Malphegor
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GSiN: Ch. 81
🕑 Added 2025-05-01 22:05:05 +0000 UTC---Third POV---
The Land of Rain.
As its name suggests, this was a country shrouded in rain.
Three people believed that this unending rain was the country's way of crying. So, they formed an organization called Akatsuki, hoping to bring peace not only to this wounded nation but to the entire ninja world, a dawn for all.
They began to recruit like-minded individuals. What started as a small team gradually evolved into a ninja organization known throughout the Land of Rain.
However, as Akatsuki grew stronger, it began to threaten Hanzō the Salamander, the aging leader of Ame, whose ambition had long faded.
With the help of a senior Konoha intelligence officer, he devised a meticulous plan to completely eliminate this organization that could potentially challenge his control over the village. But surprises always come without warning.
Just as he had started cooperating with the intelligence officer and before they could act, they heard that an internal conflict had already erupted within Akatsuki...
And this takes us back to when Madara was defeated by Ryouma and fled from the Land of Water. He formed hand seals and began to activate his backup plan.
As his chakra flowed, he triggered the curse mark planted on the "incubator body" that had been nurturing the Rinnegan.
---
Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Rain, inside a gray-black building, the now much-expanded Akatsuki was holding their morning meeting. Yahiko and his companions were discussing their next move.
Pointing at a spot on the map laid out on the table, he said, "Kitatori, your team's mission is to scout this area. The war between Konoha and Suna has recently died down, but bandit groups have become more rampant. Be careful, there may be rogue ninjas among them."
"I understand. I'll complete the mission no matter what."
Yahiko smiled, "Haha, don't be so serious. We're all comrades. Your safety is just as important."
After that, he began assigning missions to other teams.
At that moment, Konan noticed something was wrong with Nagato, he seemed to be trembling. She stepped closer and asked with concern, "Are you feeling okay?"
Yahiko also noticed the situation and said worriedly, "It must be because he has been going on too many missions lately. You must stay in the base and rest today."
Nagato kept his head down, silent. Beneath his long bangs, his pair of purple Rinnegan eyes were wide open, almost as if they were about to burst.
Dark markings began to appear all over his body. When the curse mark reached his face, Yahiko and Konan finally realized something was very wrong. But before they could act, Nagato suddenly let out a painful roar. A violent chakra burst knocked everyone back. He then began forming hand seals:
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A swirl of smoke rose as a monstrous entity appeared inside the Akatsuki's base. The huge structure cracked under the immense weight of the Gedo Statue, and debris rained down.
From the smoke, Madara walked out, speaking to himself:
"Some pesky rats, huh? It seems that you've grown far too complacent over the years."
In his eyes, true strength was destined to be solitary. In other words, only the weak huddle together for warmth.
To avoid being crushed by the collapsing building, the Akatsuki members had no choice but to evacuate.
Within the swirling smoke, Madara formed hand seals.
At that moment, someone outside the building, still confused, said aloud, "How did Nagato... ah!"
Before he could finish his sentence, countless wooden spikes shot out from the smoke, piercing him and several other Akatsuki members who were too slow to react.
The spikes not only impaled their bodies but also began to grow inside them. Branches burst outward from within, killing the Akatsuki members instantly.
As the smoke cleared, Madara noticed that a few more "rats" had managed to escape his earlier attack.
Yahiko, seeing the mangled corpses of comrades he had once fought alongside, shouted angrily, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?!"
Konan, on the other hand, looked worriedly at Nagato, who stood behind Madara, who didn't even bother to respond to what he saw as insignificant insects. Just as he was about to unleash more Wood Release to finish off the remaining members, Nagato, through sheer force of will, managed to suppress the curse seal that had already spread to his cheeks, forcing it back down to his neck.
"Banshō Ten'in!"
Several wooden spikes floated up in front of his eyes, caught in the force of his Rinnegan.
"No matter who you are, if your target is me, then it must be these Rinnegan eyes you want. Let Yahiko and the others go, or I'll destroy them!"
Madara turned to face Nagato and said calmly, "Don't misunderstand. These eyes aren't yours to begin with."
Nagato didn't understand what Madara meant by "not your eyes," but he now knew for certain: his enemy was after the Rinnegan.
"Let Yahiko and the others go!" Nagato shouted.
"You, who can't even control your own life, dare to speak so boldly?" With a flick of Madara right hand, several wooden spikes shot out again, striking down two more Akatsuki members who hadn't managed to escape. The spikes grew, and the two were gruesomely killed before Nagato's eyes.
Nagato felt like he was on the verge of madness. His chest heaved rapidly as he struggled to breathe.
Logic told him not to act recklessly, but a twisted part of him wanted to destroy the Rinnegan just to see the look on his enemy's face.
Yahiko wasn't going to sit and wait for death. He was determined to rescue Nagato.
"Attack together! Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
The remaining Akatsuki members joined in the assault on Madara. For a moment, kunai, shuriken, and various jutsu flew toward him in unison.
Blue skeletal arms appeared, and blocked every attack.
The skeletal arms swept wildly. Several Akatsuki members were instantly struck, coughing up blood mid-air before crashing to the ground, lifeless after a few spasms.
From the original dozens of members, Akatsuki was now reduced to fewer than ten.
These survivors leapt around desperately, dodging the onslaught of Susanoo's attacks.
Kitatori couldn't dodge in time and was about to be struck. Yahiko quickly formed hand seals and fired a water bullet at the skeletal arm. Though it had little effect, it was enough to slightly slow the attack.
Using that opening, he quickly leapt back out of danger. But Yahiko, having just used ninjutsu, was now in a vulnerable position. The other skeletal arm came crashing down toward him.
"Yahiko!!" Seeing that the arm was about to strike Yahiko, Konan cried out in alarm.
"Shinra Tensei!"
At the last second, Nagato once again summoned the power of his Rinnegan. The force repelled Susanoo, saving Yahiko from certain death. At the same time, he shouted urgently, "Don't worry about me! You're no match for him. Run! Run!"
"Nagato!" Konan screamed in despair.
Yahiko didn't respond. He simply stared firmly at Nagato, he would never make the decision to abandon a comrade and escape on his own.
Seeing that Yahiko and the others still hadn't moved, Nagato was deeply moved inside, though he would have preferred for them to give up on him.
"Meaningless emotions between the weak." Madara wasn't worried at all that Nagato would destroy the Rinnegan, he had a backup plan for that.
If it weren't for the fact that his battle with Ryouma had drained too much of his chakra, these rats before him would've all been dealt with the moment he appeared.
But in just this short time, he had recovered enough. Just as he was preparing to unleash a powerful jutsu to wipe them all out, Nagato suddenly let out another furious roar.
"Shinra Tensei!"
In an instant, a massive repulsive force burst out from around him. The building above could no longer bear the weight and began to collapse.
A large amount of rubble buried both Nagato and Madara underneath.
"Nagato!" Yahiko and Konan quickly jumped down, searching for any trace of Nagato in the pile of debris.
But the large monster, the enemies, and Nagato himself had all vanished without a trace.
They thought Nagato had been buried below, but after digging for a long time, there wasn't a single clue.
---
On top of the ruins, a few surviving members of Akatsuki stood silently with their heads down, deep in thought. Konan collapsed helplessly onto the rubble, her hands mechanically digging through the debris piece by piece. Most of her fingernails had already torn off along with the flesh, and her fingertips dripped blood continuously, but she kept digging, as if she couldn't feel any pain.
Yahiko couldn't bear to watch her like that. He walked over and gently said, "That's enough, Konan… Nagato… he's already been taken."
He knew the situation very well, whoever the enemy was, they had already taken Nagato away. Their comrade had been captured by someone unknown, and at this moment, he couldn't do anything.
He clenched his fists tightly, his expression grim.
It was all because he was too weak. He couldn't even protect his own family and comrades, yet every day he had boasted about wanting to save the shinobi world.
How arrogant…
Konan, hearing Yahiko's trembling voice, finally snapped back to reality. She slowly let go of the rubble in her hands and cupped her dust-covered face. Tears flowed endlessly through her fingers.
"Nagato… why… why?"
---Ryouma's POV---
After half a day of travel, I arrived at the Kiri.
Originally, I had planned to charge straight in through the front gate, but thanks to the teachings of Madara, I decided from now on to always keep the word "caution" in mind, firmly following the strategy of "stay steady, don't act recklessly."
So, I decided to uphold the ninja tradition, and go with something more devious. I sneakily crouched on the outskirts of Kiri and formed a hand seal.
A strange Flying Thunder God mark, under the influence of the technique, was concealed and began to creep ominously toward Kiri at my command.
It finally stopped at the front gate, as the village was surrounded by a sensory barrier. While it wasn't as sophisticated as Konoha's, I wasn't about to take unnecessary risks by forcing my way in.
After waiting for over ten minutes, a team of Kiri ninja finally returned from outside the village. Controlling the Flying Thunder God mark under the influence of the Shadow Seal Manipulation, I stealthily attached it to the sole of one of the Kiri ninja's shoes.
With that, I slipped into Kiri effortlessly alongside them.
Soon after, I moved the mark to a hidden corner of a street inside the village. Then, I took out some makeup tools from my ninja pouch and slightly altered my facial features in the mirror.
I opened my coat and let Shukaku crawl inside.
Activating the Flying Thunder God Technique, I instantly teleported into the interior of Kiri.
The next step was to mark key facilities in the village. First on the list…
Just like an average villager, I strolled openly through the streets of Kiri, casually touching things here and there.
I believed that sneaky behavior and hesitation were more likely to get me caught. And just as I expected, even after all this time, no one in Kiri noticed my infiltration.
Of course, this was also because I hadn't ventured too close to any critical buildings. Using the Shadow Seal Manipulation, I could leave Flying Thunder God marks at a distance and let them crawl toward their targets on their own.
For example, the next target: Kiri's central bathhouse!
Now, don't get the wrong idea, I wasn't planning to peep. That was just a diversion. My true target was the gray building next to the bathhouse.
According to a map drawn by a spy inside Kiri, that building was the mission hall, which stored a lot of important intel.
Why the bathhouse was built right next to the mission hall, I didn't know. But I did know that if I tried to waltz over there openly, I'd be instantly detained by a bunch of ninja. After all, my current disguise was just that of an ordinary civilian.
And regular civilians had no business going near the mission hall unless they were posting a request.
Arriving at the bathhouse entrance, I reached out with my left hand and touched a pillar by the door, leaving behind a Flying Thunder God mark before preparing to leave.
Just then, a crisp voice called out to me. "Hey, what are you sneaking around here for?"
I turned my head. It was a girl around my age, maybe a year or two older.
Emerald green eyes, reddish-brown crisscrossed curls, while her body shape didn't quite match the image of the future Mizukage I had in mind, these features unmistakably belonged to Mei.
When I turned around, she immediately covered her mouth and murmured, "So handsome… No!"
Pointing at me, she said coldly, "You came to the bathhouse but didn't go in to bathe. Tell me the truth, were you planning to peek?"
I hadn't expected to get tangled up with a girl here. Did I really look that suspicious just now?
Damn it—it must be from spending too much time around Jiraiya. It was rubbing off on me.
Facing Mei's accusation, I gave a charming smile and replied, "I forgot my money."
The classic universal excuse.
Mei eyed me skeptically but, after staring for a moment, decided to believe me.
Seeing the misunderstanding resolved, I quickly said, "Haha, well, since it was all a misunderstanding, I'll be heading off now."
Just as I turned to leave, Mei suddenly said, "Wait."
