(T/N: There is now a p.atreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early release of up to 30 chapters edited smoothly. https://www.p.atreon.com/INeedRest)
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Colt frowned slightly.
"Jiraiya-san, if you knew this man before, I'm sorry to inform you of this, but he's already dead. The body in front of us is just a puppet, manipulated by someone else."
Jiraiya froze, a look of sadness overtaking him.
"A puppet? Then the manipulator must be Nagato…" he muttered, realizing that the leader of the Akatsuki organization was actually his former disciple, Nagato.
"Have you gathered all the intelligence?" Jiraiya asked Colt with a sigh. He had seen that Nagato was not going to reply to him at all.
"Yes," Colt replied, understanding Jiraiya's thoughts but shaking his head.
'If you don't want to fight against him today, will you not still be enemies in the future?' he thought to himself.
However, he kept his thoughts to himself.
The mission's objective had already been achieved.
"Alright then, let's go. I'm already done here," Colt said indifferently.
He grabbed Jiraiya's shoulder and activated the [Flying Thunder God].
Swish!
The figures of the two disappeared right in front of Pain and the others.
Pain made no attempt to stop them.
With Colt possessing the [Flying Thunder God], he was no longer someone Pain could handle.
Sasori also looked at Pain with a strange expression.
He hadn't expected the leader of the Akatsuki to have a connection with Jiraiya.
"Interesting, very interesting," Sasori murmured before leaving without another word.
Konan, noticing Pain's silence, stepped forward with concern.
"Nagato, are you okay?"
She had also seen the two shattered puppets on the ground.
Konan hadn't expected Colt's strength to be so overwhelming that he could destroy the two puppets right in front of Pain.
"I'm fine. Kamiyo Colt's [Flying Thunder God] is too troublesome. We need to find a way to counter it," Pain said seriously.
This battle had given him a strong intuition: he was no match for Colt.
With the [Flying Thunder God], Colt could employ guerrilla tactics to destroy his puppets one by one.
What's more, Colt hadn't even used the [Wood Style].
Without addressing this problem, it would be impossible to bypass Colt and capture the Nine Tails.
After all, a puppet was still just a puppet, and both its response time and overall strength were too weak.
Aside from the Deva Path, the other paths were not strong enough to fight Colt.
As Pain watched the rain clouds reassemble in the sky, his mind grew increasingly troubled.
Perhaps it was time to talk to Madara.
**********
After leaving Amegakure, Jiraiya and Colt wasted no time and used the [Flying Thunder God] to rush back to Konoha.
Tsunade met them as soon as they returned.
After listening to Colt's report, her expression grew grave, and she glared at Jiraiya.
"When you took on those disciples, both I and the others spoke against it, and now it's brought us a disaster!" Tsunade spoke up with resignation.
Jiraiya hung his head, offering no rebuttal.
He had always believed Nagato was the child of prophecy, but instead, he had inadvertently nurtured an enemy for his hometown.
"Sigh"
Ignoring Jiraiya's self-reproach, Tsunade turned her attention to Colt.
"So, those six people are puppets with the ability to share vision?"
Colt nodded, confirming Tsunade's statement.
"Yes, the six puppets have different abilities, but I suspect they are all connected to the Rinnegan's power."
"It's tricky," Tsunade said, rubbing her temples in frustration.
If just the puppets were this powerful, how strong must Nagato himself be? Besides Colt, who else could stand against him? And then there were the other members of the Akatsuki, who were no ordinary adversaries.
Unknowingly, Konoha had got themselves into a precarious situation.
Tsunade, feeling overwhelmed, waved her hand dismissively.
"Call Shikaku and the others for a meeting!"
In the meeting room, all the prominent Jōnin of Konoha gathered.
Even Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, who hadn't been seen in a long time, were summoned as an exception to the situation.
After hearing the report, everyone wore serious expressions.
"Don't just sit there frowning. I need opinions!" Tsunade barked, slamming her hand on the table and then she turned her gaze to Colt, who was yawning.
Her glare made him straighten up.
"Tsunade-sama," Shikaku spoke up, "I believe our most urgent task is to place all villagers in a state of combat readiness. I have reason to believe that once this information is leaked, the enemy will stop at nothing to capture the Nine-Tails from Naruto. This means they may abandon their usual tactics and launch a direct assault on Konoha."
Colt gave a thumbs up, impressed.
Shikaku's strategic mind was sharp, accurately predicting what would happen next, even without knowledge of the future events.
After considering Shikaku's advice, Tsunade remained deep in thought before finally speaking.
"What are our chances of winning? And what are the potential losses?"
War seemed inevitable, and the priority was to minimize casualties.
If they won but were left weakened, the other nations might seize the opportunity to attack.
"That depends on Colt," Shikaku replied, glancing at him.
"As you mentioned, apart from the leader, the other members of the Akatsuki have Kage-level strength. With sufficient intelligence, if we can't win, we can at least hold them off for a while. As long as we take down their leader, the rest will fall apart."
Colt nodded confidently.
"Leave it to me. I can also send some [Wood Clones] to assist in the battle."
Seeing Colt's confidence, the rest of the group felt a sense of relief.
"Alright!" Tsunade exclaimed, standing up and beginning to issue orders.
"Starting today, Konoha will enter a state of combat readiness. All non-essential missions are to be suspended, and only necessary border patrols will continue."
"Yamanaka Inoichi, have the intelligence department quickly recall Kakashi and Guy from their missions."
"Hiashi, lead the Hyuga Clan to monitor any movements around Konoha."
"Shikaku, for now, you're in charge of constructing emergency shelters within the village."
For the first time, Colt saw Tsunade giving orders with such authority.
Her commanding presence radiated from her, she was strong and decisive.
Soon, everyone was busy following Tsunade's directives.
Even Jiraiya was assigned a patrol mission.
The only exception was Colt, who was tasked with resting and preparing for the upcoming battle, ensuring he stayed combat-ready at any time.
**********
Meanwhile, back in Amegakure, after Nagato repaired the damage using the powers of the Naraka Path, he contacted Obito.
In a swirl of space, Obito appeared beside the Deva Path Pain.
"What do you need?" Obito asked.
Pain pointed to the still-repairing God Tower.
"Jiraiya and Kamiyo Colt infiltrated Amegakure, gathered a lot of information, and left."
Obito frowned slightly beneath his mask.
The situation had escalated more quickly than he anticipated.
With only the Seven Tails and Eight Tails left to capture, he hadn't planned on confronting Konoha so soon.