Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 411: First Glimpse of Talent

However, the sneer on his face lasted for less than half a second.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A sharp whistling sound of paper tearing through the air.

Konan's figure had already appeared diagonally above the puppeteer. With a wave of her hands, dozens of paper shuriken, hardened by chakra, swept towards him like a white swarm of death bees.

The puppeteer's expression changed, and he hurriedly pulled on the chakra threads, controlling the puppet that was blocking Yahiko to defend itself, trying to use the hard puppet body as a shield.

The reaction was remarkably quick.

But it was too late.

On the other side, an extremely fast, almost transparent wind blade that blended seamlessly with the rain curtain silently slashed through the barrier of space.

"Wind Release: Wind Slicing Technique".

Nagato's voice was calm and undisturbed, as if he were simply stating a given fact.

The puppeteer froze abruptly, looking down at the thin line of blood that had appeared on his chest in disbelief.

He tried to say something, but only managed a hissing sound. Then, his head flew into the air, carrying a stream of hot blood, which was instantly drenched by the torrential rain.

The puppet that had lost control also collapsed with a crash.

On the other side, Nagato slowly lowered his hands, which were forming hand seals. On the ground beside him, an Iwagakure ninja was firmly bound by a black sealing technique and could not move.

This is the teamwork of the Akatsuki squad.

Yahiko's aggressive attacks drew enemy fire and created openings, while Konan's ranged attacks distracted the enemy, allowing Nagato to deliver the final blow.

The whole process was smooth and seamless, as if they had rehearsed it a thousand times.

"Well done, Nagato, Konan!"

Yahiko turned his head and gave his companions a bright smile not far away.

Xiao Nan's figure re-emerged from the fluttering pieces of paper. She nodded gently, her bluish-purple hair clinging to her fair cheeks, making her appear calm and reliable.

In the blink of an eye, three of the enemy were gone.

The remaining Iwa ninja and the last Sand ninja had changed their expressions from initial contempt to utter terror.

One of his companions was crippled by Nagato's sealing technique and lay on the ground unable to move, while the other two were instantly killed in just a few breaths.

The three boys and girls wearing Konoha headbands in front of them were definitely not inexperienced genin.

They are monsters!

"withdraw!"

The Iwa ninja roared, no longer caring about the mission, and turned to flee.

But how could Yahiko give them that opportunity?

He landed steadily on the ground, looking at the two panicked figures, a confident smile curving his lips.

"Trying to run now?"

His hands began forming hand seals at a dazzling speed, and the chakra within his body surged at an unprecedented rate.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

"roar--!"

With a deafening roar, the rainwater and water on the ground in the canyon seemed to be summoned, frantically gathering, rising, and swirling, finally condensing into a ferocious and enormous water dragon!

The water dragon coiled behind Yahiko, its enormous head looking down at the two tiny figures with a destructive sense of oppression.

"Quick! Earthflow wall!"

The Iwa ninja was terrified and, together with the Sand ninja beside him, slammed his hands heavily onto the ground.

"Earth Release·Earth Style Wall!"

A thick earthen wall rose from the ground, attempting to block the water dragon's advance.

"BOOM!!!"

The earthen wall, under the violent impact of the water dragon, could only withstand the force for less than a second before being smashed to pieces.

The remaining impact sent the two flying, and they used the momentum to flee frantically into the dense forest to the side, their figures disheveled and pathetic.

Just when they thought they had escaped and were about to disappear into the woods, a pure white shadow enveloped them.

The two of them subconsciously looked up.

In the rain, an angel with two wings on its back floats silently in mid-air.

The girl's bluish-purple hair fluttered in the wind, her face serene and beautiful, as if she did not belong to this mortal world.

This eerie yet sacred scene left them momentarily speechless.

Xiao Nan looked down at them, her amber eyes filled with no pity, only a resolute determination to protect her companions.

She gently opened her arms.

"The Art of Paper: A Thousand Paper Needles in a Rain"

In an instant, the paper wings behind her suddenly disintegrated, turning into countless paper needles as thin as cow's hair. Each paper needle was filled with sharp chakra, and like a torrential rain of death falling from the sky, it poured down downwards.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The sounds of rapid piercing blended together, and a mist of blood exploded in an instant.

The two ninjas didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were riddled with holes and they collapsed limply into the muddy water.

The rain washed away the bloodstains, and everything returned to silence, leaving only the monotonous sound of rain.

Xiao Nan slowly descended from the sky, her paper wings folding back up. She stood quietly to one side, as if the magnificent yet deadly massacre that had just occurred had nothing to do with her.

The canyon returned to silence, with only the incessant sound of rain remaining.

Yahiko walked to Nagato's side, looked at Konan who was slowly landing in the distance and folding her paper wings, and grinned.

He raised his fist.

Nagato glanced at him, then silently extended his fist and lightly touched it with his.

"Well done!"

Yahiko's voice was filled with excitement.

"Your reaction was incredibly fast, Konan! It was like a divine intervention!"

"A perfect plan, a perfect ending!"

Yahiko proudly waved the scroll in his hand, looking at him with an expression that said, "Come and praise me!"

Xiao Nan walked over and gently picked up a piece of fabric from the shoulder of his combat uniform with her slender fingers.

"You almost got your neck chopped off by the puppet."

Her voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable seriousness.

"Cough cough,"

Yahiko's smugness faltered instantly. He coughed twice and forced a defense, "That...that was a tactic! Yes, a tactic! It was to lure him into making a move, creating an opportunity for you! Everything was part of my plan!"

The boy then quickly switched to a serious mode, "Alright, enough chit-chat, let's clean up the mess. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

The three of them immediately sprang into action.

Nagato walked over to the sealed Iwa ninja and delivered the finishing blow.

He then skillfully pulled out another blank sealing scroll from his ninja tool pouch, formed hand seals, and sealed the Iwa ninja along with all his belongings inside.

Yahiko quickly searched the other corpses, his movements professional and swift, confiscating all ninja tool pouches, scrolls, and any other items that might reveal their identities.

Xiao Nan manipulated the paper to roll up the bloodstains on the ground and mix them into the mud, while simultaneously erasing as many traces of the battle as possible.

"Yahiko,"

Nagato suddenly spoke, his voice soft in the rain, "That scroll."

Yahiko stopped what he was doing and solemnly took out the cold, solid scroll from his pocket.

"Keep it safe for now, and look at it when we get back to a safe place."

Yahiko carefully wrapped the scroll in a waterproof cloth and tucked it close to his body. "It's not safe here. We don't know if they have any backup."

"Um."

Nagato and Konan nodded at the same time.