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"Shibi!" Seeing Shibi collapse motionless, Guy rushed over, hoping to save him.
Kisame wasn't about to give him that chance. Samehada's handle suddenly extended, attacking the sprinting Guy.
Guy flipped forward, dodging the strike while kicking off the blade to boost his speed. In an instant, he reached Shibi's side.
"How is he?" Kakashi asked, warily watching Midorima emerge from the darkness, his gaze unwavering. But Midorima had no intention of attacking.
"He's badly hurt, but… he's not dead yet," Guy said urgently.
"You didn't kill him?" Kisame countered. "I thought you'd finish him off."
"Your first words to me weren't even about my injuries—that's quite the 'surprise'," Midorima said, tearing off his tattered cloak.
In the original story, there was an unwritten rule: the moment an Akatsuki member removed their cloak, their death was imminent.
Midorima hoped that wouldn't happen to him.
"You're still standing, so it can't be too bad," Kisame snorted.
"Tch, but that hit really hurt," Midorima sighed.
Kakashi stared at Midorima's body—no blood. Chidori hadn't inflicted a fatal wound. A chill ran down his back as Jiraiya's warning echoed in his mind: every Akatsuki member possessed extraordinary strength.
As expected from Jiraiya-sensei—the assessment was spot on.
"Why are you fine?" Kakashi asked.
"Who said I'm fine? My internal organs are damaged," Midorima shook his head.
Chidori's power needed no explanation. In the manga, even midway through, Chidori and Rasengan were one-hit-kill techniques capable of instantly taking down enemies.
However, if a ninja had ample chakra and was stronger than Kakashi, tanking the hit with their body wasn't impossible.
Midorima hadn't foolishly taken it head-on, but Kakashi's appearance was too sudden—he hadn't sensed it beforehand. All he could do was lean back as much as possible when attacked, dissipating the force from Kakashi's palm while using Earth Spear to harden his body.
Chidori still struck him, shattering the Earth Spear defense—after all, Earth Spear was naturally weak to Lightning Release.
Pain surged through his nerves and every blood vessel. At that moment, the [Cell Laboratory] activated, repairing what needed repairing and analyzing Chidori.
Thirty seconds later, Midorima regained mobility, though the pain lingered. The [Cell Laboratory] had also fully decoded Chidori.
That was the only gain from taking the hit.
Kakashi remained on high alert, suspecting Midorima was trying to lower his guard for a counterattack.
Internal injuries?
With internal injuries, you're standing there fine? And you still attacked Shibi?
Who are you kidding?
"Captain, what do we do?" Guy asked Kakashi.
"Retreat!" After much deliberation, Kakashi decided to withdraw.
He and Guy could risk their lives, but what about Shibi?
If they dragged this out, he'd die.
Kisame gripped Samehada tightly, watching the three Leaf ninjas leave. "Just let them go?"
"That technique did injure me and affected my movement. If you're confident in taking on two at once, go ahead and stop them—I can't fight anymore. Besides, we're supposed to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention from other ninja villages. Killing all three would just provoke the Leaf. Akatsuki isn't ready for war with them yet, right?"
Kisame thought about it—Midorima had a point.
After all, Pain had specifically instructed them to avoid being targeted by the major ninja villages.
"So now…" Kisame stared at Midorima.
"Rendezvous with the others."
"Your injuries…"
"I can't fight, but traveling's no problem."
"…"
Kisame watched Midorima run ahead, unsure what to say.
Though Midorima had regained mobility, the pain undeniably hampered his performance.
If he'd clashed directly with Kakashi earlier, the injury would have affected him. As for whether he could defeat or even kill Kakashi, it depended on how much chakra Kakashi had left after using Chidori.
The two quickly returned to the Hidden Grass Village.
Upon entering, a thick scent of blood filled the air. Every street had over a dozen corpses, and blood flowed into the gutters on both sides.
Though many had died, civilians were unharmed as long as they stayed indoors—this was a condition set by the client. They only wanted to crush the opposing faction, not the civilians.
Without civilians, there'd be no one to govern.
However, the Hidden Grass Village's internal factions were deeply intertwined, to the point of "you have me, I have you." Eliminating the client's "opposing faction" was no easy task.
The ones who hired Akatsuki were from the "Grass Flower" faction—the so-called anti-war group. But even within the anti-war faction, there were divisions with opposing views on the leader's death.
Some advocated peace and wanted to negotiate future matters with "Grass Fruit," while others sought to find the killer and avenge the leader.
After the Anbu chief's death, these groups reshuffled again, forming two ideologically opposed camps.
One was determined to avenge the leader and chief, targeting "Grass Fruit" directly. The other clung to the "anti-war" ideal, trying to stop the fighting.
As the two sides argued endlessly, "Grass Fruit" launched an attack, encircling "Grass Flower" like making dumplings.
After a fierce battle, over fifty from "Grass Fruit" escaped.
Most harbored deep grudges and hired Akatsuki, while another group sought aid from the Hidden Leaf Village.
But judging by the current scene, "Grass Fruit" had been wiped out.
The two arrived at the Hidden Grass Village leader's residence.
The guarding ninjas saw them and stepped aside half a pace. Forget blocking—they didn't even have the courage to question. After witnessing Akatsuki's terror firsthand, their bravery was nearly gone.
Sasori was in the courtyard, neatly arranging the corpses and examining their sizes.
Hidan was a larger ninja, and Sasori wanted to make a similar puppet.
Seeing Midorima enter, Sasori paused, then pointed at him and burst into laughter: "What happened to you?"
"We were ambushed," Midorima shrugged.
"Huh? Who ambushed you?" Sasori asked, surprised.
"Leaf ninjas," Midorima said.
Leaning against the doorframe, Itachi heard Midorima's words, opened his eyes, and looked over.