People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Kabuto asked, "Does Lord Orochimaru intend to target Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan?"

"Of course not. Since even Nagato, who also possesses the Rinnegan, has chosen to temporarily avoid a confrontation, it means that Madara Uchiha's strength has reached an extremely terrifying level. We don't yet know the extent of Madara Uchiha's power, but I know Nagato's abilities very well. Now is the perfect time..."

Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly: "Kabuto, with so many Akatsuki members leaving, they must have left some clues. Send out all your men to find Nagato's location!"

Chapter 349 Operation Begins

Itachi has arrived in the Land of Grass, at the temporary base set up by the five great ninja villages.

A heated argument is taking place in the base office.

"Our Hidden Cloud Village ninjas should be the first to attack the Akatsuki's base!"

"Hmph, why should your Hidden Cloud Village ninjas be the vanguard? We Hidden Stone Village ninjas can be too!"

“We, the people of Kirigakure, are most skilled in assassination. We should be the ones to launch the first wave of attacks.”

"Our Sunagakure's puppet techniques are not to be underestimated!"

...

Apart from Konoha, the other four major hidden villages are arguing over who should lead the attack.

The first ninja village to take action not only boosts the morale of its own village, but also increases its influence in the future.

Currently, the Akatsuki's base leader and other powerful Kage-level shinobi have mostly retreated, so the area is very safe and there is no need to worry about casualties.

Therefore, they are all trying to become the vanguard to strike the Akatsuki's base.

The argument only stopped after Itachi arrived.

Onoki glared at A, his beard bristling, and demanded of Itachi, "Itachi, as the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, tell me! Which ninja village should lead the vanguard to attack the Akatsuki organization in Amegakure?!"

Ai retorted, not to be outdone: "The ninjas of our Hidden Cloud Village are all skilled in swordsmanship and lightning release ninjutsu, and are incredibly powerful! Of course, we'll go first!"

Mei Terumi interjected, "It would be safer if our Hidden Mist Village ninjas carried out an assassination first to weaken their strength."

Maki scoffed, "When it comes to safety, aren't our Sunagakure puppets safer than people?!"

Itachi rubbed his slightly aching temples. Although he had anticipated that the Kage of the five great ninja villages would quarrel when they gathered together, he did not expect it to happen so soon.

"We'll talk about the advance troops later. Let's find out about Amegakure first."

As the leaders of the Allied Shinobi Forces, the five Kage were quite respectful and stopped arguing.

Itachi asked, "Do you have a map of Amegakure?"

“Yes!” Yamashiro Aoba, a member of the Allied Shinobi Forces from Konoha, handed the map of Amegakure to Itachi.

Itachi opened the map and began to study it.

The climate of Amegakure is characterized by a perpetual rainy season, with rainwater flowing into the inland lake that surrounds the village.

The buildings in Amegakure are mainly made of steel, with a considerable amount of stone. Inside and out, many large and small steel pipes are erected, forming a unique landscape. This is closely related to the rainfall in Amegakure, hence the large number of pipes and sewers.

The only problem now is that the location of the Akatsuki's base in Amegakure is unknown, which means that we need to search for the Akatsuki's base inside Amegakure.

"Itachi, are you thinking about the Akatsuki's base? Don't worry, I know where it is," said Osamu behind Itachi.

Itachi's eyes lit up instantly.

Yes, since Osamu was once an undercover member of the Akatsuki organization, of course he would know where the Akatsuki's base was.

Osamu looked at the map, then pointed to a spot and explained, "This tower was a place to store the bodies of the dead when it was the old Amegakure. However, it later became the base of the Akatsuki organization, where the official members of the Akatsuki lived."

The belligerent Ai immediately suggested, "Now that we know where the base is, let's march straight into Amegakure and attack the Akatsuki's base!"

As A's secretary, Mabui calmly reminded him, "Lord Raikage, the civilians of Amegakure are still alive. We cannot march directly into the village. If the civilians of Amegakure suffer casualties because of our efforts to combat the Akatsuki mercenary organization, the Allied Shinobi Forces will be criticized and may even incur the resentment of other shinobi villages."

Mabui's words are also something Itachi is currently worried about.

Although they knew the location of the Akatsuki's base, they did not know the location of the members.

After thinking for a while, Itachi came up with a plan.

"Have the Mist Shadow ninjas unleash the Mist Shadow Technique on Amegakure, shrouding the village in thick fog. Then, the puppeteers from Sunagakure will manipulate puppets, along with the Hyuga clan ninjas from Konoha, to reconnoiter Amegakure and gather intelligence!"

The Five Kage agreed to Itachi's plan; with intelligence support, the battle would become much easier.

After gathering their respective ninjas, the Hidden Mist Village, the Hidden Sand Village, and the Hidden Leaf Village began to implement their plan.

"Ninja Art: Mist Shadow Technique!"

A large number of Hidden Mist Village ninjas began to unleash their ninjutsu.

Because Amegakure's climate is characterized by a perpetual rainy season, dense fog easily blankets the entire village.

Subsequently, puppeteers from Sunagakure and Hyuga clan ninjas from Konoha entered Amegakure.

Hyuga clan ninjas used their Byakugan to investigate the situation inside Amegakure from the edge of the village.

Meanwhile, the puppeteer ninja manipulated the puppets and entered Amegakure.

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

After a short while.

The puppeteers of Sunagakure hurriedly found Itachi to report the situation.

"Our puppets were destroyed by unknown ninjas when they entered Amegakure!"

At the same time, members of the Hyuga clan also came to report the situation.

"Many Amegakure ninjas are hiding in the pipes and sewers!"

Itachi and the Five Kage frowned deeply; it was clear that the ninjas of Amegakure were on guard and regarded them as enemies.

If we had marched directly into Amegakure, we would likely have been ambushed and attacked by Amegakure ninjas.

Tsunade said solemnly, "Amegakure itself regarded the Five Great Nations as enemies during the reign of Hanzo of the Salamander. The ninjas of Amegakure were inherently hostile to the ninjas of the Five Great Villages. Moreover, Amegakure was the base of the Akatsuki organization later on. Perhaps these ninjas of Amegakure were all reserve members of the Akatsuki organization."

Ai said irritably, "Given the current situation, we can only regard the entire Amegakure as an accomplice of Akatsuki. Since they have chosen to be our enemies, we no longer need to hold back!"

Attacking the Akatsuki base in Amegakure is necessary, since the Allied Shinobi Forces have already arrived and cannot return empty-handed.

Moreover, the Allied Shinobi Forces intended to end this battle quickly, and their logistical supplies were insufficient.

Therefore, given the current situation, the entire Amegakure village can only be regarded as the enemy.

As the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Itachi already had a plan in mind.

"Each team consists of five people, including one reconnaissance ninja, forming twenty squads to clear out the Amegakure ninjas lying in ambush in the pipes or sewers! The remaining ninja forces shall stand by. After the squads have cleared out the ninjas, the main force will advance directly into Amegakure and attack the Akatsuki base!"

Itachi's three-tomoe Sharingan eyes stared directly at everyone, and he warned with an imposing aura, "Do not make things difficult for those civilians who do not resist!"

After Itachi announced the plan, the Allied Shinobi Forces began to allocate ninjas in an orderly manner, forming twenty squads with a total of one hundred ninjas.

At Itachi's command, a hundred ninjas infiltrated Amegakure.

Chapter 350 Marching into Amegakure

Alone in the makeshift command post, Itachi studied the map of Amegakure, pondering which route to take to reach the Akatsuki base after the cleanup was complete.

Yosuke appeared behind Itachi and exclaimed, "Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, you've done a great job! Pressure makes people grow. Just now, your commanding presence was quite impressive. Even the Five Kage tacitly approved of your plan."

"Master, please don't joke around. I was really nervous just now," Itachi said with a wry smile.

"Keep it up, Itachi. If you encounter any problems you can't solve, feel free to come to me. But it looks like I won't be involved in this battle." Yosuke smiled, patted Itachi on the shoulder, and left.

The primary objective of this battle is to eliminate the remaining forces at the Akatsuki base and prevent Madara Uchiha from expanding his power upon his return.

The hidden purpose is to cultivate mutual understanding.

The five great ninja villages have been at odds for years, and they are only now being forcibly united because they share the same goal.

If they encountered Nagato's forces or Madara Uchiha, they might die or fail due to mutual distrust.

This battle was more like a training exercise.

Otherwise, Yosuke alone could have destroyed the Akatsuki base in Amegakure.

These enemies are enemies of the ninja world, not Yosuke's enemies.

Yang Jie can help, but he can't do everything perfectly, otherwise it will backfire.

Yosuke felt that if this crisis ravaging the ninja world were resolved, the ninja world might usher in a rare period of peace.

Twenty squads have already entered the interior of Amegakure.

Using their reconnaissance ninja abilities, they systematically and methodically eliminated the hidden Amegakure ninjas who were waiting for an opportunity to strike, following the plan step by step.

The number of these Amegakure ninjas far exceeded expectations.

Soon, the streets of Amegakure were covered with rainwater mixed with blood.

This added a layer of bloodshed to the entire Rain Village.

The cleanup operation took much longer than Itachi had anticipated.

Several hours later, the news finally arrived.

"The hidden ninjas of Amegakure have been mostly eliminated, but our side has lost 16 ninjas."

Itachi sighed. Just to be on the safe side, he dispatched a hundred ninjas for the operation, but unexpectedly, he still lost 16 ninjas.

This is the cruelty of war; casualties are never just a number.

After adjusting his mindset, Itachi announced, "All troops, prepare to advance on Amegakure!"

At Itachi's command, the entire Allied Shinobi Forces assembled.

Itachi stood at the very front of the group, surrounded by the Five Kage.

"set off!"

With Itachi's command, the Allied Shinobi Forces marched into Amegakure in a grand procession.

As the commander of the Allied Forces, Itachi was not required to personally go to the battlefield. Others also advised Itachi to stay at the command post and let the intelligence team issue action orders to them.

However, in order to establish his authority, Itachi had to participate in this battle.

After entering Amegakure Village.

The entire Rain Village was eerily quiet, and the streets were deserted.