The ten-kilometer perimeter surrounding Amagakure (the Hidden Rain Village) was essentially covered under the range of the Rain Tiger at Will Technique cast by Pain (Deva Path).
The Rain Tiger at Will Technique was a jutsu developed and modified by Kyle based on the Weather-Modifying Charm.
By infusing his own magic into the rain clouds, every single raindrop that fell from the sky became closely linked to the caster's perception.
The moment Lupin set foot within the ten-kilometer radius of Amagakure, Pain (Deva Path) had already taken notice of him.
The umbrella Lupin held, conjured from magic, shielded him from Pain's perception of the rain, causing a small blind spot to appear on the perception radar image in Deva Path's mind.
On ordinary days, it was quite normal for a few blind spots like this to occasionally pop up in the perception vision.
So initially, Deva Path didn't pay it much mind.
However, when Lupin followed the shortest possible route and approached within a mere three kilometers of Amagakure, even a fool could see that the person represented by this blind spot was coming straight for the village.
Instantly, an invisible wave of mental energy radiated outward in all directions, centered on the high tower.
In less than a single second, Black Zetsu, located inside a luxurious mansion at the very center of the village, received the message transmitted from Deva Path.
"Is there an intruder?" the other half of Zetsu's body, Guruguru (Afei), asked out of curiosity.
Black Zetsu didn't even bother to pay attention to him; over the past few months, he had had quite enough of this chatterbox White Zetsu.
If it weren't for the fact that this thing was the strongest among all the White Zetsu, he would have loved to tear Guruguru into a ten thousand pieces, flush him down the drain, and replace him with another White Zetsu as his new host container.
Black Zetsu slowly closed the eyes on his half of the body, immersing his mind into the control of the remaining Five Paths.
Inside a building at the edge of the village, the Animal Path pushed open the door and walked out slowly.
From the information transmitted back by Deva Path, Black Zetsu quickly pinpointed the Animal Path's current position, manipulating the Animal Path to move in the direction of the intruder.
Outside the village, on the main road leading directly to the village gates, Lupin, under the effect of the Disillusionment Charm, was curiously observing the village before him.
Normally, if a wizarding village was purely inhabited by wizards—meaning only wizards and no Muggles—the buildings constructed by the wizards themselves would generally look rather peculiar.
For instance, the Weasley home and the Lovegood home were both self-built houses that looked utterly mismatched and bizarre on the outside.
However, the style and architecture of this so-called Amagakure before his eyes were a bit too strange, weren't they?
Given the wretched local weather, where rain poured for months at a time, it was understandable that the wizards here built their roofs with steep, sharp inclines.
Yet the pervasive Muggle-style Steam Age aesthetic everywhere made it somewhat difficult for Lupin to comprehend.
Perhaps this could only be chalked up to cultural differences.
What Lupin didn't know was that Amagakure, far from being a simple village, was practically a war fortress.
The peculiar buildings he was looking at were actually various concealed weapons within the village—such as Tesla Coils, Prism Towers, Gatling Cannons, and Wave- Motion Artillery Turrets.
Unable to make sense of these novel gadgets, Lupin shook his head, pulling his gaze back from the cluttered architecture, and focused once more on the high tower at the very center of the village.
According to his investigation, that high tower was the power center of the village, the true hideout of the Akatsuki organization.
The information he currently possessed was limited to this; as for the actual leaders of Amagakure—specifically, who the leader of the Akatsuki organization was—the details remained a complete blank.
His next step was to see if he could stealthily sneak into that high tower and uncover the truth behind the Akatsuki organization.
Patter, patter.
Just as Lupin was about to take a step forward, a clear set of footsteps echoed into his ears.
He turned his head toward the direction of the sound, only to see a man dressed in a black wizard robe walking toward him at an unhurried pace.
Embroidered upon the flowing long hair man's wizard robe were several red clouds.
Upon seeing this attire, Lupin's pupils shrank abruptly.
This was... the uniform worn exclusively by core members of the Akatsuki organization, the very group that had stirred up massive turmoil in the Albanian magical world!
Was the other party... just passing by?
Lupin shifted his body slightly, very covertly gathering magic at the soles of his feet to ensure that his footsteps on the muddy road wouldn't create any noise or leave any footprints.
He silently stepped aside to yield the path.
Unexpectedly, as he stealthily cleared the way, the other party's gaze moved right along with his movement.
Lupin realized he had been exposed.
How did he discover me?
Without time to overthink, Lupin whipped out his wand and launched a Stunner right off the bat. "Stupefy!"
A single Stunning Spell naturally couldn't accomplish much. The Animal Path reacted with equal swiftness, raising its wand to block Lupin's Stunner.
What immediately followed was an overwhelming barrage of spells from Lupin.
As a genuine, highly competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, firing off seventeen spells in two seconds was mere standard procedure for him.
Silver metal flowed out from the Animal Path's sleeve like liquid, instantly condensing into a rhomboid shield in front of it, perfectly blocking Lupin's offensive.
In the next second, during the brief pause in Lupin's continuous spellcasting, a black figure flew out from behind the shield, rapidly closing the distance between himself and Lupin.
When the Animal Path closed in to less than two meters from Lupin, a sharp, gleaming sword materialized in its hand.
The razor-sharp blade, flashing with a cold light, slashed down viciously toward Lupin.
Who said only human puppets like the Asura Path could be equipped with weapons other than wands?
Sir, times have changed!
Seeing the blade slashing down toward his head, Lupin's expression changed instantly.
With a flick of his wand, the ground beneath them instantly transfigured into a massive earthen fist, blasting the Animal Path backward.
As it was blown backward, the Animal Path raised its unsworded left hand and fired a Cruciatus Curse directly at Lupin. "Crucio!"
Unfortunately, this Cruciatus Curse was blocked by the giant fist formed from the suddenly rising earth and failed to hit Lupin.
Lupin's hurried counterattack, aside from splashing a bit of mud onto the Animal Path's clean black robe with red clouds, failed to inflict any substantial damage on the target.
With just one exchange, Lupin grasped the opponent's approximate combat capability.
The enemy's intrinsic strength wasn't overwhelmingly powerful; being able to trade blows back and forth with him was merely reliant on that strange, shape-shifting metal.
If it were a one-on-one duel, given enough time, he could still take down the mysterious wizard before him even with those bizarre magical metals protecting him.
The problem, however, was that their current location was right in the middle of the enemy's home turf.
If a single core member of the Akatsuki organization was already this tricky to handle, ghost knew how many more core members with this level of combat power were inside the village.
Coupled with the rest of the wizards in the village... he wasn't a ceiling-level wizard like Albus Dumbledore or Gellert Grindelwald. How could he possibly face several hundred people alone and still retreat unscathed?
Lupin's face instantly turned grave.
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