The Mysterious Leader of the Akatsuki?

Beside a massive stone conference table, two distinct groups of ninja sat or stood, clearly divided.

One side consisted of members of the Akatsuki organization wearing black cloaks with red clouds: Obito, Zetsu, and Kisame. The other side was the four-man Taka squad, who had removed their black cloaks and hoods.

Suigetsu kept casting an intrigued gaze at Kisame, or more accurately, at the Kubikiribōchō strapped to Kisame's back.

He made no effort to hide his interest, which caused Kisame to flash a cruel grin. His round, fish-like pupils glinted with bloodlust, as if he were quite interested in having a go at Suigetsu.

Unfortunately, the presence of Obito, who sat casually by the stone table, forced him to suppress that impulse.

Sasuke sat at the head of the conference table with an arrogant air, resting his arms on the surface and pressing his hands against his forehead. Like Kisame, he was also struggling to contain his growing dissatisfaction.

He had been waiting here for quite a while, yet the leader of the Akatsuki had still not arrived. Did they expect him to just keep waiting? That man named Nagato was starting to annoy him more and more.

Noticing Sasuke's mood, the smile on Suigetsu's face widened. He gripped the hilt of the Kubikiribōchō behind his back and stared at Kisame's face, licking his lips as if preparing for a bit of side entertainment.

The content of that entertainment, of course, would be him slashing at Kisame, then raising his blade to wait for Kisame to slash back.

Obito glanced coldly at Suigetsu, while Kisame stood smiling behind Obito, looking on with amused interest.

At this moment, the usually stoic and taciturn Jugo suddenly reached out and pressed firmly onto Suigetsu's shoulder: "Wait!"

Suigetsu heard Jugo's heavy, labored breathing.

"Huh?" Suigetsu paused, letting out a soft sound of surprise, because he could feel the hand Jugo had placed on his shoulder trembling slightly.

Karin ignored the two fools, Suigetsu and Jugo, and hurried toward Sasuke. She leaned close to his ear and whispered in a trembling voice: "He's here—that man named Nagato."

Sasuke glanced with surprise at Karin's terrified expression. Before he could even ask, Karin answered his unspoken question: "Based on what I can sense from his chakra, this person is absurdly strong!"

The expression on his face sank immediately.

It had been Sasuke's decision before arriving to have Karin monitor the chakra of the Akatsuki leader. Although he had anticipated that Nagato wouldn't be weak, why had Karin told him just moments ago that she hadn't detected any particularly strong chakra outside this room? And now she was saying Nagato was absurdly strong?

Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could detect anomalies within a radius of several dozen kilometers. Did this mean the enemy had been dozens of kilometers away just moments ago and had only now suddenly appeared nearby?

Did he possess space-time abilities like Madara? Sasuke swept a thoughtful glance at Obito but remained silent.

After stopping Suigetsu, Jugo also walked over and whispered in Sasuke's ear: "I feel like something is very wrong. The power of the Cursed Seal inside me is being suppressed, and the natural energy in the surroundings seems to be controlled by something."

He frowned deeply, sensing the natural energy that was usually active in the vicinity; it was no longer flowing into his body, but instead hung in the air, feeling as if it had stagnated.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wondering if his two teammates were overreacting. However, he saw Jugo's expression growing increasingly tense, while Karin hugged her own shoulders with both hands, her body shivering slightly: "How is this possible? That person's chakra volume is growing larger and larger—it's absurdly huge, almost like the Eight Tails. He doesn't feel like a human at all."

Although people in this world often said someone's chakra volume approached that of a Tailed Beast—for instance, Kisame in this very room was known as the "Tailed Beast without a tail"—these were actually exaggerations. Human chakra levels could not compare to those of Tailed Beasts; otherwise, there would be no need to develop jinchuriki.

Taking Naruto, who had a chakra stat of 10, as an example, Kakashi had once said that Naruto's chakra volume was four times his own, and if Yamato did not suppress Nine Tails's chakra, it would be a hundred times his own. And that was even with Naruto unable to fully utilize Nine Tails's power.

Yet, what Karin was sensing now was genuine Tailed Beast-level chakra, approaching with the terrifying pressure of a humanoid Tailed Beast.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Sasuke's eyes were skeptical. He knew about the Eight Tails; not long ago, his Taka squad had nearly been wiped out by it. How could a human compare to the Eight Tails? Could the leader of the Akatsuki be a jinchuriki?

"No," Karin whispered, her voice rising. "It's already surpassed the Eight Tails. How can his chakra volume still be expanding?"

What was going on? Sasuke furrowed his brows. With Karin's sensory abilities, the entire high tower was practically under her nose. How could the chakra volume she sensed be completely different every few moments, and why was it constantly increasing?

"Where exactly is he?" Sasuke turned his head and asked softly.

"He's in the hallway outside the room, walking toward us," Karin replied hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke simply closed his eyes, feeling baffled by Karin's behavior.

Karin herself felt extremely strange; this was the first time she had encountered such a thing. The person with that massive chakra seemed to be shrouded in a thick mist that obscured her perception.

As a result, the closer he got, the more massive the chakra volume she perceived became, like a mountain gradually emerging from the clouds and looming before her, bringing with it an increasingly heavy pressure.

Could the opponent be intentionally using some ability to disrupt her perception? Karin could only guess as much.

"Sasuke, be careful. I have a very bad feeling about this," Jugo spoke up suddenly at this moment.

In his perception, the natural energy had formed a vortex not far away and was gradually moving toward their location. As this vortex approached, the natural energy around him suddenly became active. It wasn't entering his body, but rather cheering in anticipation of the man's arrival, like soldiers awaiting their general, giving him the terrifying experience of being rejected by nature itself.

For someone like Jugo, who was accustomed to constantly absorbing natural energy, the sensation was like an ordinary person suffering from altitude sickness—he felt palpitations, shortness of breath, and his face grew increasingly pale.

He, of course, did not know that this was merely a natural reaction triggered by Nagato as he walked closer.

This was the same principle by which natural energy automatically gathered in so-called sacred lands.

Whether comparing chakra volume or the mastery of natural energy, there was a fundamental gap between Jugo and Nagato, which was why he felt the natural energy around him being drawn toward Nagato, waiting for his arrival.

This was merely an unintended consequence of Nagato's presence; if he had done it intentionally, controlling the natural energy around Jugo completely would have been a trivial matter.

The reason wasn't that Nagato was overwhelmingly powerful, but that Jugo was too unskilled; he couldn't absorb natural energy through his own will. If it were someone else, whether it was Naruto or Kabuto, they wouldn't have fallen into such a predicament.

The reason Karin couldn't sense Nagato's specific chakra volume was for the same reason.

Nagato certainly had no interest in playing mysterious games; it was simply because his Sage Mode had no time limit, allowing him to absorb natural energy and maintain it within his body for long periods.

Although truly entering Sage Mode kept Nagato's mind in a state of heightened clarity, as long as the natural energy within his body didn't reach the threshold to trigger Sage Mode, it wouldn't affect him.

In his view, maintaining this state allowed him to enter Sage Mode at the fastest possible speed in the event of a sudden battle. Moreover, to minimize the time required to enter Sage Mode, he had grown accustomed to concentrating the surrounding natural energy and attaching it to the surface of his body. This was why Karin couldn't clearly sense his chakra volume—because his body was covered in a layer of natural energy, acting like a protective film that interfered with her sensory abilities.