Half a month later, Amegakure.
While Yuhara was carrying out some of his plans, the others had not been idle either. In fact, several schemes had been steadily moving forward all this time.
The Akatsuki organization was expanding, and its members were gathering.
Several days earlier, Orochimaru had finally shown himself in Amegakure again, which meant he had returned to the organization. At the same time, Obito Uchiha's persuasion had borne fruit, and he had brought back Uchiha Itachi, who had defected from Konoha.
At that moment, every existing member of the Akatsuki except Obito Uchiha had gathered in a secret room somewhere inside Amegakure. That included Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan, Orochimaru, and Uchiha Itachi, who had just been lured into the organization by their brainwashing operation... Well, the reason they had all gathered together was to hold a meeting.
"You've all seen the recent upheaval in the Land of Fire. If we consider the matter from the worst possible angle, Konoha's Hokage has essentially reorganized all the resources of the Land of Fire. Without a doubt, Konoha will become even more troublesome from now on, and that is clearly disadvantageous to our future plans." Once everyone had arrived, Pain spoke first.
Although they were all in the same room, they were spaced far apart from one another. The distance between them was almost like a wall around their hearts. It could not be said that everyone here was harboring ulterior motives, but at the very least, Orochimaru's intentions were difficult to discern.
Orochimaru said nothing. His gaze swept around the room, pausing first on Uchiha Itachi, then on Yahiko, the "Deva Path."
Nagato, hidden behind Pain, was highly sensitive to that gaze, so I immediately locked onto Orochimaru's figure.
"...The organization hasn't gained any new members, but it