Itachi and Kisame—this pair, out of the entire Akatsuki, was quite formidable, especially Itachi.
His Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, were known to be some of the most dangerous techniques in the ninja world. Amaterasu was considered the strongest physical attack, while Tsukuyomi was touted as the ultimate mental attack—at least, according to Zetsu. But as with any ability, the effectiveness depended on who it was used against.
For someone like Dak, however, these techniques were nothing more than trash. The truly troublesome abilities from Itachi were the forbidden techniques Izanami and Izanagi.
As for Kisame, his Water Release techniques, large chakra reserves, and his chakra-absorbing sword Samehada were of little concern to Dak. Kisame might be an expert at dealing with Jinchūriki, but against an opponent who didn't rely on chakra at all, like Dak, he was practically useless.
In terms of the most dangerous Akatsuki duos, Itachi and Kisame might rank near the top. But in this battle, they were far from being a threat.
Amaterasu.
The pattern in Itachi's right eye spun rapidly as black flames erupted toward Dak.
Water Style: Great Shark Bullet Technique.
Simultaneously, Kisame unleashed a massive shark-shaped water bullet, designed to absorb chakra and grow stronger the more it absorbed.
Unfortunately for Kisame, he had no idea that Dak didn't have any chakra. Even worse, Dak had no intention of engaging in close combat with these shinobi at all.
While the two launched their attacks, the Immortal Duo—Hidan and Kakuzu—were silently creeping up from below, hoping to catch Dak off guard.
Meanwhile, Sasori controlled several puppets from the front, attempting to distract Dak. In truth, Sasori was still seething. Though he and Deidara had differing views on art, Sasori had come to respect his partner far more than his previous partner, Orochimaru.
The two shared a strong bond within the Akatsuki, so seeing Deidara killed in front of him had understandably left Sasori enraged.
In the original timeline, Sasori was the one who died first. But now, fate had reversed, and it was Deidara who perished before him.
Sasori's puppets were a formidable weapon, but even his Hiruko puppet wasn't enough to change the tide.
While Hiruko bolstered his close-range capabilities, it also limited Sasori's ability to unleash his true potential with his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. With Hiruko hindering the spread of his chakra threads, Sasori couldn't control as many puppets as he would have liked.
However, Sasori hadn't needed to go all out for a long time—his usual strategy of using the Third Kazekage Puppet was more than enough to handle most battles.
The other Akatsuki members hadn't moved yet. Perhaps they were waiting for the right moment, or perhaps they had their own agendas. Either way, they didn't make any immediate attempts to strike.
Dak raised his hands, and in front of him, dozens of space doors suddenly appeared.
These doors swallowed the Amaterasu flames, the Great Shark Bullet, and all of Sasori's puppets into the Door-Door Space.
The attacks didn't disappear completely, but once the space doors closed, the chakra that the jutsu and puppets were connected to was severed.
The Great Shark Bullet remained intact, since it was a self-sustaining jutsu. But the Amaterasu flames vanished, as if they had entered a vacuum, and the puppets collapsed, lifeless, without the chakra threads to control them.
"What kind of jutsu is this?" Obito, standing on the surface of the lake, stared upward, bewildered.
This was the same technique that had caused Deidara's clay bombs to vanish earlier. Without fully understanding it, Obito had no intention of jumping into the fray. He preferred to let the others test Dak's capabilities first.
"..." Pain remained silent, refraining from ordering the three members near him to attack.
Konan was similarly quiet, as she needed to stay focused on protecting Nagato's real body. The Konan standing here wasn't even her true self—it was a paper clone.
Her real body was hidden in a large tree nearby, guarding the incapacitated Nagato, whose legs had been rendered useless in battle against Hanzo years ago.
Nagato's actual body was far stronger than the Six Paths of Pain, but using it came at a severe cost to his health. Konan wasn't willing to risk Nagato's life by letting him fight in person.
Neither Konan nor Nagato knew that the Rinnegan eyes Nagato possessed weren't truly his own. After years of using them and watching Nagato grow weaker, they simply assumed this was the price of wielding such immense power.
It had never crossed their minds that these eyes might not even belong to Nagato.
Only Zetsu knew the truth, but he didn't reveal it to anyone.
For the rest of the Akatsuki, Zetsu was just a weak spy, not someone who could contribute much in combat. As a result, no one expected him to help.
As for Obito, he stood aloof. As "Uchiha Madara," he wasn't under direct orders from Pain and could act on his own. For now, he was content to observe.
The battle above continued.
Hidan and Kakuzu had closed in on Dak from below, attempting to ambush him, believing he wouldn't notice them.
But Dak's perception came from both his Observation Haki and his psychic abilities. He could sense every living being around him—even two corpses would be detectable. He simply hadn't bothered dealing with them yet because he didn't consider them a threat.
Kakuzu's strength lay in his many ninjutsu techniques, but without anything particularly special about him, he posed little danger to Dak.
Hidan, with his pseudo-immortality and Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood, was a nuisance, but his lack of skill in drawing blood through taijutsu made him less of a threat than Kakuzu.
"It's not over yet," Dak murmured.
Earlier, he hadn't just absorbed Kisame's water attack into the Door-Door Space. Like Flying Thunder God, it was redirected.
Suddenly, a space door opened beneath Obito, Konan, and Pain. The Great Shark Bullet emerged from the door, its massive maw wide open, heading straight for the group.
Obito immediately used Kamui to phase through the attack.
Konan didn't even try to dodge. The Great Shark Bullet tore through her paper clone, which quickly dissipated. Meanwhile, a new paper clone emerged from the Akatsuki hideout nearby.
"Shinra Tensei," Pain calmly deflected the attack, sending the shark crashing into the lake and exploding into a torrent of water.
"Where's Zetsu?" Pain asked, glancing around, realizing that Zetsu was missing.
In truth, Zetsu had been the first to sense danger and prepared to flee. After observing Dak's abilities, Zetsu, who had survived for millennia, felt an overwhelming sense of dread. How could there be someone this powerful who he had never heard of?
In his mind, Zetsu was already beginning to suspect that Dak might be a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. It was the only explanation for someone with such immense power and no chakra signature.
Once Zetsu made up his mind to flee, he quickly tried to slip away from the battlefield. He was opportunistic and not one to face danger head-on.
But just as Zetsu turned to leave, he found himself face-to-face with an eerie pair of glowing blue eyes.
Before Zetsu could comprehend what was happening, darkness enveloped him, and his consciousness faded.
Back at the battle, Konan had misinterpreted the situation.
She assumed that Dak was targeting Zetsu because he seemed like an easy target—nothing more than a weak spy.
"..."
Obito, meanwhile, was stunned. He had no idea if Zetsu had been defeated or if he had simply fled.
Given Obito's knowledge of Zetsu's true nature, he suspected the latter.
But if Zetsu had indeed fled, why hadn't he sent a signal?
"I'll go look for him," Obito lied, using Kamui to vanish from sight.
Inside his personal dimension, Obito began sprinting away. He didn't know what was going on, but his instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong. He needed to regroup, and quickly.
However, Obito soon stopped in his tracks.
"What the hell is this?!"
His lone eye widened in shock as he stared ahead into an abyss of darkness, forced to halt his escape.
(End of Chapter)
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