Chapter 124: The Stubborn Nagato

"Is this the power of a Shadow?"

Haku crawled out, staggering amidst the shattered Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, his chakra completely exhausted from merely reinforcing the strength of the ice mirrors.

The Ice Release secret technique, which even Mr. Zabuza found difficult to break, had shattered like dregs of tofu.

And this was only the result of Terumi Mei deliberately restraining her flames, enduring only the faint aftershocks.

"Where is Zabuza being held?"

As the voice rang out,

the wandering samurai and hired ninja who had rushed over only then discovered Terumi Mei standing on a fragmented island.

"Who are you?"

"Beside her is the wanted subordinate of Zabuza, Haku. Is she a helper she called for?"

The ninja hired by the shipping company had not yet realized the gravity of the situation, or rather, they could not imagine that a human could trigger a natural disaster, and simply regarded Terumi Mei as a ninja who happened to appear.

A rogue ninja wearing a damaged headband from a small ninja village sneered: "We've been looking for you everywhere; I didn't expect you to jump out yourself. Are you looking for death?"

He quickly formed hand seals, and a mass of water flowed along his palms, condensing into a rotating water blade.

Water Release: Water Fang Blade.

The surrounding hired ninja also began forming hand seals one after another, launching Water Release ninjutsu like Water Release: Water Fang Bullet and Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet; the dense aura of chakra gathered together, possessing quite a bit of momentum.

The overlapping Water Release ninjutsu, combined with the fact that the Land of Waves was surrounded by the sea on all sides, had their power pushed to the extreme.

"Watch out."

Although he knew of Terumi Mei's terrifying strength, Haku still spoke out subconsciously.

"Arrogant fellow, not even dodging. Even the strongest ninja couldn't withstand overlapping Water Release ninjutsu head-on."

The hired ninja sneered.

Although ninja possess powerful ninjutsu, unlike the sturdy bodies in the Pirate World, even if you are a Shadow-level expert like the Raikage, who is known for tempering his physique, you will still be injured if you take ninjutsu head-on.

She didn't even form hand seals; she is truly looking for death...

The Water Release ninjutsu collided, erupting with a violent shockwave.

Immediately following, the rogue ninja holding the water blade landed on the ground, the sharp water blade thrusting forward.

Scorching heat.

The water blade was instantly evaporated, the rogue ninja's palm turned into charred remains, and deep orange-red flames spread across his entire body.

A layer of orange-red defensive shield isolated Terumi Mei within.

Flame Barrier.

A Level 15 Blue Potential Mage skill, capable of absorbing a certain degree of damage and carrying a flame reflection effect.

Although it does not have the strength of Susanoo, even ninjutsu released by Shadow-level powerhouses cannot easily break it.

Not far away,

a piece of paper talisman printed with an eye pattern was stuck to a wandering samurai.

Inside the secret base of the Akatsuki in the Rain Village.

Nagato, who also had a paper talisman stuck to him, was able to share the wandering samurai's perspective, watching the Water Release blocked by Terumi Mei and the defeated rogue ninja with a calm gaze.

He said to Konan beside him: "My Shinra Tensei can instantly destroy a town; can this strange flame barrier do that?"

The Clairvoyance Paper Talisman had not seen the moment Terumi Mei destroyed the shipping company.

Konan did not speak, nor did she refute him.

What instantly destroys a town is the Super Shinra Tensei, which places a great burden on the body, but the flame barrier, which can rival a standard Shinra Tensei, is merely a Blue Potential skill of Terumi Mei.

By bringing up the Super Shinra Tensei, Nagato was actually tacitly admitting that the standard Shinra Tensei was slightly inferior to the opponent's.

It is just like this,

to let his companions see clearly the power of the Samsara Game, and then accept it, willing to become players of the Samsara Game.

After being resurrected, Yahiko was very interested in the current state of the Rain Village and the Dawn Family he created; after catching up a little, he went running about everywhere. He really is the same as before, a guy who can't stay idle.

Thinking of this,

Konan felt warm inside, a long-lost feeling, as if returning to the initial period when the Akatsuki was founded, when they and the partners of the Akatsuki were all throwing themselves into the dream of peace.

Everything was the credit of the Samsara Game.

Nagato's gaze fell on the two people wearing the Akatsuki uniform, and he said: "Since Kakuzu and Hidan are both here, let the two of them test the Mizukage's strength."

Whether it is Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear and Five Release Fusion Ninjutsu, or Hidan's immortality, both are very troublesome abilities.

If the two join forces, even Shadow-level experts can be hunted.

If they were to be killed just like this, then the Samsara Game would be nothing more than that.

Nagato's ripple-patterned eyes narrowed, observing the situation in the Land of Waves through the Clairvoyance Paper Talisman.

Iwagakure,

Onoki sat cross-legged in mid-air with a face full of agitation, looking at the situation on the communicator screen, and said angrily: "Bastard, when attacking Konoha, the Mist Village contributed the least, yet the benefits they received were no less than ours, and now they are actually secretly attacking the Land of Waves."

The Land of Waves is also a piece of meat on the plate for Iwagakure; there is already concrete intelligence that the boss of the shipping company, Gato, is a 【Land of Waves Tycoon】 in the game, and his strength is roughly similar to that of Huangtu who exchanged for Wood Release—both are Shadow-level.

One only needs to wait for the right time to send the Rock Troops with Huangtu leading them to easily take down the factories in the Land of Waves.

"Although the Land of Waves cannot be compared to a Great Ninja Village, it is still a force with a Shadow presiding over it, and those hired ninja are not weak either."

Onoki looked at Terumi Mei, who was snatching the peach from Iwagakure, and sneered: "Daring to barge into the Land of Waves alone and swaggering about without even bringing guards—Terumi Mei is truly a young brat with too little experience."

During the Konoha Collapse Plan,

there was a brief contact while confronting the two Senju brothers and the Ninja Hero within the Four Violet Flames Formation.

Terumi Mei's strength is very strong; one could tell she didn't use her full power during the confrontation, but according to Onoki's deduction, she should be slightly stronger than Raikage Ai.

There is still a gap between her and him, who has perfectly mastered the Dust Release.

Even he himself is very wary of fighting alone, and when traveling, he always has two Elite Ninja accompany him to act as guards.

After all,

unless it is Senju Hashirama in his prime, even an ordinary ninja as strong as a Shadow is still a mortal of flesh and blood; they cannot maintain focus at all times, their chakra can be exhausted, and their minds can have lapses, so a moment of carelessness could lead to being killed by an enemy.

The Third Raikage was able to achieve such terrifying battle records mainly because he stole the Rock Village's deployment maps and vital intelligence that could have turned the tide of the battlefield at the time, forcing the Rock Village to pursue him to the death.

Under normal circumstances, it would only take two thousand ninja constantly kiting and harassing him to exhaust his chakra.

The reason Tailed Beasts and jinchuriki are treated as nuclear weapons by the major Ninja Villages is that, unlike ninja, they do not have limited chakra; the vast chakra of a Tailed Beast and its ability to mow down enemies can cause strategic-level, large-scale, terrifying damage.

Land of Waves.

The corrupt merchant Gato, who had rushed over in a hurry, felt his heart ache so much he could not breathe when he saw his shipping company destroyed by a natural disaster, as well as the factories near the forest.

With a face full of rage, he looked at Haku, who had appeared of his own volition, and the somewhat familiar Terumi Mei, and vented his anger: "The Land of Waves has always been peaceful and uninvolved; since the Mist Village wants to help the Rebel Army, then they are my enemies!"

In the past, if he had encountered ninja from the Five Great Nations, he wouldn't say he was very polite, but he wouldn't have resorted to violence immediately.

However, the destroyed docks and factories, along with the confidence gained from obtaining great strength from the Samsara Game, had changed his mindset.

"Everyone, attack together, kill them!"

The leader of the wandering samurai revealed a ferocious expression, recognizing Terumi Mei as the player who dared to kill them in the game.

Now, it was their home-field advantage, and they had two experts from the Akatsuki Organization hired at a high price.

How could they lose?

(End of this chapter)