"What?"
Hearing Obito's words, a trace of confusion appeared on Pain's cold face.
But he immediately understood.
It must be that Konan and the others were in trouble!
"This..."
Pain's heart was in turmoil.
Deidara had been clamoring to see Takumi before. To be safe, he had specifically sent three people to accompany him.
But… 'What was the situation now?'
'Out of the four people sent, three had already lost their minds?'
'What on earth did they encounter out there?!'
Pain felt an indescribable astonishment.
He truly couldn't think of anyone in Konoha who had the strength to take down three of their Akatsuki's members at once.
"I'll go take a look."
With a gloomy mood, Pain slowly walked downstairs.
As for Obito, since he hadn't officially joined the organization on the surface at this time, he had to hide his identity.
Kamui was activated, and Obito was drawn back into his pocket dimension.
Akatsuki's Base, first floor.
At this moment, Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan...
The four of them had returned, soaked through.
Seeing all four still had their limbs intact, Pain's anxious heart relaxed slightly.
But then, his brow furrowed.
Because, just as Obito said, these people all had problems!
The most obvious was Sasori. He went out and lost his cover!
Next was Hidan, his face full of terror, curled up on the ground as if he had suffered some immense shock.
Although Konan seemed unchanged on the surface, Pain, who spent every day with her, could tell at a glance something was wrong!
Konan also seemed absent-minded, unsure what had stimulated her.
Out of all four, only Deidara, who had initially caused the fuss and acted crazy wanting to go out, was the most normal.
He looked completely nonchalant, even with a hint of pride and happiness in his eyes!
"This..."
Pain was completely dumbfounded!
'What on earth happened?'
'What did they experience in Konoha?'
'How could they be practically wiped out in one go!'
"Hey, Hidan, you bastard, what are you still pretending for? Get the hell up!"
Nearby, Kakuzu walked over discontentedly, lifting his foot to kick Hidan violently.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hidan was kicked around like a ball.
"Are you f**king crazy?"
"Snap out of it, get up and kill someone!"
Kakuzu thought Hidan might be having a fit.
Otherwise, how could he end up in this state for no reason?
A murderous maniac, curled up on the ground in fear?
Wasn't that just seeing a ghost?
"Kakuzu, stop hitting him."
Pain slowly descended from the sky. The other members, Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu, also gathered around.
Obito also peered out with one eye from within a distant wall.
"Konan, what exactly happened?"
"What did you encounter out there?"
Pain forced himself to stay calm.
"It's... it's Takumi..."
At this moment, Konan's memories were also in chaos.
She didn't even know if it was her own imagination or actual memory.
She just felt that this Takumi had had contact with her.
That's right, he turned into a piece of clothing!
He was worn on her body for many years, keeping her warm on rainy days, rubbing against her when she felt empty...
Finally, he even saved her from the masked man, and she maintained a special relationship with him, living together for many years!
Seriously…
If these memories hadn't truly, actively appeared in her mind, based on Konan's own imagination alone, she probably couldn't have come up with them even if she racked her brains!
It was just too bizarre!
Extremely imaginative!
Who would turn into clothes!?
And she actually developed feelings for a piece of clothing!
Not just physical feelings, but even emotional ones!
It was just absurd!
"That youth named Takumi, we indeed met him, but..."
Konan gave a simplified version of what happened in Konoha.
Of course, she didn't mention a single word about Takumi turning into clothes in her mind.
She still had reputation to maintain.
"I see... So you mean that youth possesses great strength, which is why they were scared into such a state?"
Pain's expression was still not good, or rather, it was worse.
'Was Konoha already this strong?'
'A single brat actually took out two of our members?'
'Was the other side too strong, or was our side too weak!?'
"Haha, of course!"
"I already said Takumi-senpai is a genius!"
"I never thought he could even defeat Sasori-danna!"
Deidara looked very proud.
In the previous fight, it was clearly Sasori and Hidan who provoked first, yet both were defeated!
It's so embarrassing!
But for him, a fan of Takumi, this result was quite good.
"But, from Konan's description, it seems only Sasori fought that youth named Takumi. His poison was completely countered by the other, which is indeed a bit demoralizing, but Hidan surrendered without even fighting, isn't that strange?"
Kisame pointed out a key detail.
"Right, I'm actually quite puzzled too. Logically, that bastard Hidan should have extremely strong willpower. After all, he kills himself every time he kills someone. How could he break down so easily?" Kakuzu was also extremely surprised.
"Probably Genjutsu." Zetsu emerged sinisterly from the ground, "As long as it's Genjutsu, no matter how strong the opponent's willpower, there will be times they can't hold on. I think you can consult Uchiha Itachi about this."
Everyone's gaze turned to Itachi.
As one of the few Uchiha Clan's members within the Akatsuki, and even in the entire Shinobi World…
He was the most qualified to speak on Genjutsu.
"Itachi, do you know that youth named Takumi?" Kisame inquired.
Itachi nodded silently, "I know him, but in my impression, he's just an ordinary child."
"Ah? Not from your Uchiha Clan?" Kisame was surprised.
Itachi shook his head.
"Then could it be your Sharingan's Genjutsu? For example, he picked up a Sharingan somewhere, implanted it in himself, and then used Genjutsu on Hidan, just like that Hatake Kakashi."
At this point in the discussion, basically everyone concluded that Hidan was under Genjutsu.
Takumi's powerful Taijutsu and strong poison resistance were real, but the key was the Genjutsu that instantly took down Hidan.
To scare a pervert like that, it must be a terrifying Genjutsu.
Itachi frowned, constantly searching his knowledge.
But after a moment, he still shook his head, rejecting this idea.
"It should be impossible."
"By my estimation, a Ninjutsu that could cause such great psychological trauma to Hidan would need to be at least at the level of my Tsukuyomi."
"However, to activate such Genjutsu, one must have the physique of our Uchiha Clan. If an outsider uses it, they can at most use ordinary Genjutsu, like brief immobilization, etc."
That's what he said, but what puzzled Itachi was:
How could there be a Genjutsu in this world on the same level as Tsukuyomi?
And even if it was Tsukuyomi, it shouldn't scare Hidan like that!
'Just how much trauma did he suffer...'
The discussion reached an impasse.
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
After all, this was the first defeat suffered since the Akatsuki members were fully assembled.
And a heavy blow at that!
After a moment, Pain stepped forward.
"Alright, regarding this matter, it seems further investigation is needed."
"Before that, everyone should stay put. The most important thing now is to restore Hidan's sanity."
"Itachi, I leave this to you."
After speaking, Itachi helped Hidan up and took him to his room.
As a Genjutsu expert, he naturally had many methods to dispel Genjutsu.
The others also returned to their rooms, each preoccupied with their thoughts.
Only Obito, lurking in the corner, was utterly incredulous.
'Konoha has such an overpowered existence?'
…
Konoha.
Hospital room.
The door opened. Naruto, Sakura, and the others nervously asked the doctor.
"How is Sasuke?"
"Is he alright?"
The attending doctor nodded.
"His condition has stabilized, but the poison he was hit with is quite potent. It might take a month to fully detoxify."
Hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Sasuke was really unlucky. That Sasori was only fighting Takumi the whole time, solely targeting him, not even paying attention to them.
But for some reason, he shot a poison needle midway.
It hit Sasuke squarely.
Takumi got hit by needles and was completely fine, while Sasuke was in so much pain he passed out!
Naruto and the others didn't know if it was because Takumi's body was too good, or Sasuke's was too weak!
…
Hokage Tower.
Hokage's Office.
Thump!
After hearing the report from the Anbu from the hospital, Takumi punched the wall hard, his face full of grief and indignation.
"Takumi, don't be like this. It's not your fault."
"Yeah, you did very well. You saved everyone."
Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko comforted Takumi on the side.
But the thoughts of the others present were somewhat more complex.
"Did Takumi really... take down two Akatsuki's members alone?"
Might Guy's face was full of question marks and exclamation marks!
He felt utterly shocked from the bottom of his heart!
Even somewhat questioning his life!
The Akatsuki, who were they?
The number one terrorist organization in the entire Shinobi World!
It's said they are all Missing-nin from various villages, ruthless and highly skilled!
And Takumi actually defeated two at once!?
"Was it because of that Deidara guy helping?"
Kakashi added.
To be honest, he didn't believe it either.
Although he hadn't actually fought Akatsuki's members, he could judge their general strength from the members.
Itachi, Orochimaru...
These two were from Konoha, and Kakashi knew their strength well.
'Did Takumi already possess strength capable of rivaling these two?'
"In my opinion, it's probably that the opponents were too weak. Seeing Takumi and the others were young, they let their guard down."
Asuma blew smoke rings, analyzing to himself.
All the Konoha's Jonin were very skeptical.
But only Kurenai firmly believed in Takumi's strength.
She was even secretly cursing: 'What the hell do you all know! Takumi is a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, he's not someone you can compare to!'
After a heated discussion, Hiruzen finally dismissed everyone.
Only Takumi remained.
"Takumi, what are your thoughts on this matter?"
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe.
Asking Takumi for his thoughts was actually nonsense, as he mainly wanted to ask what level those two Akatsuki's members were in Takumi's eyes.
Because Hiruzen now suspected that Takumi had a huge misunderstanding about his own strength!
'He might already possess strength surpassing a Jonin, but in his own perception, he still thought he was a student or a Genin!'
'This boy might be a once-in-decades genius in Konoha's history!'
"Their strength... I feel they hadn't even used their true strength..."
Takumi didn't pretend and told the truth.
Actually, that was the case. Sasori and Hidan basically didn't use their real abilities.
Winning this time was mainly due to clever use of psychological tactics.
And his abilities happened to counter theirs.
"What about the puppet user? How do you see him? Was his poison ineffective against you?" Hiruzen asked seriously.
"It seemed to have no effect..."
"I'm actually puzzled why Sasuke was in so much pain. Could it be that only the needle that hit him was poisoned?"
Takumi asked cunningly.
"Alright..."
Seeing his reaction, Hiruzen roughly had an idea.
His speculation was indeed getting close.
"What about the guy you knocked out with a glance? What technique did you use?"
"I don't know. But sometimes, I feel my gaze can make others hallucinate."
"But it doesn't seem like Genjutsu, so I've always thought it might be some kind of psychological effect."
After hearing Takumi's two answers, Hiruzen completely understood.
'It was confirmed.'
'Takumi truly was a once-in-decades genius for Konoha!'
'He was completely unaware of his own strength!'
'Peerless poison resistance, innate Genjutsu ability, and those terrifying fists...'
'He hadn't noticed it at all!'
---
FOR EVERY 50 POWER STONES, I'LL UPLOAD ONE CHAPTER