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Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru engaged in a battle of souls.
In the end, Sasuke Uchiha, relying on his Mangekyō Sharingan—emerged victorious.
In this aspect, Orochimaru’s tattered soul was no match for Sasuke Uchiha, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
What was the Sharingan?? It was a power belonging to Yin Release. And Yin Release was spiritual power, the Uchiha Clan’s greatest strength.
Attacking an opponent’s strength with one’s own weakness—it was normal for Orochimaru to fail.
However, Orochimaru hadn’t completely died…
A part of his soul still lay dormant within Sasuke Uchiha’s body, waiting for Sasuke Uchiha to weaken, then it would contend with him for control of the body again.
Sasuke Uchiha, believing he had already killed Orochimaru, left Orochimaru’s secret base.
After a long while, Kabuto Yakushi arrived—Looking at the lifeless giant white serpent, he understood Orochimaru had failed.
Kabuto Yakushi took away the giant white serpent body Orochimaru had left behind, then also left the base, vanishing without a trace.
No one knew that Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, had perished. Even if not truly perished, he was at least temporarily gone.
——
At this very moment, a major event occurred within the Akatsuki.
Pain stared coldly at Itachi Uchiha.
“Itachi Uchiha, I need an explanation.”
Other Akatsuki members were also present, but they all remained silent, knowing the leader was truly angry.
“There’s nothing to explain. I am a Konoha spy—” Itachi Uchiha stated calmly.
“I see.”
Killing intent overflowed from Pain. Actually, Pain had known from the beginning that Itachi Uchiha was a spy.
Back then, Madara Uchiha—no, Obito Uchiha had told him and warned him to pay special attention to Itachi Uchiha.
Because of this, Pain did indeed pay close attention to Itachi Uchiha. But after so long, some negligence was inevitable.
And it was precisely this negligence that led to Itachi Uchiha causing a major incident—he actually released the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails had been properly controlled by him.
But Itachi Uchiha used his ocular power to forcibly help the Nine-Tails break free, and then the Nine-Tails escaped—and Itachi Uchiha, having immediately drawn Pain’s attention, naturally didn’t escape.
Moreover, Itachi had no intention of escaping…
If he also fled, Pain would definitely pursue the Nine-Tails, and it would be in danger—
So, Itachi Uchiha sacrificed himself, giving the Nine-Tails a chance to escape.
The reason he did this was because he didn’t want to see the Akatsuki’s plan succeed. Itachi Uchiha’s goal was to stop the Akatsuki’s plan.
“Sigh.” Kisame Hoshigaki sighed.
Though he had a good relationship with Itachi, he definitely couldn’t help him this time. Itachi Uchiha had already admitted he was an undercover spy; what more was there to say?
Even Kisame Hoshigaki had to act, joining forces against Itachi Uchiha.
“This is going to be a good show—” Hidan looked like he was enjoying the drama. Hidan didn’t like Itachi Uchiha; the more misfortune Itachi suffered, the better.
“I heard the Nine-Tails escaped?” Just then, Shin appeared at the Akatsuki base.
Shin had obtained this intel from White Zetsu.
White Zetsu figured the Nine-Tails was captured by Shin, and news of its escape… he had to inform Shin. So White Zetsu notified Shin, and Shin came to the Akatsuki base to see what was going on.
How long had it been?? Shin had already labeled Nagato a failure…
Sensing Shin’s gaze, Pain showed no expression, but Nagato’s true body felt his face burn with shame.
He had just assured Shin there would be no problems, yet now the Nine-Tails was gone.
Shin quickly learned the details of what happened—Itachi Uchiha had intervened, causing the Nine-Tails to escape.
“Itachi Uchiha, you released the Nine-Tails I captured?”
Shin’s gaze turned towards Itachi Uchiha.
His indifferent gaze made the people around feel considerable pressure.
Traces of blood seeped from Itachi Uchiha’s eyes.
Releasing the Nine-Tails hadn’t come without a price. His ocular power was heavily consumed, placing a great burden on his Sharingan.
At this moment, Itachi Uchiha appeared very calm. From the moment he released the Nine-Tails, Itachi Uchiha hadn’t expected to survive.
Looking at the silent Itachi Uchiha, Shin shook his head and said, “You are quite loyal to Konoha.” Shin knew very well that Itachi Uchiha released the Nine-Tails entirely for the sake of Konoha.
“Shin Uzumaki, you should know that the Akatsuki’s plan will ultimately trigger a war that engulfs the entire Shinobi world,” Itachi Uchiha turned his gaze to Shin and said.
“Telling me this is meaningless. Whether the Shinobi world erupts in war or not, it means nothing to me—” Shin chuckled coolly. Even if a Shinobi World War broke out, how would it affect him?
Shin didn’t have those concerns about the country and its people. As long as he cared for himself and those around him, that was enough.
“Narrow-minded.” Itachi Uchiha frowned. He felt Shin Uzumaki was too narrow-minded, just like the Uchiha Clan.
“You’re hardly qualified to criticize others.” Shin didn’t care what Itachi Uchiha said. It wasn’t that his personality was magnanimous, but Itachi Uchiha was a dead man today.
There was no need to get angry with a dying person…
“Shin Uzumaki, leave Itachi Uchiha to me,” Pain said to Shin. As the Akatsuki leader, he had the right to clean house.
“Oh? Be my guest. Just don’t embarrass yourself… That would be disappointing.” Shin was also looking forward to the battle between Pain and Itachi Uchiha.
“Alright, everyone, place your bets! I’m the bookie! Itachi wins—ten to one odds. Pain wins—even odds. Any takers?”
Shin asked the other Akatsuki members with a smile.
“Shin-dono, that’s pointless. Leader will definitely win. If everyone bets on him, you’ll lose everything,” Deidara said to Shin.
Kakuzu, hearing Shin’s words, was somewhat tempted. He also knew Pain would definitely win, but he didn’t dare win Shin’s money. So, in the end, he could only sigh, shake his head, and just watch the battle between the leader and Itachi Uchiha.
Not a single person placed a bet. Shin felt rather bored.
If Itachi Uchiha went all out, he wasn’t incapable of fighting Pain. It all depended on who could last longer.
The one who lasted longer would surely win.
The reason?
Because both their bodies couldn’t support prolonged combat.
Itachi Uchiha’s body was failing, and Nagato’s body wasn’t much better. It all came down to who could endure longer.
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