The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

"Hmph, it's an extermination mission, I guess it was issued by Kirigakure. They want us to go to the Land of Rivers to help the Kirigakure ninjas retrieve the Three-Tails and Six-Tails."

Sasori of the Red Sand, seemingly with a sneer, continued speaking in a very hoarse voice.

"The Three-Tails and the Six-Tails? Haha, aren't those the Hidden Mist Village's own tailed beasts? They've both been lost? That's really interesting. But helping the Hidden Mist Village retrieve them? Shouldn't we just take them back to the organization and seal them away?"

Deidara also thought it was a huge joke and laughed it off.

"Well, it's not the right time yet. For now, we just need to deal with the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails."

Sasori of the Red Sand said in a calm tone.

"Hehe, no problem. The missions lately have been too low-level, lacking any artistry. The Three-Tails and Six-Tails are perfect for showcasing my artistry. Brother Scorpion, you can choose first, and I'll take the last one!"

Deidara stretched and said with a very excited expression.

"Hehe, there's nothing to pick and choose. Our target is the Three-Tails. The Six-Tails will be handled by Kakuzu's clan."

"Huh!? Kakuzu's group!? Why did the leader need to assign two groups of members!? You could have easily dealt with the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, right!?"

Deidara widened his eyes and spoke with obvious displeasure.

Boring days.

day after day.

Since joining Akatsuki, aside from the initial novelty, the monotonous missions that followed, almost all of which were devoid of any challenge, had long become unbearable for Deidara. He had been eager to carry out the pre-assigned mission of capturing tailed beasts, regardless of the organization's true intentions.

What he wants is to constantly challenge himself.

Even more important is honing one's artistic skills.

So that everyone, especially that man, would acknowledge that his art is the noblest.

This was Deidara's true intention in joining the Akatsuki organization.

Today I finally got a really challenging task, and now I have to share it with someone else?!

Deidara would never be able to stand it.

"Alright, enough talk. The chief has only given us two days. Let's hurry on our way. It's still quite a distance from here to the Land of Rivers."

Sasori of the Red Sand, however, showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

No matter what the mission is, it makes no difference to him. What he pursues is the ultimate puppetry technique, one is to obtain ultimate power and thus desire eternal life, and the other is to fill the emptiness in his heart.

Of course, Scorpion would never admit the latter.

He could never feel empty.

Eternity is art.

Besides.

Sasori didn't care about anything. It was simple for him to join Akatsuki because Nagato promised him endless materials and money to conduct unlimited puppet research. In exchange, he only had to complete the tasks assigned by the organization on a timed and quantitative basis.

From Scorpion's perspective, this was a great deal!

That's why.

Although the Akatsuki members were not of one mind and each had their own intentions, they were still able to unite relatively closely because interests are the most stable relationship chain. As long as there is no conflict between their interests and they can reach a consensus, such a relationship is often the most stable.

Therefore, until the day of success arrives, as long as Obito doesn't turn against him or take any actions that contradict the planned goals, Nagato will cooperate with Obito as much as possible, and vice versa.

They all knew very well that Nagato (Obito) was their best partner (to use as a pawn).

The relationships among the members of Akatsuki were similar.

It might be slightly better, though.

"Brother Scorpion, you're still as impatient as ever."

Deidara said with a smirk.

"Hmph, I hate waiting for others, and I hate making others wait. Let's go!"

Scorpion snorted and then, seemingly leisurely but actually moving at an extremely fast speed, headed southeast.

"Yes, yes, I understand!"

Deidara, as was his habit, responded in kind, then his figure blurred as he followed Sasori towards the predetermined location of the Land of Rivers.

At the same time.

Kakuzu and Hidan, located in the Land of Iron, also rushed south after exchanging a bounty on a target at the black market exchange, heading straight for the Land of Rivers.

Pulled around and moved the whole body.

This describes the current state of the ninja world.

The original plot was no longer relevant, let alone the increasingly chaotic situation in the ninja world.

Menma, who was still maintaining order in the eastern part of Hidden Light Village, had no idea that Obito had already transferred members of the Akatsuki organization to come and support him.

Menma, who had somewhat neglected the situation at the front, was now almost entirely focused on Iwagakure and Konohagakure.

The situation with Iwagakure is easy to understand, because they directly increased the pressure on the front lines. This time, the number of Iwagakure ninja gathered at the border is almost five thousand. This force is one that no ninja village can ignore.

And with the arrival of this force...

The Third Tsuchikage even sent someone to express his 'goodwill'.

Ask Menma directly if he needs the assistance of Iwa ninja.

As long as the dough is open.

He immediately ordered the Iwa ninja forces at the front to come as reinforcements, which was clearly a case of using a pretext to attack another country.

The moment Menma saw it, he immediately let out a cold laugh.

Are they really treating him like a three-year-old child?! And they even dare to say it's an obligation as an ally.

I'm not afraid of being laughed at if I told you this.

"Report back to that Third Tsuchikage, Kirigakure is no challenge at all, so there's no need to trouble Iwagakure."

Hidden Light Village, inside the Sky Shadow Building.

Menma sat upright in the main seat, looking at a ninja who had come to deliver a message, and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Lord Tenkage."

After kneeling on one knee and bowing his head in response, the ninja suddenly disappeared.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 431 Hidden Steps

"It seems that Menma-kun doesn't trust the Third Tsuchikage at all. Is it because he's naturally wary? Or did that old fox slip up and Menma-kun saw it?"

And it was just as this ninja had left.

Suddenly.

In the far left corner of this office, in the shadowy area where the light and shadow cannot be reflected at dusk.

A familiar, hoarse voice, distinctly cold and chilling, followed softly.

next second.

A tall and slender figure slowly stepped out from inside.

Menma turned his head and looked at Orochimaru, who appeared in front of him as if it were a natural occurrence. There was no surprise on his face. Not to mention Menma now, long ago, no one in this ninja world could escape his senses and enter the range covered by his Kagura Mind's Eye.

Orochimaru himself was well aware of this.

Therefore, he never used any tricks; he just sneaked in 'openly and honestly'.

"Ha, do you even need to ask that? Do you think Orochimaru-san would trust those people?"

A hint of mockery seemed to flicker in the corner of his pockmarked face as he spoke indifferently.

Trust between major powers?

That's a complete joke.

Even the five great nations in the original work.

The only villages that truly trusted each other were probably Konoha and Sunagakure, and that was based on the extremely deep personal friendship between Naruto and Gaara. As for the other three ninja villages?

Are you talking about Onoki, A, or Mei Terumi who will truly trust Naruto and Konoha!?

Ultimately, it was because they had a common enemy before the war, and shared common interests after the war, as well as the threat posed by Naruto and Sasuke's combined Six Paths level power, that they chose to come together.

Between countries.

It is absolutely impossible for friendships to last forever.

There are only unchanging relationships of interest.

If there are mutual benefits, then cooperation can continue indefinitely. But if interests clash, even the deepest relationships will almost always end in a falling out.

There is no one in the world who can truly care only about feelings and not about interests.

It's not that it doesn't exist.

But there are very few of them.

"Hehe, that's true."

Orochimaru licked his lips, and a strange light flashed in his snake-like eyes.

"So, Orochimaru-san has come all this way to visit again. Has he made another breakthrough in his research?"

Menma looked at Orochimaru with a calm expression and asked.

This research fanatic in the ninja world generally doesn't leave his laboratory unless absolutely necessary.

Menma had a deep understanding of this point when watching anime in her previous life, let alone experiencing it firsthand in this life.

Menma is almost 100% certain that Orochimaru's life is either spent researching, or on his way to research or searching for research materials.

Everything he did was for supreme power and eternal life.

The reason for having such a goal is to better study and uncover the truth of this world.

This is a process that repeats itself continuously.