Pitter-patter...
Cold rain continuously fell on this cold country.
This was a country sunlight could not reach.
Dark clouds perpetually shrouded it.
Like the despair weighing on people's hearts, making it hard to breathe.
On the tallest building in this city, a person expressionlessly watched the rain curtain before him.
This endless rain curtain was both this country's unique feature and also a result he orchestrated from behind.
That's right, this person silently standing in the rain was Pain.
And this rain was his means of monitoring the entire Amegakure.
Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Under his surveillance, no one could infiltrate Amegakure.
But it also meant the people of Amegakure always lived within this rain curtain.
It was said many in Amegakure suffered from various rheumatic diseases at a very young age.
Perhaps it was related to this technique.
Watching the rain, Pain was currently pondering other matters.
And the matter that could concern him now was naturally the thorn in his side: Takumi.
'With Uchiha Itachi taking action, there should be no problem.'
'His Genjutsu, and his bizarre Dojutsu, were extremely troublesome.'
'Not to mention his Susano'o, whose power was immense when he went all out.'
'And besides Uchiha Itachi, there was Hoshigaki Kisame, who is practically a humanoid Biju.'
'With the two of them, this mission should definitely succeed.'
As Pain was thinking this, a familiar rustling sound came from behind.
It was Konan.
"They've returned."
Konan's voice was low.
"Hmm?"
Pain sensed something off in Konan's tone, but he didn't turn around. "How did it go? Did they succeed?"
Konan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she fell into brief silence.
"Haa..."
Konan let out a long sigh, then said with a grim expression, "I think... it's better if you see for yourself."
Pain turned around. Seeing Konan's troubled face, his heart couldn't help but sink.
'What's going on?'
'Did these two fail as well?'
'Or... are they dead?'
'Is Takumi's strength that formidable?'
Not wasting time, Pain and Konan immediately went to the base below.
Soon, he saw the two who had gone on the mission.
Itachi was as usual, standing silently to one side.
'Uchiha Itachi seemed fine.'
Then Pain turned to look at the other person.
And at that moment, Kisame's behavior made a vein pop on his forehead.
"Hey hey, you guys must be good at this. Don't you know any heat-resistant Ninjutsu?"
"Like the kind that can withstand a 500-meter Great Fireball."
"Or that kind... where the body naturally emits high heat, capable of roasting a person into a dried corpse."
Kisame pestered Kakuzu and Sasori, trying to find a way to counter Takumi.
But Kakuzu and Sasori hadn't seen it firsthand.
Being pestered by Kisame and hearing about these unbelievable techniques just annoyed them.
"Don't bother me! I don't have time for you."
Kakuzu held an abacus, calculating this month's accounts for the Akatsuki.
Anyone daring to disturb him at a time like this, he wouldn't hesitate to attack.
"Hmph, heat-resistant techniques? Shouldn't you look into water techniques, your specialty?"
Sasori at least gave a direction.
But if water techniques could do it, Kisame would have learned them already.
The problem was they couldn't!
That bizarre high temperature, capable of turning an enemy into a dried corpse in seconds…
Could water techniques block that?
"I told you, it's not ordinary Fire Release. It's a huge Fire Release. Have you ever seen a 500-meter Great Fireball?"
"Kisame, are you joking? How could a fireball be that big? Can a human even do that?"
Hidan looked completely unconvinced.
"Talking to you is a waste."
Kisame had no intention of dealing with Hidan, the amateur.
In his eyes, within the organization, besides Pain and Itachi, only Sasori and Kakuzu were reliable.
He turned back to Sasori.
"So, is there a technique that lets fish stay combat-ready even in hot water?"
"I mean, like, if I use a water technique, and he boils my water, and I still need to keep fighting him."
"You work with puppets, so you must deal with high heat often, right? For sterilization."
Pestered by Kisame's questions, Sasori was speechless.
'What are you trying to do?'
'How could fish survive in hot water?'
'If the other guy can boil the water, and you still want to fight…'
'Wouldn't that make you boiled fish?'
Sasori ignored Kisame.
But Kisame was a persistent man.
And among those present, only Sasori had responded to him just now.
He naturally wouldn't let Sasori off the hook.
"If that doesn't work, then are there any heat-insulating materials? Something you could apply to the body or coat with a film to resist high temperatures."
"You work with puppets, so you must be familiar with such materials, right?"
Kisame changed direction, no longer pursuing Ninjutsu.
Instead, he wanted to rely on the help of tools.
"No!"
Sasori rolled his eyes. "If even you can't withstand that temperature, relying on high-temperature-resistant materials is definitely useless. Just give up!"
"Then, could it be..."
Before Kisame could finish asking, Kakuzu's gloomy voice immediately reached everyone's ears.
"Shut up, all of you! If I hear your voice again, I'll sew your mouth shut! So you can never say another word!"
Clearly, Kisame's noisy chatter had disturbed Kakuzu's calculations.
Hearing this, Kisame looked somewhat aggrieved.
'I'm asking serious questions, you know.'
'Why are you all so reluctant to answer?'
'And this question is crucial!'
'It's about whether we can defeat Takumi!'
Kisame looked full of grievance, but he completely failed to notice.
He was indeed asking questions about how to counter Takumi,
But the key point was, he hadn't explained to the others why he was asking these questions.
Because even if he told them, they probably wouldn't believe him.
A 500-meter Great Fireball?
Temperatures that can melt mountains?
Damn, is he trying to fool idiots?
Kisame just didn't want to waste time explaining to these idiots, so he asked directly.
This led to others hearing him suddenly ask these questions, thinking he had just gone crazy.
Seeing that no one present wanted to deal with him, Kisame felt utterly dejected.
At that moment,
In the sky.
Pain and Konan slowly descended.
Seeing the two arrive, Kisame's eyes lit up.
'Pain is so strong, he must have a way, right?'
He eagerly rushed up to Pain.
Opening his mouth to speak, he paused and glanced back at Kakuzu, finding him immersed in calculations.
Reassured, he turned back, lowering his voice to ask:
"Leader."
"If you encounter an enemy who can spit a 500-meter diameter fireball, what do you do? If you encounter an opponent whose body temperature is so high it can turn a living person into a dried corpse in seconds, what do you do?"
"If the opponent's Ninjutsu heavily counters Water Release, what then?"
Kisame looked completely serious.
Opposite him, Pain's face was expressionless.
But Nagato, hidden behind the scenes, couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
'Takumi again?'
'What's the situation this time?'
'High-temperature Ninjutsu?'
'Even Kisame, a Water Release expert, can't handle it?'
Seeing Kisame looking mentally disturbed, Pain's eyes flickered slightly.
'How many is this now?'
'Is our Akatsuki going to go up one by one, only to be driven crazy by Takumi?'
'Takumi, if this kid isn't eliminated, the future trouble is endless!'
'If this kid continues like this, probably everyone in Akatsuki except me will go insane, won't they?'
'Not good, I need to carefully think of a countermeasure!'