"Alert!"
The leading Ame-nin shouted, and immediately all the shinobi of Amegakure pulled out their short swords, eyes narrowed as they faced the figures who had suddenly appeared.
"Who are you? What do you want?" the leader demanded. His sensory ability already picked up the overwhelming malice radiating from the other side, but he still clung to a shred of hope.
Danzō remained silent. Instead, Hidan let out a mocking laugh.
"Are Ame shinobi really this naïve? Do you think we showed up to invite you to dinner? No wonder Danzō uses you as pawns."
"The only use of Amegakure," Danzō said bluntly, "is as a stepping stone for me to ascend to Hokage. As for these trash… kill them."
He didn't even try to hide his ambition. His Root subordinates couldn't speak of it anyway... every one of them was bound by his cursed tongue seal.
"Fine by me. I've been stuck in Konoha too long, hands are getting itchy!" Hidan flexed his fingers, bones cracking audibly.
The Ame shinobi's hearts went cold as they overheard. Without hesitation, their leader barked,
"Retreat!"
They weren't fools. The pressure from the enemy was overwhelming, and their true task was to return to Hanzo with word of Akatsuki's offer to negotiate. Dying here was pointless.
"Running away's a bad habit."
Hidan's grin widened as he summoned the Bloody March Scythe from his Kamui space. His hands blurred through seals.
"Katon: Uchiha Kaenjin!"
He slammed his palm to the ground. Instantly, four towering walls of fire erupted, caging the Ame shinobi in a blazing prison.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"
The Ame-nin worked together, channeling chakra into water-style jutsu. Dozens of streams merged into a roaring water dragon, smashing into one side of the wall in an attempt to break through.
Steam exploded outward, hissing violently as fire and water clashed. A dense white fog blanketed everything inside the barrier.
"Damn it! Why isn't it working?!" the leader cried out. Dozens of shinobi pooling chakra into water release and still the wall of fire held strong.
From within the mist, a chilling laugh echoed.
"Kukuku…"
The steam might have blinded normal eyes, but Hidan's Sharingan cut through it all.
The Ame shinobi, huddled together with nowhere to run, were laid bare to him like targets in the dark.
The ground rippled.
Hidan's figure rose up beneath one Ame-nin's feet, scythe swinging in a flash.
Slice!
The shinobi was split in half, blood and organs splattering the ground before he could even scream.
Panic erupted. But it was already over.
Under Kamui's inescapable ability, the Ame-nin most of them barely chūnin, a few jōnin at best were butchered one after another. Each corpse bore massive gashes or was cleaved cleanly in two.
Hidan inhaled deeply, savoring the air.
"Ahh… the scent of blood is still so beautiful."
The fire walls fell, steam clearing to reveal a killing field littered with bodies. Only one Ame shinobi remained alive, trembling.
Even Root operatives...who were no strangers to killing, shuddered as they watched. They murdered as duty. Hidan slaughtered for sport.
"Let's go," Danzō said coldly. "We have all the evidence we need. Hanzo will serve us now."
"You… even if I die, I won't let you succeed!" the lone Ame survivor shouted, shaking with despair. Gripping a kunai, he turned it toward his own heart.
Hidan chuckled. "Heh. Sometimes, death isn't that easy."
"Genjutsu."
The survivor froze, eyes glazing over. In the next heartbeat, his expression cleared but his mind was already a puppet, strings wrapped tightly in Hidan's hand.
"Killing weaklings like this is boring. I'll leave the rest to you," Hidan said carelessly, waving him off.
Truth was, his killing points were nearly drained.
Upgrading to the Eternal Mangekyō had devoured most of them, leaving just over five thousand. He couldn't afford to waste them now. Even scraps of points mattered.
Danzō stepped forward, whispered a command to the controlled Ame-nin, then motioned for his Root operatives. Together, they headed toward Amegakure.
Hidan, meanwhile, slipped away into the village on his own, wandering idly.
This city of endless rain intrigued him... after all, one day it would become the stronghold of Pain and Nagato.
As for how Danzō would worm his way into Hanzo's trust and deceive him? Hidan didn't care.
With Danzō's scheming, it was trivial. Otherwise, Yahiko's tragic death in the "original script" wouldn't have happened.
By then, Danzō had already entered talks with Hanzo, a meeting that would change destinies.
Their choices, their betrayals, their blood… everything was about to veer down a different path.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 100 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.