The abandoned temple stood amid the curtains of rain. Cold streams leaked through its ruined dome, splashing against moss-covered flagstones. The air reeked of decay and damp, mingled with a faint, elusive trace of blood.
Ling and his two companions slipped silently into the temple like panthers melting into shadow. The broken walls offered excellent cover. "Fox" made several concise hand signals, and the three immediately spread into a triangular formation. "Azure Phoenix" stayed at the relatively safe entrance to keep watch and handle communications, while Ling and "Fox" crept deeper into the temple like ghosts.
The rain interfered somewhat with the Jōgan, but at close range, it could still clearly detect the flow of energy. Ling soon pinpointed a source in the temple's rear hall whose signs of life were extremely faint.
There, he spotted a drenched figure curled behind a toppled statue. He wore Amegakure's standard uniform, but it was in tatters. Several wounds still seeped blood, and his chakra flickered like a candle in the wind-it was their undercover operative, "Late Autumn."
"Fox" hurried over to examine his injuries, lowering his voice. "'Late Autumn,' we're your contacts from Konoha. Can you hear me?"
"Late Autumn" raised his head with difficulty, revealing a face twisted by blood loss and pain. When he saw the markings on "Fox's" mask, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes, only to be swallowed by overwhelming terror. "Quick... get out... this place... it's a trap... 'Akatsuki'... they know..."
His words cut off as he suddenly began coughing, vomiting black blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
"Fox's" gaze sharpened. He immediately took out a first-aid kit, his hands glowing with the green light of Medical Ninjutsu as he pressed them against "Late Autumn's" most lethal wound.
Ling kept his full attention on their surroundings. Beneath the shadow of his hood, his Sharingan silently activated, its crimson pinwheel turning slowly. Rain striking the ruins, the faint hum of "Fox's" Medical Ninjutsu, "Late Autumn's" pained gasps... every detail was magnified.
Suddenly, the Jōgan caught an extremely subtle chakra fluctuation, carrying an icy malice, from somewhere in the temple, like a stone dropped into a still lake! It came not from outside, but from within! Right near them!
"Watch out!" Ling shouted in a low voice, darting backward and to the side!
Almost simultaneously, several sharp, pitch-black rods formed from pure chakra thrust up from the ground where he had just stood! Had he not sensed the danger in advance, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
"Fox" reacted with incredible speed. The instant Ling called out, he scooped up "Late Autumn" and leaped backward, forced to interrupt his Medical Ninjutsu.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... keen senses." A deep, utterly emotionless voice echoed through the empty temple.
Three figures slowly emerged from the shadows.
The one at their head wore the signature Akatsuki cloak, his short orange hair standing up like a hedgehog's spines. Most chilling of all were his eyes-ring upon ring of ripples like a tree's growth rings, regarding them indifferently as though they were mere ants.
The Rinnegan! Deva Path Pain!
Behind him, one on either side, stood a short-haired, blue-haired woman with a cold expression (Konan?), and a burly man whose face was hidden beneath a bamboo hat.
Ling's heart clenched! Core members of Akatsuki had come in person! And they had appeared like this! "Late Autumn" was right. This was nothing but a trap to lure them in!
"Konoha's insects always like to crawl where they don't belong." Deva Path Pain slowly raised his hand. "Shinra Tensei."
An irresistible, immense repulsive force erupted from him! The entire temple ruin seemed to be struck by an invisible giant hammer. Broken walls were instantly shoved away and crushed! A savage shock wave swept outward!
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" "Fox" roared, instantly forming hand seals. A thick earthen wall surged out of the ground, shielding all three of them!
Boom! The earthen wall shattered inch by inch the instant it met the repulsive force! "Fox" grunted, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth, clearly suffering internal injuries. The immense force also sent Ling's blood churning and drove him back step after step. Only by using his Sharingan to predict a weak point in the impact did he barely manage to steady himself.
As for "Late Autumn," sheltered behind "Fox," that terrifying impact extinguished the last of his life.
"Not worth a single blow." Deva Path Pain's voice remained utterly flat.
"Azure Phoenix!" Forcing himself to endure his injuries, "Fox" growled into the Communication Talisman, "The situation has changed. We've encountered core members of 'Akatsuki'! Execute Evacuation Plan B! I repeat, execute Evacuation Plan B!"
Yet only a burst of piercing static came from the other end of the Communication Talisman. The signal had clearly been blocked completely.
"Split up and break out!" "Fox" made an immediate decision and shouted to Ling, his hands rapidly forming seals as he unleashed some kind of Smoke Ninjutsu to obscure their vision.
Thick smoke instantly spread.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ling shot off like an arrow loosed from a bow, heading in the opposite direction from "Fox," deeper into the temple! He remembered observing the area on their way in. There seemed to be a fissure there leading underground!
Deva Path Pain seemed utterly unconcerned by the smoke, his Rinnegan sweeping indifferently over it. The burly man beside him moved, charging toward "Fox" like a tank. The blue-haired woman swept both hands outward, sending countless sheets of paper glowing with chakra hurtling toward Ling like a blizzard!
Ling pushed his speed to its limit, his Sharingan locked firmly on the fissure ahead as he constantly changed direction to evade the dense barrage of paper behind him. The paper was sharp as blades, leaving deep cuts in the walls and stone pillars.
Just as he was about to plunge into the fissure, an intense sense of danger abruptly struck! Without thinking, he forcibly twisted his body. His Sharingan caught an afterimage almost indistinguishable from the darkness, attacking from the side at astonishing speed!
That burly man?! How had he shaken off "Fox" so quickly?!
Ling had nowhere to dodge. At that instant, the powers of his Jōgan and Sharingan blended to their utmost!
[Insight: Attack Trajectory Prediction! Weak point: third joint connection in the left shoulder! Energy core: two inches right of the chest cavity's center!]
He abandoned evasion, using the kunai in his left hand to block his opponent's heavy, powerful punch. Holding the fingers of his right hand together like a blade, he gathered all his chakra, mixed it with the Jōgan's purifying power, and thrust with perfect precision at the energy node in his opponent's chest that was invisible to the naked eye!
Thud! Shhk!
Agony like cracking bone shot through Ling's left arm, and the tremendous force sent him flying! But his knife-hand strike also hit its target squarely!
The burly man abruptly stiffened, letting out an inhuman growl mingled with pain and rage. The chakra shield covering his body fluctuated violently, actually showing a trace of instability! He looked at Ling in disbelief, seemingly unable to understand how this apparently weak enemy had pinpointed the temporary energy core in his puppet body!
Using the force that had sent him flying, Ling rolled into the underground fissure and vanished into the darkness.
The instant he fell into the fissure, he took one last glance at the battlefield outside. "Fox" was locked in fierce combat with the blue-haired woman, his movements ragged, clearly at a disadvantage. Deva Path Pain still stood quietly where he had been, and those Rinnegan seemed to pierce through every obstruction and "look" at Ling with indifference.
Cold, majestic, like a god looking down from above.
Ling's heart shook violently. Not daring to linger, he plunged rapidly down the slippery, steep fissure.
The pitch-black Fragment against his chest seemed to tremble ever so slightly the instant it met the gaze of Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan, then returned to deathly stillness.
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