"He's been brainwashed, I think."
Kidomaru sneered disdainfully. "Bringing the dead back to life? Even Orochimaru-sama might not be able to do that. How could a mere Takumi do it?"
"You must have been controlled by him. You think he revived you, but you've actually become his spy!"
Hearing Kidomaru's words, Sakon and the others immediately became wary.
Kimimaro turned to look at Kidomaru. With his strength, in such a confined space, even if they all attacked together, they wouldn't be his match.
Especially now that he was free from his illness, his strength had reached a new level.
However, he didn't attack.
He felt a surge of anger rising in his mind… an emotion he hadn't experienced in a long time.
From childhood, raised as a war machine, he had lost most of his emotions.
Whoosh!
He suddenly rushed in front of Kidomaru, one hand gripping Kidomaru's throat, slamming him hard against the wall. His eyes glared fiercely into Kidomaru's panicked gaze.
"I won't allow you to insult Takumi."
"His noble character is not something a scheming lowlife like you can understand."
"Kimimaro, what are you doing?"
Kabuto placed a hand on Kimimaro's shoulder. "We are comrades. Doing this will upset Orochimaru-sama."
Hearing the name 'Orochimaru', Kimimaro instinctively loosened his grip.
"Don't let me hear you badmouth Takumi again. Next time, I will definitely break your neck."
Kimimaro looked coldly at the shaken Kidomaru.
The vast difference in strength between them left Kidomaru dazed.
Kidomaru gasped for breath, then suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with resentment toward Kimimaro.
"Hey, you!"
Tayuya called out to Kimimaro. "We are comrades, yet you hurt one of our own for an enemy? How can we trust you now?"
"That's right. I seriously doubt whose side you're on now."
Sakon also looked grave.
"This life was given to me by Orochimaru-sama, and I will only dedicate it to him."
Kimimaro said coldly and turned to leave.
Yet in his mind, he was utterly confused.
'Can I really do that now?'
'If Takumi and Orochimaru-sama face each other, who will I help?'
Kimimaro fell into confusion.
Kabuto squinted slightly, watching Kimimaro's departing figure.
His mind was in turmoil.
'His illness is cured? That speed just now exceeded his usual state!'
'That was the only explanation for such a drastic change!'
'So, Takumi killing and reviving him is true?'
'Takumi can really revive the dead?'
For a moment, Kabuto couldn't help but feel a slight quickening in his chest.
He was also a Medical-nin.
Hearing that someone had mastered such an advanced Medical Ninjutsu, how could he resist being excited?
But he restrained himself with great willpower.
After all, he was no match for Takumi, and his identity was also very obvious to Takumi.
He couldn't learn anything from Takumi.
Thinking of this, his eyes couldn't help but dim a little.
However, he hid all this behind the reflection of his glasses, not revealing a trace.
…
The Land of Rain, Amegakure.
The Akatsuki's secret base.
A few people were currently gathered here.
They were all thinking about ways to deal with Takumi.
Each person had their own area of expertise, and they were considering how to further enhance their abilities in that regard.
Kakuzu was thinking about how to combine the Ninjutsu of his newly acquired hearts with the others to create fusion techniques.
That was his forte.
Deidara was thinking about how to refine his art to catch up to the perfect Takumi-senpai in his heart.
Hidan was performing his daily prayers in a corner.
Itachi was resting with his eyes closed in another corner.
Kisame was sitting cross-legged on the ground, meditating.
Konan and Pain were not here.
Obito, wearing his mask, was in another corner, seemingly leaning against the wall but actually muttering incessantly.
Once things quieted down, he would always think of Takumi's face.
Because of Takumi's appearance, his plans had repeatedly failed.
If he didn't think of a solution soon, it seemed his ultimate plan might be destroyed by Takumi.
This was absolutely unacceptable to him.
"Damn that Takumi, obstructing my plans again and again."
"I must kill him!"
"These guys are idiots too. With so many of them, they can't think of a way to kill Takumi. And they call themselves S-Rank Missing-nin!"
"And Rin! What exactly is Takumi's relationship with Rin? Why did Rin come back to life?!"
"No! That guy must be killed! I absolutely can't let him stay near Rin any longer!"
Obito kept muttering.
But he didn't notice that as his thoughts ran wild, he unconsciously leaked a trace of killing intent.
This immediately attracted the attention of the others.
"Hmm?"
Deidara frowned, walked over, and punched Obito on the head.
Thump!
Obito was stunned, holding his head as he turned to look at Deidara.
"Hey! Tobi! What are you thinking about again? Are you planning to do something to Takumi-senpai?"
"I'm warning you, if I find out you disrespect Takumi-senpai, I'll use you as a firework!"
Deidara said threateningly.
"I've told you many times to control your killing intent. If you can't even control that, how did you become a Shinobi?"
Kakuzu also came over to scold him. "Recklessly exposing killing intent like that only gives away your position early, causing missions to fail."
"I hate mission failures. That means no payment."
Kakuzu once again revealed his obsession with money.
"You're too pathetic. How did you join this organization?"
Hidan shouted. "A guy like you joining just embarrasses us! This is supposed to be an organization for the strongest, yet a useless guy like you got mixed in."
"Sorry, sorry, everyone."
Obito used Tobi's lively voice to apologize with a smile, but inside he was gritting his teeth.
But for the sake of the plan's execution, now was not the time to expose himself.
"I won't do it again, absolutely won't."
Obito hunched over like a coward.
Deidara and the others continued to berate him relentlessly for a while before dispersing, somewhat satisfied.
They really couldn't find a way to deal with Takumi.
And at this critical moment, Obito had attracted their attention.
They unconsciously wanted to vent their inner frustrations.
Obito had suffered an unjust disaster.
But who told him to stay here?
Having learned his lesson, Obito quietly slipped back to his room.
Once the door closed, isolating him from the outside, he suddenly punched the wall.
He didn't use Chakra, otherwise, he could have punched a hole in the wall.
But because of that, his fist solidly hit the wall, immediately scraping the skin off his knuckles, revealing a trace of blood.
"Damn it! It's all because of that cursed Takumi! If not for him, how could I suffer such humiliation?"
"I'll tear him to pieces!"
Thud!
Thud! Thud!
After venting for a while, Obito slumped down against the wall, panting heavily.
At that moment, a pitcher plant emerged from the ground, opening to reveal White Zetsu and Black Zetsu.
Obito looked up, then stood up and said, "What's the situation with Takumi?"
"He's currently still in Konoha. No signs of leaving for now."
Black Zetsu said. "What's the next plan?"
"Haven't thought of one yet. His power is too strong. Haven't found a way to deal with him."
Obito also said with a headache. "Any movements in other areas?"
"Kumogakure and Orochimaru are both getting restless."
Black Zetsu said. "Kumogakure sent the Elite Jonin, Darui and Nii Yugito's team. Their target is undoubtedly Takumi."
"Oh?"
Obito's eyes lit up. "Then let them take the lead first. With Nibi, even if they can't finish Takumi, they can definitely cause significant damage to Konoha."
"We can hide in the shadows, look for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Takumi."
The more Obito thought about it, the more excited he became.
His body couldn't help but tremble with excitement.
"Stay calm. Nothing is certain yet."
Black Zetsu said. "We must be vigilant enough. The strength Takumi has shown is considerable, enough for us to be 100% on guard."
"You're right."
Obito's excitement gradually subsided, but strong killing intent remained in his eyes. "But he must die!"
He was thinking of Rin again.
Thinking of Rin's unclear relationship with Takumi, he couldn't suppress the surging killing intent in his heart.
"Sigh..."
Black Zetsu sighed, then sank into the ground, ignoring Obito for now.
"Just wait, Takumi. Sooner or later, I will completely destroy you!"
Behind his mask, Obito's face was full of madness.
"Hehehe, hahahaha..."
…
A training ground in Konoha.
"Huff... Finally! I finally learned it!"
Sasuke, drenched in sweat, was full of excitement.
Around him, a massive phantom had appeared.
The phantom resembled the upper body of a skeleton, its eyes glowing red, looking quite eerie.
"Hahahaha, I've finally mastered Susano'o!"
Sasuke said excitedly. "Now, no one will be my match!"
He looked at his Susano'o with delight. Although it was only skeletal, without even muscles, looking quite shabby, it couldn't dampen Sasuke's excitement at all.
He had personally experienced Susano'o's power.
Now that he possessed this power, how could he not be excited?
He even envisioned the scene of him using the complete Susano'o to crush Itachi underfoot.
After admiring it for a while, Sasuke still withdrew Susano'o.
The consumption was simply too great.
Even though he now possessed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan because of Itachi, his Pupil Power wasn't meant to be spent so freely.
With the day's training over, he left the training ground, heading home.
But on the street, he suddenly spotted a figure.
Instantly, his fighting spirit soared.
He rushed over and stood before the person.
"Takumi! I challenge you!"
Sasuke's voice wasn't loud, but it was firm.
This greatly surprised Takumi.