Under the horrified gazes of the Kumogakure shinobi, the body of Deva Path Pain slowly floated upward into the air.
The other five Paths of Pain vanished in a puff of smoke.
Deva Path Pain coldly looked down at the shinobi of Kumogakure below. The eerie atmosphere lingered for a long while before A finally lost his patience. He roared up at the sky,
"You bastard! What the hell are you trying to do!?"
But Deva Path countered with a question,
"Have you ever experienced pain?"
"What?"
A was momentarily stunned by the bizarre question. Deva Path shook his head slightly and continued speaking to himself,
"Those who have never experienced pain—how could they ever understand true peace?"
"You're spouting nonsense! Bee! Knock this bastard down!"
Killer Bee nodded, lifted his head, and opened his mouth wide. A jet-black energy sphere quickly formed and shot toward Pain.
Deva Path spread his arms, his deep voice echoing across the sky,
"From this moment on, let the world know pain! Super Almighty Push!"
Buzz!
The entire space was instantly swallowed by a blinding white light. A terrifying repulsive force erupted, blasting Killer Bee's Tailed Beast Bomb back.
Then, like a crashing wave, the repulsion swallowed everything below. In that instant, the world seemed to fall into silence.
...
Inside the hollow trunk of a massive tree, the five other Paths of Pain lay on the ground. Above them stood Nagato and Konan.
Nagato's face looked pale and drained. Konan gazed at him with concern and asked,
"Nagato, can your body still hold out?"
"It's fine. If it's only to this extent, I can still endure!"
With that, Nagato gave a sharp command. The five Paths of Pain rose to their feet and disappeared once more.
...
Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
It could no longer even be called a valley. All across the ground lay the bodies of Kumogakure shinobi.
Some lucky survivors clawed their way up from the dirt, only to collapse unconscious again.
On the surface of the lake, A cradled Killer Bee in his arms, his face filled with panic as he shouted,
"Bee! Bee!"
When the Super Almighty Push had been unleashed, Killer Bee had immediately shielded A and Darui with his body, exposing himself directly to the brunt of the explosion.
Even in full Tailed Beast form, Killer Bee could not withstand such close-range force. He was knocked back into his human form and left unconscious.
Deva Path Pain descended to the ground. Five puffs of smoke appeared beside him—the other Paths had returned.
A glared hatefully at Pain before him and growled,
"I will never hand Bee over to you!"
The words had barely left his mouth when Asura Path suddenly appeared in front of A, driving a heavy punch into his back.
Already gravely weakened, A had no time to react. He was sent crashing into the depths of the lake.
Darui quickly formed hand seals, readying a jutsu, but the other Paths had already anticipated his movements. With their shared vision, Asura Path simply turned and kicked Darui away before he could finish.
With the two obstacles removed, Asura Path hoisted the unconscious Killer Bee and rejoined the other Paths.
Another puff of smoke—and the Six Paths of Pain vanished completely.
The surviving Kumogakure shinobi stared on in despair. After a long silence, someone finally shouted,
"Quick, save Raikage-sama!"
Suddenly, from the surface of the lake, Killer Bee emerged once more—with A slung over his shoulder.
A spat out a mouthful of water mixed with blood, looking weakly at Bee as he asked,
"Bee… how…?"
"Don't worry. What they took was just a clone I made with my tails."
"That's good… but our Kumogakure…"
A lifted his head to see the pitifully few shinobi still alive. Tears welled in his eyes.
Bee's heart ached as well, his voice low and heavy,
"What's done is done. Right now, the most important thing is to join forces with the other villages. The Rinnegan… it's not something Kumogakure alone can handle!"
A froze at his words. Then his gaze softened as he looked at Bee and said,
"Bee… you've grown."
...
News of Akatsuki's assault on Kumogakure spread quickly. The other great villages reacted at once.
Sunagakure and Kirigakure treated the matter with utmost seriousness. After all, both had already suffered invasions by Akatsuki, leaving them sympathetic to Kumogakure's plight.
Iwagakure had not yet been attacked, but Ōnoki had already learned that their Jinchūriki had been captured. That alone had put his village at odds with Akatsuki.
...
Konohagakure.
Minato, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and other high-ranking shinobi gathered in Kaito's office to discuss the Akatsuki situation.
Incidentally, Konoha had recently established a Science Division, with Orochimaru as its first head. Orochimaru himself was quite pleased with the role—after all, Kaito had specially granted him permission to continue human experimentation, using only condemned criminals and captured enemy shinobi as test subjects.
Nara Shikaku's face was grim as he addressed Kaito,
"Lord Hokage, the Fourth Raikage has requested that we join the other three great villages in the Land of Iron to discuss Akatsuki."
Leaning back in his chair, Kaito replied casually,
"So they want to hold a Five Kage Summit, huh? Looks like Kumogakure took quite the beating this time."
"That's correct. Rumor has it someone in Akatsuki possesses the Rinnegan. Kumogakure suffered devastating losses."
At the mention of the Rinnegan, Minato and the others exchanged complicated looks. They knew Kaito himself possessed a pair, though he had yet to reveal their true power.
Stretching his back, Kaito rose from his chair with a sigh,
"The Rinnegan, huh? That really is troublesome."
Unaware that Kaito had Rinnegan himself, Shikaku's expression darkened as he continued,
"Lord Hokage, Akatsuki has been collecting Tailed Beasts everywhere. Only the Nine-Tails remains. I believe we must keep Naruto protected!"
"No need. Since Kumogakure wants to hold a Five Kage Summit, I'll go myself. I'll take Naruto along with me."
"Uh… that may actually be for the best."
After a moment's thought, Shikaku realized it truly was the safest option. He had seen Kaito's power firsthand. He was undeniably Konoha's strongest asset. With Naruto at his side, the boy would be in no safer hands.
Minato, as Naruto's father, wasn't worried in the slightest either. After all, his son had a friend with the Rinnegan to protect him.
Itachi too remained calm. He had faced Kaito's Rinnegan directly before, and deep down, he felt certain—Kaito's Rinnegan far surpassed that of Akatsuki's leader. And not by a small margin.
After all, those eyes bore twelve tomoe within them.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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