Chapter 348: The Power to Sway the Battle

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: The Power to Sway the Battle

Within the Land of Fire, inside an underground cavern.

The flickering candlelight atop the stone table sent shadows swaying back and forth across the cavern walls.

At that moment, the Third Hokage, a pipe clenched between his lips, silently handed the intelligence on the Akatsuki that Hyuga Kagami had reported to him over to the Kazekage and Raikage sitting opposite him.

After taking the intelligence report from the Third Hokage, the Kazekage gave it a brief glance, and his expression immediately darkened.

Bang!

The hot-tempered Raikage slammed his palm heavily onto the stone table and roared, "The Akatsuki has grown to this extent! You Konoha bear an undeniable responsibility for this!"

The Third Hokage lightly tapped his pipe against the table. "I have no intention of shirking responsibility. But our most urgent priority right now is to eliminate the Akatsuki, which has already become a threat to the stability of the shinobi world."

Staring at the intelligence report, the Kazekage began reading aloud.

"Uchiha Shinichi, who possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan; Sasori, who possesses an Ice Style human puppet and a Shikotsumyaku human puppet; Kakuzu of Takigakure, who possesses five hearts; Hiruko, who possesses five Kekkei Genkai; Shinno, who is suspected of having become the jinchuriki of a demon; Orochimaru, one of Konoha’s former Legendary Sannin; and Juzo Biwa, formerly one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist..."

As he continued reading through the intelligence, the Kazekage’s expression grew increasingly grim.

Finally, he gave a bitter smile. "Not a single one of these people is easy to deal with. I never imagined the Akatsuki had already grown this powerful. If we allow them to continue developing unchecked, I’m afraid it won’t be long before they possess enough strength to challenge the position of the Five Great Shinobi Villages in the shinobi world."

"Not soon."

After a brief pause, the Third Hokage said solemnly, "They’ve already begun challenging us!"

The Raikage asked impatiently, "How much fighting strength can your two villages mobilize?"

The Third Hokage pondered for a moment before answering, "When it comes to eliminating the Akatsuki, Konoha will naturally do its part. This time, I will personally take action, and those accompanying me will be among the finest shinobi Konoha has to offer."

The Kazekage said, "I’ll also participate personally. The captain of our village’s ANBU will accompany me, and at least one of our advisor elders will take part in this operation as well."

Seeing that both the Hokage and Kazekage were personally taking the field, the Raikage nodded in satisfaction. "Good. As the Raikage, I’ll personally participate in this operation as well. Killer B and Yugito will both be coming with me!"

The Third Hokage and Kazekage both looked surprised upon hearing this.

This surprise attack against the Akatsuki was, in fact, an extremely dangerous operation. Kumogakure was deploying two jinchuriki at once. That fact alone was enough to show just how determined Kumogakure was to eradicate the Akatsuki.

Outside the cavern where the Three Kage Summit was being held, Jiraiya pulled Hyuga Kagami aside and asked in a low voice, "Are you certain the leader of the Akatsuki possesses the legendary Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths?"

Hyuga Kagami calmly replied, "According to the results of the interrogation, that is indeed the case."

Jiraiya’s expression dimmed, a conflicted look appearing on his face.

The moment he learned that the leader of the Akatsuki possessed the legendary Rinnegan, Jiraiya immediately thought of one of the three children he had once taught in the Land of Rain—a boy named Nagato.

Although Nagato had yet to awaken any of the Rinnegan’s unique abilities back then, those extraordinarily distinctive eyes had still been enough for Jiraiya to recognize them as the legendary Rinnegan.

Jiraiya had even believed that he had found the "Child of Prophecy" spoken of in the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy—the one destined to prevent the destruction of the shinobi world.

But not long after returning to Konoha, he received news of the turmoil in the Land of Rain, as well as reports of Nagato and the others’ deaths. Because of that, he had secretly blamed himself for a long time.

After a moment, Jiraiya said in a hoarse voice, "If your intelligence is correct, then the leader of the Akatsuki... may be someone I know."

"What!?"

Hyuga Kagami displayed an appropriate amount of surprise.

Jiraiya seemed unwilling to dwell on the subject and instead asked, "Are you certain Orochimaru is also with the Akatsuki?"

Hyuga Kagami gave a slight nod. "Yes."

The reason Hyuga Kagami had deliberately left Orochimaru, who had long since defected from the Akatsuki, and Shinno, who had already been captured, on the Akatsuki membership list was simple: he wanted the three Kage to take the Akatsuki even more seriously and mobilize more manpower for this surprise attack.

Jiraiya let out a long sigh. Without saying anything more, he walked away alone.

Hyuga Kagami knew exactly what Jiraiya was struggling with.

With the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy hanging over him, whether Nagato—the possessor of the Rinnegan—had died unexpectedly or fallen onto an evil path, Jiraiya would inevitably blame himself. He would feel that he had failed to protect Nagato and guide him down the right path.

After all, Nagato, with his Rinnegan, fit the image of the "Child of Prophecy" far too perfectly.

Leaving the conflicted Jiraiya to his thoughts, Hyuga Kagami shifted his gaze toward Kumogakure.

The lineup accompanying the Fourth Raikage to this secret summit was exceptionally powerful. Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, and Yugito, the Two-Tails jinchuriki, were both among them.

Hyuga Kagami even spotted the still-young "Fifth Raikage," Darui.

Immediately afterward, Hyuga Kagami glanced toward Sunagakure’s side.

Perhaps because Sasori had planted a large number of spies within the village, there weren’t many Sunagakure shinobi accompanying the Fourth Kazekage. The only familiar faces were Chiyo, an elder of Sunagakure, and Pakura, the captain of Sunagakure’s ANBU.

Resting his chin on his hand, Hyuga Kagami silently began estimating their combat strength.

On their side, counting the three Kage, Jiraiya, the two perfect jinchuriki, Chiyo, and Shisui, there were already at least eight Kage-level fighters among those attending this summit alone.

On top of that, there were several others—Pakura, Kakashi, and Darui—whose strength had reached the level of elite jonin and who were capable of touching the threshold of Kage-level combat.

With a lineup like this launching a surprise attack against the Akatsuki, their chances of victory were actually quite good.

And this certainly wasn’t going to be the final lineup for the assault.

Sunagakure might not have much more manpower available to mobilize, but Konoha and Kumogakure should still have room to deploy additional elite shinobi.

"If an opportunity presents itself... maybe I can take advantage of the chaos and get my hands on the Rinnegan!"

After finishing his assessment of their forces, this thought suddenly flashed through Hyuga Kagami’s mind.

Hyuga Kagami actually cared quite a bit about the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy as well.

According to that prophecy, Kaguya’s resurrection was seemingly inevitable. In the original timeline, an unexpected figure like Kabuto had appeared out of nowhere, somehow obtained Uchiha Madara’s corpse, and used the Impure World Reincarnation to resurrect this pinnacle Uchiha powerhouse who could contend with the First Hokage, thereby creating the conditions necessary for Kaguya’s release from her seal.

Because of this, Hyuga Kagami couldn’t help but wonder: if he managed to obtain the Rinnegan and prevent the Ten-Tails from ever appearing, then how would the sealed Kaguya manage to resurrect?

With that thought in mind, Hyuga Kagami began working out his own plan.

At present, aside from Shisui, the people Hyuga Kagami could mobilize included Itachi and Shinichi, who was still undercover within the Akatsuki.

Altogether, that gave him three Mangekyo Sharingan users.

And if he also counted his own Water Release clone, Fire Release clone, and the Third Kazekage human puppet, then the forces at his disposal were already powerful enough to sway the course of the entire battle...