Takumi couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like you're in a good mood. What, things went well?"
Seeing Takumi's smile, Kiba's mood immediately improved.
"Ah, I was just thinking about something funny."
Takumi snapped out of it, composed his smile, and became serious.
Seeing him like this, the three of them immediately became serious.
"The mission failed."
"Orochimaru's plan also failed, and the Three-Tails was ultimately taken away by the Akatsuki."
Takumi said in a deep voice. "That was an extremely powerful enemy. He wears a mask with a spiral pattern. If you encounter him, you must run as far as possible. His abilities are very bizarre."
"Since even you say that, then he truly is a very powerful enemy."
Shino said. "But our mission can't be called a failure. After all, our mission was just to reconnoiter. Being able to stop Orochimaru's evil plan is already exceeding the mission requirements."
"You don't need to comfort me."
Takumi smiled. "I won't be defeated by this minor setback. Besides, since the enemy is collecting Tailed Beasts, they inevitably need to collect more."
"We will inevitably face that enemy again. Next time, I won't fail so easily."
With Armament Haki, Takumi was no longer so afraid of facing Obito.
At least Obito could no longer absorb him into the Kamui Dimension.
Thus, one of Obito's major killing moves became useless against him.
"Alright, let's hurry back too. We need to report what happened here as soon as possible."
Takumi stepped forward and put his arms around Kiba and Shino's shoulders. "This mission is temporarily over. When we get back, I'll treat you to yakiniku, and we'll invite Shikamaru and the others too."
"Only someone as rich as you can afford to treat us to yakiniku this often."
A happy smile immediately appeared on Kiba's face.
Kiba was still very simple at this time.
Being able to eat a free big meal was a very happy thing for him.
"Eat as much as you want. Even if I go broke, I'll accept it, but with just you, you certainly can't!"
Takumi laughed heartily, patting Kiba on the shoulder.
"Hey! Don't underestimate me!"
Kiba looked unconvinced. "Even if I can't compare to that guy Choji, Akamaru and I together are no pushovers!"
"Don't worry, don't worry. Eat as much as you want; there's plenty."
As Takumi spoke, he leaned close to Hinata's ear and said, "You can eat as much as you want too."
Hinata's face immediately flushed even redder, her complexion as vivid as a boiled lobster, extremely bright.
…
The four set out on the road back to the village.
Without the burden of the mission, they returned leisurely.
At this time, after disguising himself, Deidara had already arrived in Konoha and was sitting bored in Sasori's hair salon, watching the gradually setting sun outside, his face full of boredom.
"Why isn't he back yet?"
…
Endless continuous dark clouds brought seemingly never-ending rain.
If such a rain fell in a drought-stricken place, it might save the lives of an entire land.
But this was Amegakure, a land where it rained all year round.
Here, you couldn't see sunlight, and you couldn't see hope.
And the rain covering the entire Amegakure was always controlled by one person.
The Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Through this massive Sensory Ninjutsu, Pain controlled the entire situation in Amegakure.
Under this tight surveillance, no one could escape Pain's control.
As usual, he gazed at the curtain of rain before him, his expressionless face hiding his thoughts. No one knew what he was thinking.
Suddenly, his eyelids twitched, and he turned to look behind him.
"You're back?"
He saw Obito returning from his mission.
He wasn't surprised that Obito had returned alone.
Konan, who had returned earlier, had already brought the news of Deidara's betrayal.
Or rather, she had only informed Pain of the possibility of Deidara's betrayal.
After all, although Deidara had attacked Konan, it was more about freeing himself from Konan's control.
In fact, Deidara hadn't hurt Konan, and the situation at that time was very complicated.
But judging by the current situation, Pain didn't need to think much to know what had happened.
"Deidara has defected."
Obito said in a deep voice, his body staggering slightly.
Pain's gaze sharpened, and then he said, "Go find Konan to treat your wounds."
"This little injury doesn't matter."
Obito's gaze was extremely gloomy. "There is one person who needs attention."
"Who?"
Pain immediately pressed for an answer.
"Orochimaru."
Obito said in a deep voice. "He has a certain understanding of our purpose and even tried to stop us now."
"Moreover, he found someone who could influence the Tailed Beasts."
"I've already dealt with that person, but it's hard to say whether Orochimaru has other similar people."
"In terms of strength, none of us are afraid of him, but his degree of troublesomeness also makes him a very thorny existence."
Pain listened silently, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
But he quickly suppressed it.
"Orochimaru is very good at hiding himself. We can't find his whereabouts."
Pain said calmly. "I'll have Black Zetsu monitor Orochimaru's movements. If he dares to reach out again, I'll step in and cut off his hand."
"Go treat your wounds. After they're treated, we'll absorb the Three-Tails into the Outer Path Statue."
Obito nodded silently, his whole body absorbed by a vortex, disappearing from the spot.
"I'll go treat his wounds."
Konan, who had been hiding all along, suddenly spoke up. "Afterwards, I'll go to Konoha to monitor Takumi's movements."
"Your intelligence was very timely this time. Otherwise, the Three-Tails would likely have fallen into that Takumi's hands."
Pain looked in the direction of Konoha, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
He really wanted to rush to Konoha like this and directly eliminate Takumi, this major threat.
But he couldn't.
Because his original body restricted his range of movement.
Nagato's lower body had been destroyed in the trap set by Hanzo's ambush back then, and he could only rely on the Outer Path Statue to sustain his life.
Therefore, Nagato could only be confined to a fixed area.
That's why he created the Six Paths of Pain to act as his substitutes for actions outside.
Of course, the more important reason was that he always believed that only Yahiko was the true leader of the Akatsuki, and someone like him was unworthy to be its leader.
This is also why the Deva Path takes the form of Yahiko.