Chapter 74: Kei

"Sato just got promoted! That's great news, which means he has more freedom now. No matter what a Genin does, they need guidance from a Jōnin, just like how kindergarten students need their teachers.

But when someone in the team gets promoted to Chūnin, they become the team's captain and are qualified to lead the team on solo missions. After Sato becomes a Chūnin, he'll have the right to take Hinata and Shino on missions alone. This will make it more convenient for him to protect Hinata.

Sato is also suspicious about why Tsunade chose to promote him as a Chūnin. It's part of the reason he's wondering about.

"Wow, that's amazing..."

When Shizune came back with Ino, Hinata, Karin, and the others also found out about the news. The three girls looked at Sato with admiration in their sparkling eyes. Ino grabbed Sato's arm and said, "Sato, you became a Chunin just half a year after graduation. Do you think you'll become a Jōnin soon?"

"Ahem..."

Tsunade coughed lightly and reminded, "Let's not talk about this here. Save it for later."

"Being a Jōnin is not as simple as being a Chūnin. It's a highly confidential and strict exam, and strength alone won't guarantee success. A good example is Kurenai Yuhi, who became a Chūnin at thirteen. But she's in her twenties now and only recently became a Jōnin."

"...Yes, Master Tsunade."

Ino, who was reminded, suddenly woke up, stuck her tongue out at Sato, and then nodded obediently at Tsunade. Sato smiled and touched Ino's head.

"There's one more person who will be promoted to Chūnin this time. Ino, go and inform your team's Nara Shikamaru to come over," Tsunade said in her Hokage posture.

"Yes, Master Tsunade."

Ino was slightly surprised but then nodded seriously.

"Sister Tsunade, Shizune, we're heading out."

After Ino left, Sato also left with Hinata and Karin.

"Well, let's go."

Tsunade waved her hand, then secretly gave Sato a wink, as if asking if he knew what to do. Sato blinked his right eye, as if responding that he understood. It was like they were communicating without speaking.

After the three of them walked out of the Hokage building, Ino stood at the door and waited for them. Since all four of them were together, it was a rare occasion when Ino didn't hold Sato's arm. Instead, she stood on Sato's left-hand side with Karin.

Looking at Sato's profile, Ino said excitedly, "Sato, now both you and Shikamaru are Chūnin. Do you think our Team 10 can join your Team 8 for missions in the future?"

"Well, there might be some opportunities, but probably not many," replied Sato with a slightly puzzled expression. In fact, he wanted to say that this joint opportunity might arise soon.

Now that he and Shikamaru are Chūnin, it means Might Guy and Rock Lee have decided to undergo surgery with a low success rate. Sasuke will also make a choice soon and leave Konoha. When that happens, the task of finding Sasuke will fall on them since the senior ninjas in the village won't be available.

Suddenly, Sato frowned. He received information shared by Kei(clone), so he walked towards Shikamaru's house while sharing Kei's perspective. It was like having a dual-screen mode in his mind. One screen showed the leaves under the blue sky with white clouds, and the other showed the land of rain with constant rain. People living there always had to wear raincoats.

That's right, Kei was currently in the Land of Rain. When Nagato gave Rain Shinobi Village a sunny day every week, Kei would secretly sneak into the village.

Kei's purpose for sneaking in was to find someone or wait for someone. The person he was looking for was Kakuzu, more precisely, the akatsuki organization. Sato wanted Hidan's abilities , and he wanted Kei to replace a member of the Zombie Combo.

To gain the power of Ten Tails, Sato needed to bring it back to its prime. To revive the Ten Tails, the Gedo Statue had to eat the nine-tailed beasts and then evolve to return to the Ten Tails and the full body of the sacred tree.

In this way, if Sato devoured the Ten Tails, he would directly obtain the power of the Divine Tree and become the apex existence. Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara had similar goals as Sato, but their aim was not just power. They wanted to perform the biggest deception in the ninja world using the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Either way, to restore the Gedo Statue to Ten Tails, the power of the Rinnegan was necessary. At present, there were only one pairs of Rinnegan in the ninja world. The pair was Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan, now on Nagato's body. Even the Gedo Statue of Ten Tails' body was currently in Nagato's hands.

To get the full body of Ten Tails, they needed to get close to Ten Tails and help it become whole. However, the Three Tails had not been revived, and the movements of other Jinchūriki were unstable. Currently, only the Akatsuki organization had the ability to collect all the tail beasts.

But Sato was too lazy to join the organization, so he created Kei as a toolman. This way, he could act without revealing his identity. After Ten Tails had eaten eight and a half tail beasts, it would be time for Sato to use Impure World Reincarnation on Namikaze Minato to extract Yin Nine Tails and restore Ten Tails to a full body. Kei was now contacting Sato because he had found Kakuzu.

Just like the movements of Jinchūriki were unstable, the current Akatsuki members' movements were also extremely erratic. The organization was inclusive, and unless there was a mission, the members usually went their own ways. However, Kakuzu, being the person in charge of finances, had to visit Rain Shinobi Village frequently for work.

Kakuzu was there, and Hidan, his partner, would naturally be with him.

At this moment, Kei, invisible and transparent, floated in the sky amidst heavy rain. His black eyes functioned like surveillance cameras, watching two figures below—a person wearing a black windbreaker embroidered with red clouds and a bamboo hat with wind chimes on their head.

"...Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

As the duo left Rain Shinobi Village and the Land of Rain, Kakuzu and Hidan were on the road, searching for prey in the ninja world. Suddenly, a dazzling cylindrical white light beam, resembling a laser, descended from the sky towards them.

"Get out of the way, or you'll die!"

As the oldest Kage-level powerhouse in the ninja world, Kakuzu immediately recognized the power of the light beam. He quickly dodged, yelling at Hidan, who seemed unfazed.

Although Hidan reacted in time, his escape was still too slow.

Boom!

The white light beam hit the ground, releasing a diffuse white light. Some of it still managed to hit Hidan's lower body.