After several hours of travel, Itachi Uchiha and the others arrived at the border of Kusagakure. Beyond the boundary marked by the endless rain lay the Land of Rain.
Just then, Itachi Uchiha and the others all came to a halt, looking at the two expressionless figures ahead.
The Heavenly Path swept his gaze over the Akatsuki members before finally settling on Itachi Uchiha. In a low voice, he asked, "How did the investigation into Kusagakure go?"
Itachi Uchiha stepped forward and gave a detailed account of what they had encountered inside Kusagakure.
What had appeared to be a simple mission had unexpectedly brought them face-to-face with the Leader of Uzushio and the Konoha Sannin. Kusagakure had even played them for fools, so none of them looked particularly pleased.
Yet after hearing the details of the mission, the Heavenly Path nodded in satisfaction. "You did very well this time. It is time to carry out the next step of the plan—take control of Kusagakure."
At those words, Kakuzu and Hidan looked confused. Itachi and Kisame exchanged a glance, immediately realizing something.
Their acceptance of Kusagakure's commission had been a pretense, and even the investigation of Kusagakure had merely been a cover. Their true objective was to find a suitable excuse to take control of Kusagakure. Even they had not known the specifics of the plan.
But wasn't Akatsuki's plan to collect the tailed beasts? Would attacking Kusagakure so rashly alert the surrounding shinobi villages?
Still, as a spy, Itachi Uchiha was somewhat pleased. The more attention Akatsuki drew, the safer his village would be.
A few hours later, the Heavenly Path led everyone into Kusagakure.
Kusagakure was in chaos. Most of its shinobi and residents were busy dealing with the buildings Satori had destroyed, paying no attention at all to