Uchiha An flipped in midair and landed firmly on his feet. He wiped a hand across his face, clearing away the Blood Tears beneath his eyes.
When he looked up again, his vision was indeed a little blurry. But under the nourishment of Yang Release, it soon returned to normal. What's more, as his damaged eyeballs regrew, some of their original defects were repaired as well.
It was easy to imagine that after going through this a few more times, his Mangekyō Sharingan would likely evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo on its own.
Pain descended slowly from the sky, separating the two of them. With a flick of his finger, he sent a ring flying toward Uchiha An and said in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Put on this ring. From now on, you're the Akatsuki Organization's eighth member, codenamed 'North.'"
"Infighting is forbidden within the Akatsuki Organization."
"I don't care what grudge you have against Uchiha Itachi. You're not to fight him to the death again."
Pain stared intently at Uchiha An, looking ready to teach him a lesson if he so much as said the wrong thing.
To his surprise, Uchiha An accepted the ring without hesitation and slipped it onto the middle finger of his left hand. Grinning, he said:
"'North,' huh?"
"South Dipper governs life, while the North Dipper governs death. This ring suits me pretty well."
"Come on, Leader, don't look at me like that!"
"Don't worry. I'm very magnanimous!"
"Sure, I have a grudge against Itachi, but getting revenge doesn't mean I have to kill him."
"Sometimes, being alive is worse than being dead!"
"Just close your eyes and you won't know anything anymore. That'd be such a relief!"
"For a beast like him, killing him would be letting him off too easily!"
"I'll destroy the Konoha Village he loves most and let him experience what hell is really like."
"But, Leader, even though I'm magnanimous enough to put aside my grudge, he doesn't seem to have as much magnanimity as I do. His younger brother dies, and he goes completely berserk."
"Heh heh..."
Pain turned his head and looked coldly at Uchiha Itachi.
"Itachi, what's your position?"
The veins stood out on Uchiha Itachi's face. He clenched his teeth and breathed heavily, his Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on Uchiha An's grinning face as if he wanted to tear him apart.
This continued for a while, until Pain began to lose patience. Only then did Uchiha Itachi slowly close his eyes, raise his sleeve to wipe away the Blood Tears beneath them, and reply in a hoarse voice:
"I understand."
"I'll control my emotions and won't fight him to the death without good reason."
"Good." Pain nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Uchiha An.
"Now that you've joined the Akatsuki Organization, you shouldn't keep wearing Itachi's face. Who are you, really?"
Uchiha An dispelled the Transformation Technique, returning to his true appearance.
"My name is Uchiha An. I used to be an ordinary Jōnin, but with Itachi's 'help,' I awakened my Mangekyō."
"To thank him, I went ahead and chopped off his younger brother's head. I figured that might be a nice way to repay him."
Seeing that Uchiha An was about to provoke Itachi again, Pain furrowed his brow and barked:
"Enough! Stop provoking Itachi!"
"Everyone, return to the village. We need to discuss how to deal with the Konoha Village's coming retaliation."
Thinking of how everything had been caused by the man in front of him, Pain grew annoyed and glared viciously at Uchiha An.
But then he saw Uchiha An suddenly raise his hand high, grinning as he called out:
"Leader, I have something to report!"
"Uchiha Itachi didn't really betray his village. He's Sarutobi Hiruzen's dog, a spy sent by the Konoha Village!"
"If we're going to war with the Konoha Village, we need to get rid of this spy first!"
"Otherwise, we won't even need the Konoha Village to come knocking—everyone's information will already have leaked!"
Pain frowned again.
But during the earlier fight to the death between Uchiha An and Itachi, they'd been so worked up that they'd blurted out all kinds of information.
Pain had heard it clearly: Uchiha Itachi had carried out the clan massacre on the orders of the Konoha Village's leadership.
So the claim that he was a "missing-nin" didn't really hold up. Whether or not he could be trusted was still an open question.
Facing Pain's doubtful gaze, Uchiha Itachi replied coldly:
"Maybe I wasn't a missing-nin from the Konoha Village before. But after this guy impersonated me and caused all that trouble, I don't have a choice anymore."
That was true enough. If a shinobi had killed the Hokage-sama's grandson, abducted the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and directly or indirectly caused the deaths of a large number of the village's elite shinobi, then he'd have no choice but to become a missing-nin.
If anyone could still earn the Konoha Village's forgiveness under those circumstances, he'd have to be someone with powerful connections.
Someone like the Third Hokage's favorite student, or the Seventh Hokage's best buddy.
Pain nodded, settling the matter once and for all:
"Itachi's identity is beyond question. Don't raise doubts about it again."
Uchiha An curled his lip but said nothing.
Outsiders couldn't understand the obsessions of Mangekyo Uchiha. No matter how much anyone explained, it was useless.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was unreasonable to begin with. Judging the actions of Mangekyo Uchiha by common sense was simply a mistake.
Every Mangekyo Uchiha was crazy, without exception.
You had to be mad to survive. Anyone who wasn't crazy enough couldn't awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Seeing that Uchiha An had fallen silent, Pain used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and return to the village.
The others returned to the village one after another, and Uchiha An followed them to Amegakure.
The rain began to fall steadily from the sky again, pattering down as if Uchiha Itachi were crying.
Uchiha An, on the other hand, was in a great mood. As he walked, he looked all around, paying no mind to the murderous glares that occasionally came from behind him. He acted as though Uchiha Itachi wasn't there.
Soon, they reached the High Tower at the center of the village. It was the abode of a god—and the Akatsuki Organization's hideout.
Once they entered the meeting room, everyone took their seats. Pain sat at the head of the table. Beside him sat a man wearing a mask that revealed only one eye. The blood-red Three Tomoe in it unmistakably belonged to Uchiha Obito.
Hadn't this guy always been pulling strings from the shadows? Why had he shown up today?
Was it because he'd brought Uchiha Itachi into the organization?
Or did he think that war with the Konoha Village was about to break out, so there was no need to keep hiding anymore?
He wasn't the only one with questions. The other members of the Akatsuki Organization were also puzzled, unsure who this unfamiliar Uchiha who'd suddenly appeared was.
Noticing their confusion, Pain introduced him:
"This is a collaborator of the Akatsuki Organization, one of the original founders of the Konoha Village. Together with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, he ended the era of warring states and established the shinobi village system. He is a legend of the Ninja World—Uchiha Madara!"
"Oh!" That name was so intimidating that it immediately stunned most of those present. They all drew in a sharp breath.
If someone else had introduced him, they probably wouldn't have believed it. But Pain was incredibly proud, called himself a god, and looked down on everyone. The fact that he was introducing this man so solemnly gave the claim at least some credibility.
Uchiha Obito gave a pretentious nod and was just about to say something when a sudden snort of laughter came from beside him.
"Hahaha..." Uchiha An clutched his stomach, looking as if he were about to roll on the floor. He pointed at Uchiha Obito with one hand, laughing so hard that tears were welling in his eyes.
"With a face like that, you dare call yourself Uchiha Madara?"
"If he's Uchiha Madara, then I'm the Sage of Six Paths Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo!"
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