Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"Ah Fei" volunteered to go.

Jue tried to speak up to stop "Ah Fei".

This is like a cat that has suddenly been frightened.

Its head is breathing out air, and its body is running away.

Nagato understands Konan's confusion and worries.

Because he didn't really understand what the man's intention was in doing this strange thing that seemed like a battle between the left and right brains.

But that didn't stop him from taking the opportunity to test the man.

“If he says he’s going, then let him go. There is indeed a shortage of manpower right now... In the worst case scenario, you will be needed to handle the finances from now on, Xiao Nan.”

“I understand. But are we just going to leave that pair like this?”

“I know what you’re thinking. For him to act so strangely, those two brothers must have something special about them, but it’s not appropriate for us to interfere right now.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Nan nodded.

"Then I'll go back and process the documents."

"Ah."

Watching Konan leave, Pain stood by the window, listening to the endless rain pattering against the eaves of the Rain Country. From the tallest building in the Rain Country, he looked down at the country shrouded in rain.

Payne's silent stance signifies Nagato's deep contemplation...

"Oh!"

After an unknown amount of time, the closed door was suddenly opened again.

The one who barged in was none other than Xiao Nan.

Only she would dare to barge in here and interrupt Nagato's thoughts.

"what happened?"

Seeing Konan's expression at this moment, even Payne's facial features seemed to show a hint of confusion.

"Nagato—"

Holding an open intelligence scroll in her hand, Konan called out.

"Danzo has been arrested!"

"......What?"

-

"Mr. Jue, are you really not afraid of being exposed?"

Obito Uchiha, who used the names Tobi, Madara Uchiha, was complaining to Black Zetsu, who had joined him.

"Nagato is one thing, but that girl has always had a problem with me. If you oppose my suggestion in front of them, she will definitely start thinking all sorts of things. If she really brings Nagato into it and starts thinking all sorts of things too, I'll be in a real bind!"

"Difficult to handle? Then let's not do it."

"what?"

"I was serious."

The half of the white Zetsu controlled by Black Zetsu revealed a serious expression.

"Don't provoke Zheng Jing and Aizen. They only lost a few men. Don't let a small loss cause a big problem."

Obito scratched the back of his head.

"The way you're saying that...it's as if they could beat me."

That's what I meant.

Black Zetsu held back and didn't say those words aloud.

He had been coaxing the reincarnation of Indra for thousands of years, and knew that even if they were not the reincarnation of Indra, the Uchiha clan members who had awakened their Sharingan would be extremely troublesome when they became obsessed.

He figured that if he really told Obito that young people shouldn't be so arrogant, Obito would actually retort, "If you're not arrogant, are you even a young person?" and then be determined to go and clash with those two dirty guys who were very likely garden players, to prove himself.

That won't do.

This is a case of trying to persuade someone but instead provoking them.

"...What I mean is, don't you have more important things to do right now than two nobodys?"

Hei Jue tried to slow down and soften her voice as much as possible.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the news of Danzo's arrest and imprisonment should have reached Nagato and Konan's desk by now. Of course, they won't let go of their hatred just because of this. But for you, without Danzo as an inside man, taking the Nine-Tails will be no easy task. Instead of wasting time on these trivial matters, you should concentrate on doing the important thing first."

"Um......"

Obito rested his chin on his hand: "What you said makes sense."

"—But I have an idea."

Black Zetsu, who thought he had successfully appeased another Uchiha, hadn't even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Obito say, "Why can't we have them all?"

“Since the organization is short-handed, why not let these two fill the vacancies? Mr. Jue, you said it yourself, they are just two nobodys.”

Obito smiled confidently.

"It won't waste too much of my time."

-

The situation in the Land of Whirlpools was worse than Itachi had imagined.

Although it is a small country, it is backed by the Land of Fire and Konoha. In Itachi's memory, the Land of Whirlpools is not prosperous, but it is still relatively peaceful.

However, since entering the Land of Whirlpools, they have encountered three groups of bandits along the way.

This is practically no different from a small country like the Land of Wada...

"What, kid? Haven't you ever done a mission in the Land of Whirlpools before? You've been looking around like this the whole time."

Zheng Jing, lying on the cart with his hands behind his head, began to speak.

Itachi lowered his head somewhat embarrassed.

"Please excuse my ignorance, Master. This is indeed my first time entering the Land of Whirlpools. My previous understanding of the Land of Whirlpools mainly came from books."

"If this is your first time, then it must be Quan Xiaomei's first time too, right?"

Izumi, who was suddenly mentioned, quickly nodded.

"What about you, Xiao Duzi?"

Zheng Jing stretched his neck and shouted towards Kakuzu, who was driving the oxcart.

"...The last time I came, the Third World War hadn't even started yet."

"Wow, it immediately has a sense of historical weight."

Smacking his lips, Zheng Jing looked again at Orochimaru, who was sitting obediently in the corner of the cart.

"Little snake, what about you?"

"I've cooperated with the ninjas of Uzushiogakure on the border a few times, but I've only actually entered the Land of Whirlpools once, to guard against a joint attack from Kirigakure and Iwagakure. So I don't really know much about the people of the Land of Whirlpools."

Orochimaru grinned, about to stick out his tongue out as usual, but when he met Zheng Jing's golden eyes, his body stiffened slightly, and he barely managed to hold back.

"That's right. Back when you were in Konoha, you were quite the famous 'King of Scrolls'."

Zheng Jing scratched his cheek.

"Who are you, Little Red Hair?"

"..."

When asked, Scorpion opened its eyes, used the charcoal pencil on its tail to open the mechanism on its back, and pulled out a small whiteboard, then wrote on the whiteboard.

I've heard of it, but I've never been here.

Chapter 205: Little Blackie, do you understand when you show your feet?

The crimson puppet cat—this is the body Scorpion is currently using.

This is not one of Scorpion's past collections.

It was something he had created just a few days ago.

Aizen was indeed interested in puppetry, so after capturing Sasori, he would occasionally ask Sasori questions about puppetry.

Scorpion initially showed a willingness to cooperate and had no intention of running away.

—Until he suggested that seeing is believing.

Sasori suggested that if Zheng Jing and Aizen were willing to provide him with some simple materials, he could directly create a small puppet so that Aizen could have a more intuitive understanding of puppetry.

The suggestion was good, and Zheng Jing and Aizen naturally adopted it.

This shamisen was modified from the blueprints of a small puppet that Sasori made when he was young.

It retains its high degree of realism while adding a special function.

That is, it can become a self-governing puppet by carrying a regeneration core.

—That's right, this is the escape route that Scorpion came up with.

Compared to the humanoid puppet body, the small calico cat-shaped puppet is indeed easier to disguise and hide.

If he can successfully escape from Zheng Jing and Aizen, he can transfer his regeneration core back to the humanoid puppet he left behind after returning to his secret base.

Good idea.

Unfortunately, he was up against Zheng Jing and Aizen.

In the end, in the middle of the night, Zheng Jing grabbed him by the neck and dragged him back.

To teach him a lesson—and certainly not because it was fun—Zheng Jing temporarily confiscated Scorpion's humanoid puppet body and painted his current calico cat puppet bright red from head to toe.

This means that if a scorpion wants to communicate with humans, it can only use a charcoal pencil attached to its tail and a folding whiteboard hidden in its body to write.

"Hiss, wait a minute."

Zheng Jing suddenly sat up.

"Then you should be driving, Little Snake. What time will it be before Little Duzi gets back? What if Uzugakure is forced to relocate?"

Upon hearing this, before Orochimaru could even speak, Kakuzu, who was at the front, immediately turned around and looked at Orochimaru.

That half-turned body, though saying nothing, seemed to say everything.

"..."

"..."

"...Stop looking."

After a few seconds of silent staring at each other, Kakuzu spoke first.

He handed the cattle reins he was holding to Orochimaru.

"bring it on."

"......it is good."

After switching places with Orochimaru, Kakuzu finally got rid of the errand of catching the train. He sat in the back and narrowed his eyes, his face, half-covered by a mask, looked like he was smiling.

This oxcart was given to Zheng Jing and his group by the town mayor after they helped a village kill a group of ninja from the Hidden Mist Village who came to plunder people. The mayor insisted on giving it to them for transportation.

Actually, among the members of this team, Kakuzu felt that the one with the worst stamina and the slowest progress was the old water buffalo in front, leisurely pulling the cart.

Unfortunately, both Zheng Jing and Aizen seemed to prefer this leisurely way of traveling, so he had no choice but to take the reins and become the coachman...

"Little Duzi."

Upon hearing Zheng Jing call his name, Kakuzu looked over.

"Who do you think Nagato will send next?"

Zheng Jing picked at his ear and asked casually.

"Nagato?"

Kakuzu frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Oh, it's Payne. I forgot you didn't know that."