Mayuri Kurotsuchi Card Game, starting from Naruto

Chapter 87 First Encounter and Cooperation

The land of rain.

Three people dressed in black raincoats walked through the rain.

Before my eyes was a dense curtain of rain, in my ears was the cacophony of rain, and in my heart was the biting moisture and chill.

The villages we passed through were mostly desolate, either sparsely populated with piles of corpses or completely deserted.

Women, children, the elderly, and men.

The corpses were either emaciated and starving, or their wounds were white and swollen from being washed by the rain.

A emaciated beast roamed among the corpses.

From any perspective, this is a scene of utter despair.

"I've heard of Hanzo from Amegakure before. Is this what the village and country he protected really are like?" A somewhat subdued male voice whispered from the group of three.

They were now in a desolate canyon. In the center of the canyon was a flat area, the ground muddy and dotted with a few weeds soaked by the rain.

Whoosh whoosh!

It seemed as if they had been waiting here all along, just waiting for the three of them to appear.

After the three appeared, several ninjas dressed in black robes leaped down from the heights of the canyon with a sharp whooshing sound, landing opposite the three.

Leading the group was a young man with orange hair and a resolute face, wearing a headband from the Rain Village. To his left and right were a boy with red hair and a female ninja with a paper flower in her hair.

"Are you ninjas from Konoha?" The young man who was leading the group stepped forward and called out.

"Yahiko, the leader of Akatsuki?" Uchiha Shisui lifted his straw hat, revealing his face, and stepped forward to ask for confirmation.

"You say you are ninjas from Konoha, here seeking cooperation and assistance. What kind of cooperation do you want with us? Let me state in advance that we do not accept ninja war missions," Yahiko declared, raising his hand.

"Wait a minute, Yahiko! Apart from their headbands, they haven't proven they're Konoha ninjas yet!" A female ninja beside him reminded Yahiko.

"Identity verification?" Uchiha Shisui glanced at Shikano, and after receiving a signal, took out a scroll from his pocket, swung his arm, and threw it far away.

"What is this?" Yahiko asked, somewhat bewildered as he unrolled the scroll that Shisui had thrown at him.

"Aren't you ninjas? Don't you even understand the information verification between ninjas?" Shisui asked, somewhat surprised.

"I'm sorry, our Akatsuki organization has never had any formal official contact with other ninja villages before, so..." Yahiko scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking completely at a loss.

"Do you understand, Nagato, Konan?" Yahiko subconsciously looked at his two companions for help.

"I'll do it, leader. I used to be an ANBU member of the Rain Village. I know how to look at this." A steady voice sounded behind the three of them. The speaker was a ninja with a somewhat aged face.

Yahiko and his two companions clearly trusted the ninja who was speaking, and immediately handed him the scroll.

"Actually, there's another way to prove it." Lu Nie first gave Zhi Shui a wink, and Zhi Shui understood and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were blood red.

"The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan!" The ninja standing behind Yahiko and the other two exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Shisui's eyes.

"Is that the Sharingan?" Yahiko and the other two subconsciously looked into Shisui's eyes. The man Yahiko called Nagato, in particular, stared intently into Shisui's eyes for a moment.

"If the Sharingan isn't enough to convince you, then what about Jiraiya-senpai?" Shikagure stepped forward and asked directly.

"Jiraiya?"

The Akatsuki members looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing the name.

If we were to ask who in the entire ninja world remembers the names of the Three Legendary Sannin the most vividly, then Amegakure would certainly be one of them! Because the title of the Three Legendary Sannin was bestowed upon them by Hanzo, the demigod of Amegakure.

Only Amegakure has experienced a war led by the young Sannin.

So even after all these years, the name of the Three Legendary Sannin remains resounding enough in Amegakure. And as the Sannin's fame in the ninja world grows, Amegakure feels a sense of pride in them.

After all, even the three powerful Sannin were defeated by Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure.

The three, including Yahiko, reacted even more strongly to the name. This was because only they knew about Jiraiya's relationship with them.

"Senior Renzhong, please take your men and go on the front lines. Konan and I need to have a good talk with our friends in Konoha." Yahiko hesitated for a moment, then turned to the weathered-looking ninja behind him and said.

"I understand." Liu Yurenzhong nodded. Having come from the Dark Guard, he understood some things and knew when he should keep quiet and when he shouldn't inquire about certain intelligence.

After he and his men left to guard the surrounding area, Yahiko approached Nagato and Konan with Nagato and Konan, extending his hand and asking, "Were you sent by Jiraiya-sensei?"

"No, it has nothing to do with Jiraiya-senpai. I just happened to hear about you from him. Our teacher is Orochimaru." Shikagure grasped the hand Yahiko offered and shook his head, denying Yahiko's guess.

Orochimaru?

The three of them, including Yahiko, exchanged glances, and an image of a cold, sinister man who said he wanted to kill them flashed through their minds.

"I know that Jiraiya taught you for three years, so I know that you have some very special abilities." Shiro didn't mind using Jiraiya as a temporary substitute to gain the trust and favor of Yahiko and the other two.

"You?" Yahiko and the other two immediately looked at Shikano with some wariness.

"Don't worry, I'm not here for the two of you, but for Konan!" Lu Nie certainly had ideas about studying the Rinnegan, but he also knew very well that those eyes were now a dangerous powder keg. His target this time was indeed Konan.

"What do you want to do to Konan?"

Shinobu's words only made Yahiko and Nagato more impatient, especially Nagato, who showed signs of wanting to take action.

"Cooperation!" Ignoring the sudden emotional turmoil of Yahiko and the other, Lu Nie said, "You need food, weapons, and medical supplies, right?"

"Yes." Xiao Nan, who met Lu Nie's gaze, seemed unaware of any malice in Lu Nie's eyes and nodded slightly.

Food, weapons, and medical supplies are what the Akatsuki organization, or rather the entire Amegakure village, lacks! It's alright in peacetime, but now that it's wartime, even Amegakure itself is running out of supplies.

Furthermore, no merchants from outside the village were willing to sell grain to Amegakure. Even if they did, the prices were prohibitively high.

If Lu Nie could bring them food, weapons, and medical supplies, then no matter what conditions were offered, she intended to persuade Yahiko and the others to accept them.

After all, providing them with these necessities during this time of war could save countless lives in Amegakure and the Land of Rain!

"Don't be nervous, we mean no harm. You must be quite skilled at using paper magic, right?"

Lu Nie's words stunned Yahiko and the other two, who had expected him to make some unreasonable demands.

"Paper magic? Is that how it works?" Xiao Nan thought for a moment, then stretched out her arm, and a bouquet of paper flowers formed in her hand.

"Can you make explosive tags using paper magic?" Taking the bouquet of paper flowers from Konan, Shikano probed out his chakra and examined it carefully before suddenly asking the question.

"Do you need explosive tags?" Konan's eyes lit up instantly. "I can make explosive tags! Because explosive tags are too expensive, I can only research and make them by scavenging explosive tags from other ninjas little by little."

The explosive tags that Akatsuki currently uses are all supplied by me. However, I'm still not very skilled at making them, so I can't provide them in large quantities. In addition, the materials I use to make explosive tags are not good, and their preservation difficulty and power are quite different from the original explosive tags.

But as long as I have enough detonators to study and master, I believe I can provide you with a large quantity of detonators very soon!

In order to gain Lu Nie's trust, Xiao Nan even used her paper magic to start making explosive tags on the spot.

As she said, the production was indeed fast.

Lu Nie took the explosive tag he had made in his hand, examined it, tied it to a kunai, lit it with chakra, and threw it out.

Crack!

The explosion, like a firecracker, shattered the curtain of rain. As water sprayed, a slight gust of air swept across the surroundings like a gentle breeze.

"This is a defective product. The quality product I make will be much more powerful!" In the silence, Konan, her face flushed, broke the sound of rain and emphasized.

It's slightly more powerful than a firecracker, but even a high-quality one is unlikely to have one-tenth the power of a genuine explosive tag.

Is this the truth behind how Shikamaru Nara blasted an immortal being to pieces with just a few dozen explosive tags, and how Konan, the explosive maniac, failed to kill herself and a certain masked man with five hundred billion explosive tags?

As for using public funds to buy explosive tags, let's set aside the question of whether the ninja world could produce that many explosive tags in over a decade. Such a large quantity couldn't be concealed from any ninja village. Just considering the price of explosive tags, even if Kakuzu worked himself to the bone, he still wouldn't have enough. You can't just abandon everything else and use all your earnings to buy explosive tags, can you?

"Trust me, I can definitely provide you with better detonating tags!" Xiao Nan said again, somewhat anxiously, seeing the three of them, Lu Nie, remaining silent.

She now has a sudden, profound sense of clarity!

So that's how it can be done!

So she could help Yahiko and Nagato in this way too!

She wasn't the most useless of the three, the one who needed protection and couldn't offer much help to the organization.

"Don't use explosive tags." Lu Nie slowly shook his head under Xiao Nan's disappointed gaze.

Explosive tags are inspected when purchased by the village. A tag of this power might be usable for a small ninja village, but it wouldn't pass quality control in Konoha or other major ninja villages. It's useless except for personal use.

"But your paper magic is indeed enough to cooperate with us." Shiro's words instantly lifted the spirits of the three disappointed Konan and Yahiko.

They thought the collaboration was going to fall through.

"Try it, can you copy this talisman using paper magic?" Lu Nie took out a healing talisman from his body and handed it to Xiao Nan.

"What is this?" Xiao Nan took the healing talisman and tried to replicate it, unsurprisingly producing a bunch of failed replicas.

"This is a healing talisman. It can replace medical ninjas on the battlefield to provide emergency treatment to injured ninjas. It is generally only effective against wounds and not very effective against poisons." Shiro stopped Konan from repeating her failed attempt.

"I need time," Xiao Nan said, looking at Lu Nie expectantly.

"What we lack is time." Lu Nie looked at Konan and the other two: "You all know how scarce medical ninjas are in the ninja world. Once war comes, the lack of medical ninjas means a large number of casualties."

Konoha was able to survive being besieged by other ninja villages during World War II thanks to the medical team led by Tsunade. They saved the lives of many Konoha ninja and maintained the number of core ninja.

Even you can replicate explosive tags with your abilities, even if they are defective, which means that there is no high or insurmountable technical barrier to them.

But healing talismans are different. Currently, only Konoha can reliably produce healing talismans, and perhaps Kumogakure will in the future. However, if your Paper Release technique can mass-produce healing talismans, even if they are defective, it would be enough to exchange them for a large amount of money and supplies from merchants and major ninja villages during wartime.

Monopolistic, exclusive businesses are the most profitable. Your healing talismans might not be as good as the genuine ones, but quantity can make up for everything. If you can achieve that, you alone can easily support an entire Akatsuki organization.

Konan's face showed a look of longing, as if she really thought of everything that Shiro had said. Although the Land of Rain was isolated, and although they hadn't learned any knowledge or read any books except for the three years they followed Jiraiya.

But their experiences over the years have made it easy for Xiao Nan and the other two to discern whether what Lu Nie said was true or false.

Whoosh!

A piece of paper kunai cut open Konan's arm, and bright red blood flowed down her arm from the wound. Amidst Yahiko and Nagato's gasps, Konan placed the healing talisman that Shikano had given her onto the wound and activated it with chakra.

Under Xiao Nan's three shocked gazes, a green halo containing vitality swirled around the healing talisman. Under the effect of the healing talisman, the wound on Xiao Nan's arm quickly healed. Soon, apart from the bloodstains, the skin was smooth and flat, and it was completely healed.

"It's true!" Konan felt the warm power within the talisman. If she could master this power, the number of Akatsuki members losing in battle would be greatly reduced! Their ranks would also expand rapidly!

"Please teach me how to make healing talismans!" Xiao Nan bowed deeply to Lu Nie and pleaded loudly. She knew that it would take too long for her to replicate a healing talisman on her own, and the effect might not be good.

"This is the basis of our cooperation. I can teach you the techniques of healing talismans, and I can also provide you with some materials and supplies you need, but on the condition that you split the sales of healing talismans with us! How about it?" Lu Nie asked.

PS: Thank you Ryouk86 for the 500-point reward!

(End of this chapter)