The Red Tiger Flash, A Dark Past Revealed

Chapter 41: Avenge of Rose

Hana watched as Jiraya turned one of the men into a frog, the other mans eyes widening as Hana chuckled.

"You bastard! That's not fair!" The man yelled as Hana poked the frog, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright then. I guess you're next. Come here, little toad." Jiraya said as sweat beads fell down the mans forehead.

"Lord Pain lives in the tallest tower on the west end of the village. That's what people say." The man said as Jiraya smiled slyly.

"Now, What was that you said? It was something about not turning on your comrades, right?" Jiraya said as Hana shook her head, playing with snow in her hands out of boredom.

"Nobody really knows very much about lord Pain. He's a mystery." The man said as Hana raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" Hana questioned as the man looked down.

"They say that he's of Fuma clan lineage. But no ones ever seen him up close." The man said as Hana and Jiraya exchanged confused looks.

"We just walked through town a little while ago, and every single person I talked to just sang his praises. So don't lie to me." Jiraya said as the man gritted his teeth.

"In this village, lord Pain is considered a god. He's always out there, watching over every one of us. He has a representative who does speeches, and cerimonial rites, that's all done though Lady angel." The man said as Hana narrowed her eyes.

"He's your leader, isn't he? So why does he hide himself from the people he rules over?" Hana questioned as the man looked at her.

"For times just like this." The man said as Hana and Jiraya nodded.

"Well, that makes sense." Jiraya said as the man gritted his teeth.

"The civil war here ended a long time ago, and we were triumphant. That's why lord pain is so legendary. He conquered the hidden rain all by himself." The man said as Hana and Jiraya's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I can't believe it. No matter how powerful this Pain might be, the elder of the hidden rain was Hanzo of the salamander. Everyone in the shinobi world knows about him." Jiraya said as Hana shook her head.

"Yeah, that's right. And not only was hanzo extremely powerful, he was also cautious. He made it very hard for anyone to come near him." The man said.

"So how was pain able to defeat Hanzo? Just what ability does he possess?" Hana asked as the man shook his head.

"I already told you, we don't really know anything about him." The man said as Jiraya sighed.

"I just can't believe it. There's no way he could have defeated hanzo by himself." Jiraya said in surprise.

"Even so, that's not the reason you should fear lord Pain. What's truly frightening about him is his merciless heart of unbending steel. He has systematically eliminated all who question or threaten his vision. He erased them all. Everyone who was ever tied to Hanzo, he killed them all." The man said as Hana took a deep breath, Jiraya narrowing his eyes.

"How horrible...then tell me, you must know something about the akatsuki." Jiraya said as the man nodded.

Mako zipped up his akatsuki cloak, a look of regret on his face as Pain narrowed his eyes.

"I'm ready." Mako said as Pain nodded.

"Time to hunt the intruder."

"Are you fully sure you want to fight this, 'god'?" Jiraya asked as Hana nodded.