Obsession

"I can't always be by your side, so you'd better bring a medical ninja with you. Besides, Nonō is an elite Root ninja with plenty of experience. She can make up for your lack of it."

Shadow pursed her lips but said nothing, which amounted to agreement.

Naruto smiled and continued, "As for Kabuto... that guy's a genius. You want to rebuild Inazuma, don't you? Kabuto could be a capable assistant and help you get twice the results with half the effort. It's just that his loyalty..."

He paused. In the original story, Kabuto was the very picture of fickleness. Loyalty had nothing to do with him.

But now...

"Win Nonō over. As for the rest, just treat him sincerely."

He'd done everything he could. If Kabuto still wouldn't listen, then he'd just have to kill him.

After they finished discussing Nonō and Kabuto,

they chatted for a while before Naruto said his goodbyes.

"I can't stay away from Konoha for too long. I'm worried something might happen... By the way, what are you planning to do next? Keep traveling around the Ninja World?"

Shadow thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. I need to find someone before I continue traveling."

"Who?"

"Uchiha Itachi."

At the name, Naruto frowned and scrutinized Shadow. After a long moment, he asked, "Is it because of this body?"

Shadow nodded, confirming his guess.

"This body has always harbored an obsession—she wants to ask Uchiha Itachi to his face why he killed her."

"You don't want revenge?"

Could she really endure the murder of her own life?

"No. She just wants an explanation."

Well, she could endure it.

As expected of the Clan of Love—truly obsessive.

"Can you ignore it?"

Itachi might have something wrong with his head, but his strength was no joke, and he had one trump card after another.

If Shadow went looking for Itachi... Naruto worried she might not come back.

"I can ignore it. I can suppress her obsession, but then I won't be able to completely control this body."

Her purple eyes shifted into a scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

"You gave me a lot of Soul Energy, but the Three Tomoe still hasn't evolved into the Mangekyo. That's because I haven't completely taken control of this body... And I can feel that once I resolve her obsession, the Mangekyo will awaken."

After hearing all that, what could Naruto say? He could only tell her to be careful and summon him if she couldn't win.

"Do you know where to find Uchiha Itachi?"

Shadow was taken aback. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead.

"Naruto, do you know?"

"You could try looking around the Land of Fields. If you run into Orochimaru, he'll probably help you find Uchiha Itachi."

Amegakure.

The Akatsuki's secret hideout.

Inside the gloomy cave, a flame burned at the center of a circular platform five or six meters across.

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

After several sounds, translucent humanoid figures appeared around the platform.

At the head stood a man and a woman.

The man had a pair of purple Rinnegan. He was Deva Path Pain.

The woman wore a flower in her hair. She was Konan, the Akatsuki's only woman.

Konan's gaze swept over the Akatsuki members. "Everyone, the Akatsuki has a mission for you..."

At this stage, the Akatsuki's main task was to lie low and grow—recruiting members and building up its strength, while stirring up conflict in the Ninja World to weaken its enemies.

To achieve this, the Akatsuki presented itself as a mysterious and powerful mercenary organization.

It accepted commissions, did the job for a price, and earned a hundred-percent approval rating.

"Orochimaru, Kakuzu, head to the Land of Lightning. Your mission is to hunt Cloud Ninja. The more Cloud Ninja you kill, the greater the reward..."

The mission came from the Akatsuki's longtime client, Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki. His goal was to weaken the Cloud Ninja, whose military power had been growing ever more formidable.

As it happened, the Akatsuki also wanted to weaken the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They readily accepted the mission and assigned it to Orochimaru and Kakuzu.

Kakuzu happily accepted. As long as there was money in it, he'd do anything.

"Another mission..."

A flicker of annoyance crossed Orochimaru's slit pupils.

He'd done missions in Konoha, and now he was doing them outside Konoha. Hadn't he defected for nothing?

No!

He had to find a chance to leave the Akatsuki.

But before he did...

Orochimaru looked at Itachi with a greedy gaze.

That genius's body... He was already struggling to wait.

Feeling Orochimaru's greedy stare, Itachi showed no reaction, though he couldn't help sighing inwardly.

Even Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, coveted the Uchiha's power? How disappointing...

"Uchiha Itachi, Biwa Juzo, head to Kirigakure and assassinate someone..."

Biwa Juzo looked worried after receiving the mission. As a Kirigakure defector, he'd be killed if they discovered him in the village.

"Oh? You two seniors are going to Kirigakure? Can you take me along? I promise I'll behave."

The intern Tobi wore a mask and waved his arms about, making silly noises.

Itachi glanced at him but didn't respond.

Biwa Juzo waved a hand and replied listlessly, "Ask the leader. Asking us won't help."

Naturally, Pain refused to indulge Tobi's antics.

Tobi was sorely disappointed and crouched on the ground, drawing circles.

The meeting continued.

A few minutes later, the meeting ended. Just as they were about to disperse,

Orochimaru chuckled. "I have some information I'd like to share with everyone. Would you be interested?"

Sasori, who had never gotten along with Orochimaru, replied impatiently, "You snake, spit it out. Don't waste my time."

You snake?

The insult brought back unpleasant memories for Orochimaru.

His face darkened for a moment, but he quickly composed himself and smiled. "Come to think of it... Sasori, this information concerns you, too. Do you remember Kabuto?"

Orochimaru, who intended to take Kabuto on as a subordinate, had already investigated his background and learned that he was Sasori's spy in Konoha.

Sasori froze as he remembered who Kabuto was, then said coldly, "You snake, stay out of my business."

Orochimaru's smile faded. "I'm not interested in your business. I'm just telling you that Kabuto defected from Konoha some time ago."

Kakuzu grumbled, "Hey, Orochimaru, are you seriously telling us nothing more than that Konoha has another missing-nin?"

The others also looked at Orochimaru with displeasure. Was this trivial nonsense really worth wasting their time over?

Was he asking to die?

"Of course not. That's just a side note. What I really wanted to say is..."

He paused and looked toward Pain, his eyes full of meaning. "I've discovered a new pair of Rinnegan."

Kirigakure.

The Mizukage Building.

Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura was focused on handling paperwork.

Several hours passed.

Yagura looked up and rolled his stiff neck. He saw a ninja dressed as a Mist Ninja Anbu sitting on his desk, lost in thought.

Instead of scolding him, he smiled and asked, "Tobi, what are you thinking about? Do you need any help?"