"Let's go! We have to get back and find Lady Hokage!"
Learning this from Kusuo, and realizing the gravity of the situation, Asuma and Kurenai's faces turned ugly. They didn't dare to delay for a single moment. They turned around and immediately returned to the village, preparing to report the situation to Tsunade together.
Hokage Tower. In the office.
"What? The ones who attacked Kakashi were Itachi and a mysterious person, and that mysterious person is suspected to be Uchiha Obito?"
Hearing the report, Tsunade's expression changed. She shot up from her seat, her almond-shaped mouth slightly agape, her face filled with an indescribable gravity. Instantly, Asuma and Kurenai were startled by her aura. The former stepped forward slightly and said in a deep voice, "Yes. Based on our investigation of the scene and the information from Kusuo's words, the accuracy is over ninety percent."
"Has Kusuo already fought them?" Tsunade was shocked again.
Then, the two of them roughly explained the situation they had encountered. Because the battle had already ended by the time Asuma and the others arrived, they couldn't deduce any useful intelligence. But based on the bloodstains on the ground, Kusuo had undoubtedly had the upper hand.
"Alright. You two must keep this matter strictly confidential. Not a single word is to be leaked! As for Kakashi's side, you two... forget it. I'll go and tell him myself when the time comes, and explain it clearly."
Tsunade pondered for a moment, then, with a wave of her fair hand, quickly analyzed the stakes. In fact, Obito not dying all those years ago, and very likely being the mysterious mastermind who had orchestrated the Nine-Tails' night of terror thirteen years ago... now, he had even gathered a complete pair of Mangekyo Sharingan. His combat power was no less than that of the S-rank missing-nin, Uchiha Itachi. In a certain sense, he was even more difficult to deal with, more troublesome.
This was a point Tsunade and the others had to take seriously. Most critically was Obito's tricky ability. They couldn't let the villagers and the lower-level ninja know that he could freely travel through space, hiding his body to enter and exit Konoha. Once the news leaked, it would inevitably cause a large-scale panic.
"Yes, Lady Hokage!" Asuma and Kurenai responded in a deep voice and immediately went back to make preparations.
After the two of them left, Tsunade rubbed her brow, her hand propping up her head on the desk. The weight of her chest pressed against the desk, a stunning scenery.
"That child Kusuo... he really has realized something. It seems I still can't treat him like an ordinary child."
"Time passes so fast. In the blink of an eye, more than a year has passed."
With a sigh, Tsunade felt mentally and physically exhausted. Ever since she had lost the duel to Kusuo and taken over the battle-torn Konoha to serve as Hokage, every day was filled with endless official duties. Of course, these were nothing in her heart. The one major event after another that was pressed on her shoulders was the real reason she couldn't catch her breath. Even as one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade still felt lost.
The gravity of the situation... the pressure on her was not small.
"During this time, it seems... I have always been too insistent on carrying the heavy burden myself. That child, Kusuo... he has a talent we can't even imagine." Tsunade was hesitating, whether to share the responsibility of the village with him.
As a top-tier powerhouse, the undisputed number one combat power of Konoha, Kusuo should step up at a time like this. But as the Hokage, she also knew his personality. She couldn't bring herself to put such heavy pressure on a mere boy.
The conspiracy of the three great nations! The joint attack of the three great hidden villages! Since the founding of Konoha, they had never encountered such a crisis. The slightest misstep in handling it, and the result would be complete annihilation.
"Someone, come!"
Finally, Tsunade seemed to have made up her mind and shouted to the door outside.
"Lady Tsunade." Shizune came in with Tonton, bowing respectfully.
"You go to the Hatake compound and bring that child, Kusuo, here."
...
"Hahaha! What a lack of self-awareness."
"Clearly my defeated opponent, yet still caught."
In the Akatsuki base, Hidan shouldered his death god's scythe. Seeing the wounded and blood-stained Obito and Itachi emerge from the void, he was somewhat gloating.
Kakuzu stood beside Hidan, giving a cold glance, not saying anything.
"Oh my, we're all teammates. How can you kick someone when they're down at a time like this?" Zetsu's body also half-floated up from the ground, a grin on his face. He seemed to be saying nice things, but in reality, there was a needle hidden in his smile.
"Shut your mouth, or I don't mind being the first to kill you!" Hidan gave Zetsu on the ground no face at all, threatening him with a savage grin.
"Oh my, oh my! How terrifying!" Zetsu's voice was full of sarcasm. In the blink of an eye, he had drilled from the ground to the other side.
The vast base space now had only a few lonely figures left.
"Alright, stop arguing," Pain said, walking out from the shadows. Beside him was another person, with light blue-purple hair, a light purple paper flower in it. There was a lip piercing below her lips, and her purple eyeshadow was mysterious and enchanting.
Konan.
"From now on, Konan will cooperate with Itachi's actions. Tobi, you will be temporarily grouped with Zetsu," the Deva Path Pain, made from Yahiko's body, said with a cold, emotionless expression, announcing the new arrangement for the Akatsuki.
Itachi remained silent, not objecting. Tobi, on the other hand, had a cold smile on his lips, his eyes looking at Pain with disdain. Nagato's thoughts... he knew them all too well. It was nothing more than being afraid that he would infiltrate the members of the group.
The laughable thing was that this foolish pawn still didn't understand his own mission. He thought that by instigating someone like Hidan, he could deal with him. This kind of low-level behavior, in Obito's eyes, was simply laughable to the extreme.
"If that's the case—"
"Kamui!"
With a low shout from the corner of his mouth, a tearing spatial distortion suddenly appeared at Hidan's arm. The next second, a tragic scream echoed through the entire space.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! My arm!"
Hidan's entire arm had been absorbed into the Kamui dimension, so fast that he didn't even have time to react.
Looking at Hidan rolling on the ground in unbearable pain, Obito gave him an icy glance, then turned and left, leaving behind Konan, whose face was cold, and a shocked Hidan.
"He has gathered both eyes," Konan whispered quietly in Pain's ear.
"Mm." Pain's face was also not looking good. Nagato, who was controlling him from behind, had a fire burning in his chest. He... I was played by Obito!
The relationship within the entire Akatsuki was just this rigid. Aside from Itachi, who could sense that something was slightly off, no one knew Tobi's true identity or purpose. From beginning to end, only Nagato and Konan beside him were on guard against him. Konan had even used all the money the Akatsuki had earned to buy exploding tags, all to be used against Obito. But now that he had gathered both Kamui, whether their original plan could succeed... was a big question mark.
"`ˇYou go and check on Hidan. Stop his bleeding first." The Deva Path Pain did not linger for long. After a brief command, he left directly.
Konan went over to check Hidan's injury. His entire right arm had been neatly severed. It was like a smooth mirror surface; the broken bone was clearly visible. It was enough to foresee just how unfathomably powerful Obito's Kamui was.
Konan's expression became even more grave. She used the medical gauze from her Paper Ninjutsu to wrap Hidan's arm, temporarily stopping his bleeding. But the subsequent recovery was another problem. Although Hidan possessed an immortal body and could freely stitch his body back together, and no one could kill him—even if he were beheaded, he would be unharmed—all of this was based on the premise that his limbs were intact.
Without his own limbs, Hidan could not stitch his body back together as usual. The protection, or curse, bestowed upon him by Lord Jashin only applied to his individual body. Obito taking his arm was equivalent to a show of force against Nagato behind Pain. Because if Hidan ever wanted to get his hand back, he had to submit to Uchiha Obito.
This move of cutting off the source... was something Konan and Nagato had not expected.
Shaking her head, Konan's cold gaze turned to Itachi. "You went to Konoha... and you met him?" She was referring to Kusuo.
Itachi knew who she was talking about. He said with a calm face, "Our hiding place was discovered by him. We exchanged blows. We were no match and were forced to retreat."
The almost documentary-like narrative made Konan's pupils shrink. And Kakuzu, standing behind her, his expression also changed.
'We were no match and were forced to retreat.'
A simple sentence. It meant that Kusuo's strength was even greater. So strong that it was beyond their imagination. After all, just now, Obito had personally shown them the power of his dojutsu, the double Kamui. And even so, Obito and Itachi, who had joined forces, had only come back with the evaluation of "no match, forced to retreat."
It was self-evident how terrifying Kusuo was.
"I understand. You go back and rest well," Konan sighed and said to Itachi.
After that, the dim lights in the Akatsuki's mountain cave were extinguished, and it fell into a piece of darkness.
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (250 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (225 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (90 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (100 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (270 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (98 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (120 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(59 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (150 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (80 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (50 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (80 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (80 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (70 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (60 Chapter)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (50 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (50 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (50 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (33 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.