Hidan was curious too, after hearing that. Itachi Uchiha's genjutsu was extraordinarily terrifying, it wasn't surprising at all that it could drag out information in fine detail.

Those brainless idiots from the Land of Lightning probably had no idea they'd already spilled every detail of their operation to Itachi Uchiha while trapped inside the genjutsu.

And Hidan was very curious about exactly who these brainless fools had set their sights on.

"Who did these rats fix their eyes on?!"

Hidan asked Itachi Uchiha, scythe slung over one shoulder.

Itachi Uchiha stared ahead with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan active, utterly calm.

"Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning has harbored an obsession with all manner of Kekkei Genkai since ancient times. And they have a preference for beautiful women.

So these brainless infiltrators set their sights on...

Mito Uzumaki...

Kushina Uzumaki...

Tsunade...

And also Hinata Hyūga and Haku...

The only thing is, their intelligence-gathering is terrible. They found out that Haku possesses the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai — but they don't know that Haku is actually male."

Cold sweat had already formed a small river across Hidan's forehead.

There came a loud gulp.

"What the hell! One against seven... whether Haku is male or female doesn't really matter here, does it?!

What matters is, how do these brainless idiots dare set their sights on any of these people? Does Kumogakure want their nation wiped off the map?!

Is any of this actually true?!"

Itachi Uchiha remained expressionless.

"Of course it's true. One look from my Mangekyō Sharingan and these fools said everything, things they should have said, things they shouldn't have said, all of it.

Anyway, the people from Kumogakure have never had any brains.

Keep a close watch on them here. I still have to go swap out an advertising board.

Tonight's concert probably won't be cancelled. But tomorrow...

Heh... Land of Lightning... prepare to face the wrath of the Hidden Leaf Village.

I want to see just what kind of trouble these sewer rats actually dare to stir up."

Hidan stood in the shadows, scythe over one shoulder, watching those Kumogakure ninja who were convinced their infiltration had gone off without a hitch, and wiped the cold sweat from the forehead with a sleeve.

"These fools really are looking for death... they dare set their sights on those people?! Do they really think hashirama senju and madara uchiha are just sitting around doing nothing?"

Hidan genuinely could not wrap a head around it. Were these Kumogakure ninja from the Land of Lightning actually brain-dead?

Or was their Fourth Raikage brain-dead too?

Because otherwise, why would anyone send ninja to pull something like this?!

Mito Uzumaki is the woman of the First Hokage hashirama senju. Kushina Uzumaki is the woman of the Fourth Hokage minato namikaze. Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First and Second, the disciple of the Third, and a close comrade of Orochimaru and Jiraiya!

Hinata Hyūga is the daughter-in-law of the Fourth Hokage, the future wife of Naruto Uzumaki, a member of the Hokage Guard Platoon, and the first princess of the Hyūga Clan!

Had this entire group of Land of Lightning ninja lost their minds?!

For a moment Hidan felt like the world had gone a little surreal. There had always been people who called Hidan brain-dead, called Hidan a lunatic.

But now Hidan felt...

There were far more brain-dead people in this world than Hidan.

And on top of that, these sewer rats dared to cause trouble on Lord Jashin's turf.

Absolutely asking to die.

...........

At the same time. Kumogakure, Land of Lightning.

The Fourth Raikage sat inside the Raikage's office, scanning through the documents in hand.

"Mabui... has the intelligence on the Hidden Leaf Village come back yet?"

Mabui was a dark-skinned beauty with the bearing of a mature woman, and also the Fourth Raikage's secretary.

"Fourth Raikage, quite a bit of news has been coming in from the Hidden Leaf Village lately. The problem is that far too much of it is simply too bizarre to believe..."

"What kind of news?" The Fourth Raikage looked up at the secretary with some curiosity.

"The spies we sent out have indeed relayed back some information recently...

The first report stated that the Hidden Leaf Village's Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had died, and that village elder Danzō Shimura had become the new Hokage.

However..."

"However what?!"

"Later reports then said that the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had inexplicably come back to life, and that Danzō Shimura had inexplicably died..."

The Fourth Raikage looked completely dumbfounded.

"What in the world?! All this dying and coming back to life — one died, one came back, then another one died — just what are these people even sending back?!

We still know nothing about what the Hidden Leaf Village has actually been going through. Don't tell me not a single one of these people has sent back anything useful!"

The Fourth Raikage frowned. The intelligence coming back from the spies was simply too absurd, all this dying and reviving. It was like something out of a bad joke.

Seeing the Fourth Raikage's patience wearing thin, Mabui was at something of a loss as well.

"Fourth Raikage, please stay calm, that's not even the most unbelievable part. The most unbelievable part is what our village's spies reported back... saying... saying..."

"What else?!"

Mabui took a deep breath and continued.

"The report states that many powerful figures in the Hidden Leaf Village who had already died have all come back to life. Among them, the legendary First Hokage hashirama senju, madara uchiha, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, and the Fourth Hokage minato namikaze."

BANG!

The Fourth Raikage slammed a fist hard on the desk.

"What the hell?! Who came back to life?!"

"The Hidden Leaf Village's powerful figures across generations. Past Hokage..."

Mabui's face was filled with disbelief as well.

The Fourth Raikage waved a hand.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Those people have been dead for ages, how could they possibly come back to life? Could it be that the spies we sent out have already been compromised? Is this just false information the Hidden Leaf Village is putting out to mislead us?!"

Mabui reorganized the documents and continued.

"Fourth Raikage... honestly, I thought the same thing. However, recently our dispatched spies made contact with the ninja we have lurking around the Hidden Leaf Village.

They say the Hidden Leaf Village is about to hold some kind of concert, and wealthy individuals and merchants from many countries are all making their way there.

So these people are planning to join forces with the ninja we have lurking outside the village, and strike during the concert, when the Hidden Leaf Village's defenses would be at their weakest...

To see if they can mount an attack on the Hidden Leaf Village."

➤ Next: Kumogakure in Motion

Chapter 238 - Kumogakure in Motion

BOOM!

The Fourth Raikage's fist crashed down on the desk again.

"These bastards! What did you just say?! They want to act on their own?! And the spies we have stationed in the Hidden Leaf Village actually contacted our ninja lying in wait outside the village, without authorization?!

These idiots! Don't they realize they may have already been exposed?! And they still dared to contact our operatives lurking outside the Hidden Leaf Village on their own!

Are these people all pig-brained?!"

Seeing the Fourth Raikage's fury, Mabui quickly cut in.

"Lord Raikage, please calm down first!"

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?! We don't even know what's been happening inside the Hidden Leaf Village lately! Reports flying in from every direction, some true, some false, all tangled together!

One says Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi is dead. Another says Danzō Shimura is dead. And yet another says the Hidden Leaf Village has already elected a Fifth Hokage!

This is bait. This is obviously a trap!

And how could the Hidden Leaf Village possibly be throwing some kind of concert right now?!

Do you think the people over there are braindead like Killer B?!

And why would the spies we sent want to attack the Hidden Leaf Village? There has to be a reason for something like that, right?

Without my approval as Raikage, these people dared to carry out orders on their own? They even went so far as to contact our ninja lurking outside the village on their own...

Could it be that the Hidden Leaf Village is sitting on some kind of treasure?! Something so valuable it has these people this desperate to move?!"

The Fourth Raikage genuinely could not work it out. The spies the village had sent were elites, whatever else could be said about them, so how could they possibly decide to go rogue for no apparent reason?!

At the very least, their desperation to act, and the fact that they had already contacted Kumogakure's ninja lying in wait outside the Hidden Leaf Village, pointed to one thing: something had appeared inside the Hidden Leaf Village that Kumogakure found irresistibly tempting.

So what was it?

At this moment, the expression on Mabui's face grew stranger and stranger...

"Lord Raikage, do you remember the intelligence I mentioned just now, about how all the powerful figures throughout the Hidden Leaf Village's history had supposedly been resurrected...

The message those operatives sent back also states that Mito Uzumaki, the woman of First Hokage hashirama senju, has also been resurrected. Along with her, the Hidden Leaf Village's previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, the woman of Fourth Hokage minato namikaze.

In addition to those two from the Uzumaki family, Tsunade — one of the Sannin — has also returned to the Hidden Leaf Village. You are already aware that Tsunade carries the bloodline of the Senju Clan...

Beyond these three women, the spies we sent and the ninja we have waiting outside the Hidden Leaf Village have once again set their sights on Hinata Hyūga, the eldest daughter of the Hyūga Clan.

After all, Kumogakure has previously made attempts against both Kushina Uzumaki and Hinata Hyūga, they just both ended in failure...

These operatives are likely trying to capture these women and deliver them back as an offering to Lord Raikage...

Because if these women were to bear children for Kumogakure, then we could very well come to possess several extremely powerful Kekkei Genkai!"

The Fourth Raikage was even more dumbfounded after hearing that.

Kumogakure truly did crave every manner of Kekkei Genkai. In the past, it had indeed made a move against the Hidden Leaf Village's previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki, and in this current generation had indeed made a move against Hinata Hyūga.

But what in the hell was the deal with Mito Uzumaki?!

If memory served, Mito Uzumaki was the woman of First Hokage hashirama senju, wasn't she?

At that age, Mito could probably be someone's grandmother by now, couldn't she?!

And none of this had even been sorted out yet, could it really be that all the legendary figures throughout the Hidden Leaf Village's history had actually been resurrected?!

Thinking this over, the Fourth Raikage looked up at Mabui.

"Mabui... have those people sent back any new intelligence?!"

Mabui nodded.

"Lord Raikage, the latest message they sent back is... our ninja who were lying in wait outside the Hidden Leaf Village have successfully infiltrated the village, using the opportunity provided by this concert the Hidden Leaf Village is currently holding.

The squad we had positioned outside is led by elite jonin Matsushita Yugou.

One elite jonin — Squad Leader Matsushita Yugou, two jonin, four chunin, and eight genin. Fifteen ninja total.

Add the five spies we already have embedded inside the Hidden Leaf Village, and this operation involves twenty participants altogether.

That is the last message they sent back.

As for anything further, nothing has come through yet."

Hearing the report, the Fourth Raikage frowned.

"You're saying these people have already infiltrated the Hidden Leaf Village?!"

Mabui nodded.

"That's right, Lord Raikage. That is what the intelligence says."

The Fourth Raikage tapped the desk slowly and began to think.

"Strange. What on earth has the Hidden Leaf Village been doing lately?! Mabui... do you actually believe what the intelligence claims, that all the legendary figures throughout the Hidden Leaf Village's history have truly been resurrected?!"

"Lord Raikage... personally, I don't believe it. But the way these operatives wrote it, they sounded absolutely certain."

The Fourth Raikage nodded.

"Right... how could something like that possibly happen?! What reason would dead people have to just come back to life?! Let alone people who have been dead for several decades...

hashirama senju, madara uchiha, making names for themselves in that old era, becoming so-called legendary ninja. Could it be that the people of the Hidden Leaf Village are trying to intimidate us by riding on the lingering prestige of that ancient history?!

Never mind that these people couldn't possibly have been resurrected, even if they really were, Kumogakure wouldn't be afraid of them!

That so-called Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the younger sibling of hashirama senju, right? Also known as a master of forbidden jutsu, the one who supposedly signed a summoning contract with the ocean...

I say it's all complete nonsense!

If truly that powerful, how could such a person possibly die in the Great Shinobi War?!

A Hokage, taken down by the Gold and Silver Brothers...

As far as I can see, the Hidden Leaf Village is nothing but a pack of fame-chasing frauds!

After all, didn't Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi claim to be the strongest Hokage?!

A decrepit old Third Hokage, and this Raikage could take that life as easily as reaching into a pocket.

An old person like that could become the so-called strongest Hokage? I'd say the Hidden Leaf Village really isn't much at all!"

The Fourth Raikage kept tapping the desk and began carefully turning over every piece of information those spies had sent back.

➤ Next: Hand All the Women Over to Us!