HTP: Ch. 51

Two cold flashes of light streaked through the air. Poison-tipped senbon pierced precisely through the hearts of two Kumo ninjas guards, they collapsed without even having time to raise the alarm.

A bird descended.

Sasori leapt down, observed the barrier technique, then nodded and said, "This is it. Once we clear this area, we can advance straight in. By the time the Kumo ninjas detect the intrusion, we'll already be at the core. Send the signal. Let the leader and the others come."

Deidara complained impatiently, "What a pain. If you ask me, blasting through the front gate on my clay bird would be way more dramatic."

Sasori calmly explained, "Don't give the enemy a chance to organize a defense."

After all, this was one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, he wasn't taking it lightly.

Deidara clicked his tongue in annoyance but still obediently sent the signal. In the darkness, figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds silently appeared.

At the front was Pain, with Konan by his side. A few steps behind followed Kakuzu and Hidan.

Pain's Rinnegan reflected the distant lights of Kumo. His cold voice rang out. "Remember, capture the Eight-Tails alive."

The Akatsuki members signaled their understanding.

He then issued the mission orders. "Sasori, you attack from the south. Kakuzu and Hidan, attack from the north and form a pincer movement. As for Deidara, provide aerial bombardment to cover your teammates. Prevent the Kumo ninjas from mounting an effective counterattack."

Pain, naturally, would break in through the front gate himself.

Deidara looked a little excited, this was Akatsuki's first large-scale group assault, and most importantly, Itachi wasn't around to ruin the mood. He launched into the air, shouting at Sasori, "Hey, I'm heading out first! This one's a battle of art!"

Sasori had no interest in chatting and simply turned southward. Kakuzu led Hidan north, reminding him along the way to watch out for bounty values.

At that moment, only Konan remained by Pain's side.

"I'll leave it to you, Konan."

Konan, tasked with guarding Nagato's real body, instantly turned into sheets of paper and vanished.

Pain pressed his hands together in a hand sign, and instantly, the Six Paths of Pain gathered.

"Move out, let the world feel pain."

---

"Obito, Obito… looks like Konoha changed its password." Black Zetsu tested the Konoha's outskirt barrier wall and remarked, "Your intel's been thoroughly compromised."

Without his mask, Obito's exposed scars looked even more menacing under the light. He replied coldly, "It doesn't matter."

His body flickered and dematerialized, when he reappeared, he was already inside the barrier wall.

Black Zetsu shouted for him to wait, but Obito ignored him and disappeared again. He was speechless. Ever since that incident, Obito had definitely changed.

If you had to describe it, he'd become the "cold, silent killer" type. But Black Zetsu wasn't just anyone, he knew exactly what was going on in Obito's mind.

He was clearly trying to settle things with Kakashi while playing it cool. And where else would he go? Obviously to Konoha's Memorial Stone.

Black Zetsu submerged into the ground, heading straight for the memorial site. Soon, his head emerged from the soil, and he saw that solitary figure standing in front of the stone monument.

In front of the stone were flowers. Obito suddenly grabbed the bouquet.

"If I can't protect what's important to me... then what's the point of this power?" His voice was low and cold. With a swing of his arm, the flowers traced an arc through the sunset, scattering petals in the wind.

Black Zetsu was speechless. He'd seen this scene not once or twice, hopefully, this would be the last time.

Obito really had to reclaim his other Sharingan eye, which would make his combat strength much more complete. The difference between one eye and two was quite significant.

Click.

He's here. Black Zetsu noticed the movement at the memorial and thought to himself.

A silver-haired ninja had already pressed a kunai against Obito's back.

"You're late… Kakashi." Obito slightly turned his head and said quietly, "Let's end this."

The silver-haired ninja thrust his kunai downward. The Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly.

"Obito."

In the instant their eyes met, space suddenly twisted into a swirling vortex. Both of them vanished simultaneously.

Wait, I didn't get on! Black Zetsu stared at the spot where they'd disappeared, almost wanting to scream.

---

Night was about to fall.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he looked over the final documents he had to deal with today. The first was a letter of condemnation from Ōnoki, accusing Konoha of expanding its ninja forces and engaging in an arms race.

Clearly, that one was toilet paper.

The second one was also from Ōnoki, requesting Konoha to share intel on Akatsuki and to assist in investigating the disappearance of jinchūriki. In simpler terms, asking for help. Ōnoki, honestly… with two of his jinchūriki gone, he was probably panicking but still didn't want to lower his head and beg outright.

The third one, again from Ōnoki, expressed willingness to form a partnership with Konoha. He even proposed arranging a Five Kage Summit to discuss how the five great nations could join forces to eliminate the terrorist group Akatsuki.

All three documents were dated very closely, each one following immediately after the last reached Konoha.

Hiruzen took out Konoha's official seal and stamped the third document.

Next, the delegation from Kumo was about to arrive in Konoha, led by the Raikage's secretary, Mabui. She was quite an important figure among the Kumo ninjas, comparable to Shikaku.

At least for now, Kumo seemed sincere.

They had offered a generous price for peace negotiations, including a significant share of the Land of Lightning's mineral resources and war reparations. Since they were sincere, Hiruzen wrote "Raise reception standard" on the document.

Stamped.

That meant: instead of sending a standard secretary from the Hokage's office, they'd now send Shikaku to lead the talks.

Night fell, and he finished his work.

His consciousness entered hyperspace.

The small group chat showed 99+ unread messages. The group name had been changed to "Subspace Moby Dick Division."

Do these two have nothing better to do? He scrolled through the chat logs.

Apparently, Yoriichi's situation was different from his and Ace's. He was already dead. He could only wander the world as a ghostly observer.

No wonder, one's imprisoned, the other's dead. Of course, they got time.

He thought for a moment, wasn't this basically like the Sage of Six Paths? But not quite. The Sage could still directly influence the real world when necessary, while Yoriichi seemingly could not.

Also, his vibe was… different. He didn't play games, didn't watch videos, didn't read fanfics. In the hyperspace, he just read literary classics.

Not exactly easy to chat with.

The rest of the chat was about recent developments in the Naruto and One Piece worlds.

Ace had apparently said that if Yoriichi couldn't stand what was going on in the Demon Slayer world, he should consider hiring Konoha instead.

Not a bad idea.

Hiruzen then posted the freshly written Konoha pricing chart in the group chat.