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"Die, you little brat from Sunagakure!!!"
A, driven mad with rage, had only one target in his eyes—Sasori.
No matter what puppet stood in his way, it was doomed to be reduced to scrap.
At this moment, perhaps only Sasori's grandmother, Chiyo, could truly understand his frustration.
Because back then, when Chiyo faced Tsunade, she had been just as powerless as Sasori was now against the Raikage.
Every attack from Sasori's puppets was useless against A.
Either they couldn't keep up with his speed, or they couldn't even breach his defenses.
Meanwhile, A's physical prowess was terrifying—just a single touch from him, and the puppets were dismantled into pieces.
If A were allowed to chase Sasori down like this, it wouldn't be long before Sasori was left with nothing.
"Shinra Tensei!!!"
Just as A threw a devastating punch, it felt as though his fist had been met with an overwhelming repulsive force, sending him flying backward.
At the critical moment, the Six Paths of Pain and other members of the Akatsuki had arrived.
With their appearance, everyone stared in shock and uncertainty at their eyes.
The legendary Sage Eyes—Konoha's intel had not been wrong.
But why did all six of them possess the Sage Eyes?
"Madara!!!"
The Third Hokage's attention wasn't on the Six Paths of Pain at all. Instead, his gaze was locked onto the man who had single-handedly orchestrated the Nine-Tails Night massacre—Obito.
At this moment, Obito stood beside the Six Paths of Pain, his face concealed behind a mask.
Noticing the Third's glare, the three-tomoe Sharingan beneath his mask turned to meet the old Hokage's eyes.
"Looks like this is going to be a brutal fight."
The battle entered a brief lull, with most eyes fixed on the Six Paths of Pain.
The Third Hokage was one of the few exceptions.
Compared to the Six Paths and their Sage Eyes, he was far more concerned about the man posing as Uchiha Madara—Obito.
In the original timeline, the Six Paths of Pain had invaded Konoha, single-handedly reducing the entire village to rubble.
However, back then, Konoha had been severely lacking in top-tier fighters, which was why they had been crushed so mercilessly.
This time, however, the Akatsuki was facing the combined might of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—especially the Five Kage themselves.
Against these five, no matter how powerful the Six Paths of Pain were, they wouldn't be able to replicate the devastation they had wrought in Konoha.
The Deva Path's abilities were formidable, but his signature techniques—Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in—had a fatal flaw: the time gap between uses.
Against someone as fast as the Raikage, if he figured out this weakness, he could exploit it ruthlessly.
Unfortunately for the Akatsuki, aside from the Deva Path, none of the other Paths were particularly outstanding in direct combat.
The most troublesome was the Animal Path.
But the Allied Forces had Ōnoki on their side.
The disintegration power of Dust Release was no joke—none of those summoned beasts would last long against him.
Moreover, they also had the Third Hokage, Rasa, and the uncorrupted Yagura backing them up.
On paper, the Akatsuki didn't hold much of an advantage.
As expected, the first to act among the Six Paths was the Animal Path.
With a series of summoning jutsu, the battlefield was soon flooded with creatures: the Multi-Headed Dog, the Hell Crab, the Giant Bird, the Chameleon, the Raging Bull, the Rhinoceros, the Panda, and the Centipede—all appearing to assist Sasori's puppets in battle.
"His technique repelled you?"
Faced with the Akatsuki's overwhelming lineup, the Allied Forces showed no signs of retreat.
Ōnoki and Rasa landed beside A, with the former glancing at him and asking.
Flexing his fist, A replied coldly,
"Yeah. Some kind of strange repulsive force. Must be one of the Sage Eyes' abilities."
"The Sage Eyes may be powerful, but I'm certain such a technique has its limitations."
Every jutsu had its flaws, and the Rinnegan's ocular abilities were no exception.
The cooldown time between uses was Shinra Tensei's biggest weakness.
Had the Rinnegan's true owner been the one using it, this wouldn't have been an issue.
But these eyes didn't belong to Nagato.
No matter how freely he used Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, the real Uchiha Madara—once he reclaimed his eyes—would never have relied on such gimmicks.
"I'll handle this freak. The rest of you deal with the others."
A directly claimed the Deva Path as his opponent.
Ōnoki frowned slightly, displeased with A's unilateral decision, but if the Raikage wanted to take on more responsibility, so be it.
"Then I'll provide battlefield support and take care of these oversized nuisances."
Did the Akatsuki really think they could flood the battlefield with summons while he, Ōnoki, was present?
"I'll eliminate the traitor from my village first. Magnet Release counters puppets perfectly."
Rasa's gaze locked onto Sasori. He didn't care about the others—Sasori was his priority.
And Magnet Release was a hard counter to puppetry.
"He turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet. Be careful."
The Third Kazekage had been Rasa's teacher. Both wielded Magnet Release—one with iron sand, the other with gold.
"I can handle it."
Without looking back, Rasa strode toward Sasori.
"I'll provide backup."
Yagura shrugged, unhooking the weapon strapped to his back.
The Third Hokage remained silent, his eyes never leaving Obito.
It was clear—the old man was here for revenge. Revenge for the Nine-Tails Night.
"Seems I've been marked."
Obito showed no panic at being targeted by the Third Hokage.
He hadn't come to assist Nagato—only to maintain the Akatsuki's reputation.
As for the Third Hokage… what could he do, even if he was staring daggers at him?
As long as no one found a way to counter Kamui, as long as Obito didn't want to fight, the Third Hokage could never lay a hand on him.
Keeping one of the Allied Forces' strongest occupied was, in itself, a way to relieve pressure from Nagato and the Akatsuki.
The rest would depend on Nagato's performance.
"Madara… why did you orchestrate the Nine-Tails Night? Why would you do something so cruel to Konoha?!"
Years later, facing the mastermind behind that tragedy, the Third Hokage struggled to contain his emotions.
The Nine-Tails Night was a memory he still couldn't bear to revisit.
"To make Konoha understand pain."
Obito's reply was blunt and merciless, striking the Third Hokage like a knife to the ribs.
Why?
Simply to make them suffer—nothing more.
In the end, it was all about a man's undying obsession.
Obito had targeted Konoha, Kushina, Minato, and the village for one reason alone: Rin Nohara.
As for weakening the Five Great Shinobi Villages? That was just an excuse.
And because Kakashi couldn't keep his mouth shut about Kushina's due date, he had given Obito the perfect opportunity to strike.
*****
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