Around Jigen, the Cloud shinobi collapsed to the ground one by one. Judging from their wounds, each had been killed in a single strike.
"Foolish mortals of the surface world… I'll grant you some credit for actually finding this place."
Jigen slowly tightened the hand clamped around the Fourth Raikage's neck. "But this is where it ends."
The gap in power between Jigen and the Raikage was undeniable.
A single Raikage—even more so one already crippled and missing an arm—was destined to be no match for him.
"Damn… disciple of Uchiha Madara…" the Fourth Raikage gasped, his throat crushed but his fury undimmed. "Where have you hidden my brother?"
"Madara? I've no idea what you're talking about." Jigen's face betrayed only puzzlement, but he had no interest in listening further. With a sharp crack, he twisted the Raikage's neck without hesitation.
He then glanced at his own palm, faint streaks of blood left across it from the brief struggle.
This vessel's aptitude is far too poor. I can't even unleash one percent of my power—and yet I've been scratched by such a lowly creature.
All around, the massive underground city lay in ruins. Many researchers had perished in the crossfire, and the ground was littered with the wreckage of artificial humans, destroyed before they could even be activated.
That was the flaw with these constructs: dormant, they were far too fragile.
"It seems I can't remain in this base any longer. Time to move to another one."
"And I'll need new collaborators as well. Even for the people of this planet, the technology of the Ōtsutsuki clan is far too advanced."
With that thought, Jigen strode toward the doors of the largest laboratory. As long as it was intact, everything would be fine—it housed both the most vital data and the strongest artificial humans.
Just as he was about to open the door, something stirred within him. He instantly vanished, reappearing dozens of meters away.
"Haa!"
"Art is an explosion!"
A clear shout rang from inside the doors, and in the next instant—
BOOM!!
The laboratory doors detonated, flames engulfing the chamber.
"Hahaha! Now that was thrilling, yeah!" A blond man with a single ponytail strolled out from the blazing wreckage, several figures following behind him.
"Hey, Deidara, watch it! Don't bring the whole place down on our heads," Hidan barked, scythe slung across his back. "In case you forgot, we're underground. I don't plan on getting buried alive."
"If I don't blow things up, how else were we supposed to get through? With your clumsy scythe? Please. At that pace we wouldn't make it in here even if we waited till New Year's."
Deidara shot back without hesitation, ignoring Hidan's sputtering rage as he continued: "Still, I gotta say, this place is fun. Lots of rare stuff you'd never see on the surface."
"Hm." Sasori, manipulating Hiruko, gave a rare nod of agreement. "Those mechanical puppets gave me quite a few ideas. When we return, I may attempt to develop a new line of puppets."
The "mechanical puppets" he referred to were none other than the base's artificial humans.
Because Kumogakure's raid had been so sudden, and activation was left to ordinary staff, most of the constructs had been destroyed before they could be awakened. Sasori had thus collected what he considered "precious" materials.
"Too bad there's nothing valuable here. The highest bounty I found was only fifty thousand ryō. What a loss." Kakuzu grumbled in clear displeasure.
Jigen's gaze fell upon the intruding Akatsuki members, his eyes turning steadily colder.
The forces I painstakingly gathered… all ruined.
Only now did Deidara notice him. He looked Jigen up and down, then pointed casually. "Wow, so this is the leader of that organization Naruto mentioned? Doesn't look like much."
"For the boss's actual body to come out here, and yet he's all skin and bones without a single muscle on him."
"I think I can handle this one myself."
Deidara's words poured out like a floodgate opening.
"Let's see how he likes a taste of my art, yeah!"
"Hold on." Kakuzu licked his finger and flipped through his ever-present bounty book. After a moment, he frowned in disappointment. "Not listed. Worthless."
The Akatsuki discussed him freely, critiquing and mocking, but Sasori alone remained wary. His eyes fell to the fallen body at Jigen's feet.
"Silence, Deidara. Be careful—he's the one who killed the Fourth Raikage."
"You mean that guy lying there—the one on par with Old Man Ōnoki?!" Deidara froze, startled, then quickly ducked behind Sasori. "To be taken down so easily…"
By elemental affinity, Lightning Release was his greatest weakness. His explosives fizzled out instantly when struck by it.
Not that everyone was cowed.
"The Fourth Raikage's head?" Kakuzu perked up, flipping again through his book. This time his beady eyes gleamed crimson with greed.
"Six hundred million ryō. Jackpot."
"We're rich!"
"If I could offer such a powerful sacrifice to Jigen-sama…" Hidan muttered darkly, licking his lips as his bloodthirsty gaze fixed on Jigen.
"So this is our target?" Pain's true body, hood drawn low, studied Jigen curiously. In his eyes, the man looked no different from any other mortal.
But Jigen's ability to conceal his power was truly extraordinary.
"He's not just difficult," Sasuke said seriously. "He's extremely difficult. Naruto warned us—if we're careless, we could all be wiped out here."
"Our goal is to hold him off until Naruto arrives."
"You've got to be kidding me…" Deidara muttered, incredulous. "This thing is supposed to be that strong? Hold him off until Naruto comes? He's just a rookie intern, and yet they're treating us full members like backup?"
Perhaps it was the mocking voices of these "ants," or perhaps it was fury over his painstakingly built base being destroyed—but dark markings began to spread across Jigen's body.
The first stage of the Kāma seal—Jigen's battle form.
At once, the Akatsuki's more perceptive members stiffened, bodies snapping into combat readiness.
"Careful, everyone," Nagato warned immediately.
The words had barely left his mouth when Jigen's figure blurred, vanishing—and reappearing in the midst of Akatsuki.
His foot lashed out toward Kisame.
Kisame's mind could barely keep up, but as a taijutsu specialist, his body reacted on instinct. His muscles flared, and Samehada swung into place just in time.
The next instant, Kisame felt an overwhelming force crash through the blade, hurling both him and the sword through the air. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he tumbled away.
But Jigen did not stop. He spun and unleashed kick after kick upon the rest of the Akatsuki. Hidan, Kakuzu, even Sasori were each sent flying before they could react.
Aside from Sasori, the other two spat blood, clearly gravely injured.
Only Konan escaped unscathed, her body dispersing into countless paper slips.
Just as Jigen prepared to strike Deidara, Nagato finally responded. Without hesitation, the Deva Path thrust out its right hand.
"Shinra Tensei!"