After Suikazan Fuguki and the Kirigakure Ninja retreated, Sasori and Kakuzu leisurely arrived at the battlefield.
"Oh dear, I hope Aoki Tsuki isn't dead. What a pity... I was really optimistic about him."
Scorpion said it was a pity, but his voice was full of schadenfreude.
"Hmph, this guy won't die so easily."
Kakuzu knew how cunning Aoki Tsuki; he had suffered greatly at the hands of him.
"Well, I can only wish him good luck," Scorpion said.
Just then, a deafening explosion came from afar. The two exchanged a glance and stealthily headed towards that direction.
They knew perfectly well that tonight's assassination attempt was actually a ploy to draw Kirigakure's attention; the real target was most likely the Fourth Mizukage.
Having understood this, they took a lax approach to tasks, not caring about failure.
Only an honest man like Juzo Biwa would work so hard.
On a treetop at the edge of the battlefield, two figures stood gazing into the distance. In the distance, they saw a humanoid creature enveloped in red Chakra, its three tails swaying erratically.
"Brother, this must be the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, the Fourth Mizukage, right?"
"Yes, the Fourth was Perfect Jinchuriki, with terrifying combat power, far surpassing the defective ones from other villages," Jūzō replied.
"The leader is also incredibly powerful. With him taking action, there shouldn't be any problems."
Aoki Tsuki wasn't worried at all; Six Paths of Pain could easily handle the tiny Three-Tails.
"Is the main target of this operation the Fourth?"
"It seems so. The employer behind this has big ambitions, Kirigakure is going to have a tough time in the future."
Perfect Jinchuriki cannot be controlled by Genjutsu, not even by Mangekyo- level ocular power. The only way is to forcibly subdue him and seal the Three-Tails within him.
Isolate the mental link between the Tailed Beast and its host, such as through Contract Seal.
Upon hearing this, Jūzō sighed, "This pathetic village..."
The Bloody Mist policy was met with much opposition when it was first implemented, as the Shinobi World War was underway and the village hoped to forge strong warriors through a brutal environment.
However, the reality is that instead of becoming stronger, the Kirigakure has continued to weaken.
Demon Zabuza further decimated the younger generation.
At this moment, the Three-Tails Jinchūriki condensed another Tailed Beast Bomb and launched it at Deva Path Pain, but it was deflected by Pain 'Shinra Tensei.
The Tailed Beast Bomb crashed into a nearby lake.
boom...
The lake was instantly emptied by the shockwave of the explosion, and a torrential downpour began in the surrounding area.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Taking advantage of the situation, the Asura Path launched more than a dozen small guided missiles, bombarding the Three-Tails Jinchūriki.
The Three-Tails Jinchūriki sprinted to evade attacks, spitting out red lasers to pick off guided missiles one by one.
quack...
The Yatagarasu flew extremely low overhead, dropping a large cluster of dense bird egg bombs.
Boom boom boom...
The explosions continued, with the Asura Path and Animal Path coordinating their attacks, while the Deva Path was responsible for defense.
Six Paths of Pain, yet he managed to corner Yagura, the Jinchūriki the Three-Tails.
The Tailed Beast ' Chakra is being continuously depleted.
Forced into a corner, Yagura unleashed a massive Water Release, transforming the battlefield into a lake and creating terrain advantageous to himself.
roar...
Completely Tailed Beast Transformation, a gigantic Three-Tails turtle appeared on the battlefield.
Boom boom boom...
The bombs struck the tortoise shell without causing any effective damage.
"Switched to a defensive strategy? Humph!"
The Preta Path, hidden in the shadows, seized the opportunity to leap onto the Three-Tails ' back, its hands pressed tightly against the turtle shell, and began to frantically absorb Chakra.
Realizing the danger, the Three-Tails struggled frantically but could not escape. In just a moment Karatachi Yagura, its chakra was drained, and it transformed back into Chakra, lying motionless on the ground.
"Capture complete!"
The battle ended, and darkness enveloped the surroundings.
Pain glanced down at the Fourth Mizukage lying on the ground, his heart unmoved, and said, "You can come out now..."
A Uzumaki black hole appeared in the pitch-black void, Obito's figure slowly emerged.
"This guy is really tough to deal with; it took some effort. I'll take care of the rest."
Obito reached out and placed his hand on the Fourth Mizukage, absorbing him into his Kamui Dimension.
"Hmm." Pain nodded and prepared to leave.
Obito replied, "I've heard that you've gathered many talented people to join Akatsuki in the past two years, bringing us one step closer to achieving our final plan."
However, these people each have their own ambitions and cannot be fully trusted; Xiao's purpose cannot be revealed to them for the time being.
"I understand. Right now, the main focus is on accumulating capital and recruiting talent."
Pain indicated that he knew his limits, and then said, "What is your purpose in capturing the Mizukage? This action will seriously provoke the Five Great Nations and put us in a passive position."
Pain strongly suspected that the other party might have sensed a threat because he had gathered a number of men.
Therefore, he wanted to acquire the Three-Tails and Six-Tails in advance to increase his bargaining power in the game against him.
Obito didn't offer any explanation, saying, "I have my own plans, all in preparation for finally capturing the Tailed Beast."
"That would be best."
After saying this, Pain turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Obito watched Pain's departing figure, his eyes darkening instantly. "Hmph, it seems that being busy dealing with Konoha these past few days has allowed you to grow quite a bit, hasn't it?"
However, the most important thing right now is to keep Kirigakure in chaos and strengthen the implementation of policies within the Bloody Mist.
On one hand, it was out of a desire for revenge, and on the other hand, it was to weaken Kirigakure and disrupt the balance of power among the Five Great Nations.
On a mountaintop five kilometers from the battlefield, Nagato was panting heavily. The battle with the Three-Tails Jinchūriki was a war of attrition.
For him now, every battle is consuming his lifespan.
Compared to when he first mastered the Six Paths of Pain, his muscles shrank again, making him even thinner.
" Nagato, how are you feeling?" Konan asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. The Three-Tails Jinchūriki has been handed over to Madara. Gather Sasori and the others, and prepare to evacuate."
"Hmm." Konan transformed into a paper butterfly and flew away.
Inside a mountain cave, several members who had been summoned by Deva Path Pain gathered together.
"How did the mission go?" Deva Path Pain asked.
Aoki Tsuki was the first to reply, "The assassination of Kaguya Miura, the patriarch of the Kaguya Miura Kawa Kaguya Clan, has been completed."
As he killed his opponent, he knew he had accomplished his goal from the angry shouts of his people.
Pain wasn't surprised at all; Aoki Tsuki was always efficient. "Well, where are the three of you?"
"The target was very wary, I encountered resistance, and was later ambushed by the Fuguki. The mission failed," Juzo Biwa reported truthfully.
Scorpion replied in a low voice, "I'm sorry, the target's water-based abilities are too bizarre. I've tried everything to kill it, but nothing works. I have no choice but to retreat."
This was his second failed mission, which made the proud Scorpion somewhat embarrassed.
"My opponent's Kekkei Genkai is very strong; I lost three hearts," Kakuzu said.
"So... all three of you failed. That's truly a pity."
Pain was slightly surprised by the result.
This could affect Madara's subsequent plans for Kirigakure, and I wonder if that will infuriate him.
In other words, only Aoki Tsuki and Pain completed the mission.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat somber.
"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in dwelling on individual mistakes. I hope you can demonstrate performance commensurate with your abilities in future missions."
The three remained silent in the face of Pain's warning.
That concludes this mission. Dismissed.
Fortunately, this mission was an internal Akatsuki operation, so failure wouldn't have a significant impact.
After taking control of Yagura, Obito quietly assumed the power of the Mizukage. However, with so many eyes watching, he still needed to be careful and lie low.
"Fortunately, we had already arranged for Xiao's men to take care of the troublemakers in the village."
"I'm afraid your plan is going to fall through, Obito!"
Zetsu emerged from the wall, gloating, "Aside from the successful assassination of the Kaguya Clan patriarch, Akatsuki's assassination mission this time failed for the other three."
"What is going on...?"
Obito was now in a panic. Sasori of the Red Sands, Kakuzu, and Juzo Biwa were all renowned figures.
"Sasori's puppets were countered by the Hozuki Clan's secret techniques; Kakuzu's commotion attracted the Anbu; Juzo Biwa was ambushed by Suikazan Fuguki."
"So, only Aoki Tsuki succeeded. What's next?"
"Hmph, it'll just take a little more time. I'll get rid of these troublesome guys one by one. No one can stop me."
Obito clenched his fist.
"By the way, this guy named Aoki Tsuki seems familiar; I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
Black Zetsu said, "This man used to be Hanzō's bodyguard. He defected to Nagato when he launched his Nagato. It seems he also secretly works for Danzo. He has multiple identities."
"So he was a spy. He's got some skills to survive under Danzo for so long."
"Should we monitor him?" White Zetsu asked.
Let's investigate this carefully.
"Knew."