Chapter 144: Chapter 147: The First Battle of Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato
"Where are we going?"
Yahiko asked expectantly.
Although Konan and Nagato weren’t as excited as him, they were also very happy to be able to go out on a mission.
They were children, after all.
Premature maturity was one thing, but a child’s nature wasn’t so easily suppressed.
Especially since they had been learning ninjutsu for so long, they had long wanted to show it off to others.
"The Land of Snow."
Natsuki chuckled and said.
"Never heard of it."
Yahiko scratched his head and guessed. "It sounds like a country where it snows every day."
Konan’s eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this.
She had never seen snow, so she was curious about it.
"You guessed right. The Land of Snow is covered in snow everywhere. It’s a world of ice and snow."
Natsuki reminded them. "You can prepare a few more thick clothes."
The trio nodded.
"We will set off tomorrow."
Natsuki changed the subject and asked. "Konan, how did you awaken the Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood?"
"Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood? Is that the name of the ability I just used?"
Konan was slightly startled and asked back.
"Yes."
Natsuki explained. "I call this series of new blood secret techniques Blood Demon Arts."
"Didn’t Natsuki-sensei give me a lot of explosive tags before? You told me to study how to use them when I had free time."
Konan continued. "When I was studying them a few days ago, I suddenly felt a sense of compatibility, and thus I comprehended the Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood."
"That’s quite a coincidence."
Natsuki couldn’t help but laugh.
He gave Konan the explosive tags actually wanting to see if she could independently develop the paper manipulation secret technique she used in the original work.
But he didn’t expect that by a twist of fate, it would connect with the Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood.
However, there was indeed a certain commonality between the two, such as explosions and fire.
Natsuki suddenly looked at Yahiko.
His Blood Demon Art was related to ice and snow.
Perhaps this trip to the Land of Snow would allow him to comprehend it.
"I tried too, but my blood can’t explode."
Yahiko noticed his gaze and spoke up.
"Although you all used my blood, the corresponding Blood Demon Arts are not the same. They are related to your own characteristics."
Natsuki said upon hearing this. "You don’t need to rush. Just keep trying, you will eventually find the feeling. Maybe you will comprehend it this time in the Land of Snow."
"Mm."
Yahiko breathed a sigh of relief.
Not having comprehended a Blood Demon Art made him feel a bit disappointed, but it was still okay.
His main concern was that Natsuki would be disappointed.
"Konan, your ability isn’t just the Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood."
Natsuki pinched her cheek and said. "You still need to continue working hard."
Konan nodded shyly.
"Although comprehending abilities is important, you can’t neglect your regular training."
Natsuki withdrew his hand and said. "It’s been almost half a year since the last check-up. Today is a good time to check."
"I’ll go first!"
Yahiko quickly said.
Natsuki nodded and stepped aside with Konan and Nagato.
Yahiko immediately demonstrated Soru, Geppo, Tekkai, and Shigan all at once.
Seeing this, Natsuki couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
He learned it this fast?
He clearly wasn’t this fast before.
A flash of inspiration hit Natsuki, and he thought of the reason.
Yahiko was no longer a pure human now, but a half-human, half-demon.
His physical strength had increased significantly compared to before.
And the Rokushiki, as a taijutsu, relied heavily on physical strength.
If the physical strength met the standard, learning it would be very fast.
"Konan."
Thinking of this, Natsuki patted Konan’s shoulder.
Konan stepped forward and also demonstrated Soru, Geppo, Tekkai, and Shigan.
Natsuki thought to himself, just as expected.
Both of them had simultaneously increased their learning speed for the Rokushiki.
Other than the fact that they had both turned into demons, there was no other reasonable explanation.
"Very good."
Natsuki met Konan’s gaze and said with a smile.
Konan immediately felt relieved.
She happily stepped down.
Finally, it was Nagato’s turn.
He gave Natsuki an even greater surprise.
Besides Soru, Geppo, Tekkai, and Shigan, he had also learned Armament Haki.
For the first time, Natsuki felt what it meant to be a peerless genius.
No wonder in the original work, Nagato mastered all five nature transformations of ninjutsu after studying under Jiraiya for three years.
One of the probable reasons Hanzo kidnapped Konan was that Amegakure couldn’t defeat the Akatsuki organization in a head-on clash.
This indirectly proved that Nagato’s strength at that time could definitely be called an Elite Jonin.
Natsuki thought of the Unohana Retsu template.
The corresponding conditions for Minazuki’s Shikai and Bankai were that two of his students possessed Jonin-level strength.
But one had to inherit flying and healing, and the other had to inherit swordsmanship.
Now that Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato had all learned Geppo, they had met the condition of inheriting flying.
Next was to let them inherit healing and swordsmanship.
All three of them could learn swordsmanship.
But inheriting healing was undoubtedly the most troublesome.
In the original work, neither Konan nor Yahiko knew medical ninjutsu, so only Nagato could inherit it.
Nagato possessed six chakra natures. He had all of them except Yin Release.
Not to mention he also had the Rinnegan.
The Rinnegan was heavily utilized in Yang Release, such as the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
"Nagato, you can already enter the next stage of training."
Natsuki thought for a moment and said. "I will teach you swordsmanship first."
As for healing, there was no rush.
After all, Nagato didn’t have Jonin-level strength yet. He could wait until he had the power to protect himself before learning medical ninjutsu.
"Thank you, Natsuki-sensei."
Nagato suppressed the excitement in his heart and quickly said.
Yahiko couldn’t help but feel envious.
But it was fine.
He and Konan were only one Armament Haki away from the next stage of training.
As long as they learned Armament Haki, they could learn swordsmanship just like Nagato.
Moreover, they had also received special power from Natsuki and transformed into demons.
"Before learning swordsmanship, you must first have a sword."
Natsuki reached out his hand and used Projection Magecraft.
How close the projected sword was to the original depended on how much chakra he used.
The Sword of the Thunder God he often projected was actually not close to the original.
Because the Sword of the Thunder God contained a Lightning Release chakra crystal, projecting it consumed a lot of chakra.
Under normal circumstances, he would only project one-tenth of it.
This was the reason why he didn’t project the Sorcery Clima-Tact earlier.
With both Water Release and Lightning Release chakra crystals, his chakra might not be enough.
It wouldn’t be too late to project it after unlocking the Artoria template’s infinite magical energy.
"This sword is called the Kusanagi Sword."
Natsuki gave this Kusanagi Sword, which was infinitely close to the original, to Nagato.
Its appearance was closer to a straight katana, which was the Kusanagi Sword used by Uchiha Sasuke in the original work.
"Thank you, Natsuki-sensei."
Nagato took the Kusanagi Sword.
Although he didn’t understand swords, he could also feel that this sword was extraordinary.
The entire blade faintly gleamed, looking incredibly sharp.
"Since we have time, I’ll teach you some basic swordsmanship first."
Natsuki took out Minazuki.
He prepared to start teaching from Zoro’s One-Sword Style swordsmanship.
After Nagato learned it, he would then teach him Water Breathing.
Water Breathing involved Water Release, which would be harder to learn.
Time moved to the next day.
After breakfast, Natsuki led Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato toward the Land of Snow.
The Land of Snow was in the northernmost part of the ninja world.
Starting from the Land of Rain, passing through the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears, they could reach the Land of Demons.
From the Land of Demons, they had to keep going north to reach the Land of Snow.
Because they had to pass through the Land of Demons, Natsuki planned to drop by and see Kakuzu on the way.
"Wow! So many birds!"
After leaving the Land of Rain, Yahiko fell into a state of excitement.
This was his first time leaving the Land of Rain in his life. Everything in sight was very novel to him.
Konan and Nagato were the same, just a bit more restrained than Yahiko.
Night fell.
The group arrived at the Land of Bears.
After the novelty wore off, Yahiko and the other two returned to normal.
After dinner, Natsuki told them a lot of precautions for going out on missions.
Although they weren’t ninjas from the Five Great Villages, the experience was universal.
"That’s about it, we’ll stop here."
Natsuki paused and said. "Next, we will take turns keeping watch and sleeping. The four of us will be divided into two groups."
"Natsuki-sensei, I’ll be in a group with you."
Konan volunteered.
"Alright."
Natsuki glanced at her and said. "Yahiko and Nagato, you two go to sleep first. When the time comes, Konan and I will wake you up."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei."
Yahiko and Nagato got up and went into the tent.
"Come sit here."
Natsuki waved at Konan.
Konan shifted her position and sat down next to him.
She looked up at Natsuki.
"Keeping watch means looking at the surroundings, not at me."
Natsuki flicked her forehead and said.
Konan blanked for a moment, then turned her head and looked into the distance.
Natsuki couldn’t help but smile.
The current Konan had quite a few differences in personality compared to her original self.
After all, Yahiko hadn’t died, Nagato hadn’t turned dark, and the Akatsuki organization was developing much better.
At midnight, it was Yahiko and Nagato’s turn to keep watch.
Natsuki and Konan returned to the tent and took out their sleeping bags.
Probably because keeping watch was too tiring, Konan fell asleep shortly after getting into her sleeping bag.
It was a new day.
The group continued on their journey.
By nightfall, they had passed through the Land of Bears and arrived at the Land of Demons.
Tonight, they didn’t need to sleep out in the wild anymore.
Because they had arrived at the branch of the Dawn Company.
Natsuki caught up with Kakuzu about the recent situation.
To sum it up, everything was going very smoothly.
The next day.
Natsuki and the others bid farewell to Kakuzu and headed for the Land of Snow.
When they got close enough, the temperature suddenly dropped, and it began to snow.
"It’s going to get colder and colder from here on out. All of you, change into thick clothes."
Natsuki spoke up.
Although ninjas could use chakra to ward off the cold, it would consume extra chakra.
Especially during a mission, it was better to save it whenever possible.
In the original work, when Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, and the others went to the Land of Snow for a mission, they also changed into thick clothes.
Natsuki looked at Konan.
She put on a thick, white, dress-like trench coat, along with a white scarf, wrapping herself up tightly.
It added a few more touches of cuteness to her already petite figure.
Konan looked up and met his gaze.
A hint of a smile immediately appeared on her small face.
"Let’s go."
Natsuki smiled and said.
The four of them quickly entered the Land of Snow.
A silver-white world entered their line of sight.
Snowflakes filling the sky followed.
"Such deep snow!"
Yahiko looked at the footprints he made and couldn’t help but sigh.
"It feels similar to our Land of Rain."
Nagato looked around and said. "One snows, the other rains."
"But the Land of Snow is luckier than our Land of Rain."
Yahiko grabbed a handful of snow and said. "At least there’s no war here."
Nagato suddenly fell silent.
Natsuki shook his head.
This was the bad thing about prematurely mature children. They loved to overthink from a young age.
Like Uchiha Itachi. freёwebnoѵel.com
Of course, Uchiha Fugaku also bore a large part of the responsibility.
What kind of father would bring his four-year-old son to the battlefield?
"The goal of our Akatsuki organization is to end the war in the Land of Rain."
Konan suddenly said with a serious face. "With Natsuki-sensei here, we can definitely do it."
"That’s right!"
Yahiko’s spirit was lifted, and he agreed. "The future of the Land of Rain won’t be worse than the Land of Snow!"
Nagato didn’t speak, but he also nodded.
Natsuki felt a slight pressure.
Rebuilding the Land of Rain wasn’t hard. The hard part was how to deal with Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.
Fortunately, he still had enough time to plan.
The group continued forward.
The Land of Snow didn’t have a corresponding hidden village. The Snow Ninja clan was just one of the ninja clans in the Land of Snow.
This situation was similar to the Land of Rice Paddies. Before Orochimaru arrived, the Land of Rice Paddies didn’t have a hidden village either, but it had many ninja clans.
The reason for not having a hidden village was very simple: insufficient strength.
There weren’t enough ninjas, nor was there a powerhouse capable of serving as the village leader.
Rashly establishing a hidden village under such circumstances would make them a target for everyone, and the ultimate result would most likely be the destruction of the village and the clan.
The Snow Ninja clan working their lives away for Kazahana Doto was also in hopes of gaining the support of the Land of Snow, thereby gaining the ability to establish a hidden village.
As for the current Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Sosetsu, he didn’t want to favor any particular ninja clan.
After all, supporting the Snow Ninja clan would mean suppressing the other ninja clans.
Time reached noon.
"Ahead is the target of our mission this time, the Snow Ninja clan."
Natsuki stopped and said. "They excel at manipulating ice and snow in combat."
"Then what is our mission?"
Yahiko asked curiously.
"To defeat them." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Natsuki replied.
"Ah?"
Yahiko subconsciously widened his eyes and asked. "Just the four of us?"
"What? You don’t believe in my strength?"
Natsuki asked back.
"No!"
Yahiko quickly shook his head and said.
"Why do we have to defeat them?"
Nagato asked in confusion.
"This mission comes from the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Sosetsu."
Natsuki said, half-truthfully. "He discovered that his younger brother, Kazahana Doto, allied with the Snow Ninja clan to usurp the throne."
"So that’s how it is."
A look of sudden realization appeared on Yahiko’s face as he spoke.
In an instant, he lost his psychological burden.
After all, in his eyes, the Snow Ninja clan had become villains destroying the peace of the Land of Snow.
"After completing this mission, the Dawn Company can open a branch in the Land of Snow."
Natsuki chuckled and said. "You guys have to work hard."
"Leave it to us!"
Yahiko said, full of motivation.
Konan and Nagato also nodded with serious faces.
Natsuki led them toward the Snow Ninja clan’s compound.
Because they didn’t hide themselves at all, they were quickly discovered by the ninjas of the Snow Ninja clan.
"Who goes there?"
Four Snow Ninjas appeared in front of them.
"Do it."
Natsuki ignored them and spoke.
Konoha Whirlwind!
Nagato was the first to react.
He fiercely kicked out.
Bang!
The Snow Ninja closest to him reacted, raising his right leg to block the kick.
Nagato wasn’t surprised and immediately threw a punch.
The Snow Ninja also threw a punch.
Just as the fists were about to collide, Nagato unclenched his fist and pointed his index finger forward.
Seeing this, the Snow Ninja couldn’t help but laugh.
Index finger against a fist, it went without saying who would win.
Shigan!
Chakra, like a bullet, pierced through the Snow Ninja’s fist.
The smile on his face froze, and he let out a scream of pain.
Armament Haki!
Nagato hit the Snow Ninja with another punch.
The Armament Haki wrapped around his fist was released instantly.
A powerful shockwave knocked the Snow Ninja out cold, sending him flying backward to plant face-first into the snow.
Yahiko and Konan weren’t slow either.
In an instant, they launched attacks on the Snow Ninjas closest to them.
Soru!
Yahiko teleported in front of a Snow Ninja. Before the enemy could react, he delivered a spinning kick.
Konoha Great Whirlwind!
The Snow Ninja subconsciously raised his arms.
But the immense power transmitted made a look of disbelief appear on his face.
He didn’t expect the skinny-looking Yahiko to have such great strength.
This was thanks to the enhancement from Natsuki’s blood.
Seeing that he had gained the upper hand in the first exchange, Yahiko became even more excited in his heart.
After all, the Snow Ninja opposite him was a Chunin.
Shigan!
Yahiko pursued his victory.
This Snow Ninja, like the previous one, completely didn’t expect this finger to have such great power.
He grabbed at Yahiko, only to have his palm pierced through.
As blood splattered, the pain caused him to freeze for two seconds.
Yahiko seized the opportunity, leaped into the air, and landed a Konoha Strong Whirlwind on his neck, knocking him out.
Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!
Konan stood in place and raised her hand.
Blood surged out like a stream of water.
Seeing this, the Snow Ninja couldn’t help but frown.
It was his first time seeing someone who could manipulate blood to attack.
To be safe, he immediately took a step back and raised his hands.
The ice and snow on the ground flew up, transforming into kunai that shot toward Konan.
There were many kunai, already covering her surroundings.
With a thought from Konan, that stream of blood exploded amidst the kunai.
In an instant, scorching heat filled the air.
The moment the burning blood touched the kunai, it melted them into water.
"What?"
The Snow Ninja couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
He hurriedly formed hand seals, mobilizing more ice and snow.
Konan opened her hand.
From her palm, blood surged out.
Flames surrounded the blood, melting the ice and snow wherever it passed.
When it reached the Snow Ninja, the blood abruptly exploded.
The flames landed on his body, making him scream in pain.
Konan closed in and directly knocked him out, then retracted the flames to prevent him from dying.
She firmly remembered Natsuki’s words: defeat them, don’t kill them.
The remaining Snow Ninja only felt a blur, and his three teammates had already been defeated.
He subconsciously shouted. "Enemy attack!"
Natsuki didn’t stop them.
Because this was exactly his goal.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of Snow Ninjas rushed out from the compound.
Natsuki swept a glance and nodded slightly.
The number of ninjas was not bad, about forty people.
Once they joined the Akatsuki organization, the Akatsuki organization would have more manpower.
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