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The first time Midorima used "Instant" to kill someone, the result was, by all appearances, impressively effective.
But it left Kurotsuchi staring in stunned disbelief.
To an outside observer, that kind of ninjutsu was simply too straightforward and brutally efficient—decapitating an opponent in the most inexplicable manner imaginable.
After a moment, she shook her head repeatedly, thinking to herself how fortunate it was that Midorima was on their side. Otherwise, he would probably be even more troublesome to deal with than Uchiha Itachi.
Though she had never fought Itachi personally and had no clear grasp of his true strength, what she had just witnessed made her acutely aware that this young shinobi, who seemed so harmless on the surface, was, in reality, a truly ruthless individual.
"What's wrong?" Midorima asked, noticing that Kurotsuchi seemed somewhat dazed.
"Nothing..." Kurotsuchi quickly shook her head. "I just didn't expect... He was clearly so strong..."
"In this world, the only thing that never lies is strength, right? I'm going to check on Mui... I'll leave Naruto to you." With those words, Midorima moved swiftly in Mui's direction.
Having defeated both Itachi and Hogo in quick succession, the pressure on the battlefield had lessened considerably. Yet, Midorima didn't feel the slightest bit of relief. On the contrary, he believed the crisis hadn't abated at all. In fact, as the number of Akatsuki members dwindled, the probability of Pain making an appearance was only increasing.
This speculation wasn't baseless. In the original timeline, when only one tailed beast remained uncaptured, the Six Paths of Pain had mobilized together and nearly annihilated the entire Hidden Leaf Village. In Nagato's mind, as long as he captured Naruto, all the tailed beasts would finally be assembled. Therefore, even if it meant incurring massive losses to his own side, Nagato would not hesitate. An opportunity like this was rare—who knew when he would get another chance to obtain the Nine-Tails if he let this one slip away?
The situation this time was no different. The Akatsuki was now only missing the Six-Tails and the Nine-Tails before they would have gathered every tailed beast. Though they hadn't actually captured the Eight-Tails, they had obtained one of its tentacles, which gave them access to the Eight-Tails' chakra. That was enough to keep Obito's plan on track without any issues.
Right now, both Midorima and Naruto were present in the Leaf Village. For Nagato, this was quite literally the best possible opportunity—the conditions were almost identical to those in the original story. Once Pain judged that the Akatsuki's current members alone could no longer secure the two remaining tailed beasts, he would surely take action himself. When that moment came, Midorima had no confidence at all that he could stop Pain's assault.
However, Pain was an opponent Midorima had to face sooner or later, especially after he had become the Six-Tails' jinchuriki. Evasion would not make Pain spare him.
Therefore, Midorima's attitude toward this battle was crystal clear. If Pain was still standing by and watching from the shadows, then Midorima would force him to come out. The present-day Leaf Village was vastly more powerful than the one Pain had invaded in the original story. If even this level of strength couldn't stop Pain, then they might as well just surrender outright.
In the blink of an eye, Midorima arrived directly in front of Mui.
Mui's strength was only slightly greater than Samui's. The reason he had seemed so formidable in the anime was, first, due to the unique status of the Blood Prison—it held criminals from all the major shinobi villages, and opposing him was tantamount to making an enemy of every village. Second, the Box of Ultimate Bliss was, after all, an ultimate weapon left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, and its power was absurdly exaggerated.
But at this moment, Mui hadn't unlocked the Box of Ultimate Bliss, which greatly diminished his combat effectiveness.
After evading a series of attacks from Samui, Mui abruptly put some distance between them. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced toward where Hogo had been, wanting to see how the battle was unfolding there. However, Hogo was not rampaging mightily as he had expected. Instead, he lay in a pool of his own blood, his head severed from his body. And Terauchi Midorima now stood right before him.
"You... Yoshida... No, Asachi Midorima!" Mui's face was stricken with shock.
Within the Akatsuki, Pain had designated Midorima as a "must-kill" target. Yet, here Midorima stood, steady as ever, proof that even Pain had been unable to do anything about him. An opponent like that was beyond Mui's ability to resist.
Seeing that Samui intended to launch an attack while Mui was distracted, Midorima raised a hand to stop her. "Leave this to me. You go help protect Naruto."
Samui frowned slightly. She glanced at Mui standing before them, but without another word, she turned and departed.
Midorima looked at Mui, who had already begun to panic, and sighed. "Enough. Give it up. You have no chance left."
"What do you know?! I don't want to be doing any of this either, but I have a reason I must!" Mui shouted.
"I know. You want to bring your son back to life. But aside from a very small handful of techniques, there's no other way to revive the dead. And relying on the Box of Ultimate Bliss is even more impossible," Midorima explained. "That thing is completely unreliable."
"I know it's unreliable. At this point, I've stopped putting my hopes in the Box of Ultimate Bliss," Mui said. A rare trace of a smile surfaced on his panic-stricken face.
"Then why are you still with the Akatsuki?" Midorima asked, puzzled.
"Do you have any idea how powerful the Ten-Tails is? It's the very origin of chakra... Madara told me that by using the power of the Ten-Tails along with the Impure World Reincarnation, it's possible to bring Muku back to life!" Mui shouted at the top of his lungs.
Midorima froze for a moment. He had never anticipated that Obito would have told Mui about the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
The Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique was the highest grade of resurrection jutsu, but its conditions for use were extremely stringent, and the cost was immense. First, the caster had to possess the Rinnegan. Furthermore, when performing this technique, the caster would invariably die. Nagato had used this jutsu when he entrusted his hopes to Naruto, reviving all the Leaf shinobi who had perished. Obito, too, had once relied on the Ten-Tails to prolong his life, but even that was only temporary. Sakura's medical diagnosis had been that he was already beyond saving.
Of course, Obito was destined to resurrect Madara. So, bringing back one more person—Muku—was not entirely out of the question. But Midorima deeply doubted whether Obito would actually follow through on such a promise.
"What's the matter? Did it frighten you that much? Could it be that everything Madara said is true?" Mui, noticing Midorima's brief lapse in concentration, immediately understood something. For a long time, he had believed that Madara was deceiving him. Because of that, he had even been making preparations in secret so that if the conditions were ever right, he could activate the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Having a double layer of insurance was more important than anything. But now, the change in Midorima's expression told Mui that all those things Madara had said were, in fact, the truth.
In an instant, a profound calm settled over Mui's heart.
Midorima sighed and shook his head. He believed Obito would never resurrect Muku, but he had no proof to offer, and Mui would certainly never believe a word he said. Still, since they were enemies, Midorima had never intended to try to persuade Mui in the first place.
"If that's what you choose to believe, I have nothing more to say. But I will not allow you to obtain the Ten-Tails."
"And I will not back down!" Mui bellowed. But in a sudden blur, Midorima appeared directly in front of him.
"That's for the best," Midorima said, reaching out and seizing Mui by the throat.