Akatsuki!

In the dark cave, several faintly glowing phantom figures suddenly appeared.

This is Xiao's Gate of Limit technique – the Magic Lantern Body Technique.

The members remained still, projecting their spiritual power into Pain in the form of Chakra. Pain, possessing the Rinnegan, acted as a signal tower, receiving this information and projecting it at a specific location. The resulting illusions could even unleash their own Ninjutsu.

This Ninjutsu is extremely well-concealed, greatly facilitating the practice of Akatsuki members and the issuance of missions by the leader, and further ensuring the secrecy and security of gatherings.

No wonder that no matter how hard Konoha searched, they could only find Akatsuki's outer organization and could never find Akatsuki's core members.

After all, according to common sense, the gathering of nearly ten Kage Level powerhouses should not cause any disturbance...

One by one, the phantoms lit up, one, two,... until the eighth phantom stabilized its form.

"Very good, everyone is here." The leader said calmly once the phantoms stopped appearing.

His appearance, vaguely discernible from the illusion, was that of a short-haired youth. His features were almost unrecognizable in the illusion, except for his eyes with wavy patterns.

This is Pain, who possesses the Rinnegan.

"Huh? One person's missing, Chief..." said the burly figure carrying a large sword, his gaze sweeping over the figures beside him. "We only sent eight people this time. Where's Deidara?"

"This is the first thing I want to tell you," Pain said, glancing at him. "Kisame, Deidara has been killed."

The tall man known as Kisame was taken aback.

"Killed?" He grinned. "Sure enough, the first one to get taken down was this loudmouth idiot, hehe... Who did it?"

"She's from Konoha. Kakuzu even ran into her last time," said the figure completely enveloped in a giant pitcher plant, glancing at the man beside her.

"It's that woman named Sakura Haruno," Kakuzu coldly. Although his expression was obscured, his cloudy eyes revealed an extremely somber mood when he mentioned Sakura. "Thanks to her, I've lost several precious hearts, and I'm still missing one to replace it!"

"Zero," he turned to the pitcher plant monster beside him, his eyes cold and filled with murderous intent, "You're always the one who disposes of the corpses. Did you bring back Deidara's body? I need his heart...!"

"Playing with your comrade's corpse?" Kisame sneered. "Only someone like you would do something like that."

"Deidara is not my ally," Kakuzu said bluntly, his words filled with murderous intent. "Hidan only stays by my side because I can't kill him... Only money is my ally!"

Even if it's an organization made up of missing-nin, they can still be considered temporary comrades... Kakuzu's words immediately caused many people to frown secretly, but they didn't react in any way.

Kisame's eyes turned cold.

"A fool obsessed with money..."

"Alright!" Pain interrupted their argument. "Stop arguing. Kakuzu, Deidara's body has already been disposed of."

Kakuzu frowned sharply. "Was it eaten by Zetsu? What a waste!"

"No, I've turned it into a puppet." Sasori of the Red Sand's voice, clear and cold like flowing water, rang out. He raised his left hand, his fingers twitched slightly, and a phantom appeared in the field. A Chakra Threads clearly connected the phantom to Sasori's left hand.

As everyone looked, the new phantom was none other than Deidara, exactly as he had been in life; the only difference was that this Deidara stood quietly, silent, no longer chattering away as he usually did...

"Looking at it this way, it seems Deidara isn't dead after all, he just suddenly became mute!" Kisame grinned, revealing his sharp teeth, and chuckled sinisterly. "Sasori, your skills are truly remarkable; Deidara looks exactly the same as when he was alive..."

"No... Deidara was killed instantly by Sakura Haruno severing his head; otherwise, he wasn't injured. So, processing him is very simple, and we can get a perfect Human Puppet!" Sasori explained, "I lost many puppets in the battle with her; turning Deidara into a puppet will at least make up for some of the losses..."

"You have absolutely no Deidara whatsoever, Sasori..."

"You have absolutely no understanding of art, Kisame. If Deidara knew I had turned him into an eternal puppet art, he would be very happy," Sasori retorted calmly. "Deidara is someone who understands and appreciates eternity..."

The Art Duo's bizarre understanding of life chilled the rest of Xiao's group.

Even someone like Kakuzu, who is neither human nor ghost, cannot understand what is so great about being turned into a puppet.

Scorpion's words left Xiao speechless for a moment.

"Hey! Luckily I can't die, so I don't have to experience what it's like to become a puppet." Hidan's carefree voice broke the eerie atmosphere.

Sasori's eyes were like knives as he coldly glanced at Hidan: "If you like, I can let you experience what it's like to be turned into a puppet while still alive!"

"That would be so much fun, hehe!" Zetsu, shrouded in the grass, interjected sarcastically, "Besides, Hidan, you're not truly immortal. Last time, you were almost turned into mincemeat by Sakura Haruno's punch... You might not be so lucky next time you face her!"

"Let's get back to the main topic," Pain's icy voice suddenly rang out. "Since we're talking about Sakura Haruno, Zetsu and Sasori, you two might as well give her some background information. We've had quite a bit of dealing with her recently; and I think we'll continue to deal with her in the foreseeable future..."

"Yes, Chief."

Zetsu raised his voice, "To be precise, she's still just a girl, not a woman... According to intelligence, Sakura Haruno is only thirteen years old, a talent similar to Itachi. Konoha really does produce a lot of talent!"

Juezhu glanced at Itachi across from him.

The man with Red Eye simply stared at him quietly, his gaze indifferent, remaining silent.

"She possesses the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, allowing her to use ice as a medium for rapid Body Flicker Technique. She has great strength and quick reflexes. In other aspects, her Water Release, movement speed, and Chakra reserves are also impressive..." Sasori continued Zetsu's words.

"That sounds impressive!" Kisame smiled with interest. "Itachi-san, when you and she were the same age, who was stronger?"

"Comparisons without the Sharingan are meaningless..." Itachi glanced at Kisame and said coldly.

"Isn't that a bit too arrogant of you? After all, the other person is also talented."

"No, it's true..."

Talent? In the face of the Sharingan, talent is nothing.

"Even someone like Orochimaru was defeated in one move by Itachi's Sharingan," Zetsu interjected. "But you need to be careful when you face her. She has a Ninjutsu similar to the Water Severing Wave, only faster and more powerful. Deidara died from that move. Besides, he only lasted two moves against Sakura Haruno before dying!"

"Deidara was a very arrogant person. When you're not strong enough but arrogant, it can easily turn into conceit... He was too careless, and his death was well-deserved," Pain concluded. "In short, you must be careful when facing her in the future. If too many members are lost before the plan begins, it will be very troublesome."

"That's the second thing today. The third thing is to introduce a new member, well, a temporary one, to take Deidara's place."

"Come out, Tobi."

He formed a hand Hand Seals, summoning a new phantom into the cave.

A short-haired man appeared before the crowd, his face vaguely showing a Spiral Mask.

"Greetings, everyone!" The man greeted everyone with a flippant tone as soon as he appeared. "I'm Tobi, nice to meet you!"

However, no one paid him any attention.

Pain continued, "Tobi will take Deidara's place and, using the 'Blue' ring, will temporarily team up with 'Jade,' which is Sasori. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Very good... Now, let's move on to the new action plan." The Akatsuki leader glanced around at the members, and seeing no one seemed inclined to speak, he slowly said, "In the countries and ninja villages where the Jinchūriki's identity and location have been confirmed, temporarily cease all intelligence activities, lie low, and wait until the final capture of the Tailed Beast begins before restarting."

"Furthermore, in other regions, our operations need to be more covert, so that peripheral organizations are more cautious and don't expose themselves..."

He glanced at Kakuzu: "Kakuzu... have the peripheral organizations in the Land of Fire and the surrounding areas that were used for accumulating wealth been dealt with?"

"Those who possessed the true secrets have all been dealt with," Kakuzu said coldly.

Pain didn't ask him how he "finished" it; he simply watched him leave quietly.

"I just received intelligence that the organization I left behind in the Land of Grass has been wiped out... but these remaining peripheral members are unaware of this information. Let the people of Konoha do their work for nothing; they won't be able to find our trail again!"

"However, without these sources of funding, the process of raising funds will be much slower..."

"It doesn't matter if we're a little slower," Pain said calmly. "We have plenty of time. In the next year or two, we'll gather all the intelligence on the Tailed Beast, and then we'll capture them all at once! We can't give the Five Great Nations time to react..."

"Before that, whether you're accumulating wealth, pursuing your personal spiritual practice, or indulging in other hobbies, be careful not to expose yourselves. I don't want to lose any more members before we officially begin the operation."

"Understood, Chief!" Tobi replied with a grin.

The other members of Akatsuki listened silently, without saying a word.

Kakuzu then said in a sinister tone, "If anyone dies, Zetsu, remember to give me their body!"

He turned to Scorpion and added, "Scorpion, you've already taken one, don't try to take another from me...!"

Sasori glanced at Kakuzu indifferently, without saying a word.

Kisame sneered instead, "Kakuzu, the weakest one here is probably you Zombie Combo! Instead of eyeing other people's hearts, I think you'd better worry about your own life. You're being watched by Konoha..."

"Kisame, are you looking for death?" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at him, his face darkening. "I've wanted your heart for a long time..."

"Ridiculous! Even in your prime, you were no match for me," Kisame drew his massive sword from his back, planted it firmly on the ground, and said, "With your current strength..."

"Enough! Although I don't expect you to be friendly to each other, you are still comrades and shouldn't attack each other..." Pain waved his hand.

"One last thing, since Sasori encountered Orochimaru in the Land of Rivers last time, it's likely Orochimaru is hiding in that area recently. Keep an eye out for anyone active in that area... If you spot Orochimaru, kill him without hesitation!"

That concludes the agenda for this gathering. If you need anything in the future, you can contact me individually using your rings. Our plan is nearing its final stage, so please be mindful. The next all-out gathering will likely be in about a year, before we execute our final move!

He stopped and looked around; the crowd remained silent, simply gazing back at their leader.

"The last time everyone was here was eight years ago when Orochimaru defected. I hope that next time we meet, you will all be here..."

"Disband!"

(Second update of 700 words, guaranteed update!! At least two more updates tonight!)

(This is the fourth update, I'll try for five! I haven't broken my promise in the past few days, and I've already updated 80,000 to 90,000 words in the last six days. The update schedule has been pretty good, even the most difficult parts have been updated on time, so! Please vote for me!! Please subscribe!!!)

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