"Akatsuki?!"
"What? The Leaf has been targeted by Akatsuki!"
"Lord Jiraiya, is the information reliable?"
Everyone was shocked. Their faces turned deathly pale in an instant.
Everyone present had heard of the infamous Akatsuki Organization, to some extent.
It was an extremely dangerous organization made up of wanted criminals from various countries—and every one of them was incredibly powerful!
The higher-ups in the Leaf had been keeping an eye on Akatsuki for a long time. Its members were all ruthless, bloodthirsty killers.
They also frequently incited wars between smaller nations, using them to make huge sums of money.
Many small countries had fallen into their hands, their nations destroyed because of Akatsuki!
"I'm certain of what I saw. Akatsuki has definitely targeted the Leaf!" Jiraiya said gravely.
"Before the One-Tail went completely berserk, I'd already rushed back from the Forest of Death to help.
"But just after I got back to the village, I spotted someone standing on the Hokage Rock, watching the Leaf. He was wearing a black robe and had a black-and-white face.
"His abilities were highly unusual. By the time I caught up with him, he'd already escaped underground."
During all the years Jiraiya had spent traveling, he hadn't merely been sneaking peeks at beautiful women. He'd also secretly gathered plenty of intelligence.
At first sight, he'd known that the man was definitely part of Akatsuki!
Everyone's faces turned grim. Villages targeted by Akatsuki rarely came to a good end.
The Leaf was already struggling to rebuild, and now Akatsuki had set its sights on them. It was like adding insult to injury.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked troubled. He hadn't received the slightest hint that Akatsuki was targeting the Leaf.
In theory, he should have heard about something like this from Uchiha Itachi long ago.
*Had Itachi been