After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 226

Chapter 226: I'm Already Invincible!

Takigakure Village—a settlement built at the center of a massive forest, surrounded completely by lake water.

The village's outer perimeter consisted of towering waterfalls. Without someone to guide the way, entering Takigakure's interior proved extremely difficult.

Currently, three groups were all heading toward this location: the Tailed Beast Protection Squad, the Akatsuki organization, and the "Where's Daddy?" group of four.

So who would arrive first?

The answer: the "Hero Water Raiders" led by Takigakure's rogue ninja, Suien.

"Can we really get inside this place, Suien-sama?"

A ninja wearing a Hidden Rain forehead protector asked the man leaning against a large tree.

They were defectors who'd recently fled from the Hidden Rain Village.

Not only because "Pain," the village's protector, had disappeared, but in truth, this group had always been dissatisfied with Konan and the others' management style.

Leaving was only a matter of time. This situation simply provided the right opportunity.

"Trust me. After all, I used to be a jonin of this village."

If Takigakure had anything that could make Suien worried, it was only the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.

However, as long as they knocked her out immediately to prevent her from going berserk, that little girl posed no real threat.

Thinking this, Suien shared information about the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki Fu with the others.

"As soon as you see her, knock her unconscious immediately. Don't kill her."

For some reason, he didn't reveal Fu's identity as a Jinchūriki.

Although the other subordinates had some doubts, with the mission nearly complete, nobody had the energy to dig deeper.

Just like that, a group of Hidden Rain defectors, led by a Takigakure traitor, passed through the waterfall's natural barrier via a hidden passage, easily entering Takigakure Village.

Shortly after they left, two figures wearing black robes with red clouds also arrived at this location.

"Is this it? The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki's hideout."

Hiruko gazed at the dense forest, his thoughts unreadable.

Beside him, Zetsu seemed to notice something, responding in a low voice.

"Let's hurry. It looks like someone arrived before us."

"Oh? Perfect. Let them scout the path for us then."

Hiruko's face from the nose down remained wrapped in bandages, only his eyes visible and darting around, occasionally glancing at Zetsu, then looking toward where Suien's group had stepped.

Whether for Hiruko or Zetsu, at their level of power, ordinary ninja no longer mattered to them.

At this very moment, the Akatsuki organization still didn't realize another group was also collecting tailed beasts.

Inside Takigakure Village.

Leader Shibuki carried the eleven-year-old Fu on his shoulder, running through the secret passage leading to where the Hero Water was stored.

On his shoulder, Fu continued struggling.

"Shibuki! Let me go! Let me save them!"

Just moments ago, Suien's group had successfully attacked Takigakure Village.

Under his leadership, those rogue ninja struck first. Takigakure barely mounted any resistance before most of its people were captured.

Honestly, if this had been during the First Hokage's era, Takigakure would never have been invaded so easily.

Back then, Takigakure had been known as a village that "mass-produced jonin."

Ninja of Suien's caliber had been everywhere.

Even Kakuzu, once the treasurer of the Akatsuki organization, came from this village.

But perhaps Takigakure's decline was precisely because of Kakuzu.

At that time, Kakuzu received orders from Takigakure's leadership to assassinate the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju.

The result was predictable.

Though it remained unclear whether the battle ended as absurdly as rumored—"throwing a shuriken at a Wood Clone from eight hundred miles away"—Kakuzu had indeed failed.

Hashirama Senju hadn't taken Kakuzu's life, but upon returning to the village, Takigakure's leadership unanimously decided Kakuzu had failed his mission and should be executed.

That's when everything went completely wrong.

Takigakure didn't fall to Konoha's counterattack but was destroyed by Kakuzu's hands instead.

Kakuzu not only slaughtered nearly all the leadership at the time but also stole the village's secret technique "Earth Grudge Fear," using those leaders' hearts to fill his body.

Since then, Takigakure's knowledge and power had been completely broken.

By Suien and Shibuki's generation, only a handful of capable ninja remained.

They could only rely on the "Hero Water" and the "Seven-Tails" to maintain some standing.

But now, aside from Shibuki, nobody knew where the Hero Water was located. This generation's Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, Fu, remained far too young and hadn't grown into her power yet.

"Fu, stay here. Leave the rest to me."

Though fear still gripped his heart, Shibuki genuinely wanted to protect Takigakure Village.

Now seemed to be the time to sacrifice himself.

Shibuki's father had once drunk the Hero Water to protect the village, but the outcome hadn't been ideal. His father had still died in that battle.

Taking the Hero Water stored in a transparent gourd from the secret box, this represented all of the Sacred Tree's output over these many years.

According to legend, drinking just one mouthful would temporarily increase his chakra tenfold. That should be enough to deal with those ninja.

After repeatedly warning Fu not to come out, Shibuki took the gourd and returned the way he came.

Outside, Suien and his group had already gathered all the villagers in the clearing. Currently, he held a kunai to a young girl's throat.

"Shibuki! Hand over the Hero Water! Otherwise, I'll start killing them one by one, beginning with this brat!"

Suien had once been Shibuki's ninjutsu instructor, so he understood this leader's personality very well.

Timid, weak—just keep applying pressure, and he'd definitely give in.

Sure enough, when the kunai drew blood on the little girl's neck, a water tornado suddenly erupted from the pond outside the village, directly sweeping several Hidden Rain defectors into the air.

When the water splashed down, it revealed Shibuki, his chakra now so dense it was visible to the naked eye.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Unlike a certain embarrassing Hidden Mist ninja, Shibuki in this enhanced state only needed a few hand seals to easily perform the Water Dragon technique.

The dragon head swept across, effortlessly clearing away the attacking ninja without much effort.

However, all of this remained within Suien's expectations.

Taking advantage of the opening while Shibuki performed his jutsu, Suien directly launched a surprise attack, using water as a sword to pierce through Shibuki's chest.

This couldn't be helped.

Though Shibuki had drunk the Hero Water, he still lacked substantial combat experience. Combined with his originally mediocre talent, even amplified tenfold, he remained only at that level.

Taking the gourd from Shibuki's chest, it indeed still contained plenty of Hero Water.

"Hahahaha! Now! I'm invincible!"

Suien shouted the phrase that nearly every doomed villain loved to say.

And just like the flag he'd raised, the next moment, Zetsu and Hiruko's figures appeared before them.

"Oh, this really is an unexpected bonus."

Hiruko looked at the Hero Water in the other's hand. He'd heard the rumors about that substance.

Meanwhile, Zetsu seemed uninterested, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the village.

"Don't forget our purpose. The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki doesn't seem to be here."

Hearing Zetsu's words, Hiruko appeared completely unconcerned.

"Then you go find her first. I'll come over after I finish dealing with them."

Zetsu's eyes glinted dangerously as he glanced at Hiruko, saying nothing. He simply merged into the tree trunk and disappeared.

The two sides never had much trust to begin with. Leaving this guy here to attract attention wasn't a bad idea. Once he found the Jinchūriki, he could notify the others.

Come to think of it, Deidara and his partner shouldn't be far from here.

When they'd originally assigned Deidara's group to the Land of Earth, part of the intention was to guard against Hiruko.