"..."
Obito covered the back of his head, a bit dazed.
He didn't expect just asking a question would provoke such a reaction from Deidara.
No, it wasn't his question that was wrong.
It was his timing.
Obviously,
He had been absent for too long. While everyone else was striving, he, an ostensible newcomer, was missing in action.
They even had good reason to suspect he might be a spy from another village.
But they didn't suspect that.
Still, he was a bit angry.
'The core of this Akatsuki is me, Obito!'
'You trash Deidara, how dare you threaten to kick me, Obito, out of Akatsuki?'
'You're rebelling!'
Under Deidara's coercion, Obito unwillingly trained there for a day before leaving Amegakure with a belly full of resentment.
But this time, he clearly stated he was going to investigate intel on the Tailed Beasts, giving himself a legitimate reason to leave.
As to avoid arousing any unnecessary suspicion.
Obito was full of resentment and couldn't vent it on Deidara; now wasn't the time to reveal his true identity.
So he had to find other ways.
"Perfect timing. The intel White Zetsu just gave me says Takumi fought Orochimaru's Edo Tensei Third Raikage."
Under his mask, Obito had an insidious, cunning smile. "When that hothead Fourth Raikage hears this, he'll fly into a rage!!"
"Then he'll definitely lead Kumogakure's high-end combat power to wipe out Takumi!!"
"If successful, it will eliminate Takumi, this stumbling block to my plan."
"If they fail, we can also take the opportunity to capture the Tailed Beasts. Either way, it's killing two birds with one stone!!"
Obito felt his plan was absolutely perfect.
So he rushed off to the Land of Lightning without stopping.
But he didn't know,
White Zetsu was very unreliable; he had passed the message at the start of the battle, so Obito hadn't received the follow-up news yet.
And just as he left Amegakure, Konan, who had witnessed the entire battle, returned.
"What did you gain this time?"
Seeing Konan, Pain immediately stopped his meaningless training. "Did you find Takumi's weakness?"
"No."
Konan's expression was grave. "In fact, he's become even stronger."
"What do you mean?"
Pain's brow furrowed deeply.
He hadn't expected Konan to bring bad news.
So Konan roughly described the battle she witnessed. "That's how it was. That Third Raikage, who fought ten thousand Shinobi and died from exhaustion, was no match for Takumi either."
"And most importantly, I could tell Takumi didn't use his full power. At least, he didn't even use the Chakra Giant he used when fighting Uchiha Itachi, and he still defeated the Third Raikage."
Her gaze fell on Itachi. The others, who had gathered upon hearing news of Takumi, also turned their attention to him.
"It's called Susano'o."
Facing everyone's stares, Itachi's expression was very calm. "It's a Dojutsu usable only by those with the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Everyone looked away.
All frowned.
Facing ten thousand Shinobi at once, they couldn't do it either.
From that perspective, none of them were a match for the Third Raikage.
Of course, combat is very complex, and victory or defeat shouldn't be judged so hastily.
But this also indicated that, in terms of approximate combat power, they were inferior to the Third Raikage.
And this Third Raikage still couldn't force Takumi to use his full strength.
At this moment, they were plunged into deep doubt.
Could all their hard training really enable them to defeat Takumi?
But if they didn't train, were they just supposed to wait for death?
Of course not.
Although the first question had no answer, they had no other choice.
"Not only that."
Konan's cold words made everyone's heart skip a beat, and they focused on her.
"During the battle, he deliberately feigned weakness and actually used the Third Raikage to temper his Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
Konan looked at them, her expression extremely grave. "I'm afraid Takumi's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, even if it doesn't match the Third Raikage's, isn't far behind."
"Moreover, his own physical defense is extremely strong. With the boost of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, I'm afraid..."
She didn't finish, but everyone understood her meaning.
Probably, none of them present could break through Takumi's defense.
Everyone fell into silence.
And then, Konan drifted away.
As she turned, no one saw the slight smile playing on her lips.
'Now you know how powerless you are against Takumi, right?'
'Give up opposing him; you have no chance.'
Konan's heart had unconsciously leaned towards Takumi.
She was aware of this, but didn't find it strange.
If Nagato weren't still in Akatsuki, she would probably have left this organization long ago.
"What's going on?"
Obito lurked in Kumogakure, full of confusion.
"Why isn't the Fourth Raikage here?"
"And the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki isn't here either."
"There's only the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Should I try for her?"
"No, I can't alert them now; the plan hasn't truly started."
Obito considered it briefly but immediately cancelled the thought.
But he had to consider whether it was necessary to advance the preparation of his plan.
All because this stumbling block, Takumi, was growing too fast.
So fast that he was running out of means to eliminate him.
He lurked for a day, and just as his patience was fading,
He finally saw A return, with B by his side.
"Let me listen in."
Relying on his extremely strong stealth abilities, Obito quietly followed them, hoping to overhear what they had gained from their trip.
"Brother, what do we do next?"
B looked worried.
Having witnessed such a soul-stirring battle, he really couldn't think of how to deal with Takumi anymore.
"What else can we do?"
A said grumpily. "Of course, continue training until we surpass the old man!"
"Surpass the old man..."
B looked at A, who was in high spirits, seemingly completely unaffected by the setback. The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He didn't have his brother's absurd confidence.
Although his Complete Tailed Beast Form had even greater destructive power, in terms of pure combat power, he definitely couldn't compare to the Third Raikage.
Even though the Third Raikage had been dead for a long time, and his own strength had increased much since then,
The memories of being suppressed were very deep.