"Hand over the Seven-Tails, or else—"
"Bear the consequences!"
The cold voice echoed throughout Takigakure, its violent aura chilling everyone to the bone.
And his words made them realize the heart of the problem!
The Seven-Tails.
This man had come for the Seven-Tails?!
But how could it be such a coincidence—for him to arrive just as the people from Konoha had?
"Wait, that man…"
Suddenly, all of them seemed to recognize something.
Even though Takigakure lay shrouded in darkness, they could still make out that man's red hair, and—
"Isn't that the same group who fought Kitagawa Gen and the others outside the village back then?"
That black cloak with red clouds—they could never mistake it. Now they realized the situation was far more serious!
They all remembered the battle from back then. The destruction had gone far beyond anything they could have imagined.
Of course, they had worried—was this orchestrated by Konoha? Had Konoha learned of their movements and deliberately come here?
Or…
Was this all just a staged act?
"Kill him!"
At once, Takigakure's shinobi began to fight back. Those who weren't injured quickly formed groups, coordinating as they charged toward Nagato and the others.
Nagato himself did not move—but the others had already taken action!
In an instant, all of Takigakure descended into chaos.
...
"Truly putting on a show."
Inside the Konoha group's quarters, watching the unfolding turmoil, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help shaking his head.
"But why are they doing this?"
Jiraiya stared at Nagato, suppressing the anxiety in his chest as he asked in a low voice.
"Are they not afraid of drawing everyone's wrath?"
"Indeed, their target being the tailed beasts is now certain, but…"
Kakashi nodded, scanning for Uchiha Obito's figure while speaking quietly.
"Isn't this going a bit too far? Even if they're already wanted, this kind of move is unexpected."
"Not all that unexpected. After all, they were never weak."
Kitagawa Gen shook his head, recalling how their very first strike had toppled Sunagakure and even captured the Kazekage.
Now they were merely striking Takigakure—in a sense, this was them already showing restraint.
All the more so, because for the entire shinobi world, there was still an even more obvious target standing in their way!
"Um, are we really just going to do nothing?"
Kitagawa Gen and the others remained unmoved, which made Naruto grow anxious.
"Just watching like this isn't good, right?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. Letting them wear themselves out a bit more is fine."
Kitagawa Gen smiled, glancing at Sasuke—who was also searching for traces of Uchiha Itachi.
Seeing that he hadn't rushed out at Akatsuki immediately showed he truly had the look of a 'shinobi.'
"But… but—"
Naruto couldn't take it, but Kitagawa Gen remained calm.
"Didn't the Second and Third both say it before? Sometimes we have to let the shinobi world see the threat Akatsuki poses. Why don't you listen to the Hokage's orders?"
"I'm not—I just…"
Naruto looked outside where ninjutsu clashed in constant thunder, Takigakure shinobi falling one after another. He clenched his fists tightly.
Clearly, he couldn't stomach it.
Especially as the screams outside grew louder, the booming and destruction relentlessly gnawed at his nerves.
"A shinobi must be calm. Must read the situation."
Kitagawa Gen stayed the same, casting a glance at Kakashi and Jiraiya before continuing.
"We need to strike at the best possible moment. Don't you know that, Naruto?"
"…"
Naruto said nothing. He only lifted his head to stare outside, the chakra within his body already surging.
Clearly, he was ready to act at any moment!
"Let me ask you a question, Naruto."
Kitagawa Gen, still keeping watch over the situation inside Takigakure, suddenly spoke.
"When is it that people are most likely to let down their guard? Or rather—when is their vigilance at its weakest?"
"Uh…"
Naruto didn't understand what Kitagawa Gen meant, but just then, another disturbance erupted inside Takigakure.
"Found it! The Seven-Tails' jinchūriki is over here!"
With that shout, everyone's attention was drawn instinctively toward the source of the voice.
At that exact moment, violent chakra surged forth, and the entire room shook as if it were about to collapse.
"Hm?"
Up in the sky, Nagato suddenly sensed something.
In the blink of an eye, a pair of silver eyes appeared before him, and with them, a terrifying violet lightning struck as the White Fang's short blade swung out!
And in the room, it seemed as though Kitagawa Gen's parting words still lingered in the air—
"It's when they think they're about to 'win.'"
...
Roaring chakra bellowed through the air, the blade wreathed in purple arcs of lightning already cleaving toward Nagato's head.
"Hm? It's Kitagawa Gen!"
Nagato's reaction was equally swift. The instant he sensed the chakra eruption, he mobilized every drop of chakra in his body.
After all, he no longer believed in so-called 'luck.'
Over the years, every time Akatsuki acted, they would 'run into ghosts.'
Only when he was recuperating—three full years of total silence—had there been no incident.
This time, before coming out, he had already steeled himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mobilized everyone!
Whether it was running into people from Konohagakure, or that Ōtsutsuki Genshiki, he was prepared.
"The road of the Six Paths is rough by nature; this is my trial, and I must overcome it all!"
[Boom—]
Roaring chakra poured forth, a vast repulsive force blocking before him.
"I knew it was you!"
Purple lightning and a white, formless power intertwined in the sky, the two forces locked in a stalemate.
Nagato looked at Kitagawa Gen before him and spoke in a low voice, making Gen pause for a moment.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Back in our previous encounters, you always liked to strike when people were unprepared!"
"..."
"This time, the moment I heard the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki had been found and everyone's attention shifted, I knew it was you!"
"..."
"Only you would pull something like this!"
"..."
Kitagawa Gen's face darkened. This bastard Nagato—how dare he slander him?
What did he mean, the moment something happened he knew it was Gen?
"Seems you're quite confident."
Gen fixed his gaze on Nagato, the chakra in his body surging wildly.
"Then I'll see just what gives you that kind of confidence!"
The clash of forces at that instant seemed to reach its peak, a thread of white light quietly blooming between them!
That thin white glow seemed to bring light back to dim Takigakure, yet everyone who saw it broke into a cold sweat.
That chakra, surging like a flood tide, made them realize just how dangerous things were!
"Run!"
The Takigakure shinobi shouted in panic. The next instant, the white light exploded, and a massive shockwave, visible to the naked eye, thundered outward in all directions.
[Boom—]
With a deafening roar, the black iron sand blanketing the skies above Takigakure twisted violently.
As if unable to withstand the current force, the next moment it shattered into a vast 'black mist.'
The surrounding houses were instantly reduced to dust, scattered like ashes by the raging gale into nothingness.
Even houses deeper in the village—windows shattering in an instant, already-crumbling structures collapsing with a crash!
Countless Takigakure shinobi were hurled to the ground, writhing in agony. But compared to what could have happened, they were the lucky ones.
The unlucky ones—their corpses had all been obliterated in this shockwave!
"Damn it, these two…"
The Takigakure shinobi couldn't take it, and even the Akatsuki members struggled to withstand the blast.
The moment they sensed or saw a streak of purple lightning cut through the sky, they already knew who had arrived.
So they didn't hesitate to dodge aside or use their own jutsu to defend— even the Edo Tensei helped hold the line.
When the roaring subsided, the Akatsuki members looked at the wreckage before them. Seeing Sasori's 'Iron Sand Barrier' instantly shattered, they couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Just one round of exchange had caused such destruction— it truly made them take notice.
"Tch, such a hassle."
Uchiha Obito muttered under his breath. Especially as he watched Nagato sent flying, crashing into the distance, his headache only worsened.
Truth be told, from the very instant of the clash he already knew who had struck, and what unsettled him most was that he felt no surprise at all.
It was as if running into these people was the most natural thing— a feeling so strange he couldn't explain it.
"And of course, you've come too!"
He suddenly turned his head, catching sight of several kunai sparking with blue arcs of lightning.
He gave them a glance—though he knew they lacked Kamui's power, he still dodged swiftly.
Kakashi was someone he could never trust, not even a little.
"It's been three years… long time no see."
Kakashi landed, his gaze cold as he looked at the Obito before him.
"Obito."
"Don't use that fake tone with me, Kakashi."
Obito's eyes darkened, his voice turning just as cold.
"You've been leaving things inside Kamui these three years. No wonder Kitagawa Gen has become what he is now—you had no small part in it."
"..."
Kakashi fell silent, but he didn't dwell on it.
"We're shinobi. Talking about it means nothing. And besides, to stop you, what isn't worth doing?"
"Hmph, all that talk of justice—yet in the end, you're just a despicable man."
Obito's gaze grew even more indifferent, chakra surging violently through his body.
"In that case, enough talk. You're nothing but an obstacle to the transformation of the shinobi world, a destroyer of its peace. You'd best just die—it would save everyone the trouble!"
"The transformation you speak of—is that killing our sensei and his wife, causing so many deaths, and now going after Takigakure's tailed beast?"
Kakashi's chakra surged as well, his eyes burning with power.
"I've long known you were beyond saving, but I never imagined you'd sink so deep into darkness!"
"Save your words. I'm building a world of peace, something you'll never understand!"
"And I don't need to understand."
"Kakashi!"
"Obito!"
As their figures sprinted and crossed, in an instant everything around them blurred and twisted.
Kamui's power flared forth, erupting instantly between them.
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