chapter 119 part 3
"Hmm? Aren't we going to scout for intel beforehand and confirm their identity?"
"No need. If it's not the person we're looking for, we'll quickly defeat them and then continue searching for our target. Didn't you say you have a Memory-Searching Dojutsu? As long as you touch the enemy's head and get what we want, we'll immediately retreat."
Yahiko immediately went to meet them, bringing Nagato, and directly confronted Chiyo.
"And who are you? Rushing to your deaths in the Hidden Sand Village?"
Chiyo sharply rebuked them. Nagato's Sensory Perception wasn't wrong; there were indeed very few people in the Hidden Sand Village with powerful Chakra fluctuations.
"Oh, you must be Chiyo, the one who supposedly developed the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu... We are Akatsuki, and we need your Forbidden Jutsu to change this world. You will be the genesis of this revolution, and people of the new era will remember your contribution," Yahiko said.
"Akatsuki? Never heard of them. What kind of third-rate organization is this... And that red-haired brat's eyes behind you..." Chiyo's eyes weren't blurred to the point of not being able to see clearly. She looked at Nagato in disbelief.
The Rinnegan?! Why were these eyes here? And standing on the opposing side of the Hidden Sand Village! In an instant, Chiyo realized that things were looking bad; among the enemies attacking the Hidden Sand Village, someone completely beyond imagination had appeared.
"Indeed, it is the Rinnegan. He will lead a revolution in the Shinobi World and change this desperate world."
"The sage's eye still needs to use a Forbidden Jutsu I developed? How ridiculous! If you are truly so noble and powerful, you should go attack the Hidden Leaf Village and seize the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu from Tsukasa Kaede!" Chiyo sneered.
Yahiko frowned, "It seems there's no way to make you hand it over willingly. We can only achieve our goal with force, though I'm not averse to doing so."
The Hidden Sand Village subsequently plunged into greater chaos, and this was clearly just the beginning.
More and more individuals would take the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Even those ninja from the Land of Wind who had been forcibly conscripted earlier used the chaos to flee.
The vast Hidden Sand Village, which just a few years ago was still a great ninja village revered by most people in the Shinobi World, was now plunged into unprecedented chaos. Every individual who took action had their own agenda.
It could only be said that Tsukasa Kaede had elevated the meaning and value of the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu to an unprecedented height; everyone wanted to obtain the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu and become a second Tsukasa Kaede.
A long while later.
The roars and commotion in the Hidden Sand Village finally gradually subsided, completely stopping at some point. The Village transitioned from chaos to silence, which was profoundly unsettling.
Looking around, collapsed buildings, scattered corpses, and wailing injured lay everywhere, narrating the terror and disorder of this upheaval, making it impossible to see any meaning in what had transpired.
The Third Kazekage, covered in wounds, stood with a somber expression. He was using this method to tell everyone that he, the Kazekage, was still here, and the Hidden Sand Village had not fallen—it was not realistic to defeat the Hidden Sand Village with this level of attack.
"Over a thousand ninja have died. Those who fled during the chaos are even more numerous than that, and not a few of them originally belonged to the Village."
Rasa couldn't stand up, a large chunk of flesh was missing from his chest, and his heart had almost been ripped out.
"Where's Karura?"
"Dead, killed by that bounty hunter who claimed to have fought against the First Hokage. He possesses the ability to seize hearts to gain ninjutsu and extend life force. He even said he would exchange Karura's corpse for her bounty." Rasa's voice was cold as he spoke, as if he had lost not a lover, but an ordinary subordinate.
"Fought against the First Hokage... all sorts of strange characters are coming out, trying to take advantage of the Hidden Sand Village!" The Third Kazekage grieved over the death of yet another very promising junior.
Rasa panted, tending to his wounds while looking around, "I don't see Lady Chiyo. Did her plan succeed? Throwing out some scrolls to deceive the enemy?"
"It must have failed. She seemed to have been ambushed by a powerful enemy, even using the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu. She disappeared after leaving me a hidden piece of intel." The Third Kazekage's expression was fluctuating.
Sage's eye... if it was that kind of power, Chiyo's defeat seemed unsurprising, and losing the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu was a natural outcome.
However, the Third Kazekage no longer had the energy to deal with Akatsuki's troubles—even if Chiyo was right, that was a matter for later. With the Hidden Sand Village in this state, they first needed to ensure they survived.
"Hunting the Seven-Tails will become even more difficult," the Third Kazekage said, looking at Rasa before him and Pakura, who was gathering her troops. These two were the only capable individuals the Hidden Sand Village had left.
But this lineup, compared to the neighboring Hidden Leaf Village, was truly pathetic; the difference was too vast, and the gap would likely widen further in the future, leaving no hope of catching up.
"Transmit my orders: continue to organize ninja for defense, repair houses as quickly as possible, and cremate all corpses of the fallen!" the Third Kazekage commanded.
"Cremate?"
"Regardless of friend or foe, all will be cremated. From now on, this will be the Hidden Sand Village's priority method for disposing of corpses. Otherwise, who knows if the corpses will suddenly stand up and attack others?" The Third Kazekage felt utterly weary.
That unpredictable Tsukasa Kaede hadn't even made a move. If he were to take the opportunity to do something... they really had to organize people as quickly as possible to set up a large barrier jutsu, at least to cover the entire Hidden Sand Village, to ensure that any corpse transformation was detected immediately.
But considering the current state of the Hidden Sand Village, where would they find so many barrier ninja? Moreover, the daily maintenance of a barrier was also a huge burden.
"Lord Kazekage, at least we successfully withstood the enemy's attack. Next, as long as we can obtain a tailed beast, the Hidden Sand Village will still be a great ninja village, not one that small villages can humiliate," Rasa said.
"Hm, I'll find a way to capture a tailed beast. Not a single one of those who attacked us will be spared; we will settle accounts with them one by one!" the Third Kazekage gnashed his teeth.
...
The turmoil in the Hidden Sand Village spread like wind, becoming known to all major factions. Whether they had acted or not, everyone was happy to see the Hidden Sand Village become even weaker.
If the Hidden Sand Village couldn't produce any significant achievements, it would only continue to decline in the future—unless many powerful ninja of both quantity and quality suddenly emerged at once, but how could that be possible? With their existing strength, lacking even a tailed beast, it would be very difficult.
In the Hidden Leaf Village, voices advocating for war against the Hidden Sand Village immediately rose.
However, the Village's higher-ups temporarily had no such intention; they were more focused on another matter.
"Sakumo, why did the mission fail? This isn't like you; your mission completion rate has always been one hundred percent," Koharu Utatane asked.
Homura Mitokado said, "According to your report, you found Chiyo's location, but in the end, you couldn't obtain the ninjutsu... Was it because another faction intervened? Was it the Hidden Stone Village or the Hidden Cloud Village?"
"It was the owner of the Rinnegan, a person calling himself Nagato."
(end of chapter)