Naruto, who was observing the Akatsuki's battle, noticed Sasuke coming back and casually asked.
"Where did you go just now?"
"None of your business."
Sasuke had a sour face and was obviously very dissatisfied with the fight just now.
He'd been slashing at empty air for who knows how long before realizing he'd been caught in a Genjutsu.
But...
It's not like there was no gain at all.
Before leaving, he'd spotted a trail of suspicious yellow stains leading into the forest...
He knew Itachi had definitely been hit by his special powder.
He might've even failed to make it to a proper spot, and was forced to let nature take its course mid-sprint.
When Sasuke thought of that scene, he suddenly felt that today's trip was worth it.
"Did they finish it off?"
"It should be soon. That mutant Orochimaru's on its last legs."
Naruto watched the battle through his binoculars and found that the mutant Orochimaru's had been beaten by Nagato's Six Paths of Pain and the rest of the Akatsuki brutally wailed on the monstrous snake.
He has to admit that the Akatsuki's teamfighting skills were top-tier.
The only thing that confused Naruto was...
Uchiha Itachi had actually gone AFK!
What Naruto hates most in his life is teammates who AFK during team battles!
But thinking that Sasuke had just left for a while, Naruto turned his head to look at the boy and asked in confusion.
"You didn't go after your brother again, did you?"
"HE'S NOT MY BROTHER!!"
When Sasuke heard this, he immediately snapped.
In his heart, his real brother had died alongside their clan that night.
The current Uchiha Itachi was nothing but an enemy.
Seeing how worked up he was, Naruto decided not to argue with him.
He took another look at the mutant Orochimaru who was pinned to the ground and beaten on the battlefield, and decided not to watch any further.
He needed to report back to Tsunade now...
No need to mobilize the troops.
The Land of Grass's crisis had been resolved by a certain terrorist organization.
"Let's go back."
Tossing out a portal, Naruto dragged Sasuke back to the Land of Iron.
…
Meanwhile, on the Akatsuki's side...
After a grueling battle, they'd finally taken down Orochimaru's monstrous form.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
In the battle just now, it could be said to have used all their trump cards to defeat the monster.
If the fight lasted a few more minutes, they would probably be the ones to fall.
However, Obito still looked worried.
He just noticed that when the monster fell down, several small snakes separated and slithered away.
'Did that mean...'
'It wasn't truly dead??'
Thinking of this, Obito threw the corpse on the ground into the Kamui Dimension to prevent anyone else in the Shinobi World from using this for experiments.
After doing all this, he left the scene without even saying goodbye.
…
At this time, Sasori and Deidara huddled in a corner, both holding a flyer in their hands.
"Sasori-danna, did you find anything good today?"
"I'm telling you, everyone in the Scientific Truth Society is talented people!"
Deidara was dancing with excitement as he talked about his experience of going to the Scientific Truth Society today.
He'd been worried they might reject him, but the moment he stepped into their territory, they'd welcomed him like family.
The believers around him kept talking about new ideas, painting a beautiful vision in Deidara's mind.
If Pain hadn't urged him too much, he would have filled out the application form on the spot.
However, when he left, he was very considerate and asked the people from the Scientific Truth Society to leave the scene, in case their leader used large-scale Ninjutsu that would accidentally injure his new friends.
"It was... acceptable."
Sasori said calmly, but inside, he felt somewhat complicated.
He defected from the village because his ideals were not accepted by everyone…
As a result, when he went to the Cult Mechanicus today, he heard that its headquarters was actually in Sunagakure.
This almost made Sasori's puppet core drop out.
He really didn't expect that the new generation of Shinobi in the village would take the same path as himself!!
"Sasori-danna, why don't you join the Scientific Truth Society with me?"
"I heard they research Puppet Technique too."
"And I totally agree with their ideas about peace!"
"All war stems from Chakra itself."
"And we don't even need Chakra to create art..."
"It's just too perfect!"
Despite not having officially joined the Scientific Truth Society yet, Deidara had already transformed into a full-blown missionary, zealously preaching its doctrines to Sasori.
The moment Sasori heard Deidara talk about 'eradicating Chakra', his puppet arm stiffened mid-motion.
'What the hell was this kid spouting about!?'
'Eradicate Chakra!?'
'Wasn't that just destroying me outright?'
If Sasori's face could still make expressions, he would've scared Deidara shitless with the anger he's feeling right now.
"I think you're being a bit extreme."
"The teachings of the Cult Mechanicus are the correct path!"
"My current state is what they called a machine spirit!"
"Why don't you join the Cult Mechanicus with me instead?"
"We also have people who play with explosions in there."
The machine spirit that Sasori mentioned instantly triggered Deidara.
"Sasori! What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Chakra is just an external force! The Scientific Truth Society is about restoring the world to its natural state!"
What had started as a friendly exchange of discoveries had escalated into a full-blown ideological war.
"You want to fight me over this?"
"F**k! Who's afraid of who?"
Their heated argument quickly drew the attention of the other people around.
Seeing his subordinates were about to fight, Pain swiftly intervened.
He always felt that something was wrong with Sasori and Deidara today.
'Weren't they usually the closest pair in Akatsuki?'
'Why are they fighting now?'
"You two."
"What's going on?"
The leader's sudden appearance forced Sasori and Deidara to stop arguing.
The two looked at each other and fell into an awkward silence.
Because there is still a difficult problem before them...
How the hell were they supposed to resign?
In the past, they'd pursued art without caring about the organization, or even their own lives.
Because both of them believed that they had reached the pinnacle of their art and there was no way forward.
But now, after witnessing the teachings of their respective cults, they realized their art was just the beginning, and there's still a vast, unexplored frontier waiting for them.
This made the two of them become a little afraid of death.
Sasori and Deidara glared at each other and snorted at the same time, deciding not to bother with each other for the time being.
'Just you wait!'
'I'll prove you're the one who's wrong!'
Watching their petty standoff, Nagato felt his already exhausted heart grow even heavier.
'Sigh...'
'Why does it feel like it's becoming increasingly difficult to lead this group?'
Especially when he thought of Itachi, who had been slacking off throughout the battle, Nagato felt even more tired.
…
"Leader."
At this time, Itachi finally arrived, and everyone found that this guy had taken off his Akatsuki robe.
Pain glanced at the guy and said in a cold tone, "Uchiha Itachi, where did you go just now?"
"And why aren't you wearing your uniform?"
"I…"
Itachi opened his mouth and stammered for a long time, but couldn't make any clear words.
After all…
How could he possibly explain that he'd used his robe to wipe his ass in an emergency?
If these words were to be spread out, regardless of whether Pain would kill him or not, he himself would feel like committing suicide.