manynovel Chapter 405 Turbulent Waves
Chapter 405 Turbulent Waves
Chapter 405 Turbulent Waves
News of the Kazekage's attack quickly spread throughout the ninja world, but the disappearances of the other Jinchuriki, like Fu's incident, caused no stir. Apart from Sunagakure, which could no longer conceal the truth, the five great nations, in order to maintain their outward dignity, kept the Jinchuriki's disappearances a secret, only secretly sending people to search for them.
The last time was similar; the extremely disunited ninja world gave Akatsuki an opportunity. After secretly kidnapping Jinchuriki, they gathered the power of the Tailed Beasts and secretly created 100,000 White Zetsu clones, causing huge trouble for the Allied Shinobi Forces. But this time, it was Hikaru who took advantage of the situation, while Akatsuki, who was witnessed taking action, took the blame. It's a case of the tables turning.
However, such crucial intelligence could not possibly be known to the outside world. The version widely circulated in the ninja world was that Akatsuki kidnapped the Fifth Kazekage in an attempt to seize the Tailed Beasts, but failed and was stopped in time by Konoha ninjas. As for more details of this mission, such as the death of Sasori, a rogue ninja from Sunagakure, the escape of Deidara, a rogue ninja from Iwagakure, and the sighting of Kisame, a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, but whose whereabouts are unknown, these are things that would only be written in top-secret intelligence reports and have not yet spread in the short term.
However, no normal person would think that an organization full of S-rank rogue ninjas would be so easy to deal with. They would only be shocked that Konoha had managed to suppress that group of rogue ninjas with the support of only three people.
"That's all the recent news from the ninja world." Kabuto habitually pushed up his glasses and said in an inquisitive tone, "Sasuke-kun has been paying a lot of attention to what's happening outside for the past six months. Is it because you haven't seen your good friend for so long?"
Sasuke's silence was awkward; he was calmly wiping his sword, completely unaffected by Kabuto's sarcastic tone. This guy always said something like that whenever he came; Sasuke was used to it.
Actually, his contact with Naruto had never ceased; they even had a small get-together three months ago. While news of Naruto was important, even more crucial was his need to gather intelligence beforehand for revenge, to quickly ascertain the current state of the ninja world, and... where Itachi Uchiha might be.
As time went on, his training progressed less and less. Orochimaru had taught him almost everything he could, and naturally, he wouldn't learn what he didn't like. His several outings led him to encounter formidable opponents, giving him a deeper understanding of the saying, "There are always people stronger than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding." He wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could defeat Itachi, but training in isolation was yielding minimal results; what he needed now were powerful opponents.
As for his first opponent, there's no need to elaborate.
Orochimaru is a very troublesome guy. His offensive abilities may not be that outstanding, but his survival skills are endless, making him quite difficult to kill. To take him down, you must choose an opportunity when he is weak enough that he has difficulty escaping.
Akatsuki has struck again, this time abducting the Kazekage, the ninja named Gaara. Even if Sasuke doesn't want to admit it, he has to acknowledge Gaara's strength, especially with the added advantage of being the Kage of a village... and yet he was still captured on his own doorstep. It seems Akatsuki is serious this time; they really intend to collect Jinchuriki.
Naruto is quick-witted and possesses the Flying Thunder God Technique, so it's highly unlikely he'll be captured outside of Konoha. However, if the enemy were to use the same tactics they employed in Sunagakure, threatening the lives of an entire village... that stubborn, clueless Naruto would definitely fight to the death, disregarding his own safety.
He couldn't wait any longer; he had to complete his revenge as soon as possible, then return to Naruto's side and face the future together. As for what truth that guy would reveal after his revenge, or whether he would survive... humph, what did it have to do with him? It was best if he never saw him again; just seeing him was annoying.
Sasuke's calculations were going on and on, while Kabuto could only try to discern the boy's emotions from subtle changes in his expression and aura. It had to be admitted that Sasuke had indeed become more reserved. At least six months ago, Kabuto could barely discern anything about him, but six months later, Sasuke was like an unreadable stone, even harder to fathom than Orochimaru. Right now, he couldn't guess Sasuke's plans; otherwise… perhaps he would have given Orochimaru a heads-up?
Only five days had passed since the attack on Sunagakure, but the situation in the entire ninja world had undergone tremendous changes. All countries were more tense, and the Raikage, a Jinchuriki, even personally ordered that his younger brother Killer Bee be confined to the training grounds and not allowed to go out again.
But, you know, there's always an oddball in every great power. Naruto is such a highly mobile ninja, it would be a waste not to use him.
"They actually planted a spy right next to Orochimaru..." Tsunade was skeptical of this possibility. She was more inclined to believe that this was just another trick Orochimaru was playing to gather intelligence on Akatsuki. Besides, she didn't believe Naruto didn't know Orochimaru's location. The fact that he could stay in Konoha peacefully meant that he could bring Sasuke back at any time; otherwise, he would have already jumped up in protest.
However, on the other hand, while the Tenchi Bridge is very close to the Land of Fire, it's located within the Land of Grass. It's a crucial battleground in several major wars; its strategic importance goes without saying. Didn't those old fogies say Naruto wasn't allowed to leave the country? How about sending him to leave a mark in such an important place? Will he refuse?
Ha, all they do is fight amongst themselves. Akatsuki is almost at their doorstep and they still can't unite. Can't they do anything productive? At this rate, Konoha will definitely have to send someone to Akatsuki's stronghold to gather intelligence... She knew the best candidate, but the order was delayed. She wasn't a heartless leader; she simply couldn't let her old friend carry out a life-threatening mission.
The Land of Grass is near the Land of Rain. I'll remind Naruto to pay more attention to the situation there, and it would be best if I could also sprinkle some Flying Thunder God Marks along the way, so that I can at least feel a little more at ease.
So, Team 7 immediately took on a second mission, only this time the team leader was different, because the incredibly busy Kakashi-sensei had to do other tasks...
“It’s Yamato-senpai,” Naruto said deliberately, having already guessed the list of names.
"Huh? You know him?" Sakura asked curiously, peeking over.
"Last time I asked to train, it was Senior Yamato and Teacher Kakashi who accompanied me. His Wood Release is very useful, but it's easy to get exhausted if you use it too much. But it's okay, I can share my chakra with him."
"Wood Release? The same bloodline limit as the First Hokage? That's amazing!"
Yamato, beaming with delight, interrupted the boys' conversation, saying with a smile, "I can hear you, Naruto-kun."
"I didn't say anything bad!"
"Enough with the nonsense, eat my Four Pillars Prison!"