"What happened!? What the hell happened!? Why did it explode in the rear!?"
"N-No, no no no no!!! Nanami! Nanami and the others were right there!!"
"Damn it! I'll kill you! I'll kill every last one of you!!!"
After the pillar of fire and the enormous shockwave, chaos immediately broke out among Akatsuki's combat personnel.
They had only just been hastily gathered together. Most of them had not even known one another a few days ago, so there was no way they could react to such a sudden disaster with the calm of shinobi from the same village.
For a moment, the entire formation fell apart. Some broke away from the group, trying to rush back and check on their comrades. Others, realizing their companions had already died, saw red and charged recklessly at the masked Root shinobi...
The situation instantly spiraled into disorder. Even with Yahiko and Konan doing their best in the middle of it all to pull the group back together, they still could not stop Akatsuki's members from acting on their own and exposing huge openings to enemies who had come with nothing but malice and killing intent.
Seeing this, Nagato gritted his teeth. Relying on the power of flight granted by the Rinnegan, he shot forward ahead of the others and intercepted the masked Root shinobi first.
No matter what force you belong to, I will make both you and the village behind you pay the price for this!"
"You're welcome to try."
The Root members showed no emotional reaction. They simply raised their hands toward the charging Nagato and launched a coordinated assault from a simple formation.
"Earth Release: Landslide!"
"Earth Release: Closing Mountain Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Burning Ash!"
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"
The ground split apart.
A massive fissure opened like the jaws of some giant beast, swallowing Nagato whole before sealing shut again, creating a closed underground chamber.
At the same time, the shinobi using fire and wind release took advantage of the openings deliberately left by their earth-style allies, pouring blazing flames and gale-force wind into the confined space in an attempt to roast Nagato alive—
"Get lost!"
There was still nothing ornate about it.
Still no flourish.
Just Shinra Tensei.
The same irresistible repulsive force tore through everything before him. Earth and stone exploded into dust. The burning inferno and raging windstorm were effortlessly shredded into sparks and breezes.
The wielder of the Rinnegan spread both hands, his cold eyes fixed on the Root shinobi who had just been blasted back.
"If you think Akatsuki's pursuit of peace means we won't kill, then you're gravely mistaken!"
"Bansho Ten'in!"
"Guh—!"
Two female Root shinobi who had been thrown the shortest distance were yanked violently back toward him.
Then, in front of the horrified and disbelieving eyes of both Akatsuki and Root, Nagato used the Human Path.
He ripped their souls out alive.
Right in front of everyone, he began reading the memories in their minds—
"This mission is to infiltrate the Land of Wind, collect information on Sunagakure, and eliminate a few older spies who've started developing ideas of their own. Understood?"
"What's going on!? Why did the curse mark Lord Danzo placed on us suddenly stop working!?"
"N-No way. Absolutely impossible... Lord Danzo... how could he lose to a fifteen-year-old brat..."
"Lord Danzo is dead. Root has also been taken over by the cowardly and incompetent Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. We can't go back. If we go back, we'll never avenge Lord Danzo..."
"'Sora' contacted us. He said he came up with a plan to take revenge on Kaguya Rei, who's already become the Fourth Mizukage, and told us to come to the Land of Rain to meet him..."
"Akatsuki is one of Kaguya Rei's key investments? I see. Destroying the subordinates he's poured effort into is the same as cutting off his wings and limbs. Sora really does have a sharp mind..."
"Did Ryunosuke's self-destruction succeed? Then Hanzo and the Rain shinobi should have arrived by now... Lord Danzo, we're about to take the first step toward avenging you."
The memories ended there.
But for Nagato, that was more than enough.
Enough to understand Akatsuki's situation.
Enough to realize just how deep a crisis they were in.
Nearly three hundred Rain shinobi had already surrounded the area. Hanzo of the Salamander, the man hailed as a demigod of the shinobi world, had personally joined the operation. Akatsuki's non-combat personnel had taken devastating losses in the suicide bombing attack, while the combat personnel were already struggling to hold off an enemy force several times larger than their own...
No matter how he looked at it, this was a kill zone designed specifically to wipe Akatsuki out.
"The Rain shinobi...? So this is the choice made by Hanzo of the Salamander—the so-called demigod of the shinobi world—the heroic man who once launched a world war against the neighboring great nations for the sake of Amegakure and the Land of Rain's future?"
"And Konoha... again. Again it's Konoha..."
"You were too powerless to take revenge on someone as strong as Kaguya Rei, so you naturally turned your hatred toward us, because you thought we were easier to bully?"
Nagato let the two lifeless Root corpses fall from his hands. In his pale purple Rinnegan, fury and hatred now burned with terrifying clarity.
"Pretending to be victims. Pretending to be the aggrieved side in war. Yet behind the scenes, doing things fouler than rotten meat in a trash bin..."
"The pain you suffered in the Third Shinobi World War clearly still wasn't enough."
"As long as I live, I will make you repay this hatred in full."
With a flick of his sleeves, two black rods slid into his hands.
The red-haired boy tightened his grip on his weapon and leapt straight toward the Root shinobi rushing him once more.
He knew he had to crush these cold, ruthless Konoha shinobi first. Only then would he have a chance to return and help the comrades who were about to be slaughtered by the Rain shinobi.
The faster he dealt with them, the more of his friends he could save.
Until then, all he could do was hope that Jiraiya-sensei, Yahiko, and the others would be able to hold the Rain side off...
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
One of the Root members unleashed the high-level, high-lethality technique.
Instantly, another black wall of deadly projectiles rained down upon Nagato.
But that kind of attack was no problem for him.
He thrust both hands outward. The repulsive field of Shinra Tensei easily swept aside the shadow-cloned shuriken and the ninjutsu mixed among them.
Then, with a push off the ground, Nagato prepared to charge the Root shinobi in front of him—
Slash.
A chained kama came from an impossibly tricky angle, slipping perfectly into the gap after Shinra Tensei's release.
Though Nagato reacted the instant he sensed the vicious gust behind him and tried his best to dodge, the blade still sliced across his shoulder.
At once, vertigo hit him.
Then came the freezing numbness spreading through his whole body.
"So that technique of yours isn't flawless after all, brat..."
Hanzo of the Salamander stepped out from behind one of the Root shinobi, coldly watching Nagato collapse into the muddy rainwater after losing his balance.
"H-Hanzo..."
The wave of paralysis and suffocation crashed over Nagato, making even speaking the man's name difficult.
Hanzo seemed satisfied. He gave the chain a pull and reeled his kama back.
"As expected, you really can't use that technique perfectly. Not surprising. A power that strong was never going to come without flaws..."
"Blame the one who suggested Akatsuki return to the Land of Rain, brat. If you had stayed in the neutral Land of Iron and used it as your base, I would never have touched you."
"But unfortunately, you children made the wrong choice."
"So I can no longer allow your Akatsuki to continue existing on the soil of the Land of Rain."
Nagato struggled, lifting his head from the puddle he had fallen into.
"The... Land of Rain... is... our home... Why... won't you even allow us... to return home... to fight for our homeland's peace...?"
"The Land of Rain has no need for a second ninja organization besides Amegakure."
Hanzo stepped forward and raised his kama over Nagato.
"You crossed a line you never should have crossed. So you must die for your crime, brat."
"I... once respected... the man who fought to make the Land of Rain stronger... Hanzo," Nagato gasped, staring at the faint blue sheen of poison along the blade. "Why... has a man like you... become so small-minded?"
"Once I send you to the underworld, you can ponder that together with your companions."
Hanzo brought the kama down.
But just as it was about to cut off Nagato's head, Shinra Tensei repelled it once again.
Unfortunately, because the poison had spread too far, that repulsive field only managed to stop the blade itself. It didn't even have enough force left to push Hanzo back a single step.
"Tch. Even your dying struggle is ugly, brat."
Hanzo frowned and raised his weapon again.
But before he could swing—
The shadow beneath his feet suddenly expanded.
Looking up, he saw a mountain-sized red toad descending from the sky—
"Summoning: Toad Shop Technique!"
Boom!
The earth shook violently. Hanzo used Body Flicker to retreat from Nagato's side, then landed behind several Root shinobi, together with them glaring at the giant toad they all found all too familiar.
"Ha! I thought you summoned me out here for something boring again, Jiraiya! Didn't expect it'd be to fight this damned salamander geezer one more time!"
Gamabunta licked his palm and excitedly drew the short blade from his waist.
Standing beside Nagato, with one side of his hair scorched black and much of his cloak and clothing torn apart, Jiraiya let out a bitter laugh and asked, half awkwardly and half guiltily,
"Are you alright, Nagato?"
"Jiraiya... Sensei..."
Looking at the man who had finally dropped his disguise, Nagato called his name. For a moment, his emotions became indescribably tangled.
"Sorry. I didn't realize that bastard had explosive tags wrapped around him. I let his self-destruction injure more than a dozen of our people... and I left you to face so many nasty enemies alone..."
Jiraiya bit his thumb and began drawing a new summoning formula across Nagato's body in blood.
"Jiraiya... Sensei... what... are you doing?"
"The poison is bad. I'm sending you to Mount Myoboku for now to see if Shima-sama and the others can detoxify you... Don't worry. I'll handle our Konoha-side mess myself."
"But... the Rain... nin..."
"Reverse Summoning Technique!"
White smoke burst outward.
Nagato vanished from the rain-drenched battlefield.
Jiraiya leapt up onto Gamabunta's head, his gaze hardening as he looked at Hanzo, who had likewise summoned his salamander.
"Years have passed, and the old demigod has rotted, Hanzo."
"Toad brat, you still mean to stand in my way?"
Hanzo stared at Jiraiya's face, at once feeling the weight of years and a sharp surge of displeasure.
"The lesson I taught you three last time wasn't enough?"
"That was last time. This is now."
Jiraiya formed the Tiger seal for fire release, utterly fearless.
"Last time, I fought for my village's mission. This time, I fight to protect my disciple's dream."
"But no matter which time it is, I've got no reason to retreat in front of you, Hanzo."
"Then die here with them, toad brat. This time, you have no snake brat skilled in poison and no slug girl skilled in detoxification to clean up after you."
Hanzo urged his poisonous salamander, Ibuse, forward against Jiraiya and Gamabunta.
At the same time, the remaining Root remnants joined the assault.
"To think you've sided with the 'Akatsuki' supported by Kirigakure... Konoha has truly been corrupted by Hiruzen Sarutobi and his disciples. Die here, traitor Jiraiya. Let your death be the opening declaration of Root's purification of Konoha!"
The Root shinobi called "Sora," actually White Zetsu in disguise, hurled a shuriken at Jiraiya and spat out those words.
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