As long as I'm in the mood, I can take your life!!

Thinking of this, Itachi's eyes suddenly darkened.

If this speculation is true, then Sasori's existence could very well pose a substantial threat to Konoha and Sasuke in the future!

He looked at Scorpion's profile, framed by its Scarlet Amber shell, and a rare, deep killing intent flickered in his usually calm and composed eyes.

"Perhaps... we can use the pretext of eliminating a traitor for Akatsuki with Asuma and White Fang of Konoha to get rid of Sasori, this potential threat!"

Itachi suppressed this gradually forming determination in his heart for the time being, and then subtly observed Koko beside him out of the corner of his eye.

What were you thinking when you knocked on his door?

In a sense, this situation also presents an opportunity.

An opportunity to glimpse the true thoughts deep within one's heart!

Itachi murmured to himself, his eyes involuntarily glancing in the direction of Kou.

If he is willing to help Hatake Sakumo and Asuma, it might prove that he does have a place in Konoha's heart.

But what if he ultimately chooses to side with Scorpion, or chooses to stand by and do nothing...?

Upon considering this possibility, a fleeting moment of hesitation crossed Itachi's eyes, quickly replaced by a hidden killing intent.

Perhaps... I need to make a decision.

Koko was completely unaware of the complex thoughts swirling in Itachi's mind at that moment.

He simply stared coldly at the scorpion in front of him, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Upon hearing Hatake Sakumo mention the name "Yoshimura Masao," he immediately understood the whole story.

"So that's how it is."

He glanced at Hatake Sakumo ahead, then at Scarlet Amber beside him, whose body still exuded a chilling killing intent:

"Using the life of the blacksmith connected to Uncle Sakumo Hatake as leverage, along with my intelligence as bait, we lured Uncle Sakumo Hatake over."

As for his purpose, it was naturally to avenge his deceased parents.

Looking at the scorpion before him, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes:

"To actually risk being held accountable and offending me, a colleague with whom I used to have a decent relationship, Scorpion... he's quite filial."

He murmured to himself, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Asuma, who was staring intently at him with reddened eyes.

"As for Asuma, he probably found out about this by chance while inquiring about my whereabouts from Uncle Sakumo Hatake, and then he kept pestering me to come here..."

Thinking of this, Kou couldn't help but feel an indescribable headache.

Uncle Sakumo Hatake is manageable Sakumo Hatake. Based on my understanding of him, as long as I communicate effectively, I can reason with him and calm him down temporarily.

But the problem is, now it's not just him, there's also Asuma?!

Feeling Asuma's burning gaze, Kou couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"That guy, in some ways, is even more troublesome than Kai..."

Recalling his past in Konoha, Koko sighed wearily.

When he initially approached Asuma, he actually had a rather pragmatic purpose:

He hoped to use this second-generation Hokage's connections to climb the ranks and, incidentally, get the Third Hokage Hokage's attention to him, who was then an unknown figure within the Uchiha clan.

In case that Danzo, that cunning old bastard, ever targets me, at least I'll have the advantage of being "your son's best friend."

Who knows, I might even get the Third Hokage Hokage to put on a classic Hokage mini-drama for me, a scene of "I'll be your shadow, you'll regret it."

But as time went by, the way he and she interacted seemed to become increasingly awkward.

I didn't really do anything, did I?

As a friend and longtime deskmate, I often helped him with his homework and occasionally listened to him complain about the troubles of his family background.

When he fell into self-doubt due to a lack of talent, I spent some time helping him re-evaluate his training path, and then, when he was feeling down, I gave him a few doses of inspirational advice...

Isn't this what friends should do?!

As for how it got to the point where he couldn't stop talking about me, even ignoring his girlfriend in Konoha and chasing after me all over the Ninja World?

He murmured to himself, unable to contain his thoughts, and the image of Uchiha Kenji who had ruined his reputation in the re-education field, Chunin surfaced in his mind:

Come to think of it, I cared about Obito, that idiot, much more than Asuma did back then, so why didn't he change this much?!

He sighed wearily, forcibly pulling his wandering thoughts back to the present situation.

He looked at the scorpion beside him, and a nameless rage rose within him.

"It's all this damn red-haired brat's fault! You want to be a dutiful son and avenge your parents, I have no problem with that."

Anyway, you might not even be able to beat Uncle Sakumo Hatake, you'd just be throwing your life away... but don't you dare drag me into this!!

He stared intently at the scorpion, shouting angrily in his heart:

"You inherently evil red-haired brat, you've already chosen your own death!!"

Scorpion clearly sensed the killing intent surging in from all directions.

However, the face hidden within Scarlet Amber's body did not show the slightest surprise or panic.

Scorpion merely shifted his gaze from Hatake Sakumo with slight annoyance, glancing at his two colleagues flanking him on either side, and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"These two are my prey. None of you should interfere."

Kou and Itachi stared at him coldly, neither of them taking a single step back.

Scorpion seemed to have anticipated their reaction, and said confidently:

"Don't blame me for not warning you, those two guys are from Konoha."

"And you two are both missing-nin from Konoha."

He felt the murderous intent in Itachi and Kokoro's eyes and said coldly:

"Putting aside the fact that you can't kill me at all, if you were to attack me right here in front of these two people from Konoha, guess what the leader would think?"

You don't have any solid evidence to prove that I leaked the information.

Scorpion looked at his two colleagues and said meaningfully:

"You... don't want to be suspected by the leader of being Konoha spies planted in Akatsuki, do you?"

Itachi:...

Kou coldly stared at the scorpion before him, who seemed to have everything under control, and slowly spoke:

"You think I'd accept your threats? Don't forget, we're all part of Akatsuki."

Those who stay in this organization are no normal people.

He tilted his head slightly, his deep black eyes filled with surging killing intent.

"I only know one thing right now: I am extremely, extremely unhappy that you sold my information to someone else."

Looking directly at the scorpion before him, he shouted in a deep voice:

"Don't take yourself too seriously, Sasori of the Red Sands."

If I were to act on a whim... it would be enough to kill you!

(One more chapter. I was forced to do free labor during class this morning. I was planning to slack off and update during class, but I'm done for...)