Chapter 113 – Danzo Also Has Wind Release? Orochimaru: Can You All Just Give It a Rest?!
"Lord Raikage, why won't you let me go?"
Inside the Hidden Cloud Village, Darui wore a disgruntled expression as he confronted the Fourth Raikage.
Just a few days ago, the village's ANBU had intercepted a piece of intelligence—Akatsuki was suspected of operating in the Land of Wind. At the same time, Konoha had dispatched a squad headed in the same direction.
What truly stirred everyone, however, was that one of the people involved was the Fourth Raikage's personal nemesis.
The defeat and dismemberment of the Fourth Raikage had been a national humiliation for Kumogakure.
So, without hesitation, they mobilized an elite team—not just to interfere, but also to seize the opportunity to eliminate some Konoha ninja. Darui, of course, wanted to contribute. Unfortunately, the Fourth Raikage wouldn't allow it.
"Why would you go and stir up trouble?"
The Raikage shot Darui a glare.
"With Dodai leading the team, it's enough. You tagging along wouldn't add much. You'd be better off focusing on your Storm Release training."
"Tch."
Darui still looked unhappy, but the Fourth Raikage stood up, not giving him a chance to argue further.
"That's enough. Go train. I need to check in on Killer Bee."
He paused and added,
"And listen—Kitagawa Gen doesn't just know the Flying Thunder God technique, he's also mastered a strange variant of Lightning Technique. That jutsu rivals even my father's Lightning Release Chakra Mode. If you could integrate it into your Storm Release, you might one day surpass him."
"Even I find him troublesome to deal with now."
Darui didn't argue this time. He knew full well how powerful the Third Raikage's Lightning Armor was—but mastering it wasn't easy. He had only just begun to grasp some of the technique's secrets. Of course, his laziness didn't help.
Still, now… he was feeling fired up.
---
"Ugh, how annoying. More Konoha people? That Danzo guy really isn't ordinary, huh."
In the burning desert of the Land of Wind, Hidan trudged along, grumbling under the scorching sun.
"And how did you even get used to this hellhole before?"
"This mission's more complicated than I expected," Sasori replied flatly, not even glancing at Hidan as he mulled over the unfolding Konoha situation.
"And to make things worse, that damned snake's in the Land of Wind too. What rotten luck."
"Looks like we're being used as bait."
Kakuzu scowled, clearly annoyed. He had seen through the setup from the beginning.
"I think we need to approach this differently. Even if someone claims they'll protect us, fighting Kitagawa Gen is no joke. We don't even know what kind of tricks he still has up his sleeve. This time, we need to test him thoroughly—get some real intel."
"You want to negotiate?"
Sasori gave Kakuzu a strange look, silent for a long while before finally nodding.
"We can try. I still have some assets in Sunagakure. My puppet stock took a hit lately—I can't afford to waste resources."
"Same. I'm only short on a few components, but I'll manage."
Kakuzu revealed just enough of his situation.
Only Hidan scoffed, "Tch. What's there to be afraid of? Just hack him to bits! I ain't scared of that punk!"
The other two ignored him in unison.
They knew Hidan had always been a bit unstable—he'd never truly experienced the terror of facing Kitagawa Gen.
"If only we had a powerful Wind Release user," Kakuzu muttered with a sigh.
"That'd solve a lot of problems for me."
Sasori frowned and hesitated before speaking.
"That might be a problem… I need one too. For puppet crafting."
"I see..."
Kakuzu furrowed his brow and, after a brief pause, asked cautiously,
"Do you need the internal organs?"
"Not really. Do you only need the organs?"
Sasori blinked in surprise and answered in an equally measured tone.
Kakuzu nodded after a moment of thought.
"Looks like we can work together."
"Indeed. Let's cooperate, then."
Just like that, the silent tension between the two lifted.
Ninja rarely shared their goals, making it hard to know where alliances could form—but now, they found common ground.
"Freakin' psychos," Hidan muttered under his breath, completely baffled by their conversation.
Still, he didn't dwell on it and instead asked,
"Hey, hey, are either of you listening? Who the hell is this Danzo guy from Konoha? Why does he always know where we are?"
"A rat skulking through the sewers, that's all," Kakuzu replied with disdain.
"They call him the 'Darkness of the Shinobi World,' but really he's just a shady backroom operator," Sasori added.
"Though… now that I think about it—"
"What is it?"
"I heard he's a Wind Release user. And he's also been famous for a long time…"
---
Meanwhile, back at the Sand Village:
"Haha, just kidding! No need to take that seriously!"
Chiyo laughed awkwardly in front of Kakashi and the others, playing off her earlier outburst as nothing more than a senior moment.
But her eyes kept flicking toward the ninja blade now strapped across someone's back.
She could barely suppress the tension in her clenched fists.
"That sword… It really is White Fang's blade!"
She hadn't even seen clearly what had happened—before she knew it, a blade was already pressed against her neck.
The speed was so fast that even recalling it now, she found it hard to believe. All she knew was that a kid had made the move.
Just who is this brat?
Why haven't I heard of him before?
Has Konoha produced yet another genius?
"Gen, this was just a misunderstanding. Alright, alright, let it go."
Chiyo was inwardly seething, while Kakashi, his expression deadpan like a dying fish, just stared at the old woman in front of him.
Even though it felt like his student was taking advantage of the situation… well, it wasn't like this was the first time something like that had happened.
"Come to think of it, that Red Sand Scorpion(Sasori) and you really are family. He mistook us for enemies too."
Kakashi's words hit a nerve. Chiyo's blood pressure spiked the moment she heard them.
"Hmph, attacking me on sight without even trying to talk. How utterly unreasonable."
Kitagawa Gen sheathed his blade, nodding in agreement.
"By the way, do I really look that much like your father, Kakashi-sensei?"
"..."
Now it was Kakashi's turn to feel uncomfortable. Off to the side, Guy simply watched the scene with a grin, staying silent.
After all, handling situations like this wasn't his strong suit—better to leave it to Kakashi.
"Alright, enough small talk. Let's get back to the intel," Kakashi said, shooting a helpless glare at Gen.
"We need all the information you've got. That organization is extremely dangerous—you know that by now. If we want intel on Sasori, we can't afford to hold back."
"Though I don't like you people, I'm not that ignorant," Chiyo snorted before continuing.
"Unfortunately, we haven't found much yet. The Land of Wind is vast. If they're hiding here, they're not going to be easy to find."
She paused, then added with a touch of self-deprecation, "Honestly, it's probably even harder to find someone here than in the Land of Fire."
The Land of Wind was a harsh desert. A sudden gust of wind could erase all traces of movement, making it difficult for even seasoned shinobi to track anything.
Even locals struggled under these conditions.
And considering its size rivaled the Land of Fire, tracking anyone down was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"This might be more troublesome than we thought," Kakashi muttered, rubbing his temples in frustration.
"We only know a few things about them. Without your cooperation, it's going to be hard to find anything."
"I've already sent scouts. If anything turns up, we'll notify you immediately," Chiyo replied, shaking her head. She was just as helpless in this situation.
"Why don't you come back to Sunagakure and rest for a bit? We can plan our next steps together."
"I—"
Kakashi was about to respond when Kitagawa Gen cut him off.
"I think we should search on our own first. We've encountered them a few times already—maybe we'll pick up on something."
"I agree," Guy chimed in, even if he didn't quite understand Gen's reasoning. Kakashi, meanwhile, made the decision on the spot.
"Then we'll search on our own for now. It'll also give us a chance to get used to the terrain."
"If that's your decision, so be it," Chiyo said, frowning but ultimately nodding. She handed Kakashi a signal flare.
Watching them walk off into the desert, Chiyo fell deep into thought.
"Elder, what do we do now?" a Sunagakure shinobi asked quietly.
"Should we report to the Kazekage?"
"Go ahead and report to him," Chiyo replied after a brief pause. Then she too turned and walked into the desert.
"You keep watch. If anything happens, send a flare immediately. I'll follow and keep an eye on them myself. Someone has to."
She didn't trust this group from Konoha—especially not with two of them resembling the infamous White Fang of the Leaf. She couldn't let her guard down.
Especially that kid...
The thought of Kitagawa Gen's white hair, and that White Fang blade in his hand, ignited a quiet fury within her.
---
Meanwhile, deeper in the desert—
"Gen, did you sense something?" Kakashi asked in a low voice as he looked back. Guy leaned in curiously too.
"No, not exactly," Gen replied, glancing around cautiously. "But I do have a hunch."
"I remember reading something back in school—about a nation within the Land of Wind, located in the south. They say it holds ancient secrets, though no one knows exactly what."
"And now, with the Akatsuki showing up here for seemingly no reason, maybe it's worth investigating that area. Who knows what they're after?"
"But wouldn't Sunagakure already be looking into it?" Guy asked, puzzled.
"Maybe, maybe not," Gen said calmly. "The Land of Wind is huge. You need a starting point somewhere."
"Besides," he added with a knowing look, "I think I sensed the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God mark in that direction. Might as well check it out, right?"
"Huh?! You sensed the Fourth's marker?" Guy asked, wide-eyed. Kakashi stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded.
"I agree. That place… I remember going there with Sensei, but for some reason my memories are fuzzy. A lot of things I just can't recall."
"Maybe there's really something hidden there—something that even caught the Akatsuki's attention. Either way, it's worth a look. We can pay our respects to Sensei while we're at it."
---
Late at night, beneath the moonlight—
Orochimaru walked slowly through the ancient streets of Rōran. The once-great city now lay in ruins, and he couldn't help but shake his head.
"Time really is the greatest enemy of this world. No matter how glorious something once was, time will eventually reduce it to nothing."
His interest waned. Though there were still some remnants of life in Rōran, they would likely leave soon enough.
The Land of Wind had long coveted Rōran's secrets, but because of political optics, they didn't dare make a direct move. So they resorted to surrounding the city, forcing its people to abandon it.
The people of Rōran had no love for Sunagakure either. The fact that they had once sought aid from Konoha rather than their own village spoke volumes.
None of that really mattered to Orochimaru. He had once skimmed Minato Namikaze's mission reports and dismissed this place as unimportant.
But with Kimimaro's condition worsening, he found himself thinking back to Rōran. Something about this place drew him in, and he wanted to know what it was.
"If I'm not mistaken, one of Sunagakure's reports mentioned an enormous chakra presence here…"
Orochimaru licked his lips. Normally, that sort of thing didn't interest him—he preferred biological modification—but with Kimimaro deteriorating, he was willing to try anything.
He flared his chakra and instantly appeared at the tower in the center of Rōran. Staring at the structure, he licked his lips again in anticipation.
If his guess was right, the secret was inside.
He slowly pushed open the heavy doors and stepped in. Upon seeing the sealing formula on the ground, he gave a subtle nod.
Especially when he noticed a Flying Thunder God kunai—Minato's—embedded in the ground. That satisfied him even more.
"So… this really is the place," he murmured.
"What exactly did you encounter here, Minato, that made you bury it all so thoroughly?"
He crouched down and began examining the seal—when suddenly, his expression changed.
A pulse of chakra spread through the air.
He whipped his head around, only to see a lone figure standing in the shadows—when did they get here?
The figure stared back in confusion, clearly not expecting to run into someone either.
They locked eyes for a long moment… until Orochimaru finally broke the silence.
"…You again. Don't tell me Jiraiya is here too?"
"..."
"Why are you people so damn persistent?"
"..."
"Seriously, when will it end?!"
"..."