Ninja Pot Shadow

As the fight progressed, Kisame suddenly stood Samehada upright on the ground, looking at the group with a rather provocative expression, and quickly formed hand seals.

"Water Release: Big Explosive Water Wave!"

Ino was unaware of his intention in using this ninjutsu at this moment. This large-scale water jutsu was something only she could stop, and she had to take the hit.

"Water Release: Big Explosive Water Wave!"

The two were about the same level in hand seals, but Kisame's understanding of ninjutsu was lower, and Ino had less chakra. Both of their Great Explosive Water Waves appeared out of thin air and were released at the same time, then collided in mid-air!

Although they were just flowing water, the collision of the two streams, driven by chakra, produced a huge, explosive roar.

The water surged into the sky after the collision, then rained down on the battlefield like a storm.

Ino manipulated the water flow twice, but without acting impulsively, she immediately changed her tactics.

She took a breath and exhaled water-style chakra like a fine needle.

This is the only ninjutsu she currently possesses that doesn't require hand seals; it was a ninjutsu taught to her by the Second Hokage.

Ino is slowly transitioning from the era of hand seals to the era of no hand seals. The process is a bit slow, but it's already getting to the point.

"Water Release: Heaven's Cry!"

Dozens of fine needles rained down on Kisame, who was still obediently forming hand seals, seemingly preparing to use the Water Dragon Bullet.

There's an honest guy here, everyone come and bully him!

Kisame was quite annoyed, and had to stop his hand seals halfway through. He then swung his ninja sword Samehada to block all the chakra needles she spat out.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!" Ino took the initiative and immediately used this powerful water-style ninjutsu.

Driven by pressure, the water flowed like a silver thread, cutting rapidly.

Seeing how powerful this move was, even Kisame didn't take it head-on. He cunningly jumped to the side and used Choza's body to block the water wave.

Ino was helpless. Being unable to see was really troublesome. She couldn't even unleash half of her full strength, so she had no choice but to withdraw the technique.

All the ninjas have the ability to walk on water, even Inuzuka Tsuru's dogs can walk on water.

The water flow had little effect on them, and the group continued their chaotic battle.

Kisame has his eye on Ino, who uses Water Release techniques.

After dealing with two of Choza's attacks with Samehada, he found an opening and began forming hand seals again.

Chapter 193 Persuasion

It's definitely inappropriate to say that Kisame is both bad and loves to play.

A Kage-level powerhouse, would you say he's weak? The Second Hokage and the Second Mizukage might be qualified, but Ino definitely isn't.

However, he is indeed a bit out of touch with the times.

"Five-eating sharks!"

He slapped the water with one hand, creating five water jets that resembled sharks, which rushed towards the five people as if to tear them apart.

Ino formed two hand seals, then leaped into the air and unleashed several sharp chakra water arrows at the shark underwater.

"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"

The water sharks were all shattered. Ino took out a kunai, raised her hand, and a water column shot into the sky. She stepped on the water column to gain some momentum, and then wrapped a layer of water-style chakra around the kunai. At this moment, Hyuga Hiashi slapped Kisame with his palm. Ino, who was quite familiar with the Hyuga Gentle Fist, made a prediction and used her water blade to slash at Kisame's side.

Kisame showed no fear, meeting Hiashi Hyuga's attack head-on with his fist. Then, he swung Samehada with one hand, relying solely on the strength of his arm and wrist, and shattered Ino's "Water Release: Water Blade Slash" by slashing upwards with his ninja sword. Samehada was very happy to have absorbed so much water-style chakra today, and his joy was transmitted to Kisame. Before he could laugh, Ino's cheeks puffed out, and another transparent stream of water shot towards him.

No matter how good one's physical skills or how strong one's strength, one is still flesh and blood. Kisame had clearly underestimated his opponent. Facing the "Water Release: Water Severing Wave" that could cut through the Divine Tree, he was wide open and could only try to avoid vital points.

His speed wasn't much faster than Ino's. Hyuga Hiashi exhaled and struck him in the chest again.

He tried to escape, but it was too late.

Fortunately, Itachi Uchiha was a reliable teammate. He saw through Ino's intentions early on and used a Great Fireball Jutsu to blast Kisame's feet. Water splashed everywhere, and the force of the explosion allowed Kisame to escape at the last minute.

His shark head glared fiercely at Ino, but before he could utter any threats, a chubby water clone emerged from beneath the water. The water clone continued to expand, eventually growing to over five meters tall, steaming all over its body, and quickly rushed towards Kisame and Itachi.

"What the hell is this thing?" Kisame instinctively wanted to slash at it with his ninja sword.

"Get out of the way!" Itachi reacted quickly, shoving him. The three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly as he looked at the chubby Ino.

Then Fat Ino suddenly bypassed them, rushed into the distance, and exploded with a loud bang.

Ino, who had her eyes closed, was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized what was going on.

He made a stupid move.

She always thought that the Steam Burst technique was very intelligent, as it could bypass Rashomon and Shukaku's Shield. However, she never expected that every advantage has its disadvantage. In the face of top-level illusions, the Water Clone technique's intelligence became a weakness.

Of course, having intelligence is definitely better than not having intelligence.

The Tailed Beast Ball has no intelligence; how many people can it kill? Seeing the Tailed Beast Ball flying towards him, Itachi Uchiha would never use genjutsu on it. The last hero who tried to cut the Tailed Beast Ball with the Executioner's Blade died right in front of him.

Ino did not use the continuous explosion function of Steam Explosion. Uchiha Itachi had been holding back, so there was no need for her to use continuous explosions while in a weakened state. At this moment, she quickly retreated behind Choji.

Kisame became increasingly serious, unleashing a barrage of attacks with Samehada. Hiashi Hyuga focused most of his attention on Itachi Uchiha, leaving only Choza Akimichi in the front line, with Tsuru Inuzuka also providing support. Ino concentrated on dealing with his Water Release techniques, occasionally using taijutsu to strike him a couple of times. It was almost a three-on-one situation, and it didn't seem to be in any real danger.

Itachi Uchiha held back quite a bit. He used a kunai to fight Shikaku for more than ten moves, and then used taijutsu to fight Hiashi Hyuga. He didn't use his Sharingan much, and he didn't even use ninjutsu much.

After fighting for so long, Shikaku has figured out some of his thoughts.

Shikaku suddenly formed hand seals, and a shadow, skimming the water's surface like a sharp arrow, swiftly merged into Itachi Uchiha's shadow.

"Shadow Binding Technique! Success! Ino, hurry!"

Having already received a hint, Ino appeared to be forming a hand seal for the Mind Transfer Technique, but in reality, she did not use a secret technique. Instead, she used her ability to transfer perception to connect Shikaku and Itachi Uchiha's spirits together.

The other party did not reject the connection this time.

If Ino's spiritual world is a deep, bottomless pool of black water, then Itachi's spiritual world is a furnace about to go out.

The furnace still retains some warmth, but in the spiritual world, it appears extremely old, now just an empty shell. The spirit and body are intertwined, and this guy's physical condition is worse than expected.

"Very good Water Release ninjutsu, truly a genius." Itachi Uchiha's words seemed like nonsense, yet they also seemed to have some deeper meaning.

Theoretically speaking, he had taken Sasuke to school and should have seen Ino when she was a child, but Ino didn't get any memories related to him from her predecessor, so the two didn't know each other at all, and there was nothing to say at this moment.

She hadn't forgotten the time she used illusion magic on him and was about to seal him inside the locust tree.

Right now, she's in charge of bridging the gap between Shikaku and Itachi Uchiha, allowing them to converse without interference.

Itachi Uchiha only offered a couple of polite words of praise, while Ino remained completely silent, pretending to be just a tool.

Shikaku said, "What we say today needs to be kept strictly confidential. Don't tell anyone."

He could have said this privately, but he said it now to put Itachi Uchiha at ease.

Itachi, unconcerned by his petty schemes, asked wearily, "Lord Shikaku, what do you want to say? You can say it now."

Shikaku didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "The Fifth Hokage believes you should return to the village. He plans to make what happened back then public. It's understandable that the Uchiha clan betrayed the village. The ninja world has its own rules for dealing with traitors. However, the village's handling of this matter was too dark, and that needs to be addressed. Today, we can face this history squarely and do things in a more honorable and fair way."

Shikaku continued, "If you feel it's unnecessary to talk to me, then wait a little while. The Fifth Boss will be here soon and he will speak to you personally."

Ino then made a thoughtful expression, pretending that it was the first time she had heard about this, while Itachi Uchiha remained unmoved.

His tone was calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "The Fifth Hokage is indeed worthy of the title of hero, but... Lord Shikaku, many things are beyond redemption, and I don't think there's any need to try to redeem them."

Shikaku earnestly persuaded him: "Sasuke is a member of the village, and so are you. These are the Fifth Hokage's original words. He believed that Kirigakure had the courage to set things right and face the scars of the past, and Konoha should be able to as well."

Chapter 194 Intelligence on the Akatsuki Organization

Shikaku thought there was nothing wrong with using Kirigakure as an example at this time; it was quite apt. However, Itachi Uchiha found it somewhat laughable.

"Lord Shikaku, I can only say that you are completely ignorant of many things."

"If there's any information I don't know, you can tell me. You're still our comrade, isn't that right?"

Despite Shikaku's lengthy explanation, Itachi Uchiha maintained a deadpan expression, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"How boring, all that meaningless nonsense." His lips moved slightly, and a strange Yin attribute chakra suddenly burst forth, bypassing Ino's perception and seemingly transmitting some information to Shikaku. Then he severed the connection between them first.

The mental dialogue lasted for about half a minute before Ino let go, pretending that her mind transfer technique had failed.

"The Fifth Hokage is catching up quickly, let's retreat!" Itachi used a B-rank ninjutsu, Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red, flames attached to the shuriken, which he shot towards the five people.

This fire jutsu, which incorporates shuriken, also produces an explosive effect. By the time the five emerged from the smoke and dust, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame had already run far away.

Shikaku led his team in pursuit for most of the day, after which Jiraiya caught up and, after inquiring about the details, somewhat regretfully returned to the village.

At the last moment, Itachi Uchiha bypassed Ino's sensory transmission and conveyed two messages to Shikaku.

One possibility is that someone within the Akatsuki organization is monitoring him. This person's methods are extremely sophisticated, often operating without anyone noticing, even the Sharingan cannot detect it.

Another piece of information is that after he left Konoha, he maintained a one-way contact with the Third Hokage. He had previously sent back some information about the Akatsuki to the Third Hokage. He didn't know if it would be intercepted by the guy who was secretly monitoring him, but he believed that some of the information must have returned to Konoha. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be among the Third Hokage's belongings.

Jiraiya was quite depressed.

We haven't found the previous secret letter, and there's nothing else to say. Keep looking!

He had a drink with Tsunade, and when he heard that Tsunade was going to go to a hot spring with Ino and the others, he suppressed his excitement and ran back to the Third Hokage's archives to continue searching through those messy documents.

This is something I can't delegate to others; I have to find it myself.

The problem was that the Third Hokage's management of important documents was so chaotic that he had no idea when he would be able to find what he needed.

"Ah—!! Where is the intelligence?! You slovenly old man, Third Hokage!"

Looking at the more than fifty filing cabinets, Jiraiya was overwhelmed. The thought of Tsunade enjoying a relaxing hot spring bath only added to his frustration. "I want to go gather materials!" he thought.

It took him three whole days to go through all the files twice, and he was shocked by all the dark history he saw.

Jiraiya was physically and mentally exhausted. He had found a total of six pieces of information, including the secret letter that proved Itachi Uchiha was not a rogue ninja.

All of this information was gathered by Itachi Uchiha within the Akatsuki organization.

Some of the information is outdated, such as the news that Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki organization.

Konoha Village has also gathered some information, such as that the Akatsuki organization has nine members, all of whom are S-rank rogue ninja.

There are also some things that Konoha Village, and even Jiraiya, are unaware of.

This contains information about Hidan, who was recruited by Itachi and Kakuzu together. The details about Hidan's immortality and his ability to use enemy blood to cast spells are explained.

The most unbelievable news is about Uchiha Madara. Itachi had doubts about Madara's true identity. Madara's words and actions did not seem like those of a cunning and calculating person. However, this guy always wore a mask, and no one had ever seen his true face under the mask.

Itachi specifically noted that while the Akatsuki organization had nine rogue ninjas on the surface, Madara Uchiha had been hiding behind the scenes all along. When Konoha was fighting, Madara Uchiha should also be included in the count.