Naruto: From Fake to Real, Deceiving the Ninja World

Chapter 74 Are you Yahiko from Akatsuki?

The sky was as gray as a tattered rag soaked in ink, and the continuous heavy rain enveloped the fields, making the muddy roads appear to meander and blurry in the rain curtain.

Against this monotonous gray-black backdrop, four figures walk silently across the land.

The figure in front was Pain, controlled by Nagato. His orange hair was soaked with rain and clung to his young but lifeless face.

Behind Pain, the Deva Path and the Asura Path, both with equally expressionless faces, followed by Konan, whose long blue-purple hair was soaked by the rain.

As Konan watched the Hidden Rain Village gradually become clearer in the rain in the distance, she felt a strange sense of unease.

"Long...Pain."

She wasn't quite used to addressing Pain directly, so she looked at him and paused before correcting herself: "With just the current strength of the Upper Three Paths Pain, are you really safe facing Hanzo?"

Payne did not immediately answer Xiaonan's question, nor did he look back. Each step he took was still slow, as if he were inspecting this land whose order he would redefine.

The sound of rain pattering on everything is the world's only main melody.

"Xiao Nan, I also used to respect him."

Payne didn't turn around. His deep, calm voice pierced through the rain and reached Konan's ears clearly: "But he's not the Hanzo he used to be."

Hanzo is probably so old now that he can no longer even communicate with that salamander.

Payne's gaze pierced through the fine rain curtain, landing on the distant tower that stood like a tombstone in the misty rain. His voice seemed colder than the surrounding temperature.

"Now he is having an affair with Shimura Danzo of Konoha, hiding in the tower and only caring about surviving. He is nothing more than a corpse that is about to die."

"Rain cannot cleanse the world of its sins and past betrayals."

Pain's voice was flat, as if stating a truth: "Only God can cleanse the filth of the ninja world and bring peace."

Xiao Nan's eyes reflected the familiar yet unfamiliar figure ahead, revealing not a trace of hesitation or pity, but only an absolutely cold will of judgment.

The rain hit her face, icy cold, making her eyes look complicated.

The unspeakable pain vanished in an instant, settling into a deathly calm, the lightness of the "paper butterfly" subsided, and the eyes regained their clarity and determination.

"Mmm." Her response was almost blending into the sound of the rain, light and brief.

The tone conveyed a resolute decision to let go of the past, and a determination to face the future that was to come, to be reshaped through pain, like an apostle following a deity into the unknown.

As they approached the gates of Amegakure, they could already see the Amegakure ninjas guarding the area.

"stop!"

Upon seeing the hazy figures in the rain and mist from afar, the two Rain Ninjas immediately became wary and shouted, "Who are you?"

Payne had no intention of explaining to the ants, nor did he make any move to conceal himself; he simply raised his arm toward the two men.

But at this time...

Payne suddenly felt an extremely strong aura sweeping towards him from afar, like a tidal wave.

Looking up, a figure appeared atop the emaciated tower in the distance.

"Pain!"

Seemingly sensing something, Xiao Nan's expression changed slightly.

Buzz!

The ground beneath my feet trembled with a humming sound, as if something was churning underground, eager to break free of its confinement.

"Spiritual communication!"

A loud shout came from the horizon, the tone of which was unrestrained and arrogant.

Click click click!

A force suddenly pushed upwards, shattering the flat ground with unimaginable force and forming an arched, protruding stepped fault.

Payne's eyes flickered slightly, and almost instinctively, he used the repulsive force to rise into the air.

At the same time, a deafening explosion resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

"roar!!"

With the roar of wild beasts unleashed, dust and gravel shot into the sky, and the dust cloud instantly spread in all directions.

In the hazy dust and mist, a giant shadow, like a leaping carp, emerged from the ground and pounced on Payne and Konan.

Konan reacted only a moment slower than Pain, her Paper Dance transforming paper into wings and taking her into the air.

But in her increasingly widened pupils, she could see the throat and tongue in the abyss-like maw below, the stench almost touching her face.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Pain raised his arm and aimed it at his feet. An invisible yet powerful repulsive force appeared in the rain, crushing the giant beast that was tearing at him.

Bang!

The giant shadow in the dust and mist fell uncontrollably, crashing to the ground and once again stirring up dust and mist.

Three Pains and Konan appeared in the distance, the latter's eyes showing a hint of solemnity as he looked at the blurry giant shadow in the dust and mist.

"roar!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, ripples spread across the rain, completely dispersing the dust and mist.

Its brownish-purple body was incredibly robust, with four toes on its forelimbs and five toes on its hindlimbs. Its thick, laterally flattened tail gently patted the ground, yet it created tremors that reverberated across the earth.

Its skin has no scales or hair, only a layer of mucous membrane covering it, and it keeps secreting liquid that drips down and corrodes the ground, producing wisps of white smoke, clearly indicating that it is extremely toxic.

"Salamander, this size..."

Finally seeing the giant beast clearly, Xiao Nan's eyes showed surprise and heaviness.

The salamander, despite its name, is not actually a fish, but an amphibian unique to the Land of Rain, and is one of the largest extant amphibians.

Most salamanders are only fifty to two hundred centimeters long. A salamander that is two or three meters long is already enough to be a ninja beast. Hanzo's companion, Shinta, has a four-meter-long salamander.

The salamander in front of them was already over ten meters tall just lying there, and its body length was incredibly terrifying.

If the upper body stands upright, it is no different from a collapsing mountain peak, enough to make most people look up and feel fear and powerlessness.

There is only one salamander of such enormous size in the entire ninja world, and only one person is capable of summoning such a massive salamander.

"Sansho Fish Ibushi."

Pain hovered in mid-air, looking at the figure standing on the head of the salamander, and said calmly, "And..."

"Lord Hanzo!"

The two Amegakure ninjas guarding the entrance to Amegakure spoke in unison, their faces filled with disbelief and horror upon seeing the figure.

Lord Hanzo, you seemed so old yesterday, how come you suddenly look so young?

The doubt vanished in an instant, replaced by surprise and ecstasy.

It's Lord Hanzo! It's the former Lord Hanzo!

This aura! This spirit! There's no mistake!

"It seems you are the owners of that disgusting white creature."

Hanzo stood atop the Salamander's head with his arms crossed, looking at Pain and Konan among the four figures. He frowned and said, "Wait, you two seem somewhat familiar."

He looked at Pain's face, a face devoid of any expression or warmth, like a statue carved from cold rock, exuding only an almost empty and lifeless stillness.

However, that cold face gradually overlapped in Hanzo's mind with the face full of passion and hope deep in his memory.

"You are..." Hanzo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Yahiko from Akatsuki?"

How could that be? Isn't Yahiko already dead?

And those eyes...