The stares of everyone made Edo Itachi feel as if thorns were pricking him, his heart skipping a beat.
Unconsciously, he even began to doubt himself—had he really done it?
Clearly, though he always leaned toward Konoha and had intentions of stabbing Akatsuki in the back, due to the actual circumstances, he hadn’t taken any concrete actions from start to finish.
How could he have secretly sent information to Naruto through a dream?
This was blatant slander! Utter defamation!
Itachi responded coldly, his heart calm.
He hadn’t done it, and he wouldn’t be anyone’s scapegoat again!
However, given the stereotypical impression he’d left on everyone before, almost no one at the scene believed his explanation.
Even Sasuke, who trusted him, couldn’t help but harbor doubts.
Sasuke didn’t deny his brother’s love for him, but he knew better that his brother was a master actor—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been deceived for years.
Based on this, who knew if his brother was still fooling him?
"You’re definitely lying! It was him!"
Edo Deidara accused outright, more eager than anyone to smear these two narcissistic Uchihas!
"I believe in Itachi. He wouldn’t do something like that!"
Kisame stepped forward, firmly Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.
Though he’d been with Itachi lately, was he certain Itachi hadn’t made any small moves? He wasn’t sure, but Kisame still chose to trust him.
"You’re the most suspicious. Itachi, do you have any evidence proving it wasn’t you?"
Sasori stood beside Deidara, posing a reasonable question.
Itachi’s answer instantly heated the atmosphere, both sides tensing up.
Sasuke chose to stand by his brother.
"Suspicions need evidence. If you accuse recklessly, I’ll kill you all!"
Sasuke, as always, was supremely arrogant.
Though he wasn’t certain of his brother’s innocence, in critical moments, their brotherly bond wasn’t a joke.
"Hah? Kill us all? So arrogant! Sasori, don’t stop me—I’m teaching this bastard a lesson!"
Deidara roared angrily, subtly signaling Sasori to back him up.
Sasori actually extended chakra threads, restraining the emotional Deidara, making him seem even ’fiercer.’
Nagato and the others shook their heads and sighed.
"Enough, everyone stop!"
Nagato spoke, halting this farce once more.
Now was a critical moment to attack Konoha; he didn’t want internal chaos in his ranks, making Konoha laugh and disappointing his teacher.
"How the information leaked isn’t important anymore."
"Not important? What do you mean, Leader?"
"I’ve already used Jiraiya’s body to deliver a final notice to the Hokage there. In half an hour, we’ll launch a full-scale attack on Konoha Village and destroy it completely!"
"Destroy it completely? Does that mean killing everyone?"
Itachi suddenly interrupted, questioning Nagato.
Nagato stared deeply at Itachi and answered: "I’m not interested in slaughtering women, children, and the elderly, nor will I be as cruel as the great nations that invaded Amegakure back then. Besides, most of Konoha’s villagers have already been evacuated. What’s left are just a few militant diehards."
"Only by killing them all can the war be fully ended!"
"Itachi, do you object?"
Itachi froze, not expecting Konoha to have evacuated most of its villagers, feeling slightly relieved.
This was good—at least it would reduce many innocent casualties...
Itachi had no objections, but Sasuke did.
"Still waiting half an hour?"
"What’s the point? Giving those Konoha trash time to prepare?"
Sasuke was clearly displeased with Nagato’s decision, snorting arrogantly:
"If you can’t bear it, I’ll take action, and the battle will end quickly!"
Clearly, Sasuke was eager to exact revenge on Konoha Village, settling the blood feud of the entire Uchiha Clan!
"No need to rush. I know your desire for revenge. Besides, who said I’d actually wait half an hour?"
Nagato gave a faint smile, flipping everyone’s understanding.
His talk of a general attack in half an hour was essentially to mislead Konoha, making them think they had time to prepare.
On the other hand, it was to avoid being influenced by spies within his ranks.
Nagato wasn’t sure if a spy in his group had leaked the Juubi information to Konoha. Now wasn’t the time to investigate spies.
Disrupting the attack timing would suffice.
Like now, ensuring spies couldn’t know the real attack time would slightly reduce the chance of further leaks...
"Leader, what do you mean?"
"Launch the attack immediately!"
Everyone’s hearts jolted, eyebrows raised, silently marveling at how ruthless and cunning their Leader was!
The previous Leader surely wasn’t this despicable, right?
"Nagato, isn’t this a bit unfair?"
Nagato shook his head: "This is my decision; I won’t blame anyone. As for credibility, does someone who’s already dead like me still need to uphold it?"
"Konoha never upheld it in the future either, so I have even less reason to now!"
Seeing this, everyone understood Nagato’s resolve and stopped persuading him.
"Hooray! Let me go first! Let Konoha Village truly feel my explosive art!"
"Get lost! The sinners who killed the Uchiha Clan must be killed by me!"
Deidara and Sasuke, the most radical, began arguing, making the others even quieter.
"No need to argue. I’ll handle it myself."
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Nagato clapped his hands, using a summoning technique.
Initially, he planned to rely on the new Edo Akatsuki army to storm Konoha Village directly, but the unknown information leak and the strange old man in Naruto’s dream made Nagato vaguely uneasy.
Thus, it was better to act more ruthlessly.
Destroy Konoha in one strike!
Give the enemy no chance to turn the tables!
As someone who’d died once, he was cautious to the point of paranoia, immediately playing his strongest trump card.
The next moment, the massive Juubi appeared on the ground, radiating a terrifying chakra pressure that stunned everyone.
Nagato leaped onto the Juubi’s head, using his Rinnegan eyes to control it directly.
The Juubi immediately began condensing a cone-shaped Bijuudama, aiming it toward Konoha Village in the distance.
This was the Juubi’s second-form Bijuudama, smaller and less powerful than the giant version but with greater range and precision!
Enough to cross dozens of kilometers and strike Konoha Village accurately.
And Edo Jiraiya in Konoha Village?
He was merely a ’chakra GPS’ for Nagato’s precise targeting...
Ten seconds later, the cone-shaped Bijuudama formed rapidly.
The giant cone-shaped Bijuudama tore through the air, leaving a spiraling trail in the night sky, hurtling at high speed toward Konoha Village in the distance!