"Kumogakure Village… really was destroyed."

A shadow clone of Zenkichi walked across the ruins of Kumogakure, his gaze lingering on the devastation around him with a trace of emotion.

"Who… are you? Help me…"

A weak voice reached his ears.

Zenkichi turned and spotted Hidan, staring at him longingly.

At this point, Hidan had only his head left, yet he clung to life stubbornly.

"Hidan… the one who can't die."

Zenkichi paused in thought, then turned his palm over and drew Kyōka Suigetsu, slashing down at Hidan with the blade.

"You want to attack me too? I'm immortal! Long live Jashin-sama!"

Hidan sneered, laughing maniacally.

Zenkichi's expression remained stoic as he brought Kyōka Suigetsu down, severing Hidan's connection to the world by erasing his soul.

Though his body was immortal, his soul was not.

With a single strike, Hidan's soul was wiped away—he was completely and permanently dead.

"Hm, my level went up again. At least I gained something."

Zenkichi nodded casually as the clone dissipated in a puff of white smoke.

---

Konoha Village — Hokage's Office

In the Hokage's office, Zenkichi, drinking tea and reading papers, suddenly furrowed his brows and looked out the window.

Tsunade, seated nearby reviewing documents, looked up with concern. "The Akatsuki… are here?"

After hearing that Kumogakure had fallen to Akatsuki, Tsunade's heart grew heavy.

Their actions made it clear—they were determined to capture all the tailed beasts.

And now, with the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails in their possession, it was only a matter of time before they came for the Nine-Tails.

"The Akatsuki have arrived," Zenkichi said calmly.

"Should I handle them directly, or do you want to go through the formalities first?"

"This is Konoha. It's our duty as its ninja to defend it."

"We'll protect it… at least until we can't."

Tsunade's tone turned solemn.

"And if you can't hold the line?" Zenkichi asked, smiling faintly.

"Then I'll ask for your help."

Zenkichi walked closer, his tone suddenly cool. "But you're not the Tsunade who's close to me in my world… so why should I help you?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. Her chest rose and fell with emotion, clearly upset by his words.

Zenkichi stepped forward with a smile and suddenly pressed his lips to hers. After a moment, they separated.

Tsunade's face turned red. She stared at him, flustered and uncertain.

"If this face of yours were to fall into another man's arms… I'd be pretty upset," Zenkichi said, gently holding her chin with a half-smile.

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the village—the Akatsuki's assault had begun.

From the sky, Deidara flew in atop a giant white clay bird, dropping explosive clay bombs onto Konoha's buildings.

Alarms blared. Konoha's defenses mobilized quickly.

Unlike Kumogakure, Konoha had air defense systems.

Sai unrolled a scroll and summoned an ink eagle using his Super Beast Imitating Drawing. He mounted the creature and flew straight at Deidara.

Below, the Nara clan used their Shadow Imitation Techniques to trap the massive clay bird's shadow, stopping its flight.

"Hmm?" Deidara frowned mid-bombing run. The bird beneath him suddenly wouldn't respond.

As Sai closed in, Deidara calmly jumped into the air, pulling out another clay bird from his bag.

But the Nara clan had anticipated that. The moment Deidara's shadow shifted from the first bird, they launched another Shadow Possession Technique—paralyzing him mid-air.

He began to plummet.

"Deidara?" Zenkichi observed from afar. "Another artist wannabe…"

In an instant, he fired a laser beam at Deidara's falling body.

Before Deidara could even perform his final art, his head was cleanly taken off.

Zenkichi's body dissolved into glowing particles and reappeared moments later in the heart of Konoha.

There, Kisame Hoshigaki was using Water Release techniques to overwhelm Konoha defenders.

As he was preparing to shift the battlefield, Zenkichi's particles coalesced into form before him.

"So you're Zenkichi… the one from another world, right? I've heard of you."

Kisame's expression was flat, his dead-fish eyes studying Zenkichi closely.

"No need to be tense. In the other world, you were my disciple. Even Samehada was a gift from me."

"That was another world," Kisame replied coolly. "If you came to recruit me, don't bother."

"Is that so? That's unfortunate."

Kyōka Suigetsu materialized in Zenkichi's hands.

"In that case, I'll send you to death myself."

"You don't think I came to recruit you because you're important, do you?"

"Don't be foolish. Your strength is beneath me."

Zenkichi appeared beside Kisame in a blur and slashed down with Kyōka Suigetsu.

Samehada, attempting to protect its master, was cleaved in half.

Kisame followed suit—cut down in a single stroke.

"One sword for one soul… such sincerity," Zenkichi said nonchalantly.

He turned his attention inward—his character template flickered before him.

Having killed Hidan, Kisame, and destroyed Samehada, his Aizen template had now unlocked to 60%.

"Next… Nagato."

Zenkichi's gaze turned toward the distance, where Pain's Six Paths were locked in battle with Konoha's defenders.

This invasion was different from the original timeline.

The Hyuga clan hadn't left on their diplomatic mission. Might Guy was still in the village. Jiraiya had survived.

With information on the Six Paths, Konoha had the upper hand this time.

But it wasn't just Pain attacking—others were lurking in the shadows, waiting for their turn.

---

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