The next day, the media across the ninja world was rocked by news about one man! The incredibly explosive news that Obito Uchiha had used the Two-Tails, Matatabi, to attack the Hidden Cloud Village and torn the Raikage, A, to shreds was a Category 12 hurricane, sweeping across the entire ninja world thanks to the frenzy of the media.
One hundred and thirty-six newspapers hit the stands like a hundred and thirty-six bolts of lightning! At newsstands in the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, and even in smaller, more remote countries, countless hands trembled in horror as they reached for the fresh ink of headlines saturated with the scent of death:
The Shinobi Daily: Front page headline: "Shocking! The Uchiha Demon Rules the Heavens! The Two-Tails Goes Berserk, Ripping the Raikage to Shreds!"—Mangekyō controls the jinchūriki, the Fourth Raikage is bisected by a spatial jutsu! Half of the Hidden Cloud Village falls!
The Land of Fire Times: "Obito Uchiha, Destroyer of the New World?"—The Calamity of the Hidden Cloud: When Tailed Beasts become weapons, and Kage-level shinobi become sacrifices!
The Land of Lightning Honest News: "The Raikage's Fall! The Night the Hidden Cloud Village Bled!"—The hero falls: A dies on the ruins he was protecting.
The Sun Daily: "Shocking! Obito Uchiha did this to one person and one beast!"
In the Land of Lightning, in the streets and fields, women clutched their shopping baskets until their knuckles turned white; shopkeepers sweeping the floors stood frozen; an old man in a teahouse, lost in thought, spilled his tea, but remained oblivious to the scalding water.
A deadly silence!
After a brief, suffocating silence, whispers of fear and disbelief spread like a plague.
"Our Kage... was killed?!"
"That... Obito Uchiha..."
People's faces were filled with nothing but pure horror and bottomless panic. For months, the ninja world's media conglomerate had relentlessly branded the name Obito Uchiha with heinous crimes like the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha clan massacre, controlling the Mizukage, and destroying the Land of Grass.
But all of that... seemed so far away. Today, the demon's claws had mercilessly torn apart the strongest symbol in their hearts! Their most powerful Kage!
"Didn't they say the Hidden Cloud Village was the strongest?"
"If our Kage-sama can't even protect himself... is the Land of Lightning safe?"
"We've lost our Tailed Beast and our Kage. What's next... a war?"
Whispers of pessimism and despair passed between every pair of eyes. This was the heaviest and coldest weight on the hearts of the Hidden Cloud shinobi right now.
In contrast to the despair brewing in the Land of Lightning, the people of other countries were mostly just shocked and felt a sense of detached indifference.
Obito Uchiha? That was a matter for the ninja bigwigs! When the sky falls, the tallest person catches it. They just wanted to watch the show!
Meanwhile, in the Land of Earth, in the Hidden Stone Village.
Pfff—
The moment he sat down and opened the Shinobi Daily, Ōnoki spat out the tea he had just taken a sip of! His mustache was soaked, but he didn't have time to wipe it. His small eyes were completely captivated by the news.
Obito Uchiha invaded the Hidden Cloud Village, released the Two-Tails to attack it, and used his Mangekyō ability to tear the Raikage apart?
The first picture showed a towering, snarling Two-Tails, made of ominous blue flames, standing atop a mountain of burning rubble. In the background, the Hidden Cloud's iconic steep buildings were being consumed by a sea of fire.
The second picture showed Darui holding a bisected torso. In the distance, a figure with an orange swirl mask was clearly visible. The half-torso was unrecognizable, but Ōnoki knew Darui was a highly trusted subordinate of the Raikage, a likely candidate for the next Raikage.
In an instant, all the clues connected! A... the man who was as strong as the personification of lightning and the fastest shinobi in the world, had actually been torn to shreds?
Ōnoki felt a chill run from his tailbone straight to the top of his head. A Kage dying in a time of peace! Rare! Too rare!
"Obito Uchiha... this guy's strength is even more terrifying than when he destroyed the Land of Grass!" he said, a raspy sound escaping his dry throat, tinged with a caution he himself hadn't realized.
"Lord Tsuchikage, the Hidden Cloud's tragedy proves this man has mastered some secret art of controlling Tailed Beasts, and his spatial abilities are exceptionally fierce," Kitsuchi, who had been waiting beside him, analyzed in a deep voice. "Our jinchūriki..."
"Calm down!" Ōnoki snapped. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable weight. "Rōshi and Han aren't as easy to manipulate as that little cat from the Hidden Cloud! But..."
At this time, the Hidden Cloud Village was still in chaos and hadn't noticed Killer B's disappearance, so the newspapers hadn't reported it yet. A shrewd glint flashed in Ōnoki's eyes. "Give the order immediately: from this moment on, the secrecy level for Tailed Beast jinchūriki is to be raised to the highest level! All intelligence checks on people entering and leaving the village will be doubled!"
"Yes, sir!"
Watching Kitsuchi leave, Ōnoki's gaze returned to the newspaper. The Hidden Cloud Village... their Kage was dead, many shinobi were killed or injured, and the strategic Two-Tails was lost. Their situation was almost identical to the Hidden Leaf Village's after the Nine-Tails' attack.
A subtle glint of insight flickered in his small eyes. So... what benefits could the Hidden Stone Village gain from this?
"Hmm, I need to plan this carefully," he said, taking a sip of his tea. The rich aroma couldn't erase the shrewd, calculating look on his face. As his thoughts churned, he subconsciously turned to the second page of the newspaper.
Pfff—
A mouthful of hot tea shot out of his mouth again!
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Ōnoki choked violently, his face instantly turning crimson.
"Sh-Shi-Shimura Danzo? A-a rogue ninja?" A distorted shriek suddenly broke the silence of the office!
In the Land of Wind, in the Hidden Sand Village.
The atmosphere in the meeting room of the Hidden Sand's leadership was so heavy it felt like it could drip water. The glaring newspaper headline was like a freshly cauterized wound on everyone's heart.
"Obito Uchiha... why did he attack the Hidden Cloud Village instead of the Hidden Leaf?" Yura frowned, his eyes on the Land of Lightning's area on the map, which was a startling crimson. "This is illogical... unless he has some other scheme planned for the Hidden Leaf."
"That's enough!" Chiyo, who had been sitting with her eyes closed, slammed her hand on the table. Her wrinkled face was now as taut as Sand Iron. "Who cares what schemes that Obito has! The Hidden Cloud's misfortune is their problem!"
She stressed, "We have one urgent matter: finalize negotiations with the Hidden Leaf! We must get Gaara back, no matter what! And all 83 of our captured shinobi must be brought back as well!"
As she spoke, her gaze swept over Yura like a hawk. "What demands did the Hidden Leaf make? Weren't they originally going to release them unconditionally?"
Yura, having failed in his mission, lowered his head in shame. He hadn't expected the usually reasonable Hidden Leaf to suddenly go back on their word and demand money for the return of the shinobi.
"The Hidden Leaf's price is a total of 500 million ryo. They won't accept anything less!" she said with a cold huff.
Money? If the Hidden Sand Village had money, would they have attacked the Hidden Leaf in the first place?
"Continue to negotiate!"
In the Hidden Leaf Village, the Hokage's office was filled with smoke. Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffing on his pipe, was also reading a newspaper. Next to him, the two elders and Shikaku Nara were each reading a copy.
"Sigh!" Hiruzen sighed when he saw the second page.
Danzo's matter, it turned out, couldn't be kept a secret after all! They had been planning to pay to keep the news quiet, but Naruto's sudden departure forced them to reallocate their funds.
Luckily, an even more explosive story had stolen the front page.
The four of them had already discussed the matters of the Land of Lightning, Danzo, the Hidden Sand, and Naruto. Regarding Naruto, they reached a conclusion: The Hidden Sand Village would just have to suffer a little longer!
They wanted the One-Tails' jinchūriki and all their shinobi back?
They would have to pay to ransom them back! The deal was a package deal, not an a la carte menu!
Also in the Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke and Sakura were sitting side by side on a bench outside the Sweet Bean shop.
Sasuke was clutching the newly delivered Shinobi Daily, his eyes fixed on the bloody headline on the front page: "Shocking! The Uchiha Demon Rules the Heavens! The Two-Tails Goes Berserk, Ripping the Raikage to Shreds!"
Sasuke's right hand tightened around the paper, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force. In his dark eyes, hatred was brewing.
That demon, Obito Uchiha!
His power, his evil, had not diminished in the slightest. It had only become more unfathomable! A Kage, the leader of a village! Killed like a dog?
Sasuke's heart sank, and a cold anxiety gnawed at him. How much further do I have to go to reach the point where I can kill this demon with my own hands?
"Is there still no news from Naruto?" Sasuke asked Sakura, who was looking at the same paper, his voice dry and cold.
"Huh?" Sakura's cheeks, which had been flushed from being so close to Sasuke and smelling his clean scent, trembled in surprise at the sudden question. She quickly composed herself. "I asked Kakashi-sensei. He said Naruto... went on a vacation? He said he might not be back for another two days..." She tried to recall. "Kakashi-sensei mentioned... maybe in the Land of Hot Water?"
"A vacation?" Sasuke frowned, his lips tightening subconsciously. Flying Raijin?
Without his Naruto-brand battery pack, he felt like he was going to die! A week of desperate training was less effective than just a few hours in Naruto's mysterious space!
He forcefully suppressed his inner irritation and continued to flip through the pages.
When he saw the next photo, Sasuke froze, followed by a surge of boundless fury! His eyes were fixed on the blinding photo on the second page:
Underneath an old and sinister face was an arm—a shocking sight, covered with countless Sharingan eyes! Ten crimson tomoe from his clan members, like an eternal curse, were embedded in that disgusting flesh!
Rogue Ninja, Danzo Shimura!
All these Sharingan must have been from the night of the Uchiha clan massacre! Itachi Uchiha! Obito Uchiha! And now, Danzo Shimura! Anyone and everyone was willing to feast on the flesh of the Uchiha's corpses!
Seeing this arm, Sasuke, who was always proud of his Uchiha heritage, had bloodshot eyes.
Danzo, you old thief! I will kill you!
He threw the newspaper to the ground and stood up to leave.
"Sasuke!" Sakura stood up, startled by his sudden anger and movements. "Where are you going?"
Sasuke's steps didn't falter, his voice cold and resolute. "To train!"
On a street in the Land of Hot Water...
Amidst the mixed scents of sulfur from the hot springs and spices from the street food, Kakuzu walked out of the inconspicuous back door of a "bounty exchange" with a flimsy cloth bag. He weighed it in his hand, his turquoise eyes showing no ripples of emotion.
"Tch, two million ryo."
He muttered in a low voice, his shriveled lips moving. This new "companion" was as light as a feather. Still, turning garbage into money was always a good thing.
"I hope the next one... is a little heavier," he said, no longer dwelling on it, as he strode steadily toward the next information point.
In front of a newsstand with a rickety wooden sign, Kakuzu stopped, his voice flat. "One copy of the Bounty Hunter's Bulletin."
It had become a "necessity" for him in recent months, like a merchant checking market prices or a fisherman watching the tide.
Kakuzu's gaze habitually swept over the front page, and then, his eyes froze! A massive bounty number: 3,200,000,000 ryo! Below it was a familiar yet monstrous image of an orange swirl mask and a single crimson Sharingan.
"Hmph." Kakuzu let out a light breath, and something ignited in the depths of his dark green pupils.
He didn't hesitate for a second. Snap! He neatly rolled up the newspaper and tucked it under his arm.
The next second...
Whoosh—
The figure in the black cloak with red clouds had already turned around and disappeared like a phantom!
His destination: the bounty exchange! He couldn't catch the entire Obito Uchiha, but he still had an arm from him that he had acquired earlier!
The Hidden Leaf had already released some information about Obito Uchiha to the ninja world. From a body missing one half to a complete person.
This arm held a secret!
Kakuzu licked his dry lips, and a specific and tempting number instantly appeared in his mind.
"This arm is worth at least 400 million ryo!"
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