"That's... Akatsuki. I didn't expect them to interfere in this war as well. Are they truly mercenaries?" Kakashi's face slightly changed when he saw Uchiha Madara and the others, his gaze becoming incredibly solemn.
"Are those guys Akatsuki? It's indeed Uchiha Madara." Genma Shiranui and Asuma, who had never seen Akatsuki before, instantly had a change in expression. Of course, they had heard of Akatsuki's name. In fact, after the Chunin Exams, when Uchiha Madara visited Konoha with Kisame, Konoha already knew about the Akatsuki organization.
No, to be more precise, Jiraiya had already brought back some intelligence about the Akatsuki organization when he returned earlier. However, Konoha didn't pay much attention to it until Uchiha Madara and Kisame came to Konoha and, in a "993" attack,
defeated Asuma and Kurenai. Uchiha Madara even directly heavily injured Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke with Tsukuyomi, only then did Konoha begin to take this rogue ninja organization, Akatsuki, seriously.
"Huh, I feel like I've seen that shark-faced guy somewhere? But I can't remember where." Might Guy looked at Kisame with confusion, rubbing his head vigorously, thinking desperately, looking extremely comical.
Uchiha Madara and the others quickly leaped away from their original positions, heading in the direction of the joint forces of Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone. "What do they want to do!!!? Haven't they defected? Do they still want to attack the joint forces?" Ōnoki's expression changed.
"No, they want to retreat. Unless they don't want to live, even if they surrender to Hidden Cloud, Hidden Cloud wouldn't be able to tolerate them. After all, they killed so many fellow swordsmen." Zetsu said slowly.
Several people cautiously passed through Zetsu's Susanoo, but neither Zetsu nor the Tsuchikage paid them any mind. The group instantly felt relieved and quickly rushed to the place where the allied forces were clashing with Hidden Cloud.
"Hahahaha!!!! Go to hell!!!!" Hidan maniacally brandished his blood-red scythe, his face filled with fervent madness. His face had already turned black and white, clearly having entered his cursed state.
"Everyone, be careful, don't let him get your blood! This guy's ability allows him to link the damage on his own body to others through blood!!!! And he's immortal!!!!" A Hidden Cloud jonin shouted loudly to his comrades around him. This long time had already allowed Hidden Cloud to thoroughly understand Hidan's ability.
"Hahahaha, since you know I'm immortal, what's the point of resisting!!!! Offer your souls to Lord Jashin!!!!" Hidan said with a face full of fervent laughter.
"Hidan!!!! Retreat!!!!" Kakuzu's voice echoed from afar. They saw the members of Akatsuki quickly flying over.
"It's Akatsuki, what are they still doing here!!!?" The many shinobi watched the charging Akatsuki members in shock. They all stopped fighting and became wary. Just now, they had all seen this group of guys helping the Eight-Tails resist Uchiha Madara's attack.
"He's truly an idiot. Once a battle starts, he ignores everything. Why am I paired with such an imbecile?" Kakuzu said helplessly. Then he abruptly extended his arm, and black tentacles shot out from his forearm like lightning, quickly wrapping around Hidan's body. With a sharp pull, Hidan's body instantly flew up and was pulled back to Kakuzu's side.
"Kakuzu, you bastard, what are you doing!!!? I was just getting warmed up!!!" Hidan roared discontentedly. "Idiot, retreat!!!! The mission is complete!!!!" Kakuzu said coldly.
"Tch!!!!" Hidan snorted unhappily. "Alright, let's go!!!!" Uchiha Madara said, and then several figures instantly vanished from their spot, turning into several black shadows that merged into the distant forest and disappeared.
"Did they run? But that's good. Without Akatsuki, our pressure will be much lighter. Otherwise, the losses from this battle would be even greater, and Konoha's shinobi seem to have come to help us..." Samui said lightly, leaning towards Kakashi and the others in the distance. Although she was extremely wolf-like (exhausted and wounded) all over, she still remained remarkably calm.
At this moment, the Raikage still had a cold expression. Kakashi said somewhat helplessly: "Raikage-sama, I believe you can also see the current situation. Actually, we didn't want to come either. After all, this war has nothing to do with Konoha. However, if the Hidden Cloud Village is defeated, it won't benefit Konoha in any way. Furthermore, Uchiha Madara and Konoha have a deep hatred. I believe Raikage-sama also knows that, right?"
Hearing Kakashi's words, the Raikage also snorted. He naturally knew what Kakashi meant. Konoha needed Hidden Cloud Village to contain Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Sand Village. If Hidden Cloud Village was defeated, even if it wasn't destroyed, its strength would be greatly reduced.
In contrast, Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Sand Village would grow stronger, and their power would increase. This was not what Konoha wanted to see. To put it plainly, at this stage, Hidden Cloud Village still had value to Konoha, so Konoha did not wish for Hidden Cloud Village to decline.
Ultimately, it was a matter of balance. Now that Konoha's strength had been greatly reduced, it needed Hidden Cloud Village to divert attention and contain Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Sand Village. To put it more simply, it was a shield.
As the Raikage, how could he not understand the meaning in Kakashi's words? Although this was the truth, the Raikage's arrogance made it difficult for him to accept this stark reality of being used.
The Raikage seemed to think of something and suddenly scoffed at Kakashi and the others:
"Can just a few of you stop Hidden Stone and Hidden Sand? And Uchiha Madara and the Tsuchikage...?"
"Of course, a few of us alone can't stop them. We are just the vanguard. This time's reinforcements are not just us from Konoha." Genma Shiranui said lightly, chewing on a toothpick.
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