Tap, tap.
The only sounds in the deep passageway were the footsteps of two people.
Since this was a hideout, the internal paths weren't limited to just one. Logan followed Pain quietly, maintaining a distance of about two meters.
The illusory figure in front of him remained silent, so Logan said nothing as well.
Even though Pain was currently in his projection form at this moment, Logan didn't dare let his guard down.
Though the projection couldn't exert much combat power, this was still Pain, and he had the Rinnegan, which is known as the most powerful eye in the Ninja World.
After a while, faint tremors ran through the rocky walls. Some commotion had clearly broken out in the direction he had come from.
Logan thought that it was Naruto and Sasori who are greeting each other. He shook his head and suppressed the faint unease in his heart.
When familiar faces had rushed in earlier, he hadn't wanted them to recognize him. Though whether he turned back or not wouldn't have made much difference, some inexplicable sentiment made him feel that indifference was the right choice.
'If we met, Naruto would definitely be too noisy...' Logan found himself an excuse.
He and Pain continued walking at a steady pace. After a turn, light spilled in from the end of the passage… they were about to reach the outside.
His feet stepped onto soft soil. The exit led to a grassy field. After emerging, the two walked a little further before Pain stopped.
The afternoon sun was warm and bright, casting its glow over the carpet-like grass. Flowers swayed gently in the breeze, and the distant woods echoed with the crisp chirping of birds.
The earlier tension seemed to melt away, replaced by serene tranquility.
Logan stopped as well.
But the tranquility at this moment was not real, because the projection standing in front of Logan was extremely inconsistent with the scenery.
"This should be far enough." Pain looked around to make sure no one would disturb them before turning to face Logan.
"What's the matter, Leader?" Logan asked politely.
"Of course, it's about your disappearance." Pain replied calmly, "In the past three years, you have never been found. Although the organization does not restrict members' daily activities, regular contact and completing assigned missions are mandatory. I assume you're aware of that."
Logan nodded slowly, piecing together the words in his mind. He had known this question would come eventually, and over the years, he had prepared his response.
With the preamble over, Pain stared at him, "In that case, can you tell me where you've been all this time?"
The Rinnegan seemed to see through everything. Even though Pain's true body was thousands of miles away, the eyes projected through the Magic Lantern Body Technique remained as formidable as ever.
"Losing contact wasn't my intention." Logan answered smoothly after a brief pause, "I already explained this when I met White Zetsu. I had… unforeseen circumstances, Leader."
"...Is that so?" Pain's eyelid twitched slightly, 'Unforeseen circumstances? Then why did you stab his clone to death? Who'd believe that?'
"Then where have you been?" This was the most critical part.
"I went to Paulownia Forest, the realm where my Summoned Beast is." Logan said without batting an eye, "At the time, I was called there with a Reverse Summoning Technique and had no choice but to stay there for a long time."
'Reverse Summoning Technique...' A flicker of thought passed through Pain's eyes. During the Chunin Exams in Konoha, he had received reports that Logan had somehow acquired a Summoned Beast, and it was so powerful that it nearly overwhelm a giant toad summoned by Naruto.
'But was that all?'
Pain stared at Logan expressionlessly, "So, you stayed there for three years?"
"...Yeah. Three years."
Pain took a step forward, and his Rinnegan faintly shifted, "Then, why can you return now?"
"Because…"
Logan suddenly felt something was off, 'Why didn't he question it?'
But before he could finish his prepared lie, his expression changed.
The wind grew stronger.
An invisible force surged out of nowhere, like a hammer slamming into him. Caught off guard, Logan barely had time to cross his arms in defense before he was sent flying backward.
In mid-air, Logan twisted his body to regain balance, but before he could land safely, another similar invisible force struck him. The wind pressure shredded the grass beneath him, and his eyes immediately turned cold.
Szztt…
A flash of lightning flickered in the air for an instant. A more violent force erupted, cratering the ground where Logan had been standing.
Landing on his feet, Logan used the momentum to leap back several steps, forcefully dispersing the invisible attack with a punch. But his expression didn't relax.
"What's the meaning of this?" He asked Pain with a glare.
'Just now, there was no doubt that Pain had used the power of the Rinnegan. The invisible repulsive force was something no one else could replicate.'
"Nothing much. I just wanted to verify if what you said was true." Pain's face was expressionless and his tone was very flat.
"Of course it's..." Logan said warily, but once again, he was cut off.
A dangerous aura coiled around his back like a venomous snake. Before he could react, a powerful suction force yanked him forward, dragging him toward Pain…
Taking a deep breath, Logan realized Pain was using weakened versions of Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in. Suppressing his panic, he swiftly drew two kunai from his Ninja Pouch.
'Attacking mid-conversation… this casual brutality was so very Pain, so very Akatsuki.'
Whoosh! Whoosh!
'If a fight was what he wanted, then a fight was what he'd get.' Logan didn't back down. He hurled the kunai with all his strength, the sharp projectile he'd snatched from Sasori's hands slicing through the air like a vengeful shadow, screaming toward its target.
The blade was coated with a specially crafted lethal poison. A single scratch would be enough to make an ordinary person writhe in agony.
Yet, halfway through its flight, the kunai slowed down as if losing momentum, until it finally dropped weakly right in front of Pain.
"Aren't you practicing in a Summoned Beast's realm? Let me see."
'I was busy with school, exams, and my girlfriend, damn it...'
A burst of blue light erupted, crackling currents of electricity surging through Logan's body. He stomped the ground, and the turf was torn apart under the force of the opposing energies.
This was Logan's first time encountering this kind of power… it activated without warning, and he wasn't familiar with it. With little leverage in his hurried stance, despite resisting, he was still being dragged forward inch by inch.
"Why are you standing so far away? Come closer and speak." Pain said coldly.
The situation was at a stalemate. Though there was enough distance to maneuver, Logan refused to play by Pain's rules. Abandoning the struggle, he instead charged straight at Pain.
The hand seals were completed in an instant, then Logan raised his hand to his mouth, "Fire Release: Dragon..."
Boom!
Just as the flames were about to erupt, Pain watched indifferently, unmoving. The Rinnegan pulsed, and the gravitational pull suddenly reversed into repulsion.
Logan swiftly canceled the Ninjutsu. Otherwise, he'd have been burned by his own flames. But in doing so, he had no energy left to counter the force and was sent flying back again.
"Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
"Hmph."
Pain's condescending tone, that ever-present air of absolute control as if everyone else were mere insects, finally sparked a flicker of anger in Logan.
This was just a projection of Pain through the Magic Lantern Body Technique, so the power he could exert was limited… far from the full-scale Shinra Tensei capable of flattening Konoha in an instant.
A few exchanges were all Logan needed to gauge the limits.
He had been hesitant about burning bridges, but now, he couldn't care less. In the brutal world of Ninja, showing weakness was never an option.
The brightness in his vision intensified. The grass beneath his feet silently dissolved as if a blue-white sun had emerged, his Chakra surging at full power.
With a flick of his wrist, Logan drew Shimizu, gripping it firmly. His Iai Technique's attack erupted without hesitation… a blinding arc of white sword light slicing horizontally through space.
Pain was caught off guard. By the time he reacted, the blade's edge had already shredded the hem of his robe, tearing upward in a clean line through the black fabric adorned with red clouds, until it even split a gash across his cheek.
"..."
Pain finally stopped his Rinnegan's power.
At this time, he was still in projection form, so he didn't bleed. Even so, his form flickered, visibly destabilizing.
"The truth."
Logan retracted his aura and told the lie with unwavering conviction.
Pain stared at Logan for several seconds. Shimizu's blade still glinted in the sunlight, its residual vibrations humming faintly.
"I see." After the Magic Lantern Body Technique stabilized again, Pain spoke, and the oppressive tension in the air suddenly dissipated. It seemed he had accepted it.
Seeing this, Logan was left speechless instead.
The Rinnegan was like a well, like a glacier, its light sinking into the abyss.
For Pain, something as rigid as formal interrogation was beneath him. He couldn't be bothered with it.
Within Akatsuki, there were no written rules. Members appeared to operate in seamless coordination, but what truly governed everything was power.
An exceptionally simple rule… one that Akatsuki acknowledged, and Pain himself acknowledged. Calm words didn't mean he was actually letting you off the hook.
Similarly, he didn't truly care where Logan had gone or what he had done. What he needed to measure was whether Logan had harmed the organization's interests or threatened his ideals. As long as you were still alive, he would reinforce his authority.
As the strongest, this was all he needed to do. Reality wasn't an anime where the production team carefully rationed fight scenes due to budget constraints.
Here, Pain acted as he pleased, with no need for second thoughts.
And in the current situation, Logan had the strength, so Pain raised his tolerance towards him. Thus, even if the story about the Reverse Summoning Technique had many obvious flaws that could be dug up, as long as there was still a baseline of restraint, it didn't matter.
Pain's expression didn't change much, "Then let's consider this matter settled."
'Eh, eh, eeehhh?'
Logan was stunned. seemed things hadn't escalated to the worst-case scenario. On the surface, he remained composed, but inwardly, he let out a small sigh of relief. After all, avoiding outright hostility with Akatsuki for now was the best outcome.