"Wipe them all out."
At Nagato's order, Hidan was the most excited of them all.
"Yahoo!!" He charged straight ahead with his scythe over his shoulder. "The leader said it! Kill them all!"
"Hey!" The members of the original Akatsuki tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
At the same time, Sasori of the Red Sand, having abandoned the shell of his Hiruko puppet, now looked like a handsome red-haired youth. A cold smile tugged at his lips as he pulled two scrolls from inside his robe and held them between his nail-polished fingers.
"Let's end this quickly against small fry like them."
"We really can kill them this time, right? Hmm." Deidara couldn't help confirming again. The awkward mess from earlier had made the kid a little nervous.
Kakuzu said, "Kill."
Immediately, the bulges on Kakuzu's back began to writhe restlessly.
"Amegakure may be poor, but the poorer a place is, the more likely its rulers are to be filthy rich."
Clearly, the five hearts stirring with anticipation were not moved only by the leader's order, but also by the thought of money to be made.
Deidara finally perked up. "Art is an explosion!! Hmm."
"Will Itachi-san be joining in?" Kisame asked, shouldering his greatsword.
Itachi Uchiha answered him by taking a step forward.
Even Konan reached out and used Sacred Paper Emissary Jutsu, to avenge the hatred of the past.
Kannabi Bridge Minato said, "If possible, please go easy on the Konoha ninjas."
Before he could finish speaking, those S-rank Missing-nin had already charged out, joyfully slaughtering their way through the rain.
Compared with him, Adult Obito and Itachi Uchiha clearly understood these Missing-nin much better. So when Itachi Uchiha took that step, it was not to kill the Amegakure ninjas, but to make time to rescue several Konoha ANBU from Akatsuki's hands.
Kakuzu possessed all five chakra natures, Lightning, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water. He switched between Lightning Release, Wind Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, and Water Release in turn, throwing them out as if they cost him no chakra at all, beating the Amegakure ninjas until they could only wail in misery.
Against small fry, Hidan's real strength could not shine, since his ritual took too long. So he could only settle for basic attacks with his scythe.
In truth, he wanted to go straight for Hanzō of the Salamander, but Kakuzu reminded him that the stinking salamander had to be left for the leader and Konan to handle themselves.
Deidara's Exploding Clay was weakened by the rain and mist, but his attacks, along with Sasori of the Red Sand's puppets, still left the current first-generation Akatsuki members staring in stunned disbelief.
Unlike Deidara, Kisame was a Missing-nin from Kirigakure, and the Land of Rain gave Water Release plenty of room to show its power.
Water Release: Great Shark Bomb Technique, Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave, and Rain Four Sharks Technique hidden in the rain.
"This…"
"This is completely one-sided slaughter!"
Inside Young Obito Uchiha's Kamui's Dimension, Yahiko was so shocked he did not know what to say. He wanted to stop those people from killing Amegakure ninjas, but at the same time, he did not seem to know what right he had to stop them.
He grabbed at his short orange hair, utterly torn.
"What is even going on right now? I'm so confused! Why are there another Konan and Nagato outside? And their friends are way too strong!"
Friends.
Mm. That was a very Naruto way to put it.
Nagato and Konan themselves were stunned too.
Only after staring for a long while did Nagato finally find his voice. "Forget the ordinary Ame Ninja. At this rate, even Hanzō of the Salamander may not be a match for them."
The students from Team Minato and Team Kakashi had all witnessed Pain's Super Shinra Tensei during the attack on Konoha, and they thought to themselves, What will really shock you is probably still coming.
Just as they thought, the Amegakure ninjas were almost completely wiped out. Some of Konoha's ANBU had been rescued by Itachi and Minato, and before long, Hanzō of the Salamander had only his salamander left.
Hanzō had never imagined that such a sudden turn of events could happen!
"Who exactly are you people?!"
His voice no longer carried its earlier arrogance.
After thinking for a moment, he stared at the Konoha forehead protector on Minato Namikaze's forehead. Then, recalling his crisp movements when he saved those people, he finally realized it belatedly. "You're Konoha's Yellow Flash?! Those Konoha brats who interfered earlier were brought here by you?!"
"It's a little late to realize that now." Minato Namikaze looked up at Hanzō standing on the salamander's head, but his presence did not lose out in the slightest.
That immediately irritated Hanzō of the Salamander.
A mere junior, no matter how capable, was still just an ordinary young ninja. When speaking to the leader of a ninja village like him, he ought to show respect!
"Danzō was the one who came to us first. Since Danzō's subordinates are already in your hands, and Danzō Shimura himself has disappeared, you should no longer interfere in the internal affairs of our Amegakure Ninja Village. As for Danzō Shimura, even if you wish to negotiate with this old man, you should have your Hokage come, or at the very least, someone of advisor rank."
The ANBU Danzō had brought recognized the person who saved them as the Yellow Flash, Konoha's rising hero. With Danzō missing and no one to lead them, they immediately chose to lower their heads and kneel on one knee behind Minato Namikaze.
Kannabi Bridge Minato was, after all, someone who would become Hokage in the future. Faced with Hanzō accusing Konoha by pinning a political label on him, his experience in political debate was indeed not as deep as the old and cunning Hanzō's. Even so, Minato Namikaze, whom Jiraiya had called a genius who might not appear even once in thirty or forty years, was no pushover.
He immediately smiled and refuted Hanzō, saying this was not interference in the internal affairs of Amegakure Ninja Village at all. In fact, his visit had nothing to do with Danzō Shimura.
Rather, his student had been killed in Amegakure Ninja Village, and as the next Hokage, he wanted to seek justice from the leader of Amegakure.
"If I cannot even save a single student, especially if I allow him to be manipulated at will in a place like the Land of Rain, then when I return to the village and inherit the position of Hokage, I fear there will be criticism, and it will be difficult to convince the people."
Though he did not say it outright, Minato Namikaze's tone was only one step away from openly stating that Amegakure was nothing more than a tiny patch of land used as a battlefield between great nations, grinding Hanzō of the Salamander's pride into the dirt.
The next Hokage.
That identity made Hanzō of the Salamander's pupils shrink for an instant.
The Third Hokage had been in office for quite a long time. It was indeed about time for a change. As the man capable of guiding the course of the Third Shinobi World War, Minato Namikaze was certainly qualified for that position.
Which meant that when the leader of a tiny nation like him was compared to this young man's status, not only could he not suppress the other party, he was instead being pressed down by him.
With one simple sentence, Hanzō of the Salamander had already lost a step in this conversation, and had no choice but to continue according to the rules Minato Namikaze had set.
"Your student was killed in Amegakure?"
Minato pointed at the Masked Man's corpse on Adult Obito's back and said, "This child is Obito Uchiha, whom all of us once believed had died during the Kannabi Bridge mission. He was an important genius youth of the Uchiha Clan, and at such a young age, he had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
A genius youth of the Uchiha Clan.
You really dared to say that.
Danzō Shimura, who still had a faint thread of consciousness left, seriously wanted to kneel to Minato Namikaze!
Who didn't know that brat was a one-of-a-kind dead last the Uchiha Clan might not produce once in thirty or forty years?!
Minato Namikaze lied without the slightest change in expression.
Young Obito and Adult Obito felt the gazes of the people nearby and looked incredibly embarrassed.
Hanzō of the Salamander said, "If he was your disciple, then coming to Amegakure was his own mistake to begin with!"
"He did not come to Amegakure of his own accord. After being injured, he was saved by members of Akatsuki. After a long recovery period, he finally found a way to contact us and asked us to bring him back to Konoha."
Minato switched fully into actor mode. "Unfortunately, while you possess the title of leader of Amegakure, you lack the breadth a true leader should have. You could not tolerate Akatsuki's existence, and secretly prepared to destroy Akatsuki in one fell swoop. Obito was tragically caught up in it and died in your ambush."
His words were neither humble nor overbearing, as if with Minato Namikaze standing there, Konoha had no fear of immediately going to war with Amegakure.
It was not that Minato Namikaze could truly make decisions for this world's Minato.
Rather, in order for this world's Akatsuki to develop smoothly and walk toward a different ending from the other world, Nagato, as Pain, would absolutely not allow Hanzō, who was arrogant, cautious, and unable to tolerate Akatsuki's growth, to continue living in this world.
Hanzō gritted his back teeth, having been trapped by the young man across from him.
The beloved disciple of the future Hokage, a promising young genius of the Uchiha Clan, had died because of Amegakure ninjas. If this crime was forcibly pinned on Amegakure, then as the leader of Amegakure, he truly had to give an explanation.
But he had never sent anyone to attack Akatsuki's base!
Minato Namikaze! He really was not an easy man to deal with!
Hanzō's thoughts were just like Danzō's as he clung to life inside Kamui's Dimension. Danzō's mind spun rapidly. Minato Namikaze said Obito Uchiha had been killed by Hanzō's people, then who was that kid over there with the Mangekyō Sharingan?!
This was nothing but an excuse he had made up! He had simply found someone at random and claimed he was Obito Uchiha!
Unfortunately, Danzō had no way to get out of this place right now. Otherwise, he would definitely expose him!
Hanzō of the Salamander looked at the people across from him in black robes patterned with red clouds. There were fewer than ten of them, yet they had crushed and killed every Jōnin he had brought from Amegakure.
And Minato Namikaze.
The meaning behind this man's words was enough that Hanzō of the Salamander could not even use the Body Flicker Technique to leave immediately.
Because once the matter involved political issues between Amegakure and Konohagakure, unless he stopped being the leader of Amegakure, no matter what, he could not escape his duty to lead Amegakure's ninjas against Konohagakure.
And…
It was precisely because he was the leader of Amegakure that he truly did not want to see the village flattened by Konoha. That made him especially passive now.
"Hmph. To think this old man was cautious his entire life, only to stumble at the hands of a yellow-haired brat like you!" Hanzō gritted his teeth, looking as if he wanted to swallow Minato Namikaze alive.
"Speak. What are your conditions?"
Minato smiled but said nothing.
Hanzō of the Salamander was somewhat afraid the young man was still holding back some bigger move. He turned his head and tossed out, "Tell this old man once you've decided," then tried to leave.
He did not want to face Minato Namikaze and those men beside him in black robes patterned with red clouds. After seeing their combat strength, Hanzō finally realized that those people were not some "rabble coming to die" at all. They were terrifyingly powerful super S-rank Missing-nin!
But just because he did not want to continue did not mean Nagato would let him go.
"Did I say you could leave?"
The first time Nagato spoke, it had only been the two words, "Wipe them all out." In an instant, all the Akatsuki members moved out and wiped out every Amegakure ninja.
The second time he spoke, it was that casual sentence, "Did I say you could leave?"
Hanzō instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He stiffly turned his head to look at Nagato.
"What do you want?"
Nagato controlled the power of the Rinnegan and slowly rose into the sky.
Yahiko had once said…
This rain was the tears of the Land of Rain.
He would become a god, change the Land of Rain, and fill this country with happiness so it would no longer be sad.
"I heard you once held the title of Demi-God."
Hanzō did not know why the other party had brought this up, and his expression showed a faint flicker of surprise.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly. The only person he knew of who could fly into the sky was the Third Tsuchikage. He had not expected that possessing the Rinnegan could also let someone slowly float into the air like they were using the Light-Weight Rock Technique.
Nagato raised both hands above his head.
That motion felt strangely familiar to the people who had once traveled to the era when Pain attacked Konoha.
"Mm. A Demi-God, is it?"
"Then let me show you the power of a true god."
Holy shit!
It was the technique that destroyed the entire Konohagakure in one strike in another world.
Super Shinra Tensei, aaaaaah!!!!!