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This sudden intruder caught Midorima off guard, even disrupting his plans.
And in a certain sense, now wasn't the time for Jiraiya to die.
Unlike Tsunade, there was far more "wool" to shear from Jiraiya.
For him, whether it was senjutsu, summoning, or other ninjutsu, all of it was far more practical than Tsunade's medical ninjutsu.
Of course, he didn't dare to brazenly save Jiraiya either—after all, "Akatsuki" was formidable, not to mention the "Demonic Statue of the Outer Path" and Obito. To put it bluntly, if he went up against them, he'd just be throwing his life away.
To deal with "Akatsuki," he had to play the long game and tangle with them slowly.
Now wasn't the time for a showdown, but causing some chaos? That he could do.
Just relying on himself to stir things up wouldn't be enough, though. It'd be best to pull in one more person.
Itachi was obviously the most suitable choice.
However, with those paper butterflies trailing behind him, directly approaching Itachi wasn't realistic. After mulling it over, he decided on a "chance encounter."
Since Konan had marked all the hideouts of the remnants, and Midorima knew the direction Itachi had headed off in, it wasn't hard to guess Itachi's destination and then calculate the routes he might take. Midorima simply picked a shop along that street to test his luck.
The shopkeeper looked utterly embarrassed.
Because of those paper butterflies, he desperately wanted to shoo Midorima away.
Those were the "angel's" butterflies—he was just an ordinary person; how could he defy the angel's will?
But the guy in front of him wasn't someone to mess with either. Red cloud cloak—clearly an "Akatsuki" member, one of Pain's direct subordinates... If he just up and killed him on the spot, there'd be nowhere to reason with that.
Midorima paid no mind to the shopkeeper's thoughts, his eyes finally fixed on the outside.
He'd just popped an octopus ball into his mouth when a shadow flashed by outside. Spotting it, Midorima immediately chased after.
"Hey... money!" The shopkeeper saw Midorima bolt up and suddenly remembered he hadn't paid, but the guy was already gone. "Ugh... whatever."
As long as this plague-bringer was gone, everything else was fine.
"Hey, you up ahead, slow down." Midorima hurried forward to catch up. "I remember you—Itachi, right?"
"Who are you?" Itachi slowed his pace, only to see the mask flip up as a man with a skewer of octopus balls followed him.
"Want some?" Midorima offered the skewer. "It's down to just one octopus ball now, but the taste is still pretty good."
Itachi snorted coldly. "I don't know you."
"As long as I know you, that's enough." Midorima popped the last octopus ball into his mouth. "Guess who the intruder is?"
"How should I know?" Itachi shook his head.
"I don't know either, but I have a guess." Midorima grinned.
"Hm?"
"Probably someone from a major ninja village. After all, ninjas from those minor villages shouldn't be able to get in."
"What are you getting at?"
"Nothing much. I was just thinking—could it be someone you know? You're from a major ninja village too." Midorima chuckled.
"You want to die." Itachi's gaze sharpened.
"You can't kill me."
"That remains to be seen." Itachi said coldly.
"Uh... even if you want to kill me, can't it wait until we're out of Amegakure? This is Pain's turf." Midorima lowered his voice.
Itachi fell silent, glancing at Midorima again, only to see him pull his mask back down.
Who the hell was this guy? And that intruder from a major ninja village... could it really be Konoha?
What was this masked man's deal?
Itachi's mind was a mess; he couldn't recall knowing this person at all.
Midorima didn't continue chatting with Itachi either. With those paper butterflies still following, he couldn't speak too plainly—only drop a subtle hint. As for whether they could actually "cause chaos," that would depend on the situation.
When the butterflies led the two to the "hideout," they found six or seven people surrounded by Sasori, Kisame, and Pain, with another six or seven lying on the ground.
"Sorry, got here late." Midorima said.
"Why'd you take so damn long?" Sasori shot Midorima a glance.
"The opponent was a tough one—" Midorima's eyes swept over the surrounded group. The one standing at the front was none other than Jiraiya.
'Uh... so it really is you. This is getting tricky.'
Even if Midorima slacked off without putting in effort, Jiraiya might not escape.
He glanced at Itachi again, only to see him looking equally at a loss. Clearly, Jiraiya's appearance had caught him off guard too.
The current Itachi was markedly different from the Itachi in the manga.
The manga Itachi had killed everyone in his clan except Sasuke, leaving him no chance to return to Konoha. But this Itachi was a different story.
He still had a shot at going back.
Killing Jiraiya, though? That would change everything.
"Teacher, what are you doing here? Is there someone in this village colluding with you? Signaled you to sneak in? Who is it? Orochimaru? Or Danzo?" Pain asked. "Have them come out."
Midorima jolted in surprise, but looking around carefully, he indeed didn't see Danzo or Orochimaru anywhere.
"Pah! How long do you think you can keep up the act? Isn't it you who wants to control the Hokage? Just like you did with the Mizukage?" Even surrounded, Jiraiya showed no fear whatsoever.
Kisame's brow furrowed slightly, his eyes locked straight on Jiraiya.
He knew about the Mizukage being controlled—that's why he'd killed Suikazan and fled.
He hadn't expected the news to reach Konoha already.
"What exactly do you know?" Pain's gaze sharpened.
"You think no one knows what you've done? There are no secrets in this world." Jiraiya laughed. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Nagato, right? What about Yahiko? Konan?"
"They're all dead... Teacher Jiraiya, since you've come, don't think about leaving. 'Akatsuki'—kill him!" Pain pointed at Jiraiya.
"No one move—he's mine!" Itachi shouted, charging forward first.
Jiraiya formed hand seals with both hands, spitting a stream of fire at Itachi. Itachi didn't back down, countering with "Fireball Jutsu."
The flames collided, erupting in a blinding blaze. Itachi charged straight into the fire without hesitation.
Kisame's lips curled up. He formed seals, and a water dragon slammed into the flames.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Itachi dodged in a hurry, glaring at Kisame in fury.
"I seem to recall you're from Konoha too, huh?" Kisame asked.
"You planning to take me out as well?" Itachi shot back at Kisame.
"Quit bickering here—everyone, attack! I don't believe he can escape!" Pain pointed at Jiraiya.
Midorima was surprised by Pain's actions.
In the original story, Pain had summoned his technique the moment he saw Jiraiya, but this Pain clearly had no intention of joining the fight.
What was going on?
Doubts swirled in Midorima's mind as Sasori and Kisame launched their assault.
The water dragon bullet struck first at Jiraiya, followed closely by Hiruko's tail smashing toward him.
Seeing this, Midorima knew that even if he was just fishing for an easy out, he had to make some show of effort. He performed earth release: "Earth Stone Dragon," summoning a massive earth dragon that trailed the water dragon bullet toward Jiraiya, incidentally forcing Sasori back.
"What are you doing?" Sasori snarled in anger.
He'd been schemed against by Midorima countless times; whenever Midorima was behind him, he stayed on high alert.
"Sorry, not the best spot for close combat—why don't you hang back a bit?" Midorima showed no real remorse.
Sasori was fuming, about to unleash a tirade, when a massive toad suddenly appeared before the group.