This country, constantly shrouded in rain, was poor, backward, weak, and helpless.
Pain stood by the window on the top floor, his Rinnegan showing no emotion as he looked down at the hazy village below.
"Latest news: the Nine-Tails had another outburst, but there wasn't much damage."
Konan watched Pain's back. Recently, due to attempts with certain Ninjutsu, Nagato's body had become increasingly frail. Combined with his feet already having some underlying issues, Pain had truly become the organization's public face.
"No need to intervene. The Nine-Tails is still far from our goal. Even if we begin collecting the Tailed Beasts, it will be last. Leave it to me."
Pain didn't turn around, speaking in a very indifferent tone.
"This might involve Saitama, but we'll stay out of it. After all, he's from that village. His interference this time must have a reason."
Pain added another sentence, seemingly aware of what Konan wanted to say.
...
Saitama and Zetsu had already returned to the Secret Base. Kakuzu and Sasori seemed to have gone out on missions, so there weren't many members among the Organization's upper echelon present.
These past few days, Saitama had been practicing in his room the Ninjutsu he previously pilfered from the Scroll of Seals.
Since he had reached this point, Saitama needed to prepare well in advance.
Facing Minato Namikaze, an extraordinary Ninja who excelled in space-time Ninjutsu, Saitama had to master the same category of technique just to remain competitive.
Like that night when Minato used his [Flying Thunder God], it had been enough to trouble Saitama greatly.
Had it not been for his formidable strength and the limited spatial conditions, he would have been in real danger that night.
Now that he had chosen this path, Saitama had made up his mind. Obtaining the [Flying Thunder God] was merely one step along the way.
Learning the [Flying Thunder God] required several prerequisites: spatial aptitude, dynamic vision, and neural response speed.
Fortunately for Saitama, he met all these criteria. With his natural talent, he never doubted his ability to learn this renowned Ninjutsu celebrated throughout the Shinobi World.
However, despite having possessed this technique for about half a month already, Saitama could only claim to have scratched its surface and deciphered its complex and difficult formulas!
He memorized the entire technique after just one glance that night and rewrote it from memory upon returning to Amegakure Village.
Though confident, this was Saitama's first time dealing with space-time type Ninjutsu — and his progress was much slower than when he learned techniques like the Yin-Yang Release Jutsu or even the Six Paths Technique.
Space-time Ninjutsu certainly deserved its reputation as the most difficult to master. But Saitama remained patient; he had plenty of time to practice gradually.
Currently, Nagato hadn't begun the actual plan yet, so Saitama still had considerable time available for learning.
As for Minato's [Flying Thunder God], Saitama believed only a similar type of Ninjutsu could counter it.
Without access to Obito's [Kamui], he had settled for the second option — the [Flying Thunder God].
When Zetsu returned to the base, Saitama once again lost track of him — he must've slipped out again.
After all, practically no one in the entire Shinobi World could detect Zetsu's presence. Saitama wasn't worried about it anyway.
At the moment, Kushina Uzumaki had already given birth, leaving no opportunity for him to fish in troubled waters.
Currently, Saitama didn't plan to go out and waste time. He intended to thoroughly study the ninjutsu he had acquired — only after mastering it could he face stronger opponents.
Mastering the Flying Thunder God technique mainly involved inscribing markings imbued with spatial attributes.
Understanding space was the hardest part — engraving the marks was just the last step.
Once that was done, the Flying Thunder God technique would basically be mastered — all that'd be left was to test it out in real combat.
...
Kiri Village.
Yagura had long since returned to the village. Even as a perfect jinchuriki, facing two Sannin from Konoha left him unable to gain the upper hand.
Especially since Jiraiya had learned that irritating technique — Sage Mode.
Sitting on the Hokage throne, Yagura stared at a letter from the Water Daimyo resting on the table before him.
"The Daimyo still insists we keep fighting Konoha?" he asked.
Terumi Mei acted more like a secretary than someone her age should — young, but already carrying herself with unusual maturity.
She brushed a strand of hair behind her forehead. "The Daimyo has once again reduced our military budget," she replied, "but he didn't mention anything regarding battlefield matters."
Yagura's purple eyes reflected everything happening around him, calm as a deep pond.
"How's Ao recovering?" Yagura suddenly asked, his lips curling slightly into a smile.
"Ao has regained his sight, though he still needs time to fully recover and adjust. After all, our medical capabilities still fall far behind Konoha's."
"Hmm." Yagura narrowed his eyes. At least one significant gain had come from this war against Konoha — that eye.
When Iwagakure and Konoha were locked in their fiercest battle, Konoha deployed many members from prominent clans to the Mist frontline, giving Kiri its opportunity.
In one skirmish, Ao's squad clashed with a vanguard unit from the Hyuga clan.
At the cost of heavy injuries to his squad — and one of Ao's own eyes — the mission succeeded. Ao's team wiped out the Hyuga ninja and retrieved a Byakugan that hadn't yet been destroyed.
It was a major mistake on the Hyuga Branch House's part — but not entirely avoidable either.
Knowing full well they were sending Branch House members into battle, those risks had already been taken into account. One could only say the protective measures for the Branch House hadn't been sufficient enough.
Ao's eye transplant was conducted secretly within Kiri, handled with great care and patience.
Since the surgery had occurred quite some time ago, Ao had been gradually adapting to the Byakugan. Though lacking the Hyuga bloodline, his strong willpower and excellent chakra control allowed him to meet all the requirements needed to use the Byakugan.
...
Konoha Village, Hokage Building.
The damaged building had already been repaired, and Minato Namikaze had resumed regular duties.
However, investigation into the mysterious figure — or organization — from that night continued quietly in the shadows.
"Minato, didn't you sleep well last night?" Shikaku sat beside the Hokage and noticed the dark circles under Minato's eyes.
"Yeah, Naruto wouldn't stop fussing last night, so Kushina made me hold him until early morning," Minato replied, rubbing his eyes. The dark circles under his eyes were clearly visible.
"Lucky me — my kid just eats and sleeps without causing trouble."
Shikaku smiled contentedly.
"Sigh..."
Minato Namikaze let out a sigh and continued picking up the documents to review.
He didn't get why looking after the kids could be this hard—especially with just two of them!
As Minato thought of Kushina, he felt she'd somehow become even more childish since giving birth.
"Oh right, we've received battlefield reports from the front lines regarding Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Want to take a look?"
Shikaku pulled out a thick file from the side and handed it over to Minato.
"Weren't they preparing to cease hostilities?"
"No idea. It seems something unexpected happened again, causing friction. Investigations are still ongoing."
"Fine, let me see them."
When it came to official matters, Minato threw himself into work with complete seriousness. Despite having panda-like dark circles under his eyes, he started working diligently.
"With the Fourth Raikage formally assuming office, could this have anything to do with it?"
Minato took the file, and something suddenly occurred to him.
"Possibly, but probably not the main reason!"
Shikaku nodded slightly, agreeing with Minato's speculation.
If it hadn't been for Iwagakure and Kumogakure fighting each other to exhaustion during their last conflict, leaving both sides severely weakened—
Konoha would likely still be at war with either Iwagakure or Kumogakure now.
A staggering ten-thousand-to-one odds!
One side lost thousands of shinobi, the other lost their Raikage.
That was the confrontation between the Third Raikage and Iwagakure.
The Third Great Ninja War seemed to come to an end almost unnoticed, as if it had gradually faded away, with Konoha appearing to be the biggest winner.
But only Minato knew the current Konoha, though seemingly strong, might actually be in its weakest period since the village's founding.
The Sannin—some had left the village, others defected.
Konoha's publicly known roster of Kage-level elites consisted only of Minato, the aging Third Hokage, and Jiraiya, who was currently away from the village.
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