Ōnoki truly did possess the conviction to protect Iwagakure. In fact, under the force of that conviction, he had almost surpassed his own limits.
But in the end, he still failed to fully save the village. He could see it clearly—at least a tenth of Iwagakure had been wiped out by the Super Shinra Tensei, and the civilians in that section had naturally…
"Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori—we're leaving!"
"Our debt with Iwagakure is settled!"
After unleashing Super Shinra Tensei, even Pain could feel a wave of exhaustion.
And Pain knew his own condition best. He was in no shape for a prolonged battle anymore. If Iwagakure launched a full counterattack now, he and the Akatsuki might not have enough strength left to get away.
"Aren't we taking something with us? For example… Ōnoki's body?"
Sasori's gaze remained fixed on Ōnoki. The old man might have been ancient, but both his Dust Release and his Earth Release were incredibly tempting.
"He chose to protect this land. Let him be buried in it."
Pain shook his head. He could already tell that Ōnoki's life force was completely burned out. To put it bluntly, whether Ōnoki would still be alive by the time they finished leaving was questionable.
"And if we really try to take Ōnoki with us, leaving won't be easy."
Kakuzu added that from the side. He could tell that after using that terrifying technique, Pain was no longer in peak condition. And not just him—the ninja of Iwagakure would probably realize that too.
"Let's go."
Paper wings spread from Konan's back, and as they unfurled, a wave of explosive tags swirled up beneath her feet. The tags formed a flowing current, giving Kakuzu and Sasori a platform to stand on.
"This thing isn't going to suddenly explode, right?"
"We just pulled off something huge. Dying at the hands of our own teammate would be pretty ridiculous."
Kakuzu looked down at the explosive tags under his feet and couldn't help complaining. Since when could explosive tags make people fly? If they went off, even with several lives, he wasn't confident he'd survive.
As the white current of explosive tags lifted into the air, a trace of relief finally appeared in Ōnoki's eyes.
"So… it's over…"
Ōnoki let out a long breath. This battle had made him realize that the Akatsuki's strength probably far exceeded what the shinobi world imagined.
But at the same time, he also realized that this was the Akatsuki after they had already lost members fighting Uchiha Chizumi.
"I really am curious how strong that Uchiha Chizumi guy actually is."
"Too bad… I probably won't live to find out."
Ōnoki let out a sigh and stared blankly at the blue sky above. He understood his own body better than anyone. After forcing out that kind of power, he knew he was truly not going to survive.
"Father!"
"Master!"
With the Akatsuki retreating, Deidara, Kitsuchi, and even Kurotsuchi rushed over.
When Kitsuchi saw the extent of his father's injuries, his eyes immediately reddened. Even Deidara—who usually only ever called him "old man"—called him "Master" now.
"After I die, Kitsuchi will take over as the next Tsuchikage."
"Kitsuchi, you never learned Dust Release. So once Deidara masters it, hand the Tsuchikage's seat over to him."
"Deidara, I know you've always been obsessed with your so-called art of explosion. I won't stop you from pursuing that art. Your clay techniques are powerful. But I still hope you'll settle down and learn Dust Release."
"Or… if I'm dead, then teach Dust Release to some other Iwa ninja who can master it."
"Passing Dust Release on—that's my only request to you."
Ōnoki looked at Kitsuchi and Deidara in front of him, then at Kurotsuchi standing to the side in tears. Regret welled up in his heart. He hadn't truly managed to teach Deidara Dust Release yet. He hadn't lived to see Deidara marry Kurotsuchi either. How could he be dying already?
"Father, we'll go to Konoha and get Tsunade! If we can bring Tsunade here, you can still be saved!"
Kitsuchi fought to keep his tears from falling. He wanted to give Ōnoki one last reason to keep living. But after hearing him, Ōnoki only slowly shook his head.
He knew his own body too well. He had no idea how many bones had shattered. His body was already old and worn out, and after burning through himself like that, there was nothing left.
Forget Tsunade—even if the Sage of Six Paths himself came back, Ōnoki felt there was probably no saving him.
In the final moments of his life, the one thing he couldn't let go of was still his student, Deidara.
As Ōnoki shook his head, it seemed the motion drained the last of his strength. His gaze, fixed on the sky, slowly froze and went blank.
"Master…"
Deidara stood there, looking at Ōnoki's lifeless body, completely at a loss.
At this stage, Deidara hadn't yet entered his fully rebellious phase. His feelings toward Ōnoki were still deep. Watching his teacher die right in front of him left him unable to sort out what he was feeling.
"Akatsuki!"
"I'll remember this!"
"One day, I'll find your hideout, and just like what you did to Iwagakure, I'll blow you—and your base—straight into the sky!"
Deidara shouted his vow. He had no other thought in his mind now. All he wanted was to return to the Akatsuki everything they had done to Iwagakure.
For Iwagakure, this was destined to be a day they would never forget. The entire village sank into an atmosphere of grief.
Meanwhile, Konoha was immersed in celebration.
With Tsunade inheriting the title of Hokage, even though she hadn't had time to do anything yet, the whole village already seemed to have stepped into a new era.
But beyond the excitement, there were others already plotting their next move.
For example—Uchiha Obito.
"The information is confirmed. Uchiha Chizumi really did return the Tenseigan to the Hyūga clan."
"And now the only remaining members of the Hyūga main family are Hyūga Neji, Hyūga Hinata, and Hyūga Hanabi."
"Hanabi is still too young. There's almost no chance the Great Tenseigan ended up in her hands. As for Hinata, she's the original main-family heir. Neji may be older, but he was originally branch family."
"As long as we keep watching Neji and Hinata, sooner or later we'll find out which one of them has the Great Tenseigan."
Black Zetsu was more than a little speechless at Obito's behavior. They had only just barely infiltrated Konoha by taking advantage of the Hokage election, and instead of getting to work, Obito had run off to the cemetery to mourn Rin first.
And judging by the way he looked, if nobody interrupted him, he could've stayed there half the day.