They quickly fell onto the back foot.
Even though they fought desperately to escape, they were eventually surrounded by Yagura and his men.
In the end... Biwa Juzo had used Kubikiribōchō to take the Tailed Beast Bomb head-on, saving Itachi... but the broken blade had pierced his chest and abdomen, and he died on the spot.
These were minor matters. To Akatsuki, anyone who died in battle because they weren't strong enough had only themselves to blame.
Pain looked at Kakuzu and asked, "What about Orochimaru? Why haven't I seen him? Did he die in battle too?"
Before Kakuzu could answer, Itachi calmly said, "I ran into Orochimaru on the way here. He attacked me, but I defeated him with Genjutsu."
The Akatsuki members couldn't help looking at him askance. You defeated one of the Sannin with Genjutsu? That was a little hard to believe.
"So... Orochimaru defected again?"
A glint flashed in Pain's purple Rinnegan.
On the surface, Akatsuki members weren't allowed to attack one another. But Orochimaru had attacked Itachi, and now he was nowhere to be seen. What else could that mean but that he had defected from Akatsuki?
Kakuzu's eyes lit up, and he volunteered, "Leader, do you want someone to hunt down Orochimaru? Let me go."
Orochimaru had a bounty of over a hundred million in the black market.
Sasori said, "Count me in."
Pain didn't object, and the team to hunt down Orochimaru was settled just like that.
"Zetsu, do you have any information about the golden Rinnegan?"
Pain looked toward the man with the black-and-white face.
Zetsu shook his head. "No. I suspect Orochimaru may have made up that information."
That was a lie.
Ever since learning that a second pair of Rinnegan might exist in the Ninja World, Zetsu had gone into a frenzy, mobilizing his far-flung network of spies to gather all kinds of information.
In the end, he had confirmed that a pair of Rinnegan was indeed hidden somewhere in the Ninja World.
He didn't know who possessed them, but he had found the woman Orochimaru had mentioned.
She was currently wandering around the Land of Fields, under White Zetsu's surveillance.
Pain was silent for a moment, then said gravely, "Real or not, search carefully until we catch Orochimaru and confirm it."
"Yes."
Konan spoke up. "There's a lot to deal with now, and the organization doesn't have enough people. We need to recruit more."
As she spoke, Konan handed everyone a wanted poster.
"Obito Uchiha, an S-rank rogue ninja. He orchestrated the Nine-Tails Incident and caused the death of the Fourth Hokage, leading to the Uchiha Clan Massacre..."
The more they read, the more shocked they became. This guy... was incredible.
They were all accomplished fighters, but compared with Obito, their own records seemed insignificant.
Kakuzu asked, "Leader, are we going to recruit Obito Uchiha into the organization?"
Sasori said, "I admit he deserves to join."
Pain said, "There's no need. He's been in our organization all along... isn't that right, Tobi?"
Tobi?
What did Tobi have to do with this?
Kakuzu and Sasori froze, then turned to look.
Itachi was glaring at Tobi, his eyes fixed in a blood-red Mangekyo, killing intent spilling from him.
"What... is going on with you two?"
Outside the Akatsuki base, a light rain blurred the landscape.
After the meeting, Itachi waited for Obito.
"Itachi, are you angry with me for deceiving you?"
Whoosh!
Itachi answered with a Shuriken, attacking Obito. His hands blurred as he formed signs, then he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of fire.
"I only used Madara's name because it made things easier for me. I'm not Madara, but that doesn't mean I'm weak."
Obito emerged from the flames unharmed, without even a wrinkle in his clothes.
"My strength hasn't changed. Does it really matter whether I'm Madara or not?"
Watching Obito turn intangible, Itachi sighed inwardly. What a nuisance...
"You have a point, senior."
Itachi stopped attacking and said calmly, "It's just that... you promised me you wouldn't target Konoha again, senior Obito. But now you've broken that promise..."
Obito immediately said, "Forgive me, Itachi. This is the last time."
He sounded just like Itachi when he was dealing with his little brother.
Itachi suppressed the odd feeling in his heart, turned to leave, and tossed over one last remark: "You'd better mean it."
--Konoha--
After spending two days in the hospital and undergoing examinations of both his body and his seal, Naruto was finally allowed to leave once they confirmed that nothing had gone wrong.
When he returned home, the house had been completely repaired. There wasn't a trace of the battle left.
The wooden sculptures displayed in the cabinet were all still there, too.
Looking at the anime characters in their various poses, Naruto rested his chin on the back of his hand and pondered for a long while before taking out a Fu Hua sculpture.
"I should find some time to make a second one..."
Knock, knock, knock...
At the sound of knocking, Naruto put the sculpture back in the cabinet and drew the curtains to conceal it. Then he went to open the door.
The visitor was the Third Hokage. He came inside, asked after Naruto's well-being, then placed a stack of money on the table and handed him a scroll.
The money was living expenses: two thousand ryo, four times as much as before.
But Naruto didn't need that much anymore.
The scroll contained a ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone Technique, which the Third Hokage said was a gift to celebrate his discharge.
But Naruto had already mastered that technique.
"Thank you, old man."
Naruto offered his heartfelt thanks, though he felt nothing inside.
The Third Hokage smiled and took a deep drag on his pipe. Two wisps of white smoke curled from his nostrils as he thought, Minato was just worried about him. How could such a good child possibly grow resentful?
"Little Naruto, do you know about your heritage...?"
Am I supposed to know?
Naruto thought quickly, then nodded. "I know."
By any reasonable measure, it would have been strange if he didn't.
"That old bastard. After all that, he still refuses to reveal Naruto's identity. What kind of excuse is that? That he has his reasons? Bullshit..."
Inside the Sealing Space, Kushina cursed the Third Hokage furiously.
"Mom, there's no need to get angry. The Third Hokage is right. Revealing my heritage now really wouldn't be appropriate. It might tarnish Dad's reputation."
After seeing the Third Hokage off, Naruto entered the Sealing Space mentally and tried to calm Kushina down.
"Bullshit! How would it tarnish his reputation? If revealing your heritage would ruin his reputation, then he can keep that reputation!"
Kushina habitually grabbed her son by the ear, warning him not to entertain such twisted ideas.
Naruto nodded repeatedly. "You're right. You're absolutely right. So, can you let go now?"
Kushina let go and went right back to cursing the Third Hokage from afar. Then she turned to Naruto and said, "The Third Hokage is to blame for everything. Don't blame all of Konoha, understand?"
Naruto's mouth twitched. "Mom, what are you worried about? I'm not made of glass. I'm not going to snap and start taking revenge on society..."
"Good. But if you really have to, take revenge on the ones who deserve it."
Kushina looked as though she had finally relaxed.
Naruto couldn't help rolling his eyes. You really are worried I'll turn into Obito...
In the Land of Fields, Orochimaru emerged from the forest and came before Shadow.
"You've been staying in the Land of Fields all this time instead of leaving. Was it just to find me?"
Is this really necessary? We've got no grudge against each other. You just had to keep chasing me down because you looked at me a couple of times?
Before you continue