Judgment of the Sacred Moment—an angelic skill.
Uehara Naraku finally felt a measure of relief after noticing the effects of this skill. From now on, he wouldn't have to worry about instant death.
Judgment of the Sacred Moment: Grants an invincible shield to oneself or others for 3 seconds. While in this invincible state, a "Blade of Purification" appears around the person, dealing massive damage to surrounding targets. Chakra consumption scales with duration; minimum cost is 100 chakra points, cooldown is 160 seconds.
"Naraku!"
Konan's true body waved to the boy in midair. Only after he landed did she speak.
"Hey, Naraku… that jutsu just now—was it a kekkei genkai?"
The power of the Life-Form Disintegration Energy Beam had exceeded her expectations.
At first contact with her paper clone, the purple energy didn't seem remarkable. But in less than a second, a burning pain shot through her body—like she was being physically erased!
"Hmm, I don't know."
Naraku shook his head, passing the question aside.
"I'm not sure if it's a jutsu or a kekkei genkai. If my father were still alive, I could ask him… maybe our family has some unusual bloodline traits."
"…."
Konan shook her head, choosing not to pursue it further.
Perhaps it was because the Akatsuki had so many strange and rare jutsu—like Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear or Sasori's human puppets.
Pein stepped forward, his voice cold. "His taijutsu is terrible—worse than yours, Konan. In combat, that will be a fatal flaw…"
Konan said nothing.
With a single sentence, Pein criticized both of them.
Earlier, he had insisted that, regardless of Naraku's strength, he must take part in Akatsuki's revenge mission. And now, he was nitpicking…
Still, Pein had a point. Naraku's taijutsu was sloppy; even Konan, not particularly skilled in physical combat, could see it.
Naraku scratched his head. His taijutsu was indeed lacking, but once his life-force value increased over time, it would improve naturally.
"All right."
Pein glanced at Naraku, then at Konan. "You've tested him. His strength is sufficient for the mission."
Naraku looked up obediently at the blue-haired woman. "Konan-sensei, what kind of mission are we going on?"
"Assault the Rain Village stronghold, force Hanzo the Salamander to call in his loyalists, and eliminate them all!"
Konan's expression grew ice-cold as she spoke Hanzo's name.
"Twelve years ago, Hanzo—revered as the Ninja Demi-God—broke his promise. He conspired with Shimura Danzo of Konoha to kill the leader of Akatsuki and most of its members…"
She remembered every moment of that day, night after night.
The Akatsuki, once on the path to light, had been destroyed overnight. All members except her and Nagato were dead.
Among them was Akatsuki's leader, Yahiko.
He had grown up alongside her and Nagato, leading them through the chaos of war, guiding those who trusted him toward peace…
He hadn't died on the path to stop war—he had died in a conspiracy, leaving a deep shadow in the hearts of his two closest friends.
Additionally, Nagato had lost the use of his legs to an explosive tag. From then on, he had made a pact with those two evil men, leading the Akatsuki down a terrifying path.
For revenge, and for remembrance, Nagato preserved Yahiko's body, transforming him into the strongest Deva of the Six Paths of Pain, making the Deva before them the eternal leader of Akatsuki.
Twelve years.
Konan and Nagato endured for twelve long years, waiting until all six paths were complete before they had the confidence to head to Rain Village for revenge.
Since it was revenge, naturally no one else could interfere.
Yet who would have guessed that, before their attack on Rain Village, a boy meant to join them on their mission would appear unexpectedly.
Naraku lowered his head in thought. Their assault on Rain Village should go smoothly. With the power of the Six Paths, taking down Hanzo wouldn't be difficult. In other words, this was mostly a side mission—an opportunity to complete other objectives.
For example, a series of side missions that Naraku had long neglected:
Advanced Task 1: Kill ten wandering ninja (10/10), reward: 100 life energy, 100 chakra energy—completed.Advanced Task 2: Kill ten official Genin (3/10), reward: unknown.
From his understanding, future missions would involve a mix of Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. Perhaps even Kage-level opponents.
Given his current strength, Kage-level foes would be impossible. And judging by how the system issues tasks, any Kage-level enemies would be official village Kages—not rogue ninjas like Kakuzu.
Naraku's only hope was that the next advanced missions would be ordinary Jonin, not overpowered anomalies like Might Guy or Kakashi. That would be deadly.
Still, to grow stronger, these advanced missions were essential. They provided life energy and chakra energy, so the rewards would be substantial.
When Naraku first traveled to this world, he had faced weak wandering ninjas, and his few abilities were enough to defeat them.
However, official Genin had their villages and often moved in groups. Even during his wandering days, Naraku only once encountered a rogue Iwagakure squad causing trouble in the Land of Rain.
To complete the advanced missions in quantity, he needed a ninja stronghold. A village was the perfect place.
The chance to complete numerous advanced tasks at once and significantly boost his power didn't come often.
But during the preparation period, Naraku sensed something strange.
From the intelligence he had gathered about the Naruto world, Nagato usually stored away the Six Paths when not in use to conserve chakra.
Yet, in this pre-battle period, Pein had not returned to his station. Instead, he frequently appeared at Naraku and Konan's training site, critiquing Naraku's taijutsu and raising questions.
"Arms too weak to overpower enemies…""Leg speed too slow; openings will be exposed…""Terrible, brat. Are your fists just for tickling the enemy?"
The orange-haired man stood at the edge of the training ground, occasionally judging, undermining the imposing image of Deva Pein with his personal commentary.
Naraku had no rebuttal.
Konan could hardly tolerate it and spoke up: "Pein, Naraku is only twelve. He's still young and has plenty of time to grow…"
"I'm simply concerned for the members of the organization," Pein replied, his tone calm but unyielding.