Obito had already managed to successfully retreat from Kumogakure. Kumo's forces, despite all his efforts and tricks, were unable to harm him in the slightest.
If it wasn't for buying time for Akatsuki's members, he wouldn't even need this time, he could evacuate directly!
However, when he arrived at the designated meeting point, he found the place empty. After a moment of hesitation, he took out Akatsuki's ring.
It was a special communication artifact of Akatsuki, which not only assisted in sealing the Tailed Beasts within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, but also, once activated, notified others to connect and communicate.
Basically, it was like modern communication devices...
In the next second, images of Zetsu, Kisame and others appeared.
"Hey, I just wanted to call you, why are you not at the agreed place?" Obito couldn't help but asked: "Where did you go?"
"It's good that you came, Tobi! I was just about to ask you to connect." Seeing Obito, Deidara breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "You have no idea, that guy Natsuo stopped us."
"That guy is really fierce. If we hadn't lowered our heads in time, I'm afraid you wouldn't have seen us!"
"What happened?" Nagato, who had just appeared, looked at Deidara and the other two. "Why did Natsuo appear there? Have you completed your mission?"
"We could say yes." Zetsu said softly. "He rescued the Jinchuriki from the Two-Tails, but I kept some of the Two-Tails' chakra. Which should be enough."
"As for why he was there..."
Deidara, Kisame, and Zetsu looked at Itachi in unison. "Of course a spy informed him of our actions!"
'A spy?!' Obito's expression changed slightly and Nagato instantly became serious as well.
They all looked in the direction of Itachi, eyes full of vigilance.
If there is a spy in Akatsuki, this man would be the prime suspect. Was he the one who informed Konoha about our operation?
Zetsu and Deidara also looked at Itachi with a murderous look on their faces. Regarding Itachi's identity, Zetsu and Kisame knew it from the beginning.
However, when they looked, what they saw was Itachi's puzzled expression.
"Are you doubting me?" Itachi kept his face impassive, but his eyes reflected genuine confusion. "I haven't done anything at all!"
"Don't forget that you were the ones who, suspicious of me and fearing that I would reveal information, decided to have Kakuzu watching me all the time..."
"If you want to know if I did something, why don't you ask him?"
He had not revealed any information. If he had, he would have escaped from Amegakure immediately afterwards... Even if he had the Eternal Mangekyo, he didn't want to compete with the Rinnegan and several Akatsuki members at once!
Konan, Kakuzu, Nagato....
With this equipment, he would be completely trapped in Amegakure.
Itachi hurried to explain, as he looked around. "Kakuzu, why don't you say something...? Where is Kakuzu? Why isn't he online yet?"
"Killed by you?" Deidara frowned.
"Kakuzu and I are in Amegakure. Do you think I could act without the leader noticing?" Itachi snorted coldly.
That's true. Everyone nodded slightly.
So why didn't Kakuzu show up? In fact, not only Kakuzu, even Konan hasn't appeared...
When one member activates contact, everyone else can feel it through the ring receptors on their hands and immediately go into contact mode.
How is it possible that so much time has passed, and they haven't shown up?
The Akatsuki members showed confusion on their faces.
"Konan!" Nagato's expression changed slightly. In the next second, he went offline directly.
Itachi frowned and left a sentence: "I'll go down and have a look." That said, he also logged out.
Leaving behind Obito and the others looking at each other in confusion.
After a while, Itachi came back online with a strange expression.
"The situation is clear, the spy is Kakuzu... It was he who betrayed us by revealing our operation." Itachi said quietly. "They were blaming the wrong person."
"So where is the leader? Why hasn't he connected?"
"And what about Konan?"
Deidara and the others still had guarded looks on their faces. As shinobi, they do not easily trust others.
Itachi is acting like he's innocent, but God knows if he's playing tricks right now, trying to figure out where they are.
The leader is the one who deserves the most trust!
"About the leader and Konan..." Itachi looked uncomfortable. "Konan was ambushed and captured by Kakuzu, who has defected from Akatsuki. He took her directly."
"The leader is going after them right now."
Hearing this, Obito couldn't help but ask: "Why would Kakuzu take Konan? It's hard enough to defect from Akatsuki, why bother taking Konan?"
"Well, maybe... maybe..." Itachi worked hard to organize his words, but finally discovered that he, who was used to fighting and killing, did not have this literary quality, so in the end he could only speak directly. "Well, he might be trying to sell Konan to Natsuo."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. This possibility... It's pretty big to happen.
Brother Kakuzu was very excited back then, has he finally acted now?
…
In the middle of the jungle, Kakuzu was running desperately. He carried the unconscious Konan on his shoulders, his steps were frantic, not caring about leaving any traces, only focused on increasing his speed to the maximum.
Meanwhile, behind him...
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
It was as if an invisible, colossal creature was chasing him, crushing the trees behind him like grass, with astonishing ease. However, the creature that felled the trees could not be seen, as if it had become completely invisible…
"Kakuzu!!!" An angry voice rang out, laden with suppressed anger, but still managed to articulate words. "If you release Konan now, I will allow you to leave."
"You know me, I will never break my promise, I only want Konan!"
"Leave Konan here!" In the end, the voice was filled with almost crazed fury.
Kakuzu knew that voice well, it was the voice of the leader he knew so well! But...
"Sorry, leader, who let Akatsuki have no money?" Kakuzu chuckled and looked back. "I've had enough of this lately."
"Dodging and hiding, not letting me earn any reward... Do you know how much we lost with that?"
"And who made that buyer full of sincerity." Kakuzu laughed. "Do you know how much he paid for Konan? Getting this money is comparable to my ten years of hard work in Akatsuki!" Kakuzu's eyes were full of madness and greed.
"Sure enough, it's still Natsuo!" Nagato behind him gritted his teeth, his eyes were full of anger.
When Natsuo first took over the Uchiha clan, he set a very high price for Kage-level kunoichi. That's when Kakuzu almost wanted to drag Konan to claim the bounty. Of course, the result was that Konan beat him fiercely.
Since then, every time Natsuo increased the price of the reward, Kakuzu couldn't help but talk to Konan; focusing on the spirit of sacrifice that a shinobi should have and explaining the precarious financial situation of their own organization.
How much money was missing? Well, about the same amount as the reward Natsuo offered for a Kage-level kunoichi.
This is the time when someone has to sacrifice themselves, the core members of the organization should step up to be a hero.
Of course, whenever this happened, Konan would look at Kakuzu with a speechless face, and then beat him up.
After so many years, Kakuzu's behavior was public knowledge. But even Nagato didn't expect that Kakuzu actually took the risk of being hunted down by him to attack Konan.
Although her skill was not weak, how could she so easily defeat Konan, who was also a Kage-level kunoichi? Even if she is poisoned and drugged, it shouldn't be impossible for her to call for help before she loses consciousness...
What did Kaku do to achieve all this?
"Kakuzu, no matter how much Natsuo gives you, I'll give you double!" Nagato gritted his teeth and said, "Don't you love money? I'll give you more money, is that okay?"
Is it just about money? He can offer it too!
However, Kakuzu chuckled. "Stop joking, leader. We know how much we have in Akatsuki, how much can you offer?"
"Natsuo offered 5 billion, let alone double that. If you can get 5 billion without problems, I will release her immediately!"
"Don't forget, boss, I'm the one who handles the money... If you want to fool me, you'll have to show something real."
Hearing this, Nagato opened his mouth but could not utter a word.
It's not that Akatsuki doesn't make money. But Akatsuki also spent a lot of money.
In addition, Nagato and Konan use part of the money to subsidize Amegakure. This is the place where his, Konan and Yahiko's dreams are, how could they not contribute?
Although they still had a lot of assets, taking out 5 billion in one go...
Not to mention 5 billion, not counting real estate and other fixed industries, but only working capital, it is a question whether he can afford 100 million. This is a number beyond the imagination of ordinary shinobi.
Nagato said unwillingly: "So you trust Natsuo to be able to get this amount of money?"
This is 5 billion! Uchiha is so rich?
"Of course I believe it!" Kakuzu was full of confidence. "People like you who know nothing about economics have no idea how much money Uchiha has!"
"He won't need to mortgage anything, his liquid funds are enough to pay my compensation!"
"Besides, I didn't ask Natsuo to take out so much cash in one go, he can definitely pay in installments!"
The corner of Nagato's mouth twitched. He really didn't know if the Uchiha clan had that much money. But he is very clear that the Uchiha clan's industries even extended to Amegakure.
Driven by years of research in advanced technology, the Uchiha clan has formed a complete assembly line of electrical products in the Land of Snow, with extremely high quality but surprisingly low prices and excellent value for money.
With that kind of production spanning the market throughout the Shinobi World, it's no wonder the Uchiha clan has so much money.
"But are you so sure that Natsuo will keep his promise?" Nagato was still trying to persuade him. "This is 5 billion, isn't it enough to tempt him to betray you?"
"Anyway, if he kills you, no one will know!"
However, Kakuzu said impatiently: "Okay, I don't know if he will betray his promise?"
After so long as business partners, did he really think Kakuzu was so naive as to not probe his business partner?
Kakuzu understood it completely. For someone like him, money was everything. But for someone like Natsuo, money was just a number. If Natsuo needed it, he just had to reach out and he could get a large amount. And also...
"Leader, stop trying to persuade me." Kaku turned around. "Akatsuki is under siege from the shinobi world and its future is increasingly bleak, but Uchiha is like a rising sun, with infinite potential..."
"Even if he doesn't give me money, I'm willing to get closer to Uchiha!"
Of course, the service attitude would not be so good if he doesn't give money, at least Konan is obviously too expensive as a gift.
Hearing this, Nagato sighed softly, knowing that there was no hope of making Kakuzu release Konan through words.
At first glance, the Akatsuki organization seemed to be one step away from its dream, all that remained was to recover the Nine-Tails from Konoha. But with Natsuo guarding him, God knows if they can really capture the Nine-Tails.
In order to reduce Kumogakure's surveillance, they chose to go into hiding for a long time, causing Kakuzu's income to drop significantly, making him decide to betray them.
Such a person obviously cannot be persuaded to come back with words. So...
"Kakuzu, do you really think you can make me back down just because you have a hostage?" Nagato inhaled deeply.
Six Paths of Pain!
The next second, five figures suddenly appeared around Pain, as if they were stepping on something in the void. But if you look closer, you can vaguely see that they are standing on a creature invisible at first glance...
"Indeed, it is something similar to what he told me... Some kind of invisible summoning beast...?" Kakuzu narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the scene in front of him. "I'm definitely no match for the leader."
He knew this from the moment he was invited by the leader years ago. But...
"Fortunately, Natsuo also gave me an ace up my sleeve."
And just at that moment, 'Pain' extended a hand.
"Come here!"
"Banshō Ten'in!" The powerful gravitational force appeared out of thin air.
Kakuzu let out a muffled snort, several threads released from his back, and a round-faced masked monster emerged from behind him and leaped towards Pain.
Under the effect of the Banshō Ten'in, he quickly headed straight towards 'Pain'.
"Hmm?" Nagato frowned. He knew very well that the masked monster made of black threads was Kakuzu's secret technique.
But...
What was that mark that was engraved on the monster's strange mask?
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Nagato frowned slightly and looked at the strange sealing mark. He couldn't recognize what it was, but he could vaguely feel a great power emanating from it.
'But whatever it is, it's no match for the Rinnegan!' Nagato thought, squeezing his hand tightly, increasing his attraction.
And the next second...
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
Kakuzu's fire element mask shoots a small fireball.
The small fireball immediately expanded, bursting into a giant firestorm, roaring forward as if it would consume everything.
Under the influence of Pain's Universal Pull, the flames were even more ferocious and terrifying.
But...
"It is useless. In the eyes of God, everything is in vain." Pain said coldly.
Pain stopped his attraction. And Pain's Petra Path moved forward, holding out his hands to face the flames. the Preta Path is able to absorb ninjutsu-based techniques that are pure chakra or chakra based, thereby nullifying their effect.
Yet he has just touched the flames... Nagato's expression changed slightly. The Petra Path began to turn into stone at a speed visible to the human eye from the moment it came into contact with the flames.
"What kind of ability is this?" Nagato frowned.
On the other hand, Kakuzu sighed in relief. "Indeed, as Natsuo said, senjutsu cannot be absorbed by the Six Paths of Pain..."
When Kakuzu informed Natsuo that he planned to betray Akatsuki and join him, Natsuo generously gave him various information about Pain.
And when Kakuzu expressed his intention to see if he could 'convince' Konan to join the Uchiha clan with him before leaving, Natsuo sent him all the information he knew about Konan, in addition to giving her 5 Sealing Marks with Senjutsu Chakra.
Although Natsuo had an immense chakra reserve, placing this type of sealing mark also required a lot of energy. He could only place one a day at most.
It was too valuable! After all, putting in more than that wouldn't leave Natsuo enough energy to 'revive' the Uchiha clan.
With a calculated sleight of hand, even a high-level expert like Konan was silently captured and taken away by Kakuzu using one of the marks.
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
Kakuzu's fire element mask launched Fire Release madly, and under the influence of the Senjutsu Chakra of Natsuo's mark, it strengthened itself with natural energy and began to bombard Nagato indiscriminately.
Even the Six Paths of Pain were momentarily hit and ran for cover.
And taking advantage of this moment, Kakuzu quickly opened the distance and ran forward without hesitation.
It took a lot of effort for Nagato to overturn the masked monster.
But Kakuzu had already escaped.
Nagato gritted his teeth, not caring about the risk of his real body being exposed, abandoned the Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon and summoned the Giant Drill-Beaked Bird, mounted the summoning beast and began chasing Kakuzu frantically.
There was no other option; With his legs severely damaged, his mobility was severely limited, and he could only rely on the summoning beast's speed to chase him.
But even if it was a flying summon beast, in reality, it was only slightly faster than a Kage-level shinobi…
After much effort, he finally caught up with Kakuzu.
And in that moment...
Before he could act, Kakuzu actively released another masked monster.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Kakuzu's lightning-element mask emitted a spear-shaped lightning bolt from his mouth, which then immediately pierced the summoning beast, which groaned as it fell from the sky.
And the masked monster flew over directly and began to spray thunder.
"Damn it!" Nagato was furious but had to tangle with Kakuzu's lightning element mask.
He had no choice. The lightning element mask also had a sealing mark, which caused his strength to increase greatly.
And although his strength is not a threat to Nagato, it still takes a certain amount of time to defeat him.
Furthermore, Kakuzu's masks were not real humans, they did not fear death, while Nagato had to consider his chakra consumption and the upcoming fight...
Every time Nagato tried his best to solve a masked monster and caught up to Kakuzu, he would immediately release another masked monster.
With Natsuo's support, Kakuzu almost planned to have a confrontation with Nagato. Although one of the five marks was used to deal with Konan before, the remaining four were placed on each of his masks.
If it weren't for Natsuo's serious warning that he would be defeated, as well as the fact that Natsuo seemed to know many secrets, Kakuzu decided not to face Pain.
And so, before one could catch the other, they were both moving quickly.
Finally, they arrived at a quiet and lonely valley.
"Very good, you only have the last heart left now, Kakuzu." Nagato revealed his scrawny body, sitting on top of the Giant Drill-Beaked Bird, panting slightly: "Hand over Konan and I can let you go."
Kakuzu's last heart couldn't be wasted like the masks.
However, Kakuzu simply remained silent for a moment and then raised his head. "Leader, I didn't expect your true body to be like this... so pitiful. It's something I didn't imagine."
"But have you ever considered why I dared to take a gamble on taking away Konan, who has been inseparable from you since I joined Akatsuki?"
"Am I not afraid of your revenge on me?"
Hearing this, Nagato's pupils shrunk.
But Kakuzu sighed lightly and continued: "Of course it's because there is someone behind me!"
Just as he finished speaking, a young man slowly emerged from behind a tree.
"Oh, I was on time." The young man said.
"Natsuo!" Nagato's eyes were full of solemnity.
"You are here, Natsuo." Kakuzu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him.
"Of course, hadn't we agreed?" Natsuo smiled slightly. "I must also thank you for the information you gave me... although it's a little hard to imagine that you, Kakuzu, are giving away information for free."
Yes, the information about Akatsuki's attack on Kumogakure was leaked by Kakuzu to Natsuo.
Kakuzu smiled, of course he doesn't like giving away such things for free.
But this time, Natsuo's bounty was too big, 5 billion, even enough to trigger a certain degree of war between the Five Great Nations.
Even if Kakuzu had to face a Kage level, and risk being chased by an even more powerful boss, it was still a bit much...
Giving a little more stuff on his part might give him some peace of mind getting paid right now.
"Still the old rule, transfer the money to the account you opened at my Uchiha Bank?" Natsuo glanced at Kakuzu. "Although this time the figure is so large that it will probably take months to complete the transfer."
"Yes I know." Kakuzu nodded.
As for the reward, Kakuzu trusted Natsuo a lot. The reason why he dared to risk his life by kidnapping Konan from Amegakure was because of his trust in Natsuo.
Without this trust, how would Kakuzu dare risk being chased by Nagato after kidnapping Konan?
So, now...
Kakuzu threw Konan towards Natsuo.
And Natsuo received it without concern.
The transaction was complete.
"Natsuo!" Nagato was furious when he saw these two gangsters selling out his teammates in front of his face.
"Oh, it's our first time meeting each other, right?" Natsuo greeted with a smile on his face. "I'm Uchiha Natsuo, it's a pleasure to meet you, the leader of Akatsuki."
"Natsuo, return Konan to me." Nagato's voice was hoarse, or his voice was full of weakness.
"If you give me Konan back, I can pretend none of this ever happened." He suppressed his anger, his chakra dispersed slightly, emitting a powerful sense of oppression.
"How can I do that?" Natsuo shook his head. "I have paid a considerable price for her, 5 billion, even for someone like me, it is not a small amount."
"How can I let my money go to waste?"
"I can give you money." Nagato gritted his teeth. "Although Akatsuki doesn't have that much money now, I can slowly raise it... I can even pay you interest!"
He had extreme confidence in himself, even in the face of Natsuo, the most powerful shinobi in the world, he didn't believe he could lose. But even if he was sure of himself, he didn't think he could just take Konan away from Natsuo and guarantee that he wouldn't hurt her…
A flash of pain crossed Nagato's eyes. He had already lost Yahiko once; he didn't want to experience that again.
Even if he had to humiliate himself before the enemy, he wanted to get his companion back.
The powerful eye power erupted, pressing on Natsuo and Kakuzu, ready to attack at any moment. Kakuzu instantly felt his shoulders sink, as if a hill was pressing on him.
However, Natsuo was still smiling calmly. "I'm sorry, I don't intend to sell what's mine."
"Besides, what's wrong with Konan joining the Uchiha clan? Peace, happiness, wealth... Isn't it better than the disorder and exile that Akatsuki offers?"
"Natsuo!" Nagato finally couldn't bear it.
Nagato coldly looked at Natsuo with a dense murderous aura and shouted furiously: "Do you think you are the strongest in the world just because you are called the strongest shinobi? The strongest shinobi in the world is just simply the strongest shinobi!"
"But you are no match for God!" He suddenly stretched out a hand and pointed it at Natsuo.
"Banshō Ten'in!"
"Haha." However, Natsuo chuckled and shook his head. "God?"
"You, who were almost absorbed by the Rinnegan, can still call yourself God?"
As he spoke the skeleton of the Susanoo emerged, rooting itself firmly in the earth to resist the invisible force of attraction. At the same time, he slashed fiercely with his sword.
Nagato's eyes narrowed slightly. "Shinra Tensei!"
[Clang!]
The Susanoo's sword was directly repelled. But the center of the collision caused a shock wave.
Kakuzu backed away repeatedly, a grave expression in his eyes.
One is recognized as the strongest in the shinobi world, and the other is the master of the mysterious Rinnegan.
The battle between these two was probably the most intense in the shinobi world right now.
The Mangekyo instantly appeared in Natsuo's eyes and began to spin rapidly.
"Amaterasu!"
A black flame appeared on Nagato's body. Nagato's expression changed slightly, showing pain.
But the next moment...
"Shinra Tensei!"
[Boom!]
The inextinguishable black fire was directly dispersed.
Meanwhile...
[Crack!]
Inside the Susanoo, the ground beneath Natsuo's feet suddenly shattered, and the Asura Path shot out.
As soon as he appeared, he threw a fierce punch. As he headed towards Natsuo, his fist separated from his wrist, like a missile fired ferociously.
"Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability!"
Natsuo tilted his head slightly, dodging the attack.
But in the next second, the remaining arm turned into several rotating saws, making a shrill sound as they headed towards Natsuo.
The Asura Path is a powerful mechanized humanoid, even stronger than the puppet Sasori uses as his main body.
The high level of technology involved even made one question if this was possible in a feudal society like the one in the Naruto Series.
But in the next moment, Natsuo stomped his foot, brutally crushing the Asura Path that had not yet completely emerged from the ground.
Countless fragments of machinery, gears, and screws flew, and the rotating saws that were still moving stopped.
Defeated in one blow.
But Nagato did not change his face, because at this moment the Petra Path puppet was already close to Natsuo, he stretched out his hand, ignoring the Susanoo, and wanted to grab Konan who was on Natsuo's shoulder.
Susanoo grabbed the opponent straight away.
But in Nagato's eyes, a flash of excitement appeared.
Although the cooperation just now was good, how could he think that such a simple combination of punches could defeat the recognized strongest in the shinobi world?
Of course not! It was a trap!
"Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!"
A highly advanced sealing technique granted by the Preta Path, that conjures a see-through barrier around the user's body that is capable of absorbing any chakra, regardless of any shape or nature transformation.
Petra Path began to madly devour Natsuo's Chakra.
Even a tailed beast can be drained by the Petra Path to the point of collapse and then easily captured.
The Susanoo's arm disappeared, unable to maintain its grip on the Petra Path.
"As I thought, even Susanoo is ultimately a variation of chakra..." Nagato sighed in relief. "And no matter how powerful a shinobi is, without chakra, he has no power at all."
This is the rule of the shinobi world!
Depending on the absorption of the Petra Path, it could drain Natsuo's chakra. Of course, it was not to capture Natsuo, but simply to snatch Konan away in a relatively gentle manner.
But in the next second, Nagato's expression changed. Because the Petra Path had just stretched out his hand towards Konan, but in the next moment, he froze. His entire body turned into a statue at a speed visible to the naked eye.
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