Akatsuki's Movements

Inside a dimly lit cave.

Several phantom figures stood atop stone pillars. They were members of the Akatsuki Organization, holding a meeting through the Rinnegan's Limbo: Heavenly Illusory Body Technique.

Deva Path Pain, standing at the head, slowly opened his Rinnegan.

Immense ocular power pressed down, and the people who had been discussing fell silent.

Pain slowly spoke.

"This time, what are your thoughts on the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha?"

"Leader, that's five hundred million! You have to let me go!"

Kakuzu, the man who loved money most in the shinobi world, clearly could not resist the temptation of five hundred million.

"Mm..." Pain gave a nasal hum.

Kakuzu's reaction was within his expectations, but that was not all he wanted to hear.

Jūzō Biwa and Kisame Hoshigaki each had their own thoughts and said nothing.

Jūzō Biwa had been contacted by people from the Hidden Mist Village, who explained that Karatachi Yagura had been under control before, which was what had caused the chaos in the Hidden Mist Village.

Now that Karatachi Yagura had recovered, he wanted to properly rebuild the Hidden Mist Village and the Land of Water. The Hidden Mist Village had pardoned Jūzō for his defection and hoped he would return.

He was still hesitating.

Unlike Jūzō Biwa, who loved the Land of Water, Kisame Hoshigaki had developed severe psychological problems after spending so many years assassinating his companions.

He had begun to question his own existence. He did not know where to go, nor where he could find peace.

Only after Obito, wearing Madara Uchiha's mask, fed him a string of lies did he join this organization.

To be precise, Kisame's trust in Madara—Obito—currently surpassed his trust in Pain.

However, Obito had yet to appear openly, and his cooperation with Nagato was still in its honeymoon phase.

Kisame did not know about all the twists and turns involved, so he remained quite loyal to the organization.

He did not care for money. He was merely searching for his true self, so he never answered questions involving planning like this.

He simply waited for assignments and carried them out.

He had noticed that something had been off with Jūzō lately, and he wanted to investigate what was going on.

"Hehehe... Quite a few people want that five hundred million. Your competitors have probably already arrived in Konoha."

As the organization's intelligence officer, Zetsu spoke.

His true identity was the fusion of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, though only Obito knew that for now.

Kakuzu gave a snort. "If Konoha's Hokage's Assistant could be assassinated that easily, he wouldn't be worth five hundred million."

"Compared to the five hundred million for assassinating Danzo, the clash between Konoha and the Uchiha is far more important."

"Perhaps this is the opening act of the Fourth Shinobi World War."

Sasori's hoarse voice came from within Hiruko.

Having defected years ago and destroyed several small countries, Sasori had seen this sort of situation many times—countries weakened by war only to be invaded afterward. He immediately saw where the real problem lay.

Kakuzu let out a muffled laugh.

"Wouldn't that be even better? If Konoha is attacked and the shinobi world falls into chaos afterward, wouldn't that make it more suitable for us to act?"

Hearing those words, a flicker of emotion passed through Jūzō Biwa's eyes before quickly disappearing.

Konan spoke. "Whether Konoha and the Uchiha will actually fight is still uncertain, but we should send people over first."

"Assassination is my specialty," Jūzō Biwa said.

"I'll go take a look too."

Kisame Hoshigaki seemed to have become interested.

"How could something like this leave me out?" Kakuzu was the most eager of them all.

"I want to collect a few Uchiha Human Puppets." Sasori also expressed his interest.

Seeing that everyone wanted to go, Pain fell silent for a moment.

"Then Konan will lead the team."

"When the time comes, act according to the situation."

Everyone responded before disconnecting one after another, leaving only Konan and Pain behind.

Only when he was alone with Konan

did Pain show a little more emotion.

"Konan, see if you can take Danzo's life this time."

Back then, Danzo and Hanzō had plotted to capture Konan, leaving Yahiko with no choice but to kill himself in Nagato's arms.

That became a lifelong pain for Nagato and Konan.

No matter how Nagato's thinking had changed, his hatred for Danzo would not lessen in the slightest.

It was just that Danzo had always kept himself holed up in his Root.

Even ordinary Konoha civilians rarely knew of Danzo.

Outsiders had even less chance of knowing his whereabouts.

Danzo, who rarely saw daylight year-round, scarcely ever left Konoha.

Naturally, Nagato and Konan had no way to take revenge.

But things were different now. Oppressed by Danzo, the Uchiha Clan had directly clashed with Konoha.

On the second day after the conflict broke out, Itachi had defected from Konoha and posted a bounty in the black market for Danzo's life.

He clearly knew that Konoha would certainly protect Danzo.

With things developing this way, as long as a single spark appeared, Konoha and the Uchiha could easily erupt into open conflict.

Such chaos was when opportunities were most plentiful.

Konan naturally understood what Pain meant. "I know. If I get the chance, I won't let Danzo go!"

Pain pondered briefly. "You can make contact with the Uchiha Clan."

Konan asked in confusion, "You mean?"

Pain said calmly, "'Madara Uchiha' must have come into conflict with the Uchiha, which was why he no longer had enough ocular power to keep controlling Karatachi Yagura."

"He had always kept himself shrouded in mystery. I suspect that Kyūsuke's and Daibutsu's deaths back then were connected to him."

"If he really is Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha will definitely recognize him."

"Alternatively, cooperating with the Uchiha to kill Danzo is also feasible."

"If the Uchiha and Konoha start fighting, perhaps we can seize the most crucial thing first and begin the plan ahead of schedule."

Of course, Konan knew what that most crucial thing was.

The Nine-Tails!

The strongest among the Nine Tailed Beasts, and also one of the most difficult to obtain.

If Konoha descended into chaos, it would not be impossible to snatch chestnuts from the fire!

Konan said calmly, "If there's an opportunity, I will."

Pain instructed, "You go ahead first. My control over the Rinnegan has improved again, and I'm practicing a new technique."

Konan could tell that Pain intended to come in person, and she was somewhat worried.

"There are too many people around Konoha right now, and things are too complicated. It's too dangerous for you to come."

"Your body can't withstand a prolonged battle!"

Pain fell silent for a moment. His true body, Nagato, had previously been drained into a dried husk by the spikes of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

He had only recovered slightly by now. He truly could not handle an extended battle.

"If there's no opportunity to capture the Nine-Tails, don't reveal too much information about the organization."

Hearing Pain's words, Konan relaxed slightly.

No one else mattered to her. Nagato was the only one she cared about.

"I'll see whether any suitable people show up that we can recruit."

The Akatsuki Organization was already short on both money and manpower, and now bounty hunters with any amount of skill throughout the ninja world were all heading for Konoha.

Naturally, this was also a good time to recruit people.