In the seventh-floor room of the Hidden Rain Village tower, Naruto stood in front of a mirror, examining himself in the fire cloud robes. He smiled faintly, "I never thought I'd wear this one day."
"Yosh!"
He clapped his hands together, turned, and walked out of the room with confident strides.
In the hallway, Konan leaned against the window, watching Naruto approach. Her orange eyes brightened. "That cloak suits you well."
Naruto waved his hand dismissively and smiled faintly, "Don't tease me."
She held out her hand, revealing a ring.
Naruto took the ring, still warm from Konan's hand. The ring had a light blue background with the symbol 'zero' engraved in the center.
"Zero." His gaze sharpened slightly.
Konan spoke seriously, "The Akatsuki operates in pairs, and each official member has a codename. Pain's previous codename was 'Zero,' symbolizing 'nothingness.' I hope you'll inherit this codename..."
As she spoke, Konan turned her hand over, revealing a ring on her long middle finger, with white characters on a white background.
"By the way, my codename is 'White,' symbolizing the White Tiger."
"I see."
Naruto nodded, solemnly placing the ring on his left thumb.
Seeing this, Konan gave a faint smile.
"Also..." She reached to her waist, took out a bulging bag, and handed it to him. "These are soldier pills. The ones you had before were a bit damp."
Naruto scratched his head. "Ah, when I went to meet Kisame, I was hiding underground in a damp place for a long time."
Konan said, "Throw those away. They're bad for your health."
Naruto took the soldier pills and said seriously, "Thank you, Sister Konan."
Konan replied, "We're walking the same path, no need to be so formal."
A few minutes later, the two walked out of the tower, where Orochimaru and Kisame had already been waiting in the rain for a while.
Naruto, thinking carefully, said, "Our arrival in the Hidden Rain Village may not have gone unnoticed. To be cautious..."
He formed hand signs.
Bang! A shadow clone appeared.
"Let my shadow clone stay here to guard the place. If anything happens, I can use the Flying Thunder God to return immediately."
The distance from the Hidden Rain Village to Kumogakure was over ten thousand miles, passing through the Land of Grass, Land of Waterfalls, Land of Iron, Land of Sound, Land of Hot Water, and Land of the Moon to reach the Land of Thunder, where Kumogakure was located! The journey for most ninjas would take at least ten to fifteen days.
But Naruto could use the Flying Thunder God to reach the Land of Iron, which he had already marked, shortening the journey by half. He could even leave more marks along the way to travel back and forth to the Hidden Rain Village.
This was the power of space-time ninjutsu.
"Previously, the battle between Raikage and Kisame took place at the southern border of the Land of Waves. Raikage needs to travel north across the vast Land of Waves to return to his village. Also, the Land of Waves has many waterways, which will unknowingly increase chakra consumption, so he'll need to rest along the way. We might be able to reach the village before Raikage does..."
Naruto slowly placed the mask on his face, and his aura instantly changed!
Konan placed a hand on Naruto's back, and Naruto put his hands on Orochimaru and Kisame's shoulders.
"Let's go..."
Before leaving, Orochimaru looked at the open space outside the tower, "When we return, I should start preparing to build my laboratory..."
...
At this moment, in the snowstorm on the back mountain of the Land of Iron.
"Ugh...!!" Two patrolling samurai fell to the ground, screaming.
Clang! Hozuki Suigetsu stood the decapitation sword upright, grinning with sharp teeth, "I left one alive for you, take your chance now..."
Jugo, in a childlike form, coldly walked toward the samurai who was still breathing.
The samurai gritted his teeth, "You... you are... ninjas!"
"You can blame that blonde ninja. He made me like this..."
Jugo climbed onto the samurai's back, covering his mouth and nose while using the cursed seal power.
"Ugh...!"
The samurai let out a low mournful sound as his body rapidly shriveled, leaving only an empty suit of armor.
Having absorbed the samurai's life essence, Jugo returned to his youthful form.
Suigetsu laughed, "That was thrilling. If we got caught, we'd definitely end up in a death cell!"
Whoosh! The cursed seal power slowly faded. Jugo muttered, "We should head back to Sasuke now, I feel my killing intent rising again..."
Earlier, after the Five Kage faced off against Naruto, these two had sneaked away. Instead of leaving the Land of Iron immediately, they disguised themselves as samurai, waiting for the right moment to act.
"Yo, Jugo, Suigetsu, we meet again so soon..." Just as they turned around, a playful voice suddenly came from behind.
Whoosh! They quickly turned around in defense.
It was Naruto, who had appeared out of nowhere, and behind him were Konan, Orochimaru, and Kisame!
Suigetsu was startled. "We were just on a dead-end path. How did he appear here?"
Jugo's voice was low. "He has the ability to jump through space! But it's just bad luck that it's right now!"
Indeed, things work out this way sometimes!
Naruto glanced at the dead samurai on the ground and the deflated armor before looking away.
That monster who could wipe the floor with Sasuke is better avoided. Wait! That outfit... Kisame-senpai's with him! Has he joined the Akatsuki too?
Suigetsu's mind was racing. "He's one of us! Don't attack!"
Naruto smirked. "Aren't you supposed to be an eagle?"
Suigetsu replied, "The eagles and the Akatsuki are allies..."
Naruto smiled faintly. "Sorry, we're not Akatsuki."
Jugo asked, "What do you want? Are you here to find us on purpose?"
Naruto said, "It's really just a coincidence that I passed by. But since we've met, it must be fate. Come with us, or..."
The pressure in his presence made Suigetsu's hair stand on end.
Jugo's gaze grew serious. Personally, he didn't want to betray Sasuke.
Suigetsu kept signaling him with his eyes: "Hey, right now, survival is the priority!"
Naruto's voice darkened. "Jugo, if you want to find Sasuke, it's going to take some effort. You don't want the curse mark to get out of control and hurt innocent people or animals, do you? Before you see Sasuke, I might be the chain that binds you!"
Saying this, Naruto slowly took off his mask, revealing his left eye with three prominent tomoe.
"Sharingan..." Jugo's eyes widened. "Alright, I don't know your intentions, but I can stay with you for now. But betraying Sasuke is impossible!"
Naruto pointed at the mess on the ground. "It's up to you, but in exchange for covering for you, 'Light Akatsuki' needs you to help with this mission!"
Jugo thought for a moment. "Deal..."
Suigetsu let out a relieved sigh and, together with Jugo, walked behind Naruto.
Orochimaru spoke with amusement. "Suigetsu, my cute subordinate, who once drew a sword against me... I never expected we'd be working together so soon."
Suigetsu rubbed his hands and complimented, "Yes, I've always thought that Orochimaru-sama was the one I was destined to serve!"
Naruto put his mask back on. "Let's keep moving. We're heading to Kumogakure Village!"
The mission: infiltrate and search for the scroll containing the secret technique of Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode and bring it back! Difficulty rating: Super S-level.
After this tense moment, Naruto and his team of six set off from the Land of Iron, heading towards Kumogakure.
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