[Ding! Detected that the host used an extremely disgusting method to destroy Salamander Hanzō's castle beyond recognition. How cruel and heartless. Special reward: 10,000 Explosive Tags.]
No matter what the reward was, Gekko Chizan gladly accepted it.
Looking at the horn-shaped ruins of the castle, he could barely keep himself from laughing.
"Chizan, your Transparent Release really is something else. You can even make something like this?"
"I bet that Salamander Hanzō must be livid right now."
Chōmei stared at the crystalline creation and couldn't help but sigh. Gekko Chizan's kekkei genkai was truly formidable.
Whether for attack or defense, it was top-tier.
However, though the Transparent Release was powerful, it had a fatal weakness. Of course, Gekko Chizan had no intention of revealing that—such things were best kept to himself.
If he ever met someone who could counter his Transparent Release, he would just kill them—problem solved.
"This isn't over yet. For the next few days, every two days I'll drop another crystal bomb on him. I'll make sure he can't sleep peacefully!"
"He dared to hit me? Hah, I'll show him what a mistake that was!"
There was a saying—better to offend a gentleman than a petty man. Unfortunately, Gekko Chizan was neither. He was a scheming, vindictive little man!
A petty man's revenge lasts from morning to night. Kill him? No, no, no—that would be too easy. He had to carve the memory deep into Hanzō's heart.
"What, you're leaving again?"
"Not going to mess with them a bit more? I think that Tailed Beast Bomb beam of ours is pretty awesome. It'd blast his whole castle off the map."
Gekko Chizan was speechless. Clearly, Chōmei hadn't had enough fun last time.
After all, blasting the Five-Tails with that Tailed Beast Beam had been quite the thrill.
"Tch, forget it. We shouldn't use the Tailed Beast Bomb unless absolutely necessary. Things have settled down for now—it's best not to stir trouble."
"But I do wonder if Iwagakure has noticed that their Five-Tails is already gone."
"I'd love to see the look on Ōnoki's face."
Vanishing from Amegakure with the Flying Thunder God, Gekko Chizan's next destination was the southwest region of the Land of Fire—he was going to help Orochimaru deal with his new assistant issue.
At the same time, Root's operatives had also arrived in Amegakure.
When Aburame Tatsuma and the others saw the bizarre crystal castle, their expressions froze in shock.
"Gekko Chizan's second kekkei genkai… Transparent Release, huh..."
"No wonder Danzō-sama holds him in such high regard. I have to admit—he's stronger than me."
Aburame Tatsuma was a proud man. For someone like him to acknowledge another's superiority said a lot about how deeply this scene had shaken him.
"Enough talk. Let's go meet Hanzō, then begin the operation."
...
Unlike Amegakure, which had been thrown into chaos by Gekko Chizan's antics, Iwagakure was dead silent.
It wasn't just that the war was going poorly—their Jinchūriki had also been missing for quite some time.
The Four-Tails' host, Rōshi, had returned to the village, but after a heated argument with the Tsuchikage, he'd left again and disappeared without a trace.
As for the other Jinchūriki, Han, he still hadn't returned.
According to Tsuchikage Ōnoki's guess, he was probably dead.
A string of failures had forced Ōnoki to finally acknowledge Konoha's overwhelming strength. The wave of new powerhouses emerging from that village had given his forces hell.
"Withdraw. We may have suffered losses, but they're not irrecoverable. At least most of our shinobi survived."
"Compared to Sunagakure and Kumogakure, we're in better shape."
With no other choice, Ōnoki announced a retreat. Iwagakure's invasion ended there.
The combined assault of four nations had failed to breach the Land of Fire's borders. Even Ōnoki, proud as he was, knew that Iwagakure alone couldn't stand against Konoha.
And there was also the matter of the missing Jinchūriki. As the village's greatest weapon, his disappearance was deeply troubling.
And that damned Hanzō—he'd taken payment and still couldn't handle a mere brat.
"Kitsuchi, Tōshirō."
"Search for Han within the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth. Use every resource we have."
"Even if he's dead, I want his corpse brought back!"
"At the same time, issue bounties on Gekko Chizan and Namikaze Minato on the black market—one hundred million ryō each!"
"I don't believe there won't be reckless fools tempted by that kind of money!"
Kitsuchi and Tōshirō exchanged glances and nodded, then immediately moved out.
...
Though Iwagakure had lost, Kirigakure's situation was far better. They had simply withdrawn back to the Land of Water, indifferent to victory or defeat.
Of course, that was largely thanks to Uchiha Makito.
The current Fourth Mizukage was nothing more than a puppet under his Sharingan.
Meanwhile, Minato had already entered the Land of Water to begin forming a new faction.
On the surface, the shinobi world seemed calm again, but beneath it, dark currents were surging.
...
Three days later, in the southwest of the Land of Fire.
Gekko Chizan rubbed his bloated stomach, a cigarette dangling from his lips, as he walked out of a town and headed toward a nearby mountain.
He sighed, exhaling a thick plume of smoke.
"Who builds an orphanage at the foot of a mountain? Seriously."
"If I hadn't asked around, I never would've found it."
"Has Root's influence really spread this far?"
"Even this far from the village, they're still so cautious."
He knew of Yakushi Nono well—once a Root member, an outstanding spy who had grown tired of that life and chosen instead to run an orphanage.
She had tried to free herself from Root's control. But alas, those who walked too long in the darkness could never truly live under the light.
He hadn't returned to Amegakure these past three days—those crystal structures were not something easily handled, after all.
As he approached the mountain's base, a small wooden cabin came into view.
Gekko Chizan walked up and gently knocked on the door.
There was a faint sound from inside before the door slowly opened.
Yakushi Nono stood there, wary, eyes narrowing behind her glasses.
"Who are you?"
"What do you want here?"
Gekko Chizan casually handed her a small bag filled with snacks.
"Orphanage, right? I came to visit the kids. Brought some snacks—hope they'll like them."
"As for me, I'm Gekko Chizan."
Nono's pupils contracted sharply beneath her glasses—she knew that name.
In fact, every shinobi did.
Konoha's elite jōnin, one of the Twin Stars—the Ghost of Konoha, a warrior whose name had become famous across the battlefield.
"Come in."
Once inside, Gekko Chizan saw a group of children curiously staring at him. He smiled gently, placed the bag on the table, and pulled up a chair to sit.
"I want to talk to you—about your past, and your future."
The moment she heard his name, Yakushi Nono already knew he wasn't here for the children.