While they were entering, Renjiro suddenly stopped. His students looked at him. Hoka asked, "What happened, Sensei?"
Renjiro replied, "Kaminari died!"
His students were shocked.
Mieko and Hoka thought, 'How could someone so strong die suddenly?'
Fujin recovered from the shock fastest and concluded, 'Looks like Kakuzu killed him for his heart. Though Renjiro didn't say anything, he probably managed to destroy one heart with his clone. Most likely the lightning one.'
Hoka asked, "How did he die, Sensei?"
Renjiro answered, "Looks like they had an argument. When Kaminari turned his back, Kakuzu attacked him. His technique does depend on hearts. He stole his heart after killing."
Renjiro thought hard. After some time, he said, "Don't tell anyone about him. I'll make a secret report to Lord Hokage and have him investigate Kakuzu."
His students nodded. The death or betrayal of an Elite Jounin during peacetime would always be a huge deal. Such matters are better left to the village to handle.
The team kept moving forward at a fast speed. Hoka asked, "Sensei, aren't we going to go to the patrol outpost?"
Renjiro shook his head and answered, "No. A lot of things happened during this mission. It's best to report to the village right away. As for Seiichi, I'll talk with him later."
Fujin thought, 'Yeah, that would be the best. Though we are inside the Land of Fire, I wouldn't call it safe.'
Due to eating the soldier pills, they weren't tired. So they continued moving without any breaks until they reached Konoha.
Land of Rain :
Deep within the dense forests of the Land of Rain, a hideout existed. Even light had difficulty reaching it. The number of people who were aware of its presence can be counted on one hand. A man sat still in this hideout.
Suddenly, a figure began appearing from the ground. It appeared right in front of him. The man opened his eyes. His eyes shone with purple colors. Multiple circles can be seen in his eyes.
White Zetsu said, "Pain! Pain! You won't believe what I saw!"
The man sitting was the Deva Path of Nagato. Pain looked at White Zetsu, waiting for it to say. But he didn't say anything.
Pain asked, "What did you see?"
White Zetsu said excitedly, "Kakuzu and Kaminari fought against a squad from Konoha. The Konoha ninjas managed to run away and injured them. In the end, Kakuzu and Kaminari entered into an argument and Kakuzu killed him."
Nagato was surprised. He asked, "Which squad of Konoha did they run into? Did the remaining two Sannins return?"
Black Zetsu replied, "No. It was Senju Renjiro, an elite jounin from Konoha, and his students."
Pain asked, "How strong are he and his students?"
Black Zetsu replied, "He has a bounty of 45 million Ryo. He is quite strong, but not in S rank. His students just got promoted to Chunins."
Nagato was surprised once again. However, soon he was disappointed. He thought, 'A squad of fresh chunins led by an Elite Jounin managed to injure and run away from a couple of Akatsuki members. And they even caused an argument which resulted in one of my members dying. So disappointing.'
White Zetsu said, "It was so surprising! Kaminari just turned his back to Kakuzu and got stabbed in the back."
Nagato and Black Zetsu ignored White Zetsu. Black Zetsu asked, "What do we do now?"
Pain answered, "Let Kakuzu move alone. Scout a partner for him that he can't kill."
White Zetsu said, "Since Konoha ninjas fought with them, Konoha will now have information about us. If they focus on us, it may cause a lot of issues! They have some scary ninjas!"
Pain replied, "They most likely already know about us. Even if they take any action against us, they are no threat. You don't need to worry about it. Just scout for stronger members."
Zetsu nodded and left. White Zetus said, "That was surprising. I thought he'd be upset or angry."
Black Zetsu replied, "He is strong. Even without Akatsuki, he could capture all 9 Tailed Beasts. So he doesn't attach any importance to weaklings who'd die so easily."
White Zetsu smiled and said, "Yeah. His eyes are so scary!"
Zetsu would search for new members for Akatsuki. Unfortunately, Hidan won't complete his ritual for quite a few years. So many more Akatsuki members would die at Kakuzu's hands.
Konoha :
After travelling the whole night, Team Renjiro returned to Konoha early in the morning. En route, Renjiro imparted his vast knowledge to his students to prepare them for their future.
After entering Konoha, they went to the Hokage building right away. They walked towards the Hokage's office. The door was closed. Renjiro walked forward to knock on the door. However, an Anbu ninja appeared in front of him.
The Anbu ninja said in a serious tone, "Lord Hokage is busy. You will have to wait."
Renjiro looked back at him and said, "It's important."
The Anbu ninja was surprised. He knew Renjiro. He said, "Lord Hokage is having a meeting with the elders."
Renjiro replied, "It's more important. Besides, it's good that the elders are there. They would like to hear my report as well."
The Anbu ninja nodded and said, "Wait a few seconds."
He knocked on the door.
Inside the office, Hiruzen was discussing some matters with Homura and Kohaku. They stopped as soon as they heard the knock.
The Anbu ninja entered and said, "Lord Hokage. Senju Renjiro has returned and has something important to report."
Hiruzen furrowed his eyebrows. He thought, 'Knowing Renjiro, he wouldn't interrupt for no reason.'
He said, "Alright, send him in."
On hearing Hiruzen, Renjiro entered the office. His students followed him. The Anbu ninja left the office and closed the door.
Hiruzen looked at Renjiro and asked, "How did the mission go Renjiro?"
Renjiro answered, "The mission went well. There were 16 rogue ninjas who were formerly from Kirigakure. We killed 13. I'll report the details later. What happened while we were returning is important."
Hiruzen and the elders paid close attention. Renjiro was one of the very few active Elite Jounins in Konoha. If he thought something to be important, it would be a serious matter.
Renjiro said, "We were attacked by two rogue ninjas while we were returning. One of them was Kaminari from Kumogakure."
Hiruzen and the elders immediately became serious.
Renjiro continued, "The other was called Kakuzu. He is a rogue ninja from Takigakure. Fujin remembered his data from the Bingo book. Apparently, he had tried assassinating Lord First."
This surprised them. Kohaku immediately said, "That can't be right. Even if it is, that person would be very old and not worth our attention."
Renjiro replied, "He is stronger than me. He would easily be categorized as an S rank ninja. Luckily we escaped while deceiving them with clones. Otherwise, even getting away would have been unlikely."
This shocked them. Renjiro's strength was top tier in Konoha. Only 3 in Konoha could claim to be able to kill him without allowing him to escape. Hiruzen asked, "Even you wouldn't have been able to get away?"
Renjiro nodded. He said, "Even more worrisome is that they were wearing the same uniform. Both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. Renjiro noticed it. Hiruzen said, "Akatsuki."
After a pause, he continued, "It's where my treacherous student joined after betraying us."
Renjiro was shocked. He asked, "Even Orochimaru is there? What do we know about this organization?"
Hiruzen replied, "Not much. Jiraiya tracked Orochimaru and they entered into a fight. He got this information from Orochimaru. We did some searching. Apparently, it is a mercenary organization. Iwa and smaller countries around it often employ them.
We don't know much about them. Their leader is a mystery. So is their total number of members. Other than Orochimaru, we had heard just about Juzo joining them. And now we know about Kaminari and Kakuzu joining them as well."
Renjiro analyzed and replied, "That's not much information."
Hiruzen nodded. They discussed a bit about Akatsuki and what steps they should take. Renjiro proceeded to provide them with all the details of the encounter. Fujin, Hoka and Mieko paid attention and observed how Renjiro interacted with the leaders and provided the information.
They noticed that Renjiro made no mention of Fujin's battle achievements against Kaminari.
After half an hour of discussion, Hiruzen handed Team Renjiro the mission rewards. Hiruzen looked at the newly promoted chunins who just had to undergo such a frightening encounter.
He thought, 'Sigh, I don't want such young kids to encounter such dangers. But since they survived, this incident will make them stronger. Should I reward them with something to motivate them more?'
As the thought crossed his mind, Hiruzen's gaze fell upon Fujin. He immediately decided, 'No, there is no need to.'
Team Renjiro was dismissed. They left the Hokage's building.
