The wind howled relentlessly in his ears. The Land of Rain remained cold year-round, and with the changing seasons, the gusts striking his face felt like icy blades slicing through his skin.
He returned to the place where he had previously stayed with Nagato.
As expected, the other party was already gone.
Saitama didn't dwell too long on Nagato's movements; he knew the other had likely rushed straight to the frontline.
Time was growing tighter for both of them.
The sooner they captured the Nine-Tails and fully resurrected the Ten-Tails, the better prepared they would be for any unforeseen events that might arise in the future.
Looking ahead, his pupils suddenly contracted.
A distant surge came crashing over. Even from such a vast distance, he could still distinctly feel the energy contained within it.
It was Nagato!
Saitama immediately recognized the source of the disturbance.
Only Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, could create a fluctuation this intense.
Even Saitama himself would struggle to match it.
"If that's the direction… then those must be Konoha's vanguard troops?"
Thinking this, Saitama sped toward that location as well.
"You old geezer, Onoki—I never thought you'd still be so full of energy at your age! But keep depleting your strength like this, and you'll definitely lose to me."
Darui Ōnoki, the Second Tsuchikage, stood atop a floating stone, slightly crouching as he spoke with grave seriousness.
As Onoki's mentor, he could clearly sense his apprentice's failing strength. Yet, there was nothing he himself could do about it, making the situation all the more helpless.
"I understand. I'm figuring things out."
Onoki, standing across from him, panted heavily, hands raised defensively against his former teacher while replying solemnly.
"I can sense that the puppeteer controlling me isn't far from here. Compared to sealing me, dealing with that hidden mastermind should be much easier."
Suddenly, Darui raised his hand and unleashed a Dust Release technique. A transparent beam tinged with faint white light grazed past Onoki's body and pierced through a towering stone pillar behind him, leaving behind a smooth, round hole.
"I've already sent people out looking, but it takes time. You rotten mentor—still causing me grief even in the grave!"
Caught off guard by Darui's sudden attack, Onoki easily dodged aside, though his expression darkened.
He continuously shifted positions midair, evading Darui's assaults while also preventing the enemy from targeting the allied forces behind him.
Beads of sweat had gathered along his forehead—he looked visibly strained.
When Darui Ōnoki died, he had been in his physical prime. Now, strengthened by the Impure World's infinite chakra and enhanced body, Onoki had to go all-out just to barely contain him.
Moreover, as the battle dragged on, his own body began showing signs of weakening.
Yet across Iwagakure, only he—the Tsuchikage—could confidently claim to stand up to Darui. Any other shinobi from the village would have already been killed outright.
Thus, he could do nothing but grit his teeth and endure, desperately hoping his subordinates would locate the true manipulator soon and break this stalemate.
He naturally knew that if they couldn't locate the enemy controlling the Impure World Ninja, they'd either continue this stalemate or have to pay a heavy price to seal them away.
"You think I wanted to cause you trouble even after my death, old fool?" he said. "After taking Gengetsu Hozuki down with me, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was you looking so old."
Wrapped completely in bandages, Darui appeared extremely aloof.
But upon hearing Onoki's accusations, he dropped all pretense of composure, raised a finger at Onoki, and started berating him.
"If you guys had managed to protect my corpse properly, I'd still be lying peacefully inside my Hero's Tomb! Useless juniors!"
Darui stomped hard on the ground beneath him, then shot forward like lightning toward Onoki.
Chakra gathered around his fist, solidifying instantly into brown stone.
Bang!
Speechless in the face of those words, Onoki simply crossed his arms and retaliated, making his stance clear.
The two figures collided midair, unleashing a powerful burst of chakra with every punch.
"Hm?"
As Onoki prepared to strike again, Darui used the recoil from that last hit to retreat far away, clearly having no intention of prolonging the fight.
"Kid Onoki, I sense something bad is about to happen."
Landing on the ground, Darui suddenly wove his hands into a Ninja Seal as chakra surged through his body.
This Ninja Seal wasn't one he normally used—it was being forced upon him by the person manipulating him from the shadows.
[Summoning Jutsu!] A flash of light flickered in his eyes as he slammed both palms onto the ground.
Wave after wave of black Tadpole Characters spread out from his hands, forming an intricate Jutsu pattern.
Boom!
The ground cracked open, and a coffin slowly rose upward from beneath.
"Damn it all!"
Onoki's expression shifted immediately. His hands formed seals rapidly as he aimed at the ascending coffin, instantly releasing Dust Release.
Whoever came out this time, he couldn't let them emerge easily—otherwise none of them would make it out alive.
It had taken Iwagakure immense effort just to seal Kitsuchi and Shū previously; another major threat couldn't be allowed to appear now.
But standing beside the coffin, how could Orochimaru allow Onoki to disrupt things freely?
Two identical blasts of Dust Release collided head-on, tearing countless tiny fractures across the Chamber before neutralizing each other in the void.
The spatial cracks caused by their clash quickly healed, and everything returned to normal.
Still, Onoki's expression darkened considerably.
His intent to ruin the summoning had been detected and blocked, and since the coffin had already risen completely, he had missed his chance to act.
Thud!
The front lid flew open, and a figure stepped out.
"What are *you* doing here, bastard?"
Darui glanced sideways, shocked to see his former archenemy emerge from the summoned coffin.
None other than Gengetsu Hozuki—the Second Mizukage!
"Where am I? I thought we destroyed each other... What exactly is going on now?"
Gengetsu's mustache twitched slightly as he gazed thoughtfully at Darui before him and Onoki hovering midair in the distance, as if contemplating the current situation.
When he first spotted Darui standing beside him, his eyes flickered with surprise.
Yet almost instantly, he sensed something unusual about himself and suppressed the impulse to attack.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Darui folded his arms and looked away.
If he weren't under someone's control, he'd never want to see this war-mad lunatic in his turtle-necked coat again.
Besides, they'd always been bitter rivals—there was no way they could work together.
"Hmm?"
As Gengetsu prepared to ask further questions, his body suddenly stiffened. A voice echoed inside his mind.
His face darkened with realization.
"Trouble's coming!"
Onoki cast a sidelong glance at the Iwagakure forces behind him in the distance.
Earlier, since his opponent was Darui who also possessed Dust Release, he had ordered his troops to retreat, minimizing unnecessary losses.
But now unexpectedly, another equally troublesome enemy appeared.
Fighting them alone would be nearly impossible.
He hadn't expected Gengetsu to be the one to break the stalemate first.
Similar situations were occurring on other fronts as well.
The already unfavorable battles were suddenly worsened by the arrival of several powerful shinobi from the Impure World, shifting the advantage even more in their favor.
"Tsunade-sama, what are you looking at?"
Along a great river, several boats floated forward with the current toward their destination.
On the deck of the central boat stood two figures.
The one speaking was Shizune.
"Nothing much, just worried about Minato and the others."
"There's no need to worry, Tsunade-sama."
"That's true. The whole Shinobi World is giving its all. Even with the Rinnegan, turning the tide like this is impossible."
Tsunade-sama nodded slightly after a moment of silence.
Shizune didn't reply, only gazing glumly at the distant waters ahead.
This great river ran straight from the Land of Fire into the Land of Rain. To avoid detection, Minato had intentionally chosen this water route.
This way, Kushina wouldn't be far from the main force, and it would minimize enemy surveillance.
"How is Kushina doing?"
Tsunade-sama turned her attention toward the back of the boat.
"She's having strong emotional fluctuations. She hasn't left her room the whole time, but those wild bursts of chakra seem like the Nine-Tails' energy, don't they?"
Following Tsunade-sama's gaze, Shizune noticed faint red chakra swirling alongside a pale golden barrier faintly visible in the air.
"Although I'm not sure what she's doing, she doesn't seem to be in any danger. And if we can use the Nine-Tails' power, it would certainly be an advantage for us."
Tsunade-sama had an idea about Kushina's intentions but decided not to reveal anything for now.
As the second jinchuriki, Kushina wasn't able to control the Nine-Tails' power as flawlessly as Mito Uzumaki had.
But using the Uzumaki Clan's unique physiology and sealing techniques, she could still harness that immense strength.
Perhaps the intensity of the moment made Kushina feel uneasy, so she wanted to stand on the frontlines and fight the enemy directly instead of being protected behind a group of ninja like now.
So ever since boarding this ship, Kushina had set up a barrier inside her room, from which the Nine-Tails' chakra would occasionally leak out.
"Hope everything goes smoothly, and it'll all be over by the time we successfully land."
Tsunade turned away.
They had their reasons for not joining the Main Force.
Although her medical skills were superb, this war against Akatsuki was originally planned as a Blitzkrieg-style operation, never intended to drag on.
So her role wouldn't end up being all that important.
It seemed more practical to stay close to Kushina and ensure her safety.
"Tsunade-sama, something's happening here. You should come take a look."
Obito Uchiha's voice came from the deck of another boat.
He looked grave.
Tsunade exchanged a glance with Shizune before leaping over.
There on the clean wooden deck lay one of the ninja, a kunai from Obito buried in his chest.
A flicker of confusion passed through Tsunade's eyes as she waited for Obito to explain.
"Look!"
Obito flipped the body he had killed onto its back, facing the master-apprentice pair.
"This is… White Zetsu?"
Tsunade's voice remained unusually calm, yet strangely solemn.
"That's right. If I hadn't sensed something off about him, it would've been nearly impossible to discover he'd been hiding among us all along."
Obito explained.
"Since even Byakugan couldn't detect any anomaly, this was more complicated than expected."
Shizune crouched down, looking at the corpse of the White Zetsu slowly reverting to its original form, speaking softly.
Before boarding, everyone had been scanned with the Byakugan to ensure no enemy spies slipped through.
Yet they still got tricked.
"We can't rule out the possibility that more White Zetsus are onboard. It seems our supposedly secret movements have already been exposed to the enemy."
Tsunade clenched her fist tightly, staring at the lifeless White Zetsu at her feet.
"So what do we do now?"
Obito asked Tsunade.
Minato-sensei had entrusted him with protecting Kushina, so this situation left him feeling uncertain.
"Proceed according to plan. Obito, stay alert. If things go wrong, immediately take Kushina and leave to find Minato."
Right now, they didn't know what awaited them outside, so they had no choice but to stick to the current course.
"I understand."
Obito gave a slight nod.
"Handle this first, and pretend nothing happened."
With a gesture, Tsunade signaled Obito to toss the White Zetsu's body into the water before leading Shizune back to the previous ship.
They had encountered White Zetsu before—its combat strength wasn't high, but it excelled at concealment and shapeshifting.
However, Kushina possessed the innate ability to sense friend and foe instantly, rendering White Zetsu practically useless against her.
That was also one reason why Tsunade decided to continue with the original plan.
"Get out of my way!"
In a quiet corner, a ninja wearing a Konoha forehead protector whispered silently, watching Obito's shadowy back with growing tension.
As one of the few White Zetsus who had managed to sneak aboard these ships, their mission was to relay information about this situation back to the original body.
Moreover, since the nine-tails jinchuriki was on another ship, they couldn't afford to make any big moves.
The loss of one White Zetsu at this point significantly altered their plan.
But how had that guy, Obito Uchiha, sensed something abnormal in the first place?
The Sharingan shouldn't have been able to see through White Zetsu's Transformation Jutsu.
Realizing his stare might attract attention, he quickly looked away and blended into the shadows.
Everything seemed to return to normal—at least until Kushina's room suddenly erupted in a violent surge of chakra, reducing everything around it to rubble.
The fleet was forced to stop.
Obito and Tsunade arrived at the scene almost immediately.
Soon after, other protective ninjas from the escort team showed up as well.
They included Hyugas, Aburames, Uchihas… clearly a top-tier group.
"What happened?"
Frowning, Obito scanned the surroundings but found no strange individuals nearby.
However, Kushina's sudden outburst wasn't simply an accident.
Judging from what could be seen now, it might relate to the Nine-Tails?
Everyone could witness increasingly reddish chakra spreading through the air as Kushina began to contort, slowly losing her human shape.
"This is bad. Something unexpected must've happened—the Nine-Tails is running amok!"
Tsunade retreated from the area affected by the Nine-Tails' chakra and soon detected something off.
She shouted loudly, warning everyone around to scatter.
"Where are the members of the Sealing Team?"
She began desperately searching for the Sealing Team.
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