The Enemy Is Now, But The Commander-In-Chief Has Disappeared?

"Yes."

It wasn't Kabuto who answered Pain, but Uchiha Itachi. These powerful figures from the sea were, naturally, from the Pirate World. And these individuals had, of course, been killed by members of the Akatsuki organization. At least half of them had fallen at the hands of Uchiha Itachi himself! After all, as the owner of the Sharingan, Itachi found it easier to kill!

Especially concerning Devil Fruit users; everyone had different abilities, and their fighting styles varied. While other Akatsuki members might get headaches when facing Devil Fruit users, once a Devil Fruit user encountered Uchiha Itachi, the headaches were all theirs! The illusions of his Sharingan rendered these Devil Fruit ability users unable to harness their powers. Before they could even utilize their formidable abilities, they would fall into Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu. Then, they were inexplicably captured.

As for why these Devil Fruit users were captured instead of being killed on the spot, that was also Uchiha Itachi's idea. Before this, after harvesting a Devil Fruit from the sea, Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki had brought it back to the Akatsuki base. Pain accidentally discovered that the energy contained within the Devil Fruit could also provide activation energy for the Gedo Statue. Such a discovery prompted the Akatsuki members to start actively searching for Devil Fruits.

However, Uchiha Itachi was naturally intelligent, different from ordinary people. He wondered: Since Devil Fruits can provide activation energy for the Gedo Statue, what about Devil Fruit users themselves? Our sealing formations can strip the tailed beasts from a Jinchuriki's body, so what about these Devil Fruit users? Could it work? This was Uchiha Itachi's sudden whim at the time.

Finally, he captured Devil Fruit users and brought them back to Akatsuki's base. The Akatsuki members used their sealing formations to extract the Devil Fruit powers from their bodies and supplied it to the Gedo Statue. It worked! This discovery felt like the Akatsuki organization had stumbled upon a new continent! After all, compared to the hard-to-find Devil Fruits themselves, Devil Fruit users were much easier to acquire! Therefore, the activation of the Gedo Statue was far ahead of its progress in the original manga! During this process, Akatsuki members brought back at least 30 Devil Fruit users! These individuals all died after being drained of their Devil Fruit power.

And now, after being reincarnated by the Impure World Reincarnation, these people could still utilize their Devil Fruit abilities! For the Akatsuki organization, this was simply a colossal gain! The fact that these powerful Devil Fruit users were killed by Akatsuki members didn't mean they were weak; it simply meant Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan illusions were too formidable! And now, brought back by the Impure World Reincarnation, their Devil Fruit abilities were going to be incredibly frightening!

"Very well, this major shift in the world is a huge benefit to our Akatsuki organization! The activation of the Gedo Statue, completed so far ahead of schedule, has given us so many helpers for no reason!" Pain nodded, expressing his satisfaction.

To most, the leader of the Akatsuki organization showed no emotion and was always serious. Sometimes, they even wondered if their leader was truly human. But everyone was there for their own purposes, so they no longer cared about such trivial matters.

When all the necessary Impure World Reincarnation characters had been revived, Pain gave an order! The Fourth Great Ninja War had officially kicked off! These Impure World Reincarnation powerhouses and the Akatsuki members marched towards the battle site at the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. And underground, as many as 100,000 White Zetsu clone soldiers were also advancing to the front lines! These White Zetsu were produced using the energy of the Gedo Statue. After so many years of accumulation, their numbers had reached such a terrifying level!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

During their advance, five figures suddenly appeared beside Pain. When the Akatsuki members saw these newcomers, they all looked confused.

"Who are these people?"

"They look a bit like Pain."

"Pain, are they part of our forces?"

"Yes, they are my subordinates. They obey my command and are considered part of my combat power. Since this is a decisive battle, I should reveal all my cards!" Pain nodded and stated.

Everyone began to scrutinize the five newcomers, especially the more talkative members of the organization, who approached to greet them. However, the five new figures seemed unresponsive. Not only did they not utter a word, they didn't even show the slightest expression, and they didn't allow anyone to impede their progress.

Uchiha Itachi calmly squinted his eyes, carefully observing the five individuals. He even used his Sharingan to analyze them. However, after observing for a while, Uchiha Itachi found he couldn't see through them!

"These five people are very dangerous!" Uchiha Itachi silently evaluated the five figures in his heart.

Although he was heading to the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning with the Akatsuki organization, in reality, he wasn't truly aligned with their goals! He had joined the Akatsuki organization partly to threaten Danzo Shimura, and partly to monitor the Akatsuki organization's movements. Uchiha Itachi wasn't deeply concerned about the Fourth Great Ninja War itself. The life and death of other villages had nothing to do with him. He just wanted to keep Konoha Village safe. To what lengths would he go to protect Konoha Village? To such an extent that he would personally slaughter the entire Uchiha clan! Yes, he was a qualified Konoha villager, but he was not a qualified Uchiha clan member! If it weren't for his deep bond with his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke, he might already be a truly ruthless individual!

After more than ten days of continuous travel, the White Zetsu army and the Impure World Reincarnation powerhouses, under Akatsuki's leadership, finally arrived at the battle site at the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.

"Everyone, stay alert! When the enemy rushes into the detonator's boundary, begin mobilization!" Commander-in-Chief Gaara gave a loud order.

"Finn, what countermeasures do you have?" Chief of Staff Tsunade turned to look at Finn beside her and asked.

But when she turned around, she suddenly discovered that Finn had already left.

"Lord Commander, he...?"

On the other side, Mei Terumi also noticed this situation. Everyone was shocked! The enemy was at hand, and their Commander-in-Chief had disappeared!