Land of Thunder.
Located in the northeast corner of the Hokage world, mostly mountains and hills, with varied terrain. Most of the people living in the Land of Thunder live near the mountains.
To adapt to the local conditions, farmers in the Land of Thunder mainly grow cold-resistant buckwheat and highland barley, supplemented by tea as an export cash crop.
Some areas have winding rivers, and after the planting season, farmers catch sea fish and freshwater fish to supplement their food.
For the common people of the Land of Thunder, this day was a very ordinary morning.
They got up in the dark, kissed their children, and carried their fishing nets, preparing to go fishing in groups of three or five.
Summer was about to end, and they had to seize the tail end of the fishing season to catch a few more fish to supplement their household income. If the harvest was good this year, they might even be able to buy a few new clothes for their children.
The farmers, transformed into part-time fishermen, boarded their boats and passed through the reeds.
The river surface was covered with a thin mist in the morning, hazy and dreamlike.
One by one, fishing nets were thrown into the water, and after a while, they were pulled up again.
Nothing.
They tried two or three times in a row, but not a single fish was caught.
"Hey, what's going on? Where did all the fish go?"
The fisherman scratched his head, wondering where all the fish had gone today, when suddenly, his companion tugged at his clothes.
"Look—"
Following his companion's gaze, the fisherman saw a leaf of a small boat slowly floating on the river.
The boat was not big, with only two people, one big and one small, sitting on it. A stove was placed between them, and a fragrant aroma was emanating from it.
Eating on a boat was not a rare thing, but what was shocking was what was being dragged behind the boat—
A snake head!
A huge, incredibly pale snake head.
"Wait! Do snakes... grow horns?!"
A fisherman who had read a few books and seen "the world" widened his eyes:
"This is clearly a dragon that has already transformed!"
The fishermen stared blankly at the slowly approaching boat, finally understanding where the fish that had disappeared today had gone.
They saw schools of fish following behind the White Snake Sage's head. They didn't dare to tear at the flesh, but they just followed behind, taking a sip of the water that had soaked the White Snake Sage's corpse. One by one, the fish visibly became plump, and their cloudy eyes seemed to have gained a trace of intelligence.
The fish leaped in the water, and their scales scattered a hazy, colorful glow in the morning mist.
In the fishermen's eyes, it was like the legend of the fish leaping over the Dragon Gate.
There were also blue herons and white cranes that smelled the aroma and flew over.
They flapped their wings and hovered in the air, sucking in the rising water vapor, taking a big gulp.
"Im-, immortal!"
Someone shouted first, and a fisherman suddenly stood up and bowed down in the direction of Linto.
Slaughtering a white dragon, attracting birds, and fish leaping over the gate.
What else could this be but an immortal?
Even the legendary Sage of Six Paths reincarnated would be nothing more than this.
With the first, there was a second. The fishermen knelt on the ground and kowtowed in Linto's direction.
But how big and stable could a farmer's fishing boat be?
So many people stood up, causing the boat to shake abnormally. Several unlucky ones fell into the water as it rocked.
Normally, with the fishermen's swimming skills, they wouldn't drown.
But today, tens of thousands of fish were boiling past in the water, and the current was turbulent. The fishermen couldn't climb back on board, and they all wailed.
Linto sighed as he saw this scene.
"I just wanted to eat a quiet breakfast, but it's so lively."
Sasuke smiled, picked up a bowl, and ladled a bowl of fish soup for Linto.
He knew that with Linto's personality, he would say it was troublesome, but he would still save the fishermen who had fallen into the water.
Linto took the bowl and tapped the edge of the boat with his finger.
A wisp of cyan-green ripples fell into the water, and the river surged, throwing the drowning fishermen back onto the boat one by one.
The fishermen who felt the "divine power" bowed again, but they heard a few thumps, and six or seven plump fish fell onto the boat. Linto's voice came in the distance:
"The water is cold in the morning, go back and make some soup."
...
Linto continued forward along the river.
This was the main river that ran through Kumogakure. As long as he went all the way, he could reach Kumogakure.
From time to time, there were furtive glances cast from both sides of the river.
Shadows of people were visible in the grass and trees, increasing in number as Linto advanced.
Among them were Kumogakure's reconnaissance ninja, as well as intelligence agents from various ninja villages placed in the Land of Thunder.
Hoi was one of them.
He had short, golden hair and handsome features. He was Kumogakure's intelligence expert, proficient in illusion, medical, and sensing ninjutsu.
Kumogakure was the initiator of the attack and had learned about Yugito Nii's death from various channels.
But after that, Linto seemed to have disappeared, with no news for several days.
Hoi thought that Linto had chickened out and didn't want to provoke a war between the two major ninja villages. He had seen many people who "considered the big picture" in his life.
For example, Konoha's Third Hokage was a model.
He thought that Linto, who had left Konoha, had also inherited this "Will of Fire," but...
Hoi's gaze fell on the huge snake head in the water.
Others might not recognize it, but Kumogakure cooperated with Ryuchi Cave. How could they not do their homework? How could Hoi not recognize whose big head this was?
The White Snake Sage!
An old powerhouse who had lived for thousands of years, had his head twisted off!
After the Kirigakure attack, Kumogakure had been watching Kirigakure's movements. Hoi was certain that Kirigakure had not seen any large-scale ninja deployments.
Terumi Mei, Zabuza, Ao, and the samurai Miyamoto and others were all still in Kirigakure.
"This means—"
Hoi's breathing quickened. He slapped his cheeks hard to regain his senses and whispered his deduction:
"Linto single-handedly overturned Ryuchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Lands!"
Hoi wasn't the only one who could deduce this.
The agents present were all smart people. After exchanging information, they figured out most of it.
Unlike Hoi, who looked serious, the agents from various villages suddenly became interested, their eyes shining.
Everyone knew Linto's style of doing things.
Kumogakure domineering?
Linto was even more domineering than Kumogakure.
Since the name "Linto" appeared in the intelligence files of various villages, he had never been defeated, cutting through the mess with quick strokes.
Now that Ryuchi Cave was gone, next...
Was it Kumogakure's turn?
One carrier pigeon after another was released, sending the news back to the organizations behind them.
For a time, the eyes of the whole world were focused on them.
One side was Kumogakure, which had been competing in military strength and gradually pressing down on the ninja villages in recent years.
The other side was Linto, who had appeared like a shooting star, showing absolute power with overwhelming force.
Everyone wanted to know who would have the last laugh in this battle.
...
"Who will have the last laugh?"
Obito played with a scale of the White Snake Sage in his hand, a souvenir brought back by Zetsu, who was watching the battle.
He said to Pain, "Is there even a need to ask?"
"Of course, it's us."
Whether Linto won or Kumogakure won, as long as one side suffered a setback, it would be beneficial to Akatsuki's plan.
In the Akatsuki organization's base, all the still-living Akatsuki members were present.
Today, Pain would introduce their next stage goal.
But before that—
"Let me introduce our new member."
Pain turned to the side.
A tall, thin figure walked out of the darkness and into the candlelight.
The man gave the Akatsuki members a bright smile.
"Hello, everyone."
"My name is Hidan. Nice to meet you. I didn't know what you guys liked, so I'll give you Lord Jashin's blessing."
"I wish you die soon."
No one answered.
Deidara muttered in a low voice, "A traitor Uchiha Itachi, a religious fanatic, and then..."
He looked at Konan, who was holding a notebook.
"...a vice leader who was caught by the enemy's charm."
Deidara shook his head slightly.
"Akatsuki is going to be finished."
Pain saw that Hidan was getting along well with everyone, nodded, and said the next stage goal:
"For the next period, we will suspend most of our missions and prioritize capturing tailed beasts."
"Tailed beasts?"
Uchiha Itachi frowned slightly, "Is Akatsuki going to start a war with the Five Great Nations?"
Pain said, "Not for now. Thanks to Linto, both the Two-Tails and Three-Tails have left the ninja villages and become wild tailed beasts.
As long as we lie in wait in advance at the places where they re-condense, we can bypass the ninja villages and capture the tailed beasts."
Kakuzu, who was in charge of financial management, asked, "What about the funds?"
The financial path from Kirigakure had been cut off, and if they didn't carry out other missions... the Akatsuki organization seemed to only have this few people, but they each maintained their intelligence networks, weapons, equipment, and daily expenses, which was a lot of money.
Moreover, the money on the books always mysteriously disappeared a lot.
Kakuzu had audited the accounts many times, but he only found "depreciation of explosive tags," and nothing beyond that.
Who's explosive tags could depreciate so much money?
Converted, it was enough to buy tens of millions worth of explosive tags!
These fake accounts were too damn fake!
Akatsuki was Pain and Konan's organization. Kakuzu accepted that the boss was making fake accounts, but he required everyone to stop doing mercenary missions. What would they do for money?
They couldn't expect Sasori to sell his broken dolls to make money, could they?
"Don't worry about the money," Pain said, "A financial group will sponsor us."
"Which country's financial group?" Kakuzu asked.
Pain looked at him and spat out three words:
"Five Great Nations."
Deidara's eyes lit up.
"Akatsuki is really getting better and better!"
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