After leaving the Leaf Village, Akira and his group began their journey towards the Akatsuki's main base. It wasn't a short trip by any means, requiring over a week of steady travel to reach the headquarters. After marching for an entire day, they arrived at a small town where they decided to have a hearty dinner and spend the night.
Akira insisted on treating everyone to a luxurious meal and ensured that each person had their own room at the inn.
"Wow, Akira sure has become more generous!" Kakashi remarked after finishing his delicious meal. Everyone having their own room had definitely caught his attention.
"Yeah, it's true! He wasn't like this before," Guy added, nodding in agreement.
"Really? Was my brother-in-law stingy back in the day?" Hanabi asked curiously, looking quite surprised.
"Oh, you have no idea!" Kakashi said, his voice taking on a nostalgic tone. "I remember about seven years ago, when he led us to the border to intimidate the other ninja villages, all we got to eat was rice balls."
Even though Kakashi was wearing a mask, his expression of reminiscing over the tough past could be felt by everyone.
"Yeah, and we even had to sleep out in the open half the time," Naruto chimed in, nodding.
Hearing this, Akira couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Back then, he really didn't have much money, and the funds needed for his life simulations were piling up. He had resorted to cutting costs wherever he could, including their mission budgets.
But now? With each life simulation costing him a whopping ten million ryo, and with more than a hundred million in his current reserves, it really wasn't necessary to skimp on mission expenses anymore. Hence, he was spending more freely now.
"Who knew you could be that cheap, brother-in-law?" Hanabi said, looking at Akira with a mix of surprise and amusement.
"Honestly, I used to wonder why Akira decided to take this knucklehead along on missions, but now I get it," Sasuke added, giving Naruto a sidelong glance.
Back then, Sasuke had been the top student in the academy, while Naruto had always been at the bottom of the class. It had bothered Sasuke for a long time that Akira chose Naruto over him.
"Hey! Who are you calling a knucklehead, Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled, banging his fist on the table as he stood up.
"I'm talking about you, of course," Sasuke replied, rising to his feet as well, glaring at Naruto.
Their rivalry was fierce, even more so than the competition between Kakashi and Gai. But despite their bickering, there was also an undeniable bond between them.
Jiraiya and Tsunade watched the scene unfold, both with smiles tugging at their lips.
They represented the older generation of Leaf's strongest, while Kakashi and Gai were the next in line. And now, Naruto and Sasuke represented the newest generation of elite shinobi. To see such a seamless succession of powerful Leaf ninjas was something that filled both Jiraiya and Tsunade with pride. It was a stark contrast to a place like the Stone Village, where the generational gap between powerful shinobi was all too apparent.
"Alright, alright. That's enough about the past. I don't even remember any of that stuff!" Akira waved dismissively, trying to change the topic.
Hearing Akira's words, many people rolled their eyes at him.
Not remember? Yeah, right. He'd said himself that these past seven years felt like only a short nap to him. So for Akira, what had happened seven years ago was like something from just last year. Of course, he remembered everything!
Seeing that Akira was trying to pretend he had forgotten, Kakashi, Gai, Naruto, and even Sasuke were quick to bring up more stories from the past, teasing him relentlessly.
Akira, of course, remembered everything clearly, but he stubbornly shook his head, maintaining that he couldn't recall any of it. No matter what they said, he refused to admit it—acting completely shameless.
Hanabi watched them all with a smile on her face. Despite the fact that these were the most powerful shinobi of the Leaf, it was heartwarming to see how close they were.
Roshi and Han, both from the Stone Village, watched the scene with mixed feelings—both admiration and envy. In most other villages, high-level shinobi often had their own agendas, and there were always divisions and rivalries. After the Third Tsuchikage passed, there had been a struggle for power between them and Kurotsuchi, the Fourth Tsuchikage. But here in the Leaf, there seemed to be none of that. It was remarkable.
For the Leaf shinobi, this camaraderie was natural. Jiraiya and Tsunade had both shown no interest in the position of Hokage. Naruto and Sasuke, even if they both aspired to the title of Hokage, would compete fairly without letting it affect their friendship. Kakashi and Gai were also not interested in politics or titles, and Gai had never even considered himself for the Hokage role.
After a hearty dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
During the journey over the next few days, Akira would continue his life simulations whenever they rested, each time managing to gain about a year of improvement—boosting his chakra reserves by over two thousand points per simulation. By the time they arrived near the Akatsuki's headquarters, his chakra had increased by more than ten thousand points in total.
Akira estimated that his chakra reserves had now reached around 160,000 to 170,000.
Finally, Akira's group arrived at the Akatsuki's headquarters, situated near the border of the Land of Rain. Though their numbers weren't vast, their arrival was quickly detected by the Akatsuki.
After all, the Akatsuki had more than just its core members like Deidara. There was also a massive support network handling various other operations—like Tobi, who originally served as a replacement after Sasori's death.
"What?! Akira is here? And he's brought most of the Leaf's elite—almost their entire high-ranking force?!" Nagato's expression grew serious as he received the report.
Naturally, Nagato wasted no time in summoning the other members of the Akatsuki.
The news that Akira had arrived with nearly all of the Leaf's top shinobi made all the Akatsuki members look grim.
The strength of the Akatsuki lay in its members—all of them top-tier shinobi, each at the Kage level. This concentration of elite fighters was something even the Five Great Nations found intimidating. But if there was one village that wasn't scared of the Akatsuki, it was the Leaf.
The Leaf had just as many Kage-level fighters as the Akatsuki—maybe more. And to top it off, they had Akira, a shinobi whose power was beyond the Kage level, someone capable of transforming into a golden dragon. Twice now, the Akatsuki had tried to attack the Leaf and had failed each time. That fact alone spoke volumes.
But this time, things were different. It wasn't the Akatsuki attacking the Leaf; it was the Leaf attacking the Akatsuki.
The Akatsuki members couldn't help but feel the weight of the situation.
Especially when they heard that it was Akira leading the attack. The memory of him transforming into a golden dragon—that overwhelming power—was still fresh in their minds, and it filled them with dread.
"Everyone, the enemy is already at our doorstep. Whether we like it or not, we can't avoid a fight," Nagato said, addressing all the Akatsuki members. "This could be our toughest battle yet—the first time the Akatsuki has ever been cornered like this."
With the Leaf at their gates, the Akatsuki had no choice but to fight. They steeled themselves, prepared for what was sure to be a grueling battle. The Akatsuki emerged from their hideout, ready to face their enemies head-on.
No ambushes, no hiding—both sides stood face-to-face, preparing for the confrontation to come. There was a palpable tension in the air, a sense of an impending clash between two armies with no middle ground.
"So, they've finally come..." Itachi said, his voice calm. His gaze shifted slightly towards Sasuke, who stood among the Leaf shinobi, and his thoughts echoed silently in his mind.
_________________
POWER STONE!!!
____________
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to 50+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.
"Akira, I didn't expect you to come here today!" Deva Path Pain's gaze turned towards Akira, his tone heavy as he spoke.
After all, the Six Paths of Pain were merely puppets controlled by the power of the Rinnegan.
So, even if they were completely destroyed, Pain could always recreate them or replace a few if necessary!
"What's more surprising to you, that I showed up today, or that I know your Akatsuki base is here?" Akira's expression remained calm as he looked directly at Deva Path Pain.
"Both, honestly!" Deva Path Pain replied.
"Well, there isn't much to be surprised about, is there?
"First, you Akatsuki have attacked the Hidden Leaf Village multiple times, and even went after our Hokage. To retaliate is only fair, right? It makes perfect sense that we would target your organization."
"As for knowing where your headquarters is..."
"Sorry, but I've known all along. I just never had the opportunity to come here until today!" Akira explained to Deva Path Pain.
Hearing these words, the members of the Akatsuki all showed solemn expressions.
They had always thought the Akatsuki had remained well hidden, with no one able to find their whereabouts, and yet today, Akira claimed he knew all along?
Could it be his ability to deduce and calculate had allowed him to determine the headquarters' location?
A guy with such abilities—truly annoying!
"So then? You hadn't made a move until now because you weren't confident in victory? So you called a Five Kage Summit to strategize against me. And now you show up yourself—do you really think you've got us cornered?" Deva Path Pain's tone remained heavy as he spoke to Akira.
"If that's how you want to see it, I won't bother arguing with you!" Akira shrugged, a helpless expression on his face.
His words made the Akatsuki members even more secretly irritated.
After all, from their perspective, anyone would feel furious if spoken to in such a dismissive way.
"Very well then, let's see just how your Leaf intends to corner the Akatsuki!"
Even though they already knew the Leaf was powerful, especially Akira, in this pre-battle exchange of words, there was no way they would back down.
"Haven't you seen it before? If you want to see it again, I'm happy to oblige!" Akira said.
With those words, he immediately raised his hand and activated his Wood Release technique.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!" Akira stood atop a massive wooden humanoid figure, looking down at the Akatsuki members.
"Attack!" With Akira forming seals and unleashing the Wood Human Technique, there was no way the Akatsuki would just sit back and do nothing. With a roar, Deva Path Pain also raised his hand and unleashed his own technique.
A dark orb, black as ink, appeared in Deva Path Pain's hand, and then it flew towards Akira and his allies.
Chibaku Tensei!
Deva Path Pain didn't hold back, and the terrifying gravitational force instantly swept up everyone on the Leaf's side.
At the same time, chunks of earth and stone were torn from the ground, drawn towards the black orb.
Before long, a massive sphere began to form, and it grew larger and larger.
The members of the Leaf, even though they were Kage-level shinobi, found it difficult to resist such terrifying gravitational forces.
Kakashi and the others struggled against Chibaku Tensei's pull, their bodies barely able to resist being drawn towards the sphere in the sky!
Seeing this, Akira couldn't just stand idly by.
He took a deep breath, then raised his hand, gathering and compressing lightning release chakra into his palm until it formed a blue lightning orb.
This was an evolved form of Lightning Cutter, combining nature transformation with shape transformation into a massive lightning ball, and Akira hurled it forward.
He didn't even need to aim properly. Under the influence of the gravitational pull, the lightning ball was automatically drawn towards the Chibaku Tensei.
Boom!
The enormous, violent lightning struck the Chibaku Tensei, erupting into a fearsome explosion.
Amid the blinding light, the Chibaku Tensei sphere began to crumble!
With the destruction of Chibaku Tensei, a spiraling vortex of space appeared, and Obito emerged, arriving right behind Kakashi with a raised hand, a wooden branch appearing and stabbing towards Kakashi!
Seeing this, Kakashi hurriedly dodged, his left eye—the Sharingan with three tomoe—locked firmly on his opponent!
The masked man, with a right eye possessing the Sharingan, actually a Mangekyou Sharingan, could phase his body but had to become tangible when attacking...
Kakashi's mind processed information about the masked man while glaring at him.
Glaring back, Obito's eyes revealed a flash of anger as he quickly formed seals.
Suddenly, several branches burst out of the ground, wrapping towards Kakashi.
Obito held a grudge against Kakashi! The Edo Tensei technique required digging up the graves of the deceased!
Although he had seen Rin, all of it had been possible only because Akira dug up her grave.
Hence, anger filled Obito's heart towards Kakashi!
He had been in the Leaf but couldn't even protect Rin's grave? He allowed Akira to disturb her rest?
To Obito, this was a major failure on Kakashi's part!
With anger in his eyes, Obito continued attacking, unleashing one Wood Release after another towards Kakashi!
With half of his body infused with Hashirama's cells, using Wood Release was no problem for Obito!
"Why is this guy...?" Kakashi couldn't help feeling puzzled as Obito's angry eyes locked on him.
That angry expression left Kakashi confused. Why was this guy so mad at him? As far as Kakashi knew, they had no history.
Compared to that, the fact that the opponent possessed Wood Release powers seemed almost unimportant!
"Who are you? What grudge do we have?" Kakashi stared at the masked man and asked.
"Hmph!" In response to Kakashi's question, Obito merely snorted coldly and continued his assault!
Elsewhere, Kisame seemed destined to clash with Might Guy!
Hidan paired up against Han.
Deidara originally wanted to go after Sasuke. He had taken a loss from Itachi previously, and he enjoyed fighting the Uchiha.
But Akira was out of the question—he knew he was no match—so Deidara set his sights on Sasuke instead!
Unfortunately, Sasuke at that moment was entirely focused on his brother, uninterested in Deidara.
Itachi, pleased to face Sasuke, welcomed his attacks and even instructed Deidara not to interfere in this sibling battle.
"If you want to fight, then come at me!" Naruto leaped forward at this point, intercepting Deidara!
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Deidara clashed, while elsewhere, Roshi and Sasori went at it. Kakuzu was up against the fierce Tsunade...
Everyone seemed to have found their opponent, mutually ignoring Deva Path Pain and Akira for now.
"Kid, Akira, you handle the Six Paths of Pain. I'm going to locate the real Nagato!" Jiraiya called out to Akira.
"No, you go deal with Deidara. Let Naruto find Nagato!" Based on the original storyline, Akira shook his head and offered his suggestion.
"This... alright!" Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, feeling it might be better for him as Nagato's teacher to be the one to face him, but since Akira, with his calculation abilities, suggested otherwise, he decided to trust him.
With a nod, Jiraiya leaped towards Deidara's location.
At the same time, he relayed Akira's instructions to Naruto.
"Me, finding Nagato? But... where am I supposed to look?" With Jiraiya taking his place, Naruto leaped out of the battle zone and turned to Akira for guidance.
"Naruto, have you learned Sage Mode yet?" Akira didn't answer directly but instead asked about Naruto's progress.
"I've been learning it recently, but I haven't fully mastered it!" Naruto responded frankly.
"No worries, let me let you experience Sage Mode again!" Hearing this, Akira spoke up.
With those words, Akira closed his eyes. When they reopened, they had transformed into the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Activating his right eye's power, he bestowed his own Sage Mode to Naruto!
This wasn't Naruto's first time receiving Akira's Sage Mode power, so he took a deep breath.
Blue chakra quickly surrounded Naruto, swirling around him like flames.
In Sage Mode, Naruto's power, speed, defense, reflexes, and sensory abilities were greatly enhanced!
"I think... I can sense a source of chakra..."
Naruto took a moment to feel the presence of the Six Paths of Pain and spoke aloud.
_________________
POWER STONE!!!
____________
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to 50+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.
Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen
Kommentar absatzweise anzeigen
Die Absatzkommentarfunktion ist jetzt im Web! Bewegen Sie den Mauszeiger über einen beliebigen Absatz und klicken Sie auf das Symbol, um Ihren Kommentar hinzuzufügen.
Außerdem können Sie es jederzeit in den Einstellungen aus- und einschalten.
ICH HAB ES