On the other side of the battlefield, the Six Paths of Pain, Konan, and their crew set out to capture two Jinchuriki.
Killer B and Rōshi dangled upside down in an underground cavern, their bodies pierced with black rods, barely clinging to life. The demons didn't care about Tailed Beasts, so they had no reason to treat their bait—the Jinchuriki—with any kindness. To prevent any interference, the moment they were found, they were crippled, left with just enough breath to stay alive.
The Ninja Alliance, led by Onoki, schemed to pit the Akatsuki against the legion leaders, hoping they'd tear each other apart. But what if the Legion turned the tables, using the chaos to wipe out most of the ninja world's top-tier fighters?
The demons weren't exactly masterminds, but they had one advantage: information. Knowing everything allowed them to weave conspiracies with ruthless ease.
As the Six Paths of Pain moved to seize the Jinchuriki, the Deva Path prepared to yank them over with Shinra Tensei. Suddenly, a torrent of murky, dark water surged toward him. Within it, faint shapes swirled—black, scorched yellow, or sickly brown clumps.
The Rinnegan's piercing vision was a curse in that moment. The Deva Path's pupils quaked. Even without a sense of smell, Pain felt a wave of mental contamination.
A literal shitstorm!
Just seeing it was enough to taint the soul.
Paper scraps fluttered through the air as Konan, sprouting origami wings, caught one glimpse of the foul water. Within half a second, she shut her eyes, retreating at her fastest speed ever, fleeing this cesspool of horror.
The sewage kept coming, growing more revolting by the second. Killer B and Rōshi were on the verge of being submerged. The Deva Path hesitated, cursing himself inwardly. For the sake of peace, what was a little sacrifice? It was Yahiko's body, after all—nothing a good scrub couldn't fix.
But no amount of mental pep talk could move him. He subtly stepped back, avoiding any splashes on his beloved black-and-red Akatsuki cloak.
If he didn't act soon, B and Rōshi would drown in the filth, dead for sure. For his lifelong dream, the Deva Path steeled himself... and turned to Sasori.
"Use your puppets to pull them out," Pain said, his face a mask of cold authority, voice dripping with command.
Sasori's puppet body remained expressionless, yet somehow radiated pure defiance.
"Leader, are you serious?"
Pain nodded gravely. "This task is yours alone, Sasori. You won't disappoint me, will you?"
What could the Red Sand Sasori say? Under Pain's watchful gaze, he had no choice but to comply. For a fleeting moment, he considered ditching the Akatsuki altogether. A true man shouldn't live under another's thumb!
But with Pain staring him down, Sasori played the pragmatist, quietly thanking his stars that his body was already a puppet, immune to the stench.
Luckily, he had plenty of disposable puppets. He summoned two, which dragged B and Rōshi out of the mire, and turned to leave.
...
Just then, a grotesque head emerged from the sewage, its skin wrinkled from soaking. Yellow hair curled slightly at the ends, and a nauseating aura radiated from it.
Splash!
A whip of sewage lashed toward Sasori like lightning, no preamble, just a gut-churning attack.
Before the whip even got close, splatters stained Sasori's cloak. Despite the Akatsuki's dark uniform, the splotch stood out like a beacon.
Sasori's face—or rather, his puppet's—contorted into a look of utter disgust, a feat for a lifeless husk. He swapped out the cloak in a flash, tossing another puppet in front to block the assault.
Boom!
The sewage exploded, sending droplets spraying everywhere. Pain, unable to hold it together, didn't care about chakra costs anymore—he dodged as fast as he could.
As the filth settled, a young man stepped forward, his eye sockets stuffed with compound eyes. His bones cracked with each step, and the sewage trailed behind him like loyal soldiers.
"Disgusting!" Pain spat, his face cold but brimming with disdain. The young man didn't react, as if he hadn't heard.
"He's a puppet. No communication," Sasori said suddenly.
As a puppet master, Sasori's judgment was reliable, and Pain trusted it.
He wasn't wrong. Unlike Matron, Beelzebub wasn't a sentient demon clone. It was a magic-powered puppet, nothing more. As for why it was called Beelzebub...
That was a grudge from eons past. Beelzebub would make sure the world knew of its... unique proclivities, spreading the word across all realms.
No need for thanks—it's just what a demon does.
The sewage morphed into chains, aiming to trap Pain and Sasori.
Clang! Darts from Sasori's puppets struck the chains, producing a metallic clang. Sasori stared at Beelzebub, then at the sewage, realizing the contents weren't what he'd assumed.
Both he and Pain had fallen into a trap of their own making. Their first impression—that the sewage was that kind of filth—kept them from looking closely or, heaven forbid, touching it. Now they realized it wasn't quite what they thought, though it was 99.99% identical in look and smell...
And yet, it still felt utterly revolting!
Sasori and Pain were repulsed, but the Legion's modified soldiers had no such qualms. They marched forward mechanically, backing Beelzebub's ambush.
Human Puppet Technique!
Chakra threads shot from Sasori's fingertips, latching onto the soldiers. His hands blurred with speed, but the controlled soldiers didn't obey as expected. Something was trying to corrupt him back through the threads.
"What the hell?" Sasori muttered, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind. The tail of his Hiruko puppet swept forward, its icy glint slicing through several soldiers.
...
A flurry of needles flew from the side, lodging precisely in the joints of Hiruko's tail.
Crack! Crack!
The tail shattered.
Sasori ditched Hiruko, leaping out as a red-haired boy—the puppet crafted from his own body, though not his true core, which was just a regeneration nucleus.
His head swiveled 180 degrees to face the attacker. Matron stood there, clutching three severed heads, a mocking sneer on her face as she flung another handful of needles.
Sasori's shock was real this time. Kakuzu, Hidan, and Deidara—taken out that fast?
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (160 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)