Chapter 16: Who Crosses the Line First
After Uchiha Yasushi suddenly withdrew, Nara Shikaku also noticed.
He was happy to seize this opportunity to regroup his companions, extinguish fires, treat injuries, and rest briefly while recovering some chakra.
The moment combat ceased, those Rain shinobi hurriedly stepped forward to call out:
"This is Rain Country territory. Who are you people and why are you fighting here?"
Yasushi casually glanced at the shinobi, seeing he was mere cannon fodder. Too lazy to waste words, he only cast his gaze beyond him, scanning and searching for traces of where Pain might be hiding.
Nara Shikaku was diplomatic, stepping forward politely: "We are Konoha Village shinobi. I am Nara Shikaku, and these are my companions. We came here pursuing a rogue ninja and harbor no ill intentions toward Rain Country."
"Please report to Lord Hanzo of the Salamander that once we eliminate the traitor, we'll leave immediately without causing destruction to Rain Country."
"Konoha..." The leading shinobi looked with complex expression at the emblems on the Konoha group's headbands, then turned to glance at Yasushi's distinctive eyes before silently nodding. "I understand."
"I'll report this to the village. Please quickly execute the traitor and leave Rain Country without lingering."
"Rest assured, Konoha and Rain Country are allies. We won't do anything excessive. Please convey my regards to Lord Hanzo of the Salamander."
Currently Rain Country was controlled iron-tight by the Akatsuki. Outsiders had no idea Hanzo of the Salamander had long since died. The shinobi didn't expose this, only nodded before turning to lead his people away.
Halftime rest ended. Second half combat resumed.
But having failed to quickly eliminate Nara Shikaku and turning the battle into a war of attrition, Yasushi had lost interest in continuing.
If he could overwhelmingly annihilate all Konoha people in one stroke, he wouldn't mind collecting some advance interest on his clan's destruction. But seeing things going poorly, he had no need to fight to the death here with a group of Konoha maggots.
The true culprits hadn't even come. Fighting desperately like this was absolutely not worthwhile.
He'd come here to "deliver a gift" to Nagato, not to change locations for combat.
With Nagato the protagonist not emerging, for whom was he performing this play?
He deliberately wanted to draw Nagato into the fray. So after combat resumed, he no longer clashed directly with Ino-Shika-Cho but fought while retreating, withdrawing toward Rain Village.
Well, Nagato, aren't you hiding in the back?
Then let me see—when Rain Village's peace is shattered again, can you still sit still in hiding?
His intentions were too obvious. Everyone saw through them.
However, Nara Shikaku didn't care about Rain Country civilians' safety. Even if this drew out Hanzo of the Salamander, between Konoha Village and the rogue Uchiha, Hanzo would only choose to help Konoha.
"Uchiha Itachi" wasn't an easy enemy. If they could gain Hanzo's assistance, their mission to kill "Itachi" and recover the Nine-Tails jinchuriki would be much easier to complete.
With one side deliberately causing trouble and the other intentionally indulging it, the combat zone rolled toward Rain Village.
Wherever they passed, forests burned, farmlands shattered, roads collapsed, debris flew wildly—utter chaos.
"Damn it!"
Pain's expression darkened, killing intent surging in his heart.
He stepped forward, about to go eliminate these bastards.
Konan quickly stepped forward to stop him.
"Nagato, now isn't the time for you to appear."
"We're not ready yet. It's inappropriate to clash intensely with Konoha at this moment."
"Let me handle this!"
"I won't let them approach the village."
Pain glanced back at Konan, seeing her eyes full of concern. His heart warmed as he withdrew his steps and nodded: "Alright, then I'll leave it to you. Be careful—those Konoha shinobi aren't easy to deal with."
Konan nodded. Sheets of pristine white paper peeled from her body, then as if possessing life, automatically folded into bird shapes. After circling overhead once, they flew outward in flocks.
Pain retracted his "Rain Tiger at Will Jutsu." The dark clouds shrouding the sky dispersed at visible speed. The continuous rain finally stopped. Long-absent sunlight filtered through cloud gaps onto the earth, leaving only ground puddles and humid air as evidence of previous rainfall.
"Oh, finally appearing!"
The moment the rain stopped, Yasushi immediately noticed. He promptly unleashed another Fire Release, forcing Ino-Shika-Cho and others back, then canceled Susanoo again, leaping backward to maintain distance from Konoha shinobi in standoff.
Everyone looked up to see countless paper birds descending like returning to their nest, landing between both sides. After unfolding, they merged together, fusing and reorganizing, gradually outlining a human silhouette.
When the last paper sheet fell into place, Akatsuki's red-cloud black robe swayed gently in the wind. Konan's figure appeared before everyone, saying coldly:
"Konoha Village shinobi, we warned you earlier not to cause any harm to Rain Country. Didn't you understand?"
A bloodline limit user?
The village intelligence never mentioned Rain Country having such a powerful individual.
Shikaku's gaze flashed. He instinctively stepped forward, saying flatly: "Please don't misunderstand. We harbor no ill intentions."
"It's just that this Uchiha traitor before us seems to want to use your village's power to escape Konoha's pursuit."
"If Rain Village is willing to help capture or kill this Konoha traitor, Konoha would be eternally grateful."
Konan waved her hand. A white paper whip lashed out, drawing a long mark on the ground between both groups and Rain Village. Her expression cold, she said:
"Rain Village doesn't involve itself in Konoha's affairs. As long as you don't advance further, who lives or dies doesn't concern Rain Village."
"But I'll say this first—anyone attempting to cross this line will be viewed as provocation against Rain Village. I definitely won't be polite."
Facing Konan's threat, Shikaku felt quite dismissive internally.
Mere Rain Country shinobi daring to issue warnings to the shinobi world's greatest village, Konoha—truly ridiculous.
However, matters had varying urgency. The current priority was completing the mission, not bickering with small nation shinobi from Rain Country.
So Shikaku readily nodded: "We're here only to execute the traitor. As long as Uchiha Itachi doesn't cross that line, we absolutely won't cross either."
After speaking, he looked coldly toward "Uchiha Itachi" on the other side, his gaze full of provocation.
Didn't you want to use Rain Country's power to escape the village's pursuit?
Now Rain Country shinobi have drawn the boundary—if you dare, try crossing!
But Yasushi didn't walk forward at all. Instead, he stood in place with a cold laugh.
"Well, naturally I won't cross the line. But as for Konoha Village people... that's another matter!"
After speaking, he shook his hand and threw the Nine-Tails jinchuriki he'd been carrying to the other side of the boundary.