After leaving the Land of Waves, Itachi and Kisame gradually slowed their pace.
Their trip to the Land of Waves had resulted in heavy losses. Not only had they lost precious Dojutsu power, but Kisame had also lost his favored weapon, the great sword Samehada, causing his combat strength to drop considerably.
However, they had learned quite a bit of useful information during the battle.
Itachi learned that Shisui had already led the clan members to settle down, while Kisame learned that the Fourth Mizukage had broken free from control. These were both things they had once desperately wanted.
The only flaw was that these changes had happened only after they left.
After reflecting for a moment, Itachi and Kisame prepared to contact their leader, Pain. Then, as ripples spread through space, Obito appeared before them once more.
Seeing Obito, Itachi frowned and asked, "Madara, weren't you allied with the Leader of Uzushio?"
After the earlier battle, Itachi understood that Obito had been the one behind this conflict with Uzushio Village. Otherwise, Akatsuki and Uzushio Village would never have had any conflict of interest.
Kisame also looked at Obito with great interest, hoping he would offer an explanation.
Hearing this, Obito's expression turned somewhat grim, but he still explained, "Uzumaki Menma's ambitions are too great. Not only has he taken over the Land of Whirlpools and Kirigakure, he has also extended his hand into the Land of Waves. If we don't take him down early, it will be detrimental to our later plans."
"I just didn't expect his strength to exceed my imagination."
Hearing that, Itachi narrowed his eyes, his thoughts stirring. It seemed Madara was not as invincible as he had imagined. Aside from Leader Pain, there were other shinobi he feared.
As though sensing Itachi's thoughts, Obito snorted