-Konohagakure-
On the other side of the office door, two small knocks on the wood were heard.
Tsunade frowned and looked at the door.
"It's me, Tsunade" And then the old man entered the office with a smile on his face.
She knew right away what was going on, so she relaxed in her seat. "Have you found anything yet, Jiraiya? "
As if he was bragging about it, Jiraiya chuckled. "Nothing important, just the location of Akatsuki's leader."
"What, really, just spit it out!" Tsunade stood up from her seat and slapped her palms on the table, obviously surprised by what her ears heard. No, she wanted to know right away no matter what. And that information, of course, Jiraiya has it.
On the other hand, Shizune, who was standing next to Tsunade with that little pig in her arms, looked around not knowing what to say in the face of this upcoming revelation.
"Calm down, both of you. You don't have to get so upset" He shook his head and then approached the desk.
Tsunade didn't like this though, as the fact that Jiraiya was treating this like a game annoyed her. "We're not working on your next novel, you idiot! Don't waste our time!"
"If you lose your cool, you'll cause trouble for all of us, Tsunade. Even more so considering that this information only gets us into a game of life and death" Jiraiya shook his head and then smiled. "Still, how about we go get a drink, it's been a long time since we've had a drink together. There we'll talk."
"You..., what?" she slapped the desk with her palm again. "You forget I'm the fucking Hokage! I can't just have a drink when my shinobi are risking their lives for the safety of our village!"
-5 minutes later
"Woaaahhh. What a treat!" said Tsunade tapping the sake jug on the table a little.
Seeing this, Jiraiya shook his head. "You should start acting on your words, Tsunade... You're the Hokage..."
The two went to get a drink at a bar, just like Jiraiya said, but as soon as they arrived, Tsunade ordered a large pitcher of sake that nearly left the people around with their jaws on the floor. Well, you don't see that often the Hokage drinking at a bar like any normal adult.
"Yeah, whatever you say~. So the leader of Akatsuki is in Amegakure, huh~" She sighed as she sent another gulp of sake down her throat. "That village has very strict border controls. They're very meticulous in that regard. Anyone who enters must state their purpose, as well as being watched 24/7 by the shinobi of that village. It's not the kind of village where you can move around easily. Even during the chūnin exams it was like that..."
"Well all the more reason to hide there. A place like the one you just described is perfect for hiding" Jiraiya began taking a small drink of sake. "Rumor has it that Amegakure has been mired in civil war for years and that the leader of Akatsuki is at the head of one of the sides."
"The Rain Country is surrounded by three large countries, so it has always been a battleground for these same countries. Their government never rests and surely the number of refugees has increased over the years..."
"Exactly. That's why I need to infiltrate Amegakure and check if the rumors are true. Then we can plan something better."
"Are you crazy, you plan to go alone? That's too dangerous" Tsunade's face started to turn a little red from the influence of alcohol in her blood.
"I am one of the Legendary Three Sannin. You remember what that means, don't you?"
"Ha~ I'm sorry... I always get you into this kind of stupid trouble..."
Jiraiya smiled as he watched Tsunade look at the sake jug sadly. This woman has suffered a lot in her life and now she has to stress herself a lot more having obtained the position of Hokage.
Her mind is constantly full of problems. She hasn't been able to relax in a long time....
-Akatsuki guardian number 27-
Sasuke's footsteps slowly echoed in that dark place. He walked down the corridors perfectly shaped by the ninjutsu of some talented ninja and then saw a light at the end of the corridor.
He approached silently and saw someone standing in front of him....
"Who are you?" he asked.
To which that mysterious person opened his eyes and looked at him with crimson, Sharingan-esque eyes. "It's me, Sasuke."
It was Itachi...
-Amegakure-
Konan approached the door of Toru's room and tried to call out to him, but then she regretted it and left.
Inside the room, Toru found himself sitting on the bed, his back leaning against the wall.
He stared at the ceiling with an expressionless face. He felt that in the last few hours his vision had only gotten worse for no reason. He could barely make out figures more than 5 meters away. Everything was quite blurry. Yet he could still see clearly if he got close enough to his target.
But it hurt, it hurt too much. His eyes were killing him with pain. The Shigan would activate only once in a while. It seemed to happen at specific times, but he still didn't understand it.
"¡¿?!"
A wave of pain hit his head. He quickly brought his hands close together and held his head in pain. His vision flickered off and on, becoming blurry and clear in short intervals of time.
He closed his eyes hoping the pain would subside, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Suddenly, he saw himself inside that ocean of blood once again. Everything was dark as usual.
"I... I've had enough of this..."
Standing in the blood beneath him, he sighed wearily.
Though it seemed strange, a voice echoed over and over in his mind. That voice seemed far away, so far away that Toru couldn't understand what it was saying. Still, the voice belonged to a child, that was the unmistakable voice of a child.
But... Why... Why do you hear that voice? Who does it belong to?
Suddenly, the pain disappeared and she quickly came back to reality. There was a tear of blood on his cheek, but it didn't hurt anymore, there was only a slight burning sensation in his eyes, but it was better than the horrible pain she was feeling a few seconds ago.
He saw the Akatsuki robe on the table near his bed. There, too, was the hat. Now he was only in the clothes he always wore under the robe.
"I think... for a moment I forgot what I came here to do..."
-Konohagakure-
"You're facing someone with enough power to control Akatsuki. I have no idea how strong he is and that's why you're stepping into the lion's den, Jiraiya..." Tsunade looked at that small river wistfully.
"You might be right."
She clasped her hands together a little nervously.
"Please... come back alive. If I ever lose you too..."
"What, you're going to cry for me? What an honor! Hahaha. I don't think I can take as many tears as Dan though."
"Silly..."
Seeing his old friend so down, Jiraiya couldn't help but want to comfort her. "Okay, how about we put your betting skills to the test? We make a bet and you put it all on me dying. After all, you always lose your bets. In return, when I come back I'll..."
For some reason, Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, cheeks still flushed from the alcohol and felt curious as to what this old man would ask. "Your what...?"
Jiraiya kept silent for a few seconds, then grinned like an idiot as he scratched his head. "Hahaha. It's a joke, a joke. You know I'm grateful to you. Besides..." He folded his arms and nodded his head. "Rejection always makes men stronger. And unless you've experienced it enough to laugh at yourself and take advantage of it, you can't do your duty as a man. So a man's responsibility is to be strong...or something like that. But, you know, I think men are not made to pursue happiness..."
Hearing this, Tsunade sighed wearily. Jiraiya's sudden words settled her thoughts for a second. "Ha~ all men are the same. They are nothing without the women around them."
"Hahaha. you're absolutely right!"
"Well... still, if anything happens, send a toad. I'll come with reinforcements instantly."
"No need to do that. You're the Hokage, you must stay in the village."
"But there are still many candidates for Hokage, Jiraiya."
"I know, I know, but how is this village supposed to prosper if its leader keeps changing? You're the best for this role and you know it."
"What's wrong, we have Kakashi and Naruto at some point."
"Kakashi would make a good Hokage, but Naruto still has a long way to go. You even gave him the pendant your grandfather gave you."
"Don't say that. You've given Naruto a lot of power. You even taught him the Rasengan."
"You got me there. Still, I can see you're still worried. I always notice it in your eyes, in the way you look everywhere waiting for something to happen."
"What are you talking about? I'm completely fine" She folded her arms and pouted.
"You can't lie to me. You still feel guilty about failing with Asahi Toru, don't you? Even though he wasn't guilty, you couldn't see the truth in time."
"No! I just..."
"Hm... I'm right. Don't deny that part of the story. Ha~ age has made you too kind, don't you think? I regret not telling you earlier to stay away from that kid, but it seems like he approached you earlier."
"Huh? I didn't understand that, what do you mean?"
"Well..." He looked up at the sky and remembered the past. "She made me promise not to go near her son no matter what."
"You mean..."
"Yes. Asahi Kyoko made me promise not to go near her son. All to protect him from what it means to be a shinobi."
Tsunade leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes. "That crazy girl, huh..."
"Don't call her that. She was after all my student" He sat down next to Tsunade and crossed his legs as he let his arms rest on the back of the bench. "I wonder... who did that child turn out to be? He looked a bit like his father the last time I saw him, but that cold attitude... he didn't look like his mother, but he didn't look like his father in that respect either."
"I know... he was a rather peculiar boy..."
"This just makes me nostalgic... She was very energetic, unlike Kenji or Minato. Always with a big smile on her face. She would try to peel with Minato every chance she got."
Tsunade's eyes widened a little. "Wow, that's something I didn't know."
"Well, that's because you only know about that girl's bad side."
"Yeah... as the other shinobi from the other villages were saying."
With bright-eyed killers, balancing the blood daggers covered by the entire battlefield, sometimes with a manic smile, other times with a cold look on her face. Wherever her feet landed, there was only death. The battlefields were littered with corpses wherever she went.
No one survives her powerful Taijutsu. She along with Minato were known as The Bloody Thorn and Yellow Lightning of Konoha.
"If you put it that way you make it sound like she was a murderous psychopath" Jiraiya shook his head.
"Well, those were the rumors, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Ha~ so that's fine. Those rumors are right, but there's still a lot that no one knows about that girl. And that's just what she was afraid of, she didn't want her son to live surrounded by blood and corpses. That woman didn't want her son to die like everyone in her family, at such a young age."
"Yes, I've heard about that. That the main family members of the Asahi clan always die at a young age. None have ever made it past the age of 27..."
"Yes. That's quite strange, as if they have a curse. But I think it's just a coincidence" He stood up from the bench and looked at his friend with a smile. "Well, it's time to go."
Tsunade nodded her head.
"Oh, wait. One last piece of advice..." Jiraiya's expression turned serious. "I know you must already know this, but beware of The Root."
"I know, for three years now I've known."
"That's good. I'll see you then"
Jiraiya left walking relaxed through the streets of Konoha. Tsunade looked at him one last time with a sad and worried expression. She couldn't see the future, so she didn't know what exactly would happen to Jiraiya.
-Akatsuki Hideout No. 27-
Itachi was lying on the ground, wounds all over his body. He looked at his brother standing in front of him and with a cold, merciless look said, "You've become very strong, Sasuke..."
Sasuke didn't expect that Itachi's body would suddenly start to be surrounded by black feathers.
He felt unsettled by this occurrence, but still tried to keep his composure.
"Come to the Uchiha Lair alone, we will end everything in that place" Itachi disappeared wrapped in black feathers after saying that.
...
...
That little boy who grew up with so much hatred in his heart, clenched his fists tightly as he realized that what he had killed was only a clone. But then, he closed his eyes and sighed.
'So be it...'
-Amegakure-
He was still sitting on that bed, doing nothing, not moving, constantly thinking about whether he should override the summoning of the shadow clone or let it be for a few more hours.
Because of this, his chakra and fighting ability in general was split in half. Now he is not as strong as before, but he still hopes that the clone manages to find something useful in the battle scene.
'It doesn't hurt so much anymore...'
The pain in his eyes calmed down completely, there was now only that small burning sensation that was slowly fading away.
[Someone has disturbed the fall of my rain].
Nagato's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Judging by his chakra, he's someone extremely dangerous]
"Is there an intruder in Amegakure?" Toru closed his eyes and, to check, activated Sennin Mōdo to make sure. He soon realized that Nagato was correct. A large mass of chakra was moving through the village. It looked like he was trying to hide the traces of his chakra, but it was useless if he used the Senjutsu of the Ōkami clan.
[I'm going to have the rain. Konan, find the intruder. Toru, do the same and prepare to intercept the perpetrator]
"Ha~" Toru sighed and got up from the bed. He walked over to the small table beside the bed and took the robe and hat.
He opened the door and, while walking, put on the robe. Then the light of death illuminated his eyes and he put on the hat.
From one of the sleeves of his robe, came out the dagger that had managed to survive the explosion that generated Nanabi's chakra and then....
"Maybe I just need to clear my head a little."
To be continued...