After the Masked Man finished speaking, his entire body twisted again, and at the center of the twist was his only remaining eye. The next second, he vanished into thin air.
"Itachi--"
Having witnessed this scene, Shisui spoke again, and at the same time, he stretched out his hand. The crow flapped its wings, glanced back at Shisui, and then landed on Itachi's shoulder.
"In any case, the past is the past—" He sighed, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw Uchiha Itachi smile, the corners of his mouth slowly rising into a smile. Then he felt himself crumbling—
He hadn't noticed his condition until now, when he looked down and saw his body peeling away little by little, starting from his feet, as if pieces of paper were breaking off from his body.
He then lost consciousness again and returned to the Pure Land. At that moment, he suddenly felt that Itachi's smile was a little cold, a little terrifying.
" Mr. Itachi, do the Dōjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan require training?"
Shortly after Shisui left, Kisame, carrying his large sword, arrived before Uchiha Itachi.
The offering that had just transformed into Shisui had already reverted to its original form, and with Uchiha Itachi's bloody tears still wet on his face, Kisame naturally had a misunderstanding.
However, he didn't say much, but instead took Uchiha Itachi with him to find another Akatsuki member: Sasori of the Red Sands.
Since joining the Akatsuki, Sasori has settled in the Land of Rain. Although the continuous rain and damp weather are not conducive to the maintenance and use of the puppets, both the metal components and the wooden parts are prone to rust and mold.
However, his superior skills easily overcame this, and Pain even thoughtfully prepared a large Laboratory for him.
The Laboratory was surrounded by traps, which, besides the puppeteers' expertise, were the most prominent features. Anyone who wanted to enter the Laboratory, except for Scorpion himself, had to face these deadly traps.
Even members of the Akatsuki are like this.
Orochimaru used to partner with Sasori, so he could easily break through these traps, but now it's Kisame's here.
" Mr. Itachi, shall we go together?" He turned his head to look at Uchiha Itachi beside him.
The latter had already moved; before anyone knew it, shurikens flew like a shower of blossoms towards Sasori of the Red Sands's Laboratory.
Kisame was about to raise his hand to advise his teammates not to start fighting at the drop of a hat, and maybe if he shouted a couple of times from a distance, Sasori of the Red Sands would come out on his own.
But the next second, he couldn't help but gape. None of Uchiha Itachi's shuriken hit Sasori of the Red Sands's Laboratory; instead, they collided with something extremely tiny in mid-air.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were tiny needles, much smaller than Senbon needles. Although they were difficult to detect and made almost no sound when flying through the air, their destructive power was so small that no ninja would use them.
The fine needles that Uchiha Itachi had stopped gleamed with an eerie light, and when Sasori of the Red Sands's identity as a puppeteer, Kisame couldn't help but shudder.
"You've stepped into a trap." Uchiha Itachi pointed to Kisame's feet.
Uh--no, I don't think so--
Kisame looked down at his feet, but there was nothing there. However, Uchiha Itachi squatted down and used the tip of his Kunai to flick at Kisame's feet. It was an extremely thin, transparent fishing line.
Even with my Sharingan, I couldn't notice that thin thread in time—
"Uchiha Itachi spoke slowly, and as he spoke, the Laboratory door suddenly opened, and a hunched-over man wearing Black Cloud Robe walked out."
"It was guarding against you—" The voice seemed to come not from the mouth, but more from the stomach. "I didn't expect you to find out after all, Uchiha Itachi. The Sharingan is truly amazing."
Uchiha Itachi remained silent. Kisame removed the sword from his back, planted it in front of him, and loudly asked, "You are Sasori of the Red Sands?"
"I am—" Scorpion took two more steps forward and answered.
He did indeed look like a scorpion, especially the segmented things that stretched out from his back like a scorpion's tail. He was also shorter than average, and his lower body was completely wrapped in his robe, making him look like a big steamed bun.
"I think there's something strange about his appearance. Who would look like that?" Kisame tilted his head and whispered to Uchiha Itachi.
But Uchiha Itachi ignored him and turned away, leaving Sasori of the Red Sands his back to him.
"Your new partner has arrived. Pain wants us to go with you to pick him up." He said slowly, then lowered his voice, speaking in a tone only Kisame could hear, "Haven't you seen his information?"
"Oh right!" Kisame suddenly realized. He looked at Sasori, who was already standing beside him and much shorter than him, and said loudly, "You used to be a puppeteer from Sunagakure!"
"It would be very convenient to turn you into a puppet," Scorpion said slowly.
"You used to partner with Orochimaru, why didn't you turn him into a puppet? Orochimaru is getting stronger and stronger now--" Kisame shook Samehada in his hand, showing no anger at Sasori's words. He just chatted with Sasori casually.
If both he and Itachi were brought into Akatsuki by the masked guy, then Sasori of the Red Sands and another member who held an important position in Akatsuki were Pain's direct subordinates, personally recruited into Konan by Akatsuki Konan.
" Orochimaru —humph!" Sasori's voice deepened at the mention of Orochimaru.
Teaming up with Orochimaru is not an easy or pleasant experience. Their relationship is terrible. Although they share similar ideals and pursue eternity, their methods are incompatible, so naturally they can't stand each other.
"I heard that even the two of you combined couldn't catch Orochimaru?" His voice carried a hint of sarcasm.
"Hmph, let me tell you, Orochimaru summoned the dead—" Kisame didn't dare say it was Itachi's mother, but simply described Orochimaru's Ninjutsu.
"Hmph! I didn't expect him to actually succeed." Scorpion suddenly lowered his head, his voice becoming even more sinister.
Orochimaru did succeed; he not only mastered the Impure World Reincarnation, but he also made some improvements to Ninjutsu.
But now he's celebrating the success of something else.
After successfully breaking the Caged Bird Seal, a rare celebration was held in his snake den. Although he scoffed at it, he couldn't resist Hinata's persistent pleading and agreed to let them have a small celebration banquet in the base's restaurant.
A small celebration is acceptable, but it absolutely must not affect other people.