Pain gave him a long, searching look, then said softly, "I can arrange for you to become an affiliate of the Akatsuki. You won't need to report to the headquarters regularly. Think it over... The doors of the Akatsuki will always be open to you."
With that,
he turned and left.
Several Pain clones followed close behind.
Sasori breathed a sigh of relief, smiled at Ao, and nodded. He tossed Orochimaru a set of equipment, then turned to leave.
Orochimaru smiled and waved at Ao. He took the Akatsuki Robe from Sasori, then picked up a ring Pain had given him and slipped it onto his finger.
He studied the characters engraved on it.
Then, looking thoughtful, he turned and left.
Ao watched them go until they were out of sight. At last, he let out a sigh of relief.
The experiments over the past few days had left him physically and mentally exhausted.
He had also just gone through a major battle.
Weariness had settled over him completely.
Since arriving in this world, he had never fought so fiercely.
He had pushed his Senjutsu Chakra to its limits.
He had also used Wood Release and the Fire Release his predecessor had excelled at.
His methods of attack were too limited.
Against Pain, he had felt utterly powerless.
If he had possessed Space-Time Ninjutsu,
perhaps he wouldn't have been in such a sorry state.
Shaking Release...
Even a Kekkei Tōta struggled against an all-nature Kekkei Genkai like the Rinnegan.
It couldn't do what it was supposed to.
Now that he thought about it, even the Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release wouldn't have given him much of an advantage against Pain.
At least three fighters at the peak of Kage Level would be needed to hold their own against the Six Paths