New Member! Zabuza's Recruitment Plan

After all...

Whether it was to take advantage of Uchiha Ye's strength to help capture the Tailed Beasts and accelerate the implementation of the Eye of the Moon Plan, or to seize his Three Tomoe Sharingan for his own use once Uchiha Ye had matured.

He should not be so impatient; he should let Uchiha Ye grow for a while longer.

Although doing so carried the risk of playing with fire.

But he believed!

As long as he controlled the pace of Uchiha Ye's growth and snuffed him out before he exceeded his control, there would be no risk at all.

To that end, he only needed to make a few small preparations.

He would have Zetsu relinquish his status as an Akatsuki member and slip into the shadows, which would reduce the burden of missions on him and allow him to devote most of his energy to monitoring Uchiha Ye.

By a certain lake!

"Dog-Biting Crimson Lotus!"

"Hellhound!"

"Great Eruption!"

"Lava Style: Scorch Flow Explosion!"

Uchiha Ye had created a Shadow Clone to engage in a fierce and intense battle with himself.

He was honing various techniques and strengthening his ability to develop the fruit's potential.

Thanks to the Chakra Control Scroll he had obtained from Root, he was now able to maintain the same attack power while significantly reducing his chakra consumption.

Furthermore, thanks to the precise control of his chakra, the upper limit of the destructive power his fruit ability could achieve had also increased.

If he were to fight Tobirama Senju again, he would be able to handle it much more easily.

An hour later!

The original lake had been completely evaporated, leaving behind only a massive, deep crater!

The clouds in the sky were thicker than ever, and the air was stiflingly hot and humid.

Yet the ground in the crater was bone-dry, filled with jagged, shattered rocks!

The stark contrast between the sky and the earth was indeed quite strange.

But this was precisely the manifestation of the Magma-Magma Fruit's power—scorching and full of destruction.

However, my current strength is likely still not enough to face an enemy like Uchiha Obito!

He gasped for air. After all, he is the successor groomed by Uchiha Madara; his strength cannot be underestimated.

Now is not the time for me to slack off. I must continue to work hard to become stronger so that I can calmly face the various crises of the future.

The fact that Zetsu had monitored him and been discovered was actually something he had done on purpose.

His goal was to have Zetsu report this to Uchiha Obito, thereby increasing Uchiha Obito's assessment of the danger he posed.

He had formed a grudge with Uchiha Obito back in Konoha.

He believed that Uchiha Obito would absolutely not want to see him become stronger than himself.

Therefore, upon learning that his threat level had increased, Obito could not remain indifferent.

And this was exactly what Uchiha Ye wanted.

Having an entity that could threaten his life at all times would urge him to grow as quickly as possible, so he could gain the strength to control his own destiny in this world.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be foolish enough to proactively expose how powerful his sensory abilities were, making Uchiha Obito even more wary of him.

Wouldn't it be better to develop in the shadows?

Two days later!

"A new mission... recruiting?"

In a certain cave, hearing the mission assigned once again by Pain, Uchiha Ye, in his Magic Lantern Body state, was somewhat puzzled: "Leader, aren't our member slots already full?"

"What kind of status should new recruits be given? And would they even accept it?"

It went without saying!

Anyone who could catch the eye of the Akatsuki was bound to be an S-rank missing-nin.

But S-rank missing-nin were all unruly and arrogant individuals.

If they were joining as official members, that would be one thing.

But with the Akatsuki's roster full, any new additions would inevitably be peripheral members.

How could they possibly convince them to accept that?

Uchiha Ye's words were met with nods of agreement from Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu, Biwa Juzo, and the others, all of whom turned their gazes toward Pain Deva Path.

Hearing this, Pain Deva Path said: "It is like this, Azure Dragon..."

He scanned the room, his voice steady: "Due to some special circumstances, Genbu has other matters to attend to and will no longer be executing missions for the organization."

"Therefore, his position is vacant, and we need to recruit a new member to join!"

"The new candidate has already been decided!"

As he spoke, a rubbing scroll appeared before everyone, displaying the information of the final member.

[Kirigakure S-rank missing-nin, 'Demon of the Mist' Momochi Zabuza]

Seeing this, Uchiha Ye was quite taken aback.

"Zabuza?"

What is going on? he thought, feeling bewildered. Why is he the one being invited to join the Akatsuki?

This had completely deviated from the original plot!

Even if they were going to recruit someone, it should have been Kisame Hoshigaki!

Is this the so-called transmigrator effect?

Uchiha Ye frowned slightly, thinking, Because of my appearance, the original plot has started to veer off track?

He had been mentally prepared for such things.

But this was happening much faster than expected!

However, for 'Zetsu' to leave at a time like this...

He realized inwardly, Has the act I put on the other day, where I deliberately 'discovered' Zetsu monitoring me, already started to take effect?

As expected of you, Uchiha Obito, you move fast.

This suddenly gave him a strong sense of urgency.

He had to guard against Zetsu's surveillance so as not to reveal too many of his trump cards.

At the same time, he needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible to be able to deal with Uchiha Obito.

Just thinking about it was thrilling!

"What? My partner is just leaving like that?"

Deidara was stunned upon hearing this, then couldn't help but complain, "No way, I just got used to my partner, and now I have to start all over again?"

Hearing this, Pain offered a rare word of comfort: "There are reasons for this; I hope you can understand."

In truth, Nagato, behind the scenes, didn't understand why 'Madara' would suddenly withdraw Zetsu either.

But since the other party claimed it would be more beneficial to the implementation of the Akatsuki's ultimate plan, he had agreed.

Deidara had no choice but to accept it helplessly.

"The mission to recruit the new member will be carried out by Azure Dragon (Uchiha Ye) and Virgin (Sasori)!"

Pain spoke again: "Vermilion Bird (Itachi) and Nanto (Biwa Juzo), as well as the teams of North Star (Kakuzu) and Santai (Hidan), have other missions to attend to."

Hearing this, everyone nodded.

"But without Genbu's intelligence, how are we to know the whereabouts of Momochi Zabuza?"

Uchiha Ye asked.

Of course, he had his own selfish motives for asking.

He wanted to determine the specific status of Zetsu based on Pain's upcoming answer.

Whether he had completely left the organization or had merely retreated into the shadows.

Those were two very different concepts!

It would also allow Uchiha Ye to take different countermeasures based on the specific situation.

However, Uchiha Ye's question was also what the others were thinking.

Without Zetsu's intelligence, the difficulty of their missions would increase significantly.

There should be a proper solution to this matter.

Facing Uchiha Ye's question, Pain replied: "There is no need to worry about that. Although Genbu no longer carries out missions for the organization, he will still provide intelligence in a timely manner!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Ye nodded: "I see, that's good!"

He understood the situation and knew what measures he should take.

Immediately after, the meeting dispersed.

"Let's go. I'll use this guy to test the strength of my modified Hiruko!"

Sasori of the Red Sand's voice was full of excitement: "After all, he is an S-rank ninja; I hope his strength won't disappoint me!"