Chapter 196: First Encounter with the Akatsuki
"Hmph, that guy Jiraiya. The next time he comes back to the village, I'll definitely make him pay," Tsunade said, putting down the letter, a flush of annoyance on her cheeks as she spat the words. She looked up, wanting to say more, but found that her master was holding the intelligence letter, his face grave.
"Master, what does it say?" Tsunade asked seriously, her slightly annoyed expression gone.
"It has some intelligence about the Akatsuki," Sarutobi Hiruzen said after quickly browsing the last few sentences. He then handed the letter to Tsunade. His smile was gone, the side of him that was a kind old man hidden away, and the presence of a great Shinobi God was quietly revealed.
The Third Hokage said solemnly, "Tsunade, are you really sure that the ones who ambushed Orochimaru that day were Danzo's men?"
"No, that was just one of our speculations. To deal with Orochimaru, one must be a ninja close to the 'Kage' level. I think Danzo probably can't find a ninja of that level who also has such a strong enmity towards Orochimaru to deal with him, right?" Tsunade said with a frown, while hastily flipping through the short intelligence letter.
And then, very quickly, Tsunade's face also became as grave and gloomy as the Third's.
As if a layer of frost had formed on her face.
"Orochimaru... joined the Akatsuki organization more than ten years ago, and then left for unknown reasons eight years ago. Therefore, he has been hunted by the Akatsuki for a long time..."
She read softly.
Tsunade looked up and exchanged a look with the Third Hokage.
"So the ones who ambushed Orochimaru that day were not Danzo's Root... This also explains why Danzo would have such strong ninja under his command and we wouldn't know. That's because they are not Root members, but Akatsuki members!" Tsunade said in a deep voice. "Similarly, this also explains why Orochimaru would move his bases in such a hurry."
"Besides hiding from us, he is, more importantly, hiding from the Akatsuki's pursuit!"
"As for why the Akatsuki would cooperate with Danzo, I think there must be some kind of deal behind it," her gaze suddenly turned cold. "Danzo... he couldn't have sold out Konoha, could he!"
"..." The Third Hokage silently smoked his pipe, his eyes narrowed.
Amidst the swirling smoke, the glowing fire of the tobacco made the old man's eyes flicker uncertainly.
After a long time, he finally said, "Danzo... is not that kind of person. He would not do anything detrimental to Konoha."
"The problem is, what kind of action is beneficial or detrimental to Konoha—the standard of judgment has always been his own arbitrary decision!" Tsunade said in a cold voice. "An action that is detrimental to Konoha in our eyes might just be beneficial in his, right?"
The Third Hokage tapped the table lightly with his pipe and said calmly, "We can discuss this issue later. The most urgent task at hand is—"
"To send a warning to the Anbu squads you sent out, to recall them and wait for the reconnaissance troops' report!"
The old man stared intently into Tsunade's eyes.
Lady Fifth Hokage lowered her eyelids. After a moment of thought, she realized that since the members of the Akatsuki were also there hunting Orochimaru, then they were very likely to run into the Anbu squads who were on a mission!
"No... it's to send them a warning, to have them be on alert where they are, and then send out a support squad!" she said, slamming the table and standing up. "In this operation, we are going to catch the Akatsuki's tail!"
The Third Hokage lowered his eyelids, looked down at the spirited Tsunade, and put on his Hokage hat.
What spirit...!
If he were twenty years younger, and his body was still sound, he would probably have made the same decision.
But the him of now was filled with the air of twilight. Faced with this situation, his first reaction was to seek stability and withdraw his subordinates.
There was nothing wrong with being conservative, but being overly conservative would only make Konoha lose its enterprising spirit.
It was precisely because he had realized this point that the Third Hokage had made the decision to step down. Even if he had not been injured after the Chunin Exams, he would still have done so.
He turned his head to look out the window. The rising sun shone on him through the window, carrying a warmth that was a little scorching.
Squad 14, having finished collecting the materials, did not know the situation in the Hokage's office.
None of them realized that while they were wandering around here, the ones they were most likely to encounter were not Orochimaru, but the Akatsuki's Immortal Duo, who had been searching for him all along.
They knew even less that two people were squatting near Orochimaru's main base, hoping to catch a glimpse of him...
When Squad 14 left the underground base and reached the surface, Shino was the first to notice that something was wrong.
"Inuzuka Makoto! Where are you?" he shouted in a low voice.
However, the reply he got was another, unfamiliar voice—
"Are you looking for this person?"
A tall man in a black cloak with red clouds said coldly.
The iconic clothes. With just one glance, Haruno Sakura could tell that the enemy was a member of the Akatsuki.
The man kicked a body at his feet. The reconnaissance ninja from the Inuzuka clan was lying lifelessly in a pool of blood, motionless.
He was clearly dead.
Sakura's eyes narrowed. She then saw Kotarō's corpse. Its upper body was next to Inuzuka Makoto, while its lower body was being cruelly trampled under the foot of another Akatsuki ninja.
The girl was speechless, her killing intent gradually overflowing.
"You rogue ninja actually dare to kill a Konoha ninja. Are you trying to make an enemy of Konoha?" Shino said coldly.
The atmosphere became heavy.
Since the other party had killed their comrade, then this matter today would absolutely not end well...
"I'm very sorry. We didn't originally plan to make a move..." the tall man shrugged. There was not a trace of apology in his turbid, dead-fish eyes. "Who told him to discover us?"
"Hey, Kakuzu, what are you still rambling on about? Since these few people are that dog-walker ninja's comrades, then just cut them all down!" the silver-haired youth said impatiently, waving the scythe in his hand.
Kakuzu? Haruno Sakura heard this name and felt that it was vaguely familiar.
No, she was sure that this name had not appeared in the original story she had read. Perhaps she had seen it in some post on the internet in her previous life, or in some movie, but she couldn't remember his abilities and information, which was meaningless.
Of the two opponents before her, the silver-haired youth with the scythe was a little better. He seemed to be a taijutsu type, and didn't feel like he had the oppressive presence of a Kage-level.
But that one called Kakuzu, his presence was very terrifying. The chakra she sensed was extremely complex and thick. He was a true "Kage"-level ninja!
Haruno Sakura slowly raised the excitement level of the chakra in her body and opened the Sakura Rush State Two.
She was ready for battle.
She stared intently at Kakuzu, watching as he turned his head and reprimanded the silver-haired youth, "What do you know, you idiot Hidan! I have to first think about whether these few people are ninja with a name on the bounty list. Otherwise, what if I destroy their bodies in the fight!"
"An opportunity!" Seeing the two of them arguing, Sakura thought subconsciously.
In her Sakura Rush state, her reaction speed was extremely fast. Almost at the same time as the thought appeared, her hands had already begun to form the hand seals—
"Ice Style: Swallow Snowstorm!"
Ice shuriken, glittering with a cold light, spun wildly and shot towards the bickering Akatsuki duo like a tempest!
However, the Akatsuki duo were also battle-hardened ninja. Even if they seemed to be talking idly without any guard, how could they have really let down their guard?
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A wide, thick, and solid earth wall quickly rose up in front of Kakuzu!
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