Orochimaru's Choice

Faced with the possibility of being attacked from both sides, the Akatsuki Organization, on Nagato's advice, quickly made a choice: to focus on defending against the Sunagakure, or rather, to focus on protecting the Land of Rivers.

While ensuring that the Akatsuki Organization's base in River Ninja Village is not lost, the Land of Rain will defend it if possible, and abandon it if it cannot be defended.

The Land of Rain no longer has any Rain Village; the original Rain Village have disbanded. Some of the more progressive ones were absorbed by Akatsuki, while others became missing-nin and fled to other countries.

The rest remained in the Land of Rain, but some were stripped of their Ninja ID by Nagato and became civilians. Only a small number of those with decent strength joined the Dark Akatsuki as its outer members.

The current Dark Akatsuki base in the Land of Rain contains not only a small number of former Rain Village, but also many missing-nin from other villages. These include Juzo Biwa, Sasori of the Red Sands, Orochimaru, and Kakuzu, who joined at some unknown time. Of course, these S-rank Rogue Ninja are ultimately a minority; most are actually low-ranking missing-nin at the Chunin level.

In terms of high-level combat power, the Akatsuki Organization is not afraid of being besieged by Konoha and Sunagakure. Nagato alone can hold off at least three Kage Level opponents. Add Yahiko, Konan (quasi-Kage), Orochimaru, Kakuzu, and Sasori, and they are more than capable of resisting the combined attack of Konoha and Sunagakure, and can even turn a defensive battle into a counterattack.

However, the problem is that the current war still relies on elite ninjas. Kage Level ninjas can influence the outcome of the war, but they are not yet at the level of directly determining the war.

Even Nagato himself still viewed war in terms of large-scale ninja battles.

Throughout the entire Ninja World, only Yichen knew that an individual with extreme martial prowess could defeat a large-scale ninja army.

Back in River Ninja Village, Yahiko began gathering his ninja. Meanwhile, Nagato had already established a ninja army in the Land of Rain through the Six Paths of Pain.

Konan asked with some concern, "Yahiko, Nagato, do you think Konoha and Sasori of the Red Sands can still be trusted if Orochimaru and Sunagakure join forces to attack?"

Although these two were missing-nin in the Ninja World have very complex feelings towards their original ninja villages. Konan and her two companions once left the Land of Rain, but their love for the Land of Rain never changed.

In the original story, Orochimaru eventually returned to Konoha after many twists and turns. The so-called Konoha Collapse Plan was actually a grand funeral that Orochimaru gave to his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Yahiko also looked at Nagato with concern.

Nagato, however, said, "They have never been trustworthy. The official members of the Dark Akatsuki Organization only cooperate with each other. There has never been any loyalty among them."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful of Orochimaru and Sasori," Nagato said reassuringly, seeing that the two were still worried.

Meanwhile, Konoha's Ninja Army, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, had already stormed into the Land of Rain at top speed.

Just as Yichen had predicted, when the Konoha ninja realized that their whereabouts had been discovered by the Iwa ninja, they chose to immediately march on the Land of Rain.

In the marching column, Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat worried about the newly appeared Iwa Ninja Anbu. Although he had taken the initiative to provoke a conflict with the Akatsuki Organization, he did not want to start Ninja World War.

If the Land of Rain acts swiftly, the war won't escalate. However, if the Iwa ninja get involved, it will be the beginning of the Fifth Ninja World War.

Konoha wasn't ready. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that if war broke out now, it probably wouldn't be a four-on-one situation like the previous two times.

He only wanted to reclaim the Seven-Tails and, incidentally, deliver a crushing blow to the emerging Akatsuki Organization, just like he did to Hanzo then.

But what if that troublesome Tsuchikage of Iwa ninja takes the opportunity to launch a war?

Danzo nearby, naturally saw through Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts and said, "Hiruzen, we can no longer Iwa ninja. If Iwa ninja act recklessly, we should launch a decisive battle. The weaker we are, the more we need to intimidate others. Otherwise, anyone will dare to provoke us."

"If it weren't for your and Tsunade's overly weak policies, how could a mere Akatsuki Organization have dared to launch a surprise attack on so many of our elite ninjas?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored Danzo's words. He glanced at Kakashi beside him and asked, "Kakashi, how's your training progressing?"

Like the Iwa ninja, Kakashi, who was promoted to the rank of Quasi-Kage, was rewarded by Tsunade with an S-rank Ninjutsu.

"I've learned S-rank Ninjutsu," Kakashi said, "But I don't have enough Chakra. I run out of Chakra after using S-rank Ninjutsu."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, then asked, "Where's the Sharingan?"

Kakashi said, "My Sharingan has now evolved into the Three Tomoe Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and I can now skillfully use its Genjutsu. However, Chakra is still a factor; the Sharingan consumes too much of my energy. If I use Sharingan, I won't be able to fight for long."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat irritated. Kakashi's strength was already top-tier among Elite Jonin. If he could combine it with S-rank Ninjutsu or the Sharingan, he could hold off a Kage Level for a short time.

Kakashi's talent is indeed remarkable; he learned S-rank Ninjutsu in such a short time. He truly deserves to be called a monster who could develop A-rank Ninjutsu on his own at the age of eleven.

But if you don't have enough Chakra, wouldn't learning an S-rank Ninjutsu be a waste?

After that, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped talking and just kept walking with his head covered.

With a barely perceptible sigh, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself, "I can only pin my hopes on Orochimaru."

That's right, Orochimaru was the inside man in this joint operation between Konoha and Sunagakure against Akatsuki Organization.

It was precisely because of the detailed intelligence about the Akatsuki Organization provided by Orochimaru that Konoha and Sunagakure dared to launch a targeted sneak attack on the Akatsuki Organization.

However, even Orochimaru Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly thinking. Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't understand why Orochimaru was cooperating with him.

"Is he plotting against something from Akatsuki Organization? Is it the Seven-Tails? Or the Rinnegan?" Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi Six Paths of Pain and his group entered the Land of Rain, Pain summoned the official members of Akatsuki Organization and declared war.

Orochimaru licked his lips, thinking, "So you've been found out so quickly? Teacher Hiruzen, you really have gotten old."

At that moment, Pain's indifferent voice rang in everyone's ears. "Juzo, go and gather the ninjas at the base to form a ninja army. You will be in command of the army."

"Sasori, Kakuzu, Orochimaru, the three of you will come with me to face the enemy."

At this moment, Scorpion asked, "Who is the enemy?"

"Konoha," Pain said indifferently.

Kakuzu's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he said, "Konoha is great! Konoha ninja have high bounties."

Sasori glanced at the newcomer with a puzzled look and asked, "Isn't the bounty based on the ninja's strength? What does it have to do with whether they're from Konoha?"

Kakuzu said, "The Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwa ninja promised me that if I killed an upper-class member of Konoha, Iwa ninja would pay me a bounty, and Iwa ninja wouldn't want the body."

"Therefore, I can get double the bounty for killing a Konoha ninja."

Upon hearing the title "Fourth Tsuchikage," Sasori immediately felt uneasy. He now realized that the seemingly harmless but actually cunning Anbu he had encountered in Konoha was Yichen. He racked his brains, trying to recall how many times he had been taken advantage of by this man.

Sasori coldly said, "This Fox of Stone is no trustworthy ninja. Don't let him sell you out and then be counting the money for him."

Kakuzu laughed and said, "There's no need to worry about that. Over the years, I've killed quite a few Konoha ninja, as long as they were Elite Jonin or genius ninjas. Iwa ninja have never gone back on their promises of payment."

Unlike Sasori, Kakuzu had a very good impression of Yichen. That's what a big spender he is.

"Hmph." Scorpion snorted coldly and said no more.

The group waited in the base for the battle to begin.

Orochimaru, meanwhile, was wondering if Nagato's true form would come over.

Unlike the original story, in this life, Orochimaru learned from Yichen that the leader of Akatsuki Organization possessed the Rinnegan before joining Akatsuki.

Therefore, after joining Akatsuki, Orochimaru did not take immediate action. Instead, he secretly established a ninja village while investigating the abilities of the Rinnegan.

At least Orochimaru now knows that the Deva Path Pain before him is just a puppet.

Orochimaru's goal in cooperating with Hiruzen Sarutobi was naturally the Rinnegan, but based on the information provided by Yichen, Orochimaru judged that he was probably no match for the Rinnegan. Therefore, he brought in Konoha and Sunagakure, hoping to use their combined strength to weaken Nagato and create an opportunity for his sneak attack.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was already prepared that if the operation failed, he would have to defect from the Akatsuki Organization. However, at that time, Orochimaru would only be able to take the other path suggested by Yichen: fusing the Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku.

Before Juzo Biwa's ninja army could even fully assemble, Konoha arrived.

Outside the Dark Akatsuki Organization's base, the Six Paths of Pain gathered, along with Three Kage-level, preparing to confront Konoha.

Without hesitation, seeing that the Akatsuki Organization was prepared, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately coordinated with the ninja army to launch wave after wave of Combination Ninjutsu attacks.

Not to be outdone, Six Paths of Pain unleashed a barrage of missiles from the Asura Path, immediately targeting the Konoha Army.

"Sigh." Orochimaru sighed.

It seems Nagato's main body won't be coming. Since that's the case, he seized the opportunity, bit his finger, and used Summoning Jutsu to summon three giant snakes.

After the three giant snakes appeared, they rushed towards the two Pain that were closest to them: the Hell Path and the Preta Path.

Orochimaru's attack came suddenly, Six Paths of Pain had no time to adjust their positions. Neither the Hell Path nor the Preta Path were skilled in close combat, so they chose to dodge.

The Preta Path Realm dodged smoothly, but just as the Hell Path evaded the giant snake that pounced on them, the giant snake that had originally attacked the Preta Path suddenly swept its One-Tail across their location.

With the other five Pain sharing his vision, Hell Path was not surprised and dodged the giant serpent's attack with a leap.

However, at that moment, the last giant snake seemed to have anticipated his actions. It lunged forward and reached him, then opened its mouth and swallowed him whole while he was in mid-air with no way to dodge.