As Danzo came rushing toward him, Ichiro hesitated for a moment before quickly retracting his jutsu to catch Danzo midair.
He also realized: a live Danzo was their best asset!
But seeing the man now, clinging to Ichiro with a fresh bloodstain on his pants, everyone fell silent.
Even the Akatsuki stopped attacking, as if suddenly stripped of their will to fight.
Danzo's method of fainting had simply pushed their nerves to the limit, turning what had been a serious battle into something absurd and comical.
"Did we just successfully capture him?" Sasori asked rather speechlessly.
"Perhaps," Pain replied uncertainly.
The victory had come far too easily, giving him an unreal feeling. After all, Danzo was a man who had ruled the shinobi world for decades as the Darkness of the Shinobi World—he shouldn't have been defeated this easily!
Kakuzu, meanwhile, excitedly pressed the shutter button on his camera. This photo was definitely going to be worth a fortune!
The title he had already planned was: "Shocking! Why Is This Half-Century-Old Man's Butt Bleeding? The Konoha Hokage Achieves Fame With a Single Fart!"
On the other side, Tatsuma was furious, his eyes bloodshot with rage, desperately wishing he were the one bleeding.
It wasn't just about Danzo's safety, but his reputation as well.
Although Danzo's reputation hadn't exactly been great to begin with, using Wind Release to blow himself unconscious and even blasting blood from his own butt—that kind of event simply shattered people's sense of normalcy.
Even his former supporters would now probably question whether someone who could make such a ridiculous mistake—blowing himself up with his own jutsu—was truly fit to be Hokage.
Realizing this, Tatsuma quickly activated his scapegoating skills, grabbing Mifune's collar and yelling, "What the hell did you feed the Hokage this morning? Did you poison him?!"
"That shouldn't be the case," Mifune responded, though his voice lacked conviction.
Truthfully, he himself suspected whether someone under his command had slipped laxatives into Danzo's food.
Otherwise, there was simply no explanation for such a ridiculous mistake from someone as strong as Danzo.
At this moment, Sasori spoke to the group, "Listen up, people from Konoha—we want to exchange the Impure World Reincarnation for your Hokage!"
"Impure World Reincarnation?" A snapped out of his shock from witnessing Danzo's self-inflicted injury. "So you're the Akatsuki organization? What exactly are you planning with that Kinjutsu?"
"Immortality... and resurrection," Sasori replied calmly. "We pursue the Impure World Reincarnation precisely to break the taboo between life and death."
Onoki's expression turned serious as he asked, "And how does this relate to distributing chakra seeds globally?"
Pain stepped forward and said, "To awaken minds, and to gain more like-minded comrades to join us!"
Onoki fell silent, contemplating the possibility of what they had just said.
At this point, everyone finally turned their attention back to Pain.
Staring at him, Rasa asked with shock and suspicion, "Your eyes... Could it be the legendary Rinnegan?"
The others quickly regained their composure, staring at Pain and the four figures behind him with stunned disbelief.
"Wait a second—those four behind him also have the Rinnegan!"
"How is that even possible? Eyes like those only existed in legends, and now five pairs appear at once!"
"Could he possibly be wearing colored contact lenses?"
Pain had no intention of answering their questions. He simply asked calmly, "Have you finished asking everything? Then can we leave now?"
In truth, he wouldn't have spoken this much at all if not to mislead them and keep them from suspecting the Bijuu.
"Don't talk such nonsense!" A clenched his fist furiously, lightning crackling in his palm. "I don't care whether you have the Rinnegan or not, but you actually dared to storm the Kage Summit. You clearly don't consider us worth acknowledging! If we let you walk away unharmed, where would that leave the dignity of the Five Great Hidden Villages?"
Pain furrowed his brow slightly. "You no longer care about Hokage-sama's life?"
Rasa chuckled. "You went so far as to attack the Kage Summit just to capture the Hokage. Such an important hostage surely won't be allowed to die easily, right?"
Mei Terumi smiled along. "Besides, what do I care whether Hokage-sama lives or dies?"
Tatsuma glared angrily at Mei Terumi. This woman was indeed Seiki Shimaseki's puppet, eagerly wishing for Danzo's death. How despicable!
"If you're so eager to die, I'll gladly oblige," Pain said coldly. "Kakuzu, take him back first."
"Take him back?" Kakuzu sounded reluctant. He had finally gotten a chance to be a war photographer; he wanted to capture more profitable shots.
Obito grinned beside him. "If you take Danzo back, you'll be able to unlock all sorts of interesting poses, right?"
Kakuzu's eyes lit up greedily as he scanned Danzo's backside, then stepped forward and hoisted him onto his shoulder.
Tatsuma roared, "Put down the Hokage immediately!"
Although he also disliked Danzo, A couldn't possibly allow someone to "collect a corpse" right in front of him. He charged forward as a lightning bolt. "Put down the Hokage!"
However, Pain simply raised his palm. "No path lies ahead."
An immense Repelling Force burst from his palm, and A slammed into it like a spring had repelled him, flying backward forcefully.
"This is the power of the Rinnegan?" A thought in astonishment, though he felt not the slightest fear.
Except for that monster Seiki Shimaseki, he was confident that he wouldn't lose to anyone!
"Under that man's pressure, I've never dared to relax even for a moment!" A roared furiously, lightning crackling over his body as substantial chakra flared around him like blue flames.
"Now, witness the results of my three years of training! Ultimate Lightning Release Mode, activate!"
Facing Raikage's surge, Pain calmly raised his palm. [Shinra Tensei!]
Once again, an immense Repelling Force burst forth from his palm.
Yet A burst through the resistance even faster than before after merely a momentary halt.
"What?"
Seeing the Raikage charge forward despite the Repelling Force, Pain was taken by surprise. He had no time to dodge and was sent flying by the Raikage's violent, overbearing punch, his head twisted and deformed. His body crumpled unnaturally, a clear sign that he was no longer alive.
Seeing the Raikage had successfully taken down someone suspected to be the enemy leader, the Five Great Hidden Villages' side, which had been demoralized by Danzo's capture, regained its fighting spirit.
"Truly worthy of being Lord Raikage! So amazing!"
"What a piece of trash the Rinnegan turned out to be! It was crushed by Lord Raikage's fist!"
However, some noticed that while the Akatsuki were surprised by the Raikage's strength, they showed no sorrow for their fallen comrade and instead kept pointing and commenting.
"This guy is really strong! No wonder he used to go head-to-head with Seiki Shimaseki!"
"Indeed, this is the true standard a Kage should have. Danzo was more of an aberration."
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