The prisoners squatted in neat rows in the plaza, cautiously stealing glances at the only person left standing. At a breach in the city wall, Yugito Nii idly twirled a strand of her hair, looking thoroughly bored.
"You! Stop looking! Yes, you, the one with the tattooed face. Squat properly if you don't want a beating." A burly man gave an embarrassed smile and put his hands back on his head.
Suddenly, Yugito turned her head, looking through the gap in the wall towards a black line rapidly approaching in the distance. On closer inspection, it turned out to be shinobi reinforcements from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
"They're finally here," she sighed in relief.
"Quite a sight, a joint operation by the Five Great Villages," Darui remarked, appearing beside her.
"Have you figured things out?" Yugito asked.
"Mostly," Darui nodded. "The reason Kusagakure resorted to using the Box of Ultimate Bliss was entirely because of the battle between Iwagakure and the Akatsuki in the Land of Grass a year ago."
"So they were provoked? Seeking revenge?"
"Probably."
Yugito was speechless. She had truly been caught in the crossfire for no good reason. "Speaking of which, the Akatsuki have been lying low for a year now. Has your Shinobi Squad still not found them?"
The Five Great Villages had established the Shinobi Squad with the intent of matching the Akatsuki, after all. Considering the Akatsuki consisted entirely of S-rank missing-nin, it was unrealistic to expect ordinary shinobi teams to contend with them.
"We've caught their trail a few times, but by the time we arrive at any Akatsuki base, forget people, there isn't even any large equipment left," Darui sighed.
"An inside mole?" Yugito wondered. Once could be an accident, but if it happened multiple times, there was definitely a problem.
"We've checked. It's not an issue with moles," Darui shook his head. "Their intelligence network is incredibly strong. We haven't figured out their specific methods yet."
"Thank you for your hard work," the leader of Kumogakure's support team said, approaching the two. By the time Yugito and Darui had completed the handover of the situation at Hozuki Castle, it was already evening.
"Uchiha Sasuke certainly knows how to pick his moments, dumping everything on us," Yugito said, stretching wearily.
"Not quite. The intelligence unit found another Akatsuki trace, and he went to deal with it," Darui corrected her.
"Why didn't you go?"
"Not strong enough."
"You're certainly honest."
...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Birds.
Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke surveyed a battlefield strewn with corpses, then exchanged a look. "Time of death is over three days ago," Naruto observed. "Are you sure the ones who sent the intel back were your people?"
"I'm more curious as to why the Akatsuki lured me away from Hozuki Castle," Sasuke said, bending down to pick up a kunai, his gaze turning skyward in puzzlement.
...
On the road from the Land of Grass to the Land of Lightning.
BOOM!
A pillar of fire erupted into the sky. Yugito and Darui leaped out from the blast, looking disheveled.
"This ability... you're Akatsuki's Pain?" Darui exclaimed, recognizing the signature destructive power. There weren't many shinobi in the world who used missile-like attacks, and even fewer who would dare ambush him and Yugito. The answer was obvious.
"I can let you leave," the Deva Path of Pain stated, looking at Darui.
"I know you're the Akatsuki's leader, but isn't it a bit much to look down on me like this?" Darui said, taking down the large broadsword from his back.
"The height of folly," the Deva Path replied, shaking its head as five more figures slowly emerged from the shadows of the trees, surrounding Darui and Yugito. If Naruto were present, he would surely be surprised, because apart from the Deva Path, the other five Paths of Pain were all different bodies than the ones he knew.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Several missiles whistled towards the two Kumo nin. The battle ignited in an instant!
On a nearby cliffside, Nagato and Konan stood side by side, observing the distant fight. "Will the Six Paths be enough? One of them is a member of that Shinobi Squad," Konan couldn't help but ask. Although the Shinobi Squad officially had only five members, putting them at a numerical disadvantage against Akatsuki, none of them were to be trifled with. According to White Zetsu's intelligence, Darui was a candidate for the Fifth Raikage of Kumogakure, meaning he might have already begun training in the Raikage lineage's secret Lightning Release taijutsu.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" On the battlefield, a blinding white light flared from Darui's hands. Opposite them, three of the Pain bodies lay silently on the ground, mangled, their torn forms revealing a large amount of mechanical framework.
"Honestly, what's your actual standing within the Shinobi Squad?" Yugito couldn't help but swallow hard, recalling the terrifying ninjutsu her companion had just unleashed. She had thought he was just posturing when he suggested she provide support, but she never expected…
"Mid-tier, I guess," Darui said after a moment's thought.
"Besides Uchiha Sasuke, who else is stronger than you?"
"Deidara."
"..." Yugito bit her lip. She had thought Darui was a younger brother figure needing her protection, but in a blink, he had become the one protecting her. The Darui she remembered from before wasn't this strong.
"Stop anyone else from approaching those bodies!" Darui's voice hadn't even faded when his figure vanished from his spot, moving to engage the remaining Pains.
"The abilities of the Six Paths of Pain have been leaked," Nagato mused, the recent battle replaying in his mind through the shared vision of the Rinnegan. Ninja battles were, to a certain extent, battles of intelligence. From their initial exchange to Darui's Storm Release technique taking out three Paths at once, their entire strategy had been built upon knowing the Six Paths' abilities.
"Ever since Deidara and Uchiha Itachi left the Akatsuki, the leaking of intelligence was inevitable," Konan said, shaking her head.
"Only the Deva Path remains," Nagato said suddenly.
"That fast?" Konan's expression shifted slightly. Even with leaked intelligence, the Six Paths of Pain combined should at least be Kage-level. To have five of them disabled so quickly?
"There was an error in our intelligence on Darui. He's much stronger than estimated," Nagato said, leaping down from the cliff and speeding towards the distant battlefield. "Konan, you stall him. I'll end this as quickly as possible."
Darui and Yugito had the Deva Path of Pain cornered between them. "The trickiest one," Darui had warned Yugito. "It possesses both repulsive and attractive forces, and its repulsive force can instantly deflect any ninjutsu." Yugito held her breath, focusing intently on the figure before her.
Just then, the Deva Path spread its hands. A surge of danger washed over them. Yugito and Darui's pupils contracted, and they hastily leaped backward. But… "Shinra Tensei!" BOOM! An immense repulsive force slammed into both of them, sending them flying in opposite directions, instantly splitting the battlefield.
"Look out!" Matatabi's warning voice sounded in Yugito's mind. Covered in dust, Yugito instinctively retreated, and several black chakra receivers stabbed into the ground right where she had been moments before.
"A cat's reflexes, hmm?" A new figure landed before her. Nagato. Weren't there supposed to be only six of them? Seeing the Rinnegan in his eye sockets, Yugito was bewildered. "Who are you?"
"Nagato. The one you refer to as the Akatsuki leader."
Yugito's pupils shrank. She instantly entered her full Tailed Beast form, letting out a deafening roar as numerous swirling orbs of deep blue Matatabi-fire condensed around her body and shot towards Nagato. She then leaped, her claws glinting menacingly in the slanting light.
Nagato looked up at the colossal, flaming cat beast in mid-air, casually raised a hand, and an overwhelming repulsive force erupted outwards. The cloud of dust kicked up by the attack was clearly visible even tens of miles away.
Several kilometers from the battlefield, Yugito Nii lay curled up in a deep crater, completely unconscious.