Nagato Returns, Akatsuki's Secret (First Update)

The Rain Country.

The Akatsuki's cave base was somewhat damp.

Because this base is located in the Rain Country, the rain is never-ending and the caves are filled with water droplets hanging on the cliff walls.

When Shirou Emiya here, he touched the damp wall before stepping into the depths of the Akatsuki Base.

"Sorry, we haven't found a suitable base yet."

Deva Path Pain followed behind Shirou Emiya, proactively introducing the Akatsuki's base. "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is stored inside."

Nagato walked behind them, her steps faltering.

Nagato insisted that he and Konan walk behind, as if they were just two ordinary members of the Akatsuki. He insisted that Pain accompany Shirou Emiya as the Akatsuki Leader.

After being treated by Shirou Emiya, Nagato seemed to have become a completely different person. Although he was still somewhat thin, he was no longer the gaunt figure that Konan found shocking every time she saw him.

However·

This is not without its strange aspects.

Because a mark had appeared Nagato's eyebrows at some point, he looked like the red-haired boy he was when he was fifteen or sixteen.

Although Nagato was still not quite used to walking, he wanted to readjust to the feeling of being able to freely control his body. He was very satisfied with the treatment; he could feel the Chakra and life force gradually filling his body, which was at least enough to support his Rinnegan.

"Nagato!"

Konan saw Nagato almost fall and instinctively tried to support him. "Konan, let me walk by myself for a while."

Nagato refused Konan's help, gently reminding her, "Lord Shirou has said that what I need now is to get used to my legs again."

"Nagato".

Jue's figure walked over.

White Zetsu raised his fingers, intending to use the Spore Technique on Nagato: "If necessary,"

I can prepare a clone for you to assist in your actions—

I will be able to move freely again very soon.

,

Nagato shook his head and resolutely refused the other party's help.

"What a pity."

Black Zetsu's voice sounded somewhat regretful.

"Get well soon."

Shirou Emiya's voice came from ahead, as if casually talking about the future. "If your legs can move freely again soon, you can go out with your teammates Konan and Pain no matter what happens in the future."

"Yes."

A smile finally appeared on Nagato's lips.

Exactly·-·

That was exactly what he was thinking.

Nagato was somewhat pleased because Shirou Emiya was willing to understand him.

In reality, whenever Deva Path Pain goes out, he needs to secretly follow Pain, but he just looks like a mastermind controlling Pain.

From now on, he no longer needs to hide these things. He can even stand openly with Konan beside Pain, just like they stood beside Yahiko back then.

Moreover

With Shirou Emiya, there was no need for him to remain hidden behind the scenes.

After all, he only needed to carry out Shirou Emiya's peaceful will; he still preferred to act with his former teammates.

Furthermore, Nagato did not consider himself a qualified leader.

Even though he kept manipulating Pain, it was just like he had a mental problem, creating a false illusion that Yahiko was still leading the Akatsuki to satisfy himself.

"There are very few members in the Akatsuki now—"

Deva Path Pain, as always, acted like a dutiful leader, earnestly explaining the internal situation of the Akatsuki to their mentor: ("The entire organization consists of only four teams: me and Konan, Zetsu and that guy who calls himself Madara, Orochimaru and Sasori of the Red Sand, and Kakuzu and—"

At this point, Deva Path Pain seemed to remember something and turned to ask Konan, "Konan, what are the names of Kakuzu's current teammates?"

"No teammates."

Konan gave a helpless reminder, her brows furrowing as she fell into deep melancholy. "The previous teammate had a bounty of 1.5 million taels at the Exchange House, so he accidentally killed his teammate during the mission and exchanged the teammate's body for money."

Everyone present fell into a deep silence.

"That Kakuzu— "

White Zetsu couldn't help but feel troubled by Kakuzu's situation, and sighed helplessly, "When will we stop treating his teammates as mission targets?!"

After White Zetsu finished speaking, he looked at Konan and Nagato and asked, "Speaking of which, why did you two insist on recruiting that troublesome guy Kakuzu in the first place?"

Kakuzu really too much trouble for White Zetsu!

After all, White Zetsu and Konan were always responsible for recruiting people. White Zetsu was responsible for finding suitable people, and Konan was responsible for recruiting them. Kakuzu's existence was a huge burden for him.

"Because Kakuzu- senpai is strong enough."

Nagato's mindset seemed to have returned to that of his youth; his expression was very serious, and his words were not as cold as Pain's, showing great respect for Kakuzu's identity.

"Kakuzu— "

Shirou Emiya couldn't help but think of this person from long ago.

"Kakuzu- senpai has always highly recognized Lord Shirou's will."

When Nagato mentioned Kakuzu, he inevitably brought up Kakuzu's attitude towards Shirou Emiya, asking, "Did Lord Shirou have any dealings with Kakuzu- Kakuzu? I heard that Kakuzu was quite active before the First Shinobi World War."

"He's someone I knew before, I suppose."

Shirou Emiya's Otogakure into the dimly lit base.

"They should be back soon."

Konan calculated the time based on the habits of the Akatsuki members.

Deep within the Akatsuki's base.

There is a huge statue here.

The statue was extremely ugly, resembling a human figure with nine eyes on its head and skin as withered as a dead tree.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Or rather, it is the Ten-Tails' Husk.

Even though it's just a shell, it possesses vigorous vitality and great strength, standing deep within the base as if it were a living thing that could revive at any moment.

Certainly.

Its true purpose is not combat.

Only when all nine Tailed Beast Nine Tailed Beasts of the Shinobi World are collected and their Chakra is poured into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path can it be truly resurrected and possess immense power.

When the Akatsuki members return, they will see the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. They also know that the Akatsuki's plan is to collect the Tailed Beast to revive the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. However, judging from the current small number of Akatsuki members, they all think that this plan is a bit difficult.

After all, the Tailed Beast are mostly in the hands of the Great Ninja Village.

The Akatsuki was slightly weaker than the tens of thousands of ninjas from the Five Great Nations. Trying to snatch the Tailed Beast from those great nations would inevitably result in a thunderous attack, and once the plan was exposed, it would likely attract an attack from the five great nations.

Therefore·

The current Akatsuki members don't have much hope, as they are all S-Rank Missing-nin and simply see the organization as a temporary refuge.

For Kakuzu, the Akatsuki was passable.

Because this organization can provide him with many high-value commissions.

Although the teammates provided by this organization are not very capable, and are often villains, they can still be exchanged for a fortune for him.

As for Orochimaru, who harbored ulterior motives, when he and his teammate Sasori of the Red Sand returned to the Akatsuki's base, the two planned to go back to the base's laboratory, one to continue researching his own techniques and the other to continue researching his own puppets, occasionally exchanging a few sarcastic remarks.

However, today is clearly an exception.

Konan informed the three of them to go deep into the base where the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is located, where they would be welcoming a new member and announcing some important matters.

"Any new faces?"

Kakuzu didn't care about such things.

If the Akatsuki recruits only the most heinous S-Rank Missing-nin in the Shinobi World, Kakuzu hopes that the bounties for these new recruits are high enough.

"Is this newcomer my teammate?"

Kakuzu stood before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, turned to Konan, and, as always, spoke bluntly, "Konan, could you help me find a teammate with a high bounty?"

Konan's face immediately contorted with pain as she took a deep breath and advised, "Your Akatsuki comrades aren't for you to exchange for money—"

"But their strength is too weak, and they can easily die in battle. We can't let such valuable corpses go to waste."

Kakuzu's face was somewhat indifferent, showing no concern whatsoever for the so-called comrades, "I don't consider them my comrades, just teammates on missions together."

I don't need any companions.

When he was in Waterfall Village, he regarded the village's ninjas as his comrades, but they chose to abandon and betray him, and even wanted to kill him.

Companion?

None of these are reliable.

The Akatsuki's teammates were less reliable than those stupid Uzumaki Clan. At least those red-haired guys wouldn't embezzle his money or try to hurt him. Apart from some of the kids being a bit clingy, there was nothing else that made him unhappy.

However, others shared the same thought.

Even Orochimaru and his teammate Sasori of the Red Sand couldn't stand each other. If they weren't mutually unable to kill each other, they probably would have already taken action. Sasori of the Red Sand was S-Rank Missing-nin from Hidden Sand Village who secretly assassinated the Third Kazekage of Hidden Sand Village and chose to defect. He was a powerful puppeteer who only cared about his puppet art and considered his puppets to be his companions.

"Snort-"

"You're wasting my time—"

Sasori of the Red Sand usually enjoys studying puppets and has no interest in welcoming newcomers; his voice was noticeably cold.

"Perhaps he'll be a very interesting person—."

Orochimaru's lips curled up. He was quite interested in the newcomers to the Akatsuki, as Orochimaru enjoyed encountering interesting abilities.

If·-

It would be even better if the other person's abilities were so interesting that he could take over their body.

If-·

If he's not interested...

Orochimaru, of course, would not choose to leave.

Orochimaru also wanted to obtain the Rinnegan of the Akatsuki Leader, especially since he sacrificed the last Crystal Coffin in the world to revive Shirou Emiya for the Rinnegan!

But that important person is really troublesome.

Yesterday, Yakushi Kabuto delivered a message that Shirou Emiya wanted to leave the base, seemingly wanting to change this dark world just as he had done to quell the Fourth Shinobi World War.

He was still such an innocent and kind person Shinobi World was completely different from what it was forty years ago Shirou Emiya's prestige was no longer what it was forty years ago. All the ninjas in the Shinobi World were fighting for their own village's interests. There would never be anyone willing to completely give up their interests to open a prison just because of his words.

The Kage of these major ninja villages— Hidden Stone Village, Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Sand Village, Konoha, Hidden Mist Village —have begun to resort to underhanded methods in their frequent conflicts for the sake of their villages.

The ninjas, whose ninja way has long been Ninja Way by greed, will no longer believe in naive will like their predecessors.

And even if things change, what difference will it make?

The world has ultimately reached this point; everyone has their own greed, everyone has their own desires.

Sooner or later, the world will slowly turn into a place where ninjas fight, deceive, and betray each other for their own benefit.

Orochimaru planned to find a time to quietly escape Sasori of the Red Sand's surveillance and return to the base to persuade Shirou Emiya to give up his naive idea and let him know that this dark world was already beyond saving.

Konan looked at Orochimaru, a hint of coldness appearing in her eyes.

Konan wanted to kill Orochimaru when he returned to the Orochimaru Akatsuki Base, because he was very likely a spy sent by Shimura Danzo to spy on Akatsuki!

But-

Konan wasn't absolutely certain.

Even Deva Path Pain, wasn't absolutely certain he could kill him.

"It will interest you."

Konan watched as Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous glint in them. "This new recruit is very strong, and he's someone I used to know—"

"Is that so?"

Orochimaru immediately became interested.

Even Kakuzu and Sasori of the Red Sand were intrigued.

"I've taken up your time."

Deva Path Pain cultivator, stood atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Looking down at the crowd below, he spoke in a deep voice, "Let me introduce you. Our first newcomer is Nagato. From now on, he will be my partner and Konan's partner, and we will act together."

After saying that.

A red-haired boy stepped out.

When the red-haired boy appeared, Sasori of the Red Sand seemed completely oblivious, while only Kakuzu and Orochimaru showed some surprise.

Because·-·

I've seen this boy before.

It's been a long time since I last saw him, and he doesn't look like he's grown up at all. In fact, he still has the Rinnegan in his eyes!

"Isn't this kid one of your former companions?"

Kakuzu frowned, recalling the past stories of the red-haired boy, Pain, and Konan. He didn't understand what had happened behind the scenes.

When Kakuzu joined Akatsuki, he found it strange because he recognized that Pain looked a lot like Yahiko in the past, only younger. Now, how come Nagato, this brat, also looks so young?

"Kakuzu- senpai."

Nagato bowed politely to Kakuzu, still appearing very courteous, just like the boy who once learned about his mother's clan from Kakuzu and received bread from Kakuzu.

Konan stood beside Nagato and softly explained to Kakuzu, "Nagato was sick before..."

He has only recently recovered.

"Oh."

Kakuzu immediately lost interest.

For him, Nagato being assigned to Pain's team, and the three former brats reuniting, was not surprising at all.

What's going on?

Is this the kind of newcomer they are?

Only Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a narrow light as he looked at Nagato's Rinnegan and then at Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan.

"Two pairs— Rinnegan— "

In addition to this

There was another thing that Orochimaru found strange.

Orochimaru had seen Nagato in this state before, which reminded him of his former friend, "This kid has learned the Mitotic Regeneration and is using it to maintain his peak condition. I remember this technique was invented by Tsunade. Tsunade must have cured his illness and taught it to him, right?"

Konan, Nagato, Pain (Yahiko).

During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru and Tsunade met these former brats.

They also knew that they were Jiraiya's disciples, and that only Tsunade in the entire Shinobi World had the possibility and motivation to heal Nagato and teach him the Mitotic Regeneration.

"Next—"

"This is an important matter concerning the future of the Akatsuki."

Deva Path Pain looked at everyone present, his voice becoming serious. "Everything in the Akatsuki originated from the will of a truly great person. Perhaps you have heard of his name, and some of you may even have seen him—"