Chapter 179: The Rinne Rebirth Technique
"The Rinne Rebirth Technique?!"
Pain's Rinnegan widened as he gritted his teeth.
"Who exactly are you? Why do you know about this technique?!"
"Who I am isn't important."
Li Jiexuan curled his lips in a smile and pointed outside the Five-Seal Barrier.
"Those guys from Konoha seem to have arrived already. You'd better make your decision quickly."
"Zetsu!"
Grinding his teeth, Pain ordered Zetsu to bring out the scroll for the Rinne Rebirth Technique.
After receiving the scroll, Li Jiexuan chuckled lightly and jumped back onto the finger of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, cooperating with the others to completely extract the One-Tail from Gaara.
The moment the One-Tail was fully pulled out, Pain roared furiously.
"Deidara! Sasori! Kill this brat!"
"Sigh. It's only three techniques—why be so stingy?"
Li Jiexuan shook his head helplessly and raised an Earth Flow Wall to block Deidara's white clay bird bomb. Dust exploded everywhere…
But at that moment, the Five-Seal Barrier suddenly opened!
Just like in the original storyline, Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura rushed in together—only Chiyo was absent.
"Damn it! Give Gaara back!"
Naruto shouted angrily and charged forward.
Meanwhile, Deidara, hoping to capture another Tailed Beast, tried to carry off Gaara's corpse.
But right then—
"Dragon Lightning Cutter!"
A pale lightning blade split the clay bird in two. Gaara's body was snatched away by a small figure, who then vanished instantly.
Seeing this, Naruto was about to attack when Kakashi grabbed him and stopped him.
"Look—that's a ninja from Konoha!"
The standard gray vest and the white fox mask completely concealed Li Jiexuan's face. Dressed like this, he was clearly an Anbu member of Konoha.
"When we came in just now, they were attacking this Anbu," the observant Sakura quickly added as confirmation.
"I should've left markers for you along the way. Why did you take so long to get here?"
Li Jiexuan frowned and spoke first, taking the initiative.
"I couldn't stop them by myself!"
Hearing this, Naruto immediately lowered his head in shame.
Defeating the Shapeshifting Itachi with the Massive Rasengan had consumed too much of his stamina, forcing them to rest for a while…
If they hadn't stopped to rest and had arrived just a little sooner, could they have saved Gaara?
Naruto felt deeply guilty.
"Now isn't the time to feel guilty. Right now, we should immediately capture the two members of the Akatsuki."
Li Jiexuan frowned as he lectured him.
"If you want to make up for it, then act quickly!"
Hearing that, Naruto gritted his teeth and immediately chased after Deidara outside.
However, Kakashi still had some doubts about Li Jiexuan's identity and asked with a frown, "The technique you used just now—was that…?"
"Dragon Lightning Cutter."
Li Jiexuan answered without hesitation.
"It's a ninjutsu I developed by modifying the Lightning Cutter technique recorded by you, senior."
After hearing that, Kakashi no longer had any doubts.
Lightning Cutter was his self-created technique, and only Konoha had records of it. As for Li Jiexuan's outfit—although somewhat outdated—it was indeed standard Anbu equipment.
All these details matched the profile of an Anbu spy who had been undercover in the Sand Village for years…
"I'll leave things here to you. I'm going to chase after Naruto."
Kakashi was worried Naruto might act too recklessly. Without him nearby, something bad could easily happen.
"Leave it to me."
Li Jiexuan nodded confidently.
"If it's just one person, I can deal with it easily."
Kakashi immediately leaped out of the cave, leaving Li Jiexuan and Haruno Sakura behind to face the Red Sand Sasori who remained there…