That night, members of the Akatsuki gathered in the ruined land for an internal meeting.
Aside from a certain masked man who was severely injured by a yellow-haired man and didn't make it to the scene, and as well as Tobi, who was instantly killed by Uchiha Xiao Yan, most of them sat around the campfire.
As the biggest suspect of this incident, Hidan was pinned to the ground with black rods by Akatsuki's leader.
As for his accomplice, Ichigo, his treatment was much better.
Perhaps Nagato did not attack him because he thought that this kid saved him in the end.
On the outskirts, Deidara and Sasori sat together, while next to them was Kakuzu, who had just suffered a mental blow.
The Slacker Duo were in a terrible mood.
After all, they had just got the Gelel's Stone and were ready to study it immediately. But Konan started calling them nonstop like it was some life-or-death emergency.
Those who didn't know would think it was something urgent…
In the end, the two reluctantly returned to the Akatsuki's hideout.
As a result, they found...
'Heh!'
'Isn't it just that the hideout being destroyed?'
This kind of thing happened all the time in their Cult Mechanicus/Scientific Truth Society.
How rare was that?
Coincidentally, a certain black-cloaked young man going by the name Xiao Yan was sitting next to Kisame.
Both of them had nearly two-meter-long weapons strapped to their backs, which made Kisame feel that the man in front of him looked very familiar.
"Have I seen you somewhere before?"
The more Kisame looked, the more familiar he felt, so he finally asked in a low voice.
Sasuke snorted coldly, completely disdaining to talk to this copycat who had already lost to him, and instead turned his gaze toward Naruto in the crowd.
'It seems the current situation didn't look good for him.'
But Sasuke didn't care. These people were no match for him and Naruto's combined strength, so at worst case, they'd just blow everything up again.
"Leader! I am responsible for this matter alone!"
"It has nothing to do with my bro Ichigo!"
The tough-boned Hidan shouldered the blame for the incident, and insisted that Ichigo had no part in it.
Strictly speaking, it really had nothing to do with Ichigo, as he had only contributed some blood...
After Hidan summoned 'Jashin', he lost consciousness and had no idea what happened afterwards. So he naturally thought that the destruction of Amegakure was caused by himself.
However...
The real culprits behind Amegakure's destruction were Naruto and Sasuke's combined attack.
When Naruto heard what Hidan said, he was almost moved to tears.
When he thought of the toxic blame-shifting culture in Konoha Village, and saw that Hidan took the blame on his own initiative without any complaints, Naruto firmly believe that from now on, Hidan was his sworn brother from another mother!
Pain fell silent after hearing this.
'It seems this incident was indeed caused by Hidan summoning the so-called Jashin...'
'Sure enough, Ichigo, who saved me, would not do anything harmful to the organization.'
"Very well. This matter..."
Pain opened his mouth to announce the result, but Kakuzu on the side suddenly shouted.
"Wait!!"
"I have something to say!"
Kakuzu gnashed his teeth, his eyes filled with murderous intent toward Hidan and Naruto.
'My savings over the years!'
'All gone in an instant!'
The way Kakuzu glared at Naruto now was filled with rage, a far cry from when he had called him 'boss' before.
When Naruto saw Kakuzu's expression, he naturally knew what he was angry about, so he secretly made a '100' gesture to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu instantly understood, the gloom on his face disappeared, his eyebrows relaxed, and the corners of his mouth even curled up slightly. If it weren't for Pain's presence, he really wanted to laugh up to the sky at this time.
"Kakuzu, what do you want to say?"
Just when he was about to make a gesture to the 'boss' to 'pay more', Kakuzu heard Pein's question.
"Oh..."
"Nothing. I just wanted to talk about the base's reconstruction."
"But don't worry, Leader! I'll make sure to work hard to gather the funds!"
Kakuzu clutched his chest and said with great pain, as if he were about to declare, 'I, Kakuzu, will serve the organization with every last drop of my blood!'.
"Hmm."
"The base reconstruction will be left to you."
"If you have any requests, feel free to make them."
Pain nodded, very satisfied with Kakuzu's attitude, even Konan beside him let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Originally, the two had worried that Kakuzu would be too devastated by the incident and quit outright.
They were still thinking about how to persuade this 'organization's money bag' to continue to go out to raise money, but they never thought that Kakuzu would volunteer himself.
'He is really one of the most loyal members of the Akatsuki!'
"Good. This matter ends here."
"Hidan, if you ever summon Jashin again..."
"And Ichigo, don't go along with his nonsense next time!"
"Otherwise... don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Fortunately, thanks to his and Ichigo's efforts, the people of Amegakure hadn't suffered too many casualties.
As for the base and village being destroyed...
They could always rebuild it.
After Nagato said this, he was about to introduce the new member of the organization, Xiao Yan, to everyone, but Naruto suddenly stood up.
"Leader..."
"I think your judgment is biased."
Naruto frowned, his face changed, and his acting skills were activated to the extreme.
He wanted to test whether Nagato's mindset had undergone some kind of change.
Hidan and Kakuzu looked at this guy in shock, their eyes filled with disbelief.
'Wait...'
'This was supposed to be over!'
'Why are you still speaking up? Are you afraid that the leader can't kill you?!'
Sasori and Deidara on the side were also frantically signaling at Naruto with their eyes.
After all, everyone can see that the leader is in a bad mood today.
Pain paused for a moment, looked up and down at Ichigo, and then said, "Speak."
Naruto nodded, his eyes burning with determination, then he declared in an extremely fanatical tone, "I don't think there's anything wrong with Hidan Bro summoning the Jashin."
"This way, we can make the world feel pain!"
At this point, Naruto even raised his hands and recited Pain's iconic lines.
"Feel pain."
"Contemplate pain."
"Accept pain."
"Know pain."
"I will never forget my pain."
"And now, the world shall know pain."
"Shin… Cough cough!"
Kakuzu & Hidan: "???"
Konan: "!!!"
Sasori & Deidara: "???"
Kisame: "???"
Sasuke: "???"
Nagato: "??????"
Naruto almost blurted out Pain's full monologue, and he quickly shut up.
As his passionate speech, which sounded like a declaration of war against the world, echoed through the ruins, everyone present was left utterly stunned.
And...
Everyone felt that what Ichigo said was too familiar, and even when Konan looked at him, her eyes were full of complexity.
As for Nagato...
He was as confused as everyone else at the scene.
'Wait...'
'Isn't that my speech?!'
'Did Ichigo just... coincidentally share my ideology?!'
Although Nagato wanted to agree with Ichigo's statement very much, he never actually planned to destroy the world.
He hadn't intended to destroy the world before, and he hadn't intended to destroy the world now.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became a little awkward, and Pain finally spoke after a long silence.
"Kurosaki Ichigo..."
"Summoning the Jashin..."
"I think you're being a little too extreme."
"That's... not a good thing."
Naruto: "???"