Chapter 117: Sudden Appearance of the Third Party...

There was no superfluous talk at this high-level showdown; every second was a dazzling contest of wits and combat.

Backed by five thousand White Zetsu clones diverting the enemy's firepower, Akatsuki opened with a powerful, sweeping offensive. Both the Kumo-nin on the field and the spies from other nations watching in secret could feel the immense difference in raw numbers and strength.

But that early advantage was only temporary.

As always, shinobi battles are battles of information. Unless someone's power is so far beyond normal that sheer numbers can't stop them—another dimension of strength entirely—two common weaknesses remain for ninja: they are "fragile" and have "limited chakra."

A single well-placed kunai can kill if it hits a vital spot.

An explosive tag can also kill if it goes off on you.

And once you run out of chakra, you're no different than an ordinary person.

Every Kumo-nin in a flak jacket was at least chūnin level—a "small elite" among ninja. Under normal circumstances, each of them already had the ability to lead a team on missions.

In wartime, a group of such chūnin, commanded by more experienced jōnin, would have even greater efficiency in all areas—combat, reconnaissance, medical, sealing, and so forth.

At first, Akatsuki's side displayed a huge numerical advantage, but soon the Kumo forces collected enough intel on them and gradually started applying pressure in return.

Take Deidara, for example. After dropping Sasori onto the ground, he flew overhead on his giant white clay bird, acting like a bomber, scattering explosive clay animals of various sizes to blanket the battlefield indiscriminately.

Before he could fully enjoy his bombarding, however, a Kumo-nin attempted to pre-detonate the clay using Lightning Release. When lightning jutsu struck the explosive clay in midair, those bombs failed to explode in the sky. They even became duds upon falling to the ground.

"That guy's techniques are Earth-natured—everyone use lightning against him!"

The Kumo-nin swiftly spread this intel.

"He's airborne and troublesome. Let me handle him."

So Darui stepped forward, clapping his hands and firing multiple laser-like blasts of strong lightning toward the airborne Deidara:

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Storm Release combined the destructive power of Lightning Release with the fluid control of Water Release, so its beams chased Deidara's bird in the sky like homing missiles, matching every climb, dive, and speed change.

"Tch... They already figured that out?"

Deidara tried throwing more clay bombs at the laser barrage, but they were destroyed before he could detonate them. He cursed under his breath:

"If I didn't have to worry about 'friendly fire,' I'd show you fools C4: Karura...! Hmph!"

Unable to avoid the lasers, Deidara abandoned his white bird and leapt down, landing beside Sasori.

Noticing Sasori was now wielding the Third Kazekage puppet and commanding a puppet army plus his Magnet Release trump card against over a hundred Kumo-nin, yet failing to secure a clear advantage, Deidara quipped:

"Sasori-bro, looking a bit cornered, huh?"

"Shut up. Give me a hand," Sasori replied curtly.

As a puppet master, Sasori despised going up against foes adept at kenjutsu and taijutsu—especially fast specialists.

His parents had died at the hands of Konoha's White Fang, but most Kumo-nin excelled at nin-taijutsu, effectively making them "mini White Fangs" across the board—a natural counter to Sasori.

"Watch out for his poison needles! Anyone poisoned, fall back to the medics immediately!"

C and Samui led the assault against Sasori.

They had already destroyed nearly a hundred of Sasori's puppets, yet found no real satisfaction suppressing him. Instead, their hearts only grew heavier.

Completely different from those man-puppets seen during the "incident at Kumo."

No chakra lines were hidden inside them, their material was inferior, they couldn't use the Five Basic Nature Transformations. Sasori himself looked rather taxed and treated his Third Kazekage puppet like a precious gem—clearly not faking it.

Which meant he truly wasn't the one who manipulated that puppet army last time, or who turned Danzo's corpse into a puppet that even bested the Fourth Raikage for a time.

Likely, Tsunade's intel about a hidden mastermind had been correct. They were just being used as a tool in someone else's plan to destroy Akatsuki.

Realizing that, Shi and Samui—and many Kumo-nin who'd also guessed the truth—could only grimace darkly. Yet since the Raikage hadn't ordered a retreat, they were bound to keep fighting. They believed in their Raikage's judgments—he wouldn't wage a pointless war.

Meanwhile, the Immortal Duo wasn't doing well either.

After Kakuzu sewed Hidan's head back on with Earth Grudge Fear, Hidan managed to score a second victim, drawing the shinobi's blood.

Then in front of everyone's shocked eyes, he slit open his own abdomen to draw a huge volume of blood, traced out a ritual pattern, and performed his curse right then and there—instantly killing his target.

But that display, while intimidating, was also monumentally foolish.

Once Hidan took blood from a second Kumo-nin and moved to stand in his symbol again, they immediately deduced the jutsu's weakness. If not for Kakuzu and his masked monsters providing timely support, the Kumo-nin would have dismembered Hidan on the spot.

So just like in the original story, the Immortal Duo—extremely dangerous in single duels or surprise attacks—got pinned down quickly once their methods were exposed.

In contrast, the ones who had yet to reveal their full power—Kisame and Itachi—still held the upper hand.

Each time the enemy felt they had gleaned some intel on them, these two revealed a new level of ability or synergy. Their strong rapport, silent coordination, plus their own formidable skill left the Kumo-nin—whether chūnin, jōnin, or elite jōnin—feeling utterly hopeless, like they were up against the Five Kage themselves.

The only one still clowning around was "Tobi"—Obito—who refused to show any real abilities or kill a single foe, as though toying with the Kumo-nin.

Meanwhile, behind the mask, his Sharingan surveyed the entire battlefield, evaluating each Akatsuki member's performance:

As Obito had guessed, Itachi and Kisame were a cut above the rest.

In particular, with just his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, illusions, and crows, Itachi could toy with enemies. He had scarcely used Fire Release at all, never mind the Mangekyō.

Whenever large-scale ninjutsu threatened him, Itachi either used Shunshin to evade or called on Kisame to handle it.

Kisame, fortunately, was loyal to Obito's cause, or the pair's synergy could overthrow the organization's balance any time.

As Kumo-nin, White Zetsu's army, and the main Akatsuki members clashed, Pain's Six Paths plus Konan—and the AB Combo with Yugito—tacitly shifted their battlefield to an expansive rocky zone, so as not to cause friendly-fire collisions with their immense power.

Konan soared overhead, launching ordinary paper shuriken and exploding-tagged paper from her wings in a hail of attacks, while the giant clay bird soared above the Two-Tails that hopped through the craggy terrain below.

Nearby, the dog summons, the chameleon, and the ram hammered away at Nii Yugito's Matatabi while intangible bombs flew from Asura Path. The terrain turned into a war zone.

On the otherwise barren plains, Pain's Six Paths faced off against the AB Combo in a top-tier showdown:

"Lightning Release: Liger Bomb!"

Wrapped in bluish-white lightning, the Fourth Raikage flashed in like a teleport, fixating once more on Preta Path, the one who could absorb ninjutsu and chakra—a huge threat to Killer Bee.

"Shinra Tensei!"

From the lineup of Pain's other bodies, Tendo Pain just raised a single hand, calmly releasing a repulsive shockwave that sent the Raikage flying.

Human Path and Naraka Path flicked their sleeves, launching a volley of sharp black rods like arrows at the Raikage as he was flung skyward.

Just before the rods hit the target, a giant octopus limb shot out and intercepted them.

Thinking it was a typical block, Bee suddenly realized the black rods embedded in his tentacle were draining him. Forced to cut it free, he brandished two swords to slice away at the rest.

"Yo, numbskull—do NOT let those black rods stab you; they disrupt your chakra—"

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Bee's warning had scarcely finished when a mighty gravitational pull yanked him upward toward Tendo Pain. At the same time, Preta Path charged in with Asura Path behind it, the latter detaching its wrist to fire off a barrage of missiles.

Human Path and Naraka Path swept the area with their shared vision from Nagato, searching for the lightning-swift Raikage and guarding Tendo Pain during his five-second interval.

Which proved wise:

Taking advantage of the octopus limb's smokescreen, the Fourth Raikage vanished. A second later, he appeared behind Tendo Pain, lightning-sheathed hand chopping at the back of Pain's neck.

Human Path and Naraka Path vanished in a flicker, no attempt to block him—because Tendo Pain's five-second cooldown was up.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Once again, Tendo Pain's invisible wave knocked the Raikage flying, churning up dust. Freed from gravitational lock, Bee saw missiles looming closer, so he summoned even more ferocious chakra: an ominous deep-red cloak sprouted eight tails behind him.

Fully half-transformed, Bee dashed forward with savage speeds far surpassing earlier, slipping between Preta Path and Asura Path, heading for Tendo Pain.

When the Raikage landed, he vanished in a flash of blue-white electricity, reappearing overhead and slamming a lethal kick at Preta Path:

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Tendo Pain's voice rang out again, the invisible "hand of God" yanking Preta Path aside.

Boom! The Raikage's foot hammered the ground, smashing it to pieces and raising a dust storm.

Whoosh – A bolt of lasers sliced through the dust. Asura Path opened its mouth, firing a laser cannon plus another salvo of ten missiles in quick succession.

Human Path and Naraka Path closed in to shield Tendo Pain, with Human Path spraying black rods to corner Bee, and Naraka Path unleashing a large wave of flame release.

Like Tenkuu-level synergy, it all coalesced to break Bee's momentum.

But Bee, ignoring the wave of fire and the black rods, inhaled and spat an orange beam of energy powerful enough to rip through the flames between Human Path and Naraka Path, heading straight for Tendo Pain.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Again Tendo Pain calmly raised a hand. A translucent white barrier shaped around the blow, deflecting Bee's beam. Then, as the barrier vanished, there was a tearing noise:

Whoosh – The Fourth Raikage aimed yet another blow from behind. Tendo Pain jerked back, sidestepping the blow while firing a black rod from his palm.

Yet the Raikage's reaction speed was too fast; he flickered away from the rod, reappeared at Tendo Pain's side, and again chopped at him.

But just as before, the white glow of Shinra Tensei's barrier halted the Raikage's attack, repelling him violently.

A cluster of black rods, flames, and missiles now hammered Bee, but he quickly grabbed the Raikage as they both tumbled, sprouting into full Tailed Beast form to block the rest.

"Rooaar…!"

A monstrous bellow rang out as Bee's body morphed into the Eight-Tails.

Across the battlefield, Tendo Pain's face tightened—not at the enormous adversary but because his field of vision had lessened.

It turned out Preta Path, attempting to slip behind Kumo lines to siphon the Tailed Beast's chakra, had abruptly lost Nagato's connection. In a flash, the Raikage had destroyed him with a single blow.

"As expected of a Kage—none of them can be underestimated,"

Nagato muttered from afar in Amegakure, severing his link to Preta Path.

Naraka Path retreated to resurrect him.

"Impressive. One Path of Pain already taken out so soon," commented a masked figure far off in the Land of Water—Izayoi disguised as the "mysterious man," receiving real-time reports from his Wood Clone.

He praised AB Combo wholeheartedly for their strong performance, then lightly laughed:

"But the other Paths are also Tendo Pain's shackles; the more they rely on those bodies, the more Tendo gets dragged down.

"At full power, Tendo's only real weak point is that five-second cooldown.

"At this rate, they'll definitely lose if they keep fighting. Maybe I should lend them a hand, for not disappointing me so far…"

With that, the mysterious man opened a large scroll behind him, while pinning down a battered figure on the ground—a man covered in tadpole-shaped curses, clothes dusty but still handsome and dignified: the Six-Tails Jinchūriki from Kirigakure, Utakata.

And at that moment, the man in the swirling mask was sitting upon Utakata's body.

"Who… are you?"

Utakata rasped, his voice feeble, pinned by the throat.

"Apologies—can't reveal that."

The masked figure opened the large scroll one-handed, while gripping Utakata's neck with the other. His hollow-toned laugh echoed from under the mask:

"No need to fret—I just want to borrow your chakra."

Immediately, Utakata's eyes widened in despair. With no way to speak, he sensed his chakra—and the beast's—rapidly draining away, siphoned by this unknown man.

If his sensing was sharper, he'd notice the masked man's chakra signature was changing, becoming identical to Utakata's.

Meanwhile, from the open scroll, a puff of white smoke rose, revealing a red-cloud-black-robed puppet: Puppet-Danzo.

It picked up the big scroll, slinging it onto its back. Without using Flying Thunder God to vanish, it simply stood at the masked man's side.

Once the man had drawn out a huge volume of chakra using Wood Release to alter his own chakra flow, he rose up, placing a hand on Puppet-Danzo's shoulder and making a half-seal:

"Ninja Art: Heavenly Transfer Technique!"

With no warning, Puppet-Danzo disappeared.

He reappeared from the Land of Water, far from the Shinobi Continent, instantly into the center of the battlefield in Amegakure—where Kumo's forces clashed with Akatsuki.

Thus combining Wood Clone + Tenseigan + Heavenly Transfer, the masked man had effectively "air-dropped" Danzo onto the battlefield.

To Tsunade, it might appear as though they learned the Flying Thunder God in four months, but in truth, this Tenseigan-user had only taken three days to master it:

Day 1: Perceive space-time boundaries.

Day 2: Convert chakra to an everlasting formula.

Day 3: Achieve genuine teleportation.

Likewise, after reading the Sealing Scroll stolen from Kumo, he swiftly mastered Heavenly Transfer. With Tenseigan plus an enormous line-of-sight thanks to his Wood Clones, he could teleport anything or anyone to any place in the shinobi world—even puppet troops, no harm done.

Currently, that's precisely what he was doing.

Having dispatched Puppet-Danzo, the masked man glanced down at Utakata:

"In another minute, your binding will be released. Thanks for your help. If I need more from you, I'll drop by again."

Then his figure vanished without warning, and reappeared upon a mountaintop from which the battlefield was clearly visible.

There, invisible to ordinary eyes, stood Ranmaru—and two of his Wood Clones, operating puppet armies that attacked both Kumo and Akatsuki indiscriminately. All three remained cloaked from sight, controlling the battlefield from the shadows.

Floating into the air, the masked man headed for the battlefield—this time with no attempt at stealth. His chakra presence shone bright as the full moon, instantly alarming every combatant below, plus the hidden observers from various nations. Countless heads jerked upward. Some, distracted, were immediately slain by puppet ambushes.

"It's that bastard!"

Pain's Six Paths and the AB Combo halted their fight, gazing at the airborne speck. The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth:

"That cunning scum has finally decided to show himself?!"

Tendo Pain's zombie-like face revealed rare battle spirit, murmuring:

"Such chakra… as expected of my fated rival."

He ignored AB Combo and, with his newly resurrected Paths, dashed toward the main battlefield. AB Combo followed suit. So did Konan and Yugito from their own battlefront.

If the masked man hadn't shown, they would have kept fighting—their hatred was irreconcilable. But with him suddenly present, they all shared a common enemy. Continuing their own fight would only give that enemy the advantage.

Watching the mighty "Akatsuki All-Stars," plus the AB Combo and Pain's Six Paths converge, Izayoi—standing alongside Shino and Hinata—exhaled:

"That lineup… Can my real body handle it?"

Indeed, the man in midair was Izayoi's real body.

~~~

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