A violent explosion shook the forest.
Even Yamato, who was watching from far away, was affected.
Kakuzu stared at the center of the blast:
"Did it work?"
From the smoke, Pain's cold voice came:
"Only by joining Akatsuki can you truly use your power. Follow me."
"You think you can defeat me? How foolish… Shinra Tensei!"
A terrifying force spread across hundreds of meters.
Naruto cursed inside, grabbed the two girls, and jumped back quickly.
Kakuzu, at the center, was slammed through dozens of giant trees. One of the masks on his back cracked.
When the dust settled—
A huge empty area formed in the forest.
Pain walked toward Kakuzu, who was kneeling and breathing heavily.
"You lost."
Kakuzu looked up with difficulty:
"What… is this power…?"
Pain pointed at him and said calmly:
"I am the god who will bring order to this world. Follow me, and I will give you a place."
Kakuzu was shaken.
For years, no one had treated him like a human.
After a moment, he spoke slowly:
"Hmph… with people like you, this organization might make good money."
He stood up.
"Akatsuki… interesting."
Black Zetsu emerged from the ground and laughed:
"Then… should we deal with the little ants watching the fight?"
"Little ants?"
Kakuzu paused, then remembered the Konoha ninja.
"It's not time for Akatsuki to be exposed yet."
Zetsu slowly sank back into the ground.
At the same time—
Yamato's face suddenly changed.
"Not good… they noticed us!"
He turned and shouted:
"Naruto! Hurry—!"
Then he froze.
"…Where are they?!"
Naruto was already far away, carrying the two girls like rabbits.
His speed was so fast even Yamato couldn't catch up.
"…Damn."
Meanwhile—
Hana and Izumi spoke nervously:
"Captain Yamato is still behind…"
Naruto didn't slow down.
"Don't worry. He's a Jonin."
"If he can't escape, we wouldn't help anyway. Passing information to Konoha is more important."
"I'll visit his grave later."
Then he added calmly:
"I'm different. Your lives matter more to me."
Naruto kept moving.
He couldn't reveal his full strength because of Yamato.
Yamato trusted the Third Hokage too much.
If Naruto exposed everything, it would reach Hiruzen immediately.
That was the danger of the so-called Will of Fire.
At that moment—
Yamato stood in front of Pain awkwardly.
"I was just passing by… haha…"
The next second—
He tried to escape instantly.
But—
Pain raised his hand.
"Banshō Ten'in."
A powerful force pulled Yamato back instantly.
"What?! What kind of ninjutsu is this?! No hand seals?!"
Yamato was shocked.
"Wood Style: Great Forest Technique!"
Branches shot toward Pain.
Kakuzu watched and frowned.
"This Wood Style… nothing like Hashirama's."
Pain looked calmly:
"Too weak."
"Shinra Tensei."
Boom—
Yamato was blasted away, coughing blood.
He finally understood Kakuzu's feeling.
Then—
He realized something worse.
Zetsu… was gone.
At the same time—
Naruto was moving fast through the forest.
"Got you."
Black Zetsu's voice came from ahead.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
He dropped the two girls and jumped forward.
"Run! Don't look back!"
"If you come back… I'll kill myself!"
Hana and Izumi cried:
"That's too much!"
Naruto shouted:
"Go!!"
They finally ran toward Konoha with the ninja dog.
Zetsu chuckled:
"You think they can escape?"
White Zetsu separated and went underground to chase them.
Black Zetsu looked at Naruto—
Expecting fear.
But Naruto suddenly laughed.
"Heh… I told you they could leave."
Under his headband—
His Sharingan appeared.
"Rasengan!"