Kirigakure.
Mizukage's office.
Kiyosuke told Mei Terumi he was going to attack the Akatsuki, which surprised her.
"You're going to attack the Akatsuki right now?"
"That's right. The plan is entering its second phase. I want to put an end to the Akatsuki problem." Kiyosuke said.
"So why are you here?" Mei Terumi knew Kiyosuke was busy and wouldn't come to her lightly. The bastard only ever showed up when he needed something.
"I need your Kirigakure undercover agent, Kisame Hoshigaki, to help me. Write a secret order telling him to cooperate with my operation." Kiyosuke said.
Kisame's strength was no joke—he was practically like having another tailed beast on our side.
Samehada in his hands was terrifyingly effective, far stronger than its previous wielder, Fuguki Suikazan.
"Alright." If Kiyosuke wanted to clear out the Akatsuki, they should call Kisame back. As an undercover agent he had been dutiful—he even helped the Akatsuki capture the Four-Tails jinchūriki. Hopefully he'd return.
Mei Terumi immediately wrote a sealed secret order, stamped it with the Mizukage seal, and handed it to Kiyosuke.
"Thanks. Oh—name the kids Shinichi and Yuka."
"???" Mei Terumi didn't react at first, then her face went beet-red.
"You bastard! In such a hurry?"
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kiyosuke said softly as he held that soft, smooth little hand. "When it's over, I'll come find you."
"Mhm." Mei Terumi lowered her head. "I'll be waiting for you,."
"Mei!"
...
"Ready?"
That day, Kiyosuke looked at the people in front of him and asked.
"We've been ready for a long time." Sasuke gripped the Kusanagi sword at his waist, licked his lips, and said, "I can't wait to test my strength."
After getting his new power, he was thrilled. With his father and Shisui's help he'd grown accustomed to it over the past days. Now his strength could be said to surpass Naruto's. Bringing Itachi back from the Akatsuki would be a real treat.
"Hell yeah! I'm ready to go all out!" Naruto shouted.
"You young people are unbearable—so full of drive you make an old sage tired," Jiraiya said, tapping his back.
Shisui smiled gently and kept his mask on; he planned to take it off during the fight, but not yet.
"Good. Then let's go. I already made a trip to Kirigakure and got what I needed. Next is the attack on the Akatsuki. Their headquarters is now inside the Country of Grass. We're leaving immediately." Kiyosuke said.
After Amegakure was exposed, Pain felt their base unsafe and moved the Akatsuki headquarters into the Country of Grass.
The Six Paths of Pain had been moved there too, and the temporary base was now as solid as a fortress.
A dimensional whirlpool appeared beside them. Obito stepped out and called, "Ready, everyone?"
"Always ready. Let's go!"
"Good!" Obito nodded. "I'll use my ocular technique to shift you into my Kamui dimension, then jump you into the Akatsuki base in the Country of Grass."
"Obito, did you pay attention to what I told you?"
"You mean the six hundred billion explosive tags?"
Kiyosuke remembered the plan he'd made earlier—the one that could kill him. He couldn't believe that woman would have that many explosive tags. If she used them, his intangibility and transfer techniques would be useless.
"Exactly. If Konan is cornered and uses those, everyone except me will die. Unless Sasuke, Shisui, or one of you uses Izanagi, none of you will escape death." Kiyosuke knew well the power of six hundred billion explosive tags; it was an ultra-bomb comparable to detonating all your own chakra at once—perhaps even greater in area.
Jiraiya was silent for a moment.
"Izanagi? That forbidden jutsu that alters reality at the cost of a Sharingan? I've only heard of it. I didn't think it actually existed. But is Konan really that wealthy?"
Six hundred billion explosive tags—if Konoha tried to buy them, it would hurt. Konan, a lone mercenary girl, where would she get that kind of money?
"Don't underestimate Konan's wealth. The money the Akatsuki earned over the years went to her. If she decided to buy explosive tags, who knows what would happen."
You think the ninja world's richest woman was joking?
"There are no explosive tags planted around the Grass Country base; Akatsuki funds haven't been drained. I've checked—no need to worry." Obito guaranteed, and Kiyosuke and the others had to trust him.
"That's a relief." Satisfied, they set off at once.
"Kamui!"
Obito pulled everyone into the Kamui space. They stood on a platform and looked around the dim surroundings in surprise.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular techniques are truly amazing—able to create an alternate space." Jiraiya said.
Kamui's pocket dimension wasn't large, but it could comfortably hold a tailed beast.
"This technique is a major reason I'm still alive!" Obito said.
Honestly, without Kamui and intangibility, Obito didn't know how many times he'd have died. Those two techniques let him live recklessly.
"Yeah—if it weren't for your Kamui, I think I'd have died long ago."
"Hey, don't belittle me. I'm strong too—I can use Wood Release." Obito protested.
"Please. I'd just burn it all clean. I burned down the First Hokage's forest—I can handle your Wood Release."
"Uh..."
Obito said nothing; he knew Kiyosuke was right. His Wood Release worked because Madara transplanted Hashirama cells into him. Compared to real Hashirama—Obito was a knockoff.
He might not even match Yamato...
"Don't talk about Wood Release. Let's get moving!" Obito turned to change the subject. "I shouldn't show up in the next fight. There's a curse mark Madara left on my heart that hasn't been removed. To prevent Zetsu from controlling me, I can only provide cover from the outside."
Madara was cunning—besides the Rinne Rebirth contingency, he left a seal on Obito's heart to control him when needed, to carry out certain plans.
Because the seal was on his heart, removing it was difficult. Tsunade and Rin were researching ways to remove it, but couldn't do it yet, so they had to wait. This time, to prevent Zetsu from having a hidden move, Obito decided not to join directly and avoid causing trouble for his allies.
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