But there was one problem. "Anywhere else would have been better," 'Shadow' sighed softly, "but you chose to stand behind me."
As he spoke, the black shadow turned into a blade and swept out lightly. The movement looked casual. The result was not.
The leader of the Hannya group remained frozen in his full-power draw stance. His mask suddenly split cleanly from forehead to chin with a clear kacha sound. The two halves slid down silently.
Beneath the mask, a straight line of blood appeared on the man's face. It slowly spread and lengthened. The line grew wider with each heartbeat.
Blood erupted as if a limit had been broken. The body split into two and collapsed to either side. The end was absolute.
Nagato had not moved at all throughout this exchange. He already had a basic understanding of his partner's strength. There was no need for him to interfere.
He simply raised his hand toward the Chakra blade. Using Universal Pull, he pulled it into his grasp. His grip tightened naturally.
"This blade is not bad," Nagato said softly. His tone was thoughtful.
"Keep it," 'Shadow' replied with a smile. For someone who never used swords to choose one now said enough about his change in mindset.
Because of his hatred and anger toward Madara Uchiha, even these Rinnegan eyes had become something he disliked. The choice of weapon reflected that shift. It was a quiet but telling detail.
In the distance, Yugito Nii's pupils shrank as she watched the two chat as if no one else existed. Her expression turned sharp. Her body tensed.
Just as she was about to signal the other Kumogakure Ninja and rush over, a voice interrupted. It was calm, almost tired.
"That's enough. I am really tired of killing." 'Shadow' raised his hand and pointed in another direction, speaking helplessly.
"The exit is over there, not here. Stop coming to die." His words echoed through the blood-filled air.
The moment he spoke, everyone froze. Those who had been trembling in fear or itching to act all stopped at once. They stared at 'Shadow' in complete shock, unable to move.
After a brief and eerie silence, no one moved at first. In the end, Zhe Long worked up the nerve and cautiously took a step forward.
One step, two steps, three steps. "Ha! What a pair of lunatics, even crazier than me."
Seeing that neither of the two showed any intent to stop him, even he could not help laughing out loud. Afraid they might change their minds, he hurriedly fled. The others quickly followed, and when they passed the corpse of the Banruo Group leader, they could not help casting a look of pity.
There was no helping it. With "Shadow" and Nagato standing there, the pressure was overwhelming, and everyone thought the two were blocking their path. Who would have expected that Root had no such intention at all.
So they were waiting for someone? Waiting for who?
Almost at the same time, everyone thought of Kakuzu, who had not yet come out, and could not help feeling a trace of sympathy for him.
Only after everyone had left did "Shadow" turn to Nagato beside him and ask, "That was a Two-Tails Jinchuriki. You are not going to make a move?" "…"
Perhaps feeling uncertain about his original plan to collect the Tailed Beasts, Nagato was silent for a moment. In the end, he shook his head and said calmly, "Not yet." If they acted now, it would only alert the others and put the villages on guard.
At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed as a figure finally emerged from the doorway. It was clearly Kakuzu, struggling to carry the "Tiancongyun Sword."
When Kakuzu saw Nagato and "Shadow," his already exhausted body finally gave out. With a loud bang, the heavy one handed axe slammed into the ground, and he nearly collapsed into the pool of blood.
"Let us skip the fighting," he said flatly. "Just tell me what you want." He was truly worn out.
Today was simply the unluckiest day of his life. Thinking about this thing called the "Tiancongyun Sword," which was obviously an axe, unbearably heavy, and yet still a one handed axe, made him want to curse whoever designed it.
What kind of twisted sense of humor led someone to create such an object? Forget the tens of millions he was still owed, he did not even know whether Onoki would turn hostile the moment he handed this thing over.
This trip had been a complete loss. All Kakuzu wanted now was to go back, find his private stash, and lie on top of his money to relax.
Seeing his bullied appearance, Nagato gave him a strange look but still said evenly, "We are here to invite you to join Akatsuki." "Akatsuki?" Kakuzu asked in confusion.
"It is an organization founded to achieve true peace," "Shadow" said in a joking tone. "No…"
Just hearing that, Kakuzu knew it was a boring organization and instinctively wanted to refuse Zetsu. Before he could finish, however, Ryuji interrupted him.
"Those heads over there," "Shadow" said with a smile as he pointed at the mountain of corpses. "Consider them your welcome gift." "…"
Kakuzu subconsciously looked at the pile, and when he recognized the familiar faces, he fell silent. To him, it was not a pile of corpses but a pile of gold.
"Heh." After a moment, he snorted and said, "Any organization that can take in a monster like you must have plenty of chances to fight bounty targets."
"Fine, I will treat it as a temporary place to stay." As he spoke, Kakuzu stood up again and pointed at the one handed axe behind him. "Of course, that is only if you help me carry this cursed thing out."
At the same time, on the rocky wall of the Abyss, everyone pushed their speed to the limit. They turned into afterimages and rushed madly toward the faint light above, the only Lie leading back to the surface.
After the bloody battle in the Underground Palace and witnessing the slaughter, they now moved like cornered beasts. Though they still distrusted one another, escaping this place was their only shared goal.
Just before reaching the Lie, the rapidly ascending Ryuji Hyuga suddenly stopped. Seeing this, Kakashi Hatake, whom he was carrying and who wore a look of dead fish eyes, froze in surprise.
"Ryuji, what is wrong?" he asked. Ryuji Hyuga did not answer and only looked downward.
In the next moment, Zhe Long flashed past him without hesitation and rushed straight out of the Lie. "Hahaha! I am out!"
As the darkness turned to light, Zhe Long's eyes adjusted. The instant his feet touched level ground, a violent figure wrapped in blinding lightning tore in from afar.
Zhe Long did not even see the face of the figure, only a streak of blue at the edge of his vision. "Lariat!"
Fourth Raikage's roar exploded like thunder, and an elbow strike filled with raging Lightning Release Chakra slammed forward with overwhelming force. The feral grin on Zhe Long's face froze in that instant.
A deafening boom rang out, like a mountain collapsing. Clothes, flesh, and bone around his waist shattered at the moment of impact, bursting apart with dense cracking sounds.
His bones collapsed as if crushed by a giant rock, breaking into fragments like a sack smashed flat by an invisible hammer. Blood mixed with bits of organs sprayed from his mouth as his body was sent flying.
He crashed into solid rock, leaving a deep crater webbed with cracks. His limbs were twisted at unnatural angles, with broken bone and mangled flesh clearly visible. He twitched weakly, coughing up blood, like a dead fish stripped of its bones.
Blood poured from all his orifices. With just one move, a notorious Jashin Cult cult leader was crushed to the brink of death.
This was the power of Fourth Raikage. "Now tell me what happened down there," he said as he stopped and looked at Zhe Long.
Before the words fully settled, a white streak shot out from behind him. He turned instinctively and saw Ryuji Hyuga hovering in the air with wings spread.
"Those wings…" Fourth Raikage's pupils shrank as his suspicion was confirmed.
As expected, Yugito Nii and the others had entered the Underground Palace, and there were indeed treasures inside. "Kid, you should know who I am. Get down here yourself."
He stared coldly at Ryuji Hyuga above, as well as Kakashi Hatake and the other Konoha Ninja in his grasp. "So it is Fourth Raikage," Ryuji Hyuga said calmly. "Why not guess whether you can stop me at my speed?"
"And guess again what I will do at your Kumogakure garrison if you cannot." At those words, Kakashi Hatake snapped his head up at Ryuji Hyuga, eyes widening in disbelief.
"You are courting death!" Fourth Raikage's face darkened as he roared, bending his knees and gathering strength.
With his power and speed, a single hit would swat Ryuji Hyuga out of the air. But Ryuji Hyuga gave him no chance, and his wings flared as he fired the Feather Blades.
Sharp gusts swept through the air, rippling the space around them. Fourth Raikage did not take it seriously, confident that most Wind Release Ninjutsu could not break his defense in this state.