Chapter 296: Akatsuki's Hidan, Dead!
For Hidan, he currently didn't harbor even half a shred of goodwill toward the Akatsuki organization anymore.
When he initially joined Akatsuki, everyone explicitly said that he could perform whatever sacrifices to Jashin he pleased, so long as he properly completed the organization's missions.
Yet after joining Akatsuki, let alone offering sacrifices to Jashin, he felt as though he was completely engaged in a brawl against a literal god!
Furthermore, the leader of this garbage organization had almost sold him out moments ago. This left Hidan with truly very little sense of belonging toward Akatsuki. Add to that the fact that Hidan's abilities genuinely didn't have much of an effect against an elemental construct like the Susanoo, he had slacked off with a perfectly clear conscience.
"Something's wrong, the temperature is getting higher and higher!"
"Kakuzu, Sasori, move!"
Standing atop the wood dragon on the other side, Konan abruptly discerned that something was amiss. They were clearly still quite a long distance away from the dead center of the battlefield, yet the temperature in their vicinity was visibly climbing higher and higher!
"That fellow is truly greedy!"
"He actually wishes to drag us into the battlefield together—or rather, he wishes to resolve us altogether as well!"
Kakuzu's face turned somewhat unsightly. As expected, was a fellow like himself someone who needed to be purged in the eyes of Absolute Justice?
Following Konan's warning, Kakuzu also grabbed Sasori and began to retreat. Although he guessed that he was a target of Uchiha Ikeizumi's purge, Ikeizumi could purge whoever he wanted, but did Kakuzu not have any dignity to maintain?
As for Hidan? They weren't very close; who cared about his life or death!
Didn't Hidan claim that the Jashin he venerated granted him immortality? Kakuzu wished to see just what kind of immortality method it was.
"Uh, wait?"
With a pair of paper wings unfolding behind Konan's back and Kakuzu grabbing Sasori to flee the scene, Hidan—who had been slacking off all this time—finally sensed that something was amiss.
How was it that in the blink of an eye, everyone had departed, leaving him entirely alone in place?
Aren't they supposed to be teammates?
Although Hidan didn't have much of a sense of belonging toward this garbage organization, wasn't this practice of completely ignoring a new member and fleeing on one's own a bit too absurd?
As such a final thought flashed through Hidan's mind, the surging magma completely submerged him.
Standing within the Susanoo on the other side, Uchiha Ikeizumi could feel his body gaining a few distinct differences. Only at this moment, Uchiha Ikeizumi had no intentions of paying attention to these things; he only prepared to resolve Pain before his eyes as well.
To strike against Absolute Justice—they clearly already possessed a path to death!
"Pain, leave!"
As sheets of paper fluttered in midair, Konan's figure also manifested right beside the Deva Path Pain.
"No, I have not yet lost!"
"A god will not lose!"
Pain looked at Konan beside him, yet those Rinnegan actually experienced a few ripples of emotion. He referred to himself as a god, so he naturally believed firmly that a god was invincible. Yet Uchiha Ikeizumi's appearance had viciously slapped him across the face, directly destroying four of the Six Paths. Pain felt that he could not swallow this grievance!
"Hidan is already dead!"
Because she was flying in the sky, Konan had clearly witnessed Hidan's death. Even if Hidan possessed a so-called immortal body, Konan didn't believe that he could still come back to life after being burned entirely into ashes!
As Konan's voice fell, Nagato—manipulating Pain—also began to turn hesitant. A so-called god similarly possessed his own weaknesses, and Konan just happened to be Nagato's weakness!
Even Hidan, who possessed a so-called immortal body, was already dead. If they continued to fight on, what about Konan?
Not only Konan, but this body of Pain belonged to Yahiko as well. If this body were destroyed, before the Naraka Path could be reconstructed, Pain's body would truly be ruined.
"We underestimated Uchiha Ikeizumi's strength; our preparations this time were simply not thorough enough."
"You did not lose; the one that lost is merely the Akatsuki organization!"
Konan continued to persuade Pain—or rather, Nagato manipulating Pain. After all, the Akatsuki organization itself held no deep hatred against Uchiha Ikeizumi; in fact, there was even a bit of mutual association. There was absolutely no necessity to escalate matters into the current state.
"If—"
Pain stared deeply at that still continuously advancing Susanoo, ultimately choosing to compromise.
He still held trump cards. Whether it was using the Rinnegan regardless of the consequences to his physical body or summoning the Gedō Mazō, Nagato felt that the outcome of victory and defeat was still entirely uncertain. However, he needed to consider Konan's life and death.
By genuinely summoning the Gedō Mazō, he might perhaps be able to best Uchiha Ikeizumi, but the entire ninja world would learn of Akatsuki's might. For Akatsuki, exposing their own strength prematurely would instead trigger the vigilance of the entire ninja world.
"I understand. Let us leave!"
The Deva Path Pain and Konan also didn't bother to care about the matters on the other side of the battlefield. One of them possessed the Rinnegan, capable of freely manipulating gravitational and repulsive forces, while the other could utilize Paper Dance—both possessing the capability of flight.
It wasn't that Uchiha Ikeizumi hadn't thought about keeping Konan and Pain behind, but feeling the increasingly intense combat further away, combined with the fact that his Susanoo did not possess the capability of flight, he could only let the matter drop for now.
However, Uchiha Ikeizumi also knew that this matter was far from over. After all, the Land of Rain was right there, and the Akatsuki organization was likewise right there. Even if Pain and Konan departed today, they couldn't possibly directly abandon the Land of Rain, could they?
"Obito, Pain and Konan have fled!"
It had to be said that Kojirō drew aggro exceptionally well. Relying on Kamui's elusive capabilities and the effect of Kamui's intangibility, Kojirō's attacks could not wound Obito in the slightest. Instead, within a short duration, quite a few wounds were added to its own body.
As for Uchiha Izumi, she also wished to join the battlefield, but Swirl White Zetsu similarly possessed no small amount of combat strength.
"Fled?"
Engaged in a deadlock with Kojirō on the other side, Obito felt entirely out of sorts upon hearing White Zetsu's words.
Weren't Pain and Uchiha Ikeizumi still engaged in a deadlock just a moment ago? He had just been thinking of capturing Kojirō and Uchiha Izumi to serve as bargaining chips to threaten Uchiha Ikeizumi—how was it that Pain's side had directly fled?
At this moment, Obito genuinely possessed a stifling sense of frustration akin to "we were just about to fight to the death, why did your Majesty surrender first?"
"Leave!"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi is coming toward us!"
Not only was White Zetsu warning Obito, but Black Zetsu was also warning Obito at this time.
In truth, the panic in Black Zetsu's heart at this moment far exceeded Obito's. After all, Obito had merely witnessed Uchiha Ikeizumi's Flames of Judgment, whereas Uchiha Ikeizumi's Flames of Judgment were currently, tangibly burning right upon his, Black Zetsu's, body!
If he were hit by another blast of Uchiha Ikeizumi's Flames of Judgment, even if Black Zetsu considered his resolve toward the goal of saving his mother to be exceptionally firm, he would likely have to consider whether he might turn into an idiot under the impact of the Flames of Judgment!
"Go!"
Obito was wicked, and Obito's brain wasn't very functional, but Obito was a man who understood the reality of a situation!
The pragmatic Obito—even if he currently wished he could stew Kojirō in a single pot—still extremely decisively brought Black Zetsu and Swirl White Zetsu along as he entered into the Kamui dimension. Even though Kojirō and Uchiha Izumi wished to obstruct them, they were completely unable to do so.