Naruto broke free from his brief fear, let out a shout, and dozens of Shadow Clones sprang up beside him, all bracing themselves against the soles of Susanoo's feet.
Kakashi and the others weren't just watching. Sai pulled off a brilliant move, broke through the mechanical legion's firepower line, and flew close to Susanoo's crystal.
Kakashi covered his own Sharingan and, at the instant he drew near Susanoo, released Kamui.
An extremely powerful tearing force swallowed Kairen's arm, leaving him dazed for a fraction of a second. Naruto seized the chance and broke free from under Susanoo's feet.
Then Naruto summoned two more Shadow Clones, and together they began forming a Rasenshuriken.
Kakashi and the others were buying time for Naruto.
"Bastard—take this!"
Sakura leapt into the air and punched at Kairen's crystal.
"Secret Art: Insect Sphere!"
Shino released the Insect Sphere, and pitch-black insects devoured the chakra on Susanoo's arm.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Kiba, together with Akamaru, used Fang Over Fang, crashing into Susanoo's chest like a tornado.
"Wood Release: Adamantine Recruiting Trees!"
Yamato used Wood Release, binding Susanoo's legs from below with wood.
"Lightning Cutter!"
Kakashi was already running on fumes; two uses of Kamui had drained him dry, yet he still squeezed out his strength to perform Lightning Cutter.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation!"
Everyone from Konoha unleashed their finishing moves together, buying Naruto a little more time.
He hoisted the Rasenshuriken and looked confidently at Susanoo's massive figure.
The Rasenshuriken was his strongest move; he refused to believe he couldn't crack Kairen's turtle shell.
"Take this—Wind Release: Rasenshuriken."
All the techniques crashed into Kairen's Susanoo at once, especially the final Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
An extremely powerful storm sphere formed, a hundred meters in diameter, almost enveloping Susanoo.
...
Deidara hovered in the sky, worry on his face.
With so many powerful attacks, even a thousand-year-old turtle wouldn't dare to block them. Where did Kairen get this confidence?
The storm kicked up thick dust, hiding everything inside.
Naruto's group gathered together, watching the movement in the dust with vigilance.
Clearly, they didn't know the rule of "smoke without injury."
Susanoo's huge hand swept out, the dust dispersed, and Kairen walked out completely unharmed.
He stood inside the crystal with his arms folded, looking down at the Konoha crowd below, a faint aura of aloof second-son posing spreading out.
"Naruto, is that all you've got? As expected, dead last is still dead last!"
Naruto, furious at Kairen's mockery, jumped up.
"Bastard, what did you say?!"
Kairen spread his fire to the others: "Kakashi, even Lightning Cutter can't cut open my shell. Watch less 'Intimate Paradise' and go easy on yourself."
Kakashi wanted to retort, but his weak body left him speechless.
Kairen pointed Susanoo's greatsword at Sakura: "Your monstrous strength really did inherit Tsunade's legacy, but you didn't inherit Tsunade's chest. Just a pair of A's!"
"Damn it!!"
Sakura was even angrier than Naruto, grinding her teeth and pounding Naruto like a punching bag.
Kairen then pointed the blade at Yamato: "Is that Wood Release? The First Hokage's Wood Release decided the Warring States. Yours can only grow crops—go back and be a farmer!"
Yamato's face darkened; Kairen's mouth was really infuriating.
Kairen went on to mock the Konoha crowd one by one, and finally pointed the greatsword at Aburame Shino.
"Um…"
Kairen thought for a long time, then shook his head. "Forget it, there's really nothing to say about you!"
Shino: "┗( T﹏T )┛"
Everyone else got mentioned and only he didn't—was an Aburame clan member just air?
Shino decided to break the silence and asked Kairen, "Say a few words about me too!"
Kairen gave Shino another look—was he a masochist?
"I refuse."
Shino felt awful. Even if Kairen had scolded him badly, it would've been fine; being ignored like this was truly unpleasant.
Kairen leveled Susanoo's forty-meter blade, and the Konoha crowd's vigilance shot to the limit.
Then Kairen suddenly sheathed the greatsword again.
Naruto and the others let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Kairen didn't show killing intent; he was just playing around.
Kairen suddenly cast down a look: "Genjutsu!"
In an instant, Naruto and the others were all bound, unable to move no matter how they tried.
Kakashi tried all kinds of standard ways to dispel genjutsu, but none could break Kairen's genjutsu.
...
Kairen dispersed Susanoo and jumped down from the sky, with Deidara following behind.
Deidara flattered him: "Your genjutsu is amazing— even the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki couldn't resist it."
Kairen smiled, then looked at the bound Konoha group.
Deidara laughed beside him: "That settles it—the Nine-Tails is caught. All that's left is the Eight-Tails."
Kairen patted Deidara's shoulder and told him a fact: "Akatsuki has already split up. Nagato's even packed up and gone off to be the boss."
Deidara was shocked: "What?! What happened when the Hidden Rain Village was attacked before?"
Kairen then told him everything.
Deidara froze for a few seconds, then said angrily, "Great! That guy Tobi was lying to me. And I even treated him like a rookie."
"What do we do now? The leader's gone too—am I going to wander around begging for food?"
Kairen patted Deidara's shoulder: "Follow me from now on! My Eastern Bureau has a bright future, and it needs talent like you."
Deidara nodded. "Alright."
After the organization split, he had nowhere to go anyway, so he might as well follow Kairen—especially since the other party was also an artist.
Deidara then looked at the Konoha group.
"So what about them?"
Kairen planned to let them go, but anyone who fought him had to pay some price.
He walked up to Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at Kairen with a withered expression, that dead-fish eye looking listless.
"If you're going to kill us, then kill us. Don't think about humiliating us."
Kairen patted Kakashi's cheek and sneered, "Didn't expect you to be pretty tough. Do you know Obito? He's still alive—and he's the mastermind behind Akatsuki."
Kakashi instantly wasn't withered anymore, his pupils brightening.
"You're telling the truth? Obito isn't dead!"
Kairen didn't answer. He took off Kakashi's ninja tool pouch and tossed it to Deidara.
Deidara rummaged through it and pulled out a red novel.
"'Intimate Paradise'? What kind of book is this?"
He only read two pages before throwing it away, saying disdainfully, "It's simply a disgrace to art."
Kairen then walked up to Naruto.
Naruto glared at Kairen, eyes like he wanted to eat him alive.
"If you've got the guts, let me go and I'll fight you!"
Kairen patted his face, like a neighborhood boss.
"Going up against Moku Kairen—do you even have that kind of strength?"
Kairen's Tenseigan suddenly noticed a crow inside Naruto's body—that was Itachi's backup, Shisui's Mangekyō.
Kairen's Tenseigan flashed with a blue light, and in an instant it tore the crow out of Naruto's body.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
The crow cawed wildly, desperately trying to escape Kairen's palm.
Naruto looked on in confusion. "A crow? There was actually a crow inside my body? That was back then—"
Kairen squeezed with his hand, dispelling the crow's genjutsu and revealing a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kairen thought to himself: what use is Kotoamatsukami to him?
Then he suddenly thought of one use.
The women around him had to be a bit dumb; otherwise, nothing felt right.
They'd get shy just unlocking a new position, and they wouldn't agree to a threesome, flying together.
By that logic, he had to use Kotoamatsukami to lower the IQ of the women around him a bit.
Kairen instantly absorbed Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan and, in the blink of an eye, mastered the power of Kotoamatsukami.
With the Wood Release inside his body, he could now freely influence other people's thoughts.
Kairen then pulled out Naruto's toad wallet, shook it so the coins inside clinked, and tossed it to Deidara.
Naruto was in tears. "(*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ) That was my entire fortune!"
Kairen walked over to Sakura. Sakura glared at Kairen: "I warn you, don't do anything excessive to me, or I'll make you pay for it."
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