“So Nagato betrayed us again.”
In some distant space, Madara sat on a throne with his legs crossed and one hand propped against his chin. After hearing the report, he muttered the words in a low voice, as if he had already expected it.
“Jojo, can I leave the cleanup to you?”
“I’m grateful to be entrusted with the honorable task of dealing with a traitor, but I believe I’m outmatched.”
Nagato, strictly speaking, was the second-in-command of Akatsuki, and he possessed enough power to smash apart an entire mythological faction by himself. So for Jojo, feeling a chill in the back of his neck was only natural.
“But perhaps Itachi-dono could handle him?”
He began bringing up Itachi, who had recently challenged Nagato and been thoroughly beaten in return. At that, Itachi, who had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed and listening from the side, said,
“Sorry, but even I would be unable to do it. The [Rinnegan] Nagato possesses far surpasses my [Sharingan].”
“Kukuku, I’d have a hard time facing that man too. The matchup is just bad for me.”
Since Nagato had the superior version of the [Sharingan], the [Rinnegan], Itachi found him difficult to deal with as well, and Kisame was equally wary because his Samehada could be stripped of all its chakra in return.
“Itachi, you’ll be handling Hyoudou Issei.”
“.....”
Had he heard what he said? Issei also possessed the [Rinnegan], and on top of that he had the Ten-Tails, making him an even more troublesome opponent than Nagato. It was obvious this would be a far harsher battle, so Madara’s strange request left him silent for a moment.
“That boy has good specs, but he lacks skill. I believe someone like you can beat him easily enough.”
“Kukukuku, if it’s you, the genius, then maybe it is possible.”
With Madara’s words, Kisame chimed in, and the flow of the conversation seemed to be pushing Itachi toward taking on Issei. Certainly, if it was Itachi, who was called a genius, then someone as intellectually lacking as Issei could be lured in, trapped, and cooked alive with ease. However—
“I believe I’ve done everything I needed to do. I refuse any further tasks.”
“Is that so?”
Up until now, Itachi had been cooperating, but now he was suddenly becoming uncooperative. Madara opened his [Sharingan] and looked directly at Itachi, and Itachi responded by opening his own [Sharingan].
For a brief moment, the two crimson eyes met. The air around them turned cold, tension thickening in the silence. Everyone held their breath and watched, and within mere seconds—
“I see. Very well. Then I’ll be the one to handle Hyoudou Issei.”
After conversing and reaching an understanding in the world of genjutsu, Itachi quietly rose and began walking away.
“As expected, you’re no ordinary man, Itachi. I look forward to the day you awaken the [Rinnegan].”
Madara, who had engaged Itachi in a genjutsu duel, felt his body sway slightly as he muttered those words with quiet anticipation, imagining the future growth of Itachi. But Itachi ignored him and kept walking.
- Castle of the Ninja
The Three Factions and the other forces, thrown into emergency mode by Akatsuki’s full-scale invasion, gathered at the Castle of the Ninja to discuss countermeasures against Akatsuki.
“I’ll never forgive those Akatsuki bastards. I’ll wipe them out even if I have to break the taboo.”
“Hey, hey, calm down, Zeus. If you let those guys loose, the whole world will be in trouble.”
First, the surviving gods of Olympus, after all their goddesses had been kidnapped, slammed the table in fury. Azazel tried to calm them down, but their anger showed no sign of fading.
“Our goddesses were kidnapped too.”
“Ours too.”
“Yours too? Ours as well.”
Shiva, Odin, and Indra, the god of destruction, all joined in with their own “you too?” reactions. The four of them just stared at one another for a while, and then—
“Wahahahahahahaha!! Those damn bastards! Their target is obvious!”
Indra suddenly burst into laughter. With all the goddesses kidnapped and him laughing as if the sky itself were falling, everyone stared at him as though he had lost his mind.
“Hey, hey, keep the jokes to a sunglasses-level minimum.”
“What, am I the only one who noticed? It’s obvious they’re after the savior here! Puhahahahahaha!”
When Azazel tried to rein him in, Indra pointed at Issei and laughed even harder. Then everyone’s gaze suddenly shifted to Issei.
“Me?....”
“That’s right, Hyoudou Issei. I suspect Madara understood your nature very well!! Puhahahahaha!!”
“So what if he understood? Didn’t you get beaten one-sidedly too?”
“Well, that’s true. That guy, did he cheat or something? He took every attack head-on and kept using that broken power. Who could possibly deal with that? The only ones who could bring him down would be the Infinite Dragon God or the Red Dragon Emperor.”
With everyone’s attention fixed on him, Issei shut his mouth for a moment in nervousness. Then Azazel spoke for him, and remembering his fight with Madara, he burst out laughing. For someone ranked among the top ten strongest in the world to be beaten one-sidedly like a child facing an adult made no sense unless it was Ophis or Great Red. It was hard to believe such a monster had suddenly appeared, and since there was no answer, all they could do was laugh. The same was true for the other top powers.
“In the end, our hope is you and your master.”
“……”
At Azazel’s correct assessment, Issei felt a heavy pressure and fell silent. After all, if things had gone normally, all he would have needed to do was dispel the Shadow Clone Technique and everything would have ended. But because he had kept the clone active instead of dismissing it, the real Madara had appeared, and the world had ended up in this state. In a way, he had been the one who caused all this. Somehow, he had even reached that conclusion, and guilt kept him from speaking.
“Uh, well, my master is...”
Hashirama, the only one capable of standing on equal footing with Madara, was their only hope—but Hashirama was also a fake.
“Kwahahaha! If it’s that man, he can surely do it!”
Issei tried to speak weakly, but Indra’s confident declaration made everyone nod along, and it became even harder for him to speak. At this rate, he would have no choice but to deal with Madara himself, but he couldn’t imagine being able to handle it. Hell, he had nearly lost to Pain, so there was no way he could beat Madara.
“Uh... well, I haven’t been able to contact my master recently...”
Unable to face Madara alone, he muttered weakly.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“What did you just say?”
“...We’re screwed.”
Indra, Michael, Azazel, Zeus, and all the other leaders began to despair.
“...No, but if all of us attack at once, wouldn’t we still have a chance?”
Seeing the mood turn dark, Issei hurriedly tried to recover the situation.
“It’s true we were ambushed by one faction at a time and had no way to respond, but if we all rush Madara together, we might still have a chance.”
Azazel began thinking of a plan. They were the strongest beings in the world, after all. If everyone ganged up on Madara, they should be able to do something. However, that was only if Madara had not finished preparing. Madara was already preparing the worst possible move, and the leaders still had no idea what danger was approaching. In fact, while all the leaders were gathered in one place, a gate suddenly began opening above the Castle of the Ninja, and from there—
“Enemy attack!! Damn it, it’s Akatsuki!!”
The guards stationed around the Castle of the Ninja to escort each leader shouted in alarm when they saw two people wearing Akatsuki cloaks. Everyone rushed out at once, and what they found was—
“Ghk! Damn it...”
“Are these guys monsters...?”
The strongest duo of Akatsuki, already having sent the escorts they brought with them into an intimate embrace with the ground.
“Kukukukuku, I never expected all the other factions to be gathered here.”
“This is where it really begins. Don’t let your guard down, Kisame.”
There stood Itachi, with Kisame deploying Sage Mode and Samehada, while Itachi had burned the escorts to ash with Amaterasu.
“Akatsuki!!!”
The moment Zeus saw Akatsuki, he roared in fury and charged forward, lightning wrapping around his body.
“Kukukuku! What delicious chakra!!”
With the combined force of Sage Mode and Samehada, Kisame brought his weapon down. The blow struck Zeus squarely in the head, smashing the ground and forcing blood from his mouth.
“Now then, who’s next?”
“You’re looking down on me.”
The instant Kisame planted his foot on Zeus’s head as if to finish him off, golden light poured out from Zeus’s body, and then—
“Ghk!”
He was pierced through the entire body by a bolt of light.
“Kukukuku! This is fun!!”
“!!”
But what had been pierced was a Water Clone, and then the real body drove Samehada straight through his abdomen.
“Delicious chakra.”
After having all his chakra absorbed, he was tossed aside like discarded luggage. The other leaders who arrived afterward—
“Damn it, Zeus got taken out after all. He overdid it while injured.”
Azazel, the first to arrive, clicked his tongue. Then the other leaders who arrived later witnessed the scene.
“Die!!”
“You damn bastards, where do you think you are!!”
As Odin and Indra charged in anger,
“Calm down!! Look at your opponent properly!!”
Azazel tried to stop them, but before their eyes stood Itachi, opening his Mangekyō Sharingan and staring back at them.
“Mangekyō Sharingan!!”
“Damn it!!”
Apparently the rumor had already spread, because the moment everyone saw Itachi’s Mangekyō, they all shut their eyes. But—
“Too late.”
Since Indra and Odin had been the first to face Itachi directly, they were immediately dragged into the world of [Tsukuyomi] along with his words. Then—
“Damn it!”
“Ghk...”
Odin and Indra suddenly collapsed, their eyes rolled back white as they hit the floor.
With three leaders taken out in an instant, panic was inevitable, and the other leaders finally—
“Damn it, how are we supposed to fight monsters like these!!”
“Retreat for now!!”
All turned and ran back at once. What remained was—
“My, my. So these are the so-called leaders...”
“What’s going on?”
Azazel, looking down on the leaders with disdain; Issei, stunned by the sudden turn of events; and Michael, frozen stiff with PTSD from Akatsuki.
“Are you Hyoudou Issei?”
Itachi turned his gaze toward the target that had revealed himself.
“Mangekyō!? Tch, Uchiha Itachi!!”
Seeing Itachi’s Mangekyō, Issei hurriedly awakened his [Rinnegan].
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