If You Run into Hinata Again, Just Run

Experiencing setbacks can help people gain a clearer understanding of themselves.

Having escaped the encirclement and annihilation of Konoha, Orochimaru had a clear understanding of his current strength.

Strong people are proud and arrogant. People like Orochimaru don't even take the Kage of each village seriously.

Orochimaru always believed that as long as he obtained Sasuke's body, stole Itachi Uchiha's eyes, broke the Reaper Death Seal get his hands back, and fused with Hashirama Senju's cells, he could easily defeat the entire Shinobi World with just the Impure World Reincarnation.

This assessment may be correct... but Orochimaru hasn't even achieved a small goal yet.

Konoha Danzo Legendary Sannin of the Tsunade and Jiraiya, as well as veteran ninjas from Danzo's generation, and the incredibly powerful Hinata.

The Akatsuki has many skilled members, and its leader, Pain, has also demonstrated the power of the Rinnegan this time.

To be fair, Orochimaru actually looked down on Six Paths of Pain's abilities.

This isn't Orochimaru being arrogant; if Orochimaru were in his prime, he would be able to contend with Six Paths of Pain.

Moreover, Orochimaru's plan includes the possibility of him going even further.

However, the intervention of Nagato, the true form of Pain, made Orochimaru realize that the Rinnegan was beyond his current capabilities.

The gravitational pull of Chibaku Tensei is a move that Orochimaru can never escape.

The true form hidden behind the Six Paths of Pain aroused Orochimaru's great interest.

Orochimaru's return to the Akatsuki signifies that the Akatsuki's power has returned to its peak.

In the eerie cave, several transparent figures shimmering with fluorescence appeared one after another.

"Great, everyone is here."

Pain said in a deep, indifferent voice, "I have an announcement to make: Orochimaru has rejoined the Akatsuki and will henceforth be working as a two-man team with Sasori of the Red Sands!"

"Scorpion, please guide me!"

Orochimaru said with a playful and somewhat provocative tone, "If there's a chance, why not let the Third Kazekage and his puppet meet? I wonder if the puppet is stronger, or if the Impure World Reincarnation dead is stronger."

Sasori of the Red Sands coldly shouted, "Shut up, Orochimaru!"

Although Sasori of the Red Sands had turned the Third Kazekage into Human Puppet, Sasori of the Red Sands was, after all, a former ninja of Sunagakure. He was naturally displeased that Sasori of the Red Sands Orochimaru so disdainful of the Third Kazekage.

It's one thing for unrelated people to talk, but Orochimaru, being a ninja of the same caliber as Sasori of the Red Sands, naturally makes Sasori of the Red Sands take him more seriously.

It's like we can say our school is terrible in a thousand ways, but we won't allow outsiders to say a single word about it.

Although Sasori of the Red Sands, his old teammate, disliked Orochimaru, Sasori of the Red Sands had to admit that, apart from Deidara, with whom he could discuss art, Orochimaru was the only member of the Akatsuki he could get along with.

"Itachi..."

Wearing the Akatsuki's black robe with red clouds, Orochimaru looked at Itachi Uchiha with a sinister gaze.

Itachi Uchiha remained expressionless, and neither of them Sasuke, as if Sasuke had nothing to do with them.

Kisame Hoshigaki, oblivious to the awkwardness, provoked, "Hey! Orochimaru! Now that you've returned to the organization, shouldn't you hand over Itachi's younger brother? He's still useful to Itachi!"

Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, his tone playful. "Sasuke is also very useful to me... He's an avenger, and one day he'll personally seek revenge on Itachi."

"Let Orochimaru and Itachi handle Sasuke's matter themselves..."

Pain glanced at Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha, and said in a deep voice, "What happened last time must not happen again. If there are any more traitors, Akatsuki will hunt them down to the bitter end."

At this point, Pain turned to Zetsu and said calmly, "Zetsu, you explain what's next!"

Black Zetsu White Zetsu, who was usually silent at Akatsuki gatherings, spoke in a light tone, "This is what happened..."

Besides announcing Orochimaru's rejoining the Akatsuki, another purpose of Pain's meeting was to discuss Hinata's situation.

Hinata has become the biggest threat to the Akatsuki.

Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha went to Konoha to gather intelligence, but they were defeated by Hinata.

Kisame Hoshigaki not only lost Samehada, but Hinata also broke his arm, and he fled back in a sorry state.

During the raid on the war reparations, Akatsuki deployed four ninjas: Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sands, Kakuzu, and Hidan, but they still failed to succeed, and even Deidara was killed on the spot.

This time, when Konoha surrounded and attacked Orochimaru, Orochimaru was also defeated by Hinata and forced to flee in a sorry state.

Even with Pain, the leader of the Pain Akatsuki, personally taking action, it took a fierce battle to force Hinata to retreat.

Furthermore, according to Nagato's assessment, if Hinata hadn't been trying to save Kakashi and Inoichi Yamanaka, Chibaku Tensei would not have been able to trap Hinata, and Nagato himself would have been found and killed by Hinata due to excessive energy expenditure.

Hinata was the one who fled, but Nagato himself was the one who was defeated.

As the original form of the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato's greatest weakness was his lack of mobility, and his body was too weak to exert much combat power.

In fact, it would be very simple for Nagato to recover his body. He only needed to use the Preta Path's "Chibaku Tensei" to absorb the Tailed Beasts's Chakra, and his body would be roughly restored to its original state.

Even more remarkably, if White Zetsu's legs were cut off and transplanted onto his Nagato could even regain his mobility.

However, no one will tell Nagato all of this.

Black Zetsu and Obito would only tell Nagato that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is the vessel for the Tailed Beasts, and that only by sealing the Tailed Beasts inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path can it become the ultimate weapon of war.

For the sake of his ideal of 'world peace', Nagato naturally wouldn't absorb the Chakra of the Tailed Beasts.

After the information about Hinata was revealed, Pain said in a deep voice, "Unless there are four or more people, if you encounter Konoha Hinata Hyuga, you must evacuate as soon as possible..."

"I don't want anyone else to die before Xiao's plan begins."

"Once our plan begins, I will personally descend upon Konoha, kill Hinata Hyuga, and seize the Nine-Tails from Naruto Uzumaki!"

Even though the Akatsuki members were all unruly and highly skilled S-rank rogue ninja, no one dared to speak out of turn at this moment.

Thinking about it carefully, the only ones in the Akatsuki who haven't been beaten up by Hinata are Konan and Zetsu.

Everyone else has been beaten by Hinata to varying degrees; the only difference is how badly they were beaten.

Orochimaru suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, how far has Akatsuki's plan progressed?"

Pain said calmly, "We are still raising funds. The revival of the Three-Tails will take about two more years. After two years... the first step of the plan will begin!"

No organization can survive without the need for funding.

Whether for the sake of Amegakure, the Land of Rain, or for future plans, the Akatsuki needs sufficient funds.

Even to rule the world, a large number of people are needed to manage the localities, and hiring people requires a lot of money.

"There are still two years left..."

Orochimaru said playfully, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to do my experiments... I just had a new inspiration!"

Pain said in a deep voice, "Then this meeting is adjourned!"