Chapter 253: Konoha Collapse Plan (3k)

"This is... the divine might of a god..."

Even Orochimaru could only stare at that terrifying scene and sigh; among all the ninja he had ever seen, no one could achieve such a level.

Whether it was himself, Tsunade, or Jiraiya—collectively known as the Sannin—or Hanzo of the Salamander, once hailed as a Demigod of the Ninja World, or even his own teacher, the 【Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen】, it was absolutely impossible for any of them to do such a thing.

He once believed that a battle between ninja was a contest of arts and techniques, a duel of wits, and a competition of intelligence, but after witnessing this ability of Pain, everything became meaningless.

That was, in the purest sense, a realm that did not belong to ninja at all.

Perhaps only the legendary Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara could do such a thing, but since Senju Hashirama was already called the God of Ninja, it was not considered arrogant for a ninja capable of doing the same things as the God of Ninja to call himself a god.

He turned his head and saw the magic carpet flying in the air several thousand meters away.

"If that Tao Baibai has already been killed, can these few little ones be handed over to me?"

He spoke with an evil smile on his face; Orochimaru had long coveted the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, and now was a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity.

In this brief interval, even 【Zetsu】 lost the information from inside that completely devastated territory.

The 【Super Almighty Push】 had also destroyed the spores beneath the surface.

Konan frowned, but ultimately expressed nothing.

The next moment, it began to rain in the sky again; the rain and mist that had been dispersed by Tao Baibai's terrifying physical arts once again shrouded this region of the Land of Rain.

Sasori unhappily pulled up his hood.

"The weather in this country is truly terrible."

He did not like the rain and mist, because where he grew up, even rainwater was a rarity; yet on this ruin, this excessive rain fell almost every moment—how ironic.

Hearing Sasori's words, Konan looked up; she suddenly realized that this was the 【Rain Tiger at Will Technique】, that Pain had restarted this technique, and he was monitoring this region!

Konan's mind raced; since Pain had restarted this technique, either the battle had ended and he had left the territory of this former village, but there was no reason for Pain to leave without notifying them.

Or, the way Pain ended the battle was different from what they had imagined; even the terrifying Almighty Push that had just destroyed dozens of kilometers still hadn't killed that Tao Baibai, and furthermore...

Pain and the other party were engaged in some secret communication, the content of which he did not wish for certain people on their side to know.

Konan remained calm; her first reaction was to suspect Orochimaru, because as a rogue ninja of Konoha, Orochimaru had always acted in secret, but she said nothing, merely shaking her head to stop Orochimaru from continuing to approach Catherine and the other.

"Pain is likely going to extract intelligence from those people's bodies; before Pain returns, we only need to ensure they do not leave."

Orochimaru's expression changed upon hearing the 【Angel】 stop him, but he did not continue his actions.

Not long after, under the strange gazes of the other members of the 【Akatsuki】 organization, Deva Path Pain and that Tao Baibai actually walked out of the wind and rain side by side.

And that tall fellow was now also wearing a Red Cloud Black Robe.

Bai Cangshu flashed over to the group; he lacked the fierce aura he had just displayed when attacking Orochimaru, instead turning to show off his current attire.

"How is it? I said that this robe of your 【Akatsuki】 organization really suits my temperament."

Watching the other party's defenseless appearance, Orochimaru lowered his eyelids, his snake-like vertical pupils filled with coldness, but soon, he switched to a sinister smile.

"Tao Baibai, since you have also joined the 【Akatsuki】 organization, would you be willing to make a deal with me?"

He was still coveting Uchiha Itachi's eyes; after today's battle, he thoroughly realized his own limitations. When fighting opponents of the level of Tao Baibai and Pain, no matter how many methods he had, without a pair of eyes of that level, he couldn't even see the opponent's movements clearly.

His physical arts were originally quite good among Jonin, but in a battle of this level, they appeared stretched and inadequate.

Sharingan... as long as he had those eyes, he would be able to...

He pondered many plans in his heart, including finding a way to partner with Tao Baibai and, subsequently, how to use drugs or other means to find a way to manipulate the other party.

"You want a Sharingan? Sure."

Orochimaru was stunned; this white snake showed a stunned expression for the first time, because Tao Baibai had pulled out a pair of eyeballs still stained with blood from nowhere.

In those eyes, the scarlet Three-Tomoe—was that not exactly the Sharingan?!

Moreover, the other party hadn't asked about his purpose at all and had directly taken out these eyes, as if they were not some rare item—that was a Sharingan!

A Sharingan that would trigger a frantic pursuit by the Uchiha Clan if even one pair were lost!

Orochimaru suddenly realized that it was likely because the other party had seized these eyes that the Uchiha Clan had dispatched Uchiha Shisui to pursue them, only for this Tao Baibai to have such terrifying methods that even Uchiha Shisui had fallen for it.

The others were also looking this way intentionally or unintentionally; Catherine landed from the air, thinking to herself that it was fortunate she had not chosen to betray Tao Baibai, otherwise she would likely already be facing the pursuit of this monster.

She saw Tao Baibai take out that pair of Sharingan; this item would likely be impossible to bring out of the world, and trading with a Plot Character was indeed the optimal solution, but this method could only be used by a guy like Tao Baibai whose combat power was Breaking the Rules.

If a Common Reincarnator dug out the eyes of a Uchiha ninja in this world, they would likely be killed by several Uchiha ninja before nightfall.

Sharingan and Illusion Technique were both very fatal to most Reincarnators; Reincarnators who were not specialized in Spirit generally found it difficult to exempt themselves from Sharingan illusions, while those specialized in Spirit might be unable to cope when facing the sharp offensives of Uchiha ninja.

"What do you want?"

Although Orochimaru pretended to be calm, Bai Cangshu easily sensed the change in his heart rate through the 【Transparent World】.

At the same time, Uchiha Itachi on the magic carpet behind them also had his heart rate increase slightly; this twelve or thirteen-year-old boy, in the end, could not remain indifferent while watching his clansmen's eyes being dug out for trade.

The current Uchiha Itachi was not yet the guy who would eventually exterminate his entire clan.

Bai Cangshu wore a playful smile as he threw the pair of eyes directly to Orochimaru.

"What do I want... let me think. This thing isn't exactly a rare item; Danzō of Konoha has surely already transplanted them onto himself, right?"

Uchiha Itachi's whole body shook, the Three-Tomoe in his pupils spinning slightly.

Bai Cangshu continued.

"Actually, there are also Senju Hashirama's cells; those are what you would call rare items, but unfortunately, they were likely ruined by a guy like Danzō as well."

"Right, Orochimaru..."

Bai Cangshu asked a question he already knew the answer to; Orochimaru looked at the eyes in his hand and sneered twice.

"Danzō did indeed have me perform modification surgery for him."

He did not clarify, but Uchiha Itachi already understood the other party's meaning; he closed his eyes, questioning the 【Will of Fire】 in his heart for the first time.

His own clansmen were indeed small in Capacity, only able to see the petty squabbles within the clan, yet high-level Konoha officials like Danzō were still coveting the bloodline and bodies of the Uchiha clansmen?!

As a leader of a village, yet coveting the bodies of the villagers...

This matter had nothing to do with Capacity; the other party was completely... an enemy!

Deva Path Pain waited until the other Pains, who had recovered within the rain and mist, appeared before saying to the group:

"We have gained a new member, Tao Baibai, codename... 【Vermilion】."

Upon hearing this codename, Bai Cangshu turned his head to look at Konan, who held the codename 【White】; the two locked eyes before looking away. Konan frowned; she did not yet know why Nagato had been persuaded by Tao Baibai, but this guy, even after joining the organization, continued to exude that kind of malice, making people uncomfortable.

Pain continued to speak.

"I have just received news that Kirigakure has been attacked, suffering heavy casualties, and furthermore... the Three-Tails, Isobu, has been lost. Kirigakure is now in chaos."

Hearing this news, the expressions of several people changed, especially Zetsu; he realized something immediately and looked at Bai Cangshu.

But Bai Cangshu only smiled and did not respond, and Pain did not lead the topic toward the identity of the attacker, instead saying.

"Since Kirigakure is now in chaos, it is the perfect time for us to carry out our next move."

"Zetsu, Sasori, you two will head to the Land of Water to execute a special mission."

Deva Path Pain spoke calmly, leaving no room for negotiation. Zetsu sensed something and looked at the smiling Tao Baibai; he nodded and accepted the mission. Sasori, on the other hand, was indifferent and said:

"What kind of special mission? Probably just going to find some runaway ninja again."

Sasori had assassinated the Third Kazekage and defected from the village, so he had no sense of belonging to anything.

Bai Cangshu seemed to remember something at this moment and spoke again.

"That Rasa who succeeded as the Fourth Kazekage, I heard he used Sunagakure's Pakura as a political bargaining chip and sent her to Kirigakure to be killed. Tsk, what disgusting politics."

Sasori's figure paused; he looked at Bai Cangshu, his eyes turning cold.

But Bai Cangshu was not afraid in the slightest; instead, he leaned forward, using his height advantage to look down at this genius ninja who had turned himself into a puppet.

"Ha, I wonder if the guy who killed the Third Kazekage knows that his actions still only left Sunagakure and the Land of Wind spinning in the hands of those disgusting politicians."

"Enough!"

Nagato did not want to cause extra trouble at this time and stopped Bai Cangshu from continuing to provoke Sasori's nerves. Bai Cangshu turned around with satisfaction and walked toward Uchiha Itachi; he said these things, provoking Sasori was secondary, and more importantly, it was for Uchiha Itachi to hear.

To let this genius of the Uchiha Clan know the truth of this world.

So-called martyrs, in this kind of world, have always been played with like political bargaining chips.

Whether it was Pakura, who once saved Sunagakure, or Uchiha Itachi, who would in the future slaughter his own kin to preserve Konoha and his younger brother, in the end, they were nothing more than pawns in the hands of those in high positions.

A story that should have been tragic became ridiculous and laughable once smeared with that layer of political transaction.

Deva Path Pain also sensed Bai Cangshu's purpose; he did not stop him, but instead looked at the others.

"The rest of us will carry out... the Konoha Destruction Plan."

(End of chapter)