Within the Hidden Rain Village.
Thunder crashed and explosions roared...
The entire street looked as if it had been baptized by bombs, filled with nothing but thick smoke and craters.
What was most astonishing was that the air was filled with numerous zipper-like openings.
"Almighty Push!" Tendo Pain, whose body had been mostly sliced away, struggled to brace himself and raise his arm. The ocular power of his Rinnegan radiated outward, bursting with an invisible force that swept toward Number Two, who was stepping out from one of the zippers.
However, Number Two seemed to have anticipated this. With a flick of his finger, he pulled the zipper upward.
Instantly, along with the zipper, his position shifted higher into the air.
the Almighty Push's attack struck nothing but empty space.
'Missed again...' Tendo Pain was a puppet and had no physical stamina limits, nor did injuries affect his combat effectiveness. However, Nagato, the controller behind the scenes, was running low on chakra and could no longer sustain the battle. This caused Tendo Pain's body to slump, forced to lean against a protruding stone just to keep from falling over.
'How can I possibly defeat this guy...'
Nagato stared at the figure slowly walking out of the zipper, his mind racing.
Not much time had passed since the battle began.
Only a brief ten minutes.
Yet, many had already lost their ability to fight under Number Two's assault.
Kakuzu, Hidan, Konan, Deidara, Sasori...
Even five of the Six Paths of Pain had been destroyed, and the remaining Tendo Pain had lost all potential for continued combat at this moment.
More than half the members were down.
Excluding Zetsu, who had fallen into a state of mental confusion under the influence of Number Three, only Itachi and Kisame remained, still entangled in a struggle with Number Two.
But it was obvious that Number Two was fighting Itachi and Kisame with a playful mindset, as if he were engaged in a game of cat and mouse.
With a wild, arrogant smile on his face, he continuously shuttled through the zippers, tossing the openings... expanding, extending, shrinking, and closing them.
He was having the time of his life.
If this continued, a total wipeout... was only a matter of time.
Of course, before a total wipeout, Deidara could always use his self-destruction skill to become a 'Masterpiece.'
He could blow the entire Hidden Rain Village to bits.
The only reason Deidara hadn't chosen to transform into a 'Masterpiece' yet was that he wasn't certain he could actually kill Number Two...
Because he had seen Number Two expand a zipper opening to swallow all large-scale attacks, he feared that even if he blew himself up, he would simply be exiled to another location by the opponent and fail to kill him...
That was why he hadn't made the choice yet.
Instead, he was looking for an opportunity...
Beep beep.
On Kakuzu's side, the communicator in his robes suddenly rang.
Did Uchiha Lexon reply?
Thinking this, Kakuzu hurriedly pulled the communicator from his chest.
If Uchiha Lexon could come to support them, with his combat power, they might not lose even in a situation like this...
Kakuzu still had immense faith in Lexon's strength.
Filled with anticipation, he opened the communicator interface and clicked on the message.
He looked.
Then, he saw two bright, large characters written in the message: [GOOD LUCK].
Kakuzu's expression instantly froze.
"Stop playing around, Number Two." Suddenly, a female voice echoed across the battlefield.
It wasn't Konan, but the voice of the white-haired woman who had met Lexon in Zetsu's memories not long ago.
She wasn't dead!
Under the attack of Lexon's Six Paths form carrying the annihilation properties of the Truth-Seeking Staff, she had actually survived!
Itachi and Kisame stopped their attacks.
They retreated to the side of Tendo Pain and the others.
One guy was troublesome enough; if another one arrived...
The faces of the various Akatsuki members turned grim, their hearts sinking like stones into deep water, feeling an overwhelming sense of oppression.
"Well? Did you get the answer?" Number Two stood before a zipper, pulling back his arrogant smile and speaking to thin air.
"No." Number Three's voice drifted in from nowhere.
In the next moment, a slender hand suddenly reached out from Number Two's head. Following that was the head of a woman with long white hair, a clothed body, and finally, feet...
Gradually... Number Three actually crawled out from Number Two's head and stood on the ground.
"It feels disgusting every single time..." Number Two said, looking at the white-haired woman in front of him.
"There was no choice. Since I died once, I could only be reborn from your memory," Number Three said somewhat helplessly.
"Oh?" Hearing that Number Three had died once, Number Two was instantly intrigued. "I can understand you dying in reality, but weren't you just checking a memory? How did you, who are invincible in memories, manage to die?"
"I encountered a terrifying fellow... I was detected just by looking at memories related to him, and then I was insta-killed by him..." Even now, Number Three felt a lingering fear when she recalled that god-like figure. "That man's name is 'Uchiha Lexon.' Pay more attention to him."
"Is he really that scary? He must be a top-tier background character of this world... We'll probably need the whole team present to win." As Number Two spoke, he followed up with a question: "Then what should we do about the information for the Moon-Earth transfer point?"
"That black fellow's mind was disrupted by me at the final moment; he won't recover in the short term. Capture him alive, then just use truth serum on him." Number Three turned her gaze to where Black Zetsu was located.
"No problem," Number Two replied.
He pulled open a zipper leading directly to Black Zetsu's location and snatched him up.
What are they doing?
Itachi and Kisame watched their actions, unsure whether they should intervene.
Would intervening even matter? Could they win?
Involuntarily, these thoughts began to surface.
Should we just leave for now?
Itachi and Kisame exchanged a glance, both having the same thought simultaneously.
Itachi was a Konoha mole inside the Akatsuki.
Kisame was on the side of the true man behind the curtain of the Akatsuki, the masked man.
Therefore, naturally, they wouldn't follow Nagato's orders too strictly.
At most, they would take a few Akatsuki members with them when they left so the organization wouldn't become a complete empty shell.
And even now, Uchiha Obito, who was still hidden in the shadows, chose not to show his face.
He believed that those two people of unknown origin were far too powerful.
For safety's sake, he would not appear, lest he become a target himself.
In any case, the nominal leader of the Akatsuki who possessed the Rinnegan, Nagato, was controlling the Six Paths of Pain from a distance. His main body wouldn't be harmed regardless.
As long as nothing happened to Nagato, it didn't matter if other members of the Akatsuki died; at most, his plans would just be delayed for a while...
"You give him the truth serum. I'll take care of the remaining few." In the distance, Number Two handed Black Zetsu to Number Three and then looked toward Itachi and Kisame.
He then began walking toward the two of them.
Itachi and Kisame simultaneously felt a sense of impending doom.
"Susanoo."
Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, and chakra converged to form a red skeleton and outer casing...
Finally, it formed a massive, armored half-body giant, shielding Itachi within.
"Water Style: Great Flowing Water!"
Kisame's hand signs were very practiced, completing the seals for a technique extremely quickly.
A monstrous surge of water appeared, rushing turbulently toward Number Two.
Number Two did not hesitate and entered a zipper once again.
The current Hidden Rain Village scene was the perfect battlefield for him.
Thousands of zippers were manifested in various positions.
He could choose to appear anywhere he wanted, pulling the zippers at will... all without consuming any physical stamina.
"Itachi-san, above you!" Kisame suddenly saw an arm faintly reaching out from a zipper above Itachi.
Receiving Kisame's warning, Itachi immediately swung the long sword held by his Susanoo toward the zipper opening above.
Crack...
The figure falling from the zipper opening was instantly sliced in two.
However, looking closely, the two discovered that it was actually one of the Paths of Pain.
Where was that guy?
Suspicion rose in their hearts.
"Over here..." A mocking voice drifted from the zipper opening above as Number Two stepped out.
The moment he exited the zipper, he violently moved his fingers, tearing open the edges of the opening.
In an instant, a gargantuan, expanded zipper opening appeared above Itachi and Kisame.
It fell at an incredible speed.
In the eyes of Itachi, Kisame, and the many incapacitated Akatsuki members, the view was filled with the illusory and chaotic landscape inside the zipper.
They wanted to escape the area of effect, but the massive opening was so large it practically enveloped the entire vicinity.
Having gone through such high-intensity combat, they no longer had the strength to flee the area at full speed.
Whoosh...
Suddenly, a series of rapid whistling sounds rang out as a dozen kunai wrapped with talismans flew into the area.
As the kunai neared the Akatsuki members, a dozen figures covered in golden chakra suddenly appeared, making contact with every member of the Akatsuki present.
In the next instant, except for the captured Zetsu, all the Akatsuki members and the golden figures vanished abruptly.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]