Half of Obito's body was hidden in the deepest shadows of the corner.
His crimson Mangekyo Sharingan swept coldly across everyone present through the hole in his swirl mask, finally settling on the indifferent Rinnegan of Tendo Pain.
His mind was racing, calculating every variable.
Nagato's condition, the progress of the Gedo Statue's transformation, Suzaku's unsettling stance, and the Shinobi Allied Forces' encirclement tightening like a noose...
However, the core issue, and the one that made him feel as if he were walking on thin ice, was how to seize those vital Rinnegan eyes amidst all this chaos without allowing Madara to truly be resurrected.
How similar he and Nagato were!
On the surface, they were both executors of a grand plan—one as 'Madara' and the other as 'Pain'.
But at their core, they were both merely pawns on someone else's chessboard, both yearning to break free from their shackles and become the true players!
Nagato, drowning in his twisted fantasy of 'salvation through pain,' had already spiraled out of control and was no longer willing to be a sacrificial offering for Madara's resurrection.
And as for Obito himself, although he wove the lie of 'Infinite Tsukuyomi' to manipulate Nagato and the Akatsuki, was it not also a projection of the despair and escapism deep within his own heart?
He knew better than anyone that once Madara was truly resurrected, this world would completely become a canvas for the other man to paint upon as he pleased.
His ambition, his obsession with Rin, and even his dream of 'creating a new world' would all turn to dust under Madara's absolute power and will!
He would not allow Madara to be resurrected! He wanted to hold everything in his own hands!
This thought wrapped around his heart, cold and resolute.
However, therein lay the difficulty!
He had to act like a loyal 'successor' who was putting his heart and soul into resurrecting Madara in front of Black Zetsu, the direct incarnation of Madara's will.
He had to perform at every moment, burying his greed for the Rinnegan and his resistance to Madara's resurrection deep beneath the fanatical mask of 'executing the Eye of the Moon Plan'.
Acquiring the Rinnegan and preventing Madara's resurrection were two sides of the same goal for him, yet they also formed a fatal paradox.
The Rinnegan had to be seized before Nagato could perform the 'Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique'.
Otherwise, once Black Zetsu forcibly controlled Nagato to use that technique on Madara's corpse, Madara would be resurrected, and everything would be over.
But the timing of the seizure had to be extremely precise.
At the same time, the act of seizing the Rinnegan itself had to be done seamlessly.
He could not openly betray them, at least not before Madara was truly resurrected.
He had to make the 'loss' of the Rinnegan look like an accident—perhaps being taken by an expert from the Allied Forces?
But how difficult would that be?
Difficult! It was far too difficult!
A trace of imperceptible fatigue and anxiety flashed through Obito's crimson eye, only to be replaced by an even deeper coldness and madness.
He touched his pale new arm; it was not just a physical defect, but a symbol of his current situation.
A 'fake' who used Madara's name and stole Madara's power, yet had to struggle desperately under Madara's shadow.
But he had no way back.
Rin's world could only be created by his own hands! Even if it was built on lies and genjutsu!
He looked at the silent Tendo Pain, at Konan standing by his side, at the indifferent Sasori and Kisame in the corner, and his thoughts finally drifted to that Suzaku, who was hidden somewhere unknown.
"Chaos... it must become even more chaotic..."
A cold voice echoed in Obito's heart.
"Only in total destruction and despair will I have the chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."
He adjusted his posture slightly, as if to conceal his ambition and killing intent along with it.
Now, what he needed to do was continue playing the role of Obito, the one 'eagerly awaiting Madara's resurrection to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan'.
Quietly waiting for that storm to fully descend, for the fatal moment that would sweep everything into the vortex.
"Hmph!"
While the surroundings were silent, a dull snort of anger exploded like thunder in the oppressive air.
Kakuzu's green eyes flickered with cold fury, and the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles behind his back writhed uneasily.
He stared at Tendo Pain sitting in the main seat, his face carrying a heavily suppressed indignation and frustration.
Because the current situation's risk and reward were severely unbalanced!
The first rule of a bounty hunter is that you have to be alive to spend the money!
The current situation? The Five Great Shinobi Villages had mobilized in full force! The risk factor exceeded any known S-rank mission by more than ten times!
This wasn't an investment; this was suicide!
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
But the problem was that even if he wanted to quit now... on the Shinobi Allied Forces' wanted list, his picture was likely already plastered all over the underground exchange and every national border!
They wouldn't let any member of Akatsuki go, especially an 'expensive' target like him.
"Damn it..."
He cursed under his breath, yet he was helpless.
Even if the Shinobi Allied Forces could let him go, he wouldn't dare raise any objections here.
The owner of those Rinnegan eyes would not allow him to shake the morale of the forces now.
And the opponent certainly had the strength to crush him in a short time.
This made him hesitate for fear of unintended consequences, feeling exceptionally stifled.
Just then, a voice that was completely out of sync with the current atmosphere rang out.
"Yeah!!"
Deidara suddenly jumped out from the shadows of the corner. Under his golden bangs, those eyes that always flickered with the light of mad art were now shining even more intensely, almost as if they were burning.
He rubbed his fingers excitedly, the special clay writhing restlessly in his palms.
"It's finally here! It's finally here! The Allied Forces of the Five Great Shinobi Villages! Yeah!!"
His voice was slightly out of tune due to excitement.
"What a massive audience! What a perfect stage! This will be the blooming ground for ultimate art! I'm going to make all of them, along with this decaying land, turn into the most dazzling light in an instant! Yeah!!"
He seemed to have already seen that grand explosion, his face overflowing with a morbid fanaticism.
"Hmph!"
A cold sneer splashed down like cold water, interrupting Deidara's self-indulgence.
Kakuzu's green eyes looked up from beneath his heavy bangs, staring fixedly at the dancing Deidara with undisguised contempt and calculation.
"Light? Dazzling? Truly idiotic!" Kakuzu's voice was low and raspy, filled with the stench of realistic greed.
"What can that kind of meaningless explosion leave behind, besides wasting priceless clay and chakra?"
He took a step forward, the black Earth Grudge Fear tentacles writhing uneasily under his robes, making a faint hissing sound.
"Tens of thousands of Shinobi! That's tens of thousands of moving bounties! Intact corpses, skulls, identification!"
Every single one is proof that can be exchanged for cold, hard cash! Blasted into ashes by you? That's simply a waste of natural resources! It's the most thorough desecration of money!"
Kakuzu's voice grew more excited, as if what Deidara wanted to blow up was his vault.
"My Earth Grudge Fear needs new hearts to maintain its power! The Mask Monsters need powerful chakra to nourish them!"
Repairing the body, replenishing losses—which of these doesn't require a huge amount of capital?"
Instead of harvesting the wealth that's right at your fingertips, you go after some momentary aesthetic of an explosion?"
Deidara, is that artistic brain of yours filled with nothing but worthless clay?!"
Kakuzu's accusations were like a barrage of cannon fire, each sentence precisely striking the opposite of Deidara's concepts: the pricelessness of art versus the supremacy of money.
However, to Kakuzu's surprise, faced with this naked contempt and declaration of self-interest, Deidara didn't feel even a bit of anger; instead, the fanatical smile on his face grew even wider!
"Haha! Hahaha! Yeah!"
Deidara laughed exaggeratedly, even clutching his stomach and bending over.
"Old man Kakuzu, your head really is still full of money, money, money! Yeah!"
"So narrow-minded! Too narrow-minded! Yeah!" Deidara held out his index finger and wagged it at Kakuzu, as if educating a child who didn't know how to appreciate things.
"Those bounties you talk about are just dead things! Cold numbers! In the face of the brilliant light of my ultimate art, they aren't worth mentioning at all! Yeah!"
He spread his arms as if to embrace the entire upcoming battlefield.
"Think about it! Tens of thousands of eyes, in the final moment of their lives, witnessing my ultimate explosion that surpasses everything in the world and is enough to be recorded in history!"
That kind of momentary, eternal beauty of shock and annihilation.
The extreme fear and amazement they feel is the highest sacrifice and priceless recognition of my art! Yeah!!"
Deidara's voice rose, filled with the fanaticism of a martyr.
"Can that filthy money of yours buy this kind of experience, this kind of achievement?"
Old man Kakuzu, your money-grubbing heart will never understand the artistic truth that a single moment is eternity! Yeah!!"
Just as Kakuzu was about to use even harsher words to refute Deidara's 'priceless art' nonsense...
Hum!
A cold and terrifying pressure suddenly descended!
Like an invisible mountain pressing down hard on everyone's soul, it instantly stripped away all sound and movement.
Deidara's exaggerated smile froze on his face, and his fingers rubbing the clay stopped;
The money-scented words about to come out of Kakuzu's mouth were choked back, and a trace of instinctive alarm flashed in his green eyes.
Inside the entire High Tower Assembly Hall, even the air seemed to freeze, leaving only the monotonous sound of the never-ending cold rain outside tapping against the metal.
Everyone's gaze, as if pulled by invisible threads, involuntarily turned toward the source of the pressure.
Tendo Pain had, at some unknown point, silently floated into the air in the center of the assembly hall.
He was still in that cold black robe with red clouds, his orange hair looking a bit dull in the dim light.
But those eyes—no, those six pairs of Rinnegan—were now emitting an unprecedentedly heart-palpitating purple light.
That light was so deep it seemed capable of swallowing souls, and so cold it carried no trace of human emotion.
Pain didn't look at anyone, nor did he make a sound; merely the will contained within those eyes was enough to silence all noise instantly.
It was an unquestionable absolute authority belonging to a 'God'!
The fanaticism on Deidara's face instantly faded, replaced by a trace of imperceptible tension and awe.
He subconsciously took half a step back, quietly hiding the clay in his hand back into his palm.
Kakuzu, on the other hand, had a dark expression, his green eyes flickering with complex light.
There was displeasure at being forcibly interrupted, but more so a kind of wariness toward absolute power.
The restless Earth Grudge Fear tentacles on his body also instantly quieted down, like hibernating venomous snakes.
The Samehada blade on Hoshigaki Kisame's shoulder, which had been humming slightly because of Deidara and Kakuzu's argument, now went completely silent.
The 'mouth' under the hilt's bandages was tightly pursed, conveying an instinctive fear.
Sasori's Hiruko puppet remained silent, but its head turned very slightly toward Pain, and Sasori's true body inside seemed to be assessing the leader's current state.
Obito's figure flickered in the shadows, his crimson Sharingan watching the floating Pain coldly through his mask, his thoughts unknown.
The entire space fell into a deathly silence.
After several breaths, that Rinnegan pressure, which had been pressing as heavily as a physical weight on everyone's hearts, finally receded slowly like a tide.
Tendo Pain's voice, cold and without a trace of emotion, rang out clearly in the silent hall:
"Senseless disputes end here."
His Rinnegan slowly swept over the trembling crowd below, his gaze lingering for a moment on Deidara and Kakuzu, who had just been arguing.
That gaze was like an ice pick, making both of them feel a chill.
Pain's gaze swept over everyone with an indifference that looked down upon all living beings and an unquestionable majesty.
"The fear of mortals stems from the unknown of power and the confusion about the end. But you are no longer ordinary."
His voice was low and steady, as if stating an eternal truth.
"The assembly of the Allied Forces is merely the final struggle and clamor of the old world before its death."
Their numbers, their anger—in the face of the divine power about to awaken, they are all but dust and rubble, unable to withstand a single blow."
"The doubt, risk, and even sacrifice we endure," his gaze seemed to pass over Kakuzu and Deidara, "are all necessary steps toward the new world. Pain is purification and the source of power."
Only by personally crossing this final trial of fire can one be qualified to step into the eternal pure land promised by God."
"The transformation of the Gedo Statue is nearly complete; it is the omen of the God Tree's return. The power it has accumulated is enough to level all obstacles."
No matter what method you use, I have only one requirement: hold on, endure."
Pain's voice suddenly rose, carrying a command that was almost religious, "Consecrate your strength to God! Contribute your final loyalty to the coming new era!"
When we survive this light of transformation, when the power of the nine Tailed Beasts is completely under our control..."
Tendo Pain slowly raised his hand, pointing toward the seemingly endless rainy sky outside the window, as if piercing through the thick clouds toward that illusory 'other shore'.
"...it will be the moment we step into a brand-new world and welcome true peace and eternal order!"
Before then, any wavering or retreat is a desecration of God, with only annihilation as the path."
The cold declaration echoed through the tower like a divine oracle.
It didn't truly dispel the gloom and selfish desires in everyone's hearts, but under the pressure of the Rinnegan, amidst the coercion in the name of 'God' and in the desperate situation with no way back, all differing thoughts were forcibly suppressed into the depths of their hearts.