The time was set back more than ten hours ago, in the Land of Rain, a border town near the Land of Fire.
An ordinary passer-by was walking along the street with the crowd. Just like the other pedestrians around him, he was walking along the street, selecting some items from the roadside stalls. However, if someone was observant enough, they would notice that he had been following a black-clad figure wearing a rabbit mask from a distance the whole time.
After wandering around for a while, the ordinary passer-by finally followed the person in the black costume with the rabbit mask to a remote location.
Suddenly, the person in the black costume with the rabbit mask disappeared from his field of vision.
Seeing this, the ordinary passer-by immediately realized that something was wrong and hurriedly turned around to leave. However, as soon as he turned around, he saw the person in the black costume with the rabbit mask walking out of the shadows nearby.
"A bug, following me all the way like this, does it think I don't know anything?"
Rabbit looked at the ordinary passer-by in front of him, who was showing signs of panic on his face, and sneered.
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly formed a seal with his hands, and a shadow spike instantly pierced through the shadow beneath him and stabbed at the ordinary passer-by.
Shadow Imitation: Shadow Seam!
"Ding~"
The next moment, a Kunai collided with the materialized shadow spike.
Even though the ordinary passer-by took out a Kunai from his body to block Rabbit's Shadow Imitation: Shadow Seam,
"Hm, it seems that you are not an ordinary character,"
Rabbit was a little surprised to see that the ordinary passer-by had easily blocked his attack.
At this point, the ordinary passer-by's face had gone from panic to cold, as he stared at the rabbit-masked man in front of him and asked, "Are you from the Roots?"
Rabbit was shocked when he heard the ordinary passer-by's words.
The next moment, more than ten shadow spikes shot out from the shadows beneath him.
This time, the ordinary passer-by was no longer able to use the Kunai to block Rabbit's shadow split attack, and was instantly pierced by more than ten shadow spikes.
However, no blood flowed from the ordinary passer-by.
There was a sound of "pop~".
The ordinary passer-by disappeared into a ball of white smoke at the original location.
"Shadow clone, damn it."
Rabbit's face behind the mask suddenly turned ugly upon seeing this.
"Looks like you've been exposed. But this was bound to happen sooner or later. Who was the real person behind that guy? Do you have any guesses?"
A voice with a hint of mockery suddenly appeared.
A utility pole next to Rabbit suddenly twisted in a strange way, and Pig, wearing a pig mask, walked out of it.
"According to the information passed on by Rooster, the last person that ninja girl contacted was Jiraiya, so he must be the one who helped White Fang's team escape from our tail this time. And the guy just now was most likely a shadow clone sent by Jiraiya."
Rabbit spoke coldly, exuding a cold murderous aura.
He didn't care about the "Three Ninja" or whatever. Even if Jiraiya was Sandaime's disciple, if he dared to obstruct the Root from carrying out its mission, he must be eliminated.
"You want to get rid of Jiraiya? I advise you to put that thought out of your mind. Jiraiya is Sandaime's favorite disciple, and if we get rid of him, it will definitely cause Lord Danzo a lot of trouble."
Pig, sensing the awe-inspiring killing aura emanating from Rabbit, advised.
Rabbit didn't think it was a big deal and retorted, "Hmph, we dared to take out White Fang Squad, so what's the big deal with getting rid of Jiraiya?"
"But none of the members of Team White Fang are disciples of the Third Hokage. Our Sandaime may seem impartial, but we both know exactly what kind of person he really is,"
Ino scoffed.
His family, the Kurama, were once a major clan in Konoha, but now they have fallen into such a state of decline that they are on the verge of being kicked out of the ranks of the ninja.
The reason for all this is that in addition to problems within the family itself, a large part of it comes from Sandaime's policy of suppressing the ninja clan.
The Kurama clan has withered in recent years, producing no powerful ninjas, and with the successive deaths of the older generation of strong people, they have been directly targeted by Sandaime as soft targets.
He will join the Root and become a pawn of Danzo. One reason is that the Root has something that can solve the hidden dangers in his body, and a large part of the reason is that he hates Sandaime.
Rabbit was silent on hearing this, and the murderous aura around him quickly subsided.
He himself was not actually from the Nara clan, but was just a ninja from a small ninja clan that had been removed from the list. He was able to learn the Nara secret techniques because after joining the Root, he had shown an excellent talent for learning such secret techniques.
The policy of Sandaime suppressing the ninja clan and supporting the common people had the most severe impact on these small ninja clans that originally had shallow foundations.
Since Sandaime became Hokage, a large number of small ninja clans had existed in name only.
Therefore, he strongly agreed with what the Rabbit had just said.
Indeed, the Sandaime of Konoha was notorious for his partiality. On the surface, he said that he would vigorously support the civilian class and thereby suppress the strength of the ninja clan, but he himself did not put his words into action. The Sarutobi clan behind him never suppressed them.
Unlike Danzo, who always put his words into action, the Shimura clan had made a very significant contribution in the Roots.
Because of this, the Shimura clan had made great sacrifices.
Over the years, the strength of the other ninja clans in Konoha has been more or less weakened, but the strength of the Sarutobi clan has increased several times over, and the strength of the Inuzuka, Kurenai, and Hyōga clans, which closely follow the Sarutobi clan, has also improved considerably.
Today in Konoha, apart from the Uchiha clan, the Sarutobi clan has the largest number of jōnin.
And the fact that Sandaime was able to firmly hold onto the position of Hokage was due in no small part to the support of the Sarutobi clan and their control of the ANBU.
None of the members of the White Fang squad have any direct connection with Sandaime. It is estimated that even if they all die, the Sandaime will at most sigh with regret. As long as they cannot find concrete evidence to prove that it was the Root that took action, they will not take action against Danzo.
But if Jiraiya dies, even without evidence, Danzo and the Root will probably not survive.
"But this guy is hindering us from carrying out our mission, so we can't just sit back and do nothing. And he said behind our backs that he wouldn't hesitate to report to Sandaime. If we don't get rid of him, he'll just be like an annoying fly, hindering our movements."
Rabbit thought carefully about the difference and said unhappily.
He joined the Root to gain power and to be able to vent his destructive desires. In order to gain power to complete his mission, he has always been quick to get rid of all his enemies, including so-called companions.
"Let's report the situation here to Lord Danzo first. I'm sure he won't let this go, hehehe~"
Ino snickered coldly.
On the other side, Jiraiya, who was on his way back to his residence, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He had an expression of "I told you so" on his face, and thought bitterly in his heart, "It really is those damn guys from the Root. What do they want? Nawaki is the grandson of the first Hokage, why would they target a fellow member of the village?"
Although he didn't look favorably on the people from the Root, he also considered them his comrades.
Now these companions he recognized had actually taken action against the grandson of the first Hokage, which really made him feel baffled and chilled to the bone.
Suddenly, he thought of a horrible possibility, and he became restless, muttering, "No, the old man shouldn't do this. He is the Hokage, the person who taught me the Will of Fire, he couldn't possibly do such a thing..."
The next moment, he suddenly sped up, used his Chakra to sprint, and quickly ran towards the lakeside hut where he currently lived.
Once he returned to the lakeside cabin, he began to write furiously, writing down in an encrypted form the way that Root had obstructed the White Fang squad's mission, and then handed it to the ANBU ninja outside who was responsible for liaising between him and Konoha.
After Jiraiya handed over the information to the liaison ninja, he once again quietly returned to the lakeside cabin, only to find Nagato sitting on the long wooden bench outside the house.
Nagato immediately respectfully said, "Jiraiya-sensei," when he saw Jiraiya.
"Nagato, why are you out? Did you have another nightmare?"
Jiraiya said with concern when he saw Nagato.
Of the three disciples under his command now, Nagato is the most talented. At the age of 10, he has already mastered the seven chakra attributes, and his chakra volume is now much greater than his, so his future is limitless. However, he is very fragile inside and has serious psychological problems.
Because of something terrible he experienced, Nagato often has nightmares when he goes to sleep at night.
Nagato remained silent, which was considered a tacit agreement.
He had indeed just had a nightmare, in which everyone was killed, leaving him the only one alive, and the one who killed everyone was the Konoha ninja he was afraid of and hated.
"Don't worry, I'm here with Yahiko and Konan, and nothing will happen."
Jiraiya saw this and patted Nagato on the head to comfort him.
Then he continued, "And Nagato, you are actually very capable. As long as you can overcome your fear and become brave, you will definitely be able to protect everyone."
"Really?"
Nagato's eyes widened when he heard Jiraiya say this, and he looked into Jiraiya's eyes, nervously asking.
Protecting everyone is Nagato's wish. If he can protect everyone just by overcoming his fear, then he will overcome his fear no matter what, because he doesn't want to lose the people he treasures in his heart again.
"Well, really, your eyes are a treasure bestowed by the heavens. They can be used not only to protect me, Yahiko, Konan, and the others, but even to protect the Land of Rain and restore peace to the entire world. Nagato, you have the potential to change the world."
Jiraiya looked straight at Nagato's Rinnegan and nodded seriously.
Because of the Rinnegan, he firmly believed that Nagato was the prophesied child he had been looking for, and his responsibility was to become the one to lead Nagato to bring peace to the world.
Nagato had already learned from Jiraiya about the origin of his eyes, but he never expected that Jiraiya would have such high expectations of him, and that he would actually think that he could become the one to bring peace to the world.
Although he wasn't sure why he wanted to bring peace to the world, he really wanted it to happen, because if that happened, his parents wouldn't have died in the war, and Yahiko and Konan could have grown up happily with him.
And the Land of Rain wouldn't have been so plagued by disasters.
For a moment, Nagato suddenly felt a sense of mission in his heart. He wondered if his eyes were really that powerful, then he must do his best to restore peace to the world and never let war happen again.
Then, a doubt arose in Nagato's mind: How was he going to bring peace to the world?
He didn't understand.
So, he asked Jiraiya, the most knowledgeable person he knew, "Jiraiya-sensei, what do I have to do to bring peace to the world?"
The question that Nagato asked was undoubtedly a very serious and huge problem.
Jiraiya actually did not find the answer himself.
He pondered for a moment, and then said his own way to bring peace to the world: "Using violence to counter violence is not advisable. I think that if the world wants to achieve peace, then mutual understanding between people is necessary. As long as everyone understands each other, they will definitely be able to find a way to bring peace to the world."
"People need to understand each other..."
Nagato muttered as he heard Jiraiya's words, as if he understood but didn't.
Then, he thought to himself, how can people understand each other? Can people really understand each other? How can people all over the world understand each other?
One question after another popped up in Nagato's mind.
Nagato, who was only ten years old, lacked sufficient experience and knowledge, and it was obviously impossible for him to solve these problems alone. His little brain was now throbbing with pain, and he frowned, his little face showing a look of confusion and doubt.
"Don't worry so much for now. You're still too young. Your task now is to work hard to become stronger. Nagato, you must remember that only by becoming strong enough are you qualified to bring peace to the world. Now, you should go back and get a good night's sleep. You have to continue training early tomorrow morning."
Jiraiya could tell at a glance that Nagato was just causing himself trouble. He smiled and persuaded him, "Don't worry.
Bringing peace to the world is a daunting task, and with Nagato's current small frame, how could he possibly accomplish it? No matter how hard he thinks about it, he's just beating his head against a brick wall and causing himself trouble. He might as well just think about how to quickly improve his strength.
He finally saw what a true genius was like when he met Kirito today.
To be honest, if he didn't know that Nagato had the Rinnegan, he would have thought that Kirito was the Son of the Prophecy.
There was no way around it, Kirito was just too strong. When he saw Kirito again, he found that he could no longer see through him, and he also felt a strong sense of threat from Kirito. This feeling was something he had only felt from Sandaime, Hatake Sakumo, Hanzo, and other Kage-Level powerhouses.
Now there was another Kirito.
Although he didn't want to admit it, there was a good chance that he would not be able to defeat Kirito.
Kirito was only how old? He was the same age as Nagato, ten years old, and probably a few months younger.
At such a young age, he had already defeated Jiraiya, and he could not imagine how much he would grow in the future.
Moreover, he sensed a familiar natural energy from Kirito, which meant that Kirito had already begun to come into contact with natural energy and had even mastered the methods of using it.
In comparison, Nagato is a little lacking at the moment.
He had thought that Nagato's talent was the most outstanding ninja he had ever seen, but it seems that this may not be the case.
However, Kirito does not have the Rinnegan after all, so it is still unknown who will be stronger in the future.
Jiraiya himself believes that Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan, will definitely achieve more in the future than Kirito.
The Rinnegan is the power of the legendary Six Path Sage to pacify the troubled world.
"Hmm, I understand, Jiraiya-sensei,"
Nagato nodded, relieved to hear Jiraiya's words of encouragement.
Jiraiya was right, he was still too weak. He was too weak to protect the people around him, and it was too ambitious of him to think about bringing peace to the world. His goal now was to become strong enough to protect the people around him from harm.
Having clarified his goal, Nagato's inner confusion disappeared.
After he finished speaking, he followed Jiraiya back into the house, then came to Yahiko and Konan and went to sleep.
Soon, Nagato fell asleep.
Nagato's inner confusion disappeared, and he could sleep peacefully, but at this time, Jiraiya's heart was full of confusion. He was afraid that something terrible would happen, but he was powerless to stop it, because on one side was his best friend's younger brother, and on the other was his beloved teacher. He didn't know how he should choose.
"Go to sleep. It's just my imagination. Nothing that absurd could possibly happen,"
Jiraiya thought to himself as he closed his eyes again, then forced himself to sleep.
...
On the other side, the ANBU ninja who was conveying information for Jiraiya was moving quickly and stealthily within the Land of Rain. He soon arrived at a hidden cave and stopped in front of a rock inside.
Then, he quickly completed a series of hand seals, and a large number of techniques suddenly appeared under the rock, which then slowly moved aside to reveal a hidden space.
Some carrier pigeons were kept inside.
He quickly found a carrier pigeon with sufficient strength, and then placed the information Jiraiya had given him in the letter tube.
As the carrier pigeon flew away through the gap above the hidden space, the ANBU ninja quickly retreated back, re-sealing the space with hand seals so that the rock would block it.
However, as soon as he stepped out of the cave, he heard a clear sound of bells.
In an instant, the scene in front of him changed dramatically, and it turned into an endless darkness.
"I've been tricked!"
The ANBU ninja was shocked, and quickly formed seals to try to break the illusion on his own, but he found that he couldn't make contact no matter how he tried.
Before long, he could no longer make anything out.
In reality, Ino and Rabbit appeared before the ANBU ninja, and the ANBU ninja, under the orders of Rabbit, spit out a lot of information about Jiraiya and the three from Nagato.
"In order to hurt someone, you don't actually need to directly hurt them. A more sophisticated method is to destroy the things that person treasures, causing them pain and suffering inside, so that they eventually understand that it is unwise to oppose us."
Ino said in a flat tone.
"You plan to use those three kids to threaten Jiraiya, don't you? I know Jiraiya quite well, and I don't think he'll give in so easily. Besides, those three kids aren't even from Konoha; they're just three ordinary war orphans from the Land of Rain. Threatening them won't have much effect,"
Rabbit said disapprovingly.
Instead of using someone else's precious belongings to threaten them, he would rather just get rid of the threat directly.
Using a few weak people to threaten the strong is nothing.
He, Rabbit, doesn't care to use such tactics.
"Be noble all you want, but once you're in the Root, you're expected to retain things like compassion. As long as the mission can be accomplished, all means can be used. Isn't that the motto of the Root? Don't you forget that, Rabbit,"
Pig heard the disdain in Rabbit's words and immediately turned his head and stared at Rabbit, coldly saying:
"He doesn't need stupid companions. If Rabbit dares to block his way, he won't show mercy.
"Suit yourself."
Rabbit naturally wouldn't turn his back on Pig for the sake of three unrelated kids and just walked away, indicating that he would not interfere with Pig's actions.
Seeing Rabbit leave, Pig snorted, "You're obviously someone who can't wash your hands clean, but you're still full of sympathy. What a ridiculous guy. Never mind, though, this guy can't help with this task anyway."
After saying this, he snapped his fingers and ordered the ANBU ninja in front of him, "You just accidentally fell asleep, nothing happened."
Hearing this, the ANBU ninja instantly fainted.
At this time, the figure of Rabbit began to distort and mysteriously disappear.
After seven or eight seconds, the ANBU ninja woke up again. He found himself lying on the ground and immediately tried to remember why he was here, but all he could remember was that information was transmitted here using carrier pigeons.
He couldn't remember anything that happened next. In the end, he had to leave with a lot of unanswered questions and a heavy heart.
...
The carrier pigeons flew fast, and a few hours later, Jiraiya's encrypted letter appeared on Sandaime's desk.
"That Danzo fellow is up to no good again?"
Sandaime said with a gloomy face after reading the letter from Jiraiya.
Over the past six months, his cooperation with Danzo had been quite pleasant. After he had controlled Danzo, Danzo had indeed become much more obedient. The Root he led had brought a lot of useful intelligence to Konoha, allowing Konoha to regain the upper hand in the intelligence battlefield where it had previously been at a disadvantage in the war.
However, since Sunagakure had always been well-supplied, Konoha had been unable to make too many breakthroughs on the battlefield.
Now, the White Fang Squad is a sharp blade that he has high hopes for, one that can pierce the heart of the Sunagakure supply line. However, before this blade can pierce the heart of Sunagakure, it has been betrayed by its own people, exposing its whereabouts.
"What the hell is this guy thinking? Does he really think I won't dare to kill him?"
Sandaime thought angrily.
Fortunately, the White Fang Squad is very strong and managed to survive the two premeditated attacks.
This disciple Jiraiya was also very helpful. With the help of the power of Mt. Myōboku, the White Fang team was safely sent away and temporarily rid of the enemy's tracking.
However, no matter what, Danzo cannot be allowed to mess around anymore.
He is well aware of the methods of the Root led by Danzo. Once the White Fang team is targeted, even if they temporarily escape from the Root's tracking, they will still be caught up with again in the future. At that time, the whereabouts of the White Fang team may still be exposed to the enemy.
Thinking about the important task the White Fang squad was now shouldering, Sandaime couldn't sit still. He immediately set off to Konoha Prison to find Danzo.
Deep within Konoha Prison, Danzo slowly opened his eyes in the darkness. The darkness in the room, which had been created by his Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, quickly disappeared, and Sandaime's figure immediately appeared before his eyes.
When Sandaime saw Danzo, he didn't waste any words and immediately formed a seal.
"Ahhh!!!"
In an instant, Danzo covered his heart and let out a painful cry, a heart-wrenching scream.
Danzo's screams continued for a full minute before they stopped.
By then, Danzo had curled up into a ball, his clothes soaked with sweat, his face pale, and blood dripping from his fingers and the corners of his mouth.
"Don't do things you shouldn't do, and don't make me repeat myself a second time, Danzo,"
Sandaime looked at his old comrade Danzo, who had been tortured into such a state by him, and said coldly.
"Hahaha, which one are you referring to? I don't understand what you're talking about."
Upon hearing this, Danzo suddenly slowly got up from the ground, stared hard at Sandaime, and laughed.
A cold light flashed in Sandaime's eyes for a moment, and he once again activated the chakra within his body.
Danzo immediately bent over in front of him, then knelt down, and once again a look of pain appeared on his face.
"If you don't want to suffer anymore, don't ever speak to me with that attitude again."
Sandaime said coldly.
After only a short period of time apart, this guy seemed to have forgotten his current status. He dared to speak to the person who controlled his life and death with that attitude, truly ignorant of his own mortality.
Sandaime continued to torment Danzo until he begged for mercy.
He had already seen through Danzo. He was ambitious, but not capable, and was also very afraid of death.
Sure enough, the reason this guy didn't immediately come forward to share his teacher's burden was because he was afraid of death.
Back then, his teacher must have seen that he was afraid of death, which is why he didn't choose this guy to be Hokage.
No wonder his teacher was so accurate in his assessment of people.
"Now you can speak properly, why did you send someone to follow Team White Fang, and have them reveal their location, so that people from other villages could go after them? You're really something, do you know what you're doing?"
Sandaime grabbed Danzo by the collar with one hand, lifted him up, and stared coldly into his eyes.
Danzo, undaunted, returned Sandaime's stare with a cold smile: "Isn't what I've done exactly what you've been hoping for? Don't you want to see the position under your butt taken back by the Senju clan? Tsunade, Nawaki, and Kirito, they are all from the Senju clan. If Nawaki and Kirito are still alive, then Konoha will always be a possession of the Senju clan. By that time, have you thought about what will happen to the Sarutobi clan behind you? Will they spare the Sarutobi clan?"
When Sandaime heard these words from Danzo, the pupils in his eyes instantly shrunk to the size of needles. Then, he pushed Danzo to the ground with all his strength and said sternly, "What are you talking nonsense about? I'm the Hokage, how could I possibly do such a thing? Stop trying to sow discord here, the relationship between the Senju clan and the Sarutobi clan is very good."
"Really? Hahaha~"
Danzo laughed out loud again on hearing this.
When Sandaime heard that Danzo actually dared to laugh again, a huge wave of anger welled up in his heart, and he decisively formed another seal to activate the Vajra Curse at Danzo's heart.
Danzo immediately let out a scream, but this time, he was screaming and laughing at the same time, his eyes fixed on Sandaime's, revealing deep derision in them.
"Danzo, you really don't think I dare to kill you, do you?"
Sandaime said with murderous intent as he saw this, his anger rapidly rising to the max.
"It doesn't matter. Kill me or torture me, whatever you want. The reason you've kept me alive all this time is precisely because I'm still useful.
When I'm no longer useful, you'll definitely kill me, because I'm your dark side. You, the Hokage, who is full of light in front of others, definitely don't want others to know the dirty things you've done. Anyway, I'm going to die eventually, so it might not be bad to die sooner.
But after I die, you won't be able to live a good life either, hahaha~"
When Danzo saw that Sandaime was once again trying to threaten him with his life, he immediately burst out laughing, his laughter full of hysteria, and he became deranged, his eyes showing madness.
Sandaime saw Danzo's deranged appearance and suddenly realized that things were not good, and the movements of his hands torturing Danzo stopped.
He was well aware of Danzo's various dirty tricks, and if this guy went all out, he would be a scourge even after death.
He suddenly realized that he had made a mistake in agreeing to let Danzo go out into the world using his shadow clone to command the Roots.
It seemed that things were getting out of control.
"What, are you afraid that the people in the village will find out your true colors? They would never have guessed that their beloved Hokage would be such a despicable person, pretending to be a good guy in public while secretly ordering others to do unspeakable things.
I wonder what the shrunken ninja clan of Konoha would say if they knew that you wanted me to get rid of their opponents in order to suppress them, and then the Sarutobi clan behind you took the opportunity to swallow their territory and pretended to be friendly with them. Their expressions would definitely be wonderful."
Danzo saw that Sandaime seemed to be shocked by his current appearance. He stood up again, walked up to Sandaime, looked at his eyes full of sorrow and anger with a mocking expression, and continued sarcastically:
Sandaime did use the curse mark to hold his life in his hands. That's true.
But he also did not lack any chips that could be used to hold Sandaime hostage. That was Sandaime's glorious image that he had always tried his best to maintain in front of the villagers. At some point, his old comrade-in-arms who had become Hokage had turned into a fool who valued honor more than his own life.
Otherwise, Sandaime would not have handed him all the dirty work to do while he himself remained clean.
However, as long as you do something, it will leave a trace. No matter how hard Sandaime tried to cover up the truth, his hands would never be clean.
Moreover, he has always liked to keep a back-up. Sandaime has let him do every dirty deed, and he has kept records of them all. He has even forged many things to make Sandaime believe them.
In fact, there are many ninjas in the Root that Sandaime mistakenly believes to be dead. These ninjas were originally targets that Sandaime specifically instructed him to eliminate.
And these ninjas all more or less have some dirt on Sandaime and the Sarutobi clan behind him.
Of course, he now had all this dirt on him.
Sandaime saw that Danzo was actually threatening him with methods that would tarnish his glorious image, and he hated Danzo with a passion and wished to kill him with the Diamond Seal right then and there.
But in the end, he held back. He was not afraid that Danzo would use this to destroy his glorious image, but he was worried that if he was driven from the position of Hokage, it would plunge Konoha into chaos, ultimately leading to the failure of the war between Konoha and Sunagakure and plunging Konoha into a great crisis.
He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth as he said to Danzo, "What do you really want?"
"Don't you know what I want? Hahaha~"
Danzo sneered, and then laughed maniacally again.