Dealing with Pain

"Shinnosuke, take a look at this mission."

After summoning Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Tsunade directly handed him the mission in her hand.

After reading it, Sarutobi Shinnosuke’s heart sank. He had originally wanted to use the Anbu system to gradually temper the Sarutobi Clan, but he had never expected to send Sarutobi Clan Ninja onto the battlefield so soon.

However, aside from the Anbu, the village seemed to have no other options. As the Anbu Captain, Sarutobi Shinnosuke naturally knew the village’s situation very well.

Ordinary mission squads could not be mobilized for now, as a third Support Unit might be assembled at any moment. Deploying clan Ninja required the Hokage to convene a Ninja Clan meeting, but Tsunade had only just become the Fifth Hokage and definitely did not want to owe every clan a favor over something that was not especially important.

The Root Ninja were still lying in the hospital. Looking at it that way, only the fully staffed Anbu could carry out this mission.

According to the intelligence sent back, at least seventy or eighty Suna-nin had infiltrated the Land of Fire. It seemed he would need to bring three or four Anbu Squads to handle them.

"I understand, Fifth Hokage. Once I return, I will gather the men and head behind Kikyo Castle to intercept the Suna-nin."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked as though he had swallowed a fly, yet he had no choice but to force it down.

The corners of Tsunade’s lips curled upward slightly, though she covered her smile with both hands. After coughing once, she said to Sarutobi Shinnosuke, "Mm, go. Leave Kakashi’s squad behind. I have another mission for him."

". . . Yes, Fifth Hokage."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke answered with an extremely grim expression beneath his mask. After Tsunade waved him off, he immediately left the Hokage’s Office.

If this went badly, the Sarutobi Clan Ninja would suffer heavy casualties. Their clan members were well trained in both ninjutsu and taijutsu, but their sole weakness was that they had never fought Suna-nin before.

There was certainly no time to teach them now. Sarutobi Shinnosuke could only gather as much intelligence on the Suna-nin as possible and let the Sarutobi Clan members study it in advance.

After Sarutobi Shinnosuke left, Tsunade summoned Kakashi and instructed him to keep a close watch on the intelligence coming back from the Rain Country battlefield. She also gathered the three members of Namikaze Minato’s Shadow Guard who could use Flying Thunder God. If anything changed at the front line, Tsunade could quickly head to the Rain Country battlefield through the Flying Thunder God Technique they used together.

After receiving the Gene Optimization injection, Tsunade felt her body growing stronger almost every moment. She no longer needed the Yin Seal to preserve her cells’ vitality; instead, the cells throughout her body had regained the vitality of a twenty-year-old’s, and they still showed signs of becoming stronger.

The amount of Chakra she could now refine had nearly doubled. Moreover, after trying to fuse Water and Earth Chakra, she had directly grown a sapling in her palm.

This development brought a highly satisfied smile to Tsunade’s face. Only by inheriting the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Release could she restore the glory of Senju of the Forest.

Furthermore, before leaving, Hyuga Mirai had left a large amount of Sage Chakra within Tsunade’s Curse Mark. Whether in terms of the endurance of Cursed Seal Sage Mode or her own strength, Tsunade was more than twice as powerful as before. Even without using Creation Rebirth, her body’s recovery ability reached one-third of the effect she had under Creation Rebirth.

Other than his demand for Uchiha corpses, which left Tsunade puzzled, she hoped Hyuga Mirai would visit Konoha more often.

On the Rain Country battlefield, Amegakure had also officially assembled a troop of Ninja and formally confronted Konoha and the Iwa-nin.

However, Konoha’s second batch of reinforcements had reached the front line not long ago. In both strength and numbers, they could be said to surpass the Amegakure-nin several times over. If not for their wariness of Amegakure’s Rinnegan leader, those Amegakure-nin troops alone could not have stopped Konoha’s advance.

Just like during the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha’s Ninja troop had crushed the Amegakure-nin, yet no one could stop Hanzo the Salamander. Not only was his personal strength astonishing, but Ibuse’s poison also posed an enormous threat to large Ninja forces.

As long as they could not deal with Amegakure’s leader, Amegakure would remain a threat to Konoha. If Konoha had pushed Hanzo too far back then, Hanzo could have completely abandoned Amegakure, killed Tsunade and the other two, then dealt Konoha Ninja a devastating blow.

The current Amegakure gave Sarutobi Hiruzen the same feeling he had faced when confronting Hanzo during the Second Shinobi World War—only stronger. Hanzo had been powerful, but aside from his poison, it had been difficult for him to fight one against a thousand.

Amegakure’s current leader did not even care about the Third Tsuchikage’s Dust Release. One technique could kill hundreds of Ninja.

To guard against the Rinnegan, Sarutobi Hiruzen arranged numerous reconnaissance patrol squads and spread out the camp’s layout. This was to prevent Amegakure’s leader from unleashing a large-scale Repulsion Technique inside Konoha’s camp.

One day, while Konoha’s guard squad was patrolling outside the camp, the Hyuga Branch Family Ninja in the squad activated his Byakugan as usual and suddenly spotted an Amegakure-nin running toward Konoha’s camp.

"Orange hair, a black cloak with red clouds, ringed eyes—it’s the person mentioned in the mission! Alert! Sound the alert!"

Upon hearing the Hyuga Branch Family Captain’s words, the Ninja in the same squad hurriedly took a Signal Flare from his Ninja Tool Pouch and launched it into the sky.

Whoosh—Boom!

The flare burst in the air, and in the next instant, Konoha’s camp saw the highest-level alert signal.

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately gave the order. "All squads, evacuate efficiently according to the drills. Escort the wounded and Medical Department personnel first."

Ordinary Ninja would be useless against the Rinnegan, so having them leave first was the best arrangement. Moreover, the Ninja selected by Sarutobi Hiruzen and Ōnoki were not afraid of being surrounded by Amegakure’s main force. They only needed to focus on dealing with the Rinnegan.

After stepping out of her tent, Hyuga Kiyomi saw the Signal Flare that had yet to dissipate in the sky and the somewhat chaotic evacuation in the camp. She gave a soft snort and said to Yuhi Kurenai, who came out of the tent a step later, "Illusion Techniques may not work against the Rinnegan. Don’t be too confident when the time comes."

Even the Byakugan could resist Illusion Techniques. Hyuga Kiyomi did not believe that the Rinnegan, the most mysterious of the three great Eye Techniques, would fall to an Illusion Technique. Yuhi Kurenai’s Illusion Techniques were powerful, but Hyuga Kiyomi did not want to see her, who relied heavily on them, fall into danger.

"Hehe, thank you for your concern, Captain Kiyomi."

Naturally, Hyuga Kiyomi would not admit it. With a cold snort, she said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I’m afraid I’ll lose the best chance to attack because I have to save you."

"Don’t worry. Aside from Illusion Techniques, my taijutsu isn’t weak either. When the time comes, I’ll definitely give you a big surprise, Kiyomi." Yuhi Kurenai said this as she slightly puffed out her chest. Under her father Yūhi Kurenai’s guidance, she had realized that genjutsu Ninja could not afford to leave themselves with weaknesses, so she had trained in taijutsu with her father and Might Guy for some time.

Because Yuhi Kurenai had persevered for so long, and because her father had pleaded and brought gifts, she had learned the forbidden Eight Gates from Might Guy. Yuhi Kurenai could now open the Gate of Life. After using the Eight Gates, she could almost use the Body Flicker Technique as naturally as breathing.

Hyuga Kiyomi examined Yuhi Kurenai’s hands wrapped in bandages and the muscles on her body. She found clear signs of long-term taijutsu training, and it even seemed she had received guidance. Otherwise, the flaws would have been obvious.

Only then did she relax a little. This enemy was different from those they had faced before. Even if Hyuga Kiyomi replaced her Byakugan with another pair—or even two more pairs—she was not certain she could handle the Rinnegan.

In the distance, Konan, hidden within a giant tree created through the Paper Clone Technique, also saw the activity in Konoha’s camp. She turned to Nagato and said, "It seems Konoha already anticipated that you would come for them."

"Mm. They have made their preparations."

After Nagato spoke, the Animal Path had already used the Summoning Technique near Konoha, summoning the other five Paths of Pain beside him.

By then, the evacuation within Konoha’s camp was nearly complete. Aside from the forty elite Ninja left behind to deal with Pain, everyone else had withdrawn.

"They’re here. All six have the Rinnegan. According to the Nara Clan’s analysis, Amegakure’s leader is one of them—or perhaps none of these six are."

The meridians around Hyuga Kiyomi’s eyes bulged as she clearly saw the figures and features of the Six Paths of Pain from several hundred meters away.

Once the Six Paths of Pain entered Konoha’s prearranged encirclement, they saw Sarutobi Hiruzen and Ōnoki standing at the very front.

"So the Iwa-nin and Konoha have joined forces. It seems the pain the Iwa-nin suffered last time was not severe enough. Only when you experience true pain will you, Ōnoki, withdraw from this war."

Boom!

Thinking of his son Kitsuchi, Ōnoki crushed the rock in his hand and angrily shouted at Deva Path Pain, "I swear upon the Will of Stone that I will avenge Kitsuchi and the Iwa-nin you murdered!"

"Exactly. A great country invaded a small country, and after the small country fought back, new hatred was born. Yet the great country somehow came to believe it stood on the side of justice. How utterly ridiculous."

Deva Path Pain spoke to Ōnoki in the same calm tone. To adopt the posture of righteous vengeance merely because there had been casualties after an invasion was truly laughable.

Summoning Technique!

The Animal Path suddenly used the Summoning Technique and summoned an enormous Rhino. The Rhino appeared behind the Six Paths of Pain, and its massive shadow happened to block the shadow creeping toward them along the ground from behind.

Deva Path Pain glanced sideways and saw Nara Shikaku hidden behind them, though the Human Path had already noticed him. He said, "The Nara Clan’s Shadow Imitation Technique?"

Earth Style: Headhunter Technique!

Before Deva Path Pain could finish speaking, a hand suddenly reached up from the ground, trying to drag him underground. But Deva Path Pain reacted quickly. A Black Receiver shot directly from his palm and stabbed down into the earth.

Boom!

A cloud of smoke flashed past as the Shadow Clone using the Headhunter Technique was pierced by Deva Path Pain’s Black Receiver.

"A Shadow Clone? What a boring trick."

After saying that, Deva Path Pain slightly raised his arm and prepared to attack first. "Next, it is your turn to fully taste pain—"

Before he could finish, Deva Path Pain suddenly felt himself being controlled. His entire body was unable to move.

"Shadow Imitation Technique, successful!"

At that moment, Nara Shikaku, who had been hiding behind the Akimichi Clan, revealed himself as well. Through the hole beneath Deva Path Pain’s feet, he had successfully used the Shadow Imitation Technique.

Boom!

A burst of smoke appeared, and the "Nara Shikaku" in another direction released his Transformation Technique, turning back into another Nara Clan Ninja. Sweat beaded lightly on his face. Controlling such a massive Summoning beast while maintaining the Transformation Technique consumed a great deal of Chakra.