"Hmm?"
Raikage A's brows scrunched up when he heard Samui calling Heiyan "Master."
Realizing she had just slipped up, Samui quickly tried to explain on Heiyan's behalf.
"He... He isn't actually part of the Akatsuki at all. He just pretended and has nothing to do with Madara and those guys."
"Why are you always defending that Heiyan? Don't tell me... you've been brainwashed by him?"
Tarui circled around Samui twice while examining her suspiciously.
"I have evidence that can prove what I'm saying."
Taking a deep breath, Samui revealed a shocking truth to Raikage and the others. "Heiyan didn't actually abduct Tsunade because they're lovers! It was Heiyan himself who convinced Tsunade to return to Leaf Village and become Hokage three years ago. The abduction act was just a staged Smoke Bomb designed to confuse the Akatsuki."
What?!
Everyone was genuinely stunned — could something like this actually be true?
"T-Then why did that Heiyan take you away? Are the outside rumors... true?"
The blond-haired C spoke up nervously.
As one of Raikage's two right hands, having worked together for many years, he'd already developed feelings for Samui and had a soft spot for her.
"What rumors?"
This time it was Samui's turn to be surprised, looking confused about what C was referring to.
"Hehe, you don't know?"
Tarui casually stuck a toothpick in his mouth with a mischievous grin. "There's a rumor that Heiyan is a big pervert who specifically targets women like you for abduction. Tsunade, Hinata Hyuga, and recently abducted Mizukage Mei Terumi all seem to be beautiful women of the same type as you."
He couldn't help but steal a couple of glances toward Samui's chest as he spoke.
Smack!
Boiling with shame and rage, Samui slapped him across the face without thinking twice, sending the toothpick flying and swelling half his face.
"Don't talk nonsense! Master Heiyan hasn't done anything to me!"
Samui raised her voice defiantly, defending both herself and Master Heiyan.
"Samui, are you protecting that Heiyan?"
Raikage A said solemnly. He had an inkling feeling that Samui before him was different from the old days. At least, there seemed to be issues regarding her loyalty.
"Raikage-sama, I'm not."
Faced with Raikage's stern and distrustful gaze, Samui felt wronged but could only lower her head and apologize.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.
"By the way, did you see Danzo from Leaf Village earlier?"
At this moment, Onoki flew over and asked Samui about this matter.
"He's dead."
Samui's words stunned everyone again.
"Dead? How did he die?"
Startled, Onoki quickly pressed for more details.
"How else could he die? Obviously killed by Master Heiyan. It took just one move — under a minute. Right before you all arrived here."
Samui held their gazes steadily as she spoke.
When Heiyan spoke, everyone looked around in stunned silence. A heavy stillness settled over them like death had just walked in.
First Heiyan had instantly killed Danzo, then proceeded to kidnap Mizukage Mei Terumi right before their eyes. Kage-level experts—normally formidable warriors—now felt like powerless kids in his hands, easily manipulated at will.
Suddenly, this man called Heiyan seemed even more dangerous than Madara Uchiha himself—the one hunting down Tailed Beasts, vowing to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and enact the Moon Eye Plan.
Woo woo—
A chilling wind blew through as snowflakes fell from the sky, almost foreshadowing a bleak and uncertain future for the world of shinobi.
...
After taking Mei Terumi with him, Heiyan didn't immediately return to meet up with Tsunade and others. Instead, he left the Land of Iron and traveled southwest until finally stopping to rest somewhere inside a forest located within the Land of Fire.
"Ugh... where am I?"
Mei Terumi rubbed her forehead dazedly and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Heiyan leaning casually against a large tree, arms crossed as he watched her intently from above.
Shua—
Startled, Mei Terumi quickly jumped to her feet and took a defensive stance.
"Why so tense? Didn't you say we were going to get married?"
Heiyan examined the beautiful woman standing before him with an amused tone.
"Heheh, I was just kidding. You actually believed me? You're too innocent. I'm not that kind of girl, Mei Terumi."
She scoffed, her icy words masking a tsundere heart.
"Hmm, makes sense. If you were easygoing like that, you wouldn't still be flying solo at 31."
Rather than anger, Heiyan simply nodded thoughtfully at her sarcasm.
"Thirty-one?!"
That number pierced straight into Mei Terumi's heart. After all, women were always sensitive about age, especially someone like her who'd long passed traditional marriageable years without ever finding someone.
Yet something even more provoking followed.
"Let me tell you the truth. I have a fortune-telling ability that lets me see people's destined futures. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew your fate—you're destined to live alone forever, dying old and lonely, never having tasted love. Tsk… I just felt too bad for you, so I decided to take you with me."
Heiyan continued spinning his lies, advising her, "If you really want to pursue happiness, quit being Mizukage soon and leave Mist while there's still time. Seize the chance—you still have hope of finding true love."
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in listening to your nonsense,"
Mei Terumi replied flatly, turning around to leave.
Surprisingly, despite preparing herself mentally for a deadly battle with Heiyan, he didn't try to stop or hold her back—he simply let her walk away.
Could it be...that he truly meant no harm?
As Mei Terumi nearly exited the woods, she couldn't help glancing back. There Heiyan still stood, a warm smile playing across his face.
"Don't you want to watch some fun unfold?" he suddenly asked.
"What fun?"
Caught off guard, Mei Terumi instinctively questioned—and once again, took the bait.
"Actually, I'm not part of Akatsuki. To prove that, I've decided to take on Madara Uchiha nearby."
When he finished speaking, Heiyan pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against and walked toward Mei Terumi.
"I don't believe you."
Mei sneered once again, her guard rising. She glanced around before mocking Heiyan mercilessly, "At least make your lies convincing! Would Madara really show up here out of nowhere?"
"I truly don't know where Madara is right now, but... he will come find me on his own."
With a mysterious smile, Heiyan vanished in a puff of white smoke, taking on Danzo's form.
Meeting Mei's shocked gaze, he said to her,
"Danzo has already been killed by me. Since Sasuke Uchiha wants revenge for Itachi, he'll definitely show up along with Madara. If you want to see the show, follow me."
By then, Heiyan had already left the woods and stopped at the edge of a bridge.
And to make the act more convincing, he took out Fu Yamanaka's and Torune Aburame's corpses and controlled them using Parasitic Spores, creating two human puppets indistinguishable from living humans.
Seeing this, Mei was stunned.
After digesting the shocking fact that Danzo had died, she hesitated briefly but decided not to leave, hiding behind some bushes not far behind Heiyan.
Minutes passed slowly.
Just as Mei started growing impatient and wondering why Heiyan had stopped moving, he raised his cane and struck the bridge twice.
"Come out."
Heiyan called out in a low voice, perfectly mimicking Danzo's tone, across the other side of the bridge.
Just as expected.
Instantly, as space rippled in swirling waves, "Madara Uchiha" wearing an orange mask appeared at the scene.
"You actually detected my chakra in advance. Danzo, you're truly a sly old fox."
Madara—better known as Obito—spoke suspiciously.
Without wasting words, Heiyan immediately manipulated the two human puppets in secret, sending them charging at Obito.
What followed mirrored events from the original timeline. Obito effortlessly dealt with Danzo's two guards at the cost of one arm.
The word 'effortlessly' was used because unlike The Fourth Raikage, Obito had received First Hokage's cells through transplantation. Losing an arm wasn't a big deal—he would regenerate quickly.
"Your opponent isn't me. Get ready for a surprise."
After defeating the two guards, Obito mysteriously told Heiyan, then disappeared into Kamui's space once again.
Inside there, he awakened the unconscious Sasuke Uchiha, bringing him back to consciousness, telling Sasuke he had prepared a gift.
Then, Obito teleported Sasuke back into the real world, reappearing on the bridge.
The moment Sasuke saw Heiyan disguised as Danzo, he surged with incredible killing intent, his eyes turning blood red. Without hesitation, he gripped the Sword of Kusanagi tightly in his hand and charged straight at Heiyan.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Heiyan's lips. As Sasuke neared, nearly reaching him, he calmly raised his right hand and uttered four words unhurriedly:
[Shinra Tensei] Boom!
A tremendous repelling force erupted from his body. Unprepared, Sasuke flew backward, his Sword of Kusanagi slipping from his grasp and vanishing into oblivion.
"Shinra Tensei? How is that possible?!"
Obito was greatly shocked by this sight. He knew only the possessor of the Rinnegan could use that technique.
But in the entire world of shinobi, the sole pair of Rinnegan eyes was already in his possession. How could a nobody like Heiyan possibly have them?
Obito's confusion was soon resolved.
Puff!
After the smoke cleared, Heiyan dropped his disguise as Danzo and revealed his true self.
"You're... Heiyan?!"
Obito instantly recognized this man—the one recently making waves across the land, who had attacked Leaf Village and abducted Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.
Though his origins and motives for faking ties to Akatsuki were unclear, at this moment, Obito's intuition told him that this man known as Heiyan was extremely dangerous.
He was even more terrifying than Nagato—who wielded the Six Paths of Pain and claimed godhood.
Glancing at the fallen Sasuke on the ground, Obito ordered him, "Step aside. This next fight isn't for you to interfere in."
Having said that, Obito walked onto the bridge and stopped ten meters in front of Heiyan.
At this distance, battle was imminent.
"Who are you, and what do you want?"
Without beating around the bush, Obito went straight to the point, directly questioning Heiyan. If he didn't answer, he would mercilessly attack and capture him before extracting information through interrogation.
"Oh, did we meet before?"
Heiyan smiled faintly.
"Have we met before?"
Underneath his mask, Obito frowned deeply while frantically searching his memories—but just couldn't recall anyone named Heiyan.
"Oh, almost forgot."
Heiyan smacked his forehead with amusement.
"When we last met, I wasn't looking like this. Back then, people called me the Turtle Sage."
The Turtle Sage.
The moment these words left Heiyan's mouth, it hit Obito like a bolt from the blue.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He staggered back several steps, his trembling legs barely supporting him. The fear he experienced was immense, plunging him into deep panic.
At this moment, the terror of being dominated by that old man—bearing a turtle shell and leaning on a cane—came rushing back.
Who exactly was this "Turtle Sage"?
Behind Obito, a puzzled Sasuke—and Mei Terumi hiding among bushes nearby—were both silently wondering about this unfamiliar name, shocked beyond comprehension.
They simply couldn't fathom why Madara Uchiha had lost his cool so completely, as if he'd seen a ghost, after Heiyan introduced himself this way.
Was this 'Turtle Sage', or rather Heiyan, truly that terrifying?
"You… how can … you be here?"
Obito asked disbelievingly.
"Don't forget—it was you who first invaded my world. In that case, isn't it perfectly normal for me to appear in your world?"
As Heiyan spoke, he began walking toward Obito.
Obito's back was drenched in cold sweat.
When he learned that Heiyan was actually the Immortal Sage, he immediately considered retreating. However, he also knew that even using Kamui wouldn't make it easy to escape from here.
After all, this was the Immortal Sage who had defeated Madara Uchiha.
Just as Obito was feeling extremely anxious—
"I don't care whether you're Heiyan or the Immortal Sage! Since you disguised yourself as Danzo and set up an ambush here, you must know where he is. Tell me now!"
Sasuke, unflinching like a young bull ready to charge, activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and shouted fiercely at Heiyan.
"Young people sure have fiery tempers."
Heiyan sighed, and since he had no further use for Danzo's corpse, he pulled it out and dropped it at Sasuke's feet with a thud.
Danzo…? Dead?
Sasuke stared in shock at Danzo's corpse. He had originally suspected Heiyan might be colluding with Danzo, but things had turned out completely differently than expected.
Without paying any more attention to Sasuke, Heiyan continued speaking to Obito:
"Don't worry, I won't kill you here. Go ahead and gather the Tailed Beasts. Carry out your Moon Eye Plan. I'd also like to see with my own eyes whether the [Infinite Tsukuyomi] world can truly bring peace to the world of shinobi."
"Then I'll be waiting to see it too, Immortal Sage."
Obito stared deeply at Heiyan for a moment, then gripped Sasuke's shoulder tightly. The two of them disappeared together into Kamui's space.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>