Developments from All Sides

He was merely a peripheral, ordinary member.

There was no need for Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki to take action themselves.

It just so happened that they had a mission in the Land of Water.

Nagato decided not to bother two masters with one task.

Furthermore, since this was a high-ranking official of the Land of Water, there was a chance to obtain some valuable intelligence that might prove beneficial for Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki's primary mission. Thus, he dumped the entire matter onto the pair. On the first day they arrived in the capital, after clarifying the details and confirming that the Minister of Treasury truly intended to defect from the organization, Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki infiltrated the Minister's residence the very next day and wiped out everyone in the household in one go. In Kisame Hoshigaki's words, it was too much trouble to identify who knew the details one by one, so it was better to just finish them all off; it was only a matter of an instant anyway. Uchiha Itachi naturally remained noncommittal; as far as the current Uchiha Itachi was concerned, no one could touch his heart except for his younger brother.

The reason that Minister of Treasury was decapitated—and in such an 'explosive fashion'—was simply Uchiha Itachi's method of handling things after finishing his intelligence gathering via genjutsu. It was crude and simple. While it appeared to leave behind some traces and clues, in reality, it was just a bit bloody, and not a single actual trail remained. Even when Ao went to investigate, he failed to collect any effective intelligence or information.

Yet, Ao's speculation was close to the truth.

However, at this very moment.

Among everyone present.

Including Naruto, no one suspected the Akatsuki organization.

Heaven knows such a connection