Chapter 27: Do You Feel the Pain?
Watching the Rinkaichū about to burrow into his brain, Yasushi showed not a trace of panic.
He abnormally displayed a sinister smile. Looking at Aburame Torune lying on the ground, facing Torune's eyes filled with hatred and anticipation, Yasushi suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha..."
"I've been hiding and concealing it, waiting for precisely this beautiful moment!"
"As Danzo's right hand, how could I not consider how to kill you?"
"Come! Witness the gift I've carefully prepared for you!"
While laughing wildly, Yasushi controlled Susanoo to remove the medicinal gourd from behind, aiming it at himself, channeling chakra and forcefully inhaling.
Then Aburame Torune watched in despair as purple smoke drifted from Yasushi's body toward the medicinal gourd.
The mist stream composed of nano-sized poisonous insects struggled and twisted like a living thing, yet under the sealing power's pull had no resistance whatsoever, being absorbed into that medicinal gourd.
And Yasushi's body rapidly changed from purple back to normal skin tone.
This medicinal gourd had been carried on the energy giant's back when Yasushi activated Susanoo's second form. Aburame Torune had seen it long ago, but Yasushi never removed it for use. So Torune wasn't clear what exactly this gourd was for.
He'd never imagined this medicinal gourd was actually a sealing technique!
The killing move he'd placed such hope in—unexpectedly broken so easily by the enemy—immediately made Aburame Torune's heart ache with grief. He spat several mouthfuls of blood, unable to endure any longer.
Though in this process, the Rinkaichū still caused Yasushi extreme damage, under his ocular technique's effects, the toxin-eroded tissue visibly recovered to normal.
Yasushi canceled Susanoo, looking at the dying Aburame Torune at his feet, once again laughing triumphantly.
"Hahaha..."
"This is exactly the feeling!"
"First give you hope, then plunge you into despair!"
"This feeling is absolutely exhilarating!"
"This is the feeling of revenge!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahaha..."
A flash of hatred crossed Yasushi's eyes. He raised his foot high, aiming at Aburame Torune's head, and stomped down heavily.
With a wet thud, Aburame Torune's head exploded like a rotten watermelon, crushed into pulp, brain matter and bone fragments scattering everywhere.
Looking at Aburame Torune whose "brains now painted the ground," the hatred in Yasushi's heart remained unabated. He raised his head and fixed his gaze on the remaining Konoha ninja.
But before he could act, suddenly a whistling wind sound attacked his ear. A kunai flew before his eyes.
Then yellow light flashed. A golden-red figure suddenly appeared, one hand raised high. A head-sized Rasengan rotated violently, producing an air-tearing shriek as it smashed down toward his head.
---
Moments earlier.
Minato Namikaze flash-stepped beside Akimichi Choza, quickly finding medicine on him, helping with simple bandaging, patting his shoulder and saying softly, "Hang in there a little longer."
Then he bent down, picking up a bag of kunai from the ground and fastening it at his waist. He also picked up a short blade, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the Akatsuki group observing from a distance.
He paused briefly on Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi's obvious Sharingan, then withdrew his gaze. Glancing sideways at Yasushi fighting enthusiastically with Aburame Torune, he also ignored him, only looking up toward Pain suspended in midair.
"I am Minato Namikaze. Enough have died today. Can this battle end here?"
Though Pain found it very strange that the dead Minato Namikaze suddenly "resurrected," residing within a child's body, the shinobi world's jutsu were bizarre and varied. The Rinnegan could even resurrect people—Minato's "pseudo-resurrection" wasn't anything extraordinary.
His gaze lowered, coldly asking:
"Do you feel the pain?"
"Do you know peace's value?"
Minato frowned, finding such mystical rhetoric quite troublesome, but still nodded in response.
"I've always known peace's value and never wished for war to erupt anywhere."
"Konoha has never initiated aggression against any nation, always dedicated to maintaining the shinobi world's peace."
"Lies!" Pain shouted, interrupting his words, coldly asking: "You say you've felt pain and understand peace's value. Then I ask you—will Konoha not launch retaliatory action against the Rain Village over today's events?"
"Well..." Minato immediately found himself at a loss for words.
He naturally understood clearly in his heart. Though Konoha always pursued a peace strategy, in reality, those who could discuss peace and negotiate with them had only ever been the Five Great Nations.
Konoha had now lost so many people, and the enemy wasn't one of the Five Great Nations but a small Rain Village. Whether Konoha's leadership or ordinary ninja and civilians, none could accept this result.
Even just to deter the other four potentially hostile Great Nations—preventing them from thinking Konoha had weakened and opportunistically invading—Konoha Village would inevitably retaliate.
But if those who killed these people weren't the Rain Village but any of the other Five Great Nations, with Konoha Village's consistent appeasement style, they'd probably just issue condemnation and let it blow over. The populace wouldn't find it unacceptable either.
But the Rain Village couldn't!
Bluntly speaking—a small nation like the Rain Village didn't qualify!
Years ago, the Rain Village had stood equal with the Five Great Nations for a period, but that was because the demigod Hanzo the Salamander was there, forcibly earning that reputation through overwhelming martial might.
Only then could nations reluctantly acknowledge Rain Country's status. But after Hanzo aged, Rain Country fell back to its proper position, constantly oppressed by the Five Great Nations' ninja.
Having once served as Hokage, he understood the village's internal contradictions very clearly. So he knew perfectly well—though the orange-haired enemy before him might be even stronger than Hanzo at his peak, negotiating without fighting first was absolutely unacceptable to Konoha Village.
Never mind that he'd already died—even if he hadn't, facing this situation, there was only one choice.
Fight and win first, then negotiate.
His personality was inherently bold. He was unwilling to deceive the opponent with words in this matter, even if this person was an enemy.
Facing Minato's silence, Pain naturally knew what the answer was.
"So you see—don't speak of how Konoha people love peace and detest war!"
"You simply take it for granted that war's pain and death won't fall on your side!"
"As for where this pain and death lands, you actually don't care!"
"Those who haven't experienced pain cannot understand peace's value!"
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