Orochimaru attacked the clone alongside Sasori, Hidan, and Kakuzu. The clone chose to dodge it and remarked, "It looks interesting. But I am faster than all of you, even as a clone."
Manda striked him suddenly by its tail. But this shadow clone didn't get dispelled like other shadow clone.
The clone said, "Looks like you guys have the upper hand. But I've made contingency plans for even people like you." The clone smiled and then a large number of Turtle rock shells were fired rapidly from the top of the mountain at the four Akatsuki members.
The clone raced towards Manda at super speed. It gathered the wind chakra and formed it into a sword.
Manda gave a fierce strike at it with her tail, but before the clone could dispel itself, the snake was struck and given a huge wound. The snake was then unsummoned due to the severity of the injury.
Menma, who was standing atop the mountain, suddenly looked surprised when he realized that his special shadow clone had been dispelled.
Menma thought, "Sage chakra, I got it. The cave snake used senjutsu to wound my clone without even knowing it."
The Akatsuki members were surprised at the same time.
Orochimaru said, "I'll be in big trouble, the next time I summon it."
Manda has a nasty temper unlike other snakes in Ryuichi Cave. Now that he's gotten a nasty scar, that bloody snake will definitely demand something in return from him.
Suddenly, the Akatsuki members felt someone with great speed descending from the mountain, and that person did not hide his presence.
Orochimaru said, "It looks like the real thing is finally out. No more games."
When nobody was looking, a clone of Menma suddenly placed a seal on Hidan. This made him immobile for a few seconds.
All the other Akatsuki looked back and saw a new clone of Menma suddenly appear and capture Hidan.
What the hell did you do to me? The moment I am free, you will become my sacrifice!" Hidan shouted loudly at the clone. But before the other three could attack it, the clone threw Hidan in the direction of the incoming Menma.
The clone was dispelled by three people as it is a normal shadow clone. But before getting dispelled, he showed them the middle finger with his hand.
Menma caught Hidan and then looked at the other Akatsuki members, saying, "I am borrowing your partner for a while. I want to perform a ritual on him. He will be free to go afterwards. In the meantime, you can play with the seventh level."
Before Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kakuzu could reach him, the surroundings had changed. The fog color had shifted from white to green, but the area appeared to have transformed into a new environment.
Menma used his Illuminati seal on this mountain. This caused the illusion to appear as a real entity. One of the shadow clones of Menma was controlling it.
Orochimaru saw a massive snake attacking him. He tried to attack it back, but he bumped into a tree before it. Kakuzu saw many palm-sized ants crawling on his body. Sasori saw the decayed remains of his own body. However, he thought he was a puppet; therefore, he couldn't understand why he would decay like a human.
Sasori said, "It is all illusion. Don't fall for it." Orochimaru and Kakuzu, unable to see each other, moved in opposite directions after hearing his words.
All three of them had regrouped and were now visible to one another.
Menma watched them regroup from a distance and thought, 'I need to eliminate sound next time. Visuals are good. I'll add some sounds to interfere with their communication to future victims. Everyone will know it's an illusion, but what can they do about it?'
Sasori, being a puppet, knew that this illusion was far too terrifying; it even affected his own puppet senses.
Kakuzu attempted to dispel his release technique, but the illusion remained intact.
Orochimaru said, "This is not a normal genjutsu; this is a real illusion placed upon the surroundings. A powerful one that cannot be dispelled by normal chakra disruptions."
Orochimaru said "Release" by pointing his handsign outside to dispel it. He used a powerful release technique which dispelled a nearby green fog. But soon the illusion recovered.
Sasori saw Orochimaru's experiments and said, "A powerful illusion and it can recover on its own."
Zetsu appeared at that moment from underground, "Do you need my help? I can help you locate the real Menma. But he is the most difficult person to locate; I have ever found. His clones can mimic the chakra signature of the real one." Black and white Zetsu made his presence known to them.
All the three members of Akatsuki agreed with him. They knew Zetsu was a very good tracker.
"Lead the way," Kakuzu said to Zetsu. The other two did not object to him.
Clone saw that Menma had finished his preparations and stopped using the 'illuminati seal'. As he found them useless against Black Zetsu, whose five senses were different from humans. He was born from yin and yang release. So it was difficult to fool his sensory senses.
Kakuzu said, "It looks like he dispelled the genjutsu on his own." Orochimaru looked at Zetsu for some reason.
"He found out that Zetsu senses are abnormal even for human standards," Orochimaru said while calculating something in his head. He found out that Zetsu senses are really should not be humanly at all. Even, Orochimaru who is in contact with senjutsu found it difficult to navigate in that illusion.
'What kind of secrets are you hiding, Zetsu? Your body and your senses are totally different; you are almost another species or race. Are you really human, or something else entirely?' Orochimaru became very doubtful about Zetsu's origins. However, he didn't show his doubts and played it off as if he was merely curious how Zetsu had achieved such abilities.
They found no other obstacles, but saw many Shinto gates, man-made dog and wolf statues, water snake statues with many heads, bat statues, and turtle statues. They also found a big statue of the nine-headed hydra.
They saw Hidan hanging, still alive, but his blood flowing out from underneath him. On the ground was a large, glowing fuinjutsu array that they didn't recognize. By the time they could fully comprehend what had happened, Menma placed his hands on the seals and the entire array began to shine brightly.
Kakuzu asked, "What did you do?" He was shocked to learn that Menma had used Hidan's blood as some sort of fuel.
Meme already left that fuinjutsu array after it shone brightly.
A ripple appeared near Hidan and sucked him into the vortex. The other four knew that Hidan was safe now. And Hidan reappeared alongside Tobi, who is Obito in reality.
Menma saw Obito coming as Tobi in his masked avatar. But that guy was silent and observing everything around him.
Orochimaru couldn't help but ask, "What do you want to do with it?" He was curious about Menma's Fuinjutsu array. However, Menma remained silent.
Kakuzu asked Hidan, "What did he do to you? You look so terrified." Only now did they see that Hidan was quite terrified of Menma.
Hidan said, "I don't know what he did, but he knows I am immortal. He asked me if it was my first time being a sacrifice. How does it feel to be on the opposite side of the ritual. I didn't even know when he set that up. He took out my blood with small cuts and healed them, and then cut me again. He even wanted to experiment on Orochimaru's body. He wanted to see what goes into his snake brain. He even wanted to dissect Zetsu and check if he is human. He is not a sane person. He is a devil." Hidan was terrified by how Menma acted in front of him while everyone else was trapped within an illusion. He saw his cruel side and it left a deep impression on his heart and mind.
Soon, five huge stone tablets appeared in the center of the mountain. Menma's full name was written at the top of each tablet. The challenges and their results were all written on these tablets. His portrait was even drawn and everything that had occurred was depicted on two of the five massive stone tablets. Small tablets also appeared around the large stone tablets in this location.
Menma said to them, "Now, the legend of Satoshi Menma will live on. Now and forever. Hahahaha. It all thanks to the bounty hunters and their sacrifice. But I didn't expect that a partial immortal blood would be within my grasp. It is all thanks to you."
Menma quickly returned to the Closed Dimension Realm. He was no fool to play against six of the Akatsuki members and reveal all his secrets.
Akatsuki members saw that Menma disappeared from that place. They want to cheat, so he will also cheat. He will not confront them head on to reveal his secret information.
Orochimaru said, "He ran away. He knew that he was no match for us. Shame, that he knew his situation exactly. What are these stone tablets? The fuinjutsu array has disappeared; I can't read it." He really wants to know his secrets.
Tobi suddenly spoke in a joking tone, "But senpai, there were six of us and he's alone. He was scared, so he ran away."
Tobi ran to the tablet and saw one of the large tablets that had the survivors listed. Tobi exclaimed, "Senpai, look! My name is on the list!"
He enthusiastically showed them the name list. However, he carefully examined the stones and their materials. He also noticed a small red-colored tablet with the rules and regulations of this challenge. This particular tablet was located among the other big five stone tablets.
"What rules have we broken, that we lost? Here are the rules of the contracted competition. During this contracted challenge, the challenger cannot escape or leave from the top of the mountain. However, he can escape if he is fighting immortals, partial immortals, or beings who are not shinobi or regular humans. Age also has a limit; it states that the age should not exceed 70 years old. Old men should not meddle in the affairs of young people. Or he should not know about it. But if he knew, he has the right to cancel the challenge levels and flee immediately. Shinigami is the witness, as the challenger has used an unknown means to issue a contract to bind the rules of the competition to the shinigami itself. As a bet, many lives will be at stake, even the challenger's life will be at risk. At last, the souls who get killed during the competition will be eaten into the shinagami's stomach. Survivors have the right to flee anytime if they cannot continue. Yin-yang stone tablets will be placed as a historical proof at the end. The stone tablets will be forever indestructible and unmovable. No one can escape death. Interesting, very interesting. Tobi now knows his secret, Heheheh."
Obito acted his part, and everyone in that place looked shocked.
"Then what the hell did he use my immortal blood for?" Hidan asked furiously. For some unknown reason, Menma had taken his blood instead of fleeing and performed a ritual with it.
Orochimaru said, "He might have performed a ritual with your blood this time. Like how you always perform it on others. Can you donate some of your blood to me, for research purposes?" He is now really interested in Hidan's blood.
Hidan is angry, but he feels weak for the first time in many years; he needs to replenish his blood within his body.
Black Zetsu said suddenly, "My clone told me just now that someone has claimed Menma's bounty from the bounty hall. And it looks like Danzo Shimura. So now we can go back. Menma's bounty is already claimed, so we have no use for his head to go after him."
Orochimaru said, "Looks like he planned everything. I don't think Danzo will claim Menma's bounty publicly. It will make everyone in Konoha asking for his head. As Menma recently adopted a lot of kids and their mothers and made them part of his clan. And he pays for many poor people and students with sponsorships. Not only that, many people in the Fire Country respect him from civilians to rich people. I think, Menma collected his own bounty."
Orochimaru saw the details and created the actual scenario.
Sasori said, "So we were merely puppets in his game."
Orchimaru replied, "Yes, if you want to know the truth. He is the winner today. He lost nothing, only gained. I am curious how he gained knowledge of contracts with Shinigami. This kind of knowledge was lost in the Uzumaki clan." Orchimaru saw many details during this confrontation and all of them were disturbing to him.
Tobi looked at them and didn't comment.
Kakuzu said, "So, we gained nothing. I failed to collect a bounty for the first time. Now that his bounty is claimed, no one will issue another bounty for him. If they're smart enough to realize that no bounty hunter will go after him. And he may cheat again with his new bounty." Kakazu shook his head. This mission was terrible for him.
They started to leave; no one saw a small bat hanging nearby. They had completely blended in with the statues. After fifteen minutes, it suddenly disappeared with a poof.