At the very moment a faint sense of wrongness rippled through Ryota's chest—
Elsewhere.
On an open field not far from Konoha.
Pain's Deva Path stood motionless, the Rinnegan in his eyes fixed straight ahead.
His cloak swayed in the wind, and the six black piercings gleamed coldly under the night sky.
Behind him, Konan's face was unreadable, but a subtle unease lingered between her brows.
Suddenly, the Deva Path spoke:
"Kakuzu and Hidan—confirmed dead."
A flicker passed through Konan's eyes, though her frown only deepened.
"The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki has been escorted back to Konoha. But the strange part is—"
He paused, the rippling rings of the Rinnegan tightening as he recalled the intel relayed through the Human Path. Those inexplicable fragments.
"At the battlefield… there was no trace of Sarutobi Hiruzen's presence. No Chakra signatures from any of Konoha's higher-level combat forces."
Konan slowly raised her head, her voice low.
"Then… whose presence was there?"
The Deva Path was silent for a moment before answering:
"Only one Uchiha's presence… and—"
"…an unknown one."
"Unknown?"
Konan's instincts screamed at her. That "unknown presence" wasn't a footnote. It was the key to their entire mission—capturing the Nine-Tails and razing Konoha.
"What kind of power could register as 'unknown'?"
The Deva Path shook his head. He was unsettled as well.
"That power… flickered at the battlefield for a moment, then vanished without a trace."
Konan fell quiet.
She knew better than anyone: the Six Paths of Pain could share vision perfectly through the Rinnegan.
That meant Pain was essentially a complete combat system—intelligence, surveillance, suppression, annihilation—built into one structure.
And yet even with that…
They couldn't identify the source of that presence.
This wasn't just an "enemy."
It was something that pressed against the very boundaries of Pain's worldview.
Konan's frown deepened. She was about to speak—
When suddenly—
"Heh heh…"
A hoarse laugh drifted out from the shadows beneath the night sky.
"That presence you're talking about? I sensed it too."
The voice drew closer. Then, a broad figure stepped into view.
Hoshigaki Kisame, Samehada strapped to his back, the usual cruel grin stretching his lips.
"I took a stroll around Konoha's outskirts. Aside from two girls… didn't see anyone worth noting."
"Not Sarutobi Hiruzen, not even Danzō… not a single one showed."
"Tch, what a drag."
Another voice cut in suddenly, sharp with impatience.
The young man in Akatsuki's uniform stood at Kisame's side, eyes sparking with volatility.
"Konoha's just a decrepit shell now. Hardly anyone left who can fight."
Deidara's grin was manic, his expression twitching with that telltale lunatic thrill—like he might blow everything sky-high at any moment.
"If they can't even be bothered with us, then why should we bother with them?"
"I'll just blast my way in. Wouldn't that be faster?"
As he spoke, he casually kneaded the clay in his hands into a tiny bird.
A flick of Chakra—and pop!—the clay bird crackled, sparked, then disintegrated into smoke.
The Deva Path's gaze lingered on him, then shifted.
"Orochimaru and Sasori?"
Konan thought briefly before answering in her steady tone:
"They were on the One-Tail capture mission. Judging by the timetable, they should have already left Sunagakure."
"If they're following the original route, they'd be in the Land of Rivers by now."
The Land of Rivers—between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Once they crossed into Fire, reaching Konoha would be quick.
The Deva Path gave a slow nod.
The One-Tail could wait. The Nine-Tails took precedence.
That was why the full Akatsuki had mobilized.
But in the silence that followed—
Deidara suddenly snorted.
"Ugh, just thinking about that puppet freak irritates me."
"Always wearing that deadpan mask. Doesn't know the first thing about the romance of art."
His lip curled in disdain.
"Turning himself into some iron husk, scoffing at explosions… doesn't even know how to appreciate beauty."
"Oh, that reminds me."
Deidara's eyes snapped to the Deva Path, his grin widening.
"I heard the Uchiha clan's eyes are pretty valuable, right?"
"What's it called again… the Sharingan?"
"Heh. Think you could save me a few pairs? I'd love to use them as material."
The Deva Path's expression didn't flicker. His voice was flat.
"Do as you please."
As long as it didn't interfere with the order of Pain, he didn't care how the battlefield corpses were treated.
Deidara's grin only twisted further, as if he were already savoring the perfect detonation of his next "artwork."
The quiet stretched for several seconds.
Then, suddenly—
The Deva Path's Rinnegan contracted sharply.
"—!"
The night wind shifted. The air pressure dropped.
Behind him, the ground rippled faintly, and five figures silently stepped out of nothingness.
The Preta Path, Asura Path, Naraka Path, Human Path, Animal Path—
The Six Paths of Pain, fully assembled.
They stood like statues flanking the Deva Path, yet the sheer presence was suffocating.
From the silence, his voice rang out:
"We'll split up."
"Invade Konoha from every direction."
"Wipe out their perimeter scouts. Seal off reinforcements."
"From this moment on—let this land know pain."
Konan's eyes hardened. She'd expected this, yet still nodded slightly.
Kisame licked the corner of his mouth, his shoulders twitching with anticipation.
Even without Uchiha Itachi beside him as in the original timeline, a massacre in Konoha still sounded like paradise.
Deidara, meanwhile, threw back his head with manic laughter, leaping onto his clay bird.
"Perfect, perfect, perfect!! Finally, it's starting!!"
The Deva Path ignored their moods. His own thoughts remained steady, detached.
"Orochimaru and Sasori are in the Land of Rivers. Once they sense the battle's upheaval, they'll come."
"And then—Akatsuki's true encirclement will be complete."
But just then—
Crack.
A faint sound echoed from the forest behind them.
"Who!?"
Deidara reacted first, hurling a fistful of clay. Dozens of misshapen clay birds shot out, a swarm of white dots streaking toward the noise.
"Drink!!"
But just as they were about to explode—
A chill surged out of nowhere, freezing them solid midair!
Like someone had pressed pause on reality itself, every single bird was locked in place.
"Wh—what?!"
Deidara's face twisted, his pupils contracting violently.
For once, his first reaction wasn't rage—it was shock.
The sound of frost spreading filled the forest. Leaves glittered with crystalline edges, the very air thickened with biting cold.
He stumbled back half a step, question marks practically popping above his head.
Because—
Deidara's clay wasn't just "mud dolls."
They were his proudest masterpieces, the fusion of his explosive clay with Chakra, shaped into living constructs.
They weren't mere bombs, but predatory art-creatures—capable of flight, hovering, splitting apart.
The terror wasn't in their raw destructive power, but their flexibility and unpredictability. Even when defused, they often carried a hidden second strike.
But now—
Frozen solid in midair?
Cut off in an instant, severed from his control, like the entire atmosphere had become chains, shackling them into dead matter.
Impossible. Utterly impossible.
"Ice Style…?"
Deidara's gaze snapped toward the forest as figures emerged, his brows twitching violently.
Ice Style—a Kekkei Genkai so rare, intelligence reports said it should only exist in the Land of Snow.
But this was the Land of Fire. Konoha's territory.
How could an Ice Style user possibly appear here?
And at that moment—
Footsteps sounded again.
From the grove where his clay birds had frozen, several figures stepped into view.
Bathed in moonlight, their attire was nothing like anything from the shinobi world.
Akatsuki found themselves face-to-face with strangers who did not belong.