In an instant, the eyes of every Akatsuki member in the underground palace converged on the figure emerging from the shadows. The other party wore a cloak, their face hidden beneath the hood, making their features impossible to discern.
Yet merely from the faint chakra emanating from them, the Akatsuki members all inexplicably felt as though thorns were pressing against their backs.
After a moment, Sasori spoke on Akatsuki's behalf. "Who are you?"
The cloaked figure smiled. "You may call me Jigen."
"Jigen...?"
Sasori searched his memories carefully but found no relevant intelligence. This meant that "Jigen" was either an unknown nobody or not his real name.
Isshiki glanced at Sasori and smiled. "You're Sasori of the Red Sands, aren't you? Is that puppet before you made from Hiruko's corpse?"
"Hmph, it seems you've done quite a bit of homework."
Sasori frowned slightly.
After Obito was defeated in the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasori, who had been controlled by Obito's genjutsu, successfully broke free of it. However, he did not leave Akatsuki because of that.
For one thing, Sasori's loyalty to Nagato had only existed because Nagato was strong enough. Once he learned that Nagato had been defeated by Obito, he naturally no longer felt loyal to him.
For another, as the murderer who had assassinated the Third Kazekage, there was nowhere left for him in the Ninja World except Akatsuki.
Thus, although he was furious at having been controlled by Obito's genjutsu, he ultimately chose to compromise.
Much like Sasori, after Nagato and Konan disappeared one after another, Kakuzu and Hidan, who had split off from Nagato's faction, also accepted Obito's recruitment and returned to Akatsuki.
Isshiki smiled. "I would not have chosen to cooperate with Akatsuki if I did not understand you well enough."
"Cooperate?!" Sasori sneered. "Akatsuki's