In the end, Kikyo journeyed back to Sunagakure under Shion's reluctant gaze. However, before departing, she systematically filled in and restored the missing sections within the ancient Onmyodo texts left behind in the Land of Demons.
The Sea Train, moving fluidly across the ocean surface, had long since established itself as the most critical transportation network connecting the eastern continent to the mainland ninja world.
Clad in her snow-white shrine maiden attire, Kikyo embarked on the route leading to the coastline of the Land of Rivers, accompanied by several Sunagakure staff members.
Although Kikyo was not a ninja—belonging instead to Suna's specialized pool of affiliated powerhouse figures alongside Unohana Retsu—the staff members did not dare display a single shred of negligence toward this powerful priestess.
The terrifying undead legion of the Land of Demons had been thoroughly vaporized and turned to ash under her singular arrow. She might not be a ninja, but absolute strength commanded respect regardless of geographic destination.
Sitting within the luxury cabin explicitly arranged by the Naval Department, Kikyo's mind remained as still as stagnant water as she closed her eyes to slowly cultivate her mental energy.
The rhythmic churning of the train tracks combined with the crashing of the ocean waves continuously echoed in Kikyo's ears, yet she remained perfectly motionless and quiet.
Until a specific presence is initialized...
Kikyo had long since deployed a spiritual barrier around her perimeter; any entity stepping into the radius of her array would be detected instantly.
I've been spotted...
As the head of the Intelligence Department, Arakawa Arashi looked with slight surprise at this strange priestess before him, who seemingly possessed almost zero standard chakra.
He had initially harbored doubts regarding the intelligence reports from the Land of Demons, but now he thoroughly believed the tales of Kikyo's dominant operational record.
"I am Arakawa Arashi, head of Sunagakure's Intelligence Department."
As her designated liaison on the return journey to Suna, Arashi initialized the interaction with a standard self-introduction.
Kikyo, Unohana Retsu, Ace, and Lady Shirohebi-hime of the White Snake Residence were all external powerhouse figures personally recruited by the Kazekage.
Although their absolute origins were deeply shrouded in mystery, Arashi had zero intention of investigating them or inviting trouble.
As affiliated elite assets explicitly gathered by the Kazekage, every single one of them commanded unfathomable strength.
Carelessly provoking them would only invite unnecessary complications. Arashi still vividly remembered the historical conflict between Morimoto Ryoji and Ace.
"Is this regarding his next operational phase?"
As one of the few individuals cleared for Shiraishi's current master plan, Arashi's exact objective was to wait for Kikyo to conclude the Land of Demons incident before immediately routing her to the Land of Rain to converge with Shiraishi's vanguard force.
Initially, Arashi found it somewhat difficult to believe that this fragile, gentle-looking priestess could single-handedly dismantle the undead legion of the Land of Demons.
But with Kikyo's fierce track record laid out before him, Arashi naturally set his concerns aside. "Upon arriving in the Land of Rivers, our teams will arrange immediate transport to escort Lady Kikyo directly to the Land of Rain."
Prior to her departure from the Land of Demons, Kikyo and Unohana Retsu were already aware that Shiraishi was preparing a massive offensive action against the Land of Rain.
Consequently, alongside themselves, even Ace of the Naval Department was being temporarily reassigned to the Land of Rain theater.
For the assault on the Land of Rain, Shiraishi had strictly deployed a four-man strike team consisting of himself, Unohana Retsu, Kikyo, and Ace, intending to thoroughly consign Nagato and the Akatsuki organization to the scrap heap of history.
Deep within the structural interior of Akatsuki, Uchiha Kaede and Deidara were also fully prepared to turn coat at any given moment, delivering a definitive fatal blow to Nagato. The operation to wipe out Akatsuki was synchronized perfectly with Shiraishi's Chunin Exam.
While the attention of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was locked firmly onto Suna's new generation of talent, Shiraishi's true original body had already materialized on the border of the Land of Rain.
The Shiraishi present at Mount Kikyo back in Suna was merely a human puppet housing a consolidated cluster of his consciousness.
On the absolute eve of the Fourth Ninja War, Shiraishi had to systematically eliminate every potential variable. On the surface, the Land of Rain maintained a cooperative partnership with Sunagakure, but behind the scenes, they were engaging in a much tighter strategic alliance with the Hidden Stone.
As for the masked man, Obito, Shiraishi did not care. At this current phase, as long as he eradicated the vast majority of Akatsuki's active combat strength, Obito alone would pose zero threat.
Furthermore, the Land of Rain had always maintained an isolated stance toward the outside world. If Nagato had not proactively reached out to the Hidden Stone, Onoki would still be completely oblivious to the fact that Hanzo had long since been assassinated by the Akatsuki organization.
Inside a small tavern situated right along the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind, Shiraishi, clad in a plain green coat, sat resting with his eyes closed. Beside him, Ace, who had similarly changed back into his standard cowboy attire, was guzzling liquor and consuming large portions of meat.
"Brother Shiraishi, do you really think a tiny nation like this justifies all of us deploying simultaneously?"
Ace retained a deep impression of Unohana Retsu's absolute strength; her bizarre, versatile swordplay coupled with her terrifying killing intent marked her as a true queen of violence.
As for his older brother, Shiraishi, the Kazekage before him, his power was equally terrifying. At the very least, Ace could no longer see the true depth of his capabilities.
Of course, Ace's own strength was by no means lacking. As one of the earliest entities to cross paths with Shiraishi, his years of constant training and technical development had transformed his Fire Release Sage Body.
Unlike the crude, violent application he possessed initially, Ace's current Fire Release state closely mirrored the properties of the Flame-Flame Fruit from his native pirate world.
He could even maintain absolute elementalization for a brief window of several seconds.
This was primarily because his original physical body had crossed over into this universe alongside him. Although the specific power of the Devil Fruit was gone, the residual energy embedded within his physical cells allowed his Fire Release Sage Body to barely force an elemental state.
Beyond that, Ace had spent the past few years systematically refining his Armament Haki, a feat heavily credited to Unohana Retsu serving as an all-encompassing training partner. Concurrently, his Observation Haki had gradually awakened and matured over this training window.
The Haki of the pirate universe was a highly specialized application of energy. Shiraishi had previously attempted to learn elementary Armament Haki from Ace, and while he successfully simulated its visual properties, he simply couldn't extract its practical defensive and offensive value.
As for Observation Haki... Ace himself couldn't explain the underlying mechanics logically.
"Akatsuki's collective strength currently eclipses the conventional military power of the standard hidden villages. Aside from Konoha, the other three major villages are completely outmatched by Akatsuki."
Even if those villages deployed their respective Tailed Beasts, the outcome would remain unchanged.
As the three waited for the designated window, Kikyo, who had just set foot in the Land of Rivers, was directly summoned via a Reverse Summoning formula, materializing right inside the small border tavern.
Seeing Kikyo for the very first time, a smile broke across Ace's face. "I see. So this is our new companion."
Meeting Ace's smile, the rigid expression across Kikyo's face softened for a rare moment. She gave a slight nod and walked directly over to Shiraishi, handing him the container housing the sealed demon from the Land of Demons.
Accepting Kikyo's spoils of war, Shiraishi offered a warm, gentle smile. "Kikyo, thank you for your trust and for coming out to assist us."
Faced with Shiraishi's words of appreciation, Kikyo shook her head. "I will use my own eyes to witness every single change that unfolds across this world. Therefore, I chose to assist you out of my own free will, not out of any sense of obligation."
With all four members assembled, the Dragon Sage Mode within Shiraishi's eyes initialized instantly. Innumerable grains of Magnet Release sand bubbled up beneath their feet, structuring into four hovering, compact metallic discs. "Uchiha Kaede, on the other side, should be completely prepared by now."
On this specific day, the perpetual, never-ending downpour over the Land of Rain suddenly ground to an absolute halt...
Deep within the core base of the Akatsuki organization, Pain's Deva Path stared intently at the gradually clearing sky. "Konan, prepare for active combat. We have an enemy intrusion."
The enemy?
With a cataclysmic boom, a brilliant, crimson sun manifested directly across the sky, carrying absolute destructive power as it swept over the airspace of the Land of Rain's capital city!\
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