It didn't take long before Orochimaru and Sasori reached the outskirts of Konoha.
Night hadn't fully fallen yet. The last glow of dusk still lingered on the horizon, staining the sky a dull red.
But under that twilight glow, Orochimaru suddenly stopped, his brow furrowing.
"…Something's wrong."
His face carried a rare hint of hesitation.
Sasori halted as well. From within his Hiruko puppet, his eyes scanned the trees and the distant village.
Just like Orochimaru, he sensed the abnormality.
"Too quiet."
By rights, Akatsuki had mobilized everyone this time.
Even if Konoha hadn't already been reduced to ashes, there should at least be traces of a fierce battle—
explosions, chakra fluctuations, alarm sirens.
Yet before them, Konoha stood intact.
No flames. No battle scars. No violent chakra surges. Not even the sensory ninja usually patrolling the perimeter—gone, as though they had vanished from existence.
Sasori tilted his head.
"…Could it already be over?"
He looked toward the silent village bathed in twilight.
"After all, Konoha has once again… suffered a Nine-Tails Rampage."
The moment those words fell, the air seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.
Nine-Tails Rampage—
That phrase hadn't yet spread through the shinobi world, but within Akatsuki, it was no secret.
Even if information was tightly controlled, Akatsuki had Zetsu—the greatest intelligence-gatherer alive.
Which meant Konoha had already endured chaos akin to a calamity.
The only mystery was… no one knew who the Jinchūriki was.
Orochimaru licked his lips, his thoughts racing.
Sasori wasn't wrong.
Every Akatsuki member was a monster capable of shaking the entire shinobi world.
And among them, the Six Paths of Pain—
a wielder of the legendary Rinnegan.
If they moved together, wiping out Konoha wouldn't take much effort at all.
"You're right. Looks like we're only here to tie up loose ends."
Sasori shook his head.
"Though I doubt there'll even be scraps left. Look—no sentries, no patrols. That Deva Path really didn't hold back."
Orochimaru was about to respond when—
BOOM!!!
A sudden explosion tore through the forest ahead.
Both men snapped their heads up, eyes narrowing at the source.
Through the trees, a silver-haired wolf beastman was charging forward—Bete.
And retreating before him, barely keeping his footing, was Hoshigaki Kisame—the so-called "Tailed Beast without a Tail."
"That's… Kisame?"
"What the hell?!"
Sasori's brow creased, his voice tinged with genuine shock.
Orochimaru's pupils shrank, locking onto the pursuer.
Someone he had never seen before.
A wild mane of silver hair, face half-human half-beast, eyes glowing blood-red with feral menace.
"…Where did this monster crawl out from?"
Before Orochimaru could even begin to analyze, another blast erupted—
BOOM!!!
This time from the dense forest to their right.
Deidara stumbled out, hair a mess, face pale with panic.
Flanking him on both sides, relentlessly pressing the attack, were the Hiryute sisters—Tione and Tiona.
"Deidara… is being pushed back too?!"
Orochimaru's mind filled with question marks.
Even Sasori froze, dumbfounded.
This scene was completely beyond their imagination.
Kisame, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Deidara, a lunatic with a kekkei genkai who turned battlefields into craters.
Together, they were a deadly team.
But now… they looked like cornered dogs, barely holding on.
And worse—
Their pursuers weren't even shinobi!
"These people… something's off."
Sasori's sharp gaze locked on the Amazons and the wolf beastman.
"They're not shinobi. No chakra fluctuations at all… yet they're trading blows with Deidara and Kisame?"
"Even forcing Deidara to flee and Kisame to the brink?!"
"How is that possible!"
Orochimaru stayed silent, eyes glued to the battlefield. His mind, however, was spiraling into chaos.
Not Konoha's shinobi.
Not part of the shinobi world's power system.
Not even wielding chakra at all.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"Where's the Six Paths of Pain? Where are Kakuzu and Hidan?"
Sasori's question echoed Orochimaru's own doubts.
"…I haven't seen them."
Orochimaru shook his head.
And then—
A bone-deep chill crawled up his spine.
The smile at the corner of his lips froze. He had caught a glimpse of a truth he almost didn't want to acknowledge.
"The ones who fell… aren't Konoha."
"They're… Akatsuki?!"
The thought wormed its way into his mind like a virus, refusing to let go.
"…No. Impossible."
He shook his head automatically.
"Akatsuki is the strongest organization in the shinobi world right now.
The Six Paths of Pain command the Rinnegan.
Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori… any one of them alone is on the level of a Jōnin, even a Kage."
"How could they… lose?"
But his eyes told him the truth—
Kisame was being hunted.
Deidara was fleeing like a stray dog.
If they were in this state, how could the others still be untouched?
Just what in the world had happened here?
Was this really Konoha anymore?!
Reason finally cut through his confusion.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, gaze fixed on the escalating battle.
He turned his head slightly toward Sasori.
"We're leaving. Something's not right."
Sasori blinked.
"…Leave?"
Their original mission was to head for Sunagakure and capture the One-Tail.
Midway, Akatsuki had altered the plan, ordering them to divert and support the Konoha operation.
And now, barely having arrived, Orochimaru was already calling for retreat?
Sasori couldn't understand.
In his view, even if Akatsuki had run into trouble, the two of them together could easily seize control of the battlefield. At the very least, they could finish off the survivors.
"Are you overthinking this?"
There was an edge of impatience in Sasori's voice.
"Even if Pain has fallen, Konoha must be in ruins by now."
"What better time to strike?"
As he spoke, his wrist flicked. Mechanisms within his sleeve clicked and spun.
With a series of metallic clanks, three puppets appeared in a puff of smoke.
Sasori raised his gaze toward Kisame, who was being pummeled backward by Bete.
"I'll go support Kisame first."
He paused, then cast a cold glance at Deidara, floundering like an insect before the Amazons.
"As for Deidara… he can rot for all I care."
"If he dies, so be it."
With that, Sasori sent his three puppets rushing forward.
But before he could take more than two steps—
A chilling female voice cut through the air, dripping with killing intent:
"Arcs Ray!"
"?!"
Sasori's instincts flared. His puppets split to either side.
But it was too late!
The next instant—
A brilliant arrow of light crashed down from the heavens, blasting straight through his three puppets.
BOOM!!!
Metal shards and splinters of wood exploded outward, gouging a trench in the ground.
Even with his quick reflexes, Hiruko wasn't unscathed. The shockwave slammed into his right shoulder with a sickening crack.
A section of armor burst apart, exposing the intricate mechanisms within.
"Damn it…"
Sasori skidded back several steps, eyes narrowing warily at his unseen assailant.
High above, on a nearby platform—
The elf girl Lefiya lowered her staff, stamping her foot in frustration.
"Ugh! How did he dodge so fast?!"
Beside her, Ryota chuckled softly, stepping closer. His voice was warm, reassuring.
"You did great."
"Arcs Ray can automatically track its target, but there were too many moving parts just now. Those puppets kept shifting positions."
"Managing to pierce all three in one shot was already incredible."
Lefiya's eyes lit up at the praise. A blush rose on her cheeks as the corners of her lips curled into a shy smile.
Like a kitten being petted, she nodded earnestly.
"Then… I'll try again!"
Below, Sasori had also heard their voices.
There was a calmness to them, a superiority, as though they didn't even consider him a threat.
"That black-haired boy…"
His eyes gleamed with a sharp, deadly light.
His perception was keen. In the moment between the arrow's release and impact, he had already noticed the group above.
Especially the black-haired boy standing at the front, smiling.
"Could it be… Pain and the others fell because of that brat?"