If Itachi Uchiha were still able to fight, Kisame Hoshigaki would be confident enough to hold off Pain. After all, their mission was to stall the Six Paths of Pain.
But now, Itachi was severely injured. Even with only four Pains left on the battlefield—including the strongest one, the Deva Path—what was he supposed to do?
Fight them head-on? Wasn't that just asking for death?
Kisame pondered for a moment, scanning the Pains as they closed in. He quickly formed hand seals. "Water Style: Great Exploding Water—"
"Almighty Push!"
The Deva Path calmly extended his palm, shattering Kisame's jutsu with a powerful repulsive force. In this situation, he had the advantage. No, he had always had the advantage.
Itachi Uchiha grabbed Kisame's body. The red skeleton of his Susanoo flickered, as if he was using the last of his strength to shield his partner. Even so, the force of the Almighty Push knocked them both off their feet.
Itachi covered his eyes, speaking weakly. "Pain, this isn't the real battlefield. The two of us… we've already lost our ability to fight. If you still want to continue… I'm prepared to use my ultimate Mangekyo technique in a battle to the death."
"..."
Kisame helped Itachi lean against a rock. He had originally wanted to fight to the death to stop Pain, hoping to help the mysterious masked man defeat Nagato. However, seeing Itachi's injuries worsen just to protect him, Kisame felt a pang of guilt. Mr. Itachi was right; their part in this fight was over. The real battle was happening elsewhere.
The reluctance in Kisame's heart slowly faded. Itachi's illness was too severe. If he kept fighting, he would die here.
The Deva Path also seemed to realize this. If he insisted on fighting Itachi now and forced him into a desperate, last-ditch battle, the tables could unexpectedly turn. Even in a best-case scenario, it would consume a massive amount of his chakra.
The outcome of the battle between his main body, Nagato, and the masked man was what truly mattered. He had to conserve as much chakra as possible for that. Besides, while the Deva Path's combat power was strong, Nagato's main body had limited mobility. Rather than fighting Itachi to the death here, it was better to concentrate his forces and crush the masked man.
After all, the outcome of that fight would decide who controlled the Akatsuki.
"Itachi Uchiha, I hope your actions match your words."
The Deva Path floated slowly in the air, looking down at the two on the ground. "The strength of you two is among the greatest in the Akatsuki. If you still agree with my vision, I will overlook your mistakes after this is over."
"Is that so?" Itachi clutched his chest, his expression calm. "It seems you're very confident in your victory… Leader."
"Because the power of a god is beyond the reach of mortals," the Deva Path declared, the Rinnegan in his eyes seeming to tighten. "And I am the god who follows the Sage of Six Paths!"
After speaking, the four Pains turned and rushed toward Nagato's main body without a second glance. With Nagato's limited mobility, the support from the four Paths would give him a huge advantage.
Kisame glanced at the departing Pains, then at the severely injured Itachi beside him. He couldn't help but say softly, "He can't even beat that teenage kid from Konoha, and he dares to call himself a god? What's there to be so cocky about?"
"..."
The comment left Itachi speechless. After all, the last time Pain met Naruto Uzumaki, he was, in fact, thoroughly beaten by the young Hokage.
"Alright, let's not talk about that," Itachi said, grabbing Kisame's arm and forcing himself to stand. "Let's go see how their situation is developing..."
On the other side, the battle between Nagato and Obito Uchiha was even more brutal.
No matter how powerful the Rinnegan's abilities were, they were useless against Kamui. The Rinnegan's attacks always passed right through the masked man.
Fortunately, Nagato had Konan by his side. She had detonated hundreds of billions of explosive tags, forcing the masked man to fall back. Soon, their battle fell into a stalemate.
Although the masked man possessed the strange intangibility of Kamui, making it impossible to harm him, he also couldn't harm Nagato. The moment he tried to attack, his body would become solid.
What the masked man didn't know was that while he was busy dodging the explosive tags, Nagato and Konan were analyzing his technique.
Nagato sat on a bird-like summoning beast, looking down at the masked man below. "Konan," he said softly, "have you calculated the duration of his jutsu?"
"It can last for at least three minutes," Konan replied, shaking her head. "The range of the explosions is too wide. For the past three minutes, every blast that should have hit him simply passed through his body… I suspect he can maintain it for even longer."
"Then let's keep testing him," Nagato said, covering his mouth as he coughed. "Itachi and Kisame have lost their ability to fight. The Deva, Human, Asura, and Animal Paths will be here soon. That will be his end!"
"Okay." The worry on Konan's face vanished as she nodded to her friend. Countless sheets of paper flew from her body, drifting down toward the masked man.
The masked man was fearless. As he tried to use Kamui to absorb the paper into his dimension, the seal of an explosive tag suddenly appeared on each sheet.
"This trick again!" the masked man gritted his teeth, shouting, "Black Zetsu, bring me a Sharingan! I need to use Izanagi to end this battle!"
"Don't be in such a hurry, Obito…" Black Zetsu's voice whispered in his ear. He chuckled sinisterly. "What we want now isn't just to kill Nagato, but to use him to resurrect Lord Madara..."
"Do you really think there's a chance for that now?"
"Of course there is," Black Zetsu chuckled. "As long as you can weaken Nagato, I can control his will and force him to perform the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu to resurrect Lord Madara!"
The masked man feigned confusion. "Even if we resurrect Madara, will his body be able to fight?"
"Don't worry, I've already prepared for it," Black Zetsu smiled, his tone meaningful. "All these years, I've been nourishing Madara's body with Hashirama's cells. As soon as he is resurrected, he can use his own chakra to restore his vitality!"
"If Madara is resurrected, won't he be angry?" the masked man asked after a moment of silence. "Why don't you let me use the Rinnegan first? After we've collected all the Tailed Beasts and revived the Gedo Statue, then we can resurrect Madara..."
"..."
Black Zetsu slowly raised his head, looking at the masked man. "No," he said slowly. "You can't."
"..."
The face hidden under the mask instantly became incredibly ugly.
That Black Zetsu!
-----
Bonus:
Obito: I can do it too! Look at my Mangekyo!
Black Zetsu: No, you can't. You're trash.
Obito: You just wait! I'll get my chance!
Black Zetsu: Stop talking and go defeat Nagato. I'll find a way to control him and use Rinne Rebirth to revive Madara!
Itachi Uchiha: Quick, let me see the Rinne Rebirth!
Obito: ???
Black Zetsu: ???
Obito: Why are you here?
Itachi: I heard you were going to use Rinne Rebirth!
Obito: What does that have to do with you? You don't even have a Rinnegan!
Itachi: I'll just observe and learn!
Obito: ...Give me a break.
Itachi: ...Give me a break.