For Hidan, he now had absolutely no favorable impression of the Akatsuki whatsoever.
When he had first joined, everyone had said he could sacrifice to his evil god however he liked, as long as he properly completed the organization's missions.
But after joining, forget sacrificing to his evil god—he felt like he was straight-up fighting gods instead!
And that damn leader had just nearly sold him out, which completely erased any sense of belonging Hidan had toward the Akatsuki. On top of that, his abilities weren't particularly effective against this kind of ninjutsu construct, so he quite naturally started slacking off.
"Something's wrong—the temperature is getting higher and higher!"
"Kakuzu, Sasori, move!"
On the other side, Konan, standing atop the Wood Dragon, suddenly sensed that something was off. They were clearly still quite far from the center of the battlefield, yet the temperature around them was unmistakably rising.
"That guy is really greedy…"
"He's trying to drag all of us into the battlefield—or rather, he wants to wipe us out along with it!"
Kakuzu's expression turned grim. So even someone like him was considered something to be eliminated in the eyes of Absolute Justice?
With Konan's warning, Kakuzu grabbed Sasori and began retreating.
Even if he knew he was a target for Uchiha Keizumi's purge, did that mean he would just let himself be eliminated? Did he have no pride?
As for Hidan? Not close. Who cared whether he lived or died?
Didn't Hidan claim that his evil god granted him immortality? Kakuzu wanted to see exactly what kind of immortality that was.
"Eh… eh?"
As Konan spread paper wings from her back and Kakuzu fled with Sasori, the previously slacking-off Hidan finally realized something was wrong.
How had everyone suddenly left, leaving him alone?
Weren't they supposed to be teammates?
Even if he didn't feel much attachment to this lousy organization, abandoning a new member and running off like that—wasn't that a bit too outrageous?
As that final thought flashed through Hidan's mind, the surging magma completely engulfed him.
Meanwhile, Keizumi, standing within Susanoo, could feel something different within his body. But at this moment, he had no intention of paying it any attention—his only goal was to eliminate the Pain before him.
They had dared to act against Absolute Justice—clearly, they already had a death sentence upon them!
"Pain, go!"
As sheets of paper fluttered through the air, Konan's figure appeared beside the Deva Path.
"No—I haven't lost!"
"A god does not lose!"
Pain looked at Konan beside him, a ripple passing through those Rinnegan.
He called himself a god, and naturally believed that gods were invincible. But Uchiha Keizumi's appearance had struck him hard—four of the Six Paths had already been destroyed. Pain simply could not swallow that humiliation!
"Hidan is already dead!"
Because she was airborne, Konan had clearly seen Hidan's death.
Even if he had a so-called immortal body, she didn't believe that someone reduced to ashes could still come back to life!
As Konan's words fell, Nagato—who controlled Pain—began to hesitate.
Even gods had weaknesses, and Konan just happened to be Nagato's.
If even Hidan, who possessed so-called immortality, had died, then what about Konan if they continued fighting?
And not just Konan—this body of Pain was Yahiko's. If it were destroyed, and until the Naraka Path recreated it, Pain's body would truly be lost.
"We underestimated Uchiha Keizumi's strength. This time, we simply weren't prepared enough."
"You didn't lose. The one that lost was the Akatsuki."
Konan continued persuading Pain—or rather, Nagato controlling him. After all, the Akatsuki didn't truly have any deep-seated grudge with Uchiha Keizumi. If anything, there had even been some prior connection. There was no need for things to escalate this far.
"If…"
Pain stared deeply at the advancing Susanoo, and in the end, he compromised.
He still had trump cards—whether it was overusing the Rinnegan at the cost of his body, or summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Nagato believed the outcome was still uncertain.
But he had to consider Konan's safety.
If he truly summoned the Demonic Statue, he might defeat Uchiha Keizumi—but the entire shinobi world would become aware of the Akatsuki's strength. Revealing that power too early would only draw the world's vigilance.
"I understand. Let's go."
The Deva Path and Konan no longer paid attention to the rest of the battlefield. One controlled attraction and repulsion through the Rinnegan, the other used Paper Release—both had the ability to fly.
Uchiha Keizumi had considered stopping them, but sensing the intensifying battle elsewhere—and with his Susanoo lacking flight capability—he could only let them go.
But he also knew this wasn't over.
After all, the Land of Rain was still there, and so was the Akatsuki. Even if Pain and Konan left today, they couldn't just abandon the Land of Rain entirely.
"Obito—Pain and Konan have escaped!"
It had to be said, Tachibana Jirō had done a great job drawing aggro. With Kamui's elusive teleportation and intangibility, his attacks couldn't touch Obito at all—while he himself had accumulated quite a few injuries in a short time.
As for Izumi, she wanted to join the fight, but White Zetsu also possessed considerable strength.
"They escaped?"
Obito, still entangled with Tachibana Jirō, felt his mood collapse upon hearing White Zetsu's words.
Wasn't Pain just fighting Uchiha Keizumi moments ago?
He had just been thinking about capturing Tachibana Jirō and Uchiha Izumi as leverage—so how had Pain already run?
At that moment, Obito truly felt the frustration of: we were ready to fight to the death—so why did our leader surrender first?
"Move!"
"Uchiha Keizumi is coming toward us!"
Not only White Zetsu, but Black Zetsu was also urging Obito to retreat.
In fact, Black Zetsu was even more panicked than Obito. Obito had only seen Keizumi's Judgement Flame—but Black Zetsu had personally been burned by it!
If he got hit again, even with his unwavering determination to revive his mother, he might end up becoming an idiot under that flame!
"Move!"
Obito might be ruthless, and his brain might not always work—but he knew when to retreat!
Even though he desperately wanted to stew Tachibana Jirō alive, he still decisively pulled Black Zetsu and White Zetsu into Kamui space. Even though Tachibana Jirō and Uchiha Izumi tried to stop them, it was impossible.