thefictionvixens Chapter 242 Returning to the Village
Chapter 242 Returning to the Village
In the hidden Akatsuki stronghold far away in Amegakure, in an underground space shrouded in darkness, a damp and decaying atmosphere permeated the air, where several enormous stone pillars stood majestically.
On the stone pillar, several figures emanating a cold, illusory light stood indistinctly, their outlines blurred. They remained still, like statues, their human forms vaguely discernible, their specific features impossible to identify.
The other stone pillars, however, are empty, representing the Akatsuki members who have sacrificed their lives and whose replacements have not yet been found.
In the very center, surrounded by several stone pillars, lies a colossal creature. This tortoise is covered in a hard shell, which is covered with sharp thorns. It has three thick tails on its back. The three-tailed Isobu lies there, its enormous body almost occupying the entire central area.
At this moment, Itachi Uchiha had received the message from Deidara and Obito Uchiha through the chakra transmitted by his clone, and slowly opened his eyes.
Pain noticed Itachi's change in demeanor, glanced at him, and asked, "Itachi, how are things? Have you contacted Deidara and the others?"
Pain's deep voice echoed in the empty underground space, causing the other Akatsuki members who had their eyes closed to all turn their gazes toward Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi Uchiha felt the gazes coming from all directions. He raised his head slightly, met their gazes, nodded slightly, and calmly replied to everyone, "I have received the message from the clone. Tobi will arrive soon."
Itachi Uchiha's voice was exceptionally clear in the silent space. After a pause, he continued, "However, the situation has changed... Deidara is on the border of the Land of Fire..." Itachi Uchiha began to briefly describe the information he had obtained from his clone.
After listening to Itachi Uchiha's detailed explanation, Kisame Hoshigaki couldn't help but show a hint of surprise on his usually cold face.
He clicked his tongue, his tone tinged with helplessness and sigh, "Oh dear, it seems the organization's membership has dwindled again."
However, Kisame Hoshigaki has become accustomed to the organization's recent frequent changes.
Kisame then shook his head and said, "I originally thought Deidara was pretty good. As for Tobi, he truly lives up to his reputation as the best at escaping. Even Deidara couldn't escape, yet he still managed to come back."
After a brief silence, Payne narrowed his cold eyes slightly. After weighing his options, he slowly said, "Never mind, you can have as many men as you want, that kind of guy."
Payne continued with a regretful tone, "But it's such a pity about Deidara."
Seeing that his leader Pain didn't think much of Tobi, Kisame Hoshigaki helplessly shrugged and said with a hint of teasing, "I actually quite like him."
Then, he changed the subject and continued, "When it comes to the ability to ease the gloomy atmosphere of this organization, Afei is also a remarkable ability user."
"From now on, during the time you are drawing out the power of the Tailed Beasts, do not act rashly." Pain scanned everyone present and gave the order, leaving no room for discussion. Then, Pain said no more and decisively dispelled his Illusionary Body Technique.
As the spell was dispelled, Pain's figure gradually blurred and eventually disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving only a trace of chakra fluctuations in the air.
Seeing this, everyone began to move and silently left the dark underground space.
......
At this moment, Boruto was leading the petrified Deidara toward the entrance of Konoha Village. Just as he was about to step into the village, he unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Jiraiya.
At this moment, Jiraiya was leisurely lying on the roof, looking relaxed and content. He was wearing a loose ninja outfit and holding a telescope in his hand. He would occasionally raise it and carefully observe the scene by the stream outside the village through the lens.
Jiraiya wore a carefree smile, clearly very satisfied with the scene before him.
However, Jiraiya's keen observation skills, honed through years of intelligence gathering, immediately made him realize that someone was watching him. His body stiffened slightly, and he immediately turned around, his gaze falling on that person.
Upon seeing that it was Boruto, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, it's Boruto. Don't scare me." Then, Jiraiya jumped down from the roof and gently patted the dust off his body after landing.
Immediately, Jiraiya's gaze was drawn to the lifelike stone statue on Boruto's shoulder. He frowned slightly, carefully examining the statue, and hesitantly asked, "Is that... Deidara, codenamed 'Blue' from the Akatsuki, on your shoulder?"
Boruto nodded slightly to Jiraiya to confirm, then gently put Deidara down from his shoulder and used a ninjutsu to remove the petrification effect. With a slight fluctuation of chakra, Deidara's body gradually returned to normal.
After finishing, Boruto looked up and said, "I was just about to check some things with Kakashi-sensei, so I'll have to trouble you to help me with the handover."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement and straightened up without refusing, saying, "In that case, I'm going to see Tsunade anyway, so I'll take him there for you."
After saying goodbye to Jiraiya, Boruto headed straight for the training ground where Kakashi and Naruto usually trained.
However, when Boruto arrived at the training ground, he found that only Naruto was training diligently, and Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, Naruto was practicing the Rasenshuriken with complete concentration, his arm swinging rapidly, causing chakra to quickly condense in his hand, forming a high-speed spinning energy ball.
The surrounding air was violently torn apart by his chakra, emitting a sharp whistling sound. He constantly adjusted the flow of chakra and the rotation of the shuriken, striving to achieve perfect balance.
......