dmims Chapter 422 Rain Concealment
Chapter 422 Rain Concealment
Chapter 422 Rain Concealment
A gloomy sky, a never-ending rain, somber buildings, and a lake that surrounds the entire village. This was all Jiraiya remembered after crawling out of the frog's mouth.
Amegakure is a city built on a lake. As a place where the three major countries meet, it has always been a battleground. Therefore, the lake has become the first line of defense against invasions from other places.
Jiraiya's greatest skill was gathering information through the everyday life of the people in the village. The moment he entered the village, he went straight to his old ways. He went into a shop and ordered a beautiful woman he found attractive. After a few drinks, the woman was pleased with him and unconsciously revealed some information.
First, Hanzo, the salamander who was known as a demigod, is dead.
Secondly, the new village chief is named Payne, and he is quite strict in managing his subordinates.
Third, and most importantly, the constant rain in the village was actually Pain's technique, used to detect enemies. In other words, Jiraiya was already detected the moment he stepped into the village.
Having lost the initiative, Jiraiya immediately changed his strategy. He once again infiltrated the toad's body, and incidentally captured a ninja to serve as a vessel for his Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique. Since rain was a sensory means, he could hide in the shadows of the people in the village; that way, he shouldn't be discovered, right?
His plan was well-thought-out, but the opponent's response was unexpectedly fast. He had barely moved his ninja when a deluge of white paper blocked his path. This peculiar technique required almost no identification; as the vessel was covered by the white paper, a purple-haired woman appeared within. In her hand was a spear formed from the white paper, seemingly about to pierce the vessel's body.
Jiraiya stopped hiding and peeked out from the shadows, exhaling a breath of fire that indeed forced the paper scraps back. The reunion of master and disciple should have been deeply moving, but now Jiraiya felt only a heavy, dull pain in his heart.
He had already grieved once when he heard of the deaths of his three children. On the day of their long-awaited reunion, he was met with his disciples dressed in black robes with red clouds, and as a Konoha ninja, he had no choice but to fight them.
No, shouldn't he have foreseen this moment? He was teaching the children of Amegakure, in case the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire ever clashed...
"The Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique..." The purple-haired woman clearly stated the name of the technique, which meant that the child hadn't forgotten it, but remembered it perfectly!
"This was originally bait to lure Pain, but I didn't expect you to take the bait. Your casting techniques have become even more sophisticated. You've grown into a pretty good ninja, Konan."
Jiraiya's feelings were very complicated. Konan's appearance had confirmed Pain's identity for him, and the three children who depended on each other for survival would not willingly separate. The captured ninja quickly escaped, and none of them wanted to help him, instead standing guard against each other.
Who exactly is Payne?
"It has nothing to do with the teacher." Xiao Nan's answer was very indifferent. She was a paper clone. Her light body gradually rose and occupied the high ground. The scattered pieces of paper extended from her shoulder blades and turned into a pair of wings.
"Do you think this will turn you into an angel? What are the benefits of taking this form?"
At this point, Jiraiya had to accept reality. The children he had painstakingly taught and strived to instill in them the belief in peace had gone astray. The missions Akatsuki received were all in the shady business world; they hired thugs precisely because it was unwise for major powers to directly intervene and damage their reputation. Moreover, Akatsuki had attacked Jinchuriki more than once, even successfully kidnapping the Kazekage—none of these actions could be associated with "peace."
Xiao Nan's answer remained calm: "This is God's command."
"I'm going to kill you."
In the blink of an eye, Konan's rain of paper arrows clashed with Jiraiya's Fire Release technique, and the outcome was quickly decided. Surprisingly, the seemingly light paper arrows gained the upper hand, but Jiraiya reacted quickly, dodging the ones that broke through the defenses, and then unleashed a barrage of toad oil bullets.
The oil-soaked paper couldn't be separated, and the remaining part of Konan could only be grabbed by Jiraiya's Wild Lion's Hair. But... this was just a clone. Even if it weren't a clone, could he really bring himself to kill her?
"You're the gentlest of the kids, since you love origami. What about the other two? How are Nagato and Yahiko? The rumors about them dying are probably false."
Xiao Nan didn't need to answer; her slightly shifting expression said it all.
"As expected, Payne is one of them!"
"Now that things have come to this..." Xiao Nan's tone finally wavered, sounding like a complaint mixed with a question, "Why did you appear before us?"
“If you weren’t members of Akatsuki, I wouldn’t have any plans. I heard you were dead, but I never expected it to turn out like this.”
Jiraiya genuinely had no idea what had happened. During the war, he hadn't yet traveled the world, and all the information he had about Konoha came from others. Although he had secretly visited Amegakure after the war, the news he received was still "death," and he couldn't find any trace of them still alive anywhere.
So, what exactly happened to make those three children like this?
When they first encountered those three children, Orochimaru advocated killing them, but Konan chose to save them instead. And now, Konan is saying, "You thought, 'We should have done as Orochimaru said,' right? But you helped us, and it's too late."
“We have already begun to act according to his ideas.”
But Jiraiya never regretted it. His original intention in saving the children was not for some vague prophecy, but because he felt that the children's struggle with ninjas was irrelevant. Even if they grew up to become ninjas, they should have the right to grow up, instead of dying under the sword without knowing anything.
"I never thought that way, I just feel very sad." He was truly saddened. If the child in front of him hadn't been under his protection and hadn't learned how to protect himself from him, he might never have grown up.
However, they attacked him with the very things they had learned from him.
"They attacked me without even saying a word; it really chills me to the bone."
Konan remained silent for a long time, but when Jiraiya questioned them about why they joined Akatsuki, her tone turned sour again, "Teacher doesn't understand us at all after that."
She would never forget that day of despair. On that day, Yahiko died, their hearts died, and so they, in their naivety, also died on that day, determined to change the world using methods only ninjas could understand.
That is, pain and power.