Strictly speaking, Mizuki still had plenty of ways to get stronger. Still, actually usable techniques with no side effects were pretty hard to come by. Most were either barely functional prototypes or outright deadly moves with huge risks. The Summoning Technique, on the other hand, was incredibly versatile—used for traveling, laying traps, scouting, surveillance, and combat support. It was practically one of a kind.
Considering how heavily forested the ninja world was, navigating ancient forests by placing a few unnoticed summoning spots and simple traps was extremely easy for Mizuki. As long as they weren't too far off or hiding their chakra on purpose, enemies who didn't intentionally mask their presence would walk right into Mizuki's trap without even noticing the summoned beasts watching them.
"Mizuki, you really do have some impressive reconnaissance skills…" Kakashi Hatake lifted his forehead protector off his left eye and carefully scanned for any signs of movement with his Sharingan. Although the Sharingan didn't have the Byakugan's long-range detection capabilities, its observational power was far superior to normal eyes. Even so, Kakashi couldn't spot the "guests" Mizuki had mentioned.
"They're still a distance away. You've got some time to prepare, but I probably won't be much help…"
Mizuki knew he was a decent ninja, but given how weak he was now, facing S-rank Akatsuki rogue ninjas meant it was questionable whether he could contribute at all. More than likely, going along would only make him a burden. However, while his fragile original body couldn't handle much strain, his Artificial Jinchuriki clone might offer some support. Leaving direct combat aside, his skills in sealing techniques, barrier creation, genjutsu, and healing might still prove useful.
"Any further intel?" Kakashi dropped his teasing tone and asked seriously.
"There are two individuals." Mizuki shook his head as he continued, "To be precise, up until now, only two people have been clearly identified. Whether others are hiding in the shadows and sneaking in secretly remains unknown."
"I see. That's already enough—at least we know the general number of enemies." After hearing Mizuki's words, Kakashi relaxed slightly. As long as it wasn't another large-scale ambush like the previous days, there was still time to respond. Konoha wasn't worried about individual skilled infiltrators, especially since Lord Jiraiya was still in the village.
"Should we feel lucky the enemy came early? If they'd shown up just one day later, Lord Jiraiya would've already been gone searching for Tsunade…"
"Don't let your guard down, Kakashi," Jiraiya was indeed a reliable anchor, yet even someone as formidable as him wasn't omnipotent. Moreover, their enemies weren't ordinary ninjas who stood no chance against Jiraiya. "Think back to the Red Sand of the Desert and Deidara—these guys aren't your average opponents."
Kakashi nodded. "I understand. Then I'll go make preparations first. I need to gather a few people for assistance and also inform Lord Jiraiya…"
With that, Kakashi instantly vanished using the Shunshin technique.
"It's a shame Asuma Sarutobi isn't around — he would've been a big help. We were supposed to have two jonin take on Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. But Asuma isn't in the village, and Kurenai Yuhi is critically injured and unconscious. However, Jiraiya has joined us, so our battle readiness may have actually improved..."
It seems negotiations with the Land of Earth aren't going well, otherwise Asuma wouldn't have been away for so many days. They know the village is in danger, even vulnerable to an Akatsuki ambush at any moment, yet still won't recall someone as strong as Asuma. Obviously, things on the Land of Earth side must be quite serious.
...
At the entrance of Konoha village, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, both wearing black priest robes adorned with red clouds, had just passed through. Whether it was the patrolling ninja on the road or the guards newly stationed at the gate — these ordinary ninja couldn't even momentarily stop the duo, especially under Itachi's highly skilled genjutsu and enhanced Sharingan.
Thanks to the power of his genjutsu, Itachi and Kisame entered Konoha smoothly, barely noticed by anyone.
"Itachi, do you know where our target is?" Kisame asked while walking along one of Konoha's streets, speaking to Itachi — who had once been a Konoha ninja — about the location of their mission objective.
"Let's find a place to investigate first. We need to proceed cautiously," Itachi calmly replied.
Even after all these years, returning to Konoha as an enemy didn't stir any strong emotions in Itachi. As for the destruction of the Uchiha clan — right or wrong — it was impossible to judge fairly now. One thing was certain: Danzo Shimura acted dishonorably, yet the Uchiha clan weren't exactly blameless either. But everyone else is dead now; the clan itself has vanished. Only himself and Sasuke remain, struggling to survive. There was still a long road ahead, and his undercover role as a spy seemed destined to continue for quite some time. The only thing left now was to make sure Sasuke gained the power to control his own fate.
As they spoke, the pair naturally turned into a relatively lively tavern by the roadside and sat down on the barstools near the counter.
Meanwhile, not far from Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, in a nearby private room, Jiraiya suddenly straightened up, slightly tipsy from drinking, eyes narrowing sharply.
"So they finally came. That's definitely Itachi Uchiha. Truly a rare powerhouse..."
Powerful fighters always placed great trust in their instincts. When encountering tough enemies, an instinctive sense of danger became an important reference for judging an opponent's strength. This sense, sharpened through strength and experience, was vital for survival in the deadly ninja world.
Moreover, the enormous chakra emanating from Kisame Hoshigaki — who stood beside Itachi — was truly astonishing. Outside of jinchuriki, Jiraiya had never encountered anyone with more chakra than Kisame. Even the weapon strapped to his back exuded a restrained instinctive force and immense strength that could not be ignored.
"The guy with that huge sword must be Kisame Hoshigaki, an S-rank rogue ninja from Kiri. He's one of the rare ones who tried to assassinate Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage (a person containing a tailed beast), and lived to tell the tale..." Mizuki, the Artificial Jinchuriki sitting across from Jiraiya, shared some intel about their enemies.
"Hmm," Jiraiya nodded. "Has the battlefield been set up already?"
"Kakashi's got everything ready, Lord Jiraiya," replied the Artificial Jinchuriki, who couldn't do much beyond that. "Then I'll go get ready. Let's kick things off once they show up."
"Good. Make sure everyone nearby clears out."
In Mizuki's mind, if Akatsuki launched an attack, the last opponent anyone would want to face was their leader Nagato himself. But whether Nagato was physically able to come at this point remained uncertain. Plus, it wouldn't make sense for their leader to get personally involved in capturing tailed beasts right from the start—any mistake could mean no chance of recovery, and how would he keep those stubborn rogues under control if things went sideways? After all, these weren't exactly saints either—there were death cult followers, bomb-obsessed extremists, puppet masters who abandoned both their humanity and human form, rogue ninjas responsible for annihilating entire clans and assassinating Kages and daimyos, the mysterious Zetsu whose motives were unclear, and even someone claiming to be Madara Uchiha. Even with the legendary Sage's Eyes, if Nagato showed any sign of weakness, there was no telling whether these people would still obey orders.
Akatsuki's organization was already pretty unstable. Nagato strongly enforced the two-man team structure mainly to help missions run smoothly, but also had another critical purpose—mutual surveillance, particularly against potential traitors like Itachi Uchiha, who might have been sent as a spy.
Other than Nagato, Konan and Sasori of the Red Sand, along with Deidara and Kakuzu, all possessed large-scale destructive power, making them extremely dangerous opponents—especially within Konoha village, where collateral damage and mass casualties were real concerns. Fortunately, Konan usually stayed near Nagato for protection and didn't often leave; Deidara had already been captured, and Sasori of the Red Sand had just been repelled with most of his puppets destroyed. For a puppet master, launching an attack in such a weakened state would likely be too risky. As for Kakuzu, being the most mercenary-minded among them, he rarely interfered with others' missions. When Nagato originally assigned the tailed beast capture missions in pairs, he'd already considered this possibility. His conclusion was simple: everyone was basically acting on their own anyway.
Then there's Hidan, not super strong on his own, but his cursed techniques are seriously scary. He basically relies on his immortal body and that creepy curse technique called Death under Pledge to take down enemies. Without knowing about it beforehand, even powerful individuals might fall victim to this move. But once you're aware of it and have proper countermeasures prepared, Hidan—despite being the weirdest of them all—would actually be the easiest to handle.
Beyond all these, what truly concerned Mizuki were Obito Uchiha, with his space-based jutsu, and Zetsu's terrifying invisibility scouting abilities.
Besides gathering powerful ninja to perform the Nine-Tailed Dragon Sealing Technique, finding individuals strong enough to capture tailed beasts and worthy of recruitment by Akatsuki wasn't easy. Take Orochimaru for example—he left Akatsuki without hesitation when he failed to obtain what he wanted. That's why Itachi Uchiha and Red Sand of the Desert ended up recruiting Deidara.
From Mizuki's point of view, the attack by Itachi and Kisame felt kinda half-hearted. Back in the original story, they completely missed Naruto while he was still in the village. Although they eventually met later on, if they had faced Jiraiya seriously, Itachi wouldn't have been without a chance—especially with someone like a living Water Release machine by his side. Two-on-one odds didn't seem entirely hopeless either. The dojutsu techniques of Mangekyou Sharingan—Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu—were already incredibly powerful. If they used Susanoo, there might've even been a brief opportunity to resist Jiraiya's Sage Mode. Instead, Itachi fled without even fighting. He'd already defeated an in-his-prime Orochimaru before—so why did he perform so poorly against Jiraiya? There was no logic suggesting that Jiraiya, among the "Three Legendary Sannin," could be significantly stronger than Orochimaru.
This time around, things were likely to go down pretty much the same way. Mizuki wasn't sure if Jiraiya had any idea about Itachi being a spy, but judging from Danzo Shimura's indifferent attitude toward such matters, it was clear that Danzo himself must've known, and the two advisors probably had their suspicions too. As for the rest? Who knows.
"This should be safer compared to the previous attack led by Red Sand of the Desert and Deidara. At least Itachi won't go all out, and Konoha itself has kept some strength hidden."
Under these circumstances, having an Artificial Jinchuriki go out there and make a name for himself didn't sound like a bad idea—as long as he stayed clear of the crossfire.
Although both sides shared certain unspoken understandings, compared to the original storyline, there was one key difference: Deidara was now a prisoner of Konoha. Whether this change would prompt Zetsu or Obito Uchiha to intervene remained uncertain. However, with Yagura's imminent death—the Fourth Mizukage and Three-Tails jinchuriki—Obito, who controlled the Third Mizukage, was likely overwhelmed with handling Mist Village affairs at the moment. So if anyone came to Deidara's rescue, it would most likely be Zetsu.
...
Along a secluded lakeside path rarely visited by people, Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy had already intercepted the unmistakably dressed Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Two guests here haven't formally greeted us yet. We're curious about your important business visiting Konoha…"
"It seems we've been discovered, Itachi," Kisame remarked casually, showing no sign of panic as he turned to speak to Itachi.
"A rogue ninja like Itachi Uchiha dares to return to Konoha? What boldness! And you, Kisame Hoshigaki—a rogue ninja from Mist Village—you two would better surrender immediately. Resistance only leads to certain death."
"You Konoha shinobi sure talk big. But Itachi, it looks like you aren't very welcome around here. Are two people really enough to deal with us?"
For Kisame Hoshigaki, proud and haughty by nature, Kakashi Hatake's cold tone was enough to ignite his readiness for battle.
"Kakashi Hatake, we don't intend to fight you. Just hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and we'll leave immediately…"
"Then there's clearly nothing more to talk about." As expected, they were after Naruto Uzumaki. Naturally, Kakashi had no intention of handing his own student over. "Let's go, Guy!"
Even before Kakashi finished speaking, Might Guy shot forward like a blur. Before his opponent could react, a powerful spinning kick sent Kisame Hoshigaki flying sideways straight into a nearby small lake. Then, in an instant, Might Guy struck again—raining down blows upon Kisame on the water's surface before slamming him deep below with a thunderous splash…
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