"The effect is quite good," Dak nodded in satisfaction.
He had just casually tested his abilities to get a feel for them, as it had been a long time since he last fought. It seemed to go smoothly—his powers were flowing well, and the results were impressive.
"Let's try this one next," Dak muttered to himself, clenching his fist as dark red light flickered in his eyes.
Ahead of him, a massive white dragon made of clay was rapidly approaching. As it got closer, Dak smirked slightly.
"If that thing explodes on me... it might actually hurt a bit," he mused.
Not wanting to experience the pain, Dak raised his hand and made a squeezing gesture toward the dragon.
"What's happening?!" Deidara's forehead dripped with cold sweat.
He had suddenly lost control over his C2 Dragon. No, more precisely, a stronger force had taken over and immobilized it.
Down on the lake's surface, Itachi's Sharingan whirled as he analyzed the situation.
"Deidara's explosive clay is being restrained by an invisible force. It can't move," Itachi stated calmly, giving the most accurate assessment.
"..." Pain, hearing this, raised an eyebrow.
He felt that this mysterious force was somewhat similar to his Almighty Push and Universal Pull.
"Who is this guy?" Kisame looked up at Dak, starting to feel the pressure. "Do you think Deidara will be alright?"
"..." Sasori shot Kisame a cold glance and twitched his finger.
"Sasori! This is my battle! Stay out of it!" Deidara growled.
Though Sasori was preparing to secretly assist Deidara, the pride of the Akatsuki members ran deep.
Itachi and Kisame were rare exceptions, as they worked well as a team. The others, however, were fiercely independent, preferring to fight alone. The idea of someone else interfering in their battle was considered more shameful than death.
Sasori, like Deidara, didn't want anyone else to interfere in his own battles. So, despite his initial intent to help, he refrained.
"Moves as easily as my own limb," Dak evaluated his powers.
He was now ready to test his full strength.
As for Akatsuki, Dak could only think it was a shame. If he had encountered them in their early days, when they were still striving for peace under Yahiko's leadership, he might have even helped them achieve their goal.
But now, Akatsuki had committed too many atrocities. The ten core members had to go.
If it had been a few years earlier, Dak would have considered recruiting people like Nagato, Konan, Kakuzu, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and even Zabuza. Many of them had once fought for their villages before turning rogue.
But there were a few exceptions: Hidan, Obito, Itachi, Orochimaru, and Zetsu. These individuals needed to die.
Hidan, for example, was a sadist who destroyed his own village out of disdain for their pacifism. Obito and Itachi had committed enough sins to warrant no redemption, and Orochimaru's treachery went back to the Second Ninja War. As for Zetsu, well, he was the architect of the ninja world's worst tragedies.
Thinking about all this, Dak glanced down at the group below and shelved his thoughts for now.
He raised his hand, aiming directly at Deidara, and activated his psychic powers.
"!" Deidara's eyes widened in horror as Dak's hand pointed at him. He tried to move, but it was too late—his body was frozen in place.
Suddenly, he felt a suffocating sensation.
His heart... was being squeezed?!
"It seems you're easier to deal with than I expected," Dak murmured, realizing he had underestimated the power of his max-level psychic abilities.
"Is that... his heart?" Itachi, observing with his Mangekyō Sharingan, could see that Dak's hand appeared to be gripping something that pulsed rhythmically in the air.
"What's happening? Why isn't Deidara moving?" Hidan yelled, sounding more crazed than concerned.
"Shut up, fool! It's not that he won't move—he can't!" Kakuzu barked, his decades of experience telling him something was very wrong.
"Stop wasting time. Attack together," Obito finally spoke up, not out of concern for Deidara, but because losing manpower before their plan to capture the tailed beasts would be disastrous.
The moment Obito finished speaking, Deidara's body fell from the sky like a broken kite, blood streaming from his mouth and eyes.
His face was frozen in shock and disbelief—he had no idea how his heart had been crushed so easily.
Dak, meanwhile, had already set his sights on his next targets.
"Hmm, let's see," he scanned the remaining nine members of Akatsuki.
He decided to prioritize the easier ones first. Individuals like Hidan and Obito could wait.
"Attack!" Pain finally ordered, realizing they couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. They had no clue what Dak's abilities were and couldn't risk being picked off one by one.
The remaining nine members of Akatsuki didn't waste time. Uncharacteristically, they all attacked together.
Under immense pressure, even this group of high-caliber rogues understood the necessity of teamwork.
While they wouldn't normally cooperate, this situation was different. Even though each had their own agendas, they begrudgingly united against Dak.
But whether they fought together or not, it wouldn't matter.
Against a foe like Dak, even their combined might wouldn't be enough.
The nine members of Akatsuki, even as they secretly schemed, reached a consensus: they had to at least try attacking him as a group.
"I'll take you two next," Dak smirked, locking onto his next targets.
This time, he raised both hands. But instead of using his psychic powers, he opted to give these two a different death.
His targets: Itachi and Kisame.
(End of Chapter)
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