Intelligence Gathering

Once the surroundings fell completely silent, Nagato looked at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path before him, his shoulders suddenly slumping as he let out a helpless sigh.

He felt that there were simply too many strange things in this world.

It felt as if he were suffering some kind of retribution. Previously, he had taken a perverse pleasure in dropping bombshells on Naruto in Konoha, believing he understood everything and using information to leave Naruto stunned. As it turned out, after running to Shikkotsu Forest, he was the one being bombarded by information from Sage Katsuyu. Even now, his mind was in a state of chaos, as he discovered that many things were different from what he had imagined.

First, there was the attack on Konoha. The sudden appearance of the Sage of Six Paths inside Naruto was something he had never anticipated. The countless grudges he had seen on the Nine Tails using his Rinnegan could not be explained by any existing intelligence. Kisame's Samehada could be ignored; it was just a weapon. If there was an opportunity, he could study it, but if not, he could abandon it.

Then, there was the information from Sage Katsuyu in Shikkotsu Forest, which he could not simply ignore. Whether it was the connection between the Three Great Sage Regions or the essence of Senjutsu Chakra, there seemed to be some unknown secrets hidden away. As for what Katsuyu said regarding Kaguya, he intended to treat it as nonsense; he couldn't understand it anyway.

In Nagato's view, the people in this world were completely unreliable when they spoke, as if there were something wrong with their brains. Compared to Black Zetsu, that yin-yang creature, he himself couldn't even define what that thing was. One moment it claimed to be Kaguya's will, the next it claimed to be Kaguya's child—who knew what kind of freak it actually was? Perhaps it was just Kaguya's period?

Thinking of Zetsu, Nagato shook his head, realizing he didn't have time for wild thoughts; there were still many things that needed to be handled.

He first walked toward Pain, removed the Akatsuki ring from the finger of the Deva Path, placed it on his own hand, and began to channel chakra into it.

From now on, he did not intend to use Pain. He was not the Nagato of the past, someone who dwelled on the past. He preferred to rely on his own strength and handle all problems alone.

"Is that you, Zetsu?" After channeling his chakra, Nagato quickly made contact with Zetsu, who was currently on the road.

"Leader?" Zetsu's voice sounded somewhat surprised. "Is there something you need?"

"Where are you? Why haven't you returned yet?"

"I'm on my way." Zetsu's voice sounded somewhat dejected; the yin-yang creature rarely felt good when traveling alone.

"Too slow." Nagato was somewhat dissatisfied.

Zetsu: "......"

He suddenly wanted to throw away the ring on his hand.

"Use your clones to gather some intelligence right now. First, regarding the Five Kage Summit: the attitudes of the five great nations and the neutral Land of Iron toward the summit—which are more moderate toward Akatsuki, and which are definitely going to be our enemies. You need to collect this intelligence completely as soon as possible. Then, there is the intelligence regarding the Land of Fire. Their Daimyo will likely transport reconstruction funds to Konoha in the near future. Scout out the time, route, and guards for this shipment; I intend to send people to raid their gold transport unit. Finally, have your clone notify Sasuke to come to Amegakure to see me within two days. Tell him if he dares not to come, I will go and kill him first."

Zetsu: "Is that all?"

"No, let me think. Find a Konoha ninja named Anko. Once you find her, notify me, and I will capture her personally. Also, Orochimaru's ring must be recovered. Go and bring back the ring along with his severed hand. Do you understand?"

Zetsu pondered for a moment: "So many things? This might take a lot of time."

"Prioritize the intelligence on the Five Kage Summit."

"Fine. Does my main body still need to return?"

"Return," Nagato replied immediately. "For intelligence gathering, your clones are enough. Send out more clones. The organization will have a gathering in the near future, and everyone must be present."

"Understood......"

After Zetsu replied, Nagato began to use the ring to contact Kisame.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"This voice? Leader?" Kisame seemed somewhat surprised, as Nagato's voice was still quite different from the previous voice of the Deva Path.

"It's me. Where are you now?"

"I'm tracking the Eight Tails."

"Abandon the mission for now and return to Amegakure. The organization is going to hold a gathering."

"At a time like this? Can't it wait? Fine, you're the boss, you call the shots."

Kisame's voice was somewhat playful. Nagato shook his head, knowing that this bastard didn't really consider him the leader, thinking he was just a pawn of Madara. But it didn't matter; in this world, strength was the ultimate truth. As long as he had strength, he wouldn't lack followers. He would soon use actual actions to show these people who was really in charge of Akatsuki.

Touching the ring on his hand with the character for "Zero" inscribed on it, Nagato suddenly realized that he had no one left to contact. Recalling the number of members in the Akatsuki organization in the past and looking at the present, it was truly a lack of successors. He felt a bit annoyed, thinking he had too few people under his command.

Thinking of this, Nagato suddenly thought of that idiot Hidan. At this point in time, who knew if Hidan was dead or alive? He then found Zetsu again.

"Leader?"

As soon as the chakra connection was established, Zetsu's voice rang out; he was quite sensitive.

"Send another clone to find Hidan."

"Huh?"

Zetsu's voice was very surprised, as if asking him why he was looking for that idiot Hidan.

"You should still remember the place where Hidan was defeated, right? He has a ring on him. Go and bring him back. Don't forget the other tasks either."

"Leader, I'm not the combat type. Even if Hidan is still alive, if there are enemies nearby, I won't be able to bring him back."

A cold sneer appeared on Nagato's face, knowing that Zetsu was hiding his strength from him. "I know. You just need to find Hidan's location. If he is still alive, give him some chakra so he doesn't die. I will send someone to bring him back when the time comes."

"I see...... fine."

After Zetsu replied, Nagato severed the chakra connection.

The intelligence work within the organization relied almost entirely on White Zetsu, and this situation was difficult to improve because Nagato could not find other ninjas to replace White Zetsu.

After finishing these tasks, Nagato felt that he still had no sleepiness.

Although he hadn't slept for a long time, the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest was completely different from that of Mount Myoboku or Ryūchi Cave. It seemed there was no time limit; the wildness and vitality within the Natural Energy kept him in a refreshed state.

Looking at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path before him and listening to the faint sound of rain outside, Nagato sat slowly on the ground, thinking about his future actions. The sound of the rain gradually grew distant in his ears.

Before he knew it, his Sage Mode had dissipated.

"Who?"

After an unknown amount of time, Nagato opened his eyes again. He discovered that Konan had walked over.

Had he fallen asleep? Nagato touched his forehead with his hand and slowly stood up from the ground.