Akatsuki Organization Assembly

"Finally, you've arrived." It wasn't just the members of Taka who noticed Nagato gradually approaching. The three members of Akatsuki also took note of Nagato as he reached the entrance.

Kisame wore a smile, genuinely curious about what kind of person this mysterious "leader" truly was.

Up until now, Kisame had never seen Nagato's true form, having only ever encountered the Deva Path among the bodies of Pain.

Obito, on the other hand, was indifferent. Although Zetsu claimed Nagato had grown stronger, how much stronger could he get compared to the Ten-Tails? He felt there was absolutely no need to panic.

After all, he, Madara Uchiha, was invincible!

Everyone in the conference room turned their gazes toward the entrance in unison. First, they saw Nagato's vibrant red hair, and then, that pair of Rinnegan radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression.

Nagato walked in, accompanied by Konan and another ninja wearing the Akatsuki uniform, a single-hole mask, and pale blonde hair.

Almost the instant she saw Nagato in person, Karin clutched her arms and hid behind Sasuke. Jugo and Suigetsu, feeling as if they were facing a formidable enemy, shuddered and stood on either side of Sasuke.

"Isn't that Tsunade?" Obito looked at the willow-leaf mark on Nagato's forehead and the pale-blonde-haired ninja behind him, feeling puzzled. What was happening to this world?

Sasuke's expression suddenly turned as cold and still as water.

I am no match for this person. Just by looking at the Rinnegan radiating such terrifying pressure, Sasuke reached this conclusion clearly in his heart.

His right hand, hidden under the table, gripped his right leg, tightening in frustration. Just like Karin's earlier reaction, his body was trembling uncontrollably, and his inner voice was screaming frantically: This is impossible! What kind of ocular power is this? How could there be eyes more powerful than the Sharingan?

Although Nagato had brought two people into the venue with him, most people found their eyes firmly locked onto Nagato the moment he walked in, unable to look away. They were completely unable to notice the existence of anyone else. Their field of vision was firmly occupied by Nagato alone; the entire world in their eyes gradually narrowed down to nothing but that pair of Rinnegan, which radiated immense ocular power and pierced through them with a cold, ruthless gaze.

Nagato walked into the conference room and surveyed the reactions of everyone present. As his Rinnegan, shimmering with a metallic, cold light, swept across the room, everyone felt as if a drawn blade was pressed against their throats.

Life and death seemed to hang on this man's every whim.

Under such a gaze, the members of Taka could not muster any will to resist; the atmosphere in the conference room seemed to freeze instantly. Karin, a sensory-type ninja, was so tense she even forgot to breathe.

The ocular power he can exert from the Rinnegan seems even stronger than before? Obito thought silently.

"Oh my, is this the leader?" Kisame couldn't help but open his mouth in a daze after seeing Nagato.

He realized that, without him noticing, a thin layer of cold sweat had broken out on his forehead. What kind of monster was this? The feeling he gave off was simply too terrifying.

"Kisame, is it?" Nagato saw Kisame and a smile appeared on his face.

To be honest, he was very disappointed in the four members of Taka. These people were far too inexperienced; the moment they saw him, they acted as if they had seen a ghost, staring blankly and trembling slightly. Even if his nickname wasn't "Red-Haired," they shouldn't be so disrespectful, right?

Kisame was much more polite and even knew how to greet him. Moreover, this was his "old employee." Although the person he had always been loyal to was Obito, and he was admittedly quite ugly—neither quite human nor fish—he was an honest man. Not only was he diligent and uncomplaining in the task of capturing Tailed Beasts, but he was also a fine ninja who was still diligently forming hand seals right up until his death, full of the simple, unadorned aura of an honest man.

In an instant, as the smile appeared on Nagato's face, the Rinnegan that had firmly occupied the entire world and radiated cold ocular power seemed to instantly recede from the crumbling mental worlds of the Taka members.

The suffocating, heavy atmosphere in the conference room was swept away by that smile. Only then could the four members of Taka truly notice that Nagato's vibrant red hair looked like burning flames, radiating a scorching vitality, like a smoking, active volcano, causing a surge of heat to rise from the depths of their hearts.

The terrifying ocular power of the dual Rinnegan was not something the current Taka could resist. Even Sakura Haruno, who had been baptized by the Ten-Tails during the latter stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War, had been so frightened by Madara's dual Rinnegan upon seeing them for the first time that her legs had knocked together; if she hadn't been using cheats, she would have been instantly killed by Madara.

"I apologize for never having met you in my true form until now."

There wasn't a hint of apology on Nagato's face as he strode forward, passed Obito, and extended his right hand toward Kisame.

Kisame stood frozen in place. Gazing at Nagato's Rinnegan at close range, he felt his scalp go numb and the blood in his body nearly freeze. Following Nagato's lead, he stiffly extended his own right hand and was firmly gripped by Nagato. "Before we knew it, the only comrades left in the organization are you and Madara," Nagato said with a hint of emotion.

What kind of feeling is this? Kisame's expression was dazed, with only one thought in his mind: Why do I feel so honored? Just because the leader shook my hand? The gap... is it really this vast?

At this moment, Kisame recalled the excitement he felt when he first met the Mizukage in his youth. In this world where strength was everything, from the first moment he saw Nagato, Kisame had subconsciously placed Nagato on a much higher pedestal than himself and lowered his head.

Could a person like this be a puppet of Madara? The closer he got, the more Kisame could feel the powerful aura emanating from the person before him. That unmasked, "I am the only one" attitude could not be faked. Would a person like this listen to someone else's orders?

"Two people?" Zetsu, standing to the side, muttered to itself, feeling targeted.

"Oh, besides those two, there is also you," Nagato said after hearing Zetsu's remark, glancing at it.

"..."

Zetsu tilted its yin-yang face in confusion. Why did it feel like Nagato was insulting it by implying it wasn't a person?

Well, it should be more confident and remove the "why did it feel like" part.

Once Nagato was busy shaking hands with Kisame, Sasuke and the others finally had the mood to size up the two Akatsuki members who had entered with him. One was Konan, with purple hair, a beautiful face, and a cold temperament; the other was the pale-blonde-haired Tsunade, wearing a single-hole mask.

Konan was fine; she just found a spot and sat down quietly.

The impression Tsunade gave them was very strange. She was arrogant and imposing, as if she were the master of the place. With a swaggering gait and an air of ignoring everyone else, she found a seat and sat down on her own. She had no intention of greeting anyone, sitting there with her arms crossed, looking left and right, appearing as if she were displeased with everyone. The key was that she was wearing her hair in twin tails like a little kid, which didn't match her mask or her temperament at all, did it?

Nagato glanced at Tsunade with disdain. The reason they were so late was because this old hag had suddenly started making a fuss about wanting to attend the Akatsuki meeting. Nagato had originally intended to brush her off with the excuse that she wasn't an official member of Akatsuki. To his surprise, she was quite well-informed about the meeting attendees and immediately questioned him on why the members of Taka were allowed to participate. She even pointed at his nose and asked if he didn't take her, the organization's substitute member, seriously.

Konan's expression had been awkward at the time, and after one look from Nagato, he immediately understood that Tsunade must have pried that information out of her. With no other choice, Nagato had to grit his teeth and agree, comforting himself with the excuse that "it's a good thing for subordinates to be so proactive," and brought her along after she changed her clothes.

At this moment, Tsunade was sitting grandly on a stone chair. Clearly unaccustomed to wearing a mask, she wanted to express her disdain for everyone present by picking her nose, only to discover that her mask didn't have a hole for her nostrils. She couldn't bring herself to smash the mask in a fit of rage and reveal her true identity, so she had to give up.

Feeling Nagato's gaze, Tsunade glared back at him without showing any weakness, looking quite fierce.