Tale of a setting sun

Chapter 28: "Emergence of Talents"

It was raining in Amegakure, the Hidden Rain, but that was nothing new.Neon signs flickered, glowing sullenly in the dark of the night. 

Numerous metal pipes scaled a sea of rusty towers that groaned under their own weight. Copper wirefrom tower to tower, swayed haphazardly in the wind.To the west, the tallest tower in Amegakure spiraled above the surrounding area. 

Other than its height, it was easily made distinguishable by the four humanoid facprotruded from each side of the tower. The village's dead were all brought to this tower for processing. It was also the rumored dwelling of their savior, Lord Pain. 

Ever since the Lady had brought news of their Lord's victory over Hanzō to the village, the hard look in everyone's eyes had changed.Ajisai could still remember the first time she saw the Lady appear before the village people. With her beautiful stoic face and her wings that spanned the length of tlooked every bit the role of an angel sent from the heavens.

 It was so overwhelming, Ajisai cried.News quickly spread of Lord Pain after that. Following the deaths of Hanzō and the members of his faction, the civil war they had thought would never end came tothe entire village was united under Lord Pain's mission of peace and hope. 

Lady Angel warned them that the hidden villages of the Five Great Nations would not react so favorably to Hanzō's death, and so, they continued to perpetuate thetheir civil war was still ongoing. Months had passed since then, and none of the other villages seemed to have noticed. Nobody, Ajisai included, was too surprised. Gnations' history of waging battle in Rain territory and causing further havoc for their village, she didn't expect them to care about anything other than themselves.

 It was raining, as always, when Lady Angel appeared before Ajisai and the other genin. She descended without warning, her paper wings keeping her afloat. As shepale, serene face towards them, Ajisai froze, her mind reeling at suddenly coming face-to-face with her idol. Then, coming to her senses, she immediately prostratethe ground.

 "The Hidden Leaf has invited the Hidden Rain to participate in their Chūnin Selection Exams this year. Your teams will go, in the pretense of participating. The othercontinue to believe that Hanzō of the Salamander rules the Hidden Rain."

 "Yes, Tenshi-sama," they spoke in unison."Team Ajisai..." said the Lady, and Ajisai found her mind once again going into overdrive at the revelation that the Lady knew her name. "I have a special mission foadvantage of the chūnin exams to find a jinchūriki.""A jinchūriki?" Ajisai cautiously ventured, raising her head."Suiren."

 The Lady looked at one of her teammates. "Use your sensory perception skills and look for a shinobi who harbors an enormous amount of chakra.""Is that what a jinchūriki is?" asked Suiren.Without answering his question, the Lady continued, "Even if you don't find a jinchūriki, bring back intel of any extraordinary shinobi from other villages." 

She heard the sound of flapping wings—and then the Lady was gone.The other genin began to murmur in awe amongst themselves. Ajisai shared a nod with Suiren, before turning to her third teammate.He was a relative newcomer to their village.

 He had a pretty face but didn't talk much, speaking only when necessary. Ajisai did not know much about him beyond tanother war refugee—and that he was incredibly strong. With him by their side, Ajisai had little doubt that they would be able to carry out the Lady's mission to theWhen she saw his face, however, she found herself taken aback. The usual calm demeanor was gone. Instead, a blazing look of fury burned in his eyes, and she covisible hand clench so hard, it shook.

 It wouldn't be the first time that a war refugee in their village had suffered at the hands of the Hidden Leaf. Sympathy welling up in her heart, Ajisai wondered wheteammate was the same.For as long as Gaara could remember, the voice had always been there, whispering in his head.When he was younger, while he was aware of the voice's presence, he did not understand it.