Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen sat in his chair, waiting silently. He had called Takumi for no other reason than the upcoming Chunin Exams.
For such an important matter, how could he not ask Takumi's opinion? He was Konoha's strongest asset now, a pillar of support!
Even he, the Hokage, needed to hear his views!
Knock, knock, knock.
A sound came from the door.
The daydreaming Hiruzen immediately perked up and said in a kindly voice, "Come in."
"Hokage-sama, I heard you were looking for me?" Takumi pushed the door open and entered.
"Correct. What are your thoughts on the upcoming Chunin Exams?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.
"The Chunin Exams?" Takumi soon realized it was already that time. After thinking for a few seconds, he deliberately pondered and said, "Hokage-sama, I believe the Shinobi World is in chaos now, and Konoha hasn't showcased our strength for a while."
"This is an excellent opportunity to display Konoha's powerful young talent. I suggest inviting the Five Great Ninja Countries to participate together."
"Showcasing Konoha's immense potential to the entire Shinobi World is the way to restore Konoha's mighty prestige!" Takumi declared loudly.
'Hmm.'
'Makes sense.'
'We must let other countries know that Konoha still has a peerless genius like you.'
'If we hide a genius like you, wouldn't that be like wearing fine clothes only to walk at night?'
"Good! We'll do as you say. I will immediately invite the Great Shinobi Villages to participate!" Hiruzen said gravely. "Also, Takumi, only your presence can truly display Konoha's might. Therefore, you must participate in this Chunin Exams!"
"Shining for Konoha is our unshirkable responsibility!" Takumi didn't forget his persona and said with a solemn expression.
The matter of the Chunin Exams was quickly finalized.
...
On the other side.
The Land of Rain.
Amegakure, in the cavern at the top of the tallest building.
Pain stood at the cave entrance, drenched in the cold rain, his Rinnegan indifferently gazing into the distance.
"The gloomy weather is like the shadow pressing on the hearts of the people of the Land of Rain."
"It represents the pain this country has endured, which is why it refuses to disperse for so long."
"But one day, I will disperse this rain and let sunlight forever shine on this land."
"Let true peace descend upon the Land of Rain, upon the entire Shinobi World!"
After expressing his feelings, Pain thought of the four-member team sent out for investigation.
"With Tobi and Kakuzu along, there shouldn't be any problems," Pain said, looking towards the Land of Waves, 'This time, we should be able to eliminate that threat named Takumi.'
'Someone who will inevitably become an obstacle to our Akatsuki can only be put to eternal rest.'
Pain was silently thinking when suddenly, a strange movement occurred behind him.
"Huh?" Pain looked beside him. A space distortion appeared, and the masked Obito materialized.
The journey back from the Land of Waves to the Land of Rain shouldn't have taken long. But due to special circumstances, the group was delayed for quite a while.
As for that special circumstance? Naturally, it was that another member of Akatsuki had gone mad.
"How did it go? Did you deal with that Takumi?" Pain asked Obito.
Hearing this, Obito's already foul mood worsened. He remained silent, his single Sharingan glaring, filled with bitterness, helplessness, strangeness... all sorts of emotions contained within.
After shooting a resentful look at Pain, Obito directly used Kamui, the space twisted, and he flew away.
"What happened?" Pain felt a sense of foreboding. "Did the plan fail again?"
Before Pain could recover, pieces of paper flew down from the sky, coalescing into Konan's form.
"Did things not go smoothly? Looking at Tobi's state, it seems something went wrong," Pain frowned and asked.
"Sigh..." Konan sighed helplessly. "Go see for yourself downstairs. I really don't know what to do anymore."
"What do you mean? Even with Tobi and Kakuzu taking action, they couldn't deal with Takumi?" Pain frowned deeply, then followed Konan to the base's main hall.
"Dammit, what exactly happened?"
"That brat is like a slippery loach! I couldn't hit him no matter what!"
"Why couldn't I hit him? Did I fall under a Genjutsu? No! I definitely didn't, so why couldn't I hit him?"
"What kind of Ninjutsu was that? Does such a technique really exist?"
"Or was that his actual strength?"
Kakuzu grumbled incessantly.
After cursing, he fell into self-doubt.
He couldn't make sense of the battle scene no matter how hard he thought about it.
Whether it was large-area Ninjutsu or high-speed Ninjutsu, nothing could hit Takumi.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on!"
"Is that brat even human?"
"Is he a Sage? No? Sages are usually animals, not human forms."
Kakuzu kept muttering to himself.
And beside him, Deidara was also chattering nonstop.
"You bastards! You actually knocked me out!"
"I missed seeing Takumi-senpai's heroic figure!"
"How are you going to make it up to me!"
"This isn't something a bit more pay can solve!"
"What's going on here?"
Pain felt confused upon seeing this.
'What the hell, even Kakuzu has gone crazy?!'
'Kakuzu was the most experienced member in our organization!'
'But even he couldn't handle it?!'
"This is what happened." Konan briefly explained the situation at the time.
"You're saying that Takumi used a very bizarre body technique to dodge all of Kakuzu's attacks?"
"Is such a thing even possible?"
Pain's brows were tightly furrowed, and he was deeply skeptical about this.
"I didn't want to believe it either, but the facts are right before my eyes, I have no choice." Konan sighed.
"Never mind, let's get them back to normal first." Pain approached Kakuzu.
"Calm down, Kakuzu. If we didn't resolve it this time, we'll do it next time." Pain said: "Think carefully about how the opponent managed it, and strive to kill him with one strike next time."
"I know." Kakuzu replied sullenly.
If it were before, he definitely wouldn't have responded so resentfully.
But right now, his mind was filled with scenes of his battle with Takumi.
He racked his brains but couldn't figure out how Takumi had done it.
Not a single attack managed to harm Takumi in the slightest.
Fighting for hours without even touching his clothes… isn't this a ghost story?
"And you, Deidara, stop making a fuss too." Pain looked sternly at Deidara.
"Hmph!" Deidara snorted coldly, saying stubbornly: "It was all Kakuzu's fault for acting recklessly, that's why I didn't get to appreciate Takumi-senpai's heroic figure. I suffered a huge loss!"
"Shut up if you don't want to die." Kakuzu snarled viciously.
"Tch!" Deidara curled his lip, "Just bullying people because you're stronger."
Seeing the group, with some crazy, some ran away, some arguing...
Pain suddenly felt a headache.
He suddenly felt it was so difficult...
'Good grief.'
'The road ahead is rough. Can my plan actually be realized...'
Pain was feeling dazed.