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Mui's eyes widened as his hands desperately clutched at Midorima's wrist, trying with all his might to pry Midorima's grip away. But the sheer strength in Midorima's hands was overwhelming. He tried twice and failed completely both times. The air grew thinner and thinner, and Mui's consciousness began to fade into a blur.
Midorima was still hesitating over whether to kill Mui when, all of a sudden, an immensely powerful surge of chakra came rushing toward him at terrifying speed. He whipped his head in the direction from which the chakra emanated and saw a figure moving toward him with rapid, deliberate strides.
The moment Midorima laid eyes on that person, his brow furrowed sharply. He immediately released Mui and swiftly put distance between himself and the newcomer.
Mui clutched his throat with both hands and coughed violently several times. Not daring to linger for even a second longer, he scrambled to put as much space between himself and Midorima as possible.
The newcomer stepped directly into the space in front of Midorima and, standing ten meters away, fixed him with a cold, piercing stare.
"It's been a while, Pain." Midorima smiled at the figure before him. "I did wonder whether you might show up as well. I never expected my guess would actually be right. But what about the other Paths of Pain? I don't believe for a second that you came alone."
"You are the one person I completely misjudged," Pain said. "And to think I've let you live this long."
"Uh..."
Midorima felt a bit exasperated inside.
I'm the one person you misjudged the most? That's debatable. Isn't the person you truly misjudged the most actually Obito?
"Should I feel honored, then?" Midorima replied with a cold smirk.
"If you wish to show me your gratitude, then hand over the tailed beast," the Deva Path said.
"If I did that, I would die. So I refuse."
"You'll die whether you agree or not," Pain stated flatly.
Midorima surreptitiously scanned his surroundings, searching for the other Paths of Pain. If only the Deva Path was present, it wasn't impossible to repel him. But if the others were there to provide support, the difficulty of defeating Pain would skyrocket. That was precisely what worried Midorima the most.
"Where are the others?" Midorima asked, still smiling.
"You know the secret of Pain?" Pain asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Have you forgotten about Orochimaru? He recorded a great many of the Akatsuki's secrets," Midorima said with a grin.
After all, Orochimaru was long dead. Bringing him up now to take the blame was simply too convenient.
Pain's expression shifted subtly. "Orochimaru... Even in death, you still bring me trouble?"
"So, where are the other five?" Midorima kept his smile trained on Pain. "If you're the only one here, I'm afraid you might not make it back."
"Impossible. I have already made preparations for the worst-case scenario. As for the other Paths of Pain, they are already inside the Hidden Leaf Village," Pain declared.
Midorima frowned and immediately scanned the broader battlefield. The fight between Mei Terumi, Tsunade, and Kisame was still raging. Mei was panting heavily, exhaustion written plainly across her face. Tsunade was in somewhat better condition, still standing off against Kisame. Kisame himself was also showing clear signs of fatigue, using Samehada as a crutch, planted on the ground for support. He was clearly worn down.
As for the Tsuchikage and the Raikage, they were in good form, but conventional attacks were useless against Obito. Any powerful jutsu they attempted would simply be evaded with Kamui. Because of this, all sides were locked in a stalemate.
Midorima couldn't spot any sign of the other Paths of Pain. He looked back at Pain with a puzzled expression. "Could it be that the other Paths aren't even here?"
"Don't be impatient. They will arrive soon enough. As for you, I don't have much time to waste. If you're unwilling to cooperate, then I'll simply have to take matters into my own hands," Pain said, his voice utterly calm.
...
High in the sky, Deidara, who had been circling to monitor the situation on the ground, suddenly spotted several shinobi clad in long black cloaks moving rapidly toward the heart of the battle. Curiosity immediately piqued, he lowered his altitude and dove down to get a closer look.
"Hey, where are you all heading off to?" Deidara called out as he caught up to a shinobi with long orange hair.
The Six Paths of Pain had already begun moving, which meant the real battle was about to kick off. There was no way Deidara would miss a fight this interesting, no matter what.
"To prevent reinforcements from the Hidden Leaf Village," the Animal Path replied.
"So does that mean the fight has officially started?" Deidara pressed eagerly.
"Yes."
"What can I do?" Deidara asked, pressing further.
The Animal Path tilted its head up and looked toward the sky. Before it could speak, Deidara cut in. "Since your mission is to stop other shinobi from providing support, and that's basically my mission too, why don't the two of us just work together? I can stir up chaos all across the battlefield anyway."
The Animal Path glanced sideways at Deidara and said, "Coordinate your actions with mine."
"Deal!" Deidara agreed without a moment's hesitation.
From the moment the battle had begun until now, all he had done was drop a few bombs here and there. The rest of the time, he had just been circling idly in the sky, bored out of his mind. The art of explosion had to be witnessed by as many people as possible in order for it to have true meaning. Otherwise, his entire presence here would have been utterly pointless.
With the Animal Path's approval, Deidara was instantly re-energized. He was just about to accelerate his flight when, all of a sudden, a massive shockwave rippled out from the distance behind him. The resulting gust of air nearly knocked him right off his giant clay bird.
"What the heck was that?!" Deidara quickly twisted around and peered into the distance. But it was too far away, and the light wasn't good enough—he couldn't see a thing.
"The assault over there has already begun. We need to pick up the pace as well," the Animal Path said.
Hearing this, Deidara's lips curled upward into a smirk. "This is exactly the moment I've been waiting for."
...
The renegade Uchiha shinobi were locked in a bitter struggle against the forces of the Hidden Leaf Village. Time and again, they tried to break through the encirclement, and each time, the Leaf shinobi forced them back.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, however, was far from relaxed.
The fact that the Uchiha clan had fallen to such a state had truly exceeded anything he could have imagined. From this point forward, how would those clan members who had not turned traitor face the villagers of the Leaf? And would the shinobi of the Leaf ever be able to accept them again? Everything had become an unknown.
There had clearly been opportunities to avoid all of this. So how had things ended up this way? Hiruzen's eyes fell upon the surrounded renegades. After repeated clashes, more than half of the traitors had been killed or wounded. Those still alive were visibly exhausted, their eyes no longer brimming with rage but instead filled with bitter hatred.
"Stop this senseless resistance. You have no ability to pose any real threat to the Leaf. What's more, your actions have already had severe consequences for the rest of the Uchiha clan. Have any of you considered what life will be like for them from now on?" Hiruzen said.
"Ha! Even if we die right here, we will never surrender to the likes of you! You, Hiruzen Sarutobi, murdered Fugaku and gave the order to move against us! And now you stand there, pretending to be merciful, telling us to surrender, using our own clansmen as hostages to threaten us? Do you think we're afraid? We are not! And as for all of you—shinobi who are clearly of the Uchiha clan—your leader was killed, and his murderer stands right in front of you, yet you turn a blind eye! You are not worthy of being called Uchiha!" a middle-aged shinobi, around forty years old, roared in fury.
"Enough! I have said this more than once—I did not kill him! I never gave any order to slaughter the Uchiha clansmen! Have you caused enough chaos yet?!" Hiruzen shouted back, his anger finally erupting.