Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 449 Xiao's Newcomer

Konoha's counterattack was like pouring a ladle of ice water into a boiling oil pan, instantly igniting a second tsunami of public opinion in the ninja world. Compared to the previous speculative and inflammatory rumors about the "Tensegan," the information leaked by Konoha this time seemed "solid" and chilling.

A mysterious uniform with black background and red clouds, an S-rank rogue ninja active in the shadows, a long history of stirring up conflict across national borders, and a mad goal of collecting tailed beasts to create the "ultimate weapon" —

Although the specific events were not named, they vaguely matched certain unsolved mysteries in the intelligence systems of various villages and the mysterious disappearances of some elite ninjas.

The most significant and impactful piece of information is undoubtedly the core message: the leader of the Akatsuki organization possesses the legendary Sage's Eye, the Rinnegan!

This intelligence was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake; the ripples it created quickly spread, overlapped, and eventually turned into towering waves.

Unlike the "Tennegan" of Konoha, which is still in the "legend" and has never been seen, this "Akatsuki" with the Rinnegan is real and its threat is more imminent, more real and terrifying!

Iwagakure Village, Tsuchikage's Office.

Onoki, short in stature, sat behind his desk, his withered fingers gripping a secret report that had just been presented by the Anbu.

On the desk in front of him, there were still countless reports about the search for Rinpoche that had made no progress. His cloudy old eyes were fixed on the three words "Rinnegan" on the secret report, and below it, the Akatsuki's target was to capture the Tailed Beasts.

"Hoo—" Onoki's long sigh echoed in the deathly silent office. The rage, anxiety, and the increasingly heavy sense of foreboding deep in his heart finally found an outlet at this moment, turning into cold despair.

He waved his hand, as if using all his strength, signaling the dark squad leader below, who was about to report again that "there is no trace of Lao Zi," to step down.

The office door closed softly. Ohnoki, his back hunched, slowly made his way to the huge floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the rugged, steep rocky mountains surrounded Iwagakure Village.

The afterglow of the setting sun painted the mountains with a tragic dark red.

His withered hands repeatedly stroked the secret report about the Akatsuki and the Rinnegan, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"Old Purple—who told you to leave the village without permission—" Onoki's voice was hoarse and low, filled with the sorrow and helplessness of a hero in his twilight years, "You—you're never coming back, are you?"

It has been almost three months since Rōshi left the village. At first, the village could still receive information from him through other Iwa ninja, but later only occasional intelligence about his self-defense was sent back.

One or two times might be reassuring, but repeated occurrences inevitably raise suspicions, especially since the ANBU agents who investigate based on intelligence always end up empty-handed. Even a fool could see the oddities, let alone ninjas who are experts in this field.

After a long silence, the Tsuchikage abruptly snapped out of his reverie, his eyes flashing with the ruthlessness and decisiveness characteristic of the "Two Scales" (a powerful, ruthless organization). He pressed the communicator on the table, his voice as cold as ice: "Order! From this moment forward, all ninjas on missions outside, gather all intelligence on the Akatsuki organization and its members! Especially Pain, who possesses the Rinnegan! Report any clues immediately! Top priority!"

The Land of Rain, the base of the Akatsuki organization.

The cold rain relentlessly pounded against the mountain rocks, and a damp, chilly atmosphere, even more so than usual, permeated the depths of the base.

"Bang!"

The hard rocky ground was shattered by a single stomp! Shards flew everywhere, making a crackling sound as they hit the ground.

"Useless! Fool!" Obito's furious roar echoed in the empty cavern, his voice sounding even more distorted and muffled through his mask.

He whirled around, his right Sharingan, the only eye of his, spinning wildly. The crimson light locked onto the silent Zetsu, his killing intent almost tangible!

"Who told you to be so clever and reveal the exact power of the Tenseigan? Hmm? All we need to do is make Konoha the target of everyone's attacks! Who told you to overcomplicate things?"

Payne stood motionless not far away, his black robe with red clouds remaining perfectly still in the dim light. But in his eyes, purple ripples rippled violently, and a chilling killing intent, like a tangible cold current, silently spread out, lowering the temperature of the entire space by several degrees.

He didn't speak, but the silent oppressive feeling was even more suffocating than Obito's roar.

Zetsu's half-black, half-white body trembled slightly, whether from fear or deliberate, it was unclear. The white Zetsu part emitted an exaggerated, high-pitched voice: "I—I just wanted to add some spice to Konoha—who knew—who knew Konoha would react so decisively, so ruthlessly—directly piercing out the Rinnegan."

"Add some spice?!" Obito's voice suddenly rose, filled with absurd anger. "The little 'spice' you added has put us right on the fire! Look outside now! The Rinnegan 'Collect Tailed Beasts' ultimate weapon!"

The entire ninja world is watching! Even that old dog from Iwagakure has given orders for all Iwagakure ninja to gather intelligence on Akatsuki.

Black Zetsu was speechless. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. He felt that the pressure on Konoha was not enough, so he added more pressure. He did not expect this to happen.

Black Zetsu remained silent, and his body was naturally taken over by White Zetsu.

"Oh dear, we're in so much danger right now. On my way back, I've noticed more than once that people are trying to gather information about us."

It would have been better if we hadn't said anything; the more we talk about it, the more Black Zetsu's incompetence seems to come across.

Seeing that no one responded to him, White Zetsu was struck by a strange sight. He turned to look at Obito and Pain, but then he discovered that he had lost control of his body once again.

Not only that, when he opened his mouth to complain, he found that he couldn't even move his mouth; all he could do was move his eyes left and right.

In the midst of this silence, the soft "tap tap" of footsteps became all the more distinct.

The three of them turned to look in the direction from which the footsteps came, and saw Xiao Nan with short blue hair walking towards them with a happy expression.

Konan, who had just entered, was clearly immersed in joy. Even when she saw Obito and Zetsu present, she was only slightly stunned, which did not diminish her happiness.

"Payne, good news, I've found a new member."

Konan nodded to Obito and Zetsu as a greeting, and then couldn't wait to tell them the source of her joy.

During this time, she and Kakuzu have been running all over the ninja world, just to find a new member to replace her as soon as possible.

How many people know how worried she is about Nagato's health at the base every night when she rests and her mind is blank?

For this reason, she didn't hesitate to endure Kakuzu's murderous gaze and urged him to travel between different gold exchange shops every day. Finally, she found a suitable target in the Land of Bears.

"Oh, really?" Payne's lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to smile, but his stiff muscles could only manage that much.

"That's certainly good news; our strength has increased once again."

Payne, of course, knew what Konan was thinking. Touched, he didn't want to disappoint her. "In that case, come back and let the new member team up with Kakuzu."

Payne had absolute trust in Konan, and made his decision without even asking for information about the new member.

But how could this satisfy Obito, who was standing next to him?

"uh-huh!"

He coughed lightly to attract the attention of others, and asked the question that had been bothering him in a calm voice.

"Xiao Nan, what's the new member's name? What's his/her identity? What are his/her abilities? Since you're the one who discovered him/her, why don't you introduce him/her?"

"

When Konan heard Pain's arrangements, a bright smile appeared on her face, and she even gave Obito a rare kind look when he asked her questions.

"Speaking of which, that person was born at the same time as you?"

Konan made a joke, which made Obito's muscles tense up, thinking that his identity had been exposed.

"That was also a rogue ninja from Konoha, named Hiruko. She defected from Konoha near the end of the Third Shinobi World War. She was fairly strong, but had good potential for development."

"Hmph!" Obito snorted disdainfully, saying with dissatisfaction, "I am no rogue ninja. Don't compare yourself to these ignorant juniors."

However, Obito only expressed his dissatisfaction slightly at this time and did not pursue the matter further. His attention was still on this newcomer.

"Good development potential" means his current strength is insufficient. What we need now is actual combat power, and someone who still needs to be trained may not be suitable for us.

Obito was expressing his opinion and wanted to hear Konan's explanation. If the other party truly had great potential, it wasn't impossible to be accommodating.

"Just listening to what I say isn't enough to be sure. Luckily, I've brought him to the vicinity, so everyone can verify it for themselves."

Pain and Obito exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement. "Very well then."

Not far from Akatsuki's base, in a dense forest, Hiruko leaned against a thick tree trunk, his toes unconsciously grinding the fallen leaves beneath his feet, making a soft crunching sound.

His fingers nervously twisted the hem of his greyish-white robe, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Every time he heard the slightest rustling of grass in the distance, he would suddenly raise his head, his slightly narrow eyes scanning the area like a startled wild beast, only to quickly dim again when he saw nothing there, revealing the anxiety and unease hidden beneath.

"Tsk."

A short, cold click of the tongue came from not far away, breaking the monotony of only the sound of rain.

Kakuzu also leaned against an ancient tree, his dark green eyes peering through the rain like the most precise weight, measuring Hiruko over and over again.

That gaze wasn't scrutinizing; it was more like estimating how much money this restless, rogue Konoha ninja could get if he were taken to the nearest gold exchange right now.

His lips moved silently; only when one was extremely close could one barely catch his murmur: "This reward—it's probably going to slip away—what a pity—"

Time crawled slowly to the rhythm of raindrops pattering on the leaves, and every second felt like an eternity to Hiruko.

Just as he was about to be driven mad by the endless waiting and inner torment, a very faint sound of footsteps pierced through the rain and slowly approached from the depths of the forest.

coming!

Hiruko's heart leaped into his throat. He straightened his back, which had been slightly hunched due to tension, and turned his gaze like lightning toward the direction from which the sound came.

However, when the figure became clear in the hazy rain, the hope in his eyes deflated and died out like a punctured balloon, replaced by a chilling coldness and unbelievable humiliation.

There was only one person.

Only the woman with short blue hair walked back slowly, all by herself. Behind her was nothing; the expected leader of the Akatsuki or any of the others did not appear.

An indescribable surge of pent-up inferiority and anger, like lava, rushed up to Hiruko's head, burning away his last shred of reason.

"Heh—heh heh heh—" He let out a series of low, twisted chuckles, his body trembling slightly from the extreme emotion.

He took a sudden step forward, oblivious to the mud splashing onto his trousers, his eyes fixed on Konan's calm, expressionless face. His voice became sharp and shrill with excitement: "What? Your Akatsuki invited me all this way, but you're so stingy with even a chance to test me? You're just sending me back like this?"

"Ha! What a show of power! What a mysterious and powerful Akatsuki! Turns out, they're nothing special! Just like those arrogant guys in Konoha, blind to talent!"

Such contemptuous treatment instantly ignited the bitterness and resentment that had been building up in Hiruko's heart for more than ten years.

He, Hiruko, a commoner ninja without a distinguished family background or special bloodline, put in many times more effort and sweat than ordinary people to squeeze into the ranks of Jonin through countless life-and-death battles.

This should have been an achievement to be proud of. However, fate gave him three brilliant and dazzling friends from the same period: Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya!

While he was still struggling in the mire of genin, they were already chunin; when he finally rose to jochunin, they were already famous jonin in Konoha; when he finally became a jonin after many hardships, thinking that he could finally get closer to his friends, they were already legends known throughout the ninja world.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was that monster named Matsushita Taichi!

A child young enough to be his son! How could he, at such a young age, use his despair-inducing talent to sweep across the battlefield, achieving great feats, even forcing this veteran Jonin to bow his head and respectfully address him as "Lord Taiichi"?

At that moment, looking at his face in the mirror, distorted by jealousy and despair, and at his eyes filled with the word "mediocrity," Hiruko knew that there was no place for him in Konoha anymore.

The Demon Sprout Technique, which he had devoted his life to researching, was a taboo that Konoha would never allow. So, on the day that Taiichi returned victorious from the front lines and the entire village was cheering and celebrating, he accepted a mission far from the village and embarked on his journey of defection without looking back.

I thought the Akatsuki would be the discerning mentor who recognized his talent, and a brand new stage for him to realize his ambitions and prove his worth to the world!

But now? He's been so contemptuously stripped of even the right to meet the leader? This huge disparity and the familiar sense of disdain are like the sharpest knife, tearing open the deepest scars in his heart.

Faced with Hiruko's almost out-of-control roaring questioning, a barely perceptible look of surprise flashed across Konan's pale purple eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

She showed no sign of anger at being offended, but responded with her cool, clear voice.

"You didn't notice at all?"