"How about we make a bet?"
Hearing this, Konan, who was held by Shishou, was stunned and then asked, "What kind of bet?"
Tendo Pain, who was about to speak, closed his mouth when he saw Konan asking. He quietly looked at Shishou, wanting to know what he had to say.
Uchiha Obito, seeing Shishou ignore him, had a hideous expression hidden under his mask, roaring internally: I need power! I need immense power!
Shishou glanced at Tendo Pain and said, "With me holding Konan, you can't hope to get her back through a direct confrontation."
Tendo Pain squinted his eyes but did not refute. Given that Shishou possessed the Flying Thunder God technique, if he decided to flee instead of fighting, Pain indeed had no way to stop him.
Seeing that Tendo Pain neither nodded nor objected, Shishou continued, "So, let's have a duel. If you win, I will join the Akatsuki and follow your commands. If I win, Akatsuki must stay hidden for two years and refrain from causing trouble for other shinobi villages. Konan must stay with me as a liaison between us. Additionally, I will convince the Five Great Shinobi Villages to cancel their investigation into Akatsuki. After two years, you can challenge me again. If you win, I join you. If you lose, you continue to stay hidden. We can continue this cycle. What do you think?"
Anything can be useful if placed in the right position.
The Akatsuki, to Shishou, was such an entity.
As long as Akatsuki existed, powerful rogue ninjas and samurai would be collected and controlled by Nagato and Obito.
This way, as long as Akatsuki kept the agreement, Shishou could use them as a containment organization for the shinobi world, specializing in holding and disciplining those who committed evil deeds. And when the Otsutsuki clan arrived, they could exert some of their remaining strength.
For instance, he was very curious to see if Hidan's Death Controlling Possessed Blood would work against the Otsutsuki clan...
If Akatsuki didn't cause trouble, Shishou would have more time to find a way to reach the Six Paths level.
After awakening the power of Hashirama and devouring Uchiha Madara's corpse, who had awakened the Rinnegan, Shishou already sensed that day approaching, so he wanted to negotiate a truce with Akatsuki and develop quietly.
Once he awakened the Rinnegan and reached the Six Paths level, he could easily deal with Akatsuki and focus on preparing for the Otsutsuki clan's arrival.
Of course, Shishou admitted this idea was naive!
But he also knew that Nagato was absolutely confident in his power and would definitely agree. Moreover, Konan was in his hands.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Uchiha Obito sneered, "Naive!"
"I agree!" Tendo Pain said coldly.
Nagato was absolutely confident in his strength!
Moreover, with Konan in Shishou's hands, Nagato had no choice but to agree.
Yahiko was already dead; he wouldn't let anything happen to Konan in front of him again!
"You're asking for trouble," Konan sneered at Shishou.
She had absolute confidence in Nagato's strength.
"Prisoners shouldn't speak," Shishou said, shaking Konan like a small animal.
Seeing herself being swung like a kitten or puppy, Konan was furious, rolling her eyes constantly.
Seeing Konan angry made Shishou happier. He looked at Tendo Pain and said, "In that case, let's meet at the Valley of Death in the Land of Fire in three days."
The Valley of Death, located at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls, was hot and harsh, with no inhabitants within a hundred miles. It was the best place for a battle between Shishou and Nagato.
"Three days later?" Tendo Pain raised his hand, pointing at Shishou. He didn't want to wait three days.
Who knew what Shishou might do to Konan in those three days?
"I know your situation, and you don't want to fight here, right?" Shishou shrugged and pointed at Amegakure. "Besides, as I said, with my Flying Thunder God technique, you can't keep me here."
Because of Nagato's leg disability, he created the Six Paths of Pain, but he couldn't be too far from them. If they didn't fight in Amegakure, Nagato would have to move his real body to another location, exposing himself, which would give Shishou an advantage.
"To show my sincerity, I'll return Konan to you for now." Shishou removed the sealing tag from Konan's forehead and threw her towards Tendo Pain, keeping the tag for future use.
This tag was a sealing charm from the Witch of the Land of Demons, which could immobilize people. It had a similar effect to Danzo's Self-Cursing Seal, but much stronger. The witch had only three of these, and they were precious.
Shishou had also marked Konan with the Flying Thunder God seal and planted Parasitic Destruction Insects in her. If Tendo Pain acted rashly, he had many ways to capture Konan again.
"Three days later, don't be late," Tendo Pain used Universal Pull to bring Konan to his side and said calmly to Shishou.
"Don't be late," Shishou said and disappeared.
He hadn't looked at Uchiha Obito the whole time, which infuriated Obito.
"Pain," Konan looked at Tendo Pain with concern.
"It's fine. I can handle it," Tendo Pain said and walked towards the tower.
Uchiha Obito pursed his lips and disappeared as well.
...
Hidden Leaf Village.
Shishou returned to the Hokage Rock, dispelled his surveillance shadow clone, and removed his beard disguise. He noticed the lights were still on in the Leaf Village hospital.
He also saw Shizune busy among the patients, moving in and out.
Blending into the crowd, Shishou placed a Healing Worm in the bodies of the severely injured and then went to Tsunade's house, waiting patiently in the pavilion.
At dawn, Tsunade and Shizune finally returned, exhausted.
"Shizune, go rest," Tsunade told Shizune when she saw Shishou, walking towards the pavilion.
Shizune glanced at Shishou, then at Tsunade, yawned, and went inside.
"How did the battle go?"
Tsunade asked casually as she approached Shishou. She had known it was Shishou who lured the masked man away and wasn't worried about his safety due to his Flying Thunder God technique.
Tsunade sat on the stone bench, yawning and stretching.
"We haven't fought yet. I scheduled the fight with the Akatsuki leader for three days later."
Shishou watched Tsunade's explosive curves as she stretched, speaking slowly. This woman is probably teasing me... Let's not talk about anything else, those are really huge!
I really want to...
"Isn't it rude to stare at a lady like that?" Tsunade glanced at Shishou and continued, "Is the Akatsuki leader very strong?"
If you show off your stunning body in front of me and I don't look, wouldn't that be even ruder?
Shishou retorted internally and then said, "The Akatsuki leader's strength is unmatched except by me."
Unmatched?
Tsunade was stunned and then looked seriously at Shishou.
"Are you serious?"