Naruto: Five Lives, Five Times the Excitement

Chapter 14 Meeting the Akatsuki

"You brat, get out of my way!"

"Hmph, just as I hadn't had my fill of killing! Die!"

The rogue ninja didn't take Ooka Shin seriously. One of them charged straight at them. Judging from their headbands, they were former Sand Ninja.

In the past few months, Ooka Shin's strength has improved by leaps and bounds.

With a sudden attack, the short sword in his hand drew a splash of blood, and the rogue ninja died.

Ooka Shin had already investigated this group of rogue ninjas. The strongest among them was only a Chunin, and most of them were Genin or even weaker wandering ninjas. Ooka Shin was not afraid.

"Damn it, he's a ninja. Kid, what do you want to do?"

Seeing Ooka Shin's clean and efficient method of killing, the rogue ninja was somewhat wary and did not act immediately.

Ooka Shin lightly flicked the blood off his short sword, looked at the rogue ninja, and said, "I want to know information about the Akatsuki."

"Hahaha, so that's how it is! You should have said so earlier. The Akatsuki is in a town in the north... Let's make our move!"

The leader of the rogue ninja was speaking when he shouted, and his men attacked at once, firing a barrage of shuriken and kunai at Ooka Nobu, turning him into a pincushion.

"Success!"

"It's a clone technique! Everyone be careful!"

As Ooka Shin's clone dissipated, the rogue ninjas cautiously looked around.

The first ninjutsu Kyosuke learned from Minato Namikaze was Shadow Clone Jutsu. After all, Shadow Clone Jutsu could not only be used for combat and reconnaissance, but also to aid in training, something Kyosuke had long coveted.

At this moment, Ooka Shin hid in the treetops, watching the wary rogue ninja, preparing to find an opportunity to capture one of them to confirm the accuracy of the information.

Although these rogue ninjas were cruel and deserved to die, Ooka Shin knew that he was only at the level of a genin to chunin and could not defeat them, so he did not intend to act on behalf of Heaven.

Just then, a red-haired ninja walked over from a distance, much to Ooka Shin's surprise.

"Isn't that Sasori? What's he doing here? Is he here to hunt down these Sand Ninja rogues?"

Although Sasori was relatively young at this time and had not turned himself into a puppet, he looked almost exactly like the Sasori in the anime, so he was easily recognized by Ooka Shin.

According to Chisuke's casual conversation in the dream, Sasori at this time was already an excellent Jonin, with a rising reputation and great strength.

At this moment, Scorpion took out the scroll, broke the seal, and took out the five puppets inside.

These puppets are humanoid in shape, covered in modified weapons, and can use ninjutsu, including firing senbon needles and poison mist.

Under Sasori's control, the puppet displayed tremendous combat power, mowing down the rogue ninja like cutting grass. Moments later, the last rogue ninja was also killed.

Ooka Shin lay low, not daring to show himself, for fear of attracting Sasori's attention and being killed.

After killing everyone, Scorpion didn't leave immediately. Instead, he examined the corpses, selected the ones he was satisfied with, sealed them in a scroll, and finally left.

"So, Sasori had already begun researching human puppet technology at this time. I'll tell Chisuke tonight; this information might be useful."

Ooka Shin wasn't sure if Sasori had come here to complete a mission or to collect corpses. It wasn't really his concern, so he didn't care much.

After Scorpion left, Ooka Shin waited cautiously for a long time before preparing to leave, but then the seven of them walked towards the town from a distance.

"Akatsuki!"

Upon seeing the appearance of three of them, Ooka Shin recognized the person's identity.

At this time, the Akatsuki members were not wearing red and black robes, but rather gray and black coats. Apart from Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, Ooka Shin did not recognize the other four.

"What happened here? It seems someone killed these guys beforehand."

Xiao Nan looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, but showed no sorrow.

These rogue ninjas were committing arson, murder, and looting everywhere, and the Akatsuki organization had long been watching them. The two sides even fought once before, and the Akatsuki killed many rogue ninjas. They came here to hunt down the remaining rogue ninjas.

Yahiko approached the body, knelt down to examine the wounds, and Konan warned him, "Be careful."

After examining the scene for a moment, Yahiko smiled and said, "Judging from the method of killing, it must have been the Sand Village ninja."

Others also found some clues on the battlefield and shared their guesses.

"There are only the corpses of rogue ninja here. It seems that the Sand Ninja have won a great victory."

"That's good, it saves us the trouble of taking action. They were originally rogue ninja from the Sand Village, so it's the Sand Village ninja who should deal with them."

"Since we don't need to do anything, let's go to the town. Maybe someone there needs our help."

After a brief discussion, confirming that there was no danger around, the group was about to head to town when Nagato, whose senses were the strongest, suddenly looked into the distance and spoke for the first time.

"Watch out, someone's coming."

The group immediately looked over, ready to fight at any moment, but instead they saw a child who looked to be six or seven years old.

A bald, burly man holding a long staff took a step forward and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

In this chaotic place, a child carrying a short knife appeared.

The child, seeing so many corpses and strangers, remained calm and instead of leaving, walked over.

This is definitely not an ordinary person; he must be a ninja.

Yahiko patted the bald man on the shoulder: "Daisu, don't be so serious. Since he's showing up, he's probably not an enemy."

Standing in front of everyone, Yahiko lowered his guard and said with a smile, "Who are you? You've come here to see us, haven't you? What do you want?"

The two were wary of each other during their first meeting. Ooka Shin did not get too close, standing about ten meters away.

"I've heard that your Akatsuki organization has dealt with many evil ninjas and helped many ordinary people, so I want to join you."

"Hey, this isn't a place to play. You should go home now."

The Buddha saw that Ooka Shin was so young and refused outright.

Nobuoka Ooka didn't waste any words: "My family has all been killed, I have no home."

Upon hearing Ooka Shin's words, Yahiko and the others fell silent. However, given their current constant fighting and wandering, it was inappropriate for them to bring a child along, as it would put Ooka Shin in danger.

So Yahiko still shook his head: "Leave, live well, the future will get better and better."

"It seems I need to demonstrate my abilities to gain your approval."

Ooka Nobu drew his short sword and rushed directly towards Yahiko.

Yahiko didn't make a move, but the Great Buddha rushed out and used his long staff to block the short sword.

Huh?! That's quite powerful!

The Buddha was somewhat surprised to feel the power emanating from the steel staff.

Unlike Kyosuke, who needed to hide his strength, Ooka Shin didn't need to hide any of his abilities. In order to join the Akatsuki organization, he displayed all his skills in swordsmanship, taijutsu, and ninjutsu.

The sound of steel clashing rang out continuously, short swords flew up and down, and the rhythm of the attacks was like waves, one stronger than the next. The Buddha's long staff, however, was not cumbersome at all. He swung it easily and steadily blocked Ooka Shin's attacks.

Seeing that his swordsmanship was ineffective against his opponent, Ooka Shin jumped back a step and formed hand seals: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A large fireball rushed towards the Buddha, who immediately plunged his iron staff into the ground and formed a mudra with both hands.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"