The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Here to Kill?!

"Job done." Naruto clapped his hands together.

At this moment, Itachi had already collapsed to the ground. His chest had been completely hollowed out by the terrifying force of the Rasengan, leaving behind a gruesome, gaping hole that looked utterly wretched.

The sight was that of someone who had been thoroughly and completely killed.

"What?!" Seeing this, Kakashi's pupils constricted violently, his face etched with an expression of disbelief. "Itachi... he's just dead like that?!"

One had to remember, this was Itachi!

The Itachi who had wiped out his entire clan single-handedly; the Itachi who had left him bedridden for ages with just a single Tsukuyomi!

Yet, someone so powerful had been killed so easily?!

For a moment, Kakashi stood frozen on the spot, unable to process the reality of the situation for a long time.

"Sasuke's brother... is dead?!" Sakura's face turned pale, her small hands tightly covering her mouth.

"Don't make such a fuss. This is just a Shoten Technique clone," Naruto explained with a touch of helplessness.

The three of them were stunned upon hearing this.

"Shoten Technique?!"

Kakashi immediately leaped up, kunai in hand, and cautiously approached Itachi's corpse.

Upon drawing closer, Kakashi realized that the person lying on the ground was not Itachi at all!

Or rather, it had been Itachi a moment ago, but only as a brief manifestation of his power projected onto another person.

"A Clone Technique that covers another person's body with a portion of one's own power, allowing for a brief manifestation and long-distance combat?" Kakashi sheathed his kunai, a look of sudden realization dawning on him.

"Such a bizarre technique actually exists..." Chiyo walked over slowly. Her gaze fixed on the face of the corpse on the ground, and she couldn't help but gasp, "This face... it's Yura, a jonin from our village!"

"That missing high-ranking Sunagakure jonin?" Kakashi asked, full of confusion.

"Yes..." Chiyo nodded, looking despondent.

Sunagakure was already teetering on the brink of collapse, and now they had lost another jonin...

This was undoubtedly adding insult to injury, making the situation for Sunagakure even more dire.

Listening to their exchange, Sakura looked down at the corpse—clad in an Akatsuki cloak but bearing the face of a stranger—and largely grasped the trickery involved.

Her gaze turned solemn. "If Itachi's clone possesses such terrifying strength, then the real body must be..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but the worry in her eyes grew as thick as dense fog.

For a moment, Sakura felt lost, unsure of how Sasuke could ever hope to defeat his older brother...

Just as the three of them were caught in hesitation, Naruto waved his hand, urging them on. "Let's go! It's just a clone, and you're all this shocked. If you run into the real body, wouldn't you just collapse on the spot?!"

"Ah..." Kakashi looked embarrassed, feeling quite ashamed.

He truly would collapse the moment he saw the real body...

Seeming to sense Kakashi's awkwardness, Naruto chuckled softly. "Kakashi-sensei, you really should read less Icha Icha Paradise and practice more!"

With that, Naruto flashed away, teleporting toward the Land of Rivers.

"Naruto, you..." Kakashi's face was covered in black lines, feeling even more awkward than before.

"Icha Icha Paradise, isn't that written by that pervert among the Sannin? It seems your tastes, Kakashi, are quite at odds with your appearance..." Chiyo cast a look of disdain at Kakashi before following Naruto.

Sakura also suppressed the shock she felt regarding Itachi, stepped up to Kakashi's side, and patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"Kakashi-sensei, actually, I agree with what Naruto said..."

Following that, she also used the Body Flicker Technique, chasing after the other two.

"..." Kakashi stood frozen in place. With both his students saying as much, his pupils trembled slightly, lost in confusion. "Could it be... that I really should read less and practice more?!"

A strange seed had been quietly planted...

In truth, Sakura had still been lost in her thoughts about Itachi, so she had only heard the first half of Naruto's sentence, which was why she had agreed...

Land of Rivers, Akatsuki hideout cave.

At this moment.

"Hoo—" Gaara was being forcibly lifted into mid-air by a mysterious blue chakra. His face was twisted in pain, and cracks were continuously appearing on his forehead.

And before him.

A massive, humanoid demonic shadow emerged slowly from the darkness, like an evil spirit crawling out from the abyss of hell.

Its appearance was hideous and terrifying; its skin was withered like dead wood, it had sharp fangs, and its forehead featured nine empty eye sockets, as if a true Cthulhu-esque evil god had descended upon the world!

This was none other than the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!

Its terrifying, foul-smelling giant mouth was continuously spewing blue chakra, covering Gaara's body and frantically extracting the Tailed Beast's power.

"Ugh, ahhhhhhh!" Gaara's painful wails echoed throughout the cave.

The statue's hands were planted on the ground, posed as if reaching up toward the heavens.

Atop each of those fingertips, there was unexpectedly a human-shaped phantom.

Without a doubt, these were the members of the Akatsuki organization...

At this moment, the phantom of Itachi trembled slightly, then slowly opened those blood-like eyes.

"Hiss—" A strange crimson flashed through the darkness. As the tomoe rotated, Itachi's voice sounded heavy, "I have... failed..."

"Hm? So soon?" Deva Path Pain immediately exclaimed in surprise.

He knew Itachi's strength well; even as a Shoten Technique clone, it was certainly not something an ordinary Jonin could contend with!

Just as Deva Path Pain was deep in thought, the others in the Akatsuki organization began to bark...

"I told you to let me go! Lord Jashin would have surely granted them salvation!" Hidan's phantom looked utterly disdainful.

"It seems a chance to visit the bounty station has been wasted," Kakuzu said with a look of regret.

"From the start, I said I should have been the one to go..." Sasori's voice was as cold as frost.

As for Itachi, as if he hadn't heard the others, he continued, "The intelligence was correct. The Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, Uzumaki Naruto, possesses strength that far exceeds a Jonin! Even in our brief clash, I could deeply feel that an ordinary Kage-level ninja would absolutely be no match for him!"

"Hm... Itachi is right. My clone just finished watching the entire battle," Black White Zetsu chimed in at this moment.

Once he finished speaking, the atmosphere at the scene instantly turned grave.

The idiot Hidan, however, remained thick-skinned and laughed mockingly, "Hahahaha, Itachi, if you're weak, just practice more! You still have to watch me..."

However, before his words could finish.

"Hidan..." The phantom of Deva Path Pain cast a cold, sudden glance. Those Rinnegan eyes flickered with an eerie light, and terrifying ocular power surged toward Hidan instantly.

"Ugh..." Hidan let out a muffled groan, his face turning as pale as paper.

Even though the main body was not here, the phantom was controlled by spiritual energy, so the pressure of the Rinnegan could naturally take effect.

But our Hidan was never one to swallow his pride. Once he regained his composure, he immediately roared out.

"Damn it! Does being the leader make you special? Does being the leader mean you can bully members at will!"

As he spoke, Hidan immediately prepared to end his hand seals, attempting to forcibly interrupt the Nine Dragons Illusionary Seal's extraction of Gaara.

However, seeing this, Deva Path Pain only spoke coldly: "If you cause the Tailed Beast extraction to fail, I will certainly find you, imprison you tightly, and make you watch as I uproot everything related to the Jashin Cult, ensuring that Jashin vanishes from the ninja world forever..."

Hearing this, Hidan's body shuddered violently, his wrists freezing in mid-air.

Subsequently, Hidan steadied his form again, his hands locked in the seals like iron clamps, fearing the technique might fail, while complaining somewhat.

"I get it... Boss, can you not say such scary things?"

For Hidan, death was not terrifying. After all, no one in this world had yet been able to take his life...

However, to be imprisoned and have everything related to Jashin in the ninja world destroyed...

That would be, quite simply, world-shattering!

It was even worse than killing him!

With this small interlude of the rebellious Hidan coming to an end, Deva Path Pain's terrifying Rinnegan, like two cold, piercing blades, shot instantly toward Itachi, "Itachi... has Uzumaki Naruto already mastered the Nine-Tails?"

"I do not know. During our battle, he did not utilize it..." Itachi shook his head lightly.

"Is that so? To have such astonishing strength without even mastering the Nine-Tails." Deva Path Pain's expression turned incomparably gloomy, "It seems we cannot let him continue to grow! We must accelerate the Nine-Tails Capture Plan..."

At this point, Deva Path Pain stared at the eyes of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that had yet to open, his Rinnegan narrowing sharply, "Since the Tailed Beast has not been fully extracted, we absolutely cannot suffer any interference. We can only manage to dispatch four weaker Shoten Technique clones to go and intercept Uzumaki Naruto..."

As he finished, Deva Path Pain's gaze swept across the surroundings, "Right now, who among you is willing to go?!"

"I'll go!" Hidan immediately spoke up excitedly.

However, before his words could finish.

The next moment.

Rumble--

The cave suddenly shook violently. Stones fell like raindrops from the ceiling, and the surrounding rock walls cracked continuously, as if the entire cave were groaning in pain. It was clearly suffering from a fierce attack by a powerful force from the outside.

"What is happening?" Deva Path Pain felt a jolt of alarm.

Immediately after, everyone heard a mocking voice echo into the cave.

"Members of the Akatsuki, the Nine-Tails you've been dreaming of is here!"

Hearing this, Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan constricted sharply, revealing an expression of disbelief.

"What?! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has come knocking so soon?!"