The Ninja Village Allied Forces' main camp in the distance looked especially hazy behind the thin curtain of rain. At first glance, it almost seemed unreal.
But the camps stretching for dozens of miles, the bright lights, and the warm mist hanging over the camp from the sheer density of people all made it clear: the Ninja Village Allied Forces' main camp was right there, and so was the bulk of their forces!
On a high slope.
As they looked toward the distant main camp, the nine Akatsuki Organization members stood in a line, each wearing a different expression.
Some looked excited, like Hidan and Deidara. Neither of them minded stirring up trouble.
Others looked grim, like Juzo Biwa and Ranmaru. At heart, they didn't like killing without reason, much less a battle as dangerous as this one.
Others still looked indifferent, like Scorpion and Kakuzu. One had turned himself into a Human Puppet, leaving him with fewer and fewer emotional responses. The other was an old monster who had lived for nearly a century and experienced every Shinobi World War.
And then there was Hiruko, his eyes cruel as he looked forward to taking revenge on Konoha!
The first half of his life had been a failure, no doubt about it. Only after he went from being the Konoha missing-nin Hiruko to a member of the Akatsuki Organization had he managed to live the way he wanted.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were in that main camp in the distance. The time had come to prove to his old friends that he was the most talented ninja!
Some of them wore more complicated expressions.
Obito, for example, stared at the distant camp. Rarely, a look of reflection and resolve showed on his face beneath his mask.
He could be said to