A Deal with Black Zetsu

After everyone else had left, Danzo said to the Third Hokage, full of self-satisfaction:

"Hiruzen, you have finally realized the importance of Root. Speak, what do you need me to do for you?"

The Third Hokage put his pipe back into his mouth, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he said:

"Contact Uchiha Itachi privately and see what intelligence he has that we can utilize."

"What?" Danzo immediately blew up again. "Contact that evil Uchiha?"

"He has already betrayed the village and is completely untrustworthy; he is a target that must be eliminated!"

"His intelligence is bound to be fake!"

The Third Hokage tapped his pipe against the desk. Without even looking up, he replied:

"Minato said before that he saw two Uchiha Itachis, so one of them must be an impostor."

"That must be a Shadow Clone!" Danzo retorted without a second thought.

"Why couldn't it be a Transformation Technique?"

"Susanoo cannot be faked!"

"The Anbu ninja reported earlier that Uchiha An's entire family went missing. Perhaps they didn't die and even awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"Then both of them deserve to die! The evil Uchiha—not a single one can be spared!"

The two went back and forth, their pace quickening and their voices rising higher and higher until they were practically screaming at the top of their lungs.

Finally, the Third Hokage had no choice but to bring out his trump card once again.

He slammed his hand heavily onto the desk and shouted:

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

Danzo stormed out of the Hokage Building in a huff once again. However, after returning to Root, he pondered for a moment before still summoning a ninja and ordering him to make secret contact with Uchiha Itachi.

After all, he knew better than anyone whether or not Uchiha Itachi was truly a rogue ninja.

When it came to intelligence, using Itachi as an undercover mole was indeed the most effective method.

As for whether or not to discard him after use, that would depend on whether this piece of toilet paper known as Itachi still had any value for recycling later on!

Amegakure.

Uchiha An woke up, climbed out of bed feeling refreshed, and after a quick wash, headed out to grab some breakfast.

He descended the high tower, donned the Black Cloak with Red Clouds that Konan had prepared for him, and strolled leisurely down the street.

Seeing him in this attire, the villagers and merchants of the Land of Rain greeted him with warm smiles.

Clearly, the uniform of the Akatsuki Organization was no secret to the locals. However, the Akatsuki had built such a strong foundation of public support that no one had ever leaked information about them to the outside world.

He found a random noodle shop and ate a bowl of noodles. While it wasn't as delicious as Teuchi's Ichiraku Ramen, the taste was decent enough.

After finishing his meal, he wandered slowly along the street.

The Land of Rain was exceptionally well-governed by the Akatsuki. The people were far removed from the threat of war, and there were far more smiles on their faces.

If one were to ask which country among all others was free of bandits, it would undoubtedly be the Land of Rain.

Even the Five Great Shinobi Countries couldn't achieve this.

Ninjas only suppressed bandits when they were assigned a mission; they never took the initiative to maintain public order.

Because that would be overstepping their authority.

Maintaining order was the prerogative of the nobility, not something the ninja villages could interfere with.

Otherwise, given the military strength of each village, if they sent a few teams led by Jonin to sweep through, what bandit could possibly survive within their borders?

Only in a place like the Land of Rain, where the Daimyo had likely been the first to experience "pain" and was subsequently wiped out by the Akatsuki, could such order exist.

Furthermore, another factor that usually caused chaos in public security—the Bounty Station—had absolutely no presence in the Land of Rain.

Right now, Kakuzu hadn't arrived yet, so the Bounty Station could still exist. Once Kakuzu showed up, the people at the Bounty Station would starve to death!

Feeling the governance model, which was completely different from Konohagakure, Uchiha An remained entirely indifferent.

This was something for Nagato to worry about; he couldn't care less.

As he was walking around, he had just turned into a secluded alley when the ground in front of him suddenly rippled, and Zetsu emerged from it once again.

"Tsk, what do you want now?" An asked, looking impatient.

Black Zetsu wore a grave expression and said with great seriousness:

"After talking with you earlier, I realized a serious problem."

"That is, that guy Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo will not easily let me rescue Mother."

"Therefore, I must revise the plan now and take those two brothers into consideration as well."

"Hey, An, tell me, where are they hiding now?"

"Hmph!" Uchiha An let out a cold snort. "Why should I tell you? What's in it for me?"

"I promise you, I will help you destroy Konohagakure!"

"Tch!" Uchiha An curled his lip and sneered. "That is the price you are paying for me to keep your plan a secret. You can't sell the same goods twice!"

"...Then what do you want?"

"What do I want?" Uchiha An looked up at the sky, watching the gloomy, weeping clouds that mirrored his own heart at this moment.

His eyes were hollow, and his voice was filled with confusion.

"What do I want?"

"I don't even know what I want!"

After a long silence, he slowly said:

"I want revenge!"

"But revenge is not something I can leave to others. I have to do it myself, and I am capable of doing it. I don't need you."

"But revenge also requires strength. I can provide you with all sorts of forbidden techniques and secret arts..." Black Zetsu stopped halfway through his sentence, remembering Uchiha An's Mangekyo Sharingan, and fell silent.

"Ah, right!" An suddenly clapped his hands together, remembering something. "I want to resurrect my parents! I want to resurrect the entire Uchiha Clan!"

"Hey, Zetsu, the Outer Path: Rebirth Technique can bring people back to life."

"You're going to resurrect Uchiha Madara in the future anyway, so resurrecting a few more people along the way shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"It's not as easy as you make it sound!" Black Zetsu's black face almost turned white with anger. "The Rebirth Technique requires using Yin Release to summon the souls of the dead back from the Underworld, and then using Yang Release to replenish a massive amount of Life Force to bring them back to life."

"Using this technique consumes the user's own Life Force!"

"If the person died recently and the body hasn't gone cold yet, then naturally, you can resurrect them in large numbers."

"But if they have been dead for a long time and their Life Force has completely dissipated, then the amount of Life Force required to replenish them is immense."

"If you want to resurrect the entire Uchiha Clan, even if you drained Nagato dry, you wouldn't be able to achieve your goal!"

"If there's no Nagato, isn't there still Obito?" An glared, speaking viciously. "If you squeeze him a little harder, won't you have everything you need?"

"They're just your tools, don't tell me you're reluctant to use them!"

"Even with Obito, it's not enough!" Black Zetsu was also getting annoyed. "Do you think resurrection is like buying cabbage? You can just do it whenever you want?"

"Hmph!" An actually knew deep down that this was unrealistic. After grumbling a bit, he lowered his demands. "Then just resurrect my parents and my younger brother. That should be enough, right?"

"I have already brought out the remains of my family, so there is no need to use White Zetsu as a vessel for the resurrection!"

"Hmm... your parents and younger brother are just ordinary people; the consumption would indeed be low." Black Zetsu lowered his head, frowning as he thought it over carefully. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally nodded in agreement.

"Good, it's a deal. Once the Ten-Tails is resurrected, when we revive Madara, we will revive your parents and brother along with him."

"That's too long. I want to see them resurrected right after the destruction of Konoha!"

"That's impossible! Nagato and Obito still have their uses!"

"What does that have to do with me? Don't think I don't know that as soon as Madara is revived, you will initiate your plan to release Ōtsutsuki Kaguya!"

"I have changed my plans! I will not begin the rescue operation until I have dealt with those two animals, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura!"

"Hmph, you had better not play any tricks! Otherwise, watch out, or I will ruin your plans!"

"You are the only one who knows the location where Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and the others are hiding; I will not break my word!"

"It had better stay that way."

After a brief argument, the two finally reached an agreement.

After the destruction of Konoha, they would first join forces to "persuade" Nagato to resurrect An's younger brother, Uchiha Sachi.

As a mere child, the consumption would not be great, and the lost Life Force would be replenished for Nagato by An's ocular power.

In return, An would disclose the location of Ōtsutsuki Hamura to Black Zetsu, allowing Black Zetsu to silence him.

When Uchiha Madara is resurrected, An's parents will be revived as well.