"Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's begin the sealing! For the next three days, none of you can move freely," said Pain, abruptly interrupting the conversation between the two.
The sealing of the One-Tail officially began!
"Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals!"
A powerful chakra surged from Pain's body and poured into the Gedo Statue.
The previously motionless Gedo Statue finally moved and let out a roar.
Kimimaro could feel his chakra slowly being drawn from his feet into the statue.
"So this is the technique that extracts a tailed beast's chakra? How unique. It requires such an immense amount of chakra to activate. No wonder they need to gather all ten core members of the Akatsuki. If there were fewer people, the burden on each would be too great," Kimimaro thought to himself, staring at the statue, unsure of what to make of it.
The sealing had officially begun! The process, which would take three days, was undoubtedly a complicated and troublesome one.
Kimimaro closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.
Every second of his training, the chakra he gathered was absorbed into the Gedo Statue, making his training more difficult.
At any moment, Kimimaro could sever this connection.
However, since it was during the sealing process, he couldn't disconnect at will.
Instead, he used this as an opportunity to temper his chakra.
Though the benefits weren't significant, it was better than nothing.
Two and a half days passed in this boring fashion before Zetsu spoke up.
"Pain, two teams are approaching us."
"Who are they?"
"One is led by the Blue Beast, Might Guy, and the other by the Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Guy's team consists of three Chunin, nothing to worry about.
However, Kakashi's team not only has the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki but also the puppet master Chiyo from the Sand Village."
Zetsu relayed all the details of the approaching individuals.
At the mention of Chiyo, Sasori's eyes flickered with a hint of emotion.
"Use the Art of Elephants Turning. Who's the closest to them?" Pain asked.
The Art of Elephants Turning was a technique used through the power of the Rinnegan.
Through the Rinnegan, an Akatsuki member's chakra could be transferred into a living sacrifice.
The sacrifice would transform completely into the Akatsuki member, both in appearance and ability, controlled by their consciousness, capable of using the same techniques.
Depending on the distance of the target, the amount of chakra transferred could range from 10% to 50%.
Once the chakra was depleted, the technique would end, and the sacrifice would die instantly.
It was essentially a jutsu where the sacrifice's life was used to impersonate a stronger individual.
For the sacrifice, there was no enjoyment to be had, just the fate of a puppet.
"The closest are Itachi, Kisame, and Kimimaro."
"Kimimaro? Didn't I send you to the Land of Lightning? How are you nearby?"
Pain asked in confusion.
"Just passing by, just passing by," Kimimaro responded with a laugh.
Pain glanced at him but didn't bother to pursue the matter further.
"Since that's the case, who among you three wants to intercept them?"
"Count me in. I've got a score to settle with that beast, so this is the perfect chance to even things up," Kisame grinned.
"I'll take on Kakashi's team. I'm quite interested in them," Kimimaro volunteered.
"Alright, the two of you, get ready," Pain said as he began to perform the Art of Elephants Turning.
Kimimaro felt a strange sensation as part of his chakra and consciousness were transferred.
Through the power of the Rinnegan, they were sent to a distant location, injected into an unfamiliar body.
"The Rinnegan's abilities are truly vast," Kimimaro couldn't help but marvel.
Pain's Rinnegan displayed so many useful and diverse powers.
Compared to later versions of the Rinnegan, which had more raw power, Pain's had a much wider range of abilities.
Those later versions didn't showcase their full potential.
With his Byakugan activated, Kimimaro spotted Kakashi's group not far away.
"I have about 30% of my chakra. That should be enough to toy with them for a while," Kimimaro thought as he moved swiftly, landing in an open area.
Soon enough, he encountered Kakashi and the others.
"Kimimaro!"
Seeing him, the group was startled and immediately halted.
Although Granny Chiyo didn't recognize him, the black cloak with red clouds was a dead giveaway.
"Yo, long time no see, Naruto," Kimimaro said indifferently.
"Why are you wearing the Akatsuki's cloak? Did you join them?" Naruto asked, shocked.
"That's right. I think this outfit looks pretty good. What do you think?" Kimimaro replied with a smile.
"You jerk! Do you know what the Akatsuki is doing? They've captured Gaara!" Naruto yelled in rage.
"Of course I know. The person who caught Gaara is quite familiar with me. But what does that matter? Gaara can't be captured?"
"You..." Naruto was left speechless.
Kakashi took the chance to speak up, "Weren't you a ninja of the Sound Village? Why did you join the Akatsuki? Did Orochimaru join forces with them?"
"See this mark?" Kimimaro pointed to the Sound Village headband on his forehead. "I defected. So now, I'm free."
"What about Sasuke? Wasn't he taken to the Sound Village by you? If you defected, what about him?" Sakura quickly asked.
"Oh, he's probably still training under Orochimaru. His strength was too weak before, even if he wanted to defect, he wasn't strong enough.
Oh, and by defect, I mean from the Sound Village, not the Leaf Village. After all, people seem to defect from the Leaf quite easily."
Kimimaro's tone turned mocking.
"You!" Naruto's rage flared, his blue eyes turning into the crimson eyes of the Nine-Tails.
"Calm down, Naruto. He's trying to provoke us. If he's here, it's to stop us from saving Gaara, which means we're close. We can't waste time here," Kakashi quickly analyzed the situation.
"As expected of Kakashi. Your sharpness is rare in the ninja world. Yes, I'm here to stop you. So, come on, let's see if you can defeat me."
Kimimaro declared like a true villain.
Kakashi and Naruto's faces grew tense.
Unlike Granny Chiyo and Sakura, the two of them had fought Kimimaro before.
Back then, they were utterly crushed by him.
Especially Kakashi.
One Black Coffin jutsu had given the future Sixth Hokage one of his darkest moments.
Though both of them had grown much stronger over the past two years, they couldn't help but feel apprehensive in front of Kimimaro.
If they could grow stronger, so could he.
"What do we do now, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, looking toward Kakashi.
(End of the Chapter)