Chapter 79: You Will Regret This!
In the village of Amegakure, Pain sat atop a tall tower, gazing down at the village through the ever-present curtain of rain. After a moment, he spoke quietly.
"Konan, you're back?"
Behind him, a woman with blue hair and a black cloak adorned with red clouds stepped forward.
"Yes, I'm back. But... I encountered something unexpected."
Konan nodded, her voice low as she recalled what had just happened.
"Someone visited that place... and left a bouquet as an offering. If I'm not mistaken, there's probably only one person who would do such a thing."
"Jiraiya-sensei, huh..."
Though Konan spoke in vague terms, Pain instantly understood—and a trace of nostalgia crept into his voice.
"To think he still remembers us... But sadly, this isn't the past anymore. His beliefs likely no longer align with ours."
"I know. It's unfortunate."
Konan nodded again. She had long since realized that Jiraiya would never approve of who they had become.
"I'm just curious why he came to the Land of Rain. If I hadn't gone there, I wouldn't have known he had even arrived. Was he here for the Hidden Rain Village?"
"Unlikely. I didn't detect any unfamiliar presence."
Pain shook his head. With his Rain Tiger Vision Technique constantly active, he felt confident in his surveillance, and that made the situation even more troubling.
"Maybe... they've caught wind of the Iwagakure situation and are trying to pass through the Land of Rain to enter the Land of Earth."
"Why not go through the Land of Grass or the Land of Waterfalls? Wouldn't that be closer?"
Konan asked instinctively, then fell silent. Her question made Pain pause as well.
Perhaps... they chose the longer route just to pay their respects.
"We can't go back to the past, Konan."
Pain finally shook his head after a long pause.
"Send word to the others. Have them gather as soon as possible."
"Wouldn't that attract too much attention? Ōnoki might notice."
"It's just a precaution. If anything happens, we'll be ready to respond. I have no intention of clashing with Ōnoki."
At this stage, the Akatsuki lacked resources—and Pain had even been discreetly diverting funds from the organization to support the village's development.
Making an enemy of Ōnoki now would not be wise.
"Understood. I'll make preparations."
Konan gave it some thought, then nodded and turned to leave, leaving Pain alone in the rain.
"Jiraiya-sensei..."
After a while, he shook his head again.
"What a pity—your unwavering convictions…"
---
Meanwhile, in the Land of Earth...
"This place really is a dump."
Three figures in black cloaks with red clouds made their way forward in silence. Kisame, carrying the massive Samehada sword on his back, glanced up at the sun and shook his head.
Having lived in the misty and humid Land of Water for so long, he found the dry climate of Iwagakure deeply uncomfortable.
"At least it's better than the Land of Wind."
Sasori, hidden inside Hiruko, spoke in a low, raspy voice.
"Enough pointless chatter. Do we have any intel on that brat Deidara?"
"Nothing new yet. That pitcher plant hasn't given us more details."
Itachi shook his head. For now, Zetsu had only informed them that Deidara was nearby—but nothing specific.
"This place really isn't much to look at."
"Oh? Didn't think someone like you would be picky, Itachi."
Kisame grinned, his sharp teeth making him look like a shark.
"You probably weren't old enough to fight in the Third Great Ninja War, right?"
"…"
Itachi shot Kisame a glance, not even bothering to reply.
But Kisame was actually mistaken—Itachi had taken part in the war, even though he had only been three or four at the time.
It was during the conflict with Iwagakure that he took his first life—an event that had haunted him ever since.
"Enough with the idle talk. Stay sharp this time."
Sasori looked up at the sky, then continued in a quiet tone.
"Deidara is Ōnoki's student. He may have stirred up trouble, but Ōnoki still acknowledges him.
He's likely protected. If we locate him, make sure to strike clean and fast. I don't want unnecessary complications."
"Oh? I didn't expect the famous Sasori of the Red Sand to be so cautious. Maybe those rumors were exaggerated."
Kisame raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"It's not about being cautious—it's about not crossing that guy."
Sasori glanced at Kisame from the corner of his eye and spoke flatly.
"Ōnoki may be old, but he's strong—and he possesses the legendary Kekkei Tōta. If I could, I'd rather add him to my collection.
A puppet made from him would likely be quite powerful. Unfortunately, he's one of our clients for now. What a waste."
Creating puppets costs money—Sasori's entire arsenal of hidden weapons and even the poisons he uses all come at a price.
That's where the hidden villages come in. They provide the basic resources you need, offer steady income through missions, and as your rank increases, so do the benefits.
Life isn't easy for rogue ninja—it's no joke.
"Tch, you talk like you could actually take Ōnoki in a fight."
Kisame snorted and shook his head. Kekkei Tōta isn't something to be taken lightly.
Sasori raised an eyebrow but hadn't yet responded when suddenly, a pitcher plant emerged from the ground ahead of them.
"There you are. Good, I've finished the investigation," Zetsu said quietly as he surfaced, glancing over the three.
"Deidara is holed up in a temple to the west. There's an Anbu squad stationed nearby—you'll need to be cautious."
"The west, huh? Got it."
Itachi gave a slight nod and turned to leave without further comment, but Zetsu spoke again.
"Friendly advice—wait a bit before making your move. It'll attract less attention. Also, there's something else you should know."
"Hmph, just say it," Sasori grunted. Kisame also turned his gaze toward Zetsu.
"You're being tailed."
Zetsu didn't seem concerned and continued.
"Pain has already been alerted. To avoid complications and to ensure backup if needed, he's begun mobilizing others—but that takes time.
So delay your attack. It'll make things smoother later on."
Tailed?
The three looked at each other in surprise. None of them had noticed anyone following them.
"Who is it?"
All of them grew serious, but Zetsu only shook his head.
"Not sure, but whoever it is, they're definitely not just some nobody."
---
Meanwhile, in a small village near the border, Kitagawa Gen looked up at the clear sky and nodded to himself.
Even though this was only the outskirts, the climate was already different—you could see the Land of Earth from here.
The Land of Earth was nothing like the relatively flat Land of Fire. Everywhere you looked, there were rocks and mountains.
But at least here, unlike the perpetually rainy Land of Rain, there was sunshine.
"This place really is full of mountains," Jiraiya muttered as he looked through a telescope.
"No wonder it's so hard to invade—nature's given it walls on all sides."
"And I've heard the only way into Iwagakure is through narrow mountain passes," Kakashi added.
"If you want to invade the Land of Earth, you'd have to come from the sea. That's how it happened during the Third Great Ninja War."
Gen nodded—he knew exactly what Kakashi was referring to.
Back then, Kakashi and his team destroyed the Kannabi Bridge, cutting off Iwa's supply lines, which forced them to surrender.
But there was a deeper reason for Iwa's sudden retreat.
Before that operation, the Third Raikage, in his usual reckless fashion, led his troops into Iwa territory to gather intel.
Unluckily, they were discovered. For three days and nights, the Third Raikage fought alone against tens of thousands of Iwa shinobi to let his men escape.
He eventually died from exhaustion.
His death changed everything—Iwa feared that Kumogakure would retaliate from the sea to avenge their fallen leader.
At that point, continuing the war with Konoha in the Land of Grass lost its meaning. After the bridge was destroyed, Ōnoki decided surrender was the best option.
"Besides, rebuilding a single bridge isn't that hard, is it?"
Especially since the Third Hokage had offered Iwa some very generous terms.
Of course, none of that diminished what Kakashi and his team achieved back then.
"Alright, enough history," Jiraiya said, putting away his telescope. "The Anbu sent by the old man left me a message. They've tracked the movements of the mysterious organization—and they've already entered Iwa.
We'll prepare to move out soon. Good thing the Anbu are here—otherwise we'd have a hard time with this."
"Agreed," Kakashi and Gen both nodded.
The Land of Earth was huge and bordered three smaller nations. Without the Anbu and their intel network, the three of them would've never been able to handle this on their own.
"Well then, since we've got some downtime, let's rest up," Jiraiya said, packing his gear and heading out while whistling.
"This Sannin's going to go for a little walk—call it gathering intel."
"Jiraiya-sensei, I'll come with you!" Gen said, blinking enthusiastically and trying to follow.
But before he could take more than a few steps, Kakashi yanked him back.
"Get back here. What do you think you're doing?"
"I-I was going to set up some Flying Thunder God markers! So we can move around more easily later, Kakashi-sensei!"
"You already did—I saw you. And don't think I don't know what you're really after."
Kakashi covered his face with a hand. He could suddenly understand how the Third Hokage must have felt when hearing about Gen's teammates beating each other half to death just to graduate.
Truly a failure of education.
Kakashi didn't want his student going down the wrong path. But then he glanced at the book hidden in his tool pouch and decided—at least for now—this wasn't the time.
"Come with me. You said you want to be a Jonin, right? Then your fundamentals better be solid. Time to study."
"Come on, this is mission time! Even our free time should be for resting!"
"Use every moment wisely. Study hard."
"Oh come on! You're reading Icha Icha Paradise and you're making me read The Three Ninja Commandments? That's just cruel!"
"Kitagawa Gen, I'm your instructor."
"You'll regret this!"