Chapter 375: A Chaotic Battlefield, Each Facing Their Own Adversary
Those words were delivered with such absolute, pragmatic certainty that they instantly ground the fearsome prestige of the Akatsuki into the muddy earth.
Kisame Hoshigaki shifted the massive, bandage-wrapped bulk of Samehada across his shoulder. A jagged, shark-like grin split his face.
"This old guy is truly realistic."
"However..."
A bloodthirsty glint flickered in Kisame's pale, dead eyes.
"The fate of traitors is usually quite miserable."
Beside him, Juzo Biwa tightened his grip on the hilt of the Kubikiribocho, his knuckles turning white as he subtly took half a step back.
The situation had spiraled into complete chaos.
With Kakuzu's sudden defection, the crushing momentum the Akatsuki had held just moments prior evaporated into the freezing rain.
Kakuzu ignored the killing intent directed at him. His cold, green eyes swept over Kisame and Juzo.
"Take an old man's advice."
"If you do not want to die, run quickly."
"Although..."
Kakuzu cast a sidelong glance at Uchiha Akira standing beside him, his raspy voice dropping a fraction lower.
"It is highly likely you will not be able to run anyway."
"Kakuzu..."
Pain's voice scraped through the torrential downpour, low and vibrating with an extremity of suppressed rage. Within his rippling purple Rinnegan, the murderous intent had practically solidified into physical pressure.
Being betrayed by his own subordinate right in front of the enemy. This sensation made Nagato, a man who styled himself as a living god, burn with a quiet, incomparable fury.
"You will be punished by God."
Pain slowly raised his pale hand, extending a single finger toward Kakuzu.
Yet, the usually cautious treasurer did not panic in the slightest.
Instead, Kakuzu simply shrank his towering frame slightly, stepping directly behind Uchiha Akira's back.
He was not a fool.
With Uchiha Akira standing right here, Pain's so-called divine punishment was nothing more than a passing breeze.
"Divine punishment?"
Kakuzu let out a dry, mocking sneer from beneath his mask.
"Save it."
"In front of Hokage-sama, those little tricks of yours are just like children playing house."
Across the clearing, Hidan was practically vibrating with rage. He screamed into the rain, wildly brandishing his Triple-Bladed Scythe as he prepared to launch himself forward.
"I am going to kill you! I will sacrifice your treacherous corpse to Lord Jashin!"
"Old thing! Die!"
Uchiha Akira suddenly spoke.
His tone was not loud. It did not need to be. It carried an unquestionable, absolute majesty that cut straight through the howling wind.
Hidan's frantic movements jerked to a violent halt.
It was not that the immortal cultist wanted to stop. It was the sudden, terrifying gravitational force that crashed down upon his shoulders, locking his muscles in place.
Uchiha Akira did not even spare a passing glance at Hidan. His crimson-ringed gaze remained entirely fixed upon Pain.
"Kakuzu's words, though harsh, are the truth."
"Or should I say... Nagato."
"Take your people and submit to Konoha."
"Otherwise."
"I would not mind making this Amegakure disappear from the map from this day forth."
Pain fell dead silent.
The heavy rain battered against his orange hair. He stared directly into Uchiha Akira's eyes, looking at the pair of Rinnegan that perfectly mirrored his own.
Slowly, Pain turned his head to look at Konan.
She stood slightly to the side, her usual pristine appearance marred by the battle. Her face was deathly pale, her breathing shallow as she tightly clutched her severely burned arm.
"Konan."
"Notify all the villagers."
"Evacuate immediately."
"Retreat to the outskirts of the village, as far away as possible."
Pain's voice remained flat and emotionless, but Konan, who had known him since they were starving orphans, understood the heavy subtext beneath those words.
This was the signal for a final, desperate stand.
"This place..."
"Will become hell."
Konan bit her lower lip, tasting copper. She cast a wary, lingering glance at Uchiha Akira.
She knew that staying here would only make her a liability. That casual Fire Release attack from just moments ago had already brutally demonstrated the chasm in their respective strengths.
"I understand."
Konan did not waste time with useless sentiment.
Her body dissolved, transforming into a massive flock of white origami paper that shot into the stormy sky, rapidly scattering toward every dark, weeping corner of the Hidden Rain Village.
"Everyone! Evacuate immediately!"
Uchiha Akira made no move to intercept her.
He simply stood there, his hands resting casually at his sides, waiting with an almost insulting level of patience.
"How merciful," Uchiha Akira finally teased, his voice dripping with dry amusement.
"Does a god also care about the lives of ants?"
Pain did not dignify the taunt with an answer.
Instead, his gaze hardened as he issued his final absolute directive to the remaining Akatsuki members.
"Everyone else."
"Attack."
Following that single word, the tense standoff shattered. The battlefield instantly fractured into distinct, chaotic zones of combat.
"Although I really do not want to admit it."
"Since that old man has defected, we have no choice but to bite the bullet and get to work."
Kisame grinned, flashing a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
He slammed the heavy hilt of Samehada directly into the waterlogged earth and rapidly wove a string of hand seals.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A colossal volume of water erupted out of thin air, rising into a towering, frothing tsunami that swept directly toward Jiraiya.
Surrounded by the endless downpour of the Land of Rain, this environment was Kisame Hoshigaki's absolute domain.
Not to be outdone, Juzo Biwa let out a battle cry, hoisting the massive Kubikiribocho over his head as he charged straight into the deluge.
Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh.
He forcibly shoved down the complicated emotions churning in his chest. When he looked up, his eyes had sharpened into the focused glare of a seasoned Sannin.
"If that is how it has to be."
Jiraiya slammed his palms together, gathering his chakra.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
His long, silver-white hair instantly elongated and hardened, wrapping around his body like a dome of steel quills. The reinforced hair easily parted the crushing force of Kisame's incoming tidal wave, deflecting the lethal pressure away from his body.
On the opposite side of the flooded clearing, Hidan locked his manic eyes onto Kakuzu.
"Old man! I am going to curse you to hell!"
Hidan bit down on his thumb, drawing blood as he prepared to drag his foot across the mud to draw his Jashin ritual circle.
However, Kakuzu was not about to give him a single second to breathe.
Having been partnered with the lunatic for years, Kakuzu knew every single one of Hidan's fatal flaws.
The primary one being his agonizingly slow setup. The ritual took time, and the physical openings he left while drawing it were glaringly obvious.
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
The masked Earth Grudge Fear entity perched upon Kakuzu's shoulder instantly surged forward. It opened its stitched maw, unleashing a concentrated, roaring sphere of superheated flames that plastered directly onto Hidan's face.
"Ahhh! Hot, hot, hot!"
The intense heat instantly incinerated the surrounding rain. Hidan's ritual was violently interrupted as the blast threw him backward, leaving him rolling through the muddy puddles in a pathetic, smoking heap.
"Idiot."
Kakuzu snorted coldly. Thick, writhing black tentacles shot out from his wrists, snapping through the air like hardened spears.
"I know you cannot die."
"But that does not mean you will not feel pain."
The entire plaza had descended into total devastation.
Yet, in the very center of the storm, only Uchiha Akira and the Six Paths of Pain remained untouched.
The torrential rain continued to fall between them, but the moment the droplets approached within three feet of Uchiha Akira's body, they were violently repelled by an invisible, crushing barrier of force.
"Come on."
Uchiha Akira raised a hand, casually beckoning with a single finger.
"Let me see."
"Just how much weight your so-called godhood actually carries."
The Deva Path made no immediate move.
However, the Asura Path standing just behind him suddenly lunged forward.
Clack, clack, clack.
The Asura Path's body underwent a grotesque mechanical transformation. Heavy metallic plating shifted as several segmented, robotic arms extended from its back, the hidden compartments sliding open to reveal rows of deadly projectiles.
"Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability!"
Swish, swish, swish.
Dozens of high-explosive missiles erupted from the mechanical limbs, trailing thick plumes of white exhaust as they converged upon Uchiha Akira from every conceivable angle.
Simultaneously, the Animal Path slammed both hands onto the flooded pavement.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Massive clouds of white smoke exploded outward, instantly displaced by the sheer mass of the creatures within.
A Giant Crustacean, easily the size of a small mountain, clattered its massive pincers. Beside it, a colossal Giant Bird spread its wings, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as both beasts charged blindly toward Uchiha Akira.
"Small tricks."
Uchiha Akira stood completely still, his posture relaxed as he allowed the swarm of missiles and the towering beasts to close the distance.
Just as the lethal barrage was inches from making contact, Uchiha Akira's right eye pulsed with a faint, dangerous light.
"Shinra Tensei."
An indescribable, apocalyptic repulsive force erupted outward, using Uchiha Akira's body as the absolute epicenter.
The incoming missiles were instantly crushed flat by the sheer pressure, detonating prematurely in mid-air and creating a halo of fire that was immediately snuffed out by the shockwave.
The two colossal summoning creatures did not even manage to touch the hem of Uchiha Akira's dark robes. They were violently swatted away by the invisible wall of force, their massive bodies lifted off the ground and hurled through the air. They crashed through a distant steel tower like two insignificant flies, bringing the structure down in a shower of sparks and shattered concrete.
Even the Asura Path, which had charged at the very front of the vanguard, had its heavy mechanical body instantly blasted backward by the devastating blow, tumbling end over end across the flooded square.
...
On the periphery of the battlefield.
Dozens of hardened black vascular tentacles whipped through the air, instantly sealing off every possible escape route Hidan had left.
"Hey, hey, hey! Kakuzu, are you seriously trying to kill me?!"
Hidan shrieked, his voice cracking with a mix of anger and manic excitement.
His body sprang backward, twisting into an extremely contorted, unnatural posture to narrowly avoid the piercing strikes.
Although his mouth never stopped spewing curses, his physical movements were exceptionally fluid and agile.
Using the momentum of his dodge, Hidan spun. The Triple-Bladed Scythe in his hands carved a deadly crimson arc through the falling rain, the razor-sharp tip aiming directly for Kakuzu's exposed neck.
"As long as I get blood..."
A sickening trace of absolute fanaticism flared in Hidan's wide eyes.
"As long as I get just one single drop of blood, even a stitched-up monster like you will have to die under Lord Jashin's curse!"
The heavy scythe tore through the air, its velocity so extreme it left a trail of red afterimages in the mist.
Clang!
A crisp, deafening sound of metal violently clashing against metal rang out across the water.
The wild, victorious laughter plastered across Hidan's face instantly froze.
The wicked blade of the scythe had hacked fiercely into Kakuzu's neck, striking true.
Earth Release: Earth Spear.
It was a high-level defensive ninjutsu that hardened the user's skin to the absolute density of diamond.
Forget about drawing blood; the devastating swing had not even managed to leave a faint white scratch against Kakuzu's darkened flesh.
"Your attack habits. Your opening moves. Even the exact frequency of your breathing when you swing that oversized toy."
"I have seen it all far too many times."
Kakuzu slowly raised his hand, his movements calm and methodical.
That large palm, covered in thick black stitches, suddenly shot forward, clamping around Hidan's wrist like an iron vice.
"In the face of absolute intelligence suppression."
"Your Jashin cannot save you."
Without a second of hesitation, Kakuzu drove his knee brutally into Hidan's exposed abdomen.
The immense, crushing physical force behind the blow sent shockwaves rippling through the rain, folding Hidan's body entirely in half like a cooked shrimp as the air was violently expelled from his lungs.
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