Since that day, several letters have drifted toward the major hidden villages like white snowflakes.
The envelopes were pitch black, sealed with crimson wax imprinted with the simple outline of a red cloud.
The content was blunt and aggressive.
"Surrender the Tailed Beasts and submit to God, or else—experience pain."
Signed: Akatsuki.
The reaction these letters elicited in the great villages wasn't so much panic as it was—ridicule.
Land of Earth, Hidden Stone Village.
"Huh? A god?"
Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, looked at the paper in his hand and let out a sneer. He crumpled it into a ball and tossed it into the wastebasket. "Can the youth of today not even write a proper threatening letter? Do they think picking a random name is enough to scare me?"
He floated back to his chair, rubbing his aching lower back. "Ignore it. It's likely just some small-time mercenary group desperate for fame. Tell Kitsuchi to tighten border patrols. Don't let these ignorant clowns come in and cause trouble."
Land of Wind, Hidden Sand Village.
Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, looked at the black letter on his desk. His brow furrowed briefly before relaxing.
"The Akatsuki? That little group operating in the Land of Rain?"
Rasa shook his head, tapping his finger on the desk. "I heard they used to advocate for peace. Have they switched to terrorism now? It seems their funding ran dry, and they're trying to extort the great nations."
"A boring trick."
Rasa pushed the letter aside and returned to processing data on gold sand extraction. "The Hidden Sand has no time for a third-rate organization's games. As long as they don't step into the Land of Wind, pretend they don't exist."
The reactions from the great nations were surprisingly consistent.
Arrogance.
It was a gene etched into the bones of the major powers.
In their view, Konoha's 'Otsutsuki crisis' might be a political conspiracy worth guarding against, but this 'Akatsuki' was merely an insignificant ripple in the long river of shinobi history.
No one cared.
Until—that ripple turned into a tsunami.
...
Land of Lightning, Hidden Cloud Village.
Here, mountains towered high and clouds swirled around massive stone buildings built into the cliffs, rugged and majestic.
The top floor of the Raikage Building.
Bang!
That poor office desk suffered its second devastating blow of the month.
The Fourth Raikage, Ay, was shirtless, his muscles bulging like granite as crackling blue electrical arcs danced around him.
"Bastards! Bastards! Bastards!"
Ay roared, the floor beneath his feet cracking inch by inch. "First, that jerk Minato Namikaze starts talking about aliens, and now some 'Akatsuki' wants us to feel pain?!"
"Do they really think the Hidden Cloud is a soft target? That anyone can just come and take a swing?!"
The secretary, Mabui, stood in the corner clutching a stack of documents, trying to minimize her presence.
"Big brother, calm down, yeah!"
Killer Bee sat on the windowsill, twirling a pen and constantly chanting. "Those fools just want some attention, like a mosquito's buzz. Just swat them dead, oh yeah!"
"Shut up, Bee!"
Ay turned sharply, his eyes wide with rage. "You spend all day singing those terrible songs! If you have the time, go find the bastards who sent those letters! I'll crush their bones with my own hands!"
"Raikage-sama..."
Mabui spoke up weakly. "Intelligence suggests that the leader of the Akatsuki possesses the Rinnegan..."
"Rinnegan my ass!"
Ay interrupted crudely. "Those are the eyes of the legendary Sage of Six Paths! If they really had something like that, they would have unified the shinobi world long ago. Would they be sending cryptic letters? It's definitely some kind of trick!"
Ay took a deep breath, his chest heaving.
"Pass down the order! Have Darui lead a team to the Land of Rain border. If they run into anyone from this Akatsuki, don't talk, just—"
Before he could finish his sentence.
"Report!!!"
A piercing scream tore through the office air.
A sensory ninja from the Hidden Cloud scrambled in, his face as white as paper, looking as if he had seen an indescribable horror.
"Rai... Raikage-sama!"
The ninja pointed out the window, his finger trembling violently. "The... the sky! There's someone in the sky!"
"Someone?"
Ay frowned. "What's the panic? Is it the Konoha shinobi attacking?"
"No... no..."
The ninja swallowed, his voice carrying a sob. "There's only one... but... that chakra... that chakra..."
"Useless!"
Ay shoved the ninja aside and strode toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
"I'll see for myself who dares to run wild over the Hidden Cloud!"
Boom!
Ay smashed the entire window with a punch, his body launching out like a cannonball and landing on the broad rooftop terrace.
Killer Bee's playful expression vanished as he followed closely behind.
The wind howled.
High above, the clouds churned.
Between the blinding sunlight and the heavy thunderclouds, a figure floated silently.
He wore a black trench coat embroidered with red clouds, the hem snapping loudly in the wind.
Beneath his orange hair was a face of extreme indifference, his nose, ears, and lower lip pierced with black metal rods.
Most striking were his eyes.
Light purple, ripple-patterned eyes that held no emotion, like a god looking down at the ants below.
Deva Path Pain.
"That is..."
Ay narrowed his eyes at the hovering figure, his anger instantly ignited. "Hey! You bastard up there! Who gave you the nerve to provoke the Hidden Cloud?!"
His voice exploded like thunder, echoing throughout the entire village.
Countless Cloud ninja stuck their heads out of buildings, watching the scene in shock.
Deva Path Pain looked down slightly, his gaze crossing hundreds of meters to land on the Raikage.
"It seems this is the leader of the Cloud."
Pain's voice wasn't loud, yet it reached everyone's ears with eerie clarity. "I am Pain. I am God."
"God?"
Ay laughed from sheer anger. The Lightning Style chakra around him surged, making his hair stand on end. "What arrogance! You dare play god in front of me?!"
"Since you've come, then get down here!"
Boom!
The terrace beneath Ay's feet instantly collapsed.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode: Full Release!
In that moment, the Raikage's speed reached its peak. The naked eye could only catch a bolt of blue lightning rising against the sky, charging into the heavens.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
Ay's hand blade was wrapped in lightning capable of slicing through steel. With unstoppable momentum, he hacked toward Pain's neck.
Fast.
Too fast.
This was the absolute speed of the shinobi world—a speed none could match except for Minato Namikaze.
However, facing this lethal strike, Pain's face remained unmoved.
He simply raised a hand.
"Ignorant."
Just as Ay's hand blade was about to touch the hem of Pain's cloak.
"Almighty Push."
Hum—!
An invisible yet terrifyingly powerful repulsive force erupted centered on Pain.
Space seemed to distort in that instant.
The unstoppable Raikage suddenly felt as though he had slammed into an invisible wall.
"What?!"
Ay's pupils shrank.
The power and speed he took pride in were meaningless before this repulsive force.
Thud!
A dull impact.
The Raikage was blasted back even faster than he had come.
He fell from the sky like a meteorite, slamming violently into the plaza below the Raikage Building.
Rumble!
Dust billowed and rocks flew.
The hard stone ground was smashed into a crater dozens of meters wide, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading in every direction.
"Big brother!"
Bee cried out, about to rush down.
"Cough... cough..."
In the crater, Ay pushed away the boulders pinning him and slowly stood up.
His lightning armor had dimmed significantly, but the fighting spirit in his eyes grew even more feral.
"You have some tricks..."
Ay wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared fixedly at Pain in the sky. "That strange jutsu... it can repel attacks?"
"In that case, Bee!"
Ay roared. "Together! I want to see how many times he can repel us!"
He could already tell the opponent was anything but simple.
"Understood, brother! Let's show him the power of our Lariat, fool, ya fool!"
Bee instantly entered his Tailed Beast Version 2 state. Dark red chakra enveloped his body, and the phantom of eight tails appeared behind him.
The two brothers charged into the sky again from the left and right like two streaks of light.
Their coordination was perfect, sealing off all escape routes.
This was the Hidden Cloud's strongest combined attack, one even Minato Namikaze wouldn't dare take head-on.
However, Pain had no intention of dodging.
He watched the two charging at him, a flicker of disappointment crossing his eyes.
"Do you still not understand?"
Pain slowly ascended, widening the distance.
"I didn't come here to play tedious ninja games with you."
"I am here to end war."
"I am here to teach you reverence."
As Pain rose, Ay and Bee's attack missed.
The two landed on the roof of a nearby building, looking up at the rising Pain.
"Trying to run?" Ay bellowed.
"No."
Pain stopped directly above the center of the Hidden Cloud Village, a position from which he could overlook the entire layout.
He spread his arms wide, as if embracing the world, or perhaps passing judgment upon it.
"The great nations have indulged in a false peace for far too long."
"Since words cannot wake you."
Pain's gaze became cold. "Then let pain awaken you."
A massive, suffocating amount of chakra began to gather within Pain's body.
The pressure caused all the Cloud ninja below to feel a pang in their chests, as if an invisible hand was squeezing their hearts.
"What is he doing?" Mabui stood at the broken window, her face pale.
"Not good!"
Bee's sharp senses detected the danger, and the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, roared in terror inside him. 'Bee! Run! This guy is about to unleash something massive! That level of chakra... he's a monster!'
"Everyone, evacuate!"
Bee shouted.
But it was too late.
High in the sky, Pain indifferently uttered his declaration.
"Starting from here, the world shall know pain."
"Almighty—"
"Push!"
This time, it wasn't a force meant to repel a single person.
It was—to repel an entire city.
BOOM!!!
With Pain as the epicenter, a devastating white shockwave erupted.
A brutal and matchless pressure descended from the heavens.
The towering stone buildings of the Hidden Cloud that had stood for centuries were like sandcastles on a beach before this power—collapsing and pulverizing in an instant.
Streets, houses, defensive fortifications...
Everything was uprooted by the repulsive force, violently pushed outward and ground into dust.
"NO!!!"
Ay's eyes nearly burst from their sockets. He detonated his chakra, trying to stand in front of Mabui and the others.
But before that world-ending power, individual strength was pathetic.
Rumble—!
The earth wailed, and the mountains trembled.
In just a few seconds, the central district of the Hidden Cloud Village was razed to the ground.
All that remained was a colossal, mirror-smooth crater.
Dust filled the sky, blotting out the sun.
A long time passed.
The wind blew over the ruins, carrying a whistling sound like the mourning of the dead.
At the edge of the rubble.
A thick arm reached out from the debris.
Ay pushed away a massive stone and stood up unsteadily.
He was covered in blood, his proud Lightning Release Armor long shattered. His face, usually filled with dominance, was now a mask of shock and bewilderment.
He looked at the scene before him.
The once-prosperous Hidden Cloud, the powerful village built atop the mountain peaks... it was gone.
Only ruins remained.
Although many survived on the outskirts because the village was built into complex mountain terrain, the destruction of the core was a crippling blow to the Cloud.
"This... this is..."
Ay's voice trembled, his legs giving way as he knelt amidst the wreckage.
"Is this... the power of a God?"
High in the sky.
Pain still hovered there, his cloak not even ruffled.
He looked down at the tragedy below, his eyes devoid of pity or joy.
"Do you feel the pain now?"
Pain's voice rang out again, echoing over the deathly silent ruins.
"Remember this pain."
"Only through pain can war be abolished."
With that, Pain turned, his figure gradually fading into the clouds until he vanished.
He left behind the scarred Hidden Cloud Village and a Raikage kneeling on the ground, finally beginning to 'feel the pain.'
Meanwhile, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had already disappeared.
...
At the same time, in Konoha.
Inside the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze stood by the window, frowning as he read the latest intelligence report.
"What's wrong, Minato?"
Jiraiya walked in, carrying a jug of sake. "You look troubled. Is some research stuck?"
"No, it's worse news."
Minato turned and handed the report to Jiraiya.
"An emergency transmission just arrived."
Minato took a deep breath, his tone grave. "The Hidden Cloud Village... has suffered a devastating blow."
"What?!"
Jiraiya's hand shook, and the jug nearly fell. "Who did it? Wasn't Isshiki Otsutsuki captured? Are there more of them?"
"It wasn't an Otsutsuki."
Minato shook his head, his eyes flashing with complexity. "It was the Akatsuki."
"Nagato has made his move."
Gamakon, lying on the sofa, rolled over, not appearing surprised. 'That fanatic. Since the diplomatic approach failed, he was bound to use force. He's using his own way to unify the shinobi world for us.'
"But these methods..."
Minato sighed. "They're too extreme."