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Pain's assumption wasn't entirely wrong. Kagaya's current relationship with Konoha was far from being mortal enemies, but they were absolutely not friends either. If Pain wanted to attack Konoha, Kagaya wouldn't support it, but he certainly wouldn't oppose it either.
However...
Among that Konoha group was Tsunade. Kagaya wanted to go check on the situation.
Thinking this, Kagaya couldn't help but feel he was being a bit too "self-righteous."
Although Tsunade had done him a favor, it didn't seem necessary for him to actively go out of his way to save her.
With this thought, Kagaya hesitated again. To save or not to save?
"Forget it, never mind," he muttered, continuing on his way with Karin and Haku.
But before they had gone far, Kagaya stopped and scratched his head.
"God damn it..."
Even though he didn't need to see, didn't need to get involved, he still couldn't stop himself. An overly dark childhood made Kagaya cherish any kindness shown to him exceptionally deeply.
For Kagaya, Tsunade's favor was merely a small kindness. But such small kindnesses, when looking back on Kagaya's life, were also very precious.
In the current entire shinobi world, the number of people who had shown him clear goodwill could be counted on one hand.
So, even though Kagaya didn't care too much about Tsunade, ultimately, he couldn't resist going back to see.
Most importantly, with Kagaya's current strength, he could easily handle the upcoming situation.
One could say that if Kagaya participated in this battle, his only real opponents would be the Six Paths of Pain.
Before the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, what were Sasori and Kakuzu? Just fodders. Let them try dealing with the absolute defense of Susano'o.
This wasn't the level of absolute defense like Gaara's. The absolute defense of Susano'o could only be barely broken by the combined efforts of the Five Kage, and that was only the most basic forms of Susano'o.
With such formidable power at his disposal, Kagaya could do many things he wanted without fear or hesitation.
He wasn't even afraid of Tsunade and the others turning against him!
Without exaggeration, even if Konoha and the Akatsuki joined forces to fight Kagaya, they might not be able to do much to him.
This confidence was the most important reason driving Kagaya to go back and check.
As for Sasuke's situation, Kagaya had long thought about it. Itachi couldn't possibly have left only him as a contingency; there must be other safeguards. So, Kagaya wasn't worried at all about Sasuke. Unless Orochimaru could directly defeat Itachi in a fight, Kagaya didn't believe Orochimaru could take Sasuke's body while Itachi was still alive.
And as for directly defeating Itachi? Forge Orochimaru; even the current Kagaya would find it somewhat difficult. The Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror were too troublesome.
Thinking this, Kagaya turned around with Karin and Haku, heading back towards Tsunade's location.
On the other side.
Tsunade's previously relaxed expression suddenly froze. She then stood up abruptly and walked out of her tent.
Outside, Kakashi and the others were already gathered. Clearly, they too had sensed the enemy's approach.
Tsunade spoke solemnly, "Get ready. They're coming!"
Everyone nodded, remaining silent. The atmosphere grew heavy for a moment.
Several dozen seconds later.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Seven or eight figures appeared, surrounding Tsunade's group.
The Deva Path of Pain looked at Tsunade. He recognized her appearance. "One of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, the famous medical ninja of the shinobi world, currently the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Lady Tsunade, correct?"
Tsunade smiled faintly. "The iconic black robes with red clouds. Seems it's the Akatsuki, no mistake."
Pain asked, somewhat curiously, "You know of us?"
Currently, most people in the shinobi world didn't know or care about the Akatsuki.
Tsunade flexed her wrists. "Of course. I was waiting here specifically for you."
Hearing this, the Deva Path fell silent for a moment. He expressionlessly observed the shinobi surrounding Tsunade. "It seems this is a trap, is it not?"
Tsunade gave a slight nod. "Seems you're not stupid."
The Deva Path spoke without expression, "Hmph. Unfortunately, you've miscalculated. This time, I have descended personally."
The Paths of Pain were the power wielded by Nagato. Nagato was a survivor of the Uzumaki clan. As a child, he was noticed by the aging Madara, who transplanted his own Rinnegan into Nagato, hoping Nagato would use the Rinnegan to revive him in the future. Nagato thus gained the power of the Rinnegan and had always believed the eyes were his from birth.
Because the Rinnegan didn't originally belong to him, Nagato couldn't utilize its full power; he couldn't even bring out half its potential.
However, the Rinnegan was still the Rinnegan. Even weakened, it was formidable.
The Paths of Pain were one of the Rinnegan powers Nagato mastered.
He inserted black rods into corpses to transmit chakra and control them. This was the principle behind the Paths of Pain. All Paths were merely corpses, not the true body.
There were six Paths of Pain, corresponding to the Six Paths of Samsara: the Deva Path, the Asura Path, the Animal Path, the Preta Path, the Human Path, and the Naraka Path.
Each Path possessed its own unique power—a portion of the Rinnegan's abilities.
Among them, the Deva Path was the strongest. And because the Deva Path was created from the corpse of Nagato's close friend, Yahiko, it became Nagato's spokesperson.
Nagato rarely appeared in person.
The power of the Six Paths of Pain was currently among the strongest within the Akatsuki. Even facing Tsunade and a group of Jonin, Nagato didn't flinch.
Tsunade scoffed. "Oh? You seem quite confident."
Pain snorted coldly, not wanting to engage in a war of words with Tsunade. "Whether I'm confidant or not, you'll know soon enough. Kakuzu, Sasori, move out!"
As soon as the words fell, the battle erupted abruptly!
Tsunade believed she had taken the Akatsuki seriously enough. But in reality, she had still underestimated them.
First, consider Tsunade herself. Because of Kagaya's involvement, Tsunade hadn't fought Orochimaru as in the original story. Naturally, this also meant Tsunade hadn't overcome her hemophobia—a condition she developed after witnessing her lover's death, causing her to become terrified and unable to fight at the sight of blood.
This meant that although Tsunade was very powerful, considering the possibility of bloodshed, she was essentially a balloon that could deflate at any moment.
On the other side, Kakashi and Might Guy, facing Kakuzu and Sasori without any prior intelligence, were completely at a disadvantage. Akatsuki members possessed formidable abilities.
Kakashi couldn't activate his Mangekyo Sharingan during battle. And Guy, because his attacks were taijutsu-based, had to be extremely careful of the potent poison on Sasori's puppets, forcing him to fight hesitantly.
Under these circumstances, naturally, from the very beginning, Tsunade's group found themselves at an absolute disadvantage.
Strange Missile Barrage!
The Asura Path opened mechanisms on its wrists, from which several rocket-like projectiles erupted, shooting towards Tsunade.
Tsunade pushed off with her feet, dodging the missiles. But the next second, the missiles curved mid-air and pursued her again.
Tsunade was started. "What the hell are these things?"
These bizarre weapons clearly left Tsunade bewildered.
But bewildered or not, she still had to dodge. So, Tsunade leaped again, evading the missiles once more.