Intelligence Work

Once everything around him had fallen completely silent, Nagato stood alone, staring at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Suddenly, his shoulders slumped, and he sighed helplessly.

He felt like there were far too many strange things in this world.

It was almost as if he'd been punished for something. Before, he'd taken great pleasure in leaking information to Naruto in Konoha, thinking he understood everything and leaving Naruto completely stunned with what he knew. But after coming to Shikkotsu Forest, the tables had turned, and Katsuyu had stunned him with information instead. Even now, his mind was in a muddle. He'd discovered that a lot of things were different from what he'd imagined.

First, there was the attack on Konoha. He'd never expected the Sage of Six Paths to suddenly appear inside Naruto. And there was no way to explain the countless resentments he'd seen within the Nine Tails through the Rinnegan using the information he currently had. As for Kisame's Samehada, that was just a weapon. He could study it if the chance arose, or forget about it if it didn't.

Then there was the information in Sage Katsuyu's words at Shikkotsu Forest. He couldn't just ignore that. Whether it was the connection between the Three Great Sage Regions or the nature of Senjutsu Chakra, it seemed like something unknown lay beneath it all. As for what Katsuyu had said about Kaguya, he planned to treat it like nonsense. He hadn't understood it anyway.

In Nagato's view, people in this world were completely unreliable when they spoke, as if there were something wrong with their heads. Take Black Zetsu, that half-and-half freak. Even he couldn't explain what he was. One moment, he claimed to be Kaguya's will; the next, he said he was her child. Who knew what the hell he really was? Maybe he was just Kaguya's period.

Thinking of Zetsu, Nagato shook his head. He realized he didn't have time to let his thoughts run wild; there was still plenty to take care of.

He first walked over to Pain, removed the Akatsuki ring from the Deva Path's finger, and put it on his own. Then he began channeling Chakra into it.

From now on, he no longer planned to use Pain. He wasn't the same Nagato as before, the sort of person who wallowed in the past. He preferred to rely on his own strength and handle all his problems alone.

"Is that you, Zetsu?" After channeling Chakra into the ring, Nagato quickly made contact with Zetsu, who was on the road.

"Leader?" Zetsu sounded a little surprised. "What do you need?"

"Where are you? Why haven't you come back yet?"

"I'm on my way." Zetsu's voice sounded a little downcast. The half-and-half freak generally wasn't in a good mood when traveling alone.

"Too slow." Nagato sounded displeased.

Zetsu: ...

He suddenly felt like throwing the ring on his finger away.

"Use your clones to gather some information right now. First, find out everything you can about the Five Kage Summit: the attitudes of the Five Great Nations and the neutral Land of Iron toward the meeting, which countries are more amicable toward Akatsuki, and which are certain to oppose us. Gather all of this as quickly as possible. Next, get information on the Land of Fire. Their Daimyo will probably be sending reconstruction funds to Konoha soon. Find out the time and route of this shipment, as well as the escort details. I plan to have someone attack the convoy carrying the money. Finally, have your clones notify Sasuke to meet me in Amegakure in two days. Tell him if he dares not to come, I'll go kill him first."

Zetsu: "Is that all?"

"No. Let me think. Find a Konoha Ninja named Anko. Notify me when you find her; I'll capture her myself. Also, we need to retrieve Orochimaru's ring. Bring it back along with his severed hand. Do you understand?"

Zetsu thought for a moment. "That's a lot of work. It might take a while."

"Prioritize the information on the Five Kage Summit."

"All right. Does my real body need to come back too?"

"Come back," Nagato replied at once. "Your clones are enough for the intelligence-gathering work. Send out plenty of them. The organization will be holding a meeting soon, and everyone must attend."

"Understood..."

After Zetsu answered, Nagato used the ring to contact Kisame.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"That voice... Leader?" Kisame sounded a little surprised. Nagato's voice was somewhat different from the Deva Path's.

"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 holding a meeting."

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

There was a mocking note in Kisame's voice. Nagato shook his head, knowing the bastard didn't consider him the leader at all. Kisame thought he was just Madara's pawn. But it didn't matter. In this world, strength was everything. As long as he was strong, he wouldn't lack followers. He'd soon show them through his actions who was really in charge of Akatsuki.

As he touched the ring marked with the character for "zero," Nagato suddenly realized he had no one else he could contact. Thinking of how many members Akatsuki had once had, then looking at how many they had now, he saw that the organization was short on experienced hands. It annoyed him. He felt he had far too few subordinates.

At that thought, Nagato suddenly remembered the idiot Hidan. He wondered if Hidan was dead by now. Then he contacted Zetsu again.

"Leader?"

Zetsu's voice came through as soon as the Chakra connection was established. He was quite alert.

"Send a clone to find Hidan, too."

"Huh?"

Zetsu sounded extremely surprised, as if asking why he wanted to find that idiot Hidan.

"You remember where Hidan was defeated, right? He has a ring. Bring him back, and don't forget the other missions."

"Leader, I'm not a fighter. Even if Hidan is still alive, I can't bring him back if there are enemies nearby."

A faint sneer appeared on Nagato's face. He knew Zetsu was hiding his true strength from him. "I know. You only need to find Hidan. If he's still alive, give him some Chakra and make sure he doesn't die. I'll send someone to bring him back later."

"I see... All right."

After Zetsu answered, Nagato ended the Chakra connection.

Akatsuki's intelligence work relied almost entirely on White Zetsu, and it would be difficult to change that. Nagato couldn't find any other Ninja to replace White Zetsu.

After taking care of all this, Nagato still didn't feel sleepy.

He hadn't slept in a long time, but the Sage Mode of Warm Bone Forest was completely different from the Sage Modes of Mount Myoboku and Ryūchi Cave. It didn't seem to have a time limit. The wildness and vitality of Natural Energy kept him alert and energetic.

Staring at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, listening to the faint sound of rain outside, Nagato slowly sat down and thought about what he should do next. Gradually, the sound of the rain seemed to grow distant.

Before he realized it, his Sage Mode had already faded.

"Who's there?"

After an unknown amount of time, Nagato opened his eyes again. He saw Konan walking toward him.

Had he fallen asleep? Nagato touched his forehead, then slowly rose to his feet.