With the rescue of the unlucky Asuma, Ethan had achieved his goal for this trip.

If he hadn't intervened, Asuma would have been cursed to death by Hidan's strange technique, and Kurenai, who had just gotten pregnant, would have been left as a single mother. Although Kurenai was his type, he hadn't considered stepping in after Asuma's death. He still had that much integrity.

Now, the two of them could finally do all the things they should have done but hadn't had time for. Kurenai wouldn't have to raise the child alone and grow prematurely old from exhaustion.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking Asuma should start preparing for his wedding when he gets back, right?"

"Huh?"

"Otherwise, it'll be inconvenient once Kurenai's belly gets bigger. They can't wait until after the child is born to have the wedding, can they?"

"..."

Jiraiya looked at Ethan, speechless. He had thought Ethan was pondering over the Akatsuki, but it turned out he was thinking about something so trivial.

However, considering the power Ethan had displayed earlier, he certainly had the confidence to not take the Akatsuki seriously.

After dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu, Ethan and Jiraiya parted ways with Asuma directly.

Asuma returned to Konoha with his team to report, while Jiraiya and Ethan set out toward Amegakure.

They didn't walk quickly, didn't rush the journey, and even had the leisure to stroll around in the towns they passed through, buying snacks and such.

No matter how you looked at them, these two seemed like travelers on a casual sightseeing trip. Probably no one would have guessed that they were heading to confront the Akatsuki, the most terrifying group in the current ninja world.

Ethan bought a long sword in a town they passed through and casually tucked it into his waistband. In his own words, his attacks were too destructive, so if they ran into ignorant thugs or something, he could just hack at them casually. Otherwise, he might end up demolishing the entire town by accident.

Jiraiya felt this guy's words were full of flaws but also oddly reasonable, making it difficult to refute. If Ethan casually unleashed "All Creation, Turn to Ash," the road they traveled would become a path of destruction, like a human plague sweeping through.

"I never realized before how chaotic this world is..."

"After all, no one's going to look for trouble with a scruffy-looking middle-aged man for no reason."

As for why so many people sought trouble with him, Ethan could only rub his chin helplessly and consider whether he should wear a mask. However, that thought vanished as soon as it arose.

Why should he wear a mask? Why make himself uncomfortable? As for those thugs, they were just trash. Killing them was practically a good deed, saving others from potential harm.

"Although what you said makes sense, hacking our way through like this... won't the Akatsuki notice us?"

"You think sneaking in quietly would keep us from being discovered?"

After a period of travel, the two reached the outskirts of Amegakure. The village wasn't far off.

"Well... I'm pretty confident in my ability to disguise and infiltrate."

Jiraiya wasn't bragging. As a ninja, how could he not know how to disguise himself and sneak in? Even Sasuke, who preferred direct combat, had decent infiltration skills. It was a basic ability for any ninja.

However, Ethan pointed to the rain pouring down everywhere and gave Jiraiya some bad news.

"Didn't you notice that this rain is unnatural?"

"Rain?"

Amegakure was located in a rainy region, with rain falling most of the year, which gave the village its distinct architectural style.

But that wasn't what caught Ethan and Jiraiya's attention. Their focus was on the seemingly ordinary but ever-present rain.

"You're saying there's something strange about this rain?"

"Although very faint, there is chakra hidden in it."

After hearing Ethan's words, Jiraiya held out his hand to catch the falling rain, focusing intently on sensing the moisture in his palm.

It didn't take long for him to realize that Ethan was telling the truth.

Jiraiya's expression turned grim. Although Ethan had said earlier that scouting Amegakure was practically suicidal, Jiraiya had always believed Ethan was exaggerating due to his overwhelming strength.

But reality hit him like a rock. If Ethan hadn't warned him, he would have gone ahead with infiltration and reconnaissance as usual and ended up being discovered without knowing it.

When scouting enemy territory, being discovered early was a huge problem. The enemy could calmly prepare while he remained unaware. The outcome in that case was obvious, even without thinking too hard.

"It really is a dead end..."

Jiraiya didn't ask Ethan why he hadn't warned him earlier, only stating this after they'd entered the enemy's detection range.

Because from the moment they stepped into the range, there was simply no way for him to enter Amegakure without being noticed.

"What do we do now?"

"We're already here. We can't just turn around and go back to Konoha after making it to the doorstep, can we?"

Jiraiya covered his face in exasperation. He knew Ethan was about to do something ridiculous again.

"You're not seriously thinking about wiping out Amegakure, are you?"

"Huh? Is that not allowed?"

"Of course not!"

The two stood there, looking in the direction of Amegakure while chatting, neither advancing nor retreating. This left Pain, who was inside the village, feeling quite speechless.

He had noticed them the moment they entered Amegakure's range.

Although Jiraiya had played a major role in his past, Pain had decided to firmly move forward on the path he chose. Under that premise, not even Jiraiya could stop him.

So he had mentally prepared himself for a battle with Jiraiya. Yet now, Jiraiya had stopped just outside the village, rendering all his mental preparation meaningless.

As for the other person... Although Zetsu's information stated that Hidan and Kakuzu had recently died at the hands of a young man named Ethan, Pain didn't take him seriously.

With the power of the Rinnegan, he saw himself as a god in the ninja world. Even Jiraiya, his former teacher, he no longer believed could defeat him.

What was there to fear from some child from Konoha?

Still... if Jiraiya refused to come into Amegakure, should he go out and meet them in battle? If he killed Jiraiya here, Konoha's strength would take a major hit. Maybe then, he could even capture the Nine-Tails sooner.

He decided that after eliminating Jiraiya, he would immediately launch a surprise attack on Konoha before they could react.

For that plan to work, the prerequisite was killing Jiraiya here.

Pain made up his mind. He wouldn't wait in the village any longer. If Jiraiya came in, he could make preparations to ensure he wouldn't escape, guaranteeing his death within Amegakure.

But with the power of the Rinnegan, Pain was confident he could stop him from escaping even in open terrain.

Just as Pain was about to make a move, Ethan and Jiraiya remained standing at the outskirts.

"What do we do next?"

"We can move forward, or we can wait here."

"Wait?"

Jiraiya looked in surprise at Amegakure up ahead. Did Ethan mean the Akatsuki would send someone out to deal with them?

"Aren't they afraid of being exposed?"

"The Akatsuki's recent actions have become more and more high-profile. They've likely completed their initial preparations, so there's no longer any need to hide."

At first, they had been gathering funds. But recently, they had started capturing Jinchuriki and extracting the Tailed Beasts. That behavior was practically equivalent to declaring war on the Five Great Nations. It could hardly be called low-profile.

This meant that the Akatsuki no longer wanted to hide. They had started stepping out into the open, confronting the major forces head-on.

"Their target is the Jinchuriki, which makes Konoha their enemy too. And now, the 'strongest fighting force' of Konoha has conveniently shown up alone at their doorstep. What do you think they'll do?"

"Take this opportunity to eliminate me in advance!" Jiraiya thought further. "They're planning to move against Konoha." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"So... if I use some rather over-the-top moves later and end up flattening Amegakure, don't tell me I went too far."

"..."

Jiraiya was puzzled by Ethan's hostility toward Amegakure. Why was he so intent on flattening the place?

In the ninja world, aside from minor villages in small countries that might be destroyed if they offended a great nation, a known village like Amegakure, which had long ranked just below the Five Great Nations, hadn't even been wiped out during the Great Ninja War, despite being the fiercest battlefield at the time.

Just as he was about to ask something, Ethan suddenly drew his sword and slashed to the side.

It looked like a casual swing at the air, but a masked man suddenly appeared right in the path of Ethan's attack.

"Oh?"

The masked man showed no panic, allowing Ethan's longsword to pass through him. The strike was like slicing through an illusion.

"You can actually detect me?"

"What's so strange about that? After all, you've been standing there for a while."

The masked man fell silent. Detecting him was one thing, but sensing his presence long ago and waiting until just the right moment to strike as he appeared...

This Konoha ninja named Ethan seemed far stronger than he had imagined.

"As expected of the genius who could kill Uchiha Itachi."

The masked man's compliment didn't sound sincere at all, but Ethan didn't care about such things. Instead, he carefully observed the masked man, especially the Sharingan under his mask.

Being stared at so directly made the masked man uncomfortable. He decided to teach Ethan a lesson.

"Young man, didn't anyone ever tell you not to look directly into the Sharingan?"

(To be continued.)