Chapter 219: Tobirama Strikes!
Sealing Technique — Nine Phantom Dragon Seal!
In some dim, hidden place, an enormous, grotesque stone statue stood erect, ten fingers each extended, a figure perched atop each one.
Aside from Deidara and Sasori, every other figure present was a shimmering, multicolored silhouette of shadow.
Even without seeing their faces clearly, their distinctive features made it unmistakable — every one of them was a core Akatsuki member.
"Well done, Deidara, Sasori."
Pain glanced at the battered Three-Tails lying below, then offered praise to the pair who'd claimed the first strike.
"Heh, of course. You should see just how powerful my art really is."
Deidara responded to Pain while also finding time to brag about his own artistic prowess.
"Hmph. Only eternal art can be called true beauty."
Sasori shot Deidara a flat glance.
"Aha, Sasori-danna, you can't deny that art is an EXPLOSION!"
Just as Deidara and Sasori were about to launch into their usual argument about the nature of art, Pain intervened:
"Sealing the Three-Tails will take three days. During that time, conserve your strength and avoid unnecessary actions."
Pain's words put the argument on hold, but Hidan spoke up instead.
"Come to think of it, the Three-Tails has been revived for days now. Where's Kiri's sealing team? Haven't seen a single one of them show up."
"Heheh, we actually have Konoha's Hokage to thank for that."
Zetsu maintained the technique while speaking with sinister amusement.
"Kirigakure took catastrophic casualties in the war three years ago. Even their Fifth Mizukage had to be an imperfect jinchūriki — Utakata."
"Kiri has effectively fallen out of the ranks of the Five Great Villages."
"Sealing the Three-Tails?"
"They don't have the manpower left for it anymore."
Pain nodded slightly at Zetsu's report.
The Akatsuki's original objective from that war had, in a sense, been fully achieved.
Using the war's destruction to systematically weaken the Five Great Villages.
Not just Kiri — Suna's strength had also fallen below the threshold for maintaining Great Village status.
Pain didn't particularly care how many ordinary shinobi had died, but the fact remained: three of the Five Great Villages' Kage had all perished in that conflict, alongside Chiyo of the Sand, and countless elite fighters from every village.
After the war, even Iwa's Four-Tails jinchūriki Rōshi had fallen out with the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, and left the village to wander.
Aside from Konoha, every one of the four remaining Great Villages — Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth — had been cut down in turn.
No — Konoha had been weakened too...
Whether Shimura Danzō was alive or dead remained unclear, but living or not, he was effectively finished either way.
Hmm...
Pain found himself lost in thought at this.
Danzō's defeat in the political struggle against Haruno Sakura — had that been a wound to Konoha, or a strengthening?
Time passed, and two and a half days slipped by amid the Akatsuki's idle, scattered conversation.
"Hm?"
Black Zetsu's expression shifted subtly.
"What is it?"
The change was noticeable enough that the entire group turned to look at him.
"Someone's coming."
Black Zetsu's words drew no particular alarm.
"Kiri shinobi?"
Kisame asked with quiet menace.
He knew Kirigakure intimately.
"No. Konoha's people."
Black Zetsu shook his head.
Before anyone could press further, he continued:
"It's a specialized squad."
"Tobirama Senju. Hatake Kakashi. Might Guy. Uchiha Sasuke. Uzumaki Naruto."
Standard shinobi squads ran four members. This one had five — and included both Tobirama Senju and Hatake Kakashi, two names renowned across the shinobi world.
Hence Black Zetsu's use of the word "specialized."
"Tobirama... Senju."
Pain's expression grew thoughtful at the name.
The Second Hokage's reputation was unmistakable across the entire shinobi world — and now, after decades of dormancy, he'd become active once more.
"How far from us?"
Kakuzu spoke up.
As the most well-traveled member present (by his own estimation), he knew Tobirama's reputation intimately.
Back when he'd assassinated the First Hokage, he'd deliberately chosen a moment when Tobirama was absent, specifically to avoid being ganged up on by the Senju brothers together.
"Fifty kilometers out. White Zetsu spotted them along the route."
"They haven't detected us yet."
"Their objective is clear — the lake where the Three-Tails revived."
Black Zetsu's tone carried a trace of unease.
"We flew here. We wouldn't have left a trail along the route."
Sasori spoke gravely.
He didn't know about the others, but back when he'd infiltrated Konoha with Itachi, he'd crossed swords with Might Guy directly.
Not an easy opponent.
Add a Hokage, plus Hatake Kakashi. This squad would be genuinely difficult to deal with.
"Tobirama Senju's sensory jutsu covers an enormous range. It won't take him long to find us."
Kakuzu spoke up immediately.
"Sasori-danna and I set up five sealing barriers outside."
Deidara, apparently sensing the tension, spoke up quickly.
"As Hashirama Senju's own younger brother — the man I once fought — a barrier like that won't hold him back."
A shadow of gravity crossed Kakuzu's eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey — could you NOT bring up your ancient war stories at a time like this?"
Hidan looked at Kakuzu with irritation, tired of hearing "Hashirama Senju" every other sentence.
"How many Chameleon Descent bodies do we have prepared?"
Pain, unmoved, turned to Sasori.
"Three."
Sasori answered.
"Good. Prepare them. If the Konoha squad reaches this location and begins dismantling the five barriers, Konan, Itachi, and Kisame will use Chameleon Descent to intercept them."
"Buy time to complete the Three-Tails' seal."
At Pain's words, Itachi — who'd remained silent this entire time — raised his eyes slightly.
Full name, given specifically to him — while everyone else got only their code name.
He seems to have noticed something.
But it no longer mattered.
The five-seal barrier consisted of five talismans marked with the character "Forbidden," arranged in a specialized formation. Only by tearing them off simultaneously could the barrier be broken — and the instant it was breached, an exact duplicate of whoever tore the talisman would appear and immediately attack them.
Chameleon Descent was a technique unique to the Akatsuki.
Using a living sacrifice as an offering, a special incantation could allow a shinobi thousands of miles away to manifest their chakra remotely — effectively a long-distance clone under the caster's full control.
But a Chameleon Descent manifestation carried only seventy percent of the original's strength, and certain kekkei genkai were difficult to replicate through it.
"So what about me and Sasori-danna?"
Deidara asked the critical question.
Everyone else was thousands of miles away. He and Sasori were right here.
And from Kakuzu's tone, it sounded like neither the five-seal barrier nor Chameleon Descent would be enough to stop this Tobirama Senju character.
"Zetsu — who's closest to Deidara and Sasori?"
Pain turned to Zetsu once more.
Black Zetsu frowned but stayed silent. White Zetsu, sharing the body, spoke up instead:
"The closest are Hidan and Kakuzu — they're in the Land of Fire, you know~"
"The Land of Fire?"
"So does that mean Sasori-danna and I are basically dead?"
Deidara sounded annoyed, but his demeanor showed not the faintest trace of fear toward death.
"Ahh, but there's someone else in the Land of Water too~~~"
White Zetsu continued, only to draw an irritated look from Pain — clearly fed up with the coy delay.
"Heheh, it's Orochimaru~~~"
White Zetsu's answer left everyone silent.
Three years ago, they'd literally fought Orochimaru to recover the Kūjaku ring from him.
Asking Orochimaru now to reinforce Deidara and Sasori...
That was clearly not going to come without a price.
"Zetsu — tell Orochimaru his terms are open. Whatever he wants, as long as it's reasonable."
Pain spoke flatly.
"Understood."
Black Zetsu acknowledged, then fell silent.
"The organization will never abandon any of its members. Don't worry."
Pain's words were calm and even.
"Leader's the coolest!"
Deidara grinned, clearly unconcerned about the Konoha squad that could arrive at any moment.
"Even so — if that Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, finds this place, Deidara, Sasori, withdraw immediately."
Pain showed no particular reaction to Deidara's earlier comment.
"Heheh~~~"
Deidara waved a dismissive hand, then added with genuine curiosity:
"But why would Orochimaru even be in the Land of Water?"
The question was destined to go unanswered. Ever since taking the Kūjaku ring from Orochimaru three years ago, the man had apparently been consumed with some kind of research project.
The Lake Where the Three-Tails Was Captured
Gazing out over the now-perfectly still lake, Tobirama carefully sensed the residual chakra lingering in the air.
"Intelligence indicated the Three-Tails was here. Looks like someone beat us to it."
The others were also examining the area. Kakashi crouched down, pinching a small clump of soil from the lakeshore and holding it to his nose.
Beneath the muddy scent, a faint, barely detectable trace of gunpowder.
"It's just the Three-Tails, though. That's not our actual objective."
Tobirama gazed in a particular direction, his eyes sharpening slightly.
"We head southeast."
No one objected. Everyone fell into step behind the Second Hokage.
Meanwhile, at the Three-Tails' sealing site, Black Zetsu — having just finished contacting Orochimaru — spoke.
"He agreed. But he has terms. I already accepted on our behalf."
Pain's expression didn't shift. Terms were expected — no one gave charity freely to someone they'd once come to blows with.
"What terms?"
"The Fourth Raikage's skin tissue. Third Kazekage Hanzō's skin tissue. Sasori's puppet techniques."
Plus five White Zetsu clones and three pairs of Sharingan.
Black Zetsu left those last two items unspoken.
He could authorize White Zetsu himself. As for the Sharingan — that could be requested from Obito after the fact.
"Tch..."
Sasori's brow furrowed at this.
Pain considered for a moment, then spoke.
"Fine."
He turned his gaze to Sasori.
"No objections from me."
With his life on the line, Sasori understood exactly what mattered more.
Just then, Sasori's expression shifted subtly, and he spoke.
"They found us. They're right outside."
The five-seal barrier had been personally installed by Sasori himself — naturally, he could sense the disturbance from outside.
Outside the sealing site
"This is the Five-Seal Barrier. An old Sand Village trick."
Tobirama studied the talisman marked with the character for "Forbidden," rubbing his chin.
"Breaking it is simple enough — just locate the other four talismans and tear them all off simultaneously."
At this, Naruto pounded his fist into his palm excitedly.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?!"
Kakashi cautioned him.
"This is a barrier the Akatsuki set up. It won't be that simple."
Tobirama gave Kakashi an approving look and continued.
"Kakashi's right. Tearing off a talisman triggers an exact duplicate of whoever tore it, which immediately attacks the person who broke the seal."
Before Naruto could interrupt, Tobirama continued.
"But dealing with it is also simple. Suppress your own chakra to its absolute minimum the moment you tear the talisman. The resulting clone will be correspondingly weak — trivial to dispatch."
With that, Tobirama crouched down, pressing his fingers to the ground, sensing everything around him.
The area directly ahead was shrouded by the barrier and remained undetectable for now, but the locations of the other four talismans had already surfaced clearly in his mind.
"There are exactly five of us. One talisman each."
"Stay in radio contact."
Tobirama tapped the radio hanging around his neck, then relayed each talisman's location to the group.
"Move out — now!"
At Tobirama's command, Kakashi and the others scattered toward their designated positions.
"Kakashi, in position."
"Might Guy, in position."
"Uchiha Sasuke, in position."
Before long, confirmations came filtering in through the earpiece from each location.
"Uh, where's the talisman?"
Listening to the blond boy's characteristically thick-headed question, Tobirama pressed a hand to his forehead in resignation.
My sister-in-law, Uzumaki Mito, was also of the Uzumaki clan, and she's always been the picture of composure. How did this Uzumaki kid turn out nothing like her?
"It's behind you, Naruto."
Tobirama sighed internally, then answered patiently.
"Oh, oh, found it!"
"Uzumaki Naruto, in position!"
Naruto's voice came through shortly after.
"Alright. I'll count down from three. Everyone suppress your chakra simultaneously and tear off the talismans."
Tobirama spoke calmly.
"Copy!" ×4.
Kakashi, Guy, Naruto, and Sasuke all confirmed in unison.
"Three."
"Two."
"ONE!"
All five talismans were torn away simultaneously — and in that instant, the situation shifted dramatically!
"Water Release — Great Bursting Water Shockwave!"
A low shout echoed from above, and Tobirama's expression tightened slightly.
Without time to fully assess the situation, he flung himself backward — but a kunai was already streaking toward him!
This is—
Not good!
Tobirama's eyes narrowed at the all-too-familiar Flying Thunder God kunai bearing down on him.
The clone from the five-seal barrier!
Even with chakra suppressed to its minimum, that didn't mean the clone was completely without combat capability!
And at that same moment, the shinobi who'd just unleashed the Water Release was already riding the crashing waves toward him.
Tobirama moved to deal with his own clone first — but a voice, thick with suppressed hatred, crackled through his earpiece.
"Uchiha... Itachi."
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