Chapter 292: A Recruitment Offer from the God, Pain?
"What kind of ninjutsu is this? It can actually repel the power of the Susanoo?"
At the shoulder position of the Susanoo, Uchiha Izumi looked at Pain in the distance, who had repelled the power of a single strike from Uchiha Ikeizumi's Susanoo with effortless casualness. Her eyes carried a look of complete disbelief.
The current Uchiha Izumi was no longer completely ignorant about the world. Especially after witnessing the battle between Uchiha Ikeizumi and the Fourth Mizukage, she was well aware that the power of a single strike from Uchiha Ikeizumi's Susanoo was barely inferior to a Tailed Beast Bomb!
Yet a power of that caliber had actually been repelled by this guy before her eyes, whom she had never even heard of?
"Pay close attention to his eyes. Those are the Rinnegan—the eyes of the legendary Sage of Six Paths!"
Kojirō stared intently at the pair of Rinnegan in Pain's eyes, its gaze turning grave for a rare moment.
Kojirō had heard Uchiha Ikeizumi mention Akatsuki a few times, and the most crucial piece of intelligence was that the leader of Akatsuki possessed a pair of eyes identical to those of the Sage of Six Paths!
"The Sage of Six Paths?"
Hearing this somewhat unfamiliar yet familiar name, Uchiha Izumi failed to recall it for a brief moment. But as she remembered the true identity of the Sage of Six Paths and looked back in Pain's direction, the depths of her eyes were filled with pure astonishment.
"The legendary Sage of Six Paths—"
Izumi stiffened her small face, and her voice could not help but carry a hint of worry.
"Kojirō, take Izumi farther away. If a true fight breaks out, I am afraid I won't be able to look after you two!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi spoke slowly. For Izumi, this was the very first time she had heard Uchiha Ikeizumi speak in such a grave tone. Did this mean that even Uchiha Ikeizumi lacked full certainty in taking down this guy who had suddenly popped out?
"Realizing you are no match for a god, you choose to send your subordinates away first?"
"Regrettably, weaklings like that will only drag you down!"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi, I will give you a chance. Join Akatsuki!"
"As long as you join our Akatsuki, God will assist you with your Absolute Justice!"
Looking at that colossal Susanoo—nearly as massive as a mountain range—in the distance, Pain actually spoke up to recruit Uchiha Ikeizumi?
Yet the only response given to Pain was a second flying arc of sword-light!
The massive energy fluctuations nearly caused the air to wail. After the colossal arc of sword-light flew out, it seemed intent on smashing the distant mountain ranges into broken debris as well. But just like the previous arc of sword-light, the moment this one closed in on Pain, its direction abruptly veered off.
The colossal arc of sword-light blasted apart another mountain peak once more, causing countless giant trees to collapse and kicking up a sky full of dust.
"You want to carry out Absolute Justice?"
"Fine!"
"Kill those few Akatsuki members beside you!"
"If you can kill them, I will join Akatsuki!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi looked toward Pain's direction. The sin upon Pain's body was not yet so dense that Ikeizumi absolutely had to kill him. Furthermore, Nagato himself was a pitiful soul; if he could kill that group of people in Akatsuki, it wasn't impossible for Uchiha Ikeizumi to save Nagato.
To put it in the words of Senju Hashirama: Nagato was simply far too dangerous; Uchiha Ikeizumi wanted to keep him right under his own eyelids!
"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't offend you, right?"
"Why do you want to kill me?"
"And Lord Leader, our organization wouldn't really kill its own people first, right?"
Hearing Uchiha Ikeizumi's words, Hidan grumbled in dissatisfaction.
He really shouldn't have joined this garbage organization to begin with. They were clearly dealing with an enemy, so how was it that after the enemy said a couple of sentences, the boss of this garbage organization actually looked as if he genuinely wanted to give it a try?
In truth, Nagato genuinely wanted to give it a try in his heart. After all, Uchiha Ikeizumi's strength required no further elaboration. He knew his own body better than anyone; for certain battles, if he could save a bit of stamina, he would save a bit of stamina.
But if he could pull Uchiha Ikeizumi into Akatsuki, it would be entirely different. When it was inconvenient for him to strike, he could completely let Uchiha Ikeizumi strike instead. In fact, for things like collecting the Tailed Beasts, Uchiha Ikeizumi's strength could likely handle the entire package alone.
Add to that the "Uchiha Madara" within Akatsuki who was suspected to be Uchiha Obito—letting an Uchiha join Akatsuki would allow an Uchiha to deal with an Uchiha!
It was only because the situation was not quite appropriate—with Kakuzu and the others all watching right there—otherwise, Pain truly wanted to have a proper chat with Uchiha Ikeizumi regarding the possibility of him joining Akatsuki.
They were both working for the peace of the ninja world; though their methods were different, they should have plenty of common topics to discuss!
"Obito, Nagato actually seems to be tempted!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Uchiha Obito and White Zetsu were hiding right here, watching the distant battle.
Obito maintained that this was not him being cowardly; he simply wished to acquire more intelligence on Uchiha Ikeizumi. After all, given Uchiha Ikeizumi's attitude, Obito felt that he would have a battle with him sooner or later!
"Ob... Obito, let me out!"
Within the Kamui dimension, Black Zetsu—who was still struggling amidst the Flames of Judgment—actually took the initiative to call out to Uchiha Obito at this moment.
"You are already in this state, and you still want to come out?"
Obito did not quite understand Black Zetsu's thinking.
"I need to confirm something!"
Black Zetsu's tone was exceptionally firm. Since the battle between Uchiha Ikeizumi and Akatsuki was unavoidable, Black Zetsu had to confirm one thing first—even if, under normal circumstances, that was simply an impossible matter.
But what if?
After all, no matter how one looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi, he didn't seem like a normal case, right?
As a black organism completely covered in the Flames of Judgment with a distorted expression manifested out of thin air, Obito unconsciously shifted his body a bit away. He was simply a bit afraid that the Flames of Judgment on Black Zetsu's body might be contagious—
"A Perfect Form Susanoo—"
When Black Zetsu saw that colossal Susanoo standing between heaven and earth in the distance, the horror in his eyes could not be faked.
For Black Zetsu, who had watched over the Uchiha clan for over a thousand years, almost no one understood the Susanoo better than he did!
After awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha clansmen could basically summon a partial form of the Susanoo. Only after gradually becoming familiar with the power of the Sharingan could they make the Susanoo manifest completely.
Only upon reaching the second stage would the Susanoo manifest the Majestic Attire, much like Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Fugaku, who basically resided at this stage.
As for the third stage of the Susanoo, it required exceptionally powerful Sharingan dōjutsu to support, reaching a height of up to a thousand meters.
The Susanoo with which Uchiha Madara ended the Warring States period was a third-stage Susanoo; the Susanoo with which Sasuke blocked the Infinite Tsukuyomi was likewise a third-stage Susanoo; and Kakashi's Susanoo was similarly a third-stage Susanoo.
"Is it the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan? Or is it like Obito, having transplanted Hashirama cells?"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi has used Wood Release; logically speaking, he should have transplanted Hashirama cells, but—"
Black Zetsu's mind was continuously calculating. He slightly suspected that Uchiha Ikeizumi had a connection to Asura and Indra, yet he lacked complete evidence. After all, Uchiha Madara had only died a few years ago; by no means should he have reincarnated into Uchiha Ikeizumi's body, right?