Flames raged through the Hidden Cloud Village.
The Raikage Tower collapsed with a thunderous roar, rubble and smoke pouring down like a storm.
The Six Paths of Pain stepped over the bodies of fallen ANBU, their Rinnegan eyes locking onto the last figure still standing.
The final line of resistance from the Hidden Cloud only the leader remained.
The Fifth Raikage, Darui, knelt on one knee in the heart of the rubble. His broken ninja blade was thrust into the scorched earth, barely holding up his trembling body. Blood trickled down the hilt, drop by drop onto the charred ground.
"Where is the Eight-Tails?"
Tendo Pain's voice echoed coldly through the air.
"Cough... cough... Akatsuki... you bastards won't get what you want..."
Darui coughed violently, spitting out blood laced with fragments of organs. Gathering the last of his chakra, he formed hand seals to unleash one final wave of lightning.
"Foolish."
Tendo Pain extended a hand. Universal Pull.
"To defy a god is utter folly."
Darui's body was yanked into the air. In a flash, three black chakra rods pierced his chest. His lungs collapsed. Blood gushed from his mouth.
He opened his lips as if to say something, but no sound came.
Ningendo Pain stepped forward and pressed a pale hand to Darui's forehead.
Human Path: Mind Probe.
Darui's memories flashed by like a dying lantern.
The Fourth Raikage's last command: "Starting tomorrow, you'll be the Raikage."
Killer Bee's off-beat rap echoing in his ears: "Lazy Darui as Raikage, huh? Lord Bee ain't babysitting!"
Mabui handing him a hot cup of tea in the office: "Raikage-sama, it's time to rest."
And finally, the moment just before the battle: "Have them leave with Bee. Go to the Leaf. C, you're going too."
Found it.
Ningendo Pain withdrew his hand. "So, in the Leaf as well."
Darui's pupils dilated.
Tendo Pain gazed coldly at the dying Raikage and slowly pulled the rods free.
"Your death was meaningless. Our next target is Konoha."
The Fifth Raikage's body fell heavily into the ruins.
…
Northern Battlefield, Hidden Cloud.
Through the smoke and burning debris, a snow-white paper crane fluttered down and landed lightly on Kakuzu's bloodstained hand.
"Mission complete. Withdraw within five minutes."
Kakuzu's green eyes narrowed, his fingers pausing on his abacus. He grunted with dissatisfaction.
"White Tiger, give me ten more minutes. Otherwise, this was a waste of effort."
Hidan, on the other hand, was already bored. Killing was fun, but now he was ready to leave.
"Disobeying the boss, are we? Let's go already!"
Kakuzu ignored him, eyes still on the crane.
It unfolded a new message: "Delay at your own risk."
"So impatient."
Kakuzu snorted, black threads unfurling from his back to scoop up his collected loot and toss it at Hidan.
Southern Battlefield, Hidden Cloud.
A red-robed puppet pierced through a Cloud shinobi's chest.
Sasori read the message delivered by the paper crane. His puppet joints clicked ominously.
"Konan, I need to replenish my puppet army."
The crane disintegrated into ashes. The same words appeared: "Delay at your own risk."
Sasori fell silent, scanning the wreckage around him.
A bit regretful. He'd find better material in Konoha next time.
High above the burning village, a clay bird spread its wings. Deidara stood on its back, golden hair flying in the wind as he looked down at the carnage below.
This kind of chaos was pure joy for Deidara. Joining Akatsuki had been the best decision he ever made.
"Yeah! Explosions really are the ultimate art!"
He spread his arms wide, as if embracing the flaming hellscape he had created.
"One more C3 and I'll elevate the entire Cloud Village to a higher plane!"
A paper crane zipped through the smoke and landed precisely in his hand.
"Mission complete. Withdraw within five minutes."
Deidara's grin froze.
"What? Now? Boss! Give me three more minutes!"
He frantically pulled out more clay.
"I've got new moves I haven't even tested yet!"
The crane fluttered, flashing another warning.
"Tch," Deidara clicked his tongue and scratched his head.
"When will I get to be the boss?"
He looked back toward the Hidden Cloud, a hint of longing in his eyes.
"Next time... I'll show them something really big."
…
As Akatsuki members began to retreat one by one, only the howling wind remained in the burning ruins of the Hidden Cloud.
Tendo Pain hovered in the sky above. His black cloak flapped in the storm.
His Rinnegan eyes, etched with the Six Paths ripple pattern, gazed down at the smoldering village below like a god judging ants.
"Feel pain."
His voice wasn't loud, but it rumbled across the battlefield like thunder.
The surviving Cloud shinobi looked up and saw only a god-like figure, arms outstretched above the village.
"Understand pain."
Chakra surged violently. The air trembled and warped from the overwhelming power. Debris floated. Flames recoiled. Even the light seemed to collapse toward him.
"Accept pain."
And with the final word
Super Almighty Push.
The world fell silent.
Then, in a deafening burst, a shockwave erupted from Pain's body. Invisible force crushed everything in its path. Buildings turned to ash. The land cracked and crumbled in waves.
When the dust finally settled, the once-prosperous Hidden Cloud Village had been reduced to a massive crater, its edges scorched in a radial pattern.
Tendo Pain's mission was complete.
"Only when the world feels pain can true peace be born."
…
Far away
Deidara gripped tightly to his clay bird, hair whipping wildly from the shockwave. His pupils contracted in disbelief.
He stared, stunned.
So the leader was an artist too?
Without even caring whether he could be heard, Deidara shouted toward the sky.
"Boss! Boss! Let me go first in Konoha next time! I've got something huge too!"
In that moment, Deidara felt complete admiration for Pain, as a fellow artist.
Kakuzu stopped counting his money. The sheer scale of destruction reminded him of a long-ago battle against the First Hokage.
"At this level... the boss might even be stronger than Hashirama."
Hidan laughed uproariously.
"Kakuzu, you're spouting crap again."
Kakuzu's face darkened. With a swipe of his arm, a gust of wind pressure blasted Hidan into a rock wall.
Still laughing from the ground, Hidan shouted, "If Hashirama were even half as strong as the boss, you wouldn't be alive, Kakuzu!"
Sasori remained silent, staring at the ruins in the distance. He had once thought about turning the Rinnegan wielder into a human puppet.
But he hadn't expected this level of power.
And those Six Paths of Pain Sasori had seen it clearly they were puppets. A new kind of puppet, one that didn't require chakra threads to control.
His curiosity and thirst for research surged within him.
Just then, paper scattered like snow in the wind. Tendo Pain and Konan descended from the sky.
Pain's cold voice rang out.
"Mission complete."
"Rest for three days."
"Next target Konoha."
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