Akihara Kagura looked at the Fourth Raikage beside him and said, "Take your Raikage from The Hidden Cloud Village away, so Lady Tsunade doesn't think I did nothing. After all, I have superiors too."
"..."
Darui and Mafui did not dare to make any decisions either!
"You bas…"
The Fourth Raikage's mouth was blocked by vines, and he looked at Akihara Kagura with rage. Once he broke free of the restraints, he would surely fight Akihara Kagura to the death!
"Of course, you can also choose not to agree."
Akihara Kagura casually tossed away the apple in his hand and continued slowly, "I could just take all the corpses of the Hidden Cloud Ninja back as a gift, and have the Yamanaka Clan slowly extract the memories I need from them..."
"You bastard…"
The Fourth Raikage squeezed out a sentence from his throat.
"I've always heard that the Raikage position is hereditary."
Kagura's words made the Fourth Raikage's face turn grim instantly: "Will you, the Fourth Raikage, take The Hidden Cloud Village with you and die for your honor, or will you return with me as a specialty brought back from the Land of Thunder?"
"..."
The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth.
If possible, he would choose death without hesitation!
He even believed that his subordinates would definitely be willing to die with him!
However...
From then on...
The name of The Hidden Cloud Village would disappear from the Ninja World.
"Mafui."
The Fourth Raikage glanced at Mafui, words squeezed out through his gritted teeth: "Go to the Forbidden Technique Room and bring the item to this bastard! While I'm away from The Hidden Cloud Village, assist Darui, and make sure that idiot Bee stays where he should stay!"
"Lord Raikage!"
A group of Hidden Cloud Jonin looked at the Fourth Raikage full of emotion.
A supervisor willing to endure humiliation for the sake of his subordinates, especially when they knew he was a man of indomitable spirit!
Akihara Kagura gathered the Ninjutsu and Secret Technique Scrolls of The Hidden Cloud Village. They could be used to supplement Root's library, and he could offer a few Lightning Release Ninjutsu to Uchiha Sasuke, making it clear that working hard and following orders comes with rewards.
The one most suitable for Uchiha Sasuke...
Would definitely be the Lightning Release Chakra Mode mastered by the Fourth Raikage.
Uchiha Sasuke could barely hold himself back from wanting to have a decisive battle with his brother Uchiha Itachi. This matter of revenge couldn't be stopped forever because all the ninja in Root wanted revenge against Itachi, the clan exterminator!
Coincidentally, Kagura also wanted to secretly control the Akatsuki Organization in the future, taking the opportunity to eliminate those who would never obey his orders...
Like Uchiha Itachi.
Like Hoshigaki Kisame.
As the Akatsuki Organization pursued their mission to capture Tailed Beasts, members of each team were sent out, giving Akihara Kagura a chance to defeat them one by one without being noticed.
The Hidden Rock Village.
Outside a desolate wilderness.
Hoshigaki Kisame wielded the Shark Skin Greatsword and was engaged in a fierce battle with the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi!
Due to frequent conflicts with the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, Roshi left The Hidden Rock Village and wandered the Ninja World as a nomadic monk.
Naturally.
A Jinchuriki acting solo was always the preferred target for the Akatsuki Organization, no matter how powerful Roshi was, they wouldn't fear him.
Hoshigaki Kisame, known as the Tailless Tailed Beast, repeatedly slashed Roshi's body with the Shark Skin Greatsword, absorbing the Chakra inside Roshi!
It was raining on the battlefield, enhancing Hoshigaki Kisame's combat power; yet the ground still bore the burning flames set by the Four-Tails Jinchuriki Roshi!
"Lava Release…"
Roshi clasped his hands together, ready to unleash his Lava Release.
"Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
Hoshigaki Kisame quickly formed the hand seals, releasing a water shark to extinguish the Lava Release around Roshi even before it could manifest!
Hoshigaki Kisame wielded the Shark Skin, driving the sword into Roshi's body, entirely depriving the Four-Tails Jinchuriki of his fighting power!
"It really wasn't easy..."
Hoshigaki Kisame's Shark Skin Greatsword picked up Roshi's body. He slung the Shark Skin over his shoulder, allowing Roshi's body to conveniently fall onto the Shark Skin.
This allowed him to take Roshi away from the battlefield while the Shark Skin continued absorbing Roshi's Chakra, preventing further resistance.
After finishing all this, Hoshigaki Kisame approached Uchiha Itachi, who was standing in the rain, seemingly unbothered by Itachi doing nothing, and displayed a shark-toothed grin.
"Itachi-san, getting soaked will only worsen your condition..."
"Let's go."
Uchiha Itachi did not acknowledge Hoshigaki Kisame's concern, simply standing up and leaving alongside Kisame.
"Is something wrong?"
Hoshigaki Kisame flashed a smile, continuing to inquire, "Itachi-san, are you worried about your brother? I've heard that the little brat Uchiha Sasuke has killed Orochimaru, and his strength might not be much less than yours, Itachi-san?"
"Perhaps… even more outstanding than me."
Uchiha Itachi recalled the Jutsu techniques Uchiha Sasuke used.
Before the decisive battle, Itachi had even considered how not to leave a trace when losing to Sasuke, to prevent Sasuke from noticing anything amiss;
However, seeing Sasuke's combat power, Itachi realized he must first ensure he wasn't killed suddenly in the battle, so Sasuke could hear the messages he wanted to convey…
Most importantly...
Uchiha Sasuke must never learn the truth.
If Sasuke discovered the truth about the Uchiha clan's extermination, he would certainly clash with Konoha, but his brother couldn't possibly be a match for Akihara Kagura...
"Speaking of which..."
Uchiha Itachi avoided the question about Sasuke and asked about something else he cared about: "If the Akatsuki wants to capture the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki, they certainly can't bypass Akihara Kagura. I'm curious how the Akatsuki plans to capture it..."
"That's not something we need to worry about."
Hoshigaki Kisame smiled, unconcerned about these matters, focusing solely on carrying out the tasks assigned to him by Uchiha Obito and Pain.
"..."
Uchiha Itachi doubted Pain's ability to achieve that.
Because Pain had mentioned he had also been defeated by Akihara Kagura.
If his guess was correct, when Pain was defeated by Kagura, Kagura couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. These years, Kagura's ability must have grown immensely; Itachi had personally witnessed Kagura's terrifying talent...
Who knows.
Akihara Kagura might still be able to suppress Pain.
In Konoha Village.
Jiraiya was pondering the same issue.
The entire Ninja World was in chaos due to the actions of the Akatsuki Organization.
However, Jiraiya, being well-informed about the Akatsuki, didn't feel threatened by their potential troubles, having witnessed Akihara Kagura dismantle the Akatsuki single-handedly and understanding that his two students were the actual leaders of the Akatsuki.
"I must meet Nagato."
Jiraiya laid out the situation involving the Akatsuki, Nagato, and Konan to Tsunade, earnestly proposing his plan: "I need to go to the Land of Rain again, find the Akatsuki's base, and stop Nagato and Konan from continuing..."
"The leader of the Akatsuki is also your disciple?"
Tsunade raised her head to look at Jiraiya, sighed deeply, and handed over a piece of intel to him: "Before you stop them, maybe you should stop another of your disciples first..."
"What's happened?"
Jiraiya curiously took the intel.
Tsunade massaged her temple and said solemnly, "Akihara Kagura single-handedly attacked The Hidden Cloud Village, captured the Fourth Raikage, and is on his way back to Konoha with the Fourth Raikage..."