Konoha's Tatsuya

Nighttime, within a secluded street in Yamanashi Castle, Miyagi walked alone. As he walked, he kept glancing around nervously. From the expression on Miyagi's face, it was evident he was currently very tense and anxious.

Reaching a residence in the middle of the street, Miyagi went forward and gently pushed open the gate. Entering the courtyard, two figures in long robes—one tall, one short—stood silently in the center. Miyagi's gaze immediately fell beneath the eaves behind the two figures; his wife and daughter were bound to a pillar there. Their mouths were gagged, and upon seeing Miyagi arrive, they immediately began making agitated, muffled cries.

"My Lords, I've brought the information you wanted. Please, release my wife and daughter," Miyagi said, taking a scroll from his robes and holding it up towards the two figures in the courtyard. Under the faint starlight, the red clouds on their robes could be vaguely discerned.

These two were none other than Sasori and Orochimaru, sent under Pain's orders to investigate Ansei Hall and the Village Hidden in Medicine. After arriving in Yamanashi Castle, Orochimaru and Sasori had actually already infiltrated Ansei Hall. However, after searching, they hadn't obtained the information they sought. Therefore, the two had resorted to other methods to acquire intelligence.

Two days ago, Orochimaru and Sasori had targeted Miyagi. He was a former wandering shinobi with Chūnin-level skills who had become a squad leader in the guard unit after being recruited by Ansei Hall. Among Ansei Hall's guard members, Miyagi was one of the few who had a wife and daughter, as well as a position of some authority. The pair had abducted his wife and daughter to coerce him.

Swish! Seeing the scroll Miyagi held up, the tail from Sasori's Hiruko armor suddenly shot out rapidly.

Schlick! Miyagi was shocked. Before he could even react, the sharp stinger sliced cleanly through his right arm, severing the hand holding the scroll. The tail then coiled around the scroll and retracted behind Sasori.

"Aaargh!" Miyagi clutched his severed wrist, letting out an agonized scream. Beneath the eaves, Miyagi's wife and daughter witnessed his horrific injury, their eyes filled with terror and worry.

The scroll unfurled, its intelligence immediately visible to Sasori and Orochimaru.

"Is this all the information you have? Then you're useless!" After reading the scroll's contents, Hiruko's tail lunged out again, aiming straight for Miyagi's vitals. The scroll merely contained some basic information about Ansei Hall and the Village Hidden in Medicine.

Just as Hiruko's stinger was about to pierce Miyagi, Orochimaru, standing beside Sasori, saw his pupils suddenly contract.

Clang! A sharp metallic ring echoed as Hiruko's tail was blocked by a kunai. In the darkness, a young man wearing a kasaya-like robe appeared before Miyagi. The newcomer was Jizo.

"Get back!" Knocking aside Hiruko's tail, Jizo fed Miyagi an antidote pill and said calmly. All of Sasori's weapons were coated in deadly poison; once wounded by them, survival was highly unlikely. The antidote Jizo gave Miyagi was one formulated by Ansei Hall's numerous medics. Whether it could save his life depended on luck. Hearing Jizo, Miyagi gritted his teeth against the pain, pushed himself up, and retreated from the courtyard.

Flicker! Inside the courtyard, Jizo vanished with the Body Flicker Technique and reappeared beside Miyagi's wife and daughter. The instant Jizo materialized, Hiruko's tail struck again. Sasori had accurately predicted Jizo's position.

Crack! Hiruko's stinger slammed against the azure ribcage of Susanoo, only to be directly rebounded. Facing Sasori's seemingly infallible strike, Jizo couldn't dodge; he could only activate Susanoo and tank the hit. Miyagi hadn't betrayed Ansei Hall even under Orochimaru and Sasori's threats; Jizo naturally couldn't stand by and watch his wife and daughter be killed by Sasori.

Creating a clone to take Miyagi's wife and daughter away, Jizo turned around, his Mangekyō Sharingan fixed unwaveringly on Orochimaru and Sasori.

It seems Akatsuki has targeted Ansei Hall and Yakugakure, even dispatching Orochimaru and Sasori specifically to gather intelligence. Jizo's (Tatsuya's) mood grew heavy. In the entire shinobi world, no one knew Akatsuki's power better than he did.

Watching Miyagi's wife and daughter being led away by Jizo's shadow clone, neither Orochimaru nor Sasori showed any intention of stopping them. Their attention was entirely focused on Jizo, enveloped by Susanoo.

Mangekyō Sharingan! Seeing the azure Susanoo ribcage surrounding Jizo, an intense gleam flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. He licked his lips with his long tongue, murmuring inwardly. Beside him, Sasori's eyes were also filled with wariness. Faced with this legendary power, even someone as arrogant as Sasori dared not underestimate it.

Though thoughts raced through his mind, Jizo showed no fear on his face. The Susanoo outside his body changed again, extending a skeletal arm to smash down towards the two Akatsuki members.

BOOM! Orochimaru and Sasori quickly dodged. The massive Susanoo arm slammed into the courtyard, blasting out a large crater. In the darkness, Orochimaru and Sasori leaped onto the walls on opposite sides.

The Susanoo skeleton around Jizo rapidly dispersed. Then, he flickered, using the Body Flicker Technique to charge straight towards Orochimaru on the left. A glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. Drawing the Kusanagi Sword from his waist, he flickered forward to meet the attack.

Clang! A sharp metallic ring sounded. Orochimaru, holding the Kusanagi Sword, felt his expression change slightly. From that clash, he felt immense force transmitted through his hand. With a slight flick of his wrist, Orochimaru quickly dispersed the force.

Whoosh! Having just blocked the blow, Orochimaru felt a rush of air by his ear as Jizo delivered a sweeping kick.

So fast! Orochimaru's golden, slitted pupils contracted sharply. He had no time to change tactics and could only bring his arm up to block.

Thump! The kick landed solidly, sending Orochimaru's body flying. Seeing this, Jizo leaped forward in pursuit. Immediately after, a continuous series of metallic clangs and the thuds of fists and feet echoed as Jizo and Orochimaru's figures clashed repeatedly back and forth in the darkness. In just a few short minutes, the two exchanged hundreds of blows using taijutsu. Judging from the situation, Orochimaru was at a disadvantage, constantly being pursued and attacked by Jizo, looking rather dishevelled.

On the other side, Sasori, seeing this, showed no intention of intervening at all, simply stopping there to watch the show.

BAM! Another kick sent Orochimaru flying once more. Jizo followed closely, but before getting near Orochimaru, he immediately twisted away, dodging. Through the air, several large green snakes lunged towards Jizo, their gaping maws wide open.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands! Orochimaru had finally resorted to using ninjutsu.

Having forced Jizo back with one move, Orochimaru didn't press the advantage. He dusted himself off and looked up at Jizo, his face sullen. In the taijutsu exchange just now, he had been completely suppressed by Jizo! Looking at the pair of three-tomoe Sharingan in his opponent's eyes, a slight craving couldn't help but surface in Orochimaru's gaze.

Such beautiful eyes! If not for having an even better target in mind, Orochimaru probably couldn't resist going all out to steal those eyes right now.

"Tch! Pathetic! Getting pushed around like that by a junior," Sasori sneered from atop the opposite wall. Orochimaru ignored Sasori's taunt, his gaze still fixed on Jizo.

"Playtime is over! If you think you can mess with Ansei Hall with just this level of strength, you're sorely mistaken," Jizo said calmly, taking two slow steps forward as he looked at Orochimaru and Sasori. As he spoke, the aura around Jizo began to slowly climb.

"Tch! Let's go!" Seeing Jizo readying himself for a major battle, Sasori clicked his tongue, turned, and left first. This opponent couldn't be easily defeated; staying longer was pointless.

Orochimaru stood silently, then his body suddenly began to dissolve like burning paper, slowly vanishing.