The Land of Rain.
Rain Village Building.
"Iwagakure's orders have decreased." As the leader of Amegakure, Yahiko looked at the intelligence report in his hand with some confusion.
In theory, during a prolonged war—especially after suffering a major defeat—Iwagakure should need more Healing Tags and other supplies.
"Maybe it's because of those barbarians from Kumogakure." Nagato, who was in charge of Amegakure's intelligence network—essentially its Anbu—responded with some uncertainty.
Hidden beneath his bangs, his Rinnegan eyes remained concealed. Not long ago, the Rinnegan that had been lent out was successfully transplanted back into him by Tsunade.
"Kumogakure?" Yahiko was a bit surprised. The Land of Lightning had also placed orders with the Land of Rain before.
"Based on our interactions and probing of Iwa-nin, they've found another source for Healing Tags. I asked Kagetsu about it, and according to his intelligence, Kumogakure has stolen technology from Konoha. But we can't confirm that yet."
Nagato shared the information he recently obtained from Kagetsu.
"So, we have competitors now?" Yahiko smiled bitterly. He had known this business wouldn't stay under Amegakure's control forever, but losing their monopoly after only about a year still left a bitter taste.
Amegakure and the Land of Rain were too poor. Even though they'd earned a good amount of resources and money from other major nations over the past year, it was still far from enough to cover all their needs.
As the leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko could allocate the organization's resources to refugees who couldn't survive. But as the leader of the Rain Village, he couldn't do the same.
Managing an organization of dozens or hundreds of like-minded people is completely different from managing a village with tens of thousands of people.
The latter, especially, involves complexities that made his scalp tingle with stress.
In the nearly year-long period, he felt that he was just beginning to get the hang of it. He even thought that if it weren't for Nagato, Konan, and Kagetsu's help, or if the Healing Tags hadn't brought a large amount of supplies and money to the Rain Village, they might have already been overthrown by the villagers and ninjas.
"Do you need me to investigate?" Nagato offered. His Rinnegan had a unique advantage when it came to interrogation and gathering information.
Yahiko hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Although the Rain Village had stabilized after the war, the environment was still lacking in resources.
Until they entered the next phase, they couldn't afford to abandon the influence and benefits brought by the Healing Tags.
"Teacher!"
Standing in the field, Itachi looked up at Nara Kagetsu and respectfully greeted him.
Lately, the most common topic he heard in the village was about Minato Namikaze and his own teacher, Nara Kagetsu.
No matter what, as a ninja who independently defeated the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, he could be considered top-tier in any ninja village.
In fact, most ninjas and villagers believed that only the Kage could suppress and control the Tailed Beasts.
Itachi had heard so much praise about the two that his ears almost felt like they were developing calluses. As Kagetsu's disciple, he had gained some attention in the village.
Just like when Kagetsu became Orochimaru's disciple, or when Minato became Jiraiya's, they naturally attracted the focus and expectations of some people.
"Itachi has already mastered that Fire Style jutsu and wants you, Kagetsu, to give him some pointers," said Shisui, who approached and ruffled Itachi's hair, making it messy before explaining to Kagetsu the purpose of bringing Itachi here.
After becoming a disciple, Kagetsu spent most of his time handling the backlogged tasks in the Technology Development Department and refining the half-finished forbidden jutsu he selected from the Scroll of Seals.
As for Itachi, aside from their daily meetings, where Kagetsu would explain some jutsu-related problems, the hands-on teaching was fully entrusted to Shisui.
"Come."
Kagetsu immediately understood that Shisui had brought Itachi here to the training field for a reason.
However, he didn't refuse and instead, with interest, stepped aside and signaled for Itachi to move forward and demonstrate.
Although the Fire Style jutsu given to Itachi as a gift wasn't as difficult as a forbidden jutsu, it still required a certain level of talent to master in just a few days.
Unless the jutsu was particularly suited to one's attributes.
For example, like the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu for Naruto.
Itachi showed no signs of panic or any other unnecessary emotions. He simply walked forward under the watchful eyes of Kagetsu and Shisui, approaching the target in the field. He quickly formed the hand signs, then extended his right hand forward with his left hand gripping his right wrist as a brace.
Intense flames gathered in front of Itachi's extended palm, and a small red fireball, about the size of a ping-pong ball, rapidly elongated into an oval shape due to its speed before shooting toward the target.
As it flew like a bullet, the fireball continued absorbing energy from the surroundings, expanding. By the time it hit the target, it had grown to the size of a soccer ball.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted the moment it hit the target, blinding flames accompanied by rolling heat waves ravaged the training field.
The target at the center of the explosion had completely disappeared.
A-Rank Fire Style: Crimson Fire Cannon.
It was a version of a Kido-based ninjutsu from the Kurotsuchi Mayuri template, a reworked technique under a different power system.
After performing the technique, Itachi slightly gasped and turned to look at Kagetsu, realizing that even an A-rank jutsu like this was still somewhat taxing for him at his young age, both in terms of chakra consumption and difficulty.
"Very good," Kagetsu praised him.
"This technique... shouldn't it be more than just this, teacher?" Itachi blushed slightly at the compliment. He had rarely received praise growing up.
Even from his father, it was mostly authority and scolding. It was only when he achieved feats that seemed beyond normal that he would hear, "Well done, you truly are my child."
But both Shisui and his teacher, Kagetsu, were generous with their praise.
This made Itachi more lively around them, unlike when he was with his father, where he maintained a calm and composed demeanor due to his self-imposed high standards.
"Oh?" Kagetsu looked at Itachi with a hint of surprise.
"It seems there's another kind of power at play here," Itachi said, unsure. Logically, his chakra reserves should not have been enough to cause this level of destruction.
"I can feel it. After it's released, it expands and absorbs another force, increasing its destructive power."
"You're right," Kagetsu confirmed Itachi's guess, softly explaining under his gaze.
"Apart from chakra, what it absorbs after release is natural energy! You can think of it as a flawed version of Sage Jutsu."
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