I Am Uzumaki Menma Chapter 24 - 24 The Mysterious Ninja

Land of Rain, Agakure.

Heavy rain poured down as countless towering building stood tall within the curtain of rain, the entire village shrouded in a gloomy, damp atmosphere.

For the Ninjas of Agakure, rain had been falling over their village and the entire Land of Rain since the day they were born, with barely a few clear days throughout the year.

Beneath this never-ending rain lay poverty, slaughter, cri...

At the top of one of the tall buildings, Obito, wearing the Akatsuki's black robes with red clouds and operating under the alias [Uchiha Madara], sat at the edge of the platform, gazing down at the rain-soaked city.

In the room behind him, the [Six Paths of Pain] stood silently in the shadows, while Konan ticulously sorted through gathered intelligence.

At this point, the Akatsuki organization consisted only of Nagato, Konan, and Obito, who is posing as Madara, and Zetsu.

The deceased core mbers had been reanimated by Nagato as the [Six Paths of Pain].

Due to the severe injuries his legs had suffered from Hanzo's explosive tag trap, and the constant need to supply chakra to the Gedo Statue, Nagato's real body remained confined to a special apparatus, unable to move freely.

Thus, he relied on the [Deva Path], which is created from Yahiko's corpse, to act in the outside world.

"My, my~" A playful voice rang out as a venus flytrap-like figure erged from the ground, his body starkly divided into black and white halves.

"Guess what interesting intel I picked up at the bounty exchange." The white half said in a teasing tone.

"Just spit it out." Obito replied coldly, turning his head slightly, his Sharingan glinting ominously beneath the mask.

"You're no fun at all~" White Zetsu continued chattering.

At the sa ti, he placed a freshly updated bounty poster on the table.

"This is the new bounty of 70 million Ryo updated by the bounty exchange. The target calls himself 'Danzo', codenad Shura. The attack on Kumogakure seems to be his doing."

Konan picked up the bounty poster, and examined it carefully.

"Danzo..." The na triggered painful mories for Konan.

But unlike the bandage-wrapped Shimura Danzo from her mories, the portrait depicted a bright, cheerful young man. For so reason, it reminded her of Yahiko when he was still alive.

"What were the losses from the attack on Kumogakure?" Obito also ca over. What he was more concerned about was whether this mysterious Ninja was the sa person who had attacked Konoha days earlier.

"The White Zetsu I sent out reported that quite a few people died and the Raikage Building was blown to bits!" White Zetsu waved his arms excitedly, "A blast of that scale, and he still managed to escape unscathed under the pursuit of the Raikage and the Jinchuriki? That's no less damage than what you caused during your attack on Konoha three years ago."

The number of active White Zetsu was limited, and Black Zetsu couldn't afford to place surveillance in every village, as the risk of exposure was too high.

Therefore, the details of the battles within Kumogakure and Unraikyo remained largely unknown to outsiders.

The severely injured B was also under tight protection.

Moreover, since B had been banned from leaving the village for years, White Zetsu hadn't gathered any intelligence on him either.

"Hmph!" Hearing White Zetsu bring up the Nine-Tails Rampage he had orchestrated three years ago, Obito snorted coldly.

Back then, his teacher Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan had left him badly injured, and half of his body, which fused with White Zetsu, had been lted.

"Do you know this Shura?" The Deva Path's voice echoed from the shadows.

Though they had accepted this self-proclaid Uchiha Madara into the Akatsuki, Nagato and Konan remained wary of him.

Now that such a powerful Ninja has appeared, 'Uchiha Madara', who has lived for nearly a hundred years, should have so knowledge of him.

Moreover, the code na of this mysterious Ninja is Shura. When Uchiha Madara was alive, he also had the title of [Shura of the Ninja World].

"I've never heard of abilities like his." Obito muttered, staring at the sketch on the bounty poster. It depicted a bright, cheerful young man, though the description noted it might be a Transformation Technique disguise.

Next to the sketch was another portrait of a man wearing a three-eyed fox mask.

Abilities he'd never heard of, a powerful Ninja he'd never encountered before...

Could this disrupt his plans for revenge?

Obito raised his head and spoke to Zetsu, "The mont Konoha's heightened security eases up, notify imdiately."

Due to the recent incident where a Kumogakure's envoy was killed by a mysterious Ninja and his body was dumped in an attempt to fra the Hyuga Clan, Konoha had tightened surveillance on its village barrier.

The White Zetsu lurking within Konoha had relayed so intelligence but dared not act recklessly, fearing detection by Byakugan users or other sensory Ninjas.

…

At the sa ti, in Konoha Village.

A high-level eting was also taking place in the Hokage Building.

"I'll say it one last ti! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with !" Danzo slamd the table, his face dark with fury as he argued with Hiruzen.

On the table before them lay the updated bounty poster from the bounty exchange, clearly displaying the sketch of the mysterious man… alongside the na 'Danzo'.

Koharu said in a soothing tone: "Perhaps it's just a coincidence of nas."

"Or it could be an attempt to fra us." Homura looked at Hiashi across from him and asked, "Are you sure it's the sa person?"

Hiashi looked at the bounty poster on the table and the familiar three-eyed fox mask, and nodded affirmatively: "Absolutely, it's the sa mask."

But then, Hiashi frowned again and said, "He caused trouble in Konoha, then went to Kumogakure to wreak havoc... What is his goal?"

The high-ranking people present at the eting fell into deep thought.

Previously, they had assud this mysterious Ninja bore a grudge against Konoha, hence his attempt to fra the village and escalate war with Kumogakure.

But now, this mysterious man has attacked Kumogakure himself!

According to intelligence from Konoha's spies in Kumogakure, the Raikage Building had been obliterated, with hundreds of casualties, including Elite Jonin.

What's even more unsettling is that the spies reported that the attackers weren't alone… there were three masked individuals: one woman and two n!

However, since most of Konoha's spies in Kumogakure were just Genin, they couldn't access critical details.

"If the enemy holds a deep-seated grudge against Kumogakure, then this makes sense." Nara Shikaku, who had two scars on his face, analyzed.

As the Jonin Commander and the chief strategist of the Third and Fourth Hokage, his words carried significant weight.

Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe, his old face grave beneath the Hokage's hat.

Shikaku continued his reasoning: "Assassinating the Kumogakure's envoy and put the bla on the Hyuga Clan… If the plan succeeds, the war will most likely continue, and Kumogakure's combat power will be greatly consud. At that ti, this mysterious person, or their organization, could strike Kumogakure at their weakest..."

Shikaku's deduction was logical, and also the only plausible explanation at the mont.

As the eting concluded, after finalizing security asures, Hiruzen turned to Hiashi with concern, "How is Hizashi's situation?"

"He's... doing well!" Hiashi hesitated briefly before answering.