Konoha.
With the chaos caused by the Six Paths of Pain and Kisa Hoshigaki, the entire village of Konoha was thrown into turmoil. But thanks to their preparations, jonin rushed to the battlefield one after another, and Chunin and Genin swiftly evacuated the villagers. Although Konoha appeared chaotic, in reality, the evacuation was happening at the fastest possible speed.
Konoha's rapid response left the Akatsuki mbers with slightly grave expressions.
By the river, Kisa's face darkened upon seeing the Blue Beast of Konoha—his old adversary—charging toward him.
"Heh, looks like Konoha spotted us as soon as we entered the village. Otherwise, there's no way they'd react so quickly. But it doesn't matter—I'm not afraid of fighting a crowd."
Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
This ti, Kisa opened with his ultimate move. After all, with so many Konoha ninjas constantly attacking, he might be overwheld by sheer numbers—just as the Third Raikage had demonstrated during the Third Great Ninja War.
In an instant, under the shocked gazes of nurous Konoha ninjas, a terrifying mass of water appeared in the distance.
"Everyone, get out of the way! If you get caught in a Water Style jutsu of this scale, it'll be hard to escape!"
"Move! The target is Akatsuki's Kisa Hoshigaki. His giant blade, Sahada, can absorb chakra..."
One jonin after another quickly dodged, and so even launched shuriken with explosive tags attached. Explosions from the tags continually disrupted the water jutsu, making Kisa, who had just prepared the technique, frown.
"Looks like our intel's been leaked. Konoha's ninjas already have counterasures."
Before the age of giant cha-style battles in the final arc, even Kage-level powerhouses found it most troubleso when their information was leaked and the enemy developed specific counter-strategies.
Now, the Konoha jonin was using exactly this tactic.
They refused close combat, keeping their distance while firing explosive tags. The explosions kept rippling through the water jutsu, and as the only one maintaining the massive water sphere, Kisa's chakra was steadily drained.
Although this wasn't a huge amount of chakra for him, he couldn't keep expanding it forever.
"Facing this many jonins, I might have to pull out early this ti."
He was causing trouble inside Konoha and facing so many jonin—Kisa wasn't stupid. He frowned inwardly, already considering retreat.
After all, their mission this ti was to capture the Nine-Tails. He was only supposed to create chaos.
It looked like Konoha was fully prepared.
Not just Kisa—elsewhere, the Six Paths of Pain were also facing targeted attacks.
In the end, at a critical mont, Animal Path used Summoning Jutsu to bring all the Paths to her side, three of them badly damaged. Seeing this, Deva Path frowned.
"Konoha seems to know the secret of the Rinnegan!"
...
anwhile, outside the village, inside the hollow trunk of a hidden forest tree, the emaciated Nagato frowned, suspicion on his face.
"Nagato, Konoha is prepared. Let's retreat for now!"
"No! The fact that Konoha is prepared is perfect. Madara has already gone to capture the Nine-Tails. This is an opportunity!"
Konan frowned but nodded at his words.
"Madara is so mysterious. We don't even really know what he's plotting. If we can test his strength this ti, maybe that's not so bad. But what about your body?"
"I'll be fine. But it seems my Rinnegan's information has been leaked. The Konoha jonin all have targeted strategies."
Three of his Paths had been taken down in a short ti, all with specific counterasures—not just sheer power. That was suspicious.
"Rinnegan intel leaked? How is that possible?!"
Konan was shocked, and then suddenly her face darkened as she thought of sothing.
"Could it be Madara!?"
Nagato fell silent. Given the Akatsuki's current situation, Madara had no reason to leak intel about his Rinnegan. But the fact remained—the information was out.
Just then, a sudden voice made both of their expressions change dramatically.
"Konan, Nagato—so this is where you are."
Shirou's voice echoed, warm and familiar as if he'd known them for years.
"You! Senju Shirou!"
A hole burst open in the paper-style-disguised tree. When the blinding sunlight shone in, Uchiha Shirou stepped inside from the light.
With a gentle smile, as he looked at this world's Konan, Shirou couldn't help but sigh:
"Konan, even in this world you're just as beautiful. But that lip piercing is a bit un-cute."
His tone was so familiar and warm that Konan tensed, stepping in front of Nagato protectively.
"Who are you, really?!"
Konan was sure she didn't know him at all, yet he seed to know them well.
"You're Konoha's Wood Style user, Senju Shirou, aren't you?"
Nagato, hidden in the wheelchair behind her, looked at Shirou calmly, without fear.
But to their surprise, Uchiha Shirou shook his head with a smile:
"I've never acknowledged the na Senju Shirou. That's just your assumption. Allow to introduce myself properly: I am Uchiha Shirou, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha from another ninja world!"
Both their faces changed in shock.
Fourth Hokage? Uchiha Shirou? Another world?
As their expressions grew graver, Shirou slowly raised his head. In their shocked eyes, the Mangekyo Sharingan slowly appeared.
"Mangekyo!"
In the ninja world, if you claim to be a Uchiha, maybe no one will believe you. But if you can activate the Sharingan, no one will doubt it.
Especially if you have the Mangekyo—that's even more convincing.
"If I explained everything, it'd take too long. Why don't you see for yourselves?"
As Shirou's calm voice echoed, the swastika-shaped Mangekyo in his eyes began to spin, instantly drawing them both into a Mangekyo illusion.
The Dragon Vein, another ninja world, almost identical to their own, with only minor differences—one that diverged during the Second Great Ninja War.
Uchiha Shirou, Mangekyo, the Fourth Hokage, and the terrifying developnts in that other world.
The Will of Fire swept through the ninja world, with ambitions to unify it for peace, and their counterparts in that world. Nagato and Konan were stunned.
The illusionary world flashed by, letting them quickly understand the developnts in this other world—and what their counterparts had beco.
In the real world, it was over in an instant.
When the two erged from the illusion, Shirou looked at them, with no intention of fighting, and smiled casually.
With a wave of his hand, a wooden chair grew from the massive tree hollow beneath him, and he sat down as if engaging in a casual chat.
"Unifying the ninja world for peace, huh!"
After fully understanding the other world, Nagato raised his head, his mysterious purple Rinnegan staring at Shirou, and let out a hoarse laugh.
"So that's it. Looks like we're headed in the sa direction. I'm using the nine-tailed beasts to create the ultimate weapon, and you rely on your strength and the powerful Konoha behind you. I didn't expect there'd be others seeking peace in another world."
At this level, both were ntally very strong.
For Nagato, while the other world was shocking, what moved him most was that another world had begun openly seeking peace through unification.
The two beca like kindred spirits, excitedly discussing the paths and developnts of their two worlds, even forgetting about the battle raging back in Konoha.
Or rather, for Nagato, this was more about testing Madara's strength—capturing the Nine-Tails was Madara's mission.
Shirou, too, wore a broad smile as they talked, while Konan seed dazed beside them—this man, could it be...?
But finally, Konan's expression hardened, and she chose to stand firmly in front of Nagato. After all, that was the other world's Konan, not her.
"So, Mr. Shirou, what's your goal in coming here this ti? Are you after the ultimate weapon? Or do you want these eyes?"
Nagato looked confused. Since they were like-minded, he even felt Shirou might be further along the sa path.
Especially since, once the ultimate weapon was complete, he'd be a god, but his body wouldn't last much longer.
Nagato's dream of peace was more a legacy from Yahiko than his own—it wasn't truly his. He was always searching for the path to peace, not following his own.
Faced with Nagato's question, Shirou nodded with a smile:
"My goal in coming to this world is simple: to completely bridge the gap between our worlds, and to bring peace and hope to this world as well.
And my goal in coming to you is also simple: to take Konan with ."
"What?!"
At first, Shirou's grand ambitions left Nagato calm—people like them never hid their ambitions.
But when Shirou calmly stated his reason for seeking them was simply to take Konan away, both Nagato and Konan's expressions changed dramatically.
"No way!"
Konan flatly refused.
"The other world's Konan made her choice. In this world, my choice is to protect Akatsuki and protect Nagato! I won't go with you."
Konan was clear about this, with not the slightest hesitation. She and the other world's Konan were two different people—that was her experience, not hers!
Seeing her refusal, Nagato's expression also hardened, his purple Rinnegan eyes radiating a powerful threat.
"Looks like, Mr. Shirou, that's sothing you just can't do."
Like-minded or not, there was no way Nagato would abandon his comrade.
But Shirou rely nodded with a smile. "I understand. But I never said I'd take Konan right now. I just believe you will ultimately fail—no one will be able to protect your Rinnegan."
His confident voice echoed, full of self-assurance.
It wasn't that Nagato wasn't strong enough—his will just wasn't firm enough!
That's why he could be swayed by Naruto's talk-no-jutsu. In Akatsuki's ranks, everyone—from the art duo to the money brothers, to the religious fanatic Hidan—was utterly devoted to their ninja way.
But Nagato's dream of peace was always inherited from soone else. His true ninja way was just to protect his comrades.
That's why he could be persuaded so easily.
While Shirou and Nagato were talking, the battle in Konoha raged on.
...
Outside Konoha, not far from the Uchiha compound, in the forest, Sasuke confronted the masked man, Obito.
The two imdiately began to fight.
"Oh, I didn't expect your eyes to have developed so far, Sasuke."
After a fierce exchange, even Obito was shocked and even considered recruiting him.
"Sasuke, now that you know everything Itachi did, you should realize that Konoha forced him... forced..."
But Sasuke, filled with murderous intent, shouted in anger:
"Shut up!"
"Those who forced Itachi have already paid the price, but the true culprit behind the Uchiha clan's destruction is you—the rat hiding in the shadows.
Mangekyo, space-ti jutsu, your mask, and Wood Style. You controlled the Nine-Tails that ti. If not for you, Konoha wouldn't have feared the Uchiha, nor would we have been ostracized..."
Fueled by fury, Sasuke's Mangekyo spun crazily, and he unleashed Amaterasu. Though Obito phased through it, the forest was soon filled with black flas.
"Itachi was hateful, sure! But you're even worse! You don't deserve the na Uchiha. You're the Uchiha's true criminal! You should be expelled from the clan—you're not worthy!"
In Sasuke's mind, this man was the one most deserving of death.
If he hadn't released the Nine-Tails back then, causing Konoha's tailed beast disaster, the village wouldn't have suspected the Uchiha.
The Uchiha might not have been popular, but the conflict wouldn't have escalated so far.
Yet this man blad it all on Konoha's elders, but he was no better.
Disgusting, all of them!
"Sasuke, you..."
A lightning flash—Sasuke's speed and power made Obito break out in a cold sweat. This speed was on par with his forr teacher, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
Although Minato was famous for the Flying Thunder God, his pure body flicker speed was also top-notch.
"You bastard, so many Uchiha died because of you. You even took part in the massacre. And now you dare to speak so shalessly..."
Sasuke's Lightning Style taijutsu pressed in, forcing Obito to stay intangible while Sasuke shouted angrily.
"No! Sothing's wrong!"
At that mont, Obito realized sothing. Though Sasuke seed furious, his eyes were cold and calculating.
Coupled with his relentless attacks and the black flas everywhere, Obito's face suddenly changed.
"Sasuke, you know my ocular jutsu!"
Sasuke broke into a cold smile, no longer hiding it.
"This jutsu has a ti limit, right? The Fourth Hokage fought you and left intel with the higher-ups. They estimate it's three to five minutes. How much longer can you keep it up now?"
With Obito maintaining intangibility for nearly four minutes, Sasuke's relentless attacks were just stalling for ti.
The Amaterasu flas everywhere ant that if Obito ever materialized, he'd instantly be burned.
"Damn! I was careless!"
Obito was shocked. Sasuke's combat experience was so rich—he'd been dancing to Sasuke's tune the whole ti.
In terms of tactics and analysis, Sasuke's style was very similar to Kakashi's—always analyzing for weaknesses, and then defeating the opponent.
Of course, only when facing strong opponents. Against weak ones, Sasuke wouldn't bother. Kakashi, on the other hand, analyzed everyone by habit.
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