At first, Orochimaru had thought Akatsuki was only making minor moves, and that everything remained under control.
He had never imagined Nagato's power would be so terrifying.
Only now did Orochimaru understand why Uchiha Yin had said they needed to stay on guard at all times.
If an organization like this launched a sudden attack, even Konoha would struggle to hold it off.
The more Orochimaru thought about it, the more his blood ran cold.
As the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path gradually disappeared, Pain was the first to appear before Orochimaru.
Orochimaru quickly composed his expression. "That really is a terrifying Ninjutsu!"
Pain did not answer. He merely looked at Orochimaru expectantly and held out a hand. "The body?"
Orochimaru sighed softly and handed the body over to Pain.
In just a few short days, everyone in Akatsuki had received an assignment and begun carrying it out.
The missions had brought in plenty of money, but more importantly, they had finally given Nagato a supply of bodies for his puppets.
After these past few days, the one Orochimaru held was the only one of the Six Paths of Pain still missing.
Whenever Orochimaru saw the six corpse puppets appear together, he found the sight deeply unnerving.
Saro and the others had been ordered to test Pain's strength.
That day, they had discovered to their horror that the corpse puppets shared a field of vision.
That meant no matter which direction they attacked from, they could not escape the Pains' notice.
Orochimaru still remembered his crushing defeat all too clearly.
With that in mind, Orochimaru handed the body to Pain without hesitation. Only after watching him leave did he return to his Clock Tower.
When Pain brought the body back to Nagato, Saro had just returned from delivering Nagato's