As the smoke cleared, the Land of Fire gained a new hot spring.
Once everyone confirmed it was safe and rushed back to the battlefield, they found Naruto Uzumaki already using his Wood Style jutsu to reforest the area. When he saw them, he had a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
"Ha ha ha... I tried to dispel the jutsu just now, but it was too late."
After seeing Sasuke, the young Hokage's face showed some relief. "Good thing Sasuke left early. I still can't completely control that jutsu's power..."
"Let's not talk about that for now," Sasuke Uchiha said, his expression darkening. He asked coldly, "I have a question. Is Itachi's power really about the same as yours?"
"Probably... maybe?" Naruto's expression froze for a moment.
If it were the current Itachi Uchiha, even with the Rinnegan and the ability to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, there would still be a noticeable gap between his strength and Naruto's. The power of Yang Release was simply on another level. Both his Wood Style and sealing jutsu were enhanced to a degree that even the Rinnegan couldn't counter.
Sasuke's face grew even uglier. "If his strength was the same as yours," he said angrily, "wouldn't slaughtering the clan have been more than enough to test his limits?"
"..."
The atmosphere became extremely awkward.
Everyone present knew the truth of the Uchiha clan massacre; only Sasuke was still being kept in the dark. That's why they all admired Naruto's desperate efforts to keep Sasuke from seeking revenge.
But... why did Sasuke have to use his brain! He'd stumbled upon a logical flaw that everyone else had subconsciously ignored.
After all, if Itachi really possessed the same immense power as Naruto, what would he do? He'd make himself the leader of the Akatsuki, of course!
Itachi Uchiha didn't know his younger brother was directing a soul-searching question at his superior, nor did he know that a new hot spring resort would soon open in the Land of Fire. His work was very busy, as he had to deal with both the mysterious masked man and Pain at the same time.
At the Akatsuki's secret base, the Six Paths of Pain and the mysterious masked man had completely broken with each other. The other Akatsuki members couldn't believe they were getting to watch such high-stakes drama unfold within their own organization. Their group actually had another boss, and it was the intern?
No way! That guy named Tobi, who claimed to be Madara Uchiha and the real mastermind behind the Akatsuki, was a true master actor.
Kakuzu said to everyone in a deep voice, "If this guy really is Madara Uchiha, then he's a truly formidable figure..."
As an old-timer, no one knew Madara Uchiha's terrifying reputation better than Kakuzu. The titles "Dancer of the Battlefield" and "Demon of the Ninja World" weren't just for show.
"Old man Kakuzu is right!" Deidara's expression was a bit doubtful as he tilted his head. "I've heard the name Madara Uchiha from Onoki. The old man is scared to death of him. He might be a coward, but I know his judgment is usually reliable."
"The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki?" Sasori of the Red Sand shook his head. "I don't pay attention to these things. As long as I can continue to complete my art, I don't care who wins between them."
"But they're fighting for the position of the organization's leader!" Hidan looked at everyone present with discontent. "Hey, you guys, do you think I have a chance to compete?"
"..."
Everyone looked at Hidan, a sense of pity gradually appearing in their eyes.
"Don't even dream of it," Kakuzu said, looking at his idiot teammate with a cold face. "I'd rather hope that guy who calls himself Madara Uchiha wins. The missions Konan gives are too hard!"
"Pain will definitely win," Sasori of the Red Sand said in a hoarse voice. "The power of the Rinnegan, Pain's secret, is not something you can imagine..."
As one of the earliest members of the Akatsuki, Sasori actually knew a few secrets. The reason he was willing to support Pain was because Pain had once asked for his advice on the methods and precautions for creating human puppets, which gave Sasori a slightly more favorable impression of him.
No matter how long they discussed it, their opinions had no effect on the dispute between Pain and the masked man. To them, these members were all just tools. The real players were only a select few.
The mysterious masked man knew he was at a disadvantage against the Six Paths of Pain and Konan, so he directly pulled in the duo of Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. At least they could be of use to him.
In the overcast Land of Rain, on the battlefield of the Akatsuki civil war, the Six Paths of Pain formed an encirclement, firmly holding the advantage. Nagato, controlling Pain from behind the scenes, and Konan stood in the distance, monitoring the entire battlefield.
The mysterious masked man was in the middle of Pain's encirclement, but he wasn't flustered in the slightest. He just said in a grim voice, "As long as we kill Nagato, the Six Paths of Pain are no threat. Itachi, Kisame, you deal with Pain here. I'll go kill Nagato!"
"That's not exactly easy..." Kisame Hoshigaki's face was solemn as he looked at his partner. "Mr. Itachi, I'll cover you, is that okay?"
"Whatever," Itachi said noncommittally, slowly closing his eyes. "Be careful. The power of the Rinnegan is not something you can easily handle, not even one of its abilities..."
"Don't worry, I already knew that," Kisame smiled lightly and nodded. Before the battle, Tobi had already told them about the Rinnegan and the Six Paths of Pain.
The abilities of the Rinnegan, besides conventional uses like Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei) and Universal Pull (Bansho Ten'in), also included summoning, soul extraction, chakra absorption, and even an ultimate sealing jutsu called Planetary Devastation (Chibaku Tensei). As for the Six Paths of Pain, each one possessed only a single ability. Their shared vision was the only tricky part.
The mysterious masked man believed that since Kisame and Itachi had detailed information on the Rinnegan, their chances of defeating the Six Paths of Pain were not low. First, both were battle-hardened ninjas, and the Mangekyo Sharingan's dōjutsu was not weak.
The mysterious masked man never imagined that right after he told Itachi all of those strange abilities, Itachi would quietly conduct his own experiments. In the end, Itachi came to a conclusion: the Rinnegan is really useful, truly worthy of being the legendary Sage's eye.
It was just that during this time, Itachi had once again fallen into confusion, contemplating whether he should sacrifice himself to resurrect the entire Uchiha clan. This was something he couldn't tell Naruto for now. Of course, if Naruto knew, he would probably tell him that all the Uchihas had their Sharingan gouged out, so even if they were resurrected, they would all be blind.
Due to his lack of understanding of the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique (Rinne Tensei), Itachi intended to find a test subject. After all, no one had ever seen the Rinnegan's ultimate dōjutsu, the Rinne Tensei. But in the entire ninja world, there were now only two pairs of Rinnegan—one belonged to Nagato, and the other was his own.
"Don't worry, we will definitely win this battle," the mysterious masked man said, going so far as to reveal another secret to reassure them. "That guy Nagato doesn't have Uchiha blood in him. Every time he uses the Rinnegan's power, he's consuming his own lifespan."
"Mmm... I know," Itachi nodded calmly.
-----
Bonus:
Obito: Let me tell you about this Rinnegan. It can absorb chakra, it can extract souls...
Itachi: So amazing?
Obito: Actually, you just need to dodge it. It's easy to dodge.
Itachi: Then how do you make it so people can't dodge?
Obito: ???
Itachi: I asked wrong. It should be hard to dodge, right? How should one dodge it?
Obito: Just don't get caught by Universal Pull...
Itachi: Oh, oh, oh, so use Universal Pull first, and then attack, right?
Obito: ???
Itachi: I asked wrong. First, we have to dodge Universal Pull, and then attack Pain, right?
Obito: Mmm... something feels weird...
Itachi: Is there anything else to watch out for?
Obito: There's also an ultimate dōjutsu, Planetary Devastation...
Itachi: I know how to break that one. Tell me the next one!
Obito: ...You know the effect of Planetary Devastation? Even I don't know!
Itachi: How about I demonstrate for you? Shinra Tensei!