Land of Rain, rocky mountain region.
Yahiko stood by the edge of what had once been a vast plain, now turned into an enormous lake. Through rain-blurred eyes, he seemed to be replaying last year's battle in his mind.
He had originally been training the Water Body Flicker Technique with Master Hanzo. He had been overjoyed after receiving praise from the idol he had admired since childhood.
If nothing unexpected had happened, then in the future he would have slowly taken over control of Amegakure, replacing his aging teacher and continuing to protect both the village and the Land of Rain. With powerful Water Release and Fire Release techniques, along with the salamander whose poison was said to be the deadliest in the ninja world, he would have kept the three surrounding nations in check and stopped them from turning the Land of Rain into the main battlefield of the great powers.
That was the future Master Hanzo had wanted to see.
And it was the goal Yahiko had worked toward.
But now, everything was ruined.
Master Hanzo was dead.
And with him, Yahiko's dream had died too.
He tossed a bundle of white chrysanthemums into the lake. Water droplets clung to his face—whether rain or tears, it was hard to tell.
Expressionless, he murmured, "Crying after you've tasted pain solves nothing. Only by standing at the top of the world and conquering it can pain and tragedy be prevented from ever happening again. Master Hanzo, rest in peace. I will fulfill the ideal you could not finish. I'll save this country that is always crying, and make those people feel our pain too—make them understand the pain of small nations."
He turned and pulled up his hood. His scarred face and eyes were cold to the extreme.
"If the Demigod of the Ninja World wasn't enough… then I'll become a true god."
At that moment, a voice echoed in Yahiko's mind.
"Yahiko, where are we going next?"
The speaker was Tobi.
If someone had x-ray vision, they would have seen that the white material covering Yahiko's body was the Tobi armor.
Unlike ordinary external covering, Tobi's possession worked more like Black Zetsu's. They could communicate mentally, Tobi could take control of the host's body, or he could relinquish control and let the "host" use his power freely.
With the Tobi armor on, Yahiko felt overwhelmingly powerful—as if he were capable of anything.
It was precisely that unprecedented strength that had given rise to such a declaration.
"I'm going to reclaim Amegakure first."
Yahiko said it as casually as if he were heading out to buy groceries.
And in truth, reclaiming Amegakure was even easier for him than going out to shop.
"—Yahiko-sama!"
When Yahiko returned to Amegakure's tower riding the salamander, he didn't need to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys or do anything dramatic at all. Sagawa, who had been managing the village in Hanzo's place, immediately handed the authority back to him.
"You've worked hard these past months, Sagawa-san," Yahiko said politely.
"No, Yahiko-sama. You're the one who's worked hard."
Looking at Yahiko's face covered in burn scars, and at the way his eyes had completely changed since last year, Sagawa's eyes misted over and his voice choked.
There was no need to say it aloud. He already knew Hanzo-sama was never coming back.
Inside the tower, Yahiko sat in Hanzo's old seat and looked at Sagawa.
"Sagawa-san, has anything troublesome happened during this time?"
"No. Other than me and one ninja squad that was taken into custody, no one knows that Hanzo-sama and Yahiko-sama went missing," Sagawa replied. "For the past six months, I've continued acting in accordance with Hanzo-sama's will. All I did was reinforce the tower's barrier. To the patrol units, I explained that Hanzo-sama had taken you to the summoning realm for secret special training."
"Sagawa-san, you handled it well."
Yahiko was full of praise for how he had managed things. Then, looking at the tear tracks still left on Sagawa's face, he said flatly, "I'm sure you've already guessed that Master Hanzo will never return. So tell me, Sagawa-san—do you support me taking over the rule of Amegakure?"
"Of course."
Sagawa dropped to one knee and answered respectfully, "You are Hanzo-sama's only disciple and the salamander's second contractor. In terms of talent, status, and strategic deterrence, there is no one more suitable than you to inherit Amegakure."
"Whether it's me, the ninja corps of Amegakure, or the villagers themselves, we will all become your loyal supporters."
"I will clear away every obstacle for you."
Yahiko nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Then I'll trouble you to assist my clone. My real body needs to go take care of something."
The moment he finished speaking, Sagawa saw the black-robed figure of Yahiko suddenly begin writhing violently.
Then a thick branch extended out from Yahiko's body.
After separating, it did not fall to the floor. Instead, it stood upright and began to change. First came the outline of a human form, then flesh and clothing, and finally color.
In less than three seconds, that single branch had become an exact duplicate of Yahiko.
"Th-this… this is—"
Sagawa, having witnessed it with his own eyes, was so shocked he could barely speak.
He didn't know how long it took him to recover, but when he finally did, his gaze turned burning-hot as he looked at Yahiko, his voice trembling with reverence.
"Yahiko-sama… could it be that you—"
Before he could finish, Yahiko gave a slight nod.
"Just as you're thinking, Sagawa-san. My Wood Clone will work with you to take back authority. By the time my real body returns, I expect Amegakure to already be my Amegakure."
"Yes. I will complete the task."
Sagawa lowered his head. His tone was not only more respectful now—it was firmer too.
If Sagawa had treated Yahiko with such respect before, it was because Yahiko was Hanzo's disciple, a genius who had survived the implantation of a poison sac years ago and gained the ability to ignore poison and release it as well.
He was also the second person in Amegakure capable of summoning the salamander, which meant that even if Hanzo had died, Amegakure could still maintain its tremendous strategic deterrence.
As long as Yahiko brought the Water Body Flicker Technique to the very top of the ninja world, there was a strong chance he would become the new Demigod of the Ninja World, guaranteeing that neither Amegakure nor the Land of Rain would be harassed by enemies for decades to come.
Amegakure could not do without Yahiko.
It needed Yahiko.
That was the real reason Sagawa had willingly returned power and continued addressing him with such honor.
But now, the sorrow in Sagawa's heart over Hanzo's death had already been replaced by overwhelming ecstasy.
In his mind, Yahiko's status had instantly surpassed Hanzo of the Salamander.
Because—
Yahiko had become a Wood Release user.
Just like Gojo Yoru's space-time bloodline, whose name was known throughout the shinobi world and even overseas—by ninja and civilians alike, by adults and children alike—
Before the space-time bloodline, Wood Release, the power that pacified the age of war, had been that kind of existence.
Even though Sagawa had never seen Wood Release with his own eyes—even though the First Hokage had already been dead long before Sagawa was born—he still knew exactly what Wood Release was, and exactly how terrifying that kekkei genkai was.
It was the power that ended the age of chaos.
After the God of Shinobi, a second Wood Release user had finally appeared—and he was the very hope of Amegakure.
A new Demigod of the Ninja World?
No.
In the future, their Amegakure would produce a god who surpassed even a demigod.
"Go gather all the jonin for a meeting, Sagawa-san."
"Yes."
But when Sagawa raised his head, Yahiko's real body had already vanished. Only the Wood Clone remained—and despite being merely a clone, the aura it gave off was still astonishing.
Yahiko, who specialized in Water Release, had always possessed a constitution with enormous chakra reserves. The fact that he had survived both the poison sac and Hashirama cells meant his Yang Release life force was abnormally powerful as well.
The transformation brought by surviving death twice, combined with a solid amount of Hashirama cells and the healing provided by White Zetsu, had made him a more perfect Wood Release test subject than Yamato, even without wearing the Tobi armor.
And once he donned the Tobi armor, received Tobi's full support, and added half a year of training under Uchiha Madara…
Yahiko's current strength truly was terrifying.
Three days later.
The Land of Swamps, a country bordering the Land of Demons, had terrain very similar to the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Demons was full of forests, while the Land of Swamps was largely undeveloped wilderness, its mountains stretching on without end.
From the Land of Demons, you would see mountain ranges.
From the Land of Swamps, you would see dense vegetation.
Just like in the Land of Rivers, where towns and villages were all built on or at the foot of mountains, making them mountain towns and mountain villages—
The towns and villages of the Land of Swamps were the same.
And like the Land of Demons, it occupied an extremely remote location. The roads were rugged, travel was difficult, and the place was severely underdeveloped.
There were no ninja in this country. Its weapons were still bows, arrows, and spears.
For certain shady forces, a remote, backward country like this—one with no military base at all—was the perfect place for a secret headquarters or branch base.
At eleven in the morning, inside the restroom of a mountain town somewhere in the Land of Swamps, a red-haired boy suddenly stepped out carrying a case.
He was about 158 centimeters tall. His red hair was long, and his bangs covered the right side of his face. His handsome features still carried a trace of youth, but it was obvious he had already moved from early adolescence into the middle-late teenage stage.
He wore a dark red coat that matched his hair, along with black pants. On the left side of his face, the part not hidden by his bangs, his eye was especially unusual. Only the pupil was black; the rest was purple, ringed with circles of black ripples.
Those eyes made the boy's gaze deeply unsettling. When his expression turned cold, the pressure radiating from his eyes alone was enough to make ordinary people—even ninja with chakra—go weak in the knees if they lacked mental fortitude.
It was suppression from the top of the food chain.
A higher-dimensional blow caused by a difference in realms.
Even if that higher-dimensional power had been transplanted.
That red-haired boy was Nagato, now already thirteen years old.
When he stepped out of the restroom, the aura around him was frightening. Even ordinary people could tell he was not someone to mess with, and instinctively moved out of his way.
Once Nagato left the mountain town, his eyes swept the area before finally stopping on a particular tree. The icy pressure around him instantly dispersed, and a faint smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.
One moment he was still standing at the entrance to town.
The next, he was already in front of that tree.
He lifted the case in his hand slightly and smiled.
"Konan-sama, I've exchanged the bounty."
Konan, who had been leaning against the tree with her hands in her pockets, resting there, slowly opened her amber eyes. Her face had long since lost its childishness and now looked exquisitely beautiful. A cool, elegant smile appeared on her lips.
"You had to go through a filthy place like that again. You've worked hard, Nagato."
"It's what I should do."
Nagato looked up at the sky, then at Konan, who was a little taller than him, and asked, "Konan-sama, should we rest here for a day?"
"No need. I don't like being remembered, and I don't want to be forced into involving innocent civilians," Konan said, shaking her head as she walked off with both hands still in her pockets.
It was precisely that angelic kindness and charisma that made Nagato—whose strength was already no weaker than hers—willing to become her subordinate.
If not for that kindness, Nagato would have died long ago.
Protecting this angel who was both like an older sister and a teacher to him—that was the driving force behind Nagato's growth.
Watching her back, Nagato quickly followed, walking at her side.
Seven years had passed. Aside from her hair color and eye color remaining unchanged, the little girl who had become a war orphan because of an attack by Iwa ninja no longer resembled her old self at all.
Three balanced meals a day like clockwork, proper nutrition, going to bed early and waking early, exercising her body, and reading to strengthen both body and mind—Gojo Yoru's motherly nagging had turned Konan into an incredibly disciplined beauty.
Konan had always had excellent Yang Release traits to begin with, and now, at just thirteen, she had already grown to 165 centimeters—five centimeters taller than Hinata in Shippuden.
Her figure wasn't quite on Shippuden Hinata's level, but it was on par with Shippuden Ino Yamanaka's—more than enough to "start a whole new crime syndicate," so to speak.
Of course, aside from Gojo Yoru, who often met Konan in the mental world, nobody knew what her figure was like.
Because Konan also liked to imitate Yoru's style.
When Yoru wore black coats, she wore blue ones. When Yoru wore long robes, she did the same.
The loose blue coat hid her figure completely. With her hands tucked into its pockets, her already cool and elegant demeanor gained an extra edge of effortless swagger.
Especially because she had never grown her purple hair long and still kept it short—if she'd had a lollipop in her mouth, she would have looked exactly like a delinquent girl, the Naruto-world version of a punky little street queen.
And yet, that very same "delinquent girl" had become the terror of countless rogue ninja and missing-nin whose names were posted for bounties on the black market.
Because this so-called delinquent girl was none other than the black market's famous bounty hunter—
"Angel" Konan.
A rare flying-type ninja in the shinobi world, she possessed a paper-style secret technique perfectly compatible with explosive tag manufacturing. From the sky, she could bombard any target at will. Combined with her large-scale Wind Release, she could either focus everything into a single point or carpet-bomb a wide area.
In addition, her paper functioned like the Adamantine Sealing Chains of the Uzumaki descendant from Konoha's strongest duo, allowing her to use sealing techniques from a distance.
If a chakra-infused sheet of her paper merely touched someone, it could instantly become a sealing technique. And if the target didn't know how to break seals, they could be killed on the spot.
And under this "Angel" stood a red-haired enforcer who was equally versatile in ninjutsu, making the pair—much like Konoha's strongest duo—the acknowledged strongest bounty-hunting team in both the black market and the shinobi world.
Even Kakuzu, who had been famous for years and long recognized as the number one bounty hunter, had seen his reputation eclipsed by these two rising stars.
That said, over the past few years, Kakuzu-san had never come after them.
Probably because they didn't have bounties on their own heads.