The Current Situation (Seeking Subscriptions)

At dusk, in that familiar tavern, Uchiha Kei quietly waited for Hyuga Aya to arrive.

After leaving a bewildered Imai Kenta in the laboratory, he strolled away and headed straight for the tavern.

By then, Konoha had already fallen completely dark. Perhaps because winter had arrived, night came especially quickly.

A year ago, around this same time, Uchiha Kei had personally sent Uchiha Shisui out of Konoha. Kisame had been sent away at the same time.

A year had passed so quickly. Only when Uchiha Kei stopped to rest did he notice it.

Time was important to him, yet sometimes it seemed not all that important.

Over the past year, Uchiha Shisui had not sent back any intelligence, and neither had Kisame.

The two of them likely understood that they had only just joined that terrifying organization. They were still adapting to everything, still becoming familiar with it all.

They could also guess that they were probably not trusted all that much yet, which was why each of them was being so careful.

On the other hand, Uchiha Obito had still returned frequently during this time, and the intelligence he brought back was, overall, highly effective.

Uchiha Kei knew very well what Akatsuki was doing now. He even knew very well what they would do in the future.

During this period, Akatsuki had recruited someone named Biwa Juzo.

This man had once been one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and his joining had, in a sense, strengthened Akatsuki.

But what Obito told Uchiha Kei painted a different picture: Biwa Juzo had actually been recruited by Nagato.

After that night in Konoha, Nagato's authority within Akatsuki had been severely depleted.

On the surface, he was still the leader of the organization, the boss of a large group of