"Sugi Village destroyed. The Fourth Raikage fought a Ninja with purple lightning, suspected to have been defeated?"

Ōnoki's expression changed. He knew one Ninja who used purple lightning, and that was the Takemi that Deidara spoke of.

And he knew even more clearly that Takemi was not only good at purple lightning, but he also possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Deidara had told him about this. He himself never expected that the person who made him so agitated was a brat around Deidara's age.

This made him sigh, why did Konoha keep producing one talent after another?

And this time, another guy who made him tremble with fear appeared?

"Hey, old man, how is it?"

While he was thinking, Deidara asked from the side.

"Hurry up, tell me, is there any information about Takemi in there? Seriously, he didn't even send me a letter? Next time I find him, I'm definitely going to beat him up."

"..."

Looking at Deidara, Ōnoki felt his head hurting more and more.

You?

Beat him up?

With how unguarded you are around him, you'd probably be killed by his Flying Thunder God in an instant, wouldn't you?

"Idiot!"

Ōnoki cursed, but quickly fell silent.

Because he realized that he actually had to thank Takemi. If it weren't for him, would Deidara have returned and changed like a different person?

Even started seriously learning Dust Release?

But the problem was...

"Why do you treat what I say as nothing, but when that Takemi tells you something, you treat Dust Release as art?"

Although Deidara began to follow his own ideas, he felt that Deidara had actually taken on Takemi's form.

— — —

"Raikage-sama, are you alright?"

In the Land of Hot Water, on the way to the Land of Lightning, Dodai looked at the Fourth Raikage's empty arm and asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Losing one left arm won't affect me." The Fourth Raikage spoke in a booming voice, but his eyes were full of fury.

This time, he had truly lost badly!

He left the village to seize a secret technique, but all his subordinates were lost, he himself lost an arm, and finally had to go to the Land of Fire.

Such humiliation was truly enough for him to remember for a lifetime!

Even if he got the secret technique...

"This matter can't just be let go. I've noted this grudge well."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. The Fourth Raikage whispered to Dodai beside him.

"We must find a way to get back at them. You make the plan. No matter what, Konoha can't be allowed to be so comfortable!"

"I understand, Raikage-sama."

Dodai nodded. As Kumogakure's equivalent of Nara Shikaku, he knew exactly what to do.

This time, it wasn't just the Fourth Raikage who was humiliated, but the entire Kumogakure. No matter what, he had to find every way to retaliate.

"Oh, right, they seemed to be investigating some organization."

The Fourth Raikage seemed to recall something, his trip to Takigakure was still fresh in his memory.

"That organization has many rogue ninjas. They said they came to assassinate me, but I don't believe a word they said. Have someone investigate and find out their background."

"Alright, I'll get started on that when we get back." Dodai immediately understood the Fourth Raikage's meaning and nodded at once.

"Then, Raikage-sama, let's speed up our return. Your injuries also need to be treated."

"Mm, let's speed up."

The Fourth Raikage nodded, but the next moment, Dodai's words made his face change.

"I know a shortcut. Taking it will definitely get us there faster—"

"No! We can't take shortcuts!"

"...?"

"Those cunning bastards from Konoha are not to be trusted!"

"..."

— — —

"So comfortable!"

In Konoha, Takemi groggily climbed out of bed and looked at the time—it was already noon.

He barely participated in the negotiations between Konoha and Kumogakure.

On one hand, he wasn't very interested in it, and on the other hand—

"Kakashi-sensei, really? I just gave a suitable plan. Was it necessary to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen the truth?"

Recalling that day, when he slowly followed Kakashi to the Anbu base outside the village to help the Fourth Raikage remove the Flying Thunder God Mark, Kakashi truthfully told Sarutobi Hiruzen his 'plan', which immediately made his face turn pale.

If Tsunade hadn't been there, he might have ended up in the hospital again.

"No, you've already been a Ninja hero once, why is your momentum so weak now?" Takemi complained while washing up, but he also understood.

What he could think of, Kumogakure might also guess some of it, especially since the Fourth Raikage's distrust of him seemed to be at its peak.

Even though he removed the Mark, the Fourth Raikage seemed to be saying with his eyes 'I don't believe you'!

"Forget it, too lazy to bother with such an idiot."

Takemi no longer thought about that guy. He had many things he needed to be busy with now.

The improvement of his eyes had further enhanced his strength, and at the same time, he gained many new abilities.

He also needed to think carefully about how to use these abilities. He didn't want to be like Nagato, who could only output at maximum power.

"The power is maximized, but the tactical aspect seems to be lacking."

In addition to his eye abilities, his Chakra also surged, but he saw the increase in Chakra more as a raising of his upper limit.

"Tailed Beast Chakra, and even Jinchuriki Chakra, are virtually infinite, yet they still get beaten badly. The Ōtsutsuki are the same. I still need to train hard."

Maintaining a stable mindset allows one to see the direction forward.

Takemi knew his shortcomings, and he wouldn't slack off.

"Alright, I'll go find Kakashi and see what he has prepared for me today."

After washing up, Takemi was ready to depart, but then he suddenly remembered something.

He reached into his Ninja tool pouch and pulled out a scroll.

"Obito's right hand..."

Looking at the scroll, a strange expression appeared on his face.

This thing was a treasure that countless of his 'peers' used to get rich.

He had thought about getting his hands on it, but by the time he did, he found that he didn't really need it anymore.

"But this thing is still very valuable. If used properly, it might have miraculous effects."

It was just that this thing wasn't easy to take out, and at this moment, he also thought of something.

"Yahiko's Chakra was disrupted by my Rasengan, and the Black Receivers were pulled out. Nagato couldn't take him away for a while, and he was finally taken by Black Zetsu."

"That body should be repairable with the Naraka Path, right?"

"However, if this thing is used on Yahiko's body, can he withstand the full power of the Rinnegan?"