

Hanzō nodded slightly, relieved.

Despite Sōto's filthy mouth, he was still the younger brother of Sōwa, Taki's current leader. Before defecting, he had held high status and many followers in Taki. Now, with his men in control of the situation, their plan shouldn't face major setbacks.

"In that case, let's stop wasting time. We move on."

Without giving Sōto another chance to speak, he raised his hand, signaling the Ame ninjas to continue forward.

---

At the edge of Taki, inside a run-down wooden hut, Konan sat quietly at the square table, resting her chin in her hands, gazing at the distant scenery through the small window. Her expression was calm, yet in her eyes lingered a trace of barely noticeable worry.

Yahiko, meanwhile, paced back and forth across the room, brows tightly furrowed, muttering in a low voice: "It's been almost an hour already... did something go wrong?"

"Don't be so impatient."

Jiraiya lay lazily on a wooden bed in the corner, eyes half-closed, looking completely at ease.

"How can I not be anxious!" Yahiko replied in frustration. "According to the intel from our companions, Hanzō's people should be arriving here any moment now."

"You really leave me no choice." Jiraiya slowly sat up. "Well then, let's head out."

"Huh?" Yahiko spun around at once, staring at Jiraiya in shock. "You've come up with something?"

"Heh... what do you take me for? You think I'm the kind of man who leaves everything to others?"

Yahiko froze for a moment, then broke into a smile. As expected, he had always known that although Jiraiya looked careless and unserious most of the time, at critical moments he was absolutely reliable.

Jiraiya leapt up from the bed, hands flashing into a seal.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

With several soft bursts, three shadow clones appeared inside the hut.

Yahiko and Konan exchanged glances, confusion in their eyes.

At that moment, two of the shadow clones formed more seals, unleashing the Transformation Jutsu. When the smoke cleared, the two clones had taken on the appearances of Yahiko and Konan.

"What is this...?" Konan couldn't help but ask.

"Hold on a little longer." Jiraiya cut her off, pressing his hands onto both of their shoulders.

In the next instant, the three of them vanished from the hut, leaving only the three clones sitting quietly at the table.

---

Beneath the central tower of Taki, a toad quickly unrolled the enormous scroll strapped to its back and deftly formed hand seals with its webbed fingers.

Poof!

Jiraiya, Yahiko, and Konan crossed through space and landed on the scroll.

Back when they had first infiltrated this vast underground cavern, Jiraiya had already ordered this toad carrying the summoning scroll to slip away through another route, all to prevent a situation where their personal appearance would fail to open negotiations.

And now, it seemed that decision had indeed been the right one.

Aoi was definitely suspicious. Normally, in a matter as critical as a struggle between two nations, no matter how slow-witted the higher-ups might be, they would never take this long to respond.

Clearly, the three of them had been deliberately ignored here.

Half an hour ago, he had already been using shared perception with the toad to secretly guide it as it hopped its way to this central tower of Taki.

Judging from the flow of people and the grandeur of the building, he guessed this must surely be where the village leader resided.

He was quite pleased with his decision, and with a smug grin declared, "This is one of my secret techniques, Reverse Summoning Jutsu! What do you think?"

"Amazing!" Yahiko immediately played along, eyes filled with admiration.

No wonder Jiraiya hadn't looked worried at all when locked inside that hut, he'd had a Plan B up his sleeve all along.

Konan, however, glanced around with a trace of unease and said softly, "But... what should we do next?"

Although they had gained temporary freedom of movement, it was obvious this village was filled with hostility toward outsiders. In such a situation, once discovered, it might not be as simple as being sent back to the hut, there could even be a battle.

Jiraiya dismissed the toad and quickly performed the Transformation Jutsu, changing into the blue-haired, bespectacled girl Aoi.

After completing the transformation, he even exaggeratedly threw Yahiko a flirty wink and asked with a grin, "Do I look convincing?"

To his surprise, Yahiko actually studied him seriously before commenting with a straight face, "I think the chest size is a bit off. If I remember correctly, that girl—oww!"

Before he could finish, he suddenly winced in pain, his expression twisting. He turned his head toward Konan, who wore a gentle smile, and tried to explain awkwardly: "Um... Konan, I—"

Konan casually withdrew the hand she had just pinched into Yahiko's waist and asked innocently, "Mm? What's the matter?"

"N-Nothing, haha." Yahiko forced a laugh, inwardly cursing his own misfortune.

Jiraiya shrugged. During their journey to search for Nagato, he had long noticed something between the two. It was just that both of them were too reserved when it came to matters between men and women, always pretending not to see their feelings for each other.

Of course, it was also possible that this ambiguous little game before confirming their relationship was part of their "play."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little helpless. For this whole time, he had been nothing more than a third wheel stuck between the two.

If it weren't for the nice hostesses at the taverns keeping him entertained now and then, he would've kicked this little couple away and gone to search for Nagato by himself.

And yet, Konan still didn't understand him... Ah, being a teacher was hard.