Dappled sunlight filtered through the lush foliage, casting mottled patterns on the grass.
Itachi stood in patches of sunlight, nervously watching Shisui and Konan not far away.
"Worried?"
Kanpū's shadow clone stood with arms crossed, and said calmly, "You need to have confidence in yourself, confidence in Shisui, and most importantly, confidence in me!"
"Captain…"
Itachi turned his head, and a rare blush appeared on the face beneath his mask. He then said in a low voice, "Thank you."
When Shisui defected from the village to execute the mission, Itachi entered Anbu for investigation. During the period, he had a lot of friction with Kanpū, and gradually evolved into not getting in touch with each other until death. Thinking of the past, Itachi felt inexplicably guilt towards Kanpū.
Kanpū's shadow clone smiled confidently, then turned to look at Tenzo and the rest behind him, and said: "If a fight breaks out later, don't interfere."
Although Konan is not the peak of Akatsuki's combat power, but against his extra subordinates, she still has a huge advantage. Moreover, her Paper Ninjutsu is good at crowd attack. So if there's really a battle, it will be extremely disadvantageous to his subordinates!
"Understood!"
Tenzo and the others responded loudly.
For them, with Kanpū and Shisui, the captain and vice-captain, standing in front of them, there was no need for them to take action.
At that moment!
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
Under the dappled sunlight, paper flakes fluttered like snowflakes, swirling and expanding around Konan, gradually forcing Shisui back.
'Has the talk collapsed? Is a fight about to break out?'
Without any hesitation, Kanpū's shadow clone took out an Explosive Tag. With his right hand touching the back, he silently marked the Flying Thunder God Technique's technique formula.
Seeing this, Itachi, who is beside him, narrowed his eyes: 'Using an Explosive Tag as soon right from the start? As expected of Cap…'
Bang!
A light sound rang, and Kanpū's shadow clone dissipated into smoke, leaving only an Explosive Tag drifted down slowly.
'…tain?'
(`n´)
Itachi looked at the falling Explosive Tag, and didn't feel good!
'For a long time, you turned out to be just a shadow clone?!'
'You made me believe in myself, believe in Brother Shisui, believe in you, and even asked the others not to intervene, you, you, you…'
Itachi's chest rose and fell. He felt like there was a lump in his chest that he couldn't swallow or spit out, making him uncomfortable.
"Captain Husky is still the same as ever…"
"Yeah, when Captain Kakashi was the one leading the team, he always used shadow clones to slack off. Now that it's his turn to be the captain, he hasn't changed at all."
"Looks like vice-captain Shisui will have a hard time this time."
"By the way, are we really not going to take action later?"
"I'm more worried about whether this this Explosive Tag will suddenly explode."
Listening to the murmurings of his companions, Itachi became more and more upset and quickly focused all his attention on Shisui's side.
"Konan!"
Shisui stepped back step by step, and the three black tomoes in his eyes were already slowly spinning, "Have you thought it through?"
"No matter what, I have to try!"
Konan glanced at the dissipating Kanpū, and her thoughts raced: 'Although Gekko Kanpū is not here, his main body must have received the memory of his shadow clone and rushed over here. With the speed of his Flying Thunder God Technique, he might arrive instantly!'
Shisui and Konan's ideas coincide, thinking that Kanpū can get here in seconds.
A few seconds passed, but Kanpū's figure still does not appear where the shadow clone dissipated.
Konan relaxed when he saw this: 'Gekko Kanpū can't come immediately, I have time to act!'
Shisui felt like he had been sold and was slightly uncomfortable and unsatisfied.
"Shisui, Uchiha Obito is Konoha's S-Rank Missing-nin. Unless he is an undercover agent like you, why would you hide his information!" Konan slowly floated into the air, her Chakra surging. The papers around her fluttered rapidly, creating a piercing sound that made eardrums ache.
The reason Shisui can't tell her is because… it's not only about Obito, but also about Mangekyo Sharingan, which is Uchiha Clan's greatest secret!
Since they can't reach agreement, there is really only one way left.
Shisui's expression became solemn: "If you want to fight, go ahead and try."
"Perhaps I'm not your opponent, but that guy over there should be important to you."
Konan looked towards Itachi.
Although Itachi wore a mask, preventing his face from being seen, Konan could see concern that couldn't be expressed in words in his eyes!
Shisui frowned, and coldly said: "I advise you not to make a move against him."
Since Shisui returning to Konoha, he had sparred with Itachi several times. At that time, he marveled at Itachi's rapid growth. The growth rate is amazing, and this is the premise that Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan was sealed by him with Genjutsu.
If Konan were to attack Itachi, and she found herself at a disadvantage, she would undoubtedly be beaten. On the other hand, if she had the upper hand and exerted too much pressure, the Genjutsu Shisui put on Itachi;s mind would be released, and then she would still be beaten!
Moreover…
With two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan, even if the leader of Akatsuki, Pain is here, Shisui still had confidence in facing him!
However, Konan's figure, who is in midair, slightly blurred, and Shisui, whose eyesight was greatly reduced, sincerely hope that Itachi wouldn't awaken the Mangekyo.
"Really?"
Konan looked Itachi, then her gaze swept over the others, while simultaneously using Sensor Ninjutsu.
'There is no Chakra aura of Gekko Kanpū nearby, I still have time!'
After some contemplation, Konan decisively flew into the sky.
Paper Drizzle!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Under the infusion of Chakra, countless paper pieces transformed into sharp 'blades', raining down upon Itachi.
Where the paper passes, the branches and leaves were all cut in half, and the remaining branches and broken leaves fall like snowflakes.
"This is bad!"
Tenzo, who was standing behind Itachi, initially didn't want to take action shot, but this attack's range was too large, covering all members of their team. So he had no choice but to intervene!
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" Tenzo reluctantly hand-seal the land with both hands.
Thud~ Thud~ Thud~ ...
Rows of hard sturdy wooden pillars surged from both sides of the ground, closing together like a shield, forming a semicircle to block the incoming paper rain.
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
With the dull sound of impact, the lasing papers shot into the Wood Locking Wall like bullets, but Wood Release is Wood Release after all, and even if the power of Tenzo's Wood Release is less than one-fifth of Hashirama's Wood Release, it is not easily penetrated by the papers.
In an instant, the outside of the Wood Locking Wall was filled with paper, and it looked like a white hedgehog from a distance.
"…Wood Release?" Konan exclaimed.
Even with her calm demeanor, Konan couldn't suppress the emotional waves in her heart upon seeing the legendary Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
'Is that guy the one who made the forest in the Land of Wind's border desert?'
'Is this person a descendant of Shodaime Hokage, or the real person himself?'
'Is this the reason Shisui advised me not to act?'
Various thoughts flooded Konan's mind, leaving her restless.
...
At the same time.
Twenty kilometers away from this location.
Kanpū's figure was swiftly rushing towards a small mountain that was a hundred meters high.
In fact, when his shadow clone dissipated just now, Kanpū was already in Konoha. Howevewr, due to the distance of two hundred kilometers away from Shisui, it exceeded the sensing range of Flying Thunder God Technique of 150 kilometers in Sage Mode. Without any choice, Kanpū had to transfer from a nearby 'network cable', which takes an additional one to two seconds!
However, during the transit, Kanpū suddenly thought of something.
'If Konan is here, would Nagato also come?'
'If it was just Konan, then Shisui, Itachi, Tenzo and the rest are enough to deal with her.'
'And if Nagato also came, he will definitely stay in a high-altitude location nearby to easily control the Six Paths of Pain.'
Thinking of this, Kanpū decisively took out the map, checked it, and found that there are many mountain tops in the area where Shisui is located, and among them, the one closest to them was the one right in front!
Kanpū, with his hands on slinging on the back, dashed through the branches and leaves like a gust of wind. As he got closer and closer to the hill, a sense of alertness suddenly struck his heart.
He looked up and saw that under the blue sky, countless tiny black dots were rapidly descending toward his location.
'That is?'
Kanpū squinted his eyes, and the black dots became larger and clearer, gradually revealing their true forms.
'Missiles?'
Kanpū's face twitched, and he forcibly suppressed the strange feeling in his heart. Then, he took out the Kusanagi Sword and converted the Chakra inside his body into Wind Attribute and poured it into the sword.
"Konoha-Style – Slashing Wind!"
Kanpū's figure flickered to a hundred meters away, and at the same time, he fiercely swung the sharp sword in his hands upward towards the sky.
Buzz…
With an eerie vibration, a visible green sword aura shot out from the Kusanagi Sword, colliding with the dozens of descending missiles!
Boom, boom, boom…
In the intense explosion sounds, shockwaves surged chaotically, sweeping fiery flames in all directions.
Kanpū grinned at this moment.
'It looks like you're really here, Nagato!'
Kanpū dropped a Flying Thunder God Kunai and turned into an afterimage, rushing towards the hill.