Konoha Crush Operation (3K)

"This is… the power of a god…"

Even Orochimaru could only stare at that terrifying scene and utter such a sigh. Among all the shinobi he had ever seen, no one had been capable of such a thing.

Neither he and Tsunade and Jiraiya, known as the Three Sannin, nor Hanzō the Salamander, once hailed as the demigod of the shinobi world, nor even his own teacher, the Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen, could possibly accomplish this.

He had once believed that battles between shinobi were contests of techniques and skill, clashes of intellect and strategy, competitions of information. But after witnessing Pain’s ability, all of that had become meaningless.

This was, in the purest sense, a realm utterly beyond that of shinobi.

Perhaps only the legendary Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara could do such a thing. But Senju Hashirama had always been called the God of Shinobi. For a shinobi capable of doing what the God of Shinobi could do to call himself a god was not arrogance.

He turned and saw the Magic Carpet flying several kilometers away.

"If that Mercenary Tao has already been killed, can you leave those little ones to me?"

He spoke with a sinister smile. Orochimaru had coveted the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan for a long time, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

During this brief lull, even Zetsu had lost all information from within the area that had been completely destroyed.

The Super Almighty Push had destroyed the spores beneath the earth as well.

Konan frowned, but in the end, she said nothing.

The next moment, rain began falling from the sky again. The rain mist that Mercenary Tao’s terrifying taijutsu had dispersed once more enveloped this region of the Land of Rain.

Sasori unhappily pulled up his hood.

"The weather in this country really is awful."

He disliked rain and mist. In the place where he had grown up, even rainwater was a rarity. Yet this ruin was drenched by such excessive rain almost every moment. What irony.

Hearing Sasori’s words, Konan raised her head. She suddenly realized that this was the Rain Tiger at Will Technique. Pain had reactivated it. He was monitoring this region!

Konan’s thoughts raced. Since Pain had restarted the technique, either the battle was already over and he had left the territory of this former village—but there was no reason for Pain not to notify them before leaving.

Or the way Pain had ended the battle was different from what they had imagined. Even that terrifying Shinra Tensei, which had just destroyed dozens of kilometers, had still failed to kill Mercenary Tao, and…

Pain was engaging the other party in some secret exchange, one whose contents he did not want certain people on their side to know.

Konan remained calm. Her first suspicion was Orochimaru, since he was a Konoha rogue shinobi who had always acted in secrecy. But she said nothing, merely shaking her head to stop Orochimaru from moving closer to Catherine and the other girl.

"Pain will probably search their bodies for information. Before Pain returns, we only need to make sure they do not leave."

Orochimaru’s eyes shifted upon hearing the Angel stop him, but he did not make another move.

Not long after, under the strange gazes of the other Akatsuki members, Deva Path Pain and Mercenary Tao actually emerged side by side from the wind and rain.

That tall man was now wearing a Red Cloud Black Robe as well.

Bai Cangshu flashed forward and arrived before them. He no longer carried the ferocious air he had displayed when attacking Orochimaru just moments ago. Instead, he turned around and showed off his current outfit.

"Well? I told you, Akatsuki’s robe really suits my temperament."

Orochimaru looked at his utterly unguarded appearance. His eyelids lowered, and his snake-like vertical pupils were filled with coldness. Yet soon, he revealed a gloomy smile instead.

"Mercenary Tao, now that you have joined Akatsuki as well, would you be willing to make a deal with me?"

He was still coveting Uchiha Itachi’s eyes. After today’s battle, he had thoroughly realized his own limitations. Against opponents on the level of Mercenary Tao and Pain, no matter how many methods he possessed, without eyes of that caliber, he could not even see their movements clearly.

His taijutsu had been fairly good among Jonin, but in battles of this level, it was clearly inadequate.

The Sharingan… if I had those eyes, then I could…

He considered many plans, including ways to partner with Mercenary Tao and later use drugs or other methods to deal with him.

"You want the Sharingan? Sure."

Orochimaru froze. For the first time, this white snake revealed a stunned expression, because Mercenary Tao somehow directly pulled out a pair of eyes still stained with blood.

The scarlet Three Tomoe within those eyes—were they not Sharingan?!

And the other party had not even asked about his purpose. He had directly produced the eyes as though they were nothing rare. Those were Sharingan!

Sharingan that, if even one pair went missing, would provoke the Uchiha Clan into a frenzied pursuit!

Only then did Orochimaru suddenly realize that it was likely because the other party had taken these eyes that the Uchiha Clan had sent Uchiha Shisui after him. Yet Mercenary Tao’s methods were terrifying, and even Uchiha Shisui had fallen for them.

The others also glanced in this direction, intentionally or otherwise. Catherine descended from the air, thinking that fortunately, she had not chosen to betray Mercenary Tao. Otherwise, she would probably already be facing pursuit from this monster.

Seeing Mercenary Tao take out those Sharingan, she knew that these things likely could not be taken out of this world. Trading them with Plot Characters was indeed the optimal solution, but only someone with power as absurd as Mercenary Tao could use such a method.

If ordinary reincarnators dug out the eyes of an Uchiha shinobi in this world, they would probably be killed by several Uchiha shinobi before nightfall.

The Sharingan and Genjutsu were both extremely lethal to most reincarnators. Reincarnators not specialized in mental abilities generally found it difficult to resist Sharingan Genjutsu, while those specialized in mental abilities might be unable to handle the Uchiha shinobi’s fierce attacks.

"What do you want?"

Though Orochimaru pretended to be calm, Bai Cangshu easily sensed the change in his heartbeat through the Transparent World.

At the same time, Uchiha Itachi on the Magic Carpet behind them had also experienced a slight increase in heart rate. This twelve- or thirteen-year-old Shōnen could not remain indifferent while watching a clansman’s eyes be dug out and traded away.

The current Uchiha Itachi was not yet the person who would eventually wipe out his entire clan.

A teasing smile appeared on Bai Cangshu’s face as he directly tossed the eyes to Orochimaru.

"What do I want… let me think about it. This is not really anything rare. Konoha’s Danzo has probably implanted some in himself already, hasn’t he?"

Uchiha Itachi’s entire body trembled, and the Three Tomoe in his pupils slowly turned.

Bai Cangshu continued.

"Actually, there are also Senju Hashirama’s cells. Those are the truly rare things. Unfortunately, they have probably already been ruined by someone like Danzo."

"Isn’t that right, Orochimaru…?"

Bai Cangshu knowingly asked. Orochimaru looked at the eyes in his hand and gave two cold laughs.

"Danzo did indeed have me perform modification surgery on him."

He did not spell it out, but Uchiha Itachi already understood. He closed his eyes, and for the first time, doubt arose within him toward the Will of Fire.

His clansmen truly lacked vision, capable only of seeing the petty conflicts within their own clan. Yet a Konoha higher-up like Danzo was still coveting the bloodline and bodies of the Uchiha clansmen?!

As the leader of a village, he coveted the bodies of its residents…

This had nothing to do with vision anymore. That man was completely… an enemy!

Only when the other restored Pains emerged from the rain mist did Deva Path Pain speak to them.

"We have gained a new member. Mercenary Tao, codename… Vermilion."

Hearing that codename, Bai Cangshu turned to look at Konan, whose codename was White. Their gazes met before both looked away. Konan frowned. She still did not know why Nagato had been persuaded by Mercenary Tao, but even after joining the organization, this man continued to radiate that malicious aura, making people uncomfortable.

Pain continued.

"I have just received word that Kirigakure has been attacked. Their casualties are severe, and… Isobu has been lost. Kirigakure has now descended into chaos."

Everyone’s expressions changed at this news, especially Zetsu. He immediately realized something and looked toward Bai Cangshu.

But Bai Cangshu merely smiled without responding. Pain did not steer the topic toward the attacker’s identity either, instead saying,

"Since Kirigakure has fallen into chaos, this is the perfect opportunity for our next move."

"Zetsu, Sasori, you will head to the Land of Water next and carry out a special mission."

Deva Path Pain spoke calmly, leaving no room for discussion. Zetsu sensed something and glanced at the smiling Mercenary Tao. He nodded and accepted the mission. Sasori, however, did not care much and said,

"What special mission? We are probably going to find some village’s rogue shinobi again."

Sasori had assassinated the Third Kazekage and defected from his village. He had no sense of belonging anywhere.

Bai Cangshu seemed to recall something and spoke again.

"I heard that Rasa, who succeeded as the Fourth Kazekage, used Sunagakure’s Pakura as a political bargaining chip and sent her to Kirigakure to be killed. Tsk, what disgusting politics."

Sasori’s body paused. He looked at Bai Cangshu, his eyes turning cold.

But Bai Cangshu showed no fear. Instead, he leaned forward, using his height advantage to look down on this genius shinobi who had turned himself into a puppet.

"Ha, I wonder whether the one who killed the Third Kazekage knows that what he did merely left Sunagakure and the Land of Wind spinning in the hands of those disgusting politicians."

"Enough!"

Nagato did not want further complications at this moment and stopped Bai Cangshu from continuing to provoke Sasori. Bai Cangshu turned away in satisfaction and walked toward Uchiha Itachi. Provoking Sasori was secondary to those words. More importantly, he wanted Uchiha Itachi to hear them.

He wanted this Uchiha Clan genius to understand the truth of this world.

So-called martyrs were always manipulated like political bargaining chips in a world like this.

Whether it was Pakura, who had once saved Sunagakure, or Uchiha Itachi, who would one day slaughter his clan to preserve Konoha and his younger brother, in the end, they were nothing more than pieces on the board in the hands of those higher-ups.

Stories that should have been tragic and heroic became absurd and laughable once covered in the layer of political transactions.

Deva Path Pain also sensed Bai Cangshu’s purpose. He did not stop him, merely looking toward the others.

"The rest of us will carry out… the Konoha Crush Operation."