After everyone had left, Danzo finally turned to the Third Hokage with smug satisfaction.
"Hiruzen, you've finally realized how important Root is. Tell me, what do you need my help with?"
The Third Hokage put his pipe back in his mouth and puffed out clouds of smoke.
"Contact Uchiha Itachi in secret and see what information he has that we can use."
"What?" Danzo exploded again. "Contact that evil Uchiha?"
"He's already betrayed the village. He can't be trusted, and he has to be eliminated!"
"His information is bound to be fake!"
The Third Hokage tapped his pipe against the desk without even looking up.
"Minato said before that he saw two Uchiha Itachis, so one of them must have been an impostor."
"That was definitely a Shadow Clone!" Danzo shot back without missing a beat.
"Why couldn't it have been a Transformation Technique?"
"You can't fake Susanoo!"
"Anbu reported earlier that Uchiha An's entire family had disappeared. Maybe he survived and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Then they both deserve to die! Not one of those evil Uchiha can be spared!"
The two of them traded retorts faster and faster, their voices rising until they were practically shouting at each other.
In the end, the Third Hokage had no choice but to play his trump card again.
He slammed his hand on the desk and roared,
"Danzo, I'm the Hokage!"
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Danzo stormed out of the Hokage Building once more. But after returning to Root and thinking it over, he still summoned a shinobi and ordered him to contact Uchiha Itachi in secret.
After all, Danzo knew better than anyone whether Itachi really was a rogue ninja.
Itachi was indeed the best person to turn to for inside information.
As for whether he should be thrown away afterward, that depended on whether that piece of toilet paper still had any use once Danzo was done wiping his ass with it!
Amegakure.
Uchiha An woke up from a good night's sleep, got out of bed feeling refreshed, washed up, then went out for breakfast.
He descended from the High Tower, put on the Black Cloak with Red Clouds Konan had prepared for him, and wandered casually down the street.
The villagers and merchants of the Land of Rain all greeted him with warm smiles when they saw what he was wearing.
Clearly, the Akatsuki Organization's clothing wasn't a secret to the locals. Still, the organization had done a good job building support among the people, and no one had leaked information to the outside.
He picked a noodle shop at random and had a bowl of noodles. They weren't as good as Teuchi's Ichiraku Ramen, but they tasted pretty good.
After eating, he strolled leisurely along the street.
The Akatsuki Organization governed the Land of Rain remarkably well. The people were no longer threatened by war, and smiles had become more common.
Of all the countries, there was no doubt that the Land of Rain was the only one without bandits.
Even the Five Great Shinobi Countries couldn't manage that.
Shinobi only went after bandits when they received a mission. They never took it upon themselves to keep the peace.
That would be overstepping their authority.
Maintaining public order was the nobles' right, not something the shinobi villages could interfere with.
Otherwise, with the military strength of the villages, all it would take would be a few Jōnin leading a sweep. What bandits could possibly remain within the borders?
Only in a place like the Land of Rain had even the Daimyo likely been the first to suffer, only to be killed by the Akatsuki Organization.
The Bounty Station, another factor that contributed to disorder, had no presence at all in the Land of Rain.
Kakuzu hadn't arrived yet, so the Bounty Station was still around. Once Kakuzu showed up, its people would starve to death!
As he experienced a style of governance completely different from Konoha's, Uchiha An couldn't have cared less.
Those were things Nagato cared about. He didn't.
He was wandering around when he turned into a secluded alley. Suddenly, the ground ahead rippled, and Zetsu emerged from it again.
"Tch, what do you want now?" An asked, looking impatient.
Black Zetsu's expression was grave. He spoke with complete seriousness.
"After talking with you earlier, I realized there's a serious problem."
"Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo won't let me rescue Mother so easily."
"So I have to revise my plan and take those two brothers into account as well."
"Hey, An, tell me where they're hiding now."
"Hmph!" Uchiha An snorted. "Why should I tell you? What do I get out of it?"
"I'll help you destroy Konoha!"
"Pah!" Uchiha An curled his lip and sneered. "That's the price you're paying for me to keep your plan secret. You can't sell the same thing twice!"
"...Then what do you want?"
"What do I want?" Uchiha An looked up at the sky, at the gloomy clouds weeping without end, like his own heart.
His eyes were vacant, his voice full of confusion.
"What do I want?"
"I don't even know what I want!"
After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly.
"I want revenge!"
"But I can't leave revenge to someone else. I have to do it myself, and I can handle it without you."
"But revenge takes power, too. I can provide all kinds of Forbidden Techniques and secret techniques..." Black Zetsu stopped halfway through. Remembering Uchiha An's Mangekyō Sharingan, he fell silent.
"Oh, right!" An suddenly smacked his fist into his palm as the thought struck him. "I want my parents back! I want the entire Uchiha Clan brought back to life!"
"Hey, Zetsu, the Outer Path: Rebirth Technique can bring people back to life."
"You're going to resurrect Uchiha Madara anyway. What's the problem with bringing a few more people back while you're at it?"
"It's not that easy!" Black Zetsu was so angry his black face nearly turned white. "The Rebirth Technique first uses Yin Release to summon the dead person's soul back from the underworld. Then it uses Yang Release to replenish a massive amount of Life Force, bringing them back to life."
"Using this technique consumes the user's Life Force!"
"If someone died recently and their body hasn't even gone cold, then you can revive a large number of people at once."
"But if they've been dead for a long time and their Life Force has already dissipated, then you need to replenish a tremendous amount."
"You want to revive the entire Uchiha Clan? Even if you wring Nagato dry, you still won't be able to do it!"
"If Nagato isn't enough, there's still Obito, isn't there?" An glared at him, his expression fierce. "Squeeze him a couple more times and you'll have everything you need!"
"They're just Tool Persons. Don't tell me you're too attached to them to do it!"
"Even Obito won't be enough!" Black Zetsu snapped back, losing his temper. "Do you think bringing people back to life is as easy as picking cabbage? That you can just do it whenever you want?"
"Hmph!" An knew perfectly well it wasn't realistic. He grumbled a couple of times, then lowered his expectations. "Then just bring my parents and younger brother back. That should be enough, right?"
"I brought my family's bodies with me, so we won't need White Zetsu as vessels!"
"Hmm... Your parents and younger brother were ordinary people, so the cost won't be high." Black Zetsu lowered his head and thought it over carefully. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally agreed.
"Fine. It's a deal. Once the Ten-Tails is resurrected, I'll bring your parents and younger brother back along with Madara."
"That's too long to wait. I want them back as soon as Konoha is destroyed!"
"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 resurrected, you'll set your plan in motion and release Ōtsutsuki Kaguya!"
"I've changed my plan! I won't begin the rescue operation until after I deal with those two bastards, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura!"
"Hmph. You'd better not try anything funny, or I'll make sure your plan goes to hell!"
"Only you know where Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and the others are hiding. I won't break my word!"
"See that you don't."
After arguing for a while, the two finally reached an agreement.
After Konoha was destroyed, they would first work together to "persuade" Nagato to revive An's younger brother, Uchiha Sachi.
He was an ordinary child, so the cost wouldn't be high. An would use his Pupil Power to replenish the Life Force Nagato lost.
In return, An would tell Black Zetsu where Ōtsutsuki Hamura was, so Black Zetsu could eliminate him.
When Uchiha Madara was resurrected, An's parents would be brought back as well.
Before you continue